 So over the next three weeks we are going to be talking about the documents of the church and let me give you some background as to why we're doing that and then maybe some direction with how we're gonna move forward in the coming weeks during the Sunday School class as you know, we just finished our series on union with Christ, which I thought was really really good and I hope you were blessed by that series It was a joy to be able to go through that in our Sunday School hour And so coming up now though what we plan to do during Sunday school is coordinate our Sunday School teaching with the teaching that goes on on Sunday night on the essentials of church doctrine and practice So as you know, we've switched things up on Sunday nights. We've moved from doing the essentials series on Sunday mornings To part two in the essentials series now dealing with the church our doctrine and practice on Sunday nights And the way we're you know framing those as one subject one sermon one hour on those Subjects essential to the life health growth of the Christian and in particular now Our study on the church church doctrine and church practice so to coordinate with that we like to try to coordinate our studies if possible so that you're We're covering one subject more broadly over several different teaching points in the church Helps us to retain those things a little bit better a little bit easier when we do that Gives you a good immersion into whatever subject it is that we're covering And so we want to try to coordinate now with Sunday school on Sunday morning So our plan is is during this hour is to do a series on the church and not just Maybe a basic series on the church but a series that will enable us to cover some subjects that we really feel like are critical and important at this point in time to be covering and so one of those Or one section of that study during the Sunday school hour will be on the regulative principle of worship So what I'm anticipating for that may be five or six weeks on how to think about the regulative principle How to apply the regulative principle how that applies to both our doctrine and our practice our worship and our functions here at The church, so we'll talk about that some but then I think we will attempt to start a relatively Lengthy or longer study on the relationship of church to state and we'll talk about the relationship of the church to our government the role of the church the role of the government the The authority of the government the authority of the Lord's Church The priority of Lord's Church the relationship between the two and what I think we will get into with that is what we're what we would call a theology of public life or a Theology of politics or a theology of Christian resistance Which I think is going to become increasingly important as time goes by this is something that we as a church are going to have to Understand understand well, and we want you to be thoroughly and well equipped with how we Understand those things and so we'll look at several texts in the Bible. We'll look at several subjects, you know a little shot across the bow If you will where the mask ordinances or the mask mandates Not too long ago here that we're dished out by our county in our state our country and there's more of that coming so we want to Help you help ourselves become well prepared as we see those things increasing many of you may have heard last week the pastor in Canada that was arrested apparently still in jail separated from his family over this issue of worship and so the the people of God need to be prepared for The persecution that's coming the difficulty that's coming as we want to spend some time doing that We'll also get into the church and social justice So in other words when we think about that that a series on the church that's sort of along the lines of what we're thinking In particular a bit of time on regulative principles not something that we ordinarily get to spend a good bit of time on I think that'll be really helpful to you, but then into a theology of Christian resistance or a theology of public life theology of social justice and so we'll Talk about that more as we go so we begin this morning though We thought would be helpful with the documents of the church We've come now to I know Pastor Dale the guys working on the essentials class are getting to the end of their first rotation with many of the Folks who are candidates for membership involved in that class and so the last three lessons are from really from part three In this new essential studies that will be rolling out soon that deal with Specific issues related to membership three of those are the documents of the church and when we say documents of the church We were thinking of Constitution Covenant and Confession right Constitution Covenant and Confession I didn't do that alliteration that was laid out for me That's what they're called a Constitution confession and and Covenant thank you already forgetting so we're gonna be talking about those three documents over the next three weeks and we'll do that For a few reasons one is that these Documents in our church really are living documents. They are not dry dusty Microsoft 98 Things that we keep in a file or put on a shelf somewhere These are documents that we use we refer to on a regular basis They are very important in the life of our church and so we want you to be well familiar with those documents We introduce them when someone comes for membership We spend some time talking about them and in some sense as we do rely on you to Understand to those and to read those to be familiar with those as we conduct church life around here But this is a good opportunity for us to spend a little bit of time on each of the three of those documents And I think as we go through that you'll see the reasons why that's important Practicality the practicality of those documents Requires regular review requires us to regular Regularly refer to them and so you'll hear us in our church regularly refer to our confession of faith We often do that during sermons in particular the essential sermons on Sunday night now You'll hear us do that during the essentials classes during Sunday school You'll hear us refer to our covenant on a regular basis and the members here will know That during membership matters for example, we're reciting our covenant together every single time we meet It's a document that has significance to us and it should and we need to be reminded of that the one that is probably Least familiar to you and maybe sort of least Out in the open so to speak and our practice as a church is the Constitution But the Constitution is a framework by which we do many of things that we do and very intentional document And so I pray it'll be a help to you this morning to review that We also have many new members many new attenders in our church many new Perspective members and we thought that a review of our documents in this way would also help them as they prepare for membership so our objective then in Talking about the documents of the church beginning this morning with the Constitution will be one to review the basis For their general use. What is the Constitution for? Why do we have one? We'll review the basis for their general use. We'll review the reasons for their specific form Why does our Constitution take the form that it does what purpose does it serve? How do we employ it and then we'll provide an overview of their basic content will look given the time left We'll look at the basic content of those documents and review that together. Okay, so those are our three objectives We're going to review the basis for their general use We're going to review the reasons for their specific form and then we're going to provide an overview of their basic content and Frequently at our church. I get questions on a regular basis about some matter in our Constitution. I think more frequently what we get is Questions related to the use of church covenants where church covenants come from why do churches use them? Are they biblical and what is their biblical basis? And so next week we're going to deal with Covenant and we're going to look at a Baptistic background a biblical background for the use of covenants and that's going to be really helpful and then we'll get an overview of our Confession three weeks from today. Okay, so if you need them, we have these Documents Nikki was very gracious to help us lay these out and we've got these copy lead to copy them I think yesterday and we've got these at the welcome desk for you So it'd be good for you to have a hard copy in your hands. That's available to you But also let me make a shameless plug for our church app I don't have my phone with me, but if you download our church app At the bottom of our home page on the church app There's a little resources button and if you click on resources then under resources if you click on members Right up front on that members page in our church app. You'll see Constitution covenant and confession and it's all laid out. It's laid out with hyperlink So you can go to our table of contents you can click on whatever aspect you want to look at It'll take you straight to that page in our Constitution or in our confession It really really excellent the way that Eggers laid that out and really helpful So I want to encourage you we have these handouts these outlines available So if you need one of these maybe the brothers can pass those out Josh is coming around with Constitutions then if somebody wouldn't mind grabbing a stack of outlines these outlines are available to you also help you follow along Okay, let's begin. We're talking about this morning then the cornerstone Constitution the Constitution of our Church, thanks brother Okay, when we think about heading number one then the basis for its general use What is the basis for the general use of a Constitution? Why do churches have constitutions? First, I think this is really important is necessary church order Necessary church order the use of a formal and legal document called a church Constitution arose in response to the need for Increased order in the Lord's church in the local church in the local body of believers And we begin with that premise that the Lord's church should be in order from scripture We find that in scripture in several places 1st Timothy chapter 3 verse 15 We as believers should know how we are to conduct ourselves in the house of God Which is the church of the living God the pillar and ground of the truth as we learn To understand how we are to conduct ourselves in the household of God, which is the church of the living God Obviously, we take all that we understand all that we know from the Bible and we apply that to church life And that's how we're to understand how we are to live with one another in the church but where constitutions where covenants where confessions have come from really is a systematizing of Those scriptural principles scriptural commands. It's a systematizing of what the Bible teaches and Arranging that in an orderly fashion so that it's easy for us to see and understand as we apply it directly to church life And so that's where a confession a constitution a covenant comes from we'll talk about that more as we go Okay, let's talk about the general basis then our general biblical background and to do that turn with me to Colossians chapter 2 Let's just take a look at a couple of texts All right, we're talking about the basis for its general use the basis for the general use of a church constitution and where that came from Colossians chapter 2 and beginning in verse 1 as Paul writes here just like in Rome as we're going through our series on Romans and Sunday morning Paul greatly desires to visit this church in Coloss he greatly desires to visit the Colossians And so he so it says he gives a purpose for that visit in verse beginning in verse 1 consider this purpose with me Paul says for I want you to know What a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea For as many as have not seen my face in the flesh so that here's the purpose statement right verse 2 so that one their hearts may be encouraged being knit together in love to Attaining to all the riches of the full assurance of understanding and Three to the knowledge of the mystery of God both of the Father and of Christ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge So Paul wants to visit the Colossians visit the church at Coloss and he wants to do that for three purposes Their hearts may be encouraged They may attain to all the riches of full assurance and understanding and three They may attain to the knowledge of the mystery of God both of the Father and of Jesus Christ in whom are hidden all the Treasures of wisdom and knowledge but then he gives a Theological reason for his visit Verse 4 now I say this lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words in the words Paul wants to come Visit them Paul wants to teach because Paul knows that false teaching can take root in the church And he wants them to avoid deceitful traps of the false teachers that Paul has already mentioned in this letter Okay, but then there's a personal a personal reason also verse 5 For though I am absent in the flesh yet I am with you in spirit rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ all right, so Paul absent we're gonna talk about tonight in the sermon this evening about the communion of the saints But that's what's going on here with Paul and these believers at the church in Colossus What's going on with Paul and the church at Rome in Romans chapter one right? There's this spirit-wrought communion of the saints that exist between believers based upon his spirit Based upon what we believe and why we believe it based upon the work of the spirit in our hearts that unites us together in love Unites us together in faith. We're in union with Jesus Christ and by virtue of our union with Jesus Christ We're in union with one another and that's that's that Heart Reason why Paul longs to go and see them why he wants to be with them right he is with them in spirit That's exactly what Paul's talking about is the communion of the saints and he's rejoicing now What is he rejoicing in with respect to them? He's rejoicing in their good order and the steadfastness of their faith. That's interesting isn't it? Good order and steadfastness of faith the word for order is Toxis Toxis orderly conduct the word for steadfastness the steadfastness of your faith is Stereo Oma Stereo ma I can pronounce that correctly now. These are considered by many to be military terms right military terms Taxis referring to good order or a lining up of soldiers in a battle ray, right? If you can imagine Roman guard for example, and they're all lined up in their armor Lined up with their weapons. They're in good military order and then Stereo Oma meaning a steadfast or firm Referring to the strength of that order. I lined up in battle array shields out swords drawn There's a firmness or a stability to those battle formations The church at Coloss is in good disciplined military order And that order is firm and secure and that is something that Paul is rejoicing in Working order defenses are well established well in place and it suggests that the Colossians are running a tight ship They're running a tight ship a disciplined ship And therefore running a tight ship running a discipline ship the church at Coloss is well prepared to defend themselves against attack in particular in context it's Attack or the threat from false teaching false teachers But we could conceive of many ways in which the church is under attack. Couldn't we that good order? Would serve us well to defend ourselves against that attack, right? So good order a steadfastness of firmness in our faith and good order will defend us Against threats against trouble against attack. It's the same word. Toxas. It's the same word used in 1st Corinthians chapter 14 verse 40 Paul says in verse 33 God is not the author of confusion, but of peace as in all the churches of the saints and in verse 40 Paul says let all things be done then decently and in order same word In Titus chapter 1 verse 5 turn over to Titus chapter 1 verse 5 with me And we're talking about the basis for the general use of a constitution in the church and the first Basis for the general use of a church constitution is necessary church order in chapter 1 Titus chapter 1 Beginning in verse 4 to Titus a true son in our common faith Grace mercy and peace from God the father and the Lord Jesus Christ our savior He tells Titus for this reason I left you in Crete that you should set in order the things that are lacking Set in order the things that are lacking at a point elders in every city as I commanded you the word Order there is epi Dior thought oh epi Dior thought oh it's Referring to Something that's not in complete order something that needs additional order right Paul is leaving Titus in Crete so that Titus can further order those things in the churches of Crete right he can set things in order He can further organize that which is lacking the things that are lacking are plural and Then Paul gives a representative example. He is to appoint elders in every city So I think from them the indication by the plural right the things plural that are lacking That in the churches of Crete there were several things that were lacking in any church There may be several things that are lacking but chief among those would be elders that needed to be appointed in every city So of the things that are lacking in a church leadership is of primary importance It is of primary importance that Titus appoint elders and then elders can help with Putting things or setting things in order those things which are lacking Okay, but the point of this all is that with respect to a church there is to be order in the church There are those things which are lacking that pertain to order that pertain to governance that pertain to polity Pertain to how we live and conduct ourselves in the household of God and these things are to be put in order in everything Paul says let everything be done Decently and in order and with that church in Coloss Paul is impressed. He's rejoicing in their good order, right? So the basis that the basis of its general use Why would we have a constitution is to facilitate good order? Okay, any questions about that so far? All right, so a constitution helps us to facilitate good order second on your notes there in the outline that order Good church order is a a responsibility of autonomy It's a responsibility of autonomy and what do we mean by that? Baptist churches all churches are supposed to be Baptist churches are autonomous it comes from one word auto nammas auto meaning self Not a namas meaning law in other words autonomous means self governing or self Directing self Regulating churches. They are self governing self regulating under the lordship of Jesus Christ But each local church is responsible for its own order so Order in the church is a function of our autonomy. We don't go to a denomination For order. We don't submit ourselves to a hierarchy for order. We don't go to Cardinals and bishops and popes We don't go to a magisterium We are responsible for our own order. You see that throughout the New Testament, right? It's amazing to me that we sometimes lose sight of the fact that the letters of the New Testament were written to individual churches to communities a scattered across Asia in The first century and these were local churches that were responsible for their own order autonomy Means that the church solely under the lordship of Jesus Christ and the guidance of the Holy Spirit Selects its pastoral Leadership appoints deacons Determines its worship decides financial matters admits members Exercises discipline and directs other church related affairs without Outside control or supervision other than the supervision of the Lord Jesus Christ himself who is the head of the church, right? So autonomy means that the church is responsible for all those things, okay? So being autonomous then Point to there being autonomous a church recognizes no Modern mental control over faith and religious practice A church is to establish its own governmental control Although churches obey the laws of governments related to certain matters They refuse to recognize the authority of governments in matters of doctrine and matters of polity and ministry And Matthew chapter 22 verse 21 The Lord says a render to Caesar that which is Caesar and to God those things which are God's right And that's a principle that applies certainly in that specific context that takes place there in Matthew chapter 22 But also applies in a broad array of context with respect to the church the church is not Submitted in that sense to Caesar We're not submitted to governments. We are autonomous now Baptists Have From their inception really have upheld a separation of church and state We're gonna talk about that more as we work through this series on the church Baptists have consistently rejected the efforts of secular governments or a government entity to dictate to a church What to believe how to practice how to worship how? We should appoint elders or members who should or should not be members That is at the discretion of each individual church because each interval individual church is autonomous, right? And we don't submit ourselves in that sense to para church organizations like denominations like Associations of churches that then begin to lord it over the members of their association or The extra structures extra biblical structures that are imposed upon the church. We see No examples of that in the New Testament. It simply doesn't exist and we think about we will talk about this more in the future But when we speak about then the regulative principle whatever we don't see commanded or Commended in the Bible is expressly forbidden in our worship or in our doctrine in our practice, right? So we look to God's word then for warrant as to how we are to function is how we are to operate And we don't see those extra biblical para church hierarchical organizations or structures in the Bible each church is on an autonomous body Churches as our confession says churches may relate to one another and they do start they do so in terms of fellowship Our confession refers to it as holding communion together Right in that holding communion together that communion the communion of saints We're gonna talk about that tonight the communion of saints the fellowship of the saints we see in the cause of the gospel We see in matters that exist between churches like members transferring back and forth or people moving back and forth But no individual group Organization Exercises authority over the church that church alone is responsible for its own government and order That's a principle of Sola script here up Right the Bible alone is our supreme authority in all matters pertaining to faith and practice and the regulative principle then applies The New Testament recognizes no para church no hierarchical governmental structure Therefore autonomous churches are responsible for church order including governance, okay, so Point one then on your notes. We were discussing the basis for the general use of a constitution Why would we have a church constitution? Someone might say right you hear people will say sometimes No creeds, but Christ no books, but the Bible and we shouldn't have anything that exists outside the Bible We need help with sometimes systematizing what the Bible teaches the Bible is full huge rich deep Document and sometimes with respect. What does the Bible teach about appointing elders? We need to systemize all that the Bible teaches about appointing elders and then it's good to write that down So we know what the Bible teaches about appointing elders And so that we have a basis or a framework on what on which we can agree on what the Bible teaches about appointing elders So that you know Frank or Sally or Tom who come into the church can say well I think the Bible says this about no, no, no This is what we as a church believe the Bible teaches clearly about appointing elders and all that should come from scripture But it helps us to systemize systematize that good teaching. Okay Point one the basis for its general use one necessary church order and that order is a necessary function of our Autonomy as a biblical church any questions about point one then on your notes The basis for its general use This is why we have a constitution Okay, moving on to point two good Let's talk about next then Reasons for its specific form all right reasons for its specific form Why do we have it in the form of a church? Constitution why is it arranged the way that it is why do we use this document in the way that we use it? There are practical reasons and then there are legal reasons right practical reasons and legal reasons Let's first discuss the practical reasons together. Okay? first of the practical reasons there are reasons that are For the help the benefit the blessing of the individual or London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689 in chapter 26 on the church Article 12 if you've got your church app you can punch that in and be there in two seconds Under article 12 our confession says that as all believers are bound to join themselves to particular churches When and where they have opportunity so to do so all that are admitted under the privileges of a church are also under the censures and Government there of according to the rule of Christ. Okay, so now that's um Bit of a loaded statement But it's a really good really helpful statement with respect to your membership in Local church, but in particular in our church. Okay, what is what is our confession saying there chapter 26 article 12 first? All believers are bound to join themselves to particular churches Means that believers are to commit themselves We would say through baptism and through membership are to commit to themselves to serve in particular local churches In obedience to the command of Jesus Christ, right? It's it's um not biblical for people to float from church to church or to Sit sort of on the outskirts if you will uncommitted Uninvolved unengaged in a church believers are bound to join themselves to the church That's point number one that the confession makes and that's by the command of Jesus Christ When and where they have opportunity so to do So that's why we would say to regular attenders here, right? Once you visit our church We want visitors to feel welcome. We want visitors to come we want guests to be able to stay with us Why because we want them to get to know us? We want them to understand who we are what we believe why we believe it what we do and why we do it We're very intentional about the things that we do here very specific about what we do here and that's for a very good reason and so anyone that comes we want to give them time to Get to know that and to get to understand that by the same token. We want to get to know them Don't we all right? We have a responsibility With who comes into the membership of the local church. We'll talk about it a minute why that's important and The the things that we should consider in admitting members to the church But for that member it's really important to understand what they're getting themselves into They are bound to join themselves and when they join I say this on a regular basis to new members We're not joining you. You're joining us, okay? You're joining us. We're not joining you That's a good perspective to keep in mind You need to understand what you're getting yourself into okay So that they're they're bound to join themselves to particular churches so that They are admitted unto the privileges of the church When they join themselves at the church, they're admitted to the privileges of the church. Well, what are those privileges? All right, what are what are those privileges now? I can as I say that statement I can just things pop into my head, you know pop into my head all the blessings and privileges of the church But many times the blessings and privileges of membership in a church go beyond those things that might Immediately pop into your head that are oftentimes associated with the blessings of just being a christian right the blessings of fellowship The blessings of communion with the saints But you also have privileges of membership that that regular attenders or guests do not enjoy Where are those benefits or privileges? Where are they? Outlined where they listed In our constitution right in our constitution You have benefits of being a member of a local church, but you also have responsibilities of membership. Where are those responsibilities? Listed they're listed in our constitution our constitution is not an exhaustive or a comprehensive list of those blessings and responsibilities But it is a representative list And a very important list if you're going to exercise Responsibilities of membership among us. Okay, you're going to find those in the constitution Also, though when you bind yourselves to a particular church You're submitting yourselves to the censures of the church. This is extremely important, right? Our confession they are also under the censures and the government thereof So by becoming a member of the church you submit yourself willingly voluntarily under the censures or the discipline And of under the governance of this church Now obviously the censures or the discipline of this church is explained in the bible The government of this church is explained in the bible But what our constitution enables us to do is to systematize all of that teaching Right the various texts related to discipline, right? Matthew chapter 18 first Corinthians chapter 5 second pestilence chapter 3 Titus chapter 3 right several texts that deal with discipline How we're how are we to understand those texts? How do we apply those texts in practice? It's laid out in our constitution It's laid out in the documents of our governance those documents of good order When we think about censure when we think about government when we think about discipline when we think about rights and responsibilities of membership We outline those in a systematic way in our constitution So that we can easily see and refer to those In matters of practice, okay? So you're submitting yourself under the censures of the church You're submitting yourself under the government of the church and that lastly in our confession That's according to the rule of christ According to the rule of christ points us back to the bible Uh and points us back to the regulative principle or solar scriptura That how we govern ourselves how we conduct ourselves Should be according to the bible whatever is commanded or commended That is what we want to do that which is not commanded or commended is forbidden in our practice or in our worship, okay? So those are practical reasons to the individual What about practical reasons for our body as a local church corporate? Reasons not just individual reasons, but corporate reasons Well, um our constitution then becomes a means By which we endeavor to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace um Years ago many of you you old timers here We got many of them in the room Older we got many new timers in the room too, but uh you old timers will remember Back when uh, you know, we're going through a period of difficulty or a period of trial in our church How everything began to be questioned, right? Everything was held up to a scrutiny and there is a sense in which that is Good, right? Everything is held up to scrutiny everything is Should be questioned and it should be questioned according to scripture a lot of times when you get these bodies like um Many churches for example Where just over a period of time things devolve in a little more than just base traditionalism You end up following the commandments of men teaching those commandments of men as doctrines of god And you wind up in all kinds of of error and trouble so we don't want to Give ourselves over to just base Traditionalism everything's up for scrutiny and should be scrutinized under the word of god And so if anybody if the if if someone Fresh out of the oven they've been converted three minutes They walk up to me and say you guys are doing this, but this is what it says in the bible and they're right What are we gonna do that minute? I'm I'm committed. I'm we're we're a pledge to one another that that minute that thing is changing Right because that's what the bible teaches and we need to be obeying the bible and not the traditions of men and so That is always up for scrutiny. However We are very intentional here And we we try to be lord help us try to be as thoughtful as we can about what we do and why we do it And so many of those things given time have been um Considered under the searing spotlight of god's word and we have carefully and I believe With a clear conscience before god faithfully Set those practices in place in a way that we believe honors the lord and Steams the lord's church and so that systematizing then of those Questions and issues of doctrine and practice that we've tried to be careful about working through Our systematizing of those things then becomes a means by which we protect or endeavor labor To maintain our unity the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace Such that uh during those times of volatility like we went through in the past when somebody comes up and says Why are we following this 1689 thing? There are too many things here that we would disagree with and I like Who's the weed? Do you have a mouse in your pocket? No, no, no, we we believe we hold to the 1689 London Baptist Convention. That's not something we're going to change. Why do we Do expository preaching? Why would we we should be a topical? No We we have determined that expository preaching is what we're going to be fundamentally about and here's why we have Agreed together to be committed to that Form of preaching and teaching and in the Lord's church, right? These fundamental things What a document? like a Constitution a confession or a covenant what those documents do Is uh protect ourselves corporately From what can be the shifting sands of man's preferences and opinions given time, right? It should be really Difficult and it is to change your constitution or to change your confession or to change your covenant Right at the time when all that volatility was taking place people rightly Began to think to themselves is our covenant Something that still stands Or is it something we need to completely scrap and do over right and after Length these things don't happen in a moment either, right? If somebody comes up to you and says Listen, we need to amend our constitution and we need to do it by tuesday That is ample reason in and of itself not to do it by tuesday, right? We're we we need to take our time and needs to take a long period of time and it did right we we Um You know for example that that real difficulty the trials in our church at that time that was you know 2012 It seems like a lifetime ago and 2012 seems so recent It seems like a lifetime ago, but we we ended up over a period of a couple of years thinking through all those issues and Rerote our constitution in 2014 To reflect those things that we had learned, but it was two years of dealing with those things and thinking through those things And two years is a very short amount of time, right? We should this this our constitution should be more ensconced if you will over years and years of use And it should be difficult to amend So it it it becomes then a means the word of god is what stands behind the constitution The word of god is what the constitution reflects the word of god is timeless And so our constitution then becomes a means by which The lord through his word protects Our unity and our peace around those things we've determined are important to church governance church polity Our faith and practice okay any any questions or thoughts about that? Really important for that reason Secondly with regard to corporate reasons or corporate benefits to a constitution It's a means of our protection The lord we do not put our faith or trust in chariots or horses Our trust is in the living god Uh, but our god uses means And we are to be wise and we are to be prudent and our constitution is a means through which god May protect our church and when I use that word may uh on purpose Um, and we'll talk about that in just a moment. Um, so We've talked about the reasons for its specific form There are practical reasons. Secondly, there are practical reasons including both individual reasons and corporate reasons Secondly, there are legal reasons. We need to move along here Actually get to talk about the constitution itself legal reasons We talked about church autonomy Right, there is a relationship between that autonomy and the state So when we get into our series on the church and we're going to talk about the church and the state and we're going to talk about um Something i've been reading about lately called sphere sovereignty sphere sovereignty. Let me give you an example briefly God has created institutions One of the institutions that god has created is the church Another institution that god has created is the family another institution that god has created is government, right? government governments are instituted by god roman chapter 13, right? So governments are instituted by god in each of those spheres There is responsibility There is sovereignty Over responsibilities. There is a stewardship given to each of those spheres of authority, right? abraham kuiper, uh, dutch reformer, uh, dutch theologian referred to that as sphere sovereignty and what happens often often Is one of those spheres will um Grasp for itself more sovereignty Then it is strictly and biblically entitled to and like The river jordan it will overflow its banks Into other spheres now in history. We've seen that happen frequently with a church, haven't we? Where the church begins to act like the state and the church begins to imprison people and It's it's um An unbiblical extension of israel's theocracy into the new covenant church where it doesn't belong and the church begins to um grasp for itself um A sovereignty if you will that doesn't properly belong to it. Jesus christ says my kingdom is not of this world Okay, we'll talk about that when we get there um What we see in our day and what we've seen most frequently throughout history Is the government overspilling its banks into a sphere where it does not belong And that's what we see principally right now. Uh, I think the um those who uh Wrote our constitution our united states constitution Would be sickened and disgusted by the encroachment of our government into the sphere Sovereignty of the church and that's why it's so important that we begin to talk about that as a church here very soon. So, um But there is this the relationship between church and state And that relationship has been defined in terms of something called the church autonomy doctrine The church autonomy doctrine or ecclesiastical extension or ecclesiastical abstention what that um Does what the church autonomy doctrine we're talking about legal terms now is it establishes a constitutional denial of Jurisdiction in other words the state The government has no jurisdiction in ecclesiastical matters Um The the church autonomy doctrine by definition establishes a constitutional denial of jurisdiction Grounded in the free exercise clause of the first amendment right the free exercise of religion clause in the first amendment Rational for this is that courts do not have the competence or the capacity to decide questions of doctrine religious doctrine And civil courts must not make what amounts to religious pronouncements And we see the court attempting to do that on a regular basis, but courts aren't equipped aren't capable of doing that They have no competence to do that our constitution prevents them from doing that restricts them from doing that And the bible says they shouldn't be doing that. Okay Now this has been upheld in the history of our country Over decades and decades in particularly in uh 2002 case law mckelvey versus pierce Listen to some of the things that the court decided this is continuously upheld this court um agreed upon Ecclesiastical jurisdiction listen to what um is said in this decision The doctrine this doctrine church autonomy doctrine is rooted both in both of the religious Clauses of our constitution Protecting a church's freedom to regulate its own internal affairs by prohibiting civil court review of internal church Disputes involving matters of faith doctrine church governance and polity It puts a distinction between the two the essence of church autonomy Is that the church should be run by duly constituted church authorities? and not by legislators administrative agencies labor unions disgruntled laypeople or other actors lacking authority under church law right Church autonomy is also rooted in case law That affirms the fundamental right of churches to decide for themselves Free from state interference matters of church government as well as those of faith and of doctrine Um, in other words, there is this ecclesiastical jurisdiction that is recognized between the sphere sovereignty of the state And that of the church and it's important that we maintain the distinction of the difference between those two now um One of the reasons that we say there is a legal reason for having a church constitution is that um it's not It doesn't function well to go into The courts of the state with your bible And say this is what the bible says. So this is what we're going to do The bible is interpreted and the state understands it interpreted by the various autonomous churches That exist And those churches have their own um understanding their own A codification if you will of church polity Where is that church polity to be expressed or codified? It's expressed or codified in our constitution and the state those court Jurisdictions of the state recognize or acknowledge church constitutions. So we put our constitution together one of the The reasons that we put our constitution together is for the benefit for the blessing of the people coming to our church for you So that you understand so that we understand together what we're all about and why we are all about it But then secondly, it's to help us in our relationship with the state or with the courts And in that sense it becomes a document that protects us also, right? There are many things that in That are connected to this many reasons why that's important. Okay That ecclesiastical protection that comes from Our use of a document like a church constitution Um Comes through or arises from membership Now when somebody's here for a period of time It is assumed that those who are here for a period of time are submitting themselves to our practice here, right? So it's um, there's a common law if you will if you're here for a period of time It's acknowledged and he'll holds up in court on a regular basis That you're submitting yourselves to the way that we do things here and you're doing that By coming by attending But this ecclesiastical protection from our church really arises from membership. It's the people of god here coming together in our Joint membership and saying these are the things that we believe Here's how we are going to function. This is what we believe that our government should be about Here's how we are to practice the things that we believe and we're saying as a church body This is what it is and we've systematized that in this document called a church constitution So that when that or if that is challenged Um, we can say no no. Here's where where it is and here's what we believe And that's why if you read our constitution also you'll see a lot of scripture referenced in our constitution Scripture is referenced throughout. It's not You know some constitutions you'll see is sort of like these boilerplate boilerplate documents that have nothing in them But a couple of um statements We loaded ours with scripture. Why? Because it establishes jurisdiction The state has no jurisdiction the bible has jurisdiction questions. Yeah any questions Yes Kind of a side note from what we're talking about if someone's been coming here for like two years But they're not an official member haven't signed the covenant. Can they still be put under church discipline? Yeah, that's a very good question and where would you find One place where would you find the answer to that question? In our church constitution. Yes, it's a good question brother and yes Like that's a really important question right church discipline Is to be practiced on members of the church So we would not practice church discipline on a non-member somebody From a biblical or constitutional basis. Um, somebody explained to me why that is why would we not practice discipline On a non-member Someone who's not a member of our church Anybody nope, nancy. I want to take a stab at it Yeah Well, they may not be believers because when people are become members of the church They're members. I mean they're they're they're believers. We're affirming their profession, right? Yeah, so that's a maybe a portion of it Yes, very good very good Yeah one for right when somebody joins our church. We're affirming them. We're affirming their profession of faith. So josh Oh I was gonna say that they haven't officially given consent To uh to that as of yet. Yeah, you're getting there right? Yes. So they're they're they have not Voluntarily yet have not voluntarily submitted themselves To the as our confession of faith states it the censures and the government of our church, right josh In uh first corinthians chapter 5 Verse 12 It says For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do not judge those who are inside So there's a clear distinction between those who are Inside the church and those who are outside. Yeah amen and how are we to? Um Determine or to delineate Distinguish those who are on the outside from those who are on the inside one of the ways that we do that is through church membership Yeah, very good. Very good question. Yes, sir brother Morning brother. Good morning If someone has been attending our church and has made a profession of faith for two years But is living in a practice of sin. We will deal with them Yes, and yeah, thank you brother for bringing up that distinction So there is in this our Are our constitution also discusses this there is a distinction between what we would consider to be formative church discipline And corrective church discipline, right? So Anyone who comes to our church like according to matthew 18 according to first corinthians chapter 5 Anyone who would come to our church we would approach them in sin And deal with them according to the bible, right? But in terms of x communication in terms of Saying we no longer affirm your profession of faith As a believer we reserve that corrective church discipline only for members of the church What we would do in the case of someone here who was In unrepentant sin that way if that rose to the degree that we are Working through matthew 18 for example with them and we reached that point of telling it to the church We're going to ask them to leave Um In a sense you can stay here, but you can't cause trouble All right, so we're going to ask you to leave the church But the censures of the church or the did the corrective discipline of the church is reserved for those who are Members of the church those who have voluntarily submitted themselves to the censures and government of our church Um, so in that sense x communication the practice of the church For its members Last question josh Oh just another comment if someone's been here for like maybe one year or Even a little bit more than that we would ask them. Why haven't they become members yet? Yes, yeah, so they're and if they don't want to become members of the church We would ask them to seek membership elsewhere. Yeah, very good. So even before You know it it does happen, you know where there's church discipline. We have to deal with sin when it comes Oh, I don't think that was my voice um But um If they've been here for a good amount of time, we would encourage them to become members Yeah, very good. Yeah our confession, right? Um, they are bound To join themselves to a local church By the command of christ So yeah, if if we will tell folks um, and we have and uh, if you can't join here Then go somewhere where you can join you need to be a member of a church And part of that is the accountability that comes with Um church governance church polity polity in particular, um discipline Last minute here, and then we're gonna have to close out to get ready for the morning service Um, you've got your copy of the constitution. We've talked about I think those two things are important We don't usually get an opportunity to talk about the basis for the general use of a constitution And then the reasons for a specific form in particular those Individual corporate and legal reasons So I wanted to go over those with you, but you have a hard copy of our constitution We've got more available at the welcome desk if you'd like to have one you've got it on the church app I want to invite you uh, take some time maybe in Fellowship take some time with your family just read through these various sections I think they're very important article six on church membership the qualifications for church membership Uh admission to church membership responsibilities, um article e A responsibilities and privileges of church membership Uh termination of church membership Um article seven an entire article dedicated to church discipline how we view church discipline How we practice church discipline very very important and this is you know, we go through this with new members because this is um What you as a member of our church are submitting yourself to in the practice of the church Now we believe that this accurately and faithfully represents what the bible teaches Uh and how we are to practice, but this flesh is out Gives practicality to what we believe the bible teaches. So really really important. Um, the things that you're responsible for voting for we're we're um considered uh an elder led Governance an elder led polity But we for the sake of unity and for the sake of our peace involve the congregation on many many decisions and votes And so you have a responsibility uh to vote on in many many cases Admitting members we involve the congregation in cases of church discipline We involve the congregation in appointing elders and deacons. We involve the church In amending this constitution requires a three fourths vote of our membership to amend the constitution To buy property would require a vote of our congregation, right? So many things in which um many ways in which although we are Elder led because we believe that's what the bible teaches In many cases. We are congregational in terms of the decisions that we're we're going to be going to be making because we involve The congregation in that okay That suffices for our very Top level overview of the church constitution. We'll look at the covenant next week if you have questions Please feel free to come and ask. We'll be happy to discuss that with you. Let's pray Father in heaven lord, thank you for your word. Thank you for the basis that your word gives us a good sure guide your truth that Gives us all the instruction that we need to govern ourselves properly. Thank you for The commendation of Paul and others to good order in the church and help us lord to be faithful To establish maintain sustain and practice good order doing everything here decently in an order For your glory and for our own blessing and benefit for our own protection Help us to Faithfully adhere to what the word of god clearly teaches on these things help us to Maintain endeavor labor to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace Through the use of these means like a church Constitution and although lord, we understand that you are the one who protects us. We pray lord that you would Help us to operate in wisdom By implementing a document like this to protect us from Those that would seek to undermine the church or do us harm I pray lord that we would look to you For that protection trust you for it and lord, please protect us We love you and depend upon you for all these things in jesus name. Amen