Art 42-45 Ecclesiology

This is our study of our church confession earlier this year we re wrote our church Constitution for the first time and it was the first update in four years But it was the first major revision that we had done in ten years Because last time we did a major revision was in 2011.

Then we added a couple lines in 2016, but this year we reformatted our Constitution and if you're if you're not yet a member and interested in it And that'll be happy to give you a copy to look at so you know what it is but one of the things that we did in adopting the new Constitution was Becoming a church that would recognize a historic confession we thought that that was an important thing to do it ties us historically to the reform Baptist movement that was Yeah, you're excited yeah, yeah, it ties us to the reform Baptist movement and Many reform Baptist churches hold to the 1689 London Confession.

We chose the 1646 confession which was the earlier confession and As I've said over the for several weeks there was there were reasons for us doing that we felt like we were in better agreement with the older confession and The only thing that I would say that the older confession probably doesn't do as well is the 1689 confession is a little more organized in regard to Headings and keeping things categorized if you go through the 1646 confession Which is our confession you'll realize very quickly that it wasn't it wasn't organized as as precisely Because it wasn't dealing in the same vein the 1689 confession 1689 drafts a lot from the the Westminster Confession of Faith and there uses a similar organizational template but the 1646 does not so it may seem odd where we are where we are in the confession is we are really dealing with the subject of Ecclesiology and For a thousand points What is ecclesiology? That's right the doctrine of the church and so I don't forget because I'll get to talking and forget let's stop and pray Father I thank you for your word.

I thank you for this opportunity to study your word I pray that as we look at the confession and look at the scriptures which underlie the confession Lord that we would be used of you to better Grow in our faith and Lord to become more conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ but that is the the very reason for which we come together and gather together is that is to be sanctified to be to be built up in this most holy faith, and we do thank you Lord for the men of the 17th century who Saw it as their task to make statements Regarding the truth and that they were precise in their statements and Lord We pray for such precision in our day where there is so much looseness and so much error Which is abounding let us Lord seek to be Accurate in our proclamation of the truth in Jesus name.

Amen So we're going to be looking at articles 42 and 43 for my portion and brother Andy and I split this time.

So I get about a half hour He gets about a half hour.

So we're going to be looking at two confessional statements the first one is 42 now in your In your book it gives headings those headings were added later.

They were added by the writers of that book They were not written by the original confessors of this statement, but I think that they are helpful Article 42 Is the article that says church discipline So by the way, if you're if Roman numerals are difficult It's you're going through once you get past 10 with Roman numerals my eyes sort of go cross So if you're trying to find the one that we're looking for, it's article 42 church discipline and article 43 which they have defined as caution in Such discipline so I'm just going to say caution and church discipline one of the claims of the Roman Catholic Church is That it is the true Church of the Lord Jesus Christ When they say that statement when they make the statement we are the true church they are making the Additional affirmation that all other churches are in a sense false churches We're the true church and you're not with us then obviously you're false now that has softened over the centuries and especially as of late Within the last few generations.

We are now no longer a false church.

But if you ask the Roman Catholic They will say we are separated brethren Meaning Protestants or reformed churches there were no longer considered to be false churches but still if you ask a Roman Catholic who is a Person who imbibes the teachings they will say the Roman Catholic Church is the true church But when it comes to the Reformation There was division right away among the Reformers Luther had the Germans Calvin and Zwingli had the Swiss and of course there were Scottish Reformations there were Reformations going on all around So to say that the true church of the Roman Catholic Church was replaced with a true church would be kind of difficult to come to that conclusion because there's no one true church and The Reformers said we're not trying to be the true church.

We're trying to be a true church I'm saying I'm building up to something So please stay with me when I say here what I just said The Reformers said our goal is not to be the true church as if to say we're the only one but to be a true church one true church and Another church can be a true church as well and another church can be a true church as well So the the question then became well, if that's the goal that every church be a true church What are the marks of a true church? What are the things that would make a church qualified for the category of church? Because don't you know some people who would say well, hey, we're two or three are gathered That's the church.

I meet with my buddies on Friday night and we read the Bible we are at church I mean don't you you know folks do that right or they'll say Sure, we meet with three or four families in our home.

We read the Bible.

Therefore we have a church now I'm not opposed to house churches.

We'll be very clear.

But is that all it takes to be a church? Is that all that is required is that two or three people gather together and read the Bible Well, that's not all it takes to be a church and the Reformers in their attempt to try to clarify What a true church is Said there were three marks of a true church any church That would be a true church must have three marks.

The first mark was that the word Must be preached.

The word must be proclaimed If you go to a church and there's no preaching, there's no proclamation of the word It's not a church.

Now you think what kind of church wouldn't preach the word a lot of them I remember one time I was doing music at a church and it was for a revival meeting and I Finished doing the music and the revivalist came forward.

He walked up behind his Bible opened his Bible Closed it Stepped out from behind the pulpit and he said, you know, I came I was going to preach But I the Lord told me somebody needs a touch and this lady Wow stands up runs to the front He smacks her and she's down and now it's on no preaching Just a lot of smacking But that's all it was what there was no proclamation of the word now I'm not saying that's all they ever did But we know that there are churches that don't preach the word and therefore according to the Reformers They're not a church.

They don't proclaim the gospel.

They don't proclaim the word.

So that's number one number two Would be what they would call the sacraments In Baptist's life.

We tend to more define them as the ordinances, but whatever word you want to use We're referring to what when we talk about the sacraments Baptism and the Lord suffered and and that's where I get that's a big issue I take with a lot of people who meet in their houses, you know, because a lot of times there's no practicing of the ordinances Within that group and there's no administration in that regard.

Not always again I'm not like I'm saying I'm not against house churches, but I see a lot of time It's just like a Bible study, but there's no administration the ordinances and typically there's no preaching It's just a lot of discussion a lot of talking back and forth and the Bible does Actually elevate the idea of proclaiming the word not just discussing it You know, we have times for discussing the word, but on Sunday morning, the word is not discussed.

It's not dialogue It's a proclamation of the word.

All right, and that's so so so Are there groups that don't practice the sacraments? Well, for instance like the Salvation Army They don't claim to be a church mind you but they There are a Christian group that doesn't practice baptism or the Lord suffered So that's an example of one group at least that would not practice the sacraments or the ordinance so there's two that the reformers would say you this must be the third one is the is the one that often Loses people as they say, I don't know if I agree with this third one this this seems like a bridge too far This is the one I can't agree on they may know what it is Church-discipline, I thought you might know that Mike the third one is The practice of church discipline Because the reformers basically said this They said that if a church is willing to allow That sin be named within Without any discipline to follow that sin or to address that sin Then it's really not operating as the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ I want to read a quote from dr.

Robert Godfrey.

If you're not familiar with dr.

Godfrey He does a lot with Ligonier ministries, which is RC scrolls ministry He says this about the three marks of the church He says in focusing on the marks of the church The Reformers were not saying that all a good church needs to have are the marks of the church They focused on the marks because these marks make the church recognizable The Church of Christ has many more characteristics than these three marks, but these characteristics we might mention prayer Fellowship devotion and the rest are not as easy to observe These marks are important because they display the faithfulness to a church if you walked in the church was a church that refused to preach the word You know If you walked into a church that refused to exercise or practicing the sacraments wouldn't take long before you know And if a church was allowing for sin to go on unaddressed Then you know, it wouldn't take long before you would see That the church was out of the world God in that area So it's this third quality That we're going to talk about tonight and I want to say it is this third quality which many churches are missing In fact if this list is correct if the Reformers got it, right this isn't Scripture This is just the Reformers opinion, right? This is a Reformation principle opinion.

So it's not gospel, but if they're right and these three things make up the minimum of what a church must have to be a church Then many churches are not true I know a certain writer who would say they need the nine marks They need the nine marks.

Yeah, Mark Dever.

Of course.

Yeah, the nine marks are the healthy church But he would agree with these three at least.

Yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely So with all that being said now, I want to read to you what the Confession says about church discipline It says in article 42 Christ hath Likewise the reason why it says likewise is often these build on the last one and the last one was about the Person being able to administer the sacraments the ordinances So he has the power to do that.

So it goes on to say Christ hath likewise given power to his church to receive in and cast out Any member that deserves it just stop right there I just we're going to deal with that phrase, but I just love how simple They deserve it.

It's like they deserve.

Okay, and this power is given to every congregation and not to one particular person either member or officer but in relation to the whole body in reference to their faith and fellowship so That is how the Confession expresses the authority of the church to exercise church discipline They say that the church has the power to bring in and to cast out Anyone any member that deserves it? So let me ask you this question and I'm going to erase the board When it says deserves Who is it talking about? Well has to be a member that's good thought yeah person has to be a member of the church can't discipline non-members We've had that conversation before we've actually had the conversation Well, what if you had somebody in the church who was engaging in sin? But they had not committed or submitted to the to the church in any way Well, we would we may have a conversation with that person, especially if they were like being overt with their sin But we would not have any ecclesiastical authority to do anything other than address them You know as a person who maybe because they may not even be a Christian let's say on a Sunday morning we had Two homosexuals coming they're not claiming to be Christians and they're sitting there as long as they're sitting there listen the word That's fine now if they start kissing or something like that when they have a Conversation about we don't want our children to see this that might be a conversation that has to be had But as long as they're just sitting there listen to the word You know if they're not members Then we want them to hear the word so that would be but yes if they're members then they're subject to Church discipline.

So right that would be the first thing But I want to but when we say the person deserted who deserves church discipline Can I ask you this question? Is everybody in here still a sinner? How long you been saved 20 years several Okay, so we've all been saying for a while at least a few years For those of us, hopefully everybody in here saying again.

I haven't gone through taking everyone's testimony But if you are safe, hopefully it's been for a little while, but you're still saying You still struggle with sin.

So a lot of times people would say how can I discipline somebody else? I still sin How can I even exercise? How can I be a part of church discipline when I myself know that in all reality? I struggle myself with sin and I think that the important thing to realize is there's only one sin only one sin That can bring about church discipline They may know what it is Well, I would say impenitence but not non-repentance, okay Impenitence or like you said Non-repentance because that's the point of church discipline if you go to Matthew 18 where Jesus outlines this process he doesn't give a specific sin like adultery or Fornication or something.

He says if a brother sins against you and you go to him and you tell him his fault and he repents Then you've restored him case closed.

Nobody else needs to know by the way tomorrow night in our Academy class We're going to be talking about conflict resolution.

I think that's the best Example of a Christian conflict resolution that we have in Scripture Is that if a person sins against you you go to them privately and have a conversation? Because most of us don't do that.

Most of us go to somebody else When we talk about how I was just airing my grievance.

I was just venting my anger You know, we go talk to something now We got two people angry at person three rather than having that private conversation, right? It's really is built in conflict management.

You got an issue with somebody talk to that person.

All right, and But if the person is sinning and you go to them and they refuse to hear what you're saying What does it say to do then go and get two or three? Others two or three witnesses because the Bible says every case must be tried on the basis of two witnesses or more, right? So you go and get other people you take them and you have that conversation And one of the things I like to point out when I'm teaching on this is the reason why Jesus said go get two or Three more it's because you might be the one that's wrong You might I might be saying Matt you're in sin And then I go get Jerry and Chuck and Jerry and Chuck look at me and say but you're wrong Matt's not wrong.

You know now I got a pro because I went to Matt and I was the one who was wrong so it's a opportunity for a little bit of Not gossip, it's not about getting two or three people to talk it's about accountability Right, but let's say I do go to Chuck and Jerry and and we go to Matt.

I'm sorry He's using example brother.

He's having me right there.

So I go to Matt we talk to Matt and Now we're in a conversation and Matt says, you know what? I know it's a sin But I enjoy it Or I know it's a sin, but I'm not gonna stop.

I'm not going to repent I'm not even going to recognize that it's a sin and I love it.

So That would be an example of impotence At that moment.

It's not the sin that's causing the discipline.

It's the refusal to recognize that it is sin and that it means repentance because if I went to matter to Mike or to this Mike or to that Mike and and I said brothers You're struggling with this or if I gave you I said here's something that you're dealing with whatever you've said and you say this is My struggle.

Okay.

Well, then let's work on this together Let's let's let's be accountable to one another let's pray for one another let's call each other It wouldn't move the church discipline at the man struggling.

It wouldn't move the church discipline if the woman is having a struggle That's the difference, right? It would only be moving to the next step if they say we're not stopping we don't care or I'm not stopping I don't care that so it's it's it's the heart of impenitence that leads to the next step and the final step of church discipline according to Jesus is that the issue be brought before the church Oh heavens You mean they're going to name their name in front of the church.

It's a hard thing It's a heavy thing to even consider that somebody's name be brought before the church and I'll tell you a story There was a church here in Jacksonville made national news because they exercise discipline it was Church on the south side and I knew the pastor and actually we have some members here who were members there So, yeah, I know a lot about this church and They exercise discipline and The lady sued the lady who was under discipline sued the church and made it on Fox News This was probably 10 15 years ago been a while But so it does so so it's it's a heavy thing to move forward with church this Because there's a Again, there's I can throw a stick and hit 15 churches all of which would say we're nuts or even thinking to do something like this That we would be wrong.

I mean, don't you know Jesus said he who is without sin cast the first stone, right? So they said they always jump back to John 8 And they want to make that their argument and say you can't do this.

So they pick Jesus against Jesus, right? because if Jesus was the one who said Cast the first stone.

He's also the one who says Cast them out from among them because that's what he goes on to say He says once you bring them before the church, he says if they refuse to listen even to the church Let them be as a Gentile or taxable Now why those two things Gentiles were not allowed in the temple and tax collectors had been Excommunicated because they had turned against the Jewish people and they were supporting their oppressors over the Roman government so the picture of excommunication Is given by Jesus But notice it's not an immediate thing It's not like Mike makes me mad and I say Mike you're out of here by the way, the confession deals with that too because it says It says no person has the unilateral authority to do this on his or her own Even the pastor no officer even the elders can't gather together and say that we're going to discipline somebody No, we the person is brought before the church and we lay out the case before the church.

This is what has happened they refuse to repent and until they do so they will be Not no longer a part of this body How do you want to say? Yes That Most of the time they do Most of the time by the time it gets to that part.

They were kind of already gone But they have every right to come and make their case if they feel like they have been mistreated And this is the thing I do want to point out.

I know of churches that have done this wrong.

I Want in particular where there was a man who was He was he was gonna be an elder But then he decided he didn't want to be an elder because he got his job changed and he was going to have more hours It works.

We didn't have the time to commit to being an elder So he removed his name from the eldership and the church disciplined him for being read They said because he took the job that Was gonna pay more money rather than becoming an elder that he was denying God's call and that he was greedy and the church Excommunicated him and his family and that church So can churches air yes churches can air and And Yes That's why I think the next part is so important That's I got to get on so you can have this portion But the next part says that very thing it says that there needs to be caution and discipline Right there.

It has to be done.

It's one.

It shouldn't be done all the time Shouldn't be like every week.

We're coming in and now this week.

It's Vince's turn This week.

It's you know, brother brother and Paul's turn No, it's you know, even when I would say this there's a time in history I read a book on Baptist history earlier this year and even at the height of Baptist Excommunication that sounds like a weird thing when they were actually keeping records and they and and like back in the 1800s There was actually it was happening.

But even then it was only like 2% or something It still wasn't a huge amount, you know, I've heard some as high as 10% But as far as a general rule, it wasn't something that was being done every week all the time Just to clarify But it but it must be a Part of the church's understanding.

Let's let's look at 43 It says every and every particular member of each Church how excellent great or learned so ever Is subject to this censure and judgment and that the church ought not without great care and tenderness and do advice But by the rule of faith to proceed against her members now, what does that say one? It's saying there's no person who is outside of the reach of this particular Authority within the church, I'll read to you but one of the one of the passages it cites is 1st Timothy 5 This is what it says in 1st Timothy 5 about an elder It says do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses Well, they have to do that for anyone But here's the point it goes on to say verse 20 as for those who persist in sin, that would be elders Rebuke them in the presence of all so that the rest may stand in fear see in a position of Authority you're also in a position of responsibility and the review could be a public Serious business And it goes on to say in the presence of God and in Christ Jesus and all the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging doing nothing from partiality.

No elder gets a free pass No deacon gets a free pass.

No longtime church member.

Sorry Paul.

You longest one here Maybe Pat.

Well, who's who's longer pattern? Oh, oh, yeah, just because you've been a member for so many years We don't we we don't have what will you pass the point? You know, you've got your tenure and you can't you know We're all subject whether elder whether Deacon no matter who and that and I like the way they say it no matter how excellent how great or how learning Nice doesn't matter Everybody's subject to the same discipline And it goes on to say and the church ought not to Without great care and tenderness and do advice but by the rule of faith proceed against her members The church has to be careful in the exercise of discipline For those of you who have not been with us or maybe you're new, you know This is something that we talked about and we have talked about But it is something that has only happened a few times in the history of our church where we've actually had to have this Go to where we bring something to the congregation I can only think of twice But it is something that is a real thing and When I'm preaching on this subject, I often it's not a passage that they cite here, but I often cite the story of a king Remember a king from the Old Testament Akin was part of the nation of Israel and when they went to battle and They were supposed to leave all the spoils of war But he took some of the spoils back and hid them in his tent and he buried them.

So no one would know Well the next time they go to battle they lose Moses goes before the Lord what's happening here? You know, why did we lose and the reason was you have this man who is a sinner and he's not been dealt with We didn't even know okay, so they deal with Akin and Say so how does that have to do with church discipline? sin is a cancer and Impenitence is a dangerous cancer Because as long as sin is allowed to go on address We simply are not in God's will and this again doesn't give us the right to become What's the word Nazis well, that's a bit harsher than I was thinking.

But yeah, I was gonna say nitpickers, but Nazis is good It doesn't give us the right to go around Pointing our fingers at everyone because again, none of us want people doing that to us, but but we are our brother's keeper, right? We encourage Correct I Have had times in my life where the rebuke of a brother was Hard at the time, but was later very sweet when I realized how much that person loved me.

Yes, ma'am The church should be a prayer Come back And that's the whole the whole if you read 1st Corinthians 5 which we didn't get to read tonight the 1st Corinthians 5 was Paul say We deliver them over the second for the destruction of flesh so that they can be seen We don't want them to be lost.

We pray for their salvation Absolutely.

All right.

Well, I'm gonna turn over brother Andy.

Let him I was thinking of that proverb that says open That is true All right, so my portion is is the 44th and 45th article And as we look at it tonight, I want to kind of Follow with brother Keats Steps, but at the same time I want us to think about something that I think is mentioned in in these two articles And so if you if you've read these articles article 44 45 They're Really kind of housed together within this whole idea of the church and the government of the church in other words We read article 41, which was baptism and then article 42 was church discipline article 43 But the key word up was caution in such discipline and now we come to 44 and 45 and it talks about oversight responsibility and oversight gifts and I wanted to kind of Follow along a little bit in the area of the government of the church but I also would like us to think a little bit tonight about how we are to use our gifts within the church and within the framework of a local body of believers Because I think that is an essential truth that we need not only to have but it needs to grow In other words if we are going to grow as a body And I'm not just talking about numerically I'm talking about spiritually we're going to grow as a body then we need to have these things such as The right understanding of church discipline But we also need to have the right understanding of who is the government the church and what's the goal for the church? In other words, is it just that we we come here check the box sing a couple songs And then go away or is there something that that we are responsible to Contribute to the overall Welfare of the body and ultimately to the glory of God because that's what's behind it all so I Might say a couple things but I want to ask us to think about two things as we read these two articles I'm gonna get to the articles on dealing them separately and I'm gonna talk fast Just for the sake of time So I want to ask you to think about two things as we go through these two articles one everything in the church is to be done in decency and in order in other words God is not the author of confusion and if we are going to exemplify the Lord Jesus Christ and his work of redemption and Sanctification in us by the Spirit then we are responsible to do things decency and in order and in order to do things decently Decently and in order we have to follow God's pattern I think that's one of the biggest errors that that happens to churches is they go off the rail and begin to think that they can insert their own understanding into the Into the functionality and the government of a church and my friends that's most dangerous In other words, once we move away from God's Word, we open ourselves up to so many errors and so many dangers So that's one of the things I would ask you to keep in the back of your mind As we go through this and then the second one is this That as we go through these two articles and as we go through this whole confession that has we have been that anything that we do Is to be done with a single purpose and that single purpose is to glorify God If you and I Find any other reason than that then we're here for the wrong reason if you and I think that and I remember seeing a billboard boy was this gigantic billboard and they put it up and and They had just Started a new church and I think they just built a new building and the billboard said this this church was built for you And you know, I thought about that To me, that's not actually correct The church is God's house The church is God's people and if our sole purpose is not to glorify God as a body of believers Then I think we've missed the mark So don't underestimate What can happen if you don't follow those two principles of doing everything in decency and in order according to God's Word and then having a sole purpose which would be to glorify God and to show what the work of Salvation in our lives.

So with that in mind That to me these two articles are similar and yet they're different in article 44 I believe what the emphasis on is on is on the oversight that is to be done by the offices of the church and How that is to function and why and then in article 45 the responsibility of the body of believers for Governing the church how that is to work and why in other words it deals with both It deals with the if you will the pulpit and the pew And I've always said it that way.

I went to a conference a long time ago Sovereign Grace Baptist Association The one that one of the speakers was his message was the view from the pew and What it was was he was? presenting if you will a review of what was presented from the pulpit and how He saw it as being in the pew and it really was really interesting and it was well done So I want us to think about that.

I'm gonna look at some scriptures I don't think we'll get time to look at them all but I'm gonna deal with first Corinthians 12 first Corinthians 14 Romans 12 Ephesians 4 those are all the Chapters and sections of scriptures that you could look at Especially in first Corinthians and Romans 12 in Ephesians 4 if you just were to look at those four sections You would have ample Instruction on it.

So let me ask you a question before Every note from 44 Would I be correct to say that nobody should teach? except offices in the church Would I be correct in saying that the only ones who should teach in the church are offices in the church That's not correct.

Does anybody think that that is correct? Okay.

I don't really partake this Do you know? As long as I'm understanding your question correctly So So What I also be correct if if you're saying to me that there is Opportunity and there is scriptural warrant for others to teach in the church besides the offices in the church Let me ask you a second question Would I be correct to say that the elders in particular? Must be able to teach and govern in the church In essence if you were to look at the qualifications of an elder and the qualifications for a deacon You will find from characteristic characteristics or traits Individual traits, they're identical pretty much.

What's the one exception? It's apt to teach.

Well, there's not only an ability to teach but then there's a willingness to do it And I was thinking Charles Spurgeon once said to a man who Came up to him and said, I think I want to be an elder Which he meant he wanted to be a pastor because remember we talked about those words are all interchangeable And it's pertinent to say he looked at the man.

He said I would advise you if you could do anything else do it if you could do anything else, but be an officer in the church do it and I think it's good Understanding of why that was a good wisdom, but I don't have time to get into it too much on that.

So Let me ask one third one final question Would I be correct to say that in a broad way or in a general word in a general way We are all to be teachers of one another and govern one another Would I be correct if I said in a broad sense We are all to be teachers of one another and we are to all participate in governing one another Brother what? So so I would be correct So I've got three questions right so far in my mind at least according to you That that there is opportunity for others to exercise their gifts besides the office of the church that the elders offices in the church must and be able to teach and be willing to do it and then the third one is that in a in a in a sense within boundaries Scriptural boundaries all are responsible to be teachers of one another and to govern one another again with those two principles in mind that everything is done in decency and in order and That God is glorified in it all right and again.

I don't want to underestimate The dangers of not following those two principles Because I've seen too many churches destroyed Because they lack understanding those two areas that God has ordained the means of How he his churches be governed and that God is to be glorified in it all and so I just say this and I know it's not possible I've often thought when you put a church sign out in front where it says so I saw a sodom grace Baptist Church I wouldn't mind at all if you listed every member on that billboard Because that's the church And in that sense we are here to jointly glorify God and to jointly build one another up in this most holy place But I understand You can't possibly do that So all right having said that let me read article 44 and again I believe the emphasis is on the oversight in the eldership and in the diagonate of Responsibility And the brothers say this Christ for the keeping of this church in holy and orderly communion Place it some special men over the church who by their office ought to govern oversee visit watch So likewise for the better keeping thereof in all places by the members He has given authority and played duty upon all to watch over one another So let's just think about that That there are those that are appointed in the church to The Responsibility of oversight whether it be in Discipline or whether it be in teaching or whether it be in comfort or whether it be in ministry or whether it be an oversight that there are those who have been appointed and That doesn't mean that the church decided that so-and-so should be the pastor or the pastors or the elders It has to come with the understanding that those men have been appointed by God for God within the local church You know, I want to say this and I'll ask you to think about this an Elder or a deacon has had certain characteristics agree and you're laid out for us in Timothy times We've already talked about the exception.

The elders must be able Have you said that I would ask you to think about this maybe I'll form it as a quick question Not that we have to answer right now Does that mean that if a man is an elder in Church a That he could be an elder in Church B Automatically something to think about in other words even within that realm characteristics and Character traits must be there but that does not always mean that God has appointed a man in one place and that Because of that he can go and minister in any way.

He should be able to preach should be able to teach He don't get me wrong.

But as far as shepherding, I think there is some some area to consider right that God has Ordained not only The oversight of church, but who in particular For that particular body and I always like what brother Pete says, right? Did the shepherd or smell like the sheep? and if you have a flock of sheep and I said this last week if you have a flock of sheep that are Built by God in one area in one way Then the best thing to do is to have a shepherd in that sense that kind of looks and smells like right? and again, I brought up the issue as if If everybody here was in a shirt and tie Then the expectation would be that the elders were shirt ties Just something to think about Okay, so so I wanted to think about that and then the article says that the Christ for the keeping of the church in calling an orderly communion places some special places some special men over the church and That is something that's very important.

I want you to just look at a couple of scriptures real quick I want you to go to Acts chapter 20 And there's one of the verses that the brothers use and I think it's well worth our time in Acts chapter 20 Remember this is Paul at Ephesus and he had spent a great deal of time there with the brothers and it came time for him to Depart and to move on by God's decree and by God's Purposes and as he leaves that church at Ephesus he gathers the elders together and he says to them In verse 20 26 therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole council of God therefore Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among whom The Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he which he purchased with his own blood For I know that after my departure Savage will savage wolves will come in among you not sparing the flock and Verse 30 also from among yourselves men will rise up Speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after themselves one of the reasons why? There needs to be this Oversight by God appointed elders and God appointed officers within the church is for the protection of the church both from without and from within right from wolves without and wolves within and you and I we're We're mostly more acquainted with all these things that take place in churches where wolves go in and sheep's clothing and ruin Both churches of Christ and the reputation of the churches of Christ I was just reading today said a person who was a church leader and he was brought up on charges for molesting Girls under 12 years old for a period of five years and they finally found it out and you know, he said I'm sorry But they sentenced him to 40 years in prison And to me that is such a Grievous and close sin, but but the media had a field day with it and they had a big article Why because it brought dishonor to the name of Christ So when you think about that, there are many wolves without and so this special oversight if you will or this Specific oversight is given to those that God and that's what Paul said, right? Among whom the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood So there's wolves without It is in from time to time.

There's wolves within so so there is to be a Brave responsibility.

I think that's one of the reasons why Spurgeon said if you do anything else do it And you can avoid getting yourself into that because remember what James said be not many be not many teachers.

Why? Right.

Do you receive the greater judgment? You got a lot more to answer for right to whom once he's given much as you expect so As you think about that you think about how important is and let me say it this way, too One of the things that I believe the body of Christ Sometimes Misunderstands is the need of care Not just before the body And I say that because in other words if Many people join a church and they'll say what's in it for me? I'm not so sure that that's a biblical way It's like How can I glorify God and what can I do? within this body To aid his body to work for the glory of God To me, that's the better question to ask and what am I going to get? You got Christ What more could you ask for but I think sometimes we come and we expect that those who are given Positions of oversight that they are they don't have any issues anyway So they should be able to take care of everything For instance my true It's certainly not true so it's important for us to think about that Let me ask you Again, I'm running out of time, but he was 13 and I just want you to look at it He was 13 a couple verses there that talked about this this Oversight that has been laid upon some to help in discipline Government and certainly in the shepherding of the flock Just a couple verses in Hebrews 13 Verse 7 it says this Remember those who rule over you who has spoken the Word of God to you whose faith follow considering the outcome of their conduct Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today Look at verse 17 Obey those who rule over you be submissive for they watch out for you souls as those Who must give account? Let them do so with joy and not with grief for that would be unprofitable Now we'll say this in again wasn't mainly what I was going to try to bring out, but it's on my mind to say Consider how much time is spent.

I think I told you that Luther said the ministry was made up of prayer Meditation and temptation those three things prayer meditation and temptation and I can confess to you and I know brother Keith would and brother Mike would and I would hope that you would think that anyone who's put in this position by God That I pray day and night for the welfare of the sovereign grace of God members in particular as a whole as Individuals my place in it your place in it and that it is it is an inescapable part it doesn't mean I walk around all day thinking of Your situation 24 hours a day because I got a lot of situations But my point is and I can say this honestly never thought on my mind And that's the way it should be And and your expectation should be that my mind is never far from And if my mind ever starts to get far from you get rid of me get rid of brother Keith get rid of brother Mike But remember to consider those that God has laid this responsibility on because it's really a big responsibility But they have the one they are the ones who will have rule over you You know, what's interesting if you think about a lot of people who say well, you know what I believe in Christ But I don't go to a church because I don't need to be under the rule of anyone That's so biblically wrong And you can try to reason in a thousand different ways I can be with Christ two or three I've heard all the stories You're wrong You're flat-out wrong.

It says do not despise prophecies We're gonna get those prophecies Some False prophets somewhere you get a new church from where on the pulpit from the teaching And so when you when you say things like that, what you're really doing is dishonoring Not only the name of Christ, but the church of Christ because God has ordained it And it's really a rebellious thing.

It's really an action of pride to me, but nevertheless I Won't want to think about article 44 and then I'm very quickly article 45.

Just just give me an extra minute brother He took six minutes extra You always Just with the understanding that this is something that God is ordained you know, the church of Christ is unlike any other organization and In in one sense.

It has some aspects of an organization, but it's Much more there's nothing like the Church of Christ There is truly nothing like it.

It's a living body but anyway in Ephesians 4 Verse 7 says, but to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gifts Therefore he says when he ascended on high in the captivity of Calvary and gave gifts to men But drop down now to verse 11 and he himself who Christ who the Holy Spirit who the father who the triune God He himself came some to be apostles some prophets some evangelists some pastors and teachers Here's the reason for the equipping of the Saints.

Why for the work of the ministry? What ministry the ministry of the gospel of Christ? It's the glory of God for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ Till we all come to the unity of the faith and to the knowledge of God to a perfect man to the measure the stature of the fullness of Christ And you can go on and on and on and talk about again, this oversight is given to protect from the deceivers without deceivers within Until we all come to where we are If you will complete in Christ and complete in the sense of maturity and growing further I've said it to you a number of times.

Let's say it one more time Then I'll probably say it again My wife says I'm terrible I've always believed the three kinds of people who's in a church any church And I've always put it in the imagery of the boat And there are some people that are in the boat and they're rowing Got their hands to their oars and they're rowing as hard as they can to get to the shore And the shore being the glory of God.

That's one group The second group of the church of the people who are sitting in the boat Watching the other people row as hard as they can for the glory of God and they enjoy the fact that the other people are Rowing as hard as they can but they themselves they just want to enjoy the benefits of the others that row.

And so they're just sitting Then I've always believed as a third group They're the dangerous the most dangerous group.

They're the ones that are rowing in the wrong direction And and when you know what happens when you do that when one person is rowing one way and one person is rowing the other way Sit Look at that you start doing this So think about that and think about how this Article is laid out that there are those who have this responsibility, but just very quickly Where I believe he's talking in more general terms Also such to whom God has given gifts in the church may and ought to prophesy according to the proportion of faith and to teach publicly the word of God for the edification exhortation and comfort of the church And I had a number of scriptures.

I wanted to look at and I don't have the time to do it but I'm going to ask you just to turn to one and it's one that we've looked at before and Interestingly enough as we go in our Sunday morning study now to the one and others of the Bible This is going to come up again.

Just go to Romans 12 very quickly I want to make a point and you might agree with me Romans 12 verses 1 & 2 probably a memory verse for a lot of people Right probably Many of us can repeat it without looking at it.

I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God If you present your bodies and living sacrifice Holy acceptable God which is a reasonable service If you do not conform to this world Or be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and perfect and acceptable will of God Okay, big deal.

I can do that.

Yeah But I think sometimes we divorce verse 1 & 2 from verses 3 to 8 and the verses 3 to 8 is where I believe much is Laid out in this article.

In other words If We ought to present ourselves as a living sacrifice, it's not just an individual holiness, which certainly is there an individual renewing of our mind but in this setting and again, sometimes the breaks I think are hurtful rather than helpful that if you read the first two verses I just said and then read for I say through the grace given to me to everyone who is among you not to think Themself more highly than he ought to think but to think soberly as God to tell has dealt to each one a measure of it Whereas we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function So we being many on one body of Christ the individually members of one another Look, haven't they gifts? Differing according to the grace that is given to us.

Let's use them If proper Prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith.

Let's not talk about visions and revelations and all those things It's talking about it in a sense of edification and teaching and building up So if we have that gift we ought to use it Ministry let us use it with in our ministry he who teaches and teaching he who exhorts in exultation He who gives with liberality he who leads with diligence He shows mercy To such God has given gifts in the church man ought to prophesy According to the proportion of faith.

I will say this to us in closing brothers and sisters If we are going to grow in the grace of knowledge of the Son of God above us and above us If we ought to grow in our ministry to one another into the community and we ought to grow Numerically and there's nothing wrong with growing numerically Everyone needs to be growing in the boat because everyone has something to contribute Instead of what in many churches defaults to a few and it's usually those and especially the one that we're paying because listen He's got to produce and as we talked about last week when supporting a person brother Keith is the one that we support right now But everyone has to be growing are we wrong are we using what God gave us and Or are we just is it self-consumption? Is it only for me? Have I been saved just because of me? Have I been put in a body of believers and the body of believers should cater to me Or should I be one who caters to the body of believers? Because they're the ones that Christ bought He purchased Something to take away tonight There is a great responsibility in the oversight But there is this greater responsibility in the body of believers to govern needy reprove rebuke love and and to Minister to each other if we should trip over one another and see They should trip over one another and seeking to build one another up We should we should Come in worship when we gather together and our desire should be what can I give? This day to the work of Christ here because again much of the New Testament is Specific instructions to local churches It's not just something that's supposed to be done In some vague way, all right, I owe Keith three minutes next week But I go first next week so See there was a there was a little help right you'll get extra As we close in prayer anybody have anything specific that we need to add Glory her sister has passed away.

She was a critical condition So break with that family break with John and Gloria as they seek the minister for their family All right, let's just close I thought oh my god.

Thank you so much But thank you to say Thank you for reaching down and pulling us out of the pit of sin You've opened the prison doors and set us free And you've given us new hearts and new minds That you saved us for yourself for all eternity You prepared a place for us Oh God help us Give us the grace that we need not to be what we are Lord, but to be what we ought to be Be more like the Son of God Do those things that please you May we as body believers grow May we comfort each other govern each other.