Question 86: Since then we are delivered from our misery, merely of grace, through Christ, without any merit of ours, why must we still do good works?

Answer: Because Christ, having redeemed and delivered us by his blood, also renews us by his Holy Spirit, after his own image; that so we may testify, by the whole of our conduct, our gratitude to God for his blessings, and that he may be praised by us; also, that every one may be assured in himself of his faith, by the fruits thereof; and that, by our godly conversation [lifestyle] others may be gained to Christ.

Note a few things.

First, good works are a means by which we imitate, and thus glorify, Christ. We have been renewed “after his own image,” and doing good works reflects his image, and thus glorifies him. Christ was mighty in word and deed (Luke 24:19), and thus it is essential that we reflect Christ in our actions as well as our words.

Second, note that we are to testify to the greatness of Christ “by the whole of our conduct.” You don’t just testify to the greatness of Christ in words, as critical as that is. You must also testify to his greatness in all of your conduct. You not only may, you must!

Third, our good works are a form of worship. We do them in gratitude to God and out of love for him, and offer them to him in our doing of them. That’s what worship is. And God wants to be worshipped in the whole of our lives (Romans 12:1-2), not just our words. This makes our good works — that is, all the things we do in faith, even tying our shoes — intrinsically meaningful.

Fourth, one result of living wise lives filled with good works is that others will be won to Christ. Good works are not valuable simply as a means to bringing others to faith; they are valuable in themselves (see above points). But they do also have the effect of supporting our testimony to the gospel, and others will come to faith as a result (that’s the meaning of the very odd and hard to understand passage in Ephesians 5:7-14).

So, once again, we see that the Reformed tradition was holistic. The dichotomy between doing good/living wise lives and preaching the gospel does not exist in the theology of the Reformation. The ministry of the word goes to the root, but testifying to the greatness and love of God in our deeds is equally essential.

HT: Matt Perman

The Delight of God’s Word

We have the same Word of God, and the same human beings, and the same fallible preacher called by the same living God to study both the Word and the world in order to relate the one to the other with honesty, conviction, courage and meekness.

To Be Taught

“the Psalms themselves . . . contain more direct statements about God than any other book in the two testaments of the Christian canon. . . . The works of God and the attributes of God are the constant agenda of the Psalms.”

“Make me to know your ways, O Lord;

teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth and teach me,

for you are the God of my salvation;

for you I wait all the day long.” (Psalm 25:4–5)

“Teach me to do your will,

for you are my God!

Let your good Spirit lead me

on level ground!”  (Ps. 143:8)

To Be Touched

He that has doctrinal knowledge and speculation only, without affection, never is engaged in the business of religion.  Who will deny that true religion consists, in a great measure, in vigorous and lively actings of the inclination and will of the soul, or the fervent exercises of the heart? That religion which God requires, and will accept, does not consist in weak, dull, and lifeless, wishes, raising us but a little above a state of indifference. I don’t think ministers are to be blamed for raising the affections of their hearers too high, if that which they are affected with be only that which is worthy of affection, and their affections are not raised beyond a proportion to their importance, or worthiness of affection. I should think myself in the way of my duty to raise the affections of my hearers as high as possibly I can, provided that they to the nature of what they are affected with. – Jonathan Edwards

What We Are Taught

The counter activity of “walking, standing, or sitting” is “meditating.”  Again the word group is broad, lit. “moan, grown, sigh or muse.” See Psalm 49:3, “My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of m heart shall be understanding.” In his massive tome on the book of Psalms (1,211 pages long), William Plumer commented on the importance of meditation in the Christian life. “Pious reflection on God’s word greatly distinguishes a saint from a sinner. Without meditation grace never thrives, prayer is languid, praise dull, and religious duties unprofitable” (Banner of Truth, p. 28).

We Are Touched

Many in this growing movement of Christian and classical schools in recent decades would cite as inspiration a book by Douglas Wilson, Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning (Crossway, 1989). Wilson’s thesis was fairly straightforward: Christian parents have a biblical mandate to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4). Traditional Christian schools have done many good things, but a more classical approach relying on the “tools of learning” has better potential to train up children in ways consistent with Scripture. Wilson relied on a seminal essay by Dorothy Sayers, “The Lost Tools of Learning” (a lecture originally given in 1947). Sayers argued that the best way to recover true education in our day was by “turning back the clock” and adopting a form of the medieval syllabus. Sayers attended more to the trivium (grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric) than the quadrivium (arithmetic, music, geometry, astronomy), but she affirmed the legitimacy of both.

Not only have many new schools adopted this approach, but I also believe parents with children in other schools or even Christians on their own can benefit from the classical movement’s chief insight about learning and spiritual formation.

General Traits

While there are healthy debates within the classical and Christian school world about the true nature of classical education, several general traits can be identified.

First, classical and Christian schools are generally committed to some sort of word-based or word-centered education. One of the tragedies of much of contemporary education is a failure to retain the importance of language. Classical schools are trying to recover the centrality of the trivium (the language arts) as essential to true education.

Second, classical and Christian schools are almost always committed to recovering the great books of the Western intellectual tradition and attending to the past more generally. To be educated is to grounded in the texts of one’s own tradition, and for those of us in the United States, this means the central texts and ideas of the Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, and of course the development of the Western intellectual tradition from the first century to the present.

Third, classical schools are committed—to some degree—to the importance of the classical languages. This usually means that students at classical schools will take several years of Latin, and possibly some Greek as well. Latin and Greek are the languages of Western Christendom, and historically to be educated was to have at least some knowledge of these two languages.

Fourth, classical schools, in various ways, are also trying to recover the second and third components of the trivium—dialectic and rhetoric. Dialectic is the practice of trying to deepen one’s understanding of truth through back-and-forth conversation and debate. Rhetoric is perhaps best defined as the art of fitting communication (whether in the written or spoken word). You will find students at classical schools studying logic (a component of dialectic), engaging in debate, learning via the Socratic method, and honing their skills through repeated opportunities to communicate both through writing and speaking.

Fifth, classical education affirms that there is an overarching telos or “goal” at the center of true education. This actually gets at the heart of what makes classical and Christian schools unique. Classical schools—at their best—hold that education is ultimately about the formation of a certain kind of person. While different schools may disagree on this or that pedagogical theory, or this or that curriculum choice, virtually any classical school desires to reach back and recover the notion that education is about human formation and transformation.

This is where a classical approach to education can be—rightly!—very attractive to Christian families. When I helped found Augustine School (where my children currently attend), I served as head of school for a few years. I would recommend to virtually any parent asking one simple question to the person heading their children’s school: “What is your goal for my children when they graduate from this school?”

The best of Christian thinking has always recognized we are pilgrims traveling to the city of God. While we have many joys and duties in this life, we understand present existence against the backdrop of our ultimate destiny as believers—to see God one day. Keeping one eye on heaven, or the vision of God, need not diminish the importance of life in the world. On the contrary, knowledge that life in the world is part of a larger and grander story—which culminates in the vision and city of God—can be a constant reminder that life in the here and now is important, meaningful, and weighty.

The best Christian education sees this task as a transformative endeavor that prepares students for (1) a meaningful, faithful, wise, virtuous life in the present, and also for (2) our ultimate destiny—to one day see God face-to-face and know him fully. Once we begin to grasp that true education is best construed as a person-forming endeavor, we are able to see more clearly the link between the gospel and education.

Applied Broadly

Some readers do not have access to this kind of education (at least in a formal way or setting), or do not have school-age children. Nonetheless the classical vision of education is worthy of attention. Its most important insight can be applied broadly: education is about the formation and transformation of a boy or girl into the man or woman—under God—they ought to be. This should be parents’ goal, no matter what school their children attend. Many homeschooling families are able easily to “convert” their homeschooling efforts in a classical direction, using a book like The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise.

Any parents can create space for this flourishing simply by turning off the television (or closing the computer screen), starting a fire, and sitting as a family reading a good book. I share precious memories reading with my children C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, or J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, or Douglas Bond’s Crown and Covenant or Faith and Freedom series.

Parents can also begin—when appropriate—to let children join certain adult conversations about theology, politics, and other topics. My children enjoy the sharing of ideas, and they are learning how to think and discuss themselves by watching daddy and his friends engage in meaningful conversation.

Even if you’re not raising children, you can still reap the benefits of a classical-type education. Read, read, read. There are many lists of “great books”—one might start with the appendix to Mortimer Adler’s How to Read a Book and Leland Ryken’s Realms of Gold: The Classics in Christian Perspective. If accountability would help, why not start a reading group that meets monthly? Or consider scheduling your next vacation or trip around a key conference or educational experience that inspires your reading and learning.

As I have argued in The Gospel and the Mind: Recovering and Shaping the Intellectual Life, we are ultimately shaped and transformed by the gospel itself—which is the only means and way by which we will ever see God face-to-face and become whom God has intended. Within that theological framework, a classical education can be a helpful tool by which we are shaped over time. Classical education—at its best—can be a gospel-fueled tool or resource used to shape and transform God’s people, so that God’s people might be prepared for their ultimate destiny—being presented to Christ as a spotless bride without blemish, and to see God face-to-face.

HT: The Gospel Coalition

Bradley G. Green is associate professor of Christian thought and tradition at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. He is the co-founder of Augustine School, a classical and Christian school, where he also served as head of school for several years. He is the author of several books, including The Gospel and the Mind: Recovering and Shaping the Intellectual Life (Crossway, 2010). Green posts various essays, thoughts, and book reviews/notices at his website.

Shocked, the pastor began to share the Commandments. When he got to “Honor your father and mother,” the officer interrupted him. “Stop there. You Christians believe that God chose ‘Honor your father and mother’ as a very important commandment. Please look in the corner.”

The pastor turned to see an elderly woman chained and bruised beneath a pile of rags. She was the pastor’s own mother.

The guard inquired. “Look how much your mother has suffered. If you tell the secrets of the underground church, you and your mother can go free. If she dies from our torture, you will have failed to keep the commandment to honor her, and her blood shall be on your head.”

The pastor turned to his mother who was starting to regain consciousness. “Dear Mother, what should I do?”

Lovingly she replied, “Since you were a small boy, I have taught you to love Christ and his church. Do not betray God. I am ready to die for the Holy Name.”

The pastor looked back at the guard and said with renewed courage, “You were very right, captain…a man must obey his mother.”

==============

Praise God for Moms….especially those that cherish Christ more than their children.

story from www.persecution.com via Matt Papa

Saturday, May 5, 2012 at 2:30 PM
First Baptist Church
301 N Seacrest Blvd
Boynton Beach, FL 33435
561.732.5151
*Viewing is Friday May 3 at 4pm-8pm
Glick Family Funeral Home

If you would like to help with the reception (food and donations), click here.

“Many of us have had the experience of asking a parent, “How are your children doing?” only to get an answer like this: “Oh, Johnny’s doing very well now. His career as a research physicist has really taken off. He is the youngest person in his company to have been appointed to the board. And Evelyn is doing very well, too. She’s into computer programming and is already the head of her section.”
“And how are they doing spiritually?”
A long pause.
“I’m afraid they’re not really walking with the Lord at the moment. But we’re hoping they’ll come back some day.”
Of course, the initial response of such parents may be a reflection of nothing more than privacy, a quiet and loyal concern not to disparage any family member. But too often it reflects warped priorities. I have had parents, ostensibly Christian parents, rage at me because they thought I had influenced their bright children to train for ministry, perhaps for missionary service. Others are joyous over their children’s material prosperity and not terribly concerned over their children’s utter indifference to the God who made them.
How will these values appear thirty years or forty billion years from now? From eternity’s perspective, what should be the primary things for which we should pray for our children, for ourselves, for our fellow believers?”

D. A. Carson, A Call to Spiritual Reformation : Priorities from Paul and His Prayers (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1992), 55.

Do we pray that God would count our children worthy of His calling?

Do we pray that He would fulfill every good purpose of theirs and every act prompted by their faith?

Do we pray that the name of our Lord Jesus would be glorified in them, and they in Him?

Why Small Groups Matter

The Gospel Assumes Intimacy

Last week I wanted to make one simple but foundational point:  as we turn the pages of the NT, command after command, promise after promise, prayer after prayer simply assumes the existence of the church, even when the word “church” does not appear.

For example, commands that we be devoted to one another in brotherly love assume a stable, family-like structure of believers.  Admonitions to sincerely and fervently love the brethren become nonsensical outside of long term, intimate, committed relationships in some local expression of the body of Christ.  The prayer of our Lord in John 17 that believers may have a unity reflective of the unity between the Father and the Son can only begin to be realized when we first commit to long term covenant relationships with one another.

And as we saw in Hebrews 13:17, you are responsible for identifying who your elders are, and we are responsible for identifying whether your soul is one of those we will give an account for. The clearer and more defined your relationship is to a given local church and it’s leadership, the easier it is for all parties to obey that command.

So while none of the texts from last week (there were 9) explicitly mentioned the church, they all assume the presence of the church, and take their relevance from the relationships that exist in the church.  Whether you are in the Gospels, in Paul, Peter, 1John, Hebrews, almost anywhere you turn in the NT, you are reading material either expressly addressed to the local church, or that by its very nature only makes sense in the context of the local church. The role of the local church in the believer’s life literally saturates the NT, and is itself the context for the NT.

If you do not understand this, if you think it should be just you and your Bible, you are ripping the Word of God out of its intended context. The wisdom, the promises, the teachings you so much treasure were not written to you as an individual Christian. They were written to us as part of the church. Two quick examples of this:

1 Timothy 3:14 I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; 15 but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.

1 Timothy is a personal letter, written to an individual, but with explicit instructions that it is to govern life in the local church.

A more subtle, but perhaps even more important example is found in Philemon.

Paul’s letter to Philemon is one of the most personal letters we have in the NT, and it deals with a very sensitive situation. Paul writes to his friend to urge him to receive back the runaway slave, Onesimus, as a brother.

Whatever personal struggles Philemon might have had in forgiving Onesimus, these would have been in addition to the legal and cultural expectations that he would deal harshly with this runaway slave. It was a crime punishable by death in the Roman world. The letter even hints that Onesimus may have stolen from Philemon, with Paul simply saying, “Put that on my account.”

So Philemon has a very touchy, personal issue that he must now deal with, and Paul writes to him to counsel him on how to deal with it. Let’s read Paul’s introductory sentence:

Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our beloved fellow worker and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I can understand Paul including Apphia and Archippus in the letter, as they were probably part of Philemon’s family, likely a wife and a son or brother. It would be appropriate that the immediate family be informed of the situation, that they understand what Paul is asking of Philemon.

But did you notice that Paul also includes the “church in your house” as recipients of the letter? That is, as personal a matter as this may be at one level, Paul puts it all in front of the local church! He chooses not to order Philemon do anything, but he deems it proper that whatever decision Philemon makes, he is going to make it with the church watching

Do you see how even in something as innocuous as the introduction to this personal letter to his friend, Paul is making it clear that Christians live their lives as part of a community, and are in fact accountable to that community.

To grasp just how radical this is to our isolated and independent culture, ask yourself how would that work out here? One of you has wronged another in a very personal way, with money involved, a breach of trust involved… but has since genuinely repented. And now pastor Buz begins an email dialogue between the two people, seeking to bring about reconciliation… and he copies all of First Boynton on the emails! Keith puts them on The City and you all get it in your Daily Digest! That is what the apostle Paul just did with Philemon!

He took something that was in one sense very private and he put it all out before the church and then tells Philemon, “Work it out with your brother… while everyone watches.”

Not to traffic in understatement, but I think maybe the apostle Paul has a bit less privatized view of the Christian life than we in America do. We are to live our lives as Christians as part of a community, and the assumption that we will do so just “shows up” as you turn the pages of your Bible.

Last week I encouraged you to picture this community of saints, the local church, as 3 concentric rings. The outside ring represents the church as a whole, all the members of a given local body.

The middle ring represents what we call growth groups, and what other churches may call small groups or community groups.  They are the smaller 8-12 person units within the church where we really get to know one another and learn to love and serve one another and “do life” together.

The inner ring represents that one person, or maybe two or three, that really knows you intimately, that you feel you can share anything with, and who has your permission to speak clearly to you about anything they see in your life.

The original idea was to devote one sermon to each of these three rings. That has to change a bit, because I was not able to get next Sunday off from work. You may in fact see me here next Sunday, but it will be with a cell phone on my hip and my uniform in the car because if they call, and I suspect they will, I need to be ready to go. I could try and preach, but it would be awkward to be climbing these steps when the call came.

So I have to combine things a bit this week, which isn’t all bad. The Scriptures that we will look at today, just as some of those we looked at last week will, in many cases have application in all 3 of the concentric rings. Some fit more naturally in one over another, but few would be confined to just one “level” of relationship within the church.

That said, I want to concentrate on those Scriptures that have a more natural application to our lives in that middle and inner ring.

Romans 15:14 And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able also to admonish one another.

To “admonish” means to criticize or reprove in a gentle but earnest manner, to point out and urge correction of a fault.

 2 Thessalonians 3:14 If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. 15 Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

Paul considers that there may be one or more people in the church that will not listen to apostolic instruction. The church is to deal with this by withdrawing and causing shame on the one hand, and yet also approaching him as a brother, and not an enemy, trying to win him back to obedience to the Word.

Likewise, as Paul deals with the Corinthian church and all their foolishness he writes,

1 Corinthians 4:14 I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15 For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.

Do you hear how delicate and personal and involved the giving of admonishment can be? The situations that warrant this kind of sober correction are such that shame may be an issue, which Paul says is sometimes good and sometimes not good.

It is something he does as a father to his children, it is what he says he did with tears as he taught the Ephesian elders, Acts 20:31.

And Paul says we are to do this for one another: Romans 15:14 And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able also to admonish one another

And so I ask you, is anyone doing this for you? Are you doing this for anyone else? It isn’t something that is going to happen, except in rare instances, in the body as a whole.  We don’t admonish individuals from the pulpit Sunday morning. We don’t speak to them about their faults in front of others unless absolutely necessary.

And yet we are to admonish people, and I would argue that this simply necessitates close, safe relationships in smaller groups where there is freedom to admonish one another about things that need to change.  We need to intentionally cultivate the sort of relationships where people can see that there are things that need to change, instead of keeping everyone kept at arm’s length where everything looks “fine.”

If no one ever speaks to you about the sin that remains in your life, you are either perfect or lacking the kind of intimate relationships that verses like these call you to have. To obey this command, either as the giver or the receiver of admonishment, implies that you have a group of people that you know and trust and that know and trust you.

James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

How would it work to have everyone stand up right now and begin to confess their individual sins to the body? Because it is confession of individual sin that is in view here, not the kind of corporate confession you find in Ezra and Nehemiah.

Now, because we are Baptists and want to do everything decently and in order, we can put out a microphone and form a line and take turns. And because we want to be polite, we’ll let our visitors go first.

“If you are here visiting with us this morning, welcome.  We’re glad you’re here. If you will be so kind as to now confess your sins to us, will be our privilege to pray for you.

That won’t work, will it? And if it sounds a bit silly, that’s the point.  I want us to see how foolish it is to read this verse and not see anything more intimate than the entire assembled church. Confessing our sins to one another and praying for one another (with sincerity and fervency and devotion and all the other things we are told should mark our life together) assumes a measure of trust and even privacy that really is best cultivated in a much smaller setting. I am not saying it can never happen in a larger setting, I am just saying that this will not be the norm.

And don’t be distracted right now about whatever connection James may or may not be making between sin and sickness.  That is another sermon for another day.

Right now I just want us to come to grips with the fact that he calls us to confess our sins to one another.

I’ve seen people encourage this in larger groups, 50-75 people at a Wednesday night prayer meeting, for example. And a few people will confess some sin.

But when you hear how few sins get confessed, and how “tame” they are, you have to conclude that those people are just “this close” to being perfect.

We are not that close, are we? We all have real sins that we should be confessing and asking for prayer about, and that is going to happen most freely and most honestly and most profitably in smaller groups.

I would maintain that practical obedience to James 5 pretty much necessitates small groups. Confession of sin to one another and admonishment of one another about those sins and others simply assumes something much more personal than a gathered body of 200 or more people. Small groups matter when it comes time to obey some of these more challenging texts.

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God

The Word of Christ is to dwell in us richly.  That much is clear. We are to know and study His Word at a “rich” level.

But to what end? In this text, the purpose given is so that we can, with all wisdom, teach and admonish one another. It is not the elders teaching the church that is in view here, but rather Christians who are growing in wisdom and sound doctrine are to be teaching one another.

But what is the practical context for that? Unless we are content to exchange spiritual sound bites in the hall, the best context for that is going to be smaller gatherings of believers where we can speak to one another about what we are learning from the Word

And I think we need to be careful to understand that something more than a weekly Bible study is in view here. Weekly Bible studies are fine, but Paul has in mind something more than mere increases in Biblical knowledge. Paul wants the people who gather in obedience to this verse to admonish one another and to worship together. There is a level of transparency and intimacy and responsibility for one another assumed by this text that goes beyond mere Bible study. A “mini church” is more what seems to be in view here.

And that is what we intend for our growth groups to be, a place where the Word is spoken and taught in a rich but informal setting, a place where we can know one another well enough to admonish as needed, a place where we can perhaps even sing together with thankfulness in our hearts.

Colossians 3 is not a command to have or to join a growth group. Your elders just happen to think that growth groups are the most natural setting for this sort of text to find obedient expression in our lives. They will be the most natural means for you to live out these “one another” commands (there are 4 pages of them in the NT, by the way) and it will be the most natural way for us to begin to keep watch over your souls, knowing that you are part of a smaller body where you can be known and cared for.

So we admonish one another, we confess sins to one another, we teach one another. These are just 3 of the commands that imply something closer, something smaller than a gathered body of 200 or more.  I would argue that they begin to cry out for small groups any time the main congregation exceeds 15 or 20 adults.

I want us to look at just one more section of Scripture before we begin to wrap this up. I want us to look Matthew 18. This is one of those sections of Scripture where “small groups” does not exactly leap off the page at you.

But give me 5 minutes, and perhaps they will begin to, perhaps you will see what I see

In Matthew 18, beginning in verse 15, Matthew records 3 separate but related teachings of Jesus, all on forgiveness.  The first is how you work through a problem with another person towards forgiveness. You know the passage; we are instructed to go to them one on one and try to reconcile. If that doesn’t work, we are to take one or two others with us. If that doesn’t work, we are to bring the matter before the church.

And if that doesn’t work, the church is to put the offending brother or sister out of fellowship until they repent. There is a sermon or two to be preached just in those verses.

But what interests me today is what follows from that teaching, because that teaching gives rise to a question from one of the disciples:

Matthew 18:21 Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

Peter understood that he was to work things through with a brother or sister if there was some offense between them. But he wanted to know how many times he needed to do this. And as we know, there had been some squabbling among the disciples themselves. Only a few verses earlier in this very chapter, Matthew records them arguing over who is greatest in the kingdom. In another place James and John try to secure for themselves the honor of sitting on Jesus’ right hand and left in the kingdom, and we read that the others were indignant.

Living together, day in and day out, made the question of forgiveness a very real issue for the disciples. So Peter speaks up and asks “How often do I forgive a brother? Up to seven times?”

My understanding is that the rabbinical teaching of the day held that you should forgive a man 3 times. But Peter has been listening to Jesus and he knows that unless his righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees he will not enter the kingdom.

So, perhaps remembering that teaching, he doubles their standard and adds one for good measure. Seven.  The number of completion. The number of perfection. More than twice the standard of the day. Surely God is in this answer, surely Jesus will be impressed! There are words of praise and commendation coming Peter’s way, he can feel it!

Matthew 18:22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

That does not mean 490 times, and then you can call it quits. It is meant to reference forgiveness without limits. We can know that because of the parable that follows whereby Jesus illustrates kingdom forgiveness:

Matthew 18:23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.

A talent was a monetary unit equal to about 20 years wages. Ten thousand talents would be 200,000 years of this servant’s wages. Of course he cannot pay, it is meant to be understood as an infinite debt, so that the kingdom can be illustrated by a king who forgives infinite debts.

And you know the story from there. The servant forgiven this great debt goes out and finds a fellow servant who owes him a hundred days wages, a very small amount by comparison, and chokes him and has him thrown in prison

The parable does not end well for the servant that was forgiven by the king but then refused to forgive his brother. And it is the parable that Jesus tells in answer to Peter’s question, “How often do I have to forgive my brother?”

Answer: Kingdom forgiveness is without limit. You do not keep a record of wrongs.

But now here is what I want you to see:

How will you know if you are anywhere near the standard that Jesus commands, anywhere near the kingdom standard, apart from a life lived in close community where someone would  have opportunity to offend you repeatedly?

Yes, we can offend one another in the larger community. But it is in the smaller, more intimate groups where you know me and I know you and we are trying to do life together and I offend you and you disappoint me… it is in those closer, more intimate settings where “who we really are” comes out and we have the opportunity to offend one another with some frequency, and therefore to discover whether we understand kingdom forgiveness, gospel forgiveness.

Do I take offense and bear a grudge and refuse to reconcile the first time I am sinned against? Maybe I make it to the “rabbinical” level and endure for 3 offenses. Maybe I make it to Peter’s imagined place of arrival and forgive someone 7 times.

None of that is kingdom standard. Forgiving as we have been forgiven by God, in Christ (Ephesians 4:32, Colossians 3:13), that is the kingdom standard.

Has the kingdom taken hold of you? Have you grasped the enormity of the debt you have been forgiven by God, and is it your joy to pass that forgiveness on to others? You can answer that question in part in larger groups, but it is in the smaller settings where the truth is seen most clearly.

There are two people in this room, besides my family, that I have known well for more than 15 years. In those 15 years, I like to think that I have served as a help to them, as through their relationship with me they have been able to discover just how much forgiveness is really in them.

I am happy to report that in my testing of them, I have yet to come to the end of their forgiveness, or even to sense that I am nearing the end. I am happy to report that they forgive with kingdom forgiveness.

But I could not report this, I could not encourage them in their faith, in their Christlikeness, if we had not committed to live in close community. It wasn’t our life in the church as a whole that revealed the presence of kingdom forgiveness, it was our life as part of a much smaller unit.

I know someone might say, “I don’t need a small group for this. My little brother offends me seven times seventy every day… before lunch.” And if you have been married any length of time, you passed the “seven times seventy” mile marker long ago. So maybe we don’t need another community within the church to reveal how we understand forgiveness, maybe we can discover it in the privacy of our immediate family.

I would simply have you note that is not how Jesus chooses to illustrate the problem of unforgiveness. In the parable, the illustration Jesus uses is one of “fellow slaves.” The man that was forgiven the great debt did not go home and yell at his wife or his children, he went out and found a brother, a fellow slave that owed him money.

The context has Peter asking, and Jesus answering the question, “How often do I forgive my Christian brother or sister?”

Jesus answer was, “You never stop.”

Scripture tells us that there will be many who stand one day before Jesus, shocked to hear Him say, “I never knew you.” Years in the church, even ministering in the church, and yet not part of the kingdom.

There is a test here in Matthew 18 that will help reveal if we are, indeed, a citizen of the kingdom. But we will never know if we pass the test until we take the test, and the test is best and most clearly administered in settings where we know one another well, and yet persevere in loving and forgiving, seven times seventy.

CJ Mahaney said, “You don’t know who you are apart from community.”

He is right. Life in the church, and especially in small groups, shows us who we are and if we are, indeed, citizens of the kingdom.

Two possible objections to growth groups that we will consider and answer as we close.

One, some of you may be thinking, “I’ve been to a growth group, here or in another church, and it wasn’t anything like what you are describing. I didn’t find the intimacy, the care, the relationships that you are talking about.”

Fair enough. I believe you. But don’t give up just yet. We are new at doing this, and more importantly, we are just now getting ready to meet with and help equip the growth group leaders to work more of these “one another” commands into their groups.

And some of you may be just now coming to grips with how crucial it is that we invest in one another in these ways. The leaders should be growing in their understanding of what should be happening in their groups, and the members should be growing in their ability to help make it happen.

Don’t give up. We are in one sense just getting started. And, like Peter said to Jesus in John 6, when the experience really wasn’t what they expected, “Where else are we going to go?” Whatever flaws growth groups have had in the past and will have in the future, we are convinced that they are God’s means for us to help one another be further conformed to the image of His Son. Simply put, it is where the bulk of your sanctification ought to be happening.  Don’t give up.

Finally, I suspect some of you will shudder at yet one more time commitment. We are busy people, I know.

In fact, it is somewhat fashionable to “rest our case” so to speak, on just how busy we are, and how unlike our culture is to the culture that first received these words. Of course they could live this out, they were all within walking distance of one another, their kids weren’t part of traveling sports teams, the lack of electricity meant most people could not work late in the way some of us do.

I get it. But none of it is compelling to me, and here is why.

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

As the day draws near, as the end draws near, we are “all the more” to assemble together. As we draw closer to those times where Scripture warns that most peoples love will grow cold, and where many will fall away, the need for fellowship doesn’t decrease, it increases.

So I appreciate the fact that we are busy people. But I would urge you, based on Hebrews 10, to make time for that which is most important.

The City is probably the easiest way to begin to gather information about growth groups. You will be able to see which one meets close to you, and what day and time they meet.

Would you give serious, prayerful, Biblical thought to joining one, if you have not already? They are the place where many of the “one anothers” of Scripture find their most natural expression, where the Spirit of God will take the Word of God and work through the people of God to conform us to the image of the Son of God. That work happens in community, not in isolation.

My encouragement to you as parents is to actively engage in your students in the media they consume. This will help train them to make God-honoring decisions for themselves as they grow and leave your home, and it will provide opportunities for you to train them how to think Biblically about what they watch. Here are some suggestions

When your children read a book, read it with them. When they are younger, this might mean reading aloud to them. As they grow older, pick up your own copy from the library and read it. Some of you may have children who are voracious readers and you will not be able to read everything they do. That’s ok, but read some of what they do. Then talk with them about it! Think of questions as you read about the content. What is the book communicating? What kind of response should they have to what they are reading? What kind of example do the characters set? Who do they like/dislike and why?

If your children watch TV, they probably have regular shows they watch. There’s no way you can watch TV with them all the time, especially as they get older, but make it a habit to sit down with them on occasion to watch. Make it a point to have watched at least one episode of each of the shows they watch regularly. Like with the books, talk about the content. What is good and bad? What engages them about the show? What bothers them about the show?

Do you know the music your kids listen to? Do you know what the lyrics are? Music is an incredibly powerful medium. If you’re like me and you hear a song on the radio that you used to listen to regularly as a teenager, chances are you can sing along perfectly even if you haven’t heard the song in decades. And if your children are like me, they’ve probably at some point said, “I don’t listen to the lyrics.” Everyone listens to the lyrics (unless they’re actually unintelligible!) You may not be able to understand the lyrics at times, but you can read them. Go to a site like http://www.azlyrics.com/ and read away. Or go to http://www.youtube.com/ and search for the song. If it’s popular, you’ll almost certainly be able to watch the video. Again, talk about the lyrics with your children. What messages are the songs communicating? What are they celebrating as they sing along? What emotions are the songs cultivating?

With movies there are even more options. You can watch movie trailers ahead of time: http://www.imdb.com/features/video/trailers/, http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/. Sites like http://www.pluggedin.com/ and http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/movies offer movie reviews that often contain questions for discussion. If you know your child will be seeing a film but you can’t for various reasons, see it with them, read a thorough synopsis at http://www.themoviespoiler.com/. But above all of this, watch the films with your children and talk about them; all the same types of questions apply.

Remember, in all of this there is both the goal of helping your children learn to make informed, God-honoring decisions about what they read, watch, and listen to, as well as to help them honor God as they watch, read, and listen. Media offers us wonderful opportunities to have our emotions and imaginations stirred, to think about challenging issues, and to have our minds sharpened. The goal is not to make watching, reading, and listening less fun, but more enjoyable and profitable as they stop being just entertainment and become new opportunities for us to direct our thoughts towards God.

The Gospel Demands the Church

The Gospel Demands the Church

Let me open today’s message by reading a few paragraphs from a book by Joshua Harris:

Jack and Grace met through a mutual friend. From day one they seemed to be the perfect match. Grace was everything Jack had always wanted. She was beautiful, outgoing, and caring – always there when Jack needed her.

For the first 5 months they were inseparable. Jack could hardly think of anything but Grace. He didn’t need to look further. He told his friends, “She’s the one.”

Now almost 3 years have passed. Jack still enjoys the comfort and familiarity of being with Grace, but the spark is gone. Grace’s flaws seem more obvious. He’s not sure he finds her as attractive as he once did. And he’s beginning to resent all the time she wants to spend with him.

One night, when she asks if they can define the nature of their relationship, Jack blows up. “We’re together, aren’t we?” he asks angrily. “Why isn’t that enough for you?”

Obviously, Jack isn’t ready for commitment. And it’s unclear if he ever will be…

Have you ever been in a relationship like this? I’m writing this book because I believe God has something better for you. He wants you in a relationship defined by both passion and commitment. But before you can take hold of this wonderful plan, you need to know something about this couple. There are millions of Jacks walking around today. And Grace isn’t a girl.

Grace is a church.

That is the opening of Harris’ book, “Stop Dating the Church.” It was published in 2004, and long overdue at the time, and still massively relevant.

I say that not only because of personal observation, but because of magazine articles like the one splashed across the cover of the April 9, 2012 issue of Newsweek and entitled, “Forget the Church, Follow Jesus.” In it the author, Andrew Sullivan, chronicles the failings of the church (real or imagined) throughout the centuries and suggests that if we would all just individually listen to ONLY the words of Jesus, all would be well. No need for a church, no need for Paul or any of the apostles, just isolated but obedient Christians

Is Andrew Sullivan right? “Forget the church, follow Jesus?”

Or is Joshua Harris right as he insists that we stop treating the church so casually, stop merely dating her, and instead “get hitched?” His book has a very telling subtitle that is my answer in a nutshell: “Fall in Love with the Family of God.”

Think about it: when people like Andrew Sullivan say that we can love Jesus but NOT love His church, it is a bit like someone saying, “I’ll hang out with you, Bruce, but please don’t bring your bride. I don’t much care for her.”

Whatever flaws my bride may have, she is my bride. We come as a package, a one flesh package. And whatever flaws the church may have, she is the bride of Christ. Even as we care about and address whatever flaws we find in her (in us) we must never lose sight of the fact that the church is precious to Christ, the bride for whom He shed His blood. To seek to draw near to Christ while remaining distant from His bride, the church, will not work long term.

What I want to do over the next 3 weeks is unpack a number of Scriptures concerning the local church and our relationship to it. Very few of these Scriptures will actually have the word “church” in them, but I hope it will become evident to you rather quickly that they are indeed directed to the local church, and in fact lose much of their meaning if they are ripped out of the context of the local church.

You will see in your bulletin that the title for the message is “The Gospel Demands the Church.” I hope that is not too “in your face.” It is truly not meant to be.

I ran the title past my wife for her input, on the chance that she might talk me into something less “aggressive.” She knows what this message is about, and she said I should title it, “Do it or die.” That’s blunt, but both of us pale in comparison to what Mark Dever says. He is the pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington DC and author of “Nine Marks of a Healthy Church.” He is also one of the ones that helped create and promote, “Together for the Gospel.”

He says, “If you are not a member of a church you regularly attend, you may well be going to hell.”

That’s blunt. And if you don’t like that, remember, Mark Dever said it and you can email him at www.capitalhillbaptistchurch.org

To be fair, Dever is not primarily concerned that your name is on a piece of paper somewhere. He is simply noting that the NT seems to picture one of the functions of the church to be to verify or falsify the claim to be a Christian. The man in 1 Corinthians 5 that Paul ordered turned over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh thought everything was fine. It was through his association with the local church that his sin was discovered and dealt with so that he, in time, repented. The discipline of the local church saved his soul, which is what Paul intended and what Dever is referring to. Absent an identifiable local body to which this man belonged and was accountable to and wasn’t going to run away from, there would have been no context for the loving discipline Paul describes.

Dever might also send us to texts like 1John 3:10, “By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.”

Or perhaps 1 John 3:14, We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.”

It will help in your understanding of where we are going in the next 3 weeks if you think in terms of 3 concentric rings. The outer ring, which we will address today, is really focused on the fact that the Scriptures simply assume, everywhere, that Christians will be part of a local body of believers, with whom they are to “do life”, to work out their salvation and grow in likeness to Christ. The Scriptures know nothing of “lone ranger” Christians, or even Christians with casual, non-committed relationships to other believers. Again and again, text after text, the background assumption of the NT is that we will be an ongoing part of a close knit communities of believers.

Working our way in, the second ring will be next week, and will address the good things God does for us through those smaller groups that simply need to exist any time a church grows beyond 20 or 30 people. We call them “growth groups”, other churches call them “community groups”, still others “cell groups” or “home groups.” The name is not important, but the function is crucial.

Finally, on week 3 we will consider the good that God does for us via the inner ring, that individual (or maybe 2 or 3 individuals if you are truly blessed) that you should have in your life that know you inside and out, and that have your permission to speak to you about anything.

But hovering over it ALL is this conviction: it is God’s design, not merely that you show up regularly at some gathering like this, (to preach to the people gathered here on Sunday morning that they really ought to be gathered here on Sunday morning would be the ultimate “preaching to the choir. That is not what I am doing). Rather, my conviction is that you not just be here physically on Sunday, but that you live your life day in and day out in the context of a committed and intimate body of believers, understanding that it is through this body called “the church” that we glorify God, testify to the world, and experience transformation, ever increasing growth in our likeness to our Lord Jesus Christ.

So let’s start at that outer ring and see how Scripture after Scripture simply assumes a close, committed relationship with other believers that goes way beyond your name being on a church membership roll somewhere.

John 17:20 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.”

There are 3 distinct statements of the unity of believers in this text:

Vs. 21, that they may all be one; vs. 22, that they may be one; vs. 23, that they may be perfected in unity.

And note the standard or the “point of comparison” for our unity:

Vs. 21, that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us…

Vs. 22, that they may be one, just as We are one…

This has stunning implications for the gathered body of believers. Look at the unity of Father and Son and understand THAT is what the local church is to image forth! And you cannot image forth a miraculous, mysterious, reflective of the Trinity kind of unity about from SERIOUS, ongoing commitment to one another. Casual relationships between believers do not reflect the unity between the Father and the Son!

And note, it happens when we “believe” (vs. 20), when we are given the glory that the Father gives the Son (vs. 22, ref. 2 Cor. 4:6 For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.) and when we are loved by the Father (vs. 23).

In other words, the unity Jesus prays for is miraculous and grounded in the fact that we are born again.

And, with tremendous implications for a locally gathered body, note that it is a visible unity that the world takes notice of! They see it, and the only way for them to see it is to have some group of believers that are gathered and doing life together in such an obviously supernatural way that they begin to believe that Jesus really WAS sent by the Father. It is what is recorded in Acts 2, a local community of Christians living together in such a way that people took note.

In a word, our evangelical effectiveness is tied so very closely to our ability to live in unity the way the Father and the Son live in unity!

Do you have that kind of “oneness” with the people in this room? Do you see what it implies, not just for some kind of “bare” membership, but for loving, passionate, committed, long term involvement with one another? This is what Jesus prayed we would have as a result of our believing in Him.

John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

May I ask you how the disciples would have understood Jesus words? Is there ANY way that they would not have connected His love for them with the day in, day out pouring into their lives? “Even as I have loved you” would have been a phrase RICH with memories, recent memories, of their intimate relationship with their Master, whereby He met their needs, calmed their fears, encouraged their strengths, helped them overcome their weaknesses, forgave their sins, rebuked their sins.

Is there ANY way to even begin to fulfill that command, “love one another, even as I have loved you” apart from the sort of intimate, committed, ongoing relationship that Jesus had with His disciples? I will have enough trouble fulfilling that command due to sin in my life, without also having to overcome a lack of intentional, structured relationships. I cannot obey Christ apart from committed, invested, ongoing relationships with a clearly defined group of people.

That text has something to say about church life.

1 Peter 1:22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, 23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.

Do you see the connection between being born again and the command to “fervently love one another from the heart?” We are to love one another with fervency BECAUSE we have been born again.

New birth, genuine conversion, is proven by a fervent love for fellow believers. And that sincere and fervent love simply is not possible if you have no long-term commitment to the people sitting around you.

It doesn’t work to pair up words like “sincere” and “fervent” with “occasional” or “non-committal.” Jack sincerely and fervently loves Grace, just don’t ask him to commit? It doesn’t work, does it?

Romans 12:10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor…

Paul uses a family analogy, that of brothers, to illustrate the sort of love Christians are to have for one another. Obedience to that command implies that we identify who are brothers ARE, not merely in the universal sense of “all Christians,” but in the “local” sense of those I am to be devoted to on a regular basis.

Can devotion have any real meaning apart from long term commitment to a finite number of believers? Sooner or later we need to identify who among all the option we have we will be devoted to, and then we need to stick with them. That is what devotion means.

Simply put, you cannot obey Romans 12:10 apart from long term commitment to a given body of believers.

A word of clarification. Do not take any of this to mean that you cannot ever leave a church. You can. But whatever church God has you at, BE THERE with everything you’ve got. Be committed. Be devoted. If you leave, be slow to leave and make sure your reasons are godly reasons. And if you leave, find another body to be fervent with. To fail to do so is to disobey Christ, because you cannot obey His commands to love one another in isolation FROM others.

Romans 14:19 So then let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.

Why do we have to pursue peace and the building up of one another?

Because our natural, fleshly mode is one of conflict and tearing each other down.

But wouldn’t it just be easier to walk away whenever there was conflict? Of course. Sit on the other side of the sanctuary and stop interacting with the other person in any way. Better yet, find another church and hope that the people will be better there.

Instant peace, right? But how will you build them up, which is the second half of the command?

Do you see the implications for long term, identifiable commitments in this text? “Peace” is what you pursue because you are NOT walking away from the relationship. Peace is what you seek because you and your brother have a conflict and you are not willing to separate, but rather want to work through it so that you can once again build one another up.

The peace Paul has in mind is not the absence of conflict brought about because the offended parties left and went elsewhere. The WORLD can give you that kind of peace.

Biblical peace is where you stay in the relationship long term and forgive one another and bear with one another. Biblical peace takes a miraculous work of the Holy Spirit to change hearts, not a fleshly work to change churches, or simply step away from intimacy.

Romans 15:5 Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus; 6 that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is again a prayer, and Paul prays for this because it is a gift of God to take diverse people, fallen people, and make them of one mind. It takes His good gifts of perseverance and encouragement to make this happen, and again implies that we are sticking together in a committed, covenant relationship.

And do you see the connection between this unity, which implies a defined COMMUNITY… and our ability to glorify God?

Verse 6, “…that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

This text clearly teaches, among other things, is that an individual Christian CANNOT glorify God in exactly the same way that a group of Christians can. One Christian living at peace with himself and those he is only loosely associated with does not give the same testimony to the miraculous power of God as do a group of people living in a stable, defined community. When there is peace with one another when the relationships are close and regular and committed, when people know one another’s flaws and chose to live intimately and love genuinely ANYWAY… that is when the glory of God is manifest in the church! That is something the world can neither understand nor duplicate.

And that ought to MATTER to every one of us. You are NOT your own, you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your relationship to the local church.

Ephesians 4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

That verse makes no sense unless there is a community with unity to preserve. It has no application for the Christian living in isolation, or even the Christian who is church hopping, never settling in one place long enough to develop a unity that would then be challenged by normal sorts of sin so that it would then need to be preserved.

Hebrews 3:13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Why do you think so many Christians are hardened, deceived by sin? Why is the church carnal? It has been said that the church in America is a mile wide and an inch deep. Why is that? Why is our testimony in the world so often compromised? Why does Andrew Sullivan have so many legitimate gripes mixed in with the illegitimate gripes about the church?

Because not enough of us are in relationships where day after day after day we encourage one another and guard one another from the CONSTANT, unremitting deceitfulness of sin. The reason we are to never give up encouraging one another is because sin never gives up trying to deceive us.

Does this verse not necessitate ongoing, close, stable, relationships in the church? Is there any way to obey this text if people are either drifting from church to church, or simply failing to invest the time and energy it takes to get to know people as individuals with unique needs? How do you encourage a person who doesn’t know you well enough to trust you with what is really going on in their life? Until you have invested in a specific body for some undefined but extended period of time you will not know how to encourage them in their particular need because they will not feel safe in telling you what their needs really are.

We are our brother’s keeper, and that has powerful implications for community.

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.

Set aside the obvious for a moment. We all know the text says we are not to forsake the assembling together. We need to be in a church, somewhere, assembling with other believers. And of course you are all here to hear me read this, so to say much about that really would be preaching to the choir.

But note with me something that is not quite so obvious, namely, the phrase in vs. 24, “consider how to stimulate.”

Do you know what that means? We ought to be PLOTTING, SCHEMING, PRAYING, PLANNING on how we can motivate another Christian to love and good deeds.

You know how you do that? You get to know someone over time. You encourage them in some area of love and good deeds, and you watch how they respond. You see what their fears are and what their strengths are. Where does God seem to meet them most clearly in their service?

And you probably are not in full compliance with this verse if you wait until you are pulling into the church parking lot on Sunday morning to begin considering how you will encourage someone to love and good works. I think the verse implies that the spiritual well-being of those around you occupies a lot of your thought. It is something you reflect on often, considering, weighing, planning how you will be a means of grace to a brother or sister.

All of this implies trust and knowledge and commitment and love and humility, and it all takes time to develop, even in covenant relationships.

Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.

That verse says that your elders at FBBB will give an account, to God for the condition of your souls. That is a solemn charge. We know we are not doing all we should in this area, and we want to get better. We are determined to get better. This text says you can make it easier for us or harder for us.

But whose souls will we give an account for? Whose souls are we watching over? Is it the person who visits once a month? Is it the regular attendee? What is regular? Simply put, at what point does a person become one of “our” sheep that we will give an account for?

Peter writes to the elders of certain local churches and says, “…shepherd the flock of God among you…”

An elder is not responsible for every sheep in the universal, worldwide flock of God. They are responsible for the flock that is “among them.” What does that mean? Who is in that flock? How do we know they are in the flock?

For that matter, referring back to Hebrews, when does a leader become “your leader,” someone that you have an obligation to listen to and to obey? The command to YOU in Hebrews 13:17 implies that YOU are able to identify Christian leaders that you are in relationship with and that you are willing to submit to. Who do you have that sort of relationship with? How do you KNOW that you are that sort of relationship with them?

Do you see the implications that this clear verse has for BOTH the shepherds and the sheep? Whose fold are you in? Will we be called to give an account for your soul? Is anyone watching over your soul?

There are many, many more texts that speak to this. I hope I haven’t overwhelmed you with the few I have shown you. Individually, they all imply long term commitment to a local body of believers, which IS church membership.

Collectively, they don’t imply it, they SCREAM it. To go for very long without a clear commitment to identifiable local body is to make obedience to the Scriptures almost impossible.

To be clear, this has not, nor will it become, a membership drive for FB. It IS a membership drive for the local church. That is, you simply need to be in a covenant relationship with some church, some local gathered body of believers where you can begin to live out the many, many NT that only make sense in the context of a local church.

One point of application, and then a quote from Spurgeon.

We need to give thanks for the church. God has made you part of a family. Whether it thrills you or not right now, you have been brought into a household. Whether you want it or not, there are people OBLIGATED to pray for you, OBLIGATED to love you, OBLIGATED to bear with you in your struggles because they are your BROTHERS!

The number one application of this brief reflection ought to be thanksgiving! It ought to be praise! It ought to be JOY! You and I have no right to be a part of ANYTHING, let alone something as glorious as the church. To be commanded to minister, and to be ministered to, in a community where we know one another and can put “flesh” on the love and promises of God to us… what an unspeakable privilege!

When I read the works of Bonhoffer and Wurmbrand and other Christians isolated for their faith, against their will… I hang my head in shame at how little I have treasured the gift of the local church.

Years ago, Shawn and I met a missionary who served somewhere in the south Pacific. He asked us about our church, and we shared some of the struggles and disappointments we had, many of them being that we were not growing as fast as we would like.

He looked at us kind of funny and said, “Whenever we can get 2 or 3 Christians together at one time, we sit down under a tree and have church.” For him and the few fellow believers that existed in the area, to have just one or two brothers or sisters to worship God with was a joy. I resolved then to try never again to take the church for granted, no matter her flaws.

And so I call you to give thanks to God that He has commanded you to do something so wonderful, so glorious, as to become a real, functioning part of the body of Christ.

I do not believe the Spirit of God desires us to live with only salvation’s essentials. There are miserable souls who obey and love no more than is absolutely needful to get to heaven. They would be saved in the cheapest possible way, and they would be content to crawl over the threshold of glory, but not to go too far in. They want as much grace as may be necessary to float them into the harbor, but they do not desire an abundant entrance. O miserly professors, I turn to the children of God and joyfully remind them that there is in the Holy Ghost not only what they absolutely need to be saved, but also much more. Here is not only bread but also wine on the lees well refined. In the Holy Ghost there is comfort to gladden you, grace to strengthen you, holiness to ennoble you, and love to purify you. CH Spurgeon

I think I speak for all the elders when I say we have the same concern as Spurgeon. We do not want to see people saved, but barely, to see them as genuine Christians, but always defeated, always struggling, always immature, never at peace. It is our heart and our job to encourage robust Christians, mature Christians, joyful Christians.

And that has a lot to do with a person’s involvement in the local church.

Do you really want to understand the impact of abortion on a day-by-day, minute-by-minute level?

I came across an eye-opening website on the world’s population. It’s a clock. The clock tracks many things, one of which is death. It breaks death down into multiple groups. The noncommunicable diseases – cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and respiratory diseases – take many lives. Also reported are death by injury and death by communicable diseases. You can watch the death count rise for each of the categories listed.

But there in the lower right-hand corner is the count for abortions. I found myself staring at this number, watching the number rise right before my very eyes. Watching the count increase one number at a time and thinking that each number represents an individual child was sobering.

You can view the rise of the estimated amount of abortions for the year, for the month, for the week, or for the day. Or you can zero everything out and watch all the statistics start from zero. The first death added to the display will be in the abortion category.

The clock doesn’t include the count of abortions when reporting the total number of deaths in the world. At the time of writing this, the estimated number of deaths in the world to date for 2012 was 8,898,646. The total number of abortions (not included in the previous number) was 6,298.662. Add these two numbers together for a total of 15,197,308. This means that abortion accounts for approximately 41% of deaths worldwide according to the statistics used by World Clock.

The clock also has a pause button. It’s nice to hit pause. But it just stops the count on your computer; it doesn’t stop what is happening out in the world. We need to find a way to not only use the pause button on abortion in our world – we also need to use the stop button.

I would encourage you to go over to the World Clock website. In the left-hand column, select “death” as the information to be displayed. Then sit there and watch. Realize that each number added within the display represents an individual person who died. Maybe someone died of malaria, maybe diabetes, maybe from a traffic accident, or maybe they died from an abortion.

Click to see the “world population clock.”

HT