 So, for the past few weeks we've been about to have an essentials class on church membership, but for various reasons that hasn't happened, and it now happens that we're going to have a combined class this morning and we're going to talk about church membership. I'm intending here to maybe do some preventive maintenance, go through some reminders for many of you, for some of you, some of the things that we may cover this morning will be new information. But we've had a couple of situations recently and really over the years I think some of the difficulties that people have experienced or gotten themselves into partly were a function of not having a right and biblical understanding of the church and of church membership. And so some of those things happened very recently and it just seemed like a good opportunity to talk to the whole church, the whole Sunday School. Well I know some of this will be like preaching to the choir, some of you, but I hope it will be helpful. And part of what we're going to focus on is loyalty, loyalty to the local church. Loyalty is defined as a strong feeling of support or allegiance. And we believe that the Bible teaches that your local church, this church, is to have preeminence in your life. It is to be so central that major decisions about where you live, the work you do, and many other priorities and responsibilities revolve around your church life and not the other way around. And we know that this is counter-cultural even within Christian circles. But that's why we're going to spend some time on it. One of the things that I'll refer to throughout the lesson is this book by Peter Masters, church membership in the Bible. Peter Masters' name that you may be familiar with, it's on our confession. He's the one who edited this version of our confession. And he has a number of really good points that he makes in this book, but he's got a whole chapter on loyalty. So we'll be moving in that direction. The plan is for us to first take a look at some of the paragraphs in the confession that speak to church membership. Then we're going to look at 1 Corinthians 12 and go through verses 12 to 27 and what they say about how the church has been designed by God and how you have been made to fit into it. And then we'll take from that some of the applications that Peter Masters has in his book. So if you've got your 1689, turn with me there to chapter 26. If you don't have one, you might not be aware that there's an app in the play store that is the 1689, because you can have it everywhere you go. And we have it on the church app too, I forgot about that. So in the 1689, the chapter on the church in paragraph five, I'm going to look at paragraphs five, six, seven, 12 and 13, just a kind of a quick overview by way of reminder, but it's good to be reminded of these things. So in chapter 26, paragraph five, in the exercise of the authority which has been entrusted to him, the Lord Jesus calls to himself from out of the world through the ministry of his word by his spirit, those who are given to him by his father, so that they may walk before him in all the ways of obedience, which he prescribes to them in his word. Those who are thus called, he commands to walk together in particular societies or churches for their mutual edification and for the due performance of that public worship which he requires of them in the world. The texts that support these points are noted there, we're not going to go through all of them, and there are others besides these that are mentioned that could be quoted in support of this doctrinal position. But I'll draw your attention specifically in this one to Matthew 18, 15 to 20, which we know to be that passage on church discipline, we refer to it as church discipline. It's really just about how we are to conduct ourselves together. When I first considered the fact that this passage on church discipline is central to our understanding of the necessity of church membership, I was kind of shocked by it, that that would be the thing that the confession would specifically mention. But it spells out the ways that we are to interact with each other and to preserve the unity among us, to preserve the purity of the church, and you can't do those things that are spelled out in that passage apart from being in a church. And so that's really the issue. You can't live out that kind of commitment to each other, accountability toward each other, with each other apart from being committed to a local church. So then paragraph six, the members of these churches are saints because they have been called by Christ and because they visibly manifest and give evidence of their obedience to that call by their profession and walk. Such saints willingly consent to walk together according to the appointment of Christ, giving themselves up to the Lord and to one another according to God's will and abound subjection to the ordinances of the gospel. So we are willingly consenting to walk together, but we've been called to do that by Christ. And he has prescribed the ways that he wants his worship to be done. And part of that, you know, the reference here in abound subjection to the ordinances of the gospel. So we can't just sort of wing it and do it however we wish. We are, it's an issue of obedience, really, the issue of, you know, committing yourself to a local church body. One of the passages there in support of that section is Acts 241 and 42, where we have the history of the first church, how they conducted themselves. Let's look at that, Acts 241 and 42. So those who received his word were baptized and they were added that day about 3,000 souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship to the breaking of bread and the prayers. One of the things we see here is the ordinance of baptism, the ordinance of breaking of bread, but the adding to their number so that there was a defined and specific number of people who were the church. So there were some who were the church and then there were others who were not the church, but there was a defined group. And so that speaks to our responsibility to commit ourselves to a local body. Paragraph 7, to each of these churches thus gathered, according to the Lord's mind as declared in his word, he has given all the power and authority which is in any way required for them to carry on the order of worship and discipline which he has instituted for them to observe. He has also given them all the commands and rules for the due and right exercise of this power. And so this is a Baptist distinctive. We have, well, in Master's explanatory note there, he says, because all the power and authority which is in any way required is given to local churches, there is no function left for synods, councils, annual assemblies, area superintendents, Episcopal bishops, general secretaries, or any other kind of denominational authority. The Lord directly and personally governs and empowers local churches which are humanly autonomous, independent, and self-governing. This article also affirms that the New Testament provides a clear pattern for all the legitimate activities and governments of the Lord's churches, in fact, disregarded by so many. So every Baptist's church is an independent, Christ is the head of the church, and every Baptist's church operates independently. There are all manner of variations of what that looks like. I saw once a history of all of the Baptist denominations, and it was like the spider web of different churches breaking off in different directions over specific doctrinal values, but all Baptist, nonetheless, paragraph 12, all believers are bound to join themselves to particular churches when and where they have opportunity to do so, and all who are admitted into the privileges of a church are also under the censures and government of that church in accordance with the rule of Christ. So your commitment to this church includes submission to really each other, to elders and especially to the Lord. And so it's a truth that we will all generally nod our heads and agree until someone counsels you in a way that you don't want to hear. So, beware of your own rebellion. It is really, I won't say every case, but in most cases where someone has left the church and it has been an unpleasant parting, there's been a rebellion of some kind. I'm not going to do that, I'm not going to take that counsel, I'm not going to submit to your leadership, but your membership calls your commitment to the church, your status as a member calls you to do that. And we're all rebels by nature. We need to be trained, we need to be changed really so that we are able to submit to each other. In paragraph 13, no church members because of any offense which has been given them by a fellow member once they have performed their prescribed duty towards the person who has caused the offense may disturb church order in any way or be absent from the meetings of the church or the administration of any ordinances on account of such offense. On the contrary, they are to wait upon Christ in the further proceedings of the church. So when someone says, well, I'm going to withdraw my membership, sometimes we say no, you're not, that's not a, it's not that in every case that's not right. There are legitimate reasons why you might leave. You know, principally if you had a significant change in your understanding of what the Bible teaches regarding church government, for example, you may decide that you need to be in a church that agrees with your new conviction on that issue. But simply to withdraw it, you know, just to say, well, I disagree with, you know, the council you're giving me, so I'm leaving. That's really not an option for you once you're a member of the church. We, you know, obviously we can't physically restrain you, we're not going to do that, but it does speak to the peace that you have with your brothers. It does have some bearing on whether we would, you know, recommend to another church that you'd be accepted as a member. If you've left here on bad terms, you're called to make things right. So there are, you know, we have had, it's kind of rare, but sometimes we do get calls from pastors at other churches who will say, you know, so-and-so is visiting here and I need to know what the status was when they left and, you know, do you commend them to us? That's the exception. Most of the time it seems, at least it's been our experience, that they're so loosely structured, so really careless about the way that they shepherd their flocks that it's not even a part of the discussion. Welcome, welcome, come on in, you know, oh, you were disfellowshipped, don't worry about it, so that's been, you know, our experience primarily. But so there's just a brief, you know, reminder of some of the key paragraphs in the confession. I wanted to go through those just as sort of a way of setting the table for what we're going to talk about, that I hear a question. So with that, turn with me to 1 Corinthians 12, and let's look at verses 12 to 27. This is one of many metaphors that we see in the Bible for the church. We'll look at more briefly at some of the others, but we wanted to, I wanted to spend a good bit of time on this one. This chapter starts with a discussion of spiritual gifts, and it's an important thing to think through. I don't want to take the time to do that now, except to say that when you're indwelled by the Spirit of God, you are given spiritual gifts, and you need to exercise them. They're given to you for the edification of the church. Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, is addressing in 12, 13, and 14 a wrong view that some in the church had taken of those gifts, which persists even today in many churches, where people will sort of glorify themselves by drawing attention to themselves and their particular giftedness, and sometimes those are not even really true spiritual gifts, they're demonic, I don't know, some things, manifestations. But then he gets into this section 12 to 27, so let's just read that. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body being many are one body, so also is Christ. I'm going to go back to just a brief commentary on some of the issues that are raised in each of these verses, but I just want to read through it first. For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and have all been made to drink into one spirit, for in fact the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, because I am not a hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, because I am not an eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them in the body, just as he pleased. That's a particularly important verse that we're going to come back to and spend a good bit of time on. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary, and those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor. And our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it, or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ and members individually. So much of Peter Master's book on church membership focuses on this message, and that's why I wanted to spend a bit of time on it before we go to read some of his commentary on church membership and loyalty to the church. But so let's just go back in verse 12, for as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that body being many are one and the body so also is Christ. Hodge, Charles Hodge wrote a commentary that's well regarded on 1 Corinthians, and I'm going to share with you some of the things that he said about this passage. And in particular here, he understands that so also is Christ the body of Christ or the church, and unless the body consisted of many members, it would not be an organic whole. The body of Christ would not be an organic whole unless it consisted of many members. It seems kind of an obvious point, but part of what needs to be considered is that each one of those members comes with different gifts, different abilities. I was listening to a sermon David Murray preached on this section, and at one point he said, no one can do what you can do. Like there's no one else in all the world who has been designed in just the way that you have been designed, and your particular constitution is essential to this church. You were given gifts and God put you here to use them. It's easy to just sort of forget that. This world that we live in views, church really is kind of a commodity. And I am guilty of having fought that way myself. I know years ago I had sort of a professional crisis. I got laid off. I had been at this place for ten years and out of work, and it's like, what do you do? Well, I did what I guess others in my position. I started sending resumes all over the country. I'm looking for work. And it was the central concern of my life was what am I going to do for work? How am I going to pay my bills? And my mentality at the time was it was just a matter of who's going to offer me the best job. I don't know if Tom is here today. Tom's over there. Tom was here then. Tom was hearing me pour out my heart about these things. And I got an offer to go to North Carolina and I was telling Tom about this. And actually it was in my hometown where I had worked before, where I had much family, but where I knew there wasn't a really good church. And without explaining all that, Tom said, well, what are you going to do about church? And I'm sure that what I said to him at the time was, well, I'm sure I'll find one. And partly because he put that issue right in my face. And partly I'm sure because of the spirit of God that work in me. As the time got closer to, OK, are you going to do this? Are you going to say yes and pack up and move and leave? And all of this I began to think I have been floundering around. I was 50 at the time. I'd been a member of three other churches, First Baptist of Mount Erie, First Baptist of Jackson, Ohio, and First Baptist of Orlando. I would commend none of them to you. But here I was at Cornerstone. And I really just had found a true church, a body of believers, a group who was zealous in their evangelism, which I had not seen anywhere. In fact, that's partly what drove me out of First Baptist of Orlando was their dismissiveness toward it. And finally, I just couldn't leave. I just got to figure out something else to do. And I'm so glad that things worked out that way. Thank you. The Lord has blessed that decision over and over and over. I can't tell you how many ways, how many times. And this is an issue that Peter Masters addresses in this book, in the section on loyalty to the church. He says there's a section titled Should the Believer Move? And he says in normal circumstances, the believer's first thought must always be, God has called me to be loyal to my present community. Can I therefore be sure that it is his will that I should move? Am I really being called somewhere else? Is there clear evidence of his leading supported by circumstantial guidance and having taken account of the counsel of my brothers and sisters and the Lord? You know, the day may come when you are laid off and your circumstances seem to be saying to you, well, you know, the only job I can get is in Houston, or I don't know, Tampa. We're going to counsel you not to take it. And this is what we're going to counsel you to do. Masters says, one of the great assurances of the Christian life is that although we are frequently tried and tested by problems, often seemingly insurmountable ones, when we turn to God in prayer, he intervenes and helps us. The history of grace is a story of wonderful, often astounding provisions from the Lord. However, some believers, the moment a problem arises of the kind mentioned, assumed that it can be resolved only by uprooting and moving. They panic and see only radical solutions, and they do not seriously ask the Lord to provide for them so they can remain loyal to their church work. All this is very sad with churches receiving heavy blows because members do not attempt to prove their Lord. It's good advice, isn't it? So, like I said, this is partly preventive maintenance. In verse 13 of chapter 12, we read, for by one spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one spirit. I think Hodge is using King James here. And the baptism here is of the spirit. There are others who argue that it is actual water baptism, but I agree with Hodge. I think we're talking here about being baptized into the spirit, or being regenerated, being born again. And Hodge says, no matter how great may have been the previous difference, whether they were Jews or Gentiles, bond or free, by this baptism of the spirit, all who experience it are merged into one body. They are all intimately and organically united as partaking of the same life. And so you're baptized into the universal church, the believers everywhere. You're part of that body of believers worldwide. But your membership, the way that you live that out is in your local church. And so when we are brought together into this church, all worldly qualifications or characteristics or whatever, all of that is secondary. It really doesn't matter your ethnic background, your racial background, your socioeconomic background, your work life. We are baptized together into one body where we all have an equal status, I guess you would say, before God. We all have a particular function that God has given us so that we can't... There's no room for boasting in any of that. So all differences are set aside is the issue here. We're united to Christ. We have fellowship in Christ. Verse 14, for the body is not one member but many. Hodg says, the church no more consists of persons all having the same gifts than the body is all eye or all ear as the body is not one member but many. So the church is not one member but many. Verses 15 and 16. If the foot should say, because I am not a hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, because I am not an eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? Part of the issue here is, and Hodg says, the first and most obvious conclusion from the view which Paul had given of the nature of the church is the duty of contentment. So whatever your gift, whatever you have been called to do here is important. It may not be the most visible. It may be invisible. It may be that you are the prayer warrior. That's as important, if not more important than anything else that would happen here. And Hodg goes on to say, it is just as unreasonable and absurd for the foot to complain that it is not the hand as for one member of the church to complain that he is not another. So on this subject of gifts, you may not know what your gift is. And my advice has been do something. And if it goes well, then maybe that's your giftedness. And if it doesn't, try something else. I can't help but mention that at First Baptist they came up with this psychological profile. Like you take this test and you answer 50 questions and they crunch all the numbers and they spit out your list of gifts. There may be something that you could learn from that process but I think you just need to do something. Do something. Serve, that's what you're called to do. Hodg continues on, he says, the obvious meaning of this verse that the very existence of the body as an organization depends on the union of members endowed with different. The obvious meaning of this verse is that the very existence of the body as an organization depends on the union of members endowed with different functions. And the application of this idea to the church is equally plain. It also requires to its existence a diversity of gifts and offices. If all were apostles, where would be the church? And then verse 18, and I want to camp out here. A good bit. But now God hath set the members, every one of them in the body as it hath pleased him. And this is where Master's drills down a bit. So I'm going to read you a couple of pages of this chapter on loyalty. And this section of this chapter is called A Low or High View of the Church. What is the local church in our estimation? Is it merely a company of Christians conveniently gathered together for worship and instruction? Or is it something special in God's sight? Has God chosen its members, organized the distribution of gifts and abilities, and called those individuals to be committed to each other to serve him and to live as a unique family? Does God require a special loyalty within the local church? The New Testament is clear in its portrayal of the local church as a company of believers very strongly related together in bonds of love and loyalty and service. The local church is much greater than a haphazard collection of believers. It is a spiritually integrated family vested with unique privileges and authority to carry out the demands of its head. The Lord Jesus Christ, a local church, is the object of His delight and He is especially protective towards it. The local church, as Paul says repeatedly in 1 Corinthians 12, is one body. I think in these verses 12 to 27, the word body is used 18 times. In the 18th verse, he says, Now God hath set members, every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. In other words, God has designed each congregation. Paul goes on to say, there should be no schism in the body. He then says that God has organized the distribution of capacities so that every member is of importance to the body. We therefore conclude that if any are removed, other than by the design and overruling of the Lord, some vital quality will be missing. The members care and feel for one another to the extent that when one suffers, all the others suffer also. The congregation has a special place in the purposes of God. We need to infuse this perspective into our thinking. We just sort of live our lives and things happen. We have a talking head song letting the days go by. How did I get here? Must be before your time. That's right. That's this worldly thing. The reality is that God has very deliberately in his wisdom for his glory brought you here. And don't take that lightly that is God at work in your life. Don't think like the world. Don't view the church as a commodity. That's the way unbelievers look at the church. What? You're 35 miles away? Well, that's way too far. We found a good church just around the corner. It meets on Saturday night so that it doesn't mess up our Sundays. One of the points that Masters makes is that it's not just the body as a metaphor. Every metaphor that's used speaks to the critical function of each of its constituent parts. He says in the second chapter of the book which is the character of a local church he has a section called Holy Committed Members and he speaks about some of the metaphors the principle of total whole-hearted commitment to a church is not an isolated teaching in the New Testament because the church metaphors all stress this also. What kind of unity and integration exists in the body? It is a highly coordinated structure in which I and Hand work together. It is a picture of great unity and interdependence of the parts. The building illustration repeats the lesson for the stones of the temple must be fitly framed together interlocking closely so that the arches and vaults successfully support the building. Again, it is a picture of totally pooled effort and resources on the part of church members. The vine picture also shows the intended character of a New Testament church for in John 15 we are taught that the very notion of dead inactive branches is offensive to the Lord. The family illustration gives a picture of the local church as a community of thriving members exercising real mutual care and sharing the bread-winning chores and other aims of the household. Together, the church metaphors lay upon us an obligation to relate closely to each other in the total worship and work-effort of our fellowship. To be withdrawn aloof, reserved, lazy, complacent, or indifferent is a rejection of all the Lord's teaching on the subject. I read a couple of reviews of this book and this view that Masters takes. One of the things that was thrown at him was that, ah, he's a legalist! I believe those people don't understand how God has designed the church, what he intends for us here, and it is for our good. He is working in us and through us here. And I hope that as you face various trials and difficulties in your life that your perspective of the centrality of the church in your life will be informed by these things. Did you have a question? I'm having a hard time understanding how this connects, like, if you went from one biblical church to another biblical church and wore all the body of Christ, how would that be, like, leaving the body? Are you saying that this means that each church in itself is its own body? Yes. So I'm not saying that there is never a situation in which, you know, the circumstances in your life require you to move and go to another church. There are good biblical churches in other places. But that needs to be those circumstances and the situation and the council. The starting point should be I'm a member of this church. My priority needs to be how can I remain to this church. And if it becomes impossible, well, then, you know, you do something else. But I guess one of the issues we're dealing with here is that simply because there's a better job somewhere is not a good reason to leave the church. Simply because you're getting counsel and you disagree with is not a reason to leave the church. And, you know, those things happen often. And the church is sort of like this third or fourth or fifth tier consideration and it shouldn't be. Any other questions? Okay, let's pray. We're so grateful for this church and your kindness toward us and bringing us here for the fellowship that we have for just this body of believers who are seeking to obey you and glorify you. Help us to help us to do that, Lord. We pray that you would bless our worship today. In Jesus' name, amen.