Submitting to a Local Church: Commanded or Optional?

This is God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear, sufficient word for us as people.

! Matthew 28, verse 20.

Matthew 28:20

Jesus Christ telling his apostles,

Teach my disciples to obey everything I have commanded.

And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

All right, now let's begin at verse 18 and get this passage in its context.

Jesus came and spoke to them, saying,

All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father,

and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.

And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Amen.

The word of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God. Please be seated.

Let's pray.

Lord, we praise you. All power and authority are yours.

You rule over all things, from your throne in heaven,

from the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

And yet, Lord, you've poured out your Spirit in a powerful way upon your church.

And your Spirit brings the presence of God

to be with your church, even to the end of the age.

And we praise you that this includes the generation we are part of right now,

that we have this promise that you are with us.

Lord, we pray that your Spirit will minister your word,

your truth to your people.

We pray that you please help the preacher.

Please guard the ears of your people.

Please help me, Lord, as you helped in the preparation.

Help me now to proclaim Christ.

And all that you have commanded us to obey,

with joy, with love, because you first loved us.

That your name will be exalted.

That all those who belong to you, Lord,

will willingly give themselves to you in your day of power.

And that your Spirit will apply your truth gently,

patiently, in your own timing,

to each one that you have made to hear your words.

We pray this for Christ's sake. Amen.

Amen.

Well, the first four years of our marriage,

Andrea and I moved to São Paulo, Brazil.

And we are two American citizens with American passports,

voting by ballot from the foreign country.

We're expats.

And while we were there,

a little bit unexpectedly,

we had our first child.

So Andrea went into labor on the opening night of Carnaval,

9 p.m.

And what could sometimes take two hours to get to the hospital,

the taxi driver did it in 40 minutes.

By God's grace, all the lights were green,

and we made it safely.

But once this happened,

we had to take a step with the American government

from a hospital in Brazil.

And it was to apply for a consular certificate of birth abroad.

The reason this is fresh on my mind is because we're trying to renew an expired passport

from Brazil, and this is one of the documents needed.

Consular certificate of birth abroad.

Every nation has embassies,

like one big embassy in another foreign country.

But then off of those embassies are smaller offices in other cities that are not the capital.

They're called consulates.

Consulates.

So when I say consulate, you can picture an embassy as well.

Our country, the United States of America,

has the responsibility of safeguarding and helping its citizens on foreign soils.

The U.S. paid, maybe you shouldn't know this as taxpayer,

they paid $2 million to an American school there to fortify the perimeter,

to make the walls higher, to add cameras and stuff like that,

to keep the American citizens abroad safe.

And while we were there, as an expat,

the consulate taught us what the American law commands.

We were not forced to get the certificate of birth abroad.

We wanted it,

and it would be negligent not to get that for our son.

We voluntarily filled out the application

and happily gave the required proof,

submitted it, and waited to see whether or not it would be approved.

When we did get it, we were very happy,

not because we were afraid of losing the citizenship that was already ours

and by extension his,

but because it is a great privilege of the citizenship we already enjoy.

This is a limited analogy for the theme of today.

Christians are citizens of the kingdom of heaven.

That's what we are called in the Bible.

And we're even sent out into this world as ambassadors.

So I picked a very catchy topic, very popular,

and here's the title of the sermon.

Submitting to a local church, commanded or optional.

So maybe you're rightfully wondering why this topic, why now?

Maybe you're questioning pastoral prudence.

Is this even wise?

As I mentioned, there are a few reasons for this.

One is, or going down that paragraph in our confession of faith,

and this was once a more common understanding among mature Christians,

but it's been systematically undermined by wrong teaching

and consumer church models.

That's the reality for our country.

Is it urgent to teach about submitting to a local church?

It's as urgent as obedience to Christ is urgent.

It's as urgent as the spiritual health of a soul is urgent.

It's as urgent as the strength of a congregation is urgent.

A church is an embassy of heaven.

We're charged by Christ in the verse we just read for today

to teach his disciples to obey all that he has commanded.

All the privileges and all the duties of belonging to his kingdom.

Most of us come from backgrounds where this has not been taught at all.

The emphasis in many churches today is on making converts,

having someone sign a card or raise their hand,

not making disciples, which is what Christ commanded.

This consumer approach to church focuses more on tickling ears

rather than teaching people to obey all that he has commanded.

And what we're left with is we walk away thinking God is a God

that we approach however we want,

and we worship God on our terms

rather than a God who calls his disciples

to do what he has commanded as the king of kings.

So I want to walk through five questions on this topic.

My goal is to teach and to persuade you

of what the Bible says

and then how this one local church

does our best to carry it out at this time.

So the first question we need to reckon is this.

Is obedience to Christ optional?

Is obedience to Christ optional?

King Jesus calls you and me to obey him.

Look again at verse 18.

The reason is because all authority has been given.

The person of Jesus Christ,

having accomplished his mission,

receives now from the Father

special authority over his church

and his advancing spiritual kingdom on earth.

And what does he command with that authority?

Verse 19.

Make disciples.

Teaching them to obey.

Look at verse 20.

How much do we obey?

Obey all that I have commanded.

If you claim to be a disciple of Jesus Christ,

obeying him is not optional.

And this is not the first time we hear this declared to us.

Luke 6, 46.

Jesus himself said,

Why do you call me Lord, Lord,

and not do the things which I say?

John 14, 21.

He who has my commands and keeps them,

it is he who loves me.

John 15, 14.

You are my friends if you do whatever I command you.

See, Jesus is a good king.

And he loves us too much to leave us without instructions,

without a clear path of following as his disciple.

1 John 2, 3.

Now by this we know that we know him if we keep his commandments.

So this is a call to Christian obedience.

The reason it's unpopular is because it often gets mixed with legalism.

When a Christian obeys, it's out of gratitude.

It's a reflex because he first loved me.

It's not, I do this so that he will love me.

No, he loved me so much, he freely saved me.

It's a joy now to obey him.

Our confession of faith has wonderful clarity about this

to guard us from all kinds of wrong teaching about obedience as a Christian.

Chapter 16, paragraph 2 says,

These are good works of obedience to Christ,

done in obedience to God's commands,

not adding on or inventing our own rules,

but they are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith.

It's the evidence of a lively faith when we obey Christ.

So is obedience to Christ optional?

Not if he's the king of your life.

Now, we don't obey him perfectly,

and his spirit is so gentle, so patient with us.

The purpose of making this point clear is simply to put us in our place.

We are disciples,

and we learn over years patiently by the gentle work of the spirit to obey Christ.

And we don't get to pick and choose.

When his spirit brings a conviction on us from his word,

we obey him.

With his help, with his power,

imperfectly, but more and more.

Second question,

How do disciples of Christ learn to obey him?

How do disciples of Christ learn to obey him?

Look at verse 20 again.

He's telling his apostles,

He's telling his apostles,

along with the congregation that will soon receive the Holy Spirit

and become the early church in Jerusalem,

teach them to obey.

So disciples of Christ must learn,

and we learn by being taught to obey Christ.

We must learn through his word,

through his spirit,

and through his church.

We are to declare the word of God with authority.

How often do we teach God's people what he has commanded?

Always, in season, out of season,

preaching the full counsel to his people

and letting the spirit apply it.

Colossians 1, 28,

We preach him, Jesus Christ,

his person, his work, his promises,

and all he has commanded us to obey,

warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom

that we may present everyone mature in Christ Jesus.

That's the charge on the teachers within a church.

Keep preaching Christ,

warning everyone, teaching everyone,

helping everyone grow slowly decades toward maturity in Christ.

You notice how Christ is the unifying theme

of our teaching and of our maturing.

Acts 20, 27,

For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.

So when we teach God's people to obey Christ,

what is this encompass?

What all is included?

A quick summary is this.

It's going to include God's moral law,

what he's already made very clear.

Christians need to know what is pleasing to God,

how to love God the way God tells us to love him,

and how to love neighbor the way he tells us to love neighbor.

That's given to us in the Ten Commandments.

In addition to that, as disciples of Christ,

we learn what's called the positive laws or positive commands,

simply meaning these are in addition to the moral law

that God has given in a special way to his church.

And this includes baptism, the Lord's Supper, and prayer.

Well, these are the ordinances for the church that we learn to obey.

Now, how do we exercise these teachings?

And you see how the list is pretty short.

That's what we do.

How do we exercise it, though?

Well, it gets worked out in three different spheres, as we've seen.

So let me refresh your memory.

The first sphere, we're all born into it, is a family.

The second sphere is we're born in a land, a state, a nation.

And then finally, if God is gracious to you,

you are also put into a local church.

Now, the New Testament uses commands relating to each of these three spheres.

We're told to submit, slash obey, and honor.

And those are the three spheres.

Think about how our obedience to Christ is exercised in each of those three.

Home, state, and church.

Let's use an example we can all relate to.

Let's say a child is an orphan living on the streets somewhere in the southern hemisphere.

They get lovingly adopted into a home,

and they're just so happy all the time,

but they're doing these cartwheels on their way to the dinner table.

The family says, wash your hands before you share this meal.

You're going to be touching and passing,

and you're going to put whatever germs were on this floor

onto the food that we're all going to be eating here.

So that's a rule.

In this household, now that you are our child, you belong here,

wash your hands before the dinner table.

That's not legalism for the family to give that rule.

It's a good, loving law for the good of the child and the whole family.

And the child would joyfully learn slowly over time and perfectly to obey.

And by obeying in the family setting,

the child is exercising obedience to Christ ultimately.

It's a sphere in which we get to practice that.

Submitting to Christ, obeying my parents in the Lord as it is pleasing.

This also is applied to us in the book of Romans relating to the federal government

or the national government.

The government's given the sword.

Family doesn't have a sword or an army.

The church doesn't have a sword or an army.

That's given to the government.

And the laws of the land are given for the good of those who are walking uprightly.

And so obey the laws of the land.

Jesus said, give to Caesar what is Caesar's.

So in obedience to Christ,

ultimately, no matter my feelings about the president or the governor of my state,

I'm submitting to the land where I live, where he's put me at this time.

And when you submit to the land, sometimes the laws might not make sense

or you might not like them or they may need to be updated.

But it's still important that we learn to obey Christ in them.

I learned recently that in Arizona, it's still illegal, according to the internet.

I'm sure it's very reliable.

In Arizona, it's illegal for a donkey to sleep in a bathtub.

I guess in the 1920s, there was a donkey that used to always go sleep in this tub

and it got swept away by a flood.

And then all the government had to spend money to go rescue this donkey,

carried off far away.

In Connecticut, for a pickle to be legally considered a pickle,

it must be able to bounce.

So you're going to put it on a counter there.

You have to be able to bounce the pickle.

And it was a food safety measure because if it's mushy, it won't bounce

and you shouldn't be able to sell it.

See, these are laws of the land.

If I live in Connecticut, I have to follow that law.

If I live in Arizona, I have to follow that law too if I own a donkey.

Now, the third sphere is the church and those same verbs are used.

Hebrews 13, 17, obey your elders.

Obey not all the elders out there in all the churches,

just like you don't have to obey all the parents out there.

You obey your parents.

1 Timothy 5, 17, let the elders who rule well.

And so those same terms, ruling, obey,

and the response of a Christian is to exercise obedience to Christ

in each of those spheres.

It does not give anyone in those positions of authority,

government, home, or church,

a license to lord over this authority.

Instead, it should make you tremble in your boots.

You're giving account to Christ in the home,

on behalf of the state, or within a church.

But our part as Christians is to submit ourselves to Christ

and obey and exercise that in each of those spheres in the Lord.

We learn to obey Christ by being taught this

and by giving the practice in three different spheres.

Third question, how ought churches uphold obedience to Christ?

How ought churches uphold obedience to Christ?

Obedience to Christ is not optional.

Obedience to the king of kings is very important.

And his spirit is in the churches.

We Christians have the Holy Spirit in us.

And when we gather in his name,

it's the glory of his name that we care about.

So we have a very big responsibility

to uphold obedience to Christ.

In fact, some of you found this church eventually,

not because this church is perfect,

but because you were in another church

that was neglecting to uphold obedience to Christ

in very public ways.

All right, our responsibility as a church,

imperfectly, with all of our limits,

we have the duty to do our best

to have earth, the church on earth,

be a reflection of the kingdom of heaven.

It's our responsibility to close out certain things

and to open up the church to others.

Now, this teaching, I'm going to argue,

I hope to persuade you,

it's necessarily contained in scripture

that churches must be cautious

about who is admitted

or who is admitted to join the church

and who has access to the privileges of a church.

You can turn to Acts 9 if you like.

I'm going to read it kind of quickly.

Otherwise, you can write it down and study it later.

Acts chapter 9, verse 26 and 27.

Acts 9:26

Saul got saved,

the man who was going around killing the Christians.

God later renames him Paul,

so that's what I'll refer to him as.

And Acts 9, 26 tells us

that Paul had come to Jerusalem again now

after getting saved and being discipled.

And he tried to join the disciples there in Jerusalem.

Well, that's good.

That's what Christians do.

They join other Christians.

They find one another

and participate in the assembly.

But they were all afraid of him.

Now, listen to this part.

And did not believe that he was a disciple.

So the church in Jerusalem is closing out Paul,

who's going to become the Apostle Paul,

through whom we get most of the New Testament.

And they have authority as a local church

to say, not so quick, buddy.

Don't presume upon this congregation.

Don't come in and mingle

and act as though you already are here,

because first, we have a responsibility

to uphold obedience to Christ.

Do you belong to Christ?

We need to discern that,

and it was right for them to do that.

The church was practicing due diligence

and testing.

Okay, he made a profession of faith.

Do we receive that?

Now, this is so beautiful and humbling

how Paul then turns around,

and he actually warns and equips

the other local churches

to do the exact same thing.

In 1 Corinthians 5.11, he says,

I have written to you now,

local church in Corinth,

not to keep company with anyone

named a brother,

so they made a profession of faith

who is, in the present continual sense,

living in sin

that misrepresents the name of Christ.

And Paul says to the church,

not even to eat with such a person.

A letter to the local church

referring to sharing a meal together,

it would include both the fellowship meal

that was their custom and our custom,

and in a special way,

the Lord's Supper,

which is one of the sacraments

Christ instituted.

And the same caution is repeated

in the book of Jude, for example.

He says there are those

who will creep in unnoticed,

and otherwise they'll pay lip service

to Christ,

but they will very soon,

you'll be able to tell

they are spots on your feasts.

In other ways, they don't love Christ.

The feast or the Lord's Supper,

the meal that a church shares,

that is not for wolves

that are in there to destroy God's lambs.

You see how the pattern

and the teaching in Scripture,

it says there is a clear line

between the church and the world.

And most of the churches

that we've all come from

and experienced and spent years in

do a really good job

of blurring those lines, don't they?

In Scripture, you as a church

have the responsibility,

hand such a one over to Satan.

In other words,

if you're not in the church,

you are in the world,

the dominion of Satan,

so that you'll see

how miserable it is out there.

It's a parched desert wilderness.

Find your way back to Christ

in his church.

But it's one or the other.

The lines between the church

and the world are not blurry.

And this is an authority

that the church rightly has to exercise.

This has been tested

in every generation.

I'll give you one famous example.

Switzerland, 1553.

There was a rowdy group

of people who paid lip service to Christ

but were not true believers

called the Libertines.

They lived openly immoral lives,

but they insisted on their right

to keep taking the Lord's Supper

at the Reformed Church in Geneva.

Reformed meaning Protestant,

not Catholic,

and putting themselves under Scripture,

doing their best to work it out.

When the Geneva Civil Authority

ordered Calvin to admit them to the table,

John Calvin refused,

insisting in the authority of the church alone

to fence the table

from those who remain unrepentant.

And then came the one Lord's Day

where it all came to a head.

The Libertines,

with swagger and with their swords,

ready to go on their belts,

took the front seat of the church.

Calvin stood up there,

preached through a passage of the Bible,

and then he walked down from the pulpit,

laid out the Lord's Supper,

and invited the church to take it.

Well, the Libertines

stood up in force,

and all were walking forward,

and Calvin slammed his arms and hands

down on the table of the Lord's Supper,

covering up the bread and the wine,

and he said,

These hands you may crush,

these arms you may lop off,

my life you may take,

my blood is yours,

you may shed it,

but you shall never force me

to give holy things to the profaned,

and dishonor the table of my God.

It's the Lord's table,

and the lines between the world

and the church are not blurry.

About a hundred years later,

Benjamin Keech wrote something similar,

To admit the profane

is to pollute the sanctuary.

The church is a garden enclosed.

It is not a common field

for all to roam in,

but a place for those

who have given themselves

first to the Lord,

and then to us,

that's quoting scripture,

by the will of God.

Well, this is a much higher view

of the church,

and of the authority of the church,

and of the sacraments

than most of us

have ever heard taught.

And that's the first step.

We teach clearly

about what we believe

Christ has commanded.

If a person does not yet

receive this teaching

or this truth,

has not yet been convinced of this,

or taken steps,

it's understandable

that this is going to take time,

first time to be taught this.

I'm going to have to think about that.

I'm going to have to weigh that

against all the other teaching

I've sat under.

The other possibility

is that a person

has never received

redeeming grace yet.

And it's lack of submission

to Christ manifesting

in lack of submission

to one of the spheres

in which he gives it

to practice it.

We don't know

the person's heart.

Only God does.

So we teach.

And we do our best

to elevate in our own minds

what God has said

about his church.

We must lovingly emphasize

that membership

is the only way

for a church to know

who the flock is,

who will elders

give account to Christ for,

who are they to care for,

who is voluntarily

wanting discipleship

in this church.

The church has a duty,

I believe,

to still block

those who are openly,

you know,

showing a hatred for God

and a disregard for him.

But only God

can change the heart.

And until he does,

we keep teaching.

We don't compromise

the standard of the church.

We proclaim his truth,

and we do this

in a loving way.

Now, I've mentioned

church membership,

and that's another one

that's come under

a lot of attacks

and been undermined

by many.

So that's the fourth question

we need to wrestle with.

As churches

uphold obedience to Christ,

that's non-negotiable,

is the concept

of church membership

necessarily contained

in Scripture?

I'm choosing my words carefully.

I'm referring to the concept,

in other words,

the principles

that we use now

in this term membership,

are those principles,

that concept,

necessarily contained.

Can we walk away

and say,

that's not in the Bible,

you can't do it,

or you shouldn't do it.

If it's necessarily contained,

then we should submit

to the Lord in that.

Well, one line

of interpretation

that's very new

the last 30 years or so,

which is most common today,

has listened to teachers like,

and I'm going to mention names,

because their quotes

are out there on the internet.

We've listened to teachers,

and this is a line

of interpretation.

Francis Chan,

he said,

you can't find the term

church membership

in the Bible.

Here's another one.

Chuck Smith,

on behalf of the

Calvary Chapel movement,

we don't have

a formal membership

because we don't find

any scriptural basis for it.

That's the end of his quote.

Well, both of these

are presenting

invalid

arguments

and uncertain

conclusions.

There's a fallacy

called term

concept

fallacy.

So,

it's true that you can

go to the Bible

or your app

and put in

the term

church membership

and you won't get

any hits.

You can also put in

the word

trinity

and you won't get

any hits.

or the word

eternal state

which is

or like

intermediate state,

you know,

so the body

is buried

and the soul

is with Christ.

What do we call that?

Well, that term

is not

in the words

but the concept

is undeniable.

Another concept

is moral law.

You won't find that

but it's necessarily

contained in scripture.

Covenant of grace.

These are all examples.

I mean,

if you're to do away

with all the terms

that have been helpful

over the centuries

for the church

because of that fallacy

you're going to

end up with a very

shallow religion

and really

it's misleading.

And here's a third one.

David Platt

actually published

this in a book.

Quote,

we have taken

the command of Christ

to make disciples

and we have

mutated it,

okay,

dropping in a negative term,

mutated it

into a command

to make church members.

I've not read his book,

don't plan to

and I don't know

what his experiences

was that made him

write that.

But he's confusing

categories.

He's saying

discipleship is what counts.

Well,

discipleship is

personal communion

with God

through Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Amen.

That's what matters most.

Membership

are the orderly steps

a local church

wisely sets up

out of love for Christ.

It's a totally

different category.

And he's setting up

a false dilemma

between the two.

As if you can't be

a genuine disciple

of Jesus

and also

take the steps

your local church

has laid out

to become a member

in obedience

to Jesus Christ.

I would argue

mature members

will joyfully do that.

We need to be aware

of these teachings.

I'm not saying

anything about them

as people.

Never met them.

I believe they are

probably sincere Christians.

But these teachings

I think are

have been very detrimental.

I think many of us

have been misled.

I think those

teachings are unwise.

It can really hurt

a person's maturing

in the faith.

Imagine if you said

that in another sphere.

Don't pay all your taxes

to the government.

That's just immature

and unwise

and detrimental

to your becoming

a full-fledged

responsible adult.

Or the same

in the household

with what your parents

are asking.

And I've certainly

seen this as an effect

on local churches.

There's a much better

line of interpretation

that's time-tested,

stable,

and it humbly

trusts what God's

Spirit has made clear

by His Word

to His church

over the centuries.

John Owen

didn't even prove this.

He simply

observed it.

He said,

Christ commands,

they bind

every faithful believer

to join

and voluntarily

submit himself

to a single congregation

that displays

the mark

of a true church.

Preaching the Word,

administering the sacraments,

and discipline.

These principles

are evident

in the Word,

clear in themselves,

owned by virtually

everyone who claims

to desire

the reformation

of the church.

Neither the Bible

nor church history

gives a valid basis

for rejecting this.

That's the end

of Owen's quote.

And then he goes on

to say what a joy

and what a blessing

it is to enjoy

life in a church

and the fellowship.

But he's simply saying

this is what the church

has received

and we should

continue with.

So what is the criteria

if we're going to test

whether these principles

are necessarily contained

in Scripture?

From our own confession

of faith,

we have this language

that is very helpful.

We must obey

whatever is

either expressly

set down,

that means the words

are clearly stated

for everyone to read

and get right away,

or necessarily contained.

So using that criteria,

let's test it

one part at a time.

is the term membership

necessarily contained

in Scripture?

Yes.

Membership is a metaphor

that God himself

gives us in his word.

Colossians 1.18,

Jesus Christ

is the head

of the body,

the church.

1 Corinthians 12.17,

you are the body of Christ

and members individually.

So the term membership

is a good one.

We can't do,

we can't find

a more biblical term

and that's what

the church has used.

Might as well keep it.

Is the requirement

for membership

necessarily contained?

The criteria

for opening the doors

and welcoming members

or saying,

no,

we're not going to open

membership to this person

at this time.

What's the requirement?

Matthew 10.32,

Jesus said,

whoever confesses me

before men,

him I will also confess

before my Father

who is in heaven.

You can look at Acts 2,

we read it in Sunday School,

Acts 2.41 and 47.

Those who gladly

received his word,

how do we know

they received his word?

Repent, believe,

they have faith.

They were then baptized

and that day

about 3,000 souls

were added to them

and the Lord added

to the church daily

those who were being saved.

The Greek word here

is the Lord added

to the church,

te ekklesia,

the assembly.

It's a definite article

indicating a specific group

here,

the local church

in Jerusalem.

They were added

to a concrete,

visible group

of believers

who were baptized,

devoted to the teaching,

fellowship,

breaking of bread and prayer,

who met daily

in the temple

and in homes

and who grew numerically

as new converts

joined them.

So the requirement

is the same.

Shouldn't add on to that,

shouldn't introduce

preparationism

or all these other things

but if you make

a credible profession

of faith

and we see

the fruit of the spirit,

you're joining,

you're being part

of the worship,

you've been baptized,

you should be welcomed

into a local church.

2 Corinthians 8.5

gives us an insight

into the question

about the vows.

When you become a member,

you stand up here

and you make vows

to a local congregation,

not to all the churches

out there

but to this group

of believers.

Are those vows

to become a member

within the bounds

of scripture?

2 Corinthians 8.5

tells us that

these believers

in a church

gave themselves

first to the Lord

and then by the will

of God to us.

It was the will of God

that believers

give themselves

to a local church

and the local church

knew that they had

given themselves

to them.

Ephesians 5.21,

we're told to submit

to one another

in the fear

of the Lord

and build each other up

through singing,

through prayer,

our worship,

our life together.

But what about

the process

for membership?

Is that within

the bounds

of scripture?

Because everything

I've said so far

is expressly set down.

All of those things

we don't get

to wiggle out of.

Now the process

for membership

is going to look

different in different

cultures,

different settings,

different needs

and there's one

simple rule

for this.

1 Corinthians 14.4

Let all things

be done decently

and in order.

And so if a church

is doing these steps

as best they can,

these non-negotiables

decently and in order,

then that's like

a parent reasonably

saying we all

wash our hands

before we share

a meal together.

It's reasonable

and it's orderly.

Well, I've given you

my best shot at it.

The principles

of church membership,

I hope I've persuaded you,

they are necessarily

contained in scripture.

If they were not,

we should regret,

we should reject

the statement

from our confession

of faith.

We should change

our constitution

in a lot of places.

We should change out

our training handouts

and we should put

different authors

on our book table.

It's more than a good

and necessary consequence.

It's expressly set down

and necessarily contained.

What Christ commands

us to obey,

it's given to us

in his word

and Christ's disciples

are told to be taught,

to learn,

to obey all he has

commanded.

Reformed churches,

those who have put

themselves under God's word,

have consistently taught

this same thing

for over 500 years,

which our confession

of faith expresses

in one sentence

or two

or three.

It's three.

It's this.

Second confession,

Second London Confession

26, 12.

All believers

are obligated

to join themselves

to local churches

when and where

they have opportunity.

Likewise,

all who are admitted

to the privileges

of a church

are also subject

to the discipline

and government of it

according to the rule

of Christ.

So long as it's

in the Lord,

children obey their parents.

So long as it's

in the Lord,

Christians submit

to one another

in a local church.

That's the end

of the quote

from our confession.

So I believe

we can say this.

Membership

gives us good order

and formalizes

the way Christians

shall participate

in the biblical duties,

biblical fellowship,

and privileges

within their local congregation.

The privileges

of belonging

to a church

means full participation.

A church needs you.

Local churches

need believers.

We need to be

vitally connected

and to know

that the commitment

is real.

the privileges

also include

the Lord's Supper,

the one another's

and caring for one another,

especially those

who are of the household

of the faith.

Full participation

in fellowship,

the ability

to guide the congregation,

to call out

wrong teaching

and false teaching,

to confirm

when God is raising up

a servant,

an officer,

to uphold the truth

and the peace,

to support other churches

who need us

to be strong

as a congregation,

to have a part

in an orderly way,

even of church discipline

if it's needed,

and then certainly

restoration

when God brings repentance.

Well,

that's the fourth question.

The concept of church

membership

is necessarily

contained in scripture.

And here's the final

question for today

that I hope

encourages you

and me.

By what power

do we learn

to obey

all that Christ

has commanded?

This is really

the sweetest part.

To be honest with you,

I love you all so much

and the first part

was hard for me

to preach

up to this point.

It's a joy

to encourage you

with these final

words from Christ.

Please look again

at verse 20.

By what power

do Christians

learn to obey

all that Christ

has commanded us?

He says in verse 20,

Lo,

I am with you

always.

Your version

might say,

look or behold.

I love that

old English,

Lo,

I am with you

always.

The dictionary

of 1828

helps us

that word

means look,

see,

behold,

observe.

It excites

particular attention

to what's coming

next and Jesus

says,

I am with you

church,

always even

to the end

of the age.

Obeying Christ

is calling people

to orderly

church practices

out of a

response of

gratitude.

It's not

do this

in order to

make sure

you get

eternal life.

No,

it's you're

already alive

in Christ

because he

first loved

you.

And he

does call

you and me

to obey

him out

of love

for Christ.

John 14,

15,

if you love

me,

you keep

my commands.

Obeying

Christ,

it's not

even possible

by our

own power.

Jesus

says,

I am

with you

always.

We can

obey him

because he

gives us

the power

to do so.

Remember

John 15,

5,

Jesus said,

apart from

me,

you can

do

nothing.

John 15,

10,

if you

keep my

commands,

you will

abide in

my love,

just as I

have kept

my father's

commands and

abide in

his love.

He says,

I am with

you always.

You can

abide in

me.

You will

abide in

me.

I purchased

you to

abide in

me.

And obeying

Christ,

it's not

burdensome.

It's learning

to walk

with him

as one

that's

yoked

to him.

It's

his

power

and it's

his

guidance

with

each

step.

1 John

5,

3,

for this

is the

love of

God

that we

keep

his

commands.

His

commands

are not

burdensome.

Obeying

Christ is

only possible

by his

power.

Paul

understood

this.

Colossians

1,

29,

he said,

I toil

struggling

with all

his

energy

that he

powerfully

works

in

me.

Jesus

calls

you

and

me

to

obey

in

an

orderly

way

what

his

church

has

laid

out

for

you.

The

church

teaches

us

but

we

must

obey

voluntarily.

This

is the

end of

it.

The

only

authority

a

minister

has

is

declarative.

You

must

obey

Christ

voluntarily.

Every

Christian

joyfully

submits

to!

Is

joined

to!

and

commits

themselves

to!

A

local

church

not

because

we're

afraid

we might

lose

our

citizenship

in

heaven

but

because

it is

a

great

privilege

of

the

citizenship

we

already

enjoy

in

Christ's

kingdom.

2 Corinthians

8

5

We

give

ourselves

first

to the

Lord

and

then

by

the

will

of

God

to

his

church.

Ephesians

5

21

we

submit

to

one

another

in

the

fear

of

God.

Submitting

to

local

church

is

our

way

of

saying

I

am

part

of

this

spiritual

family

and

I

invite

you

all

to

hold

me

to

the

standard

of

the

gospel.

I

do

so

joyfully

voluntarily

in

obedience

to

Christ

because

God

first

loved

me

and

because

the

Holy

Spirit

has

made

me

willing

and

because

I

want

to

joyfully

enjoy

all

of

Christ's

blessings

and

the

privilege

of

belonging

to

him

here

with

you.

May

we

rely

on

Christ

may

we

abide

in

his

power.

If

you

have

questions

about

this

or

what

this

looks

like

in

different

situations

I

know

it

can

be

very

complicated

it

can

feel

very

difficult

I

promise

I

will

never

individually

put

any

negative

pressure

on

you

but

I

also

give

me

account

to

Christ

as

a

minister

I

can't

stop

declaring

what

he

has

shown

me

and

what's

my

conviction

from

his

word

we

trust

lo

Jesus

Christ

is

with

us

always

even

to

the

end

of

the

!

let's

pray

father

we

thank

you

for

how

you

rule

over

your

people

and

your

church

for

how

you

are

a

good

shepherd

how

you

go

after

that

lost

lamb

and

you

bring

that

one

back

to

your

flock

!

for

Christ

we

pray

amen