Requirements #7: Support and Submission

In this part of the sermon: Pastor Martin introduces the sermon as the conclusion of the series on church membership requirements, emphasizing the church's role in admitting members and the importance of…

The church is analogized to a house established by God, with the people of God having stewardship over its 'front door' (admission) and 'back door' (discipline), illustrating the structured nature of the church and membership.

The following sermon was delivered on Sunday evening, June 10, 2001, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now, as we continue this topical series of sermons, which I've entitled, Living Together in the Father's House, we will take up our study precisely where we left off in the morning service. Having been away from this matter for four weeks, I felt that coming back to it, it would be good to seek in the study of the Word of God today to complete our consideration of what the Constitution of our Church and what the Scriptures teach us concerning the requirements for members...

0:02 - 1:29 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Pastor Martin introduces the sermon as the conclusion of the series on church membership requirements, emphasizing the church's role in admitting members and the importance of…

Martin quotes John Brown, a Presbyterian, on elders admitting members, but modifies the wording to reflect a Reformed Baptist congregational polity where elders recommend to the church, clarifying the church's role in membership decisions.

I changed or added a couple of words in reading to you from John Brown this morning because he wrote as a Presbyterian and he wrote, The elders should admit none to the church but those who meet such and such standards. I changed the words to the elders should recommend to the church the reception of none but those who and then the requirements were listed. And so it is vital for you, the Lord's people, to understand the biblical requirements for membership in any church that claims to be an evangelical and Bible-regulated church and in particular those requirements that we have judged from th...

1:29 - 2:29 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Every member of the body vitally, organically joined to the whole and everyone making its own contribution, the individual members come to maturity in relationship to the body.

Martin uses the analogy of his own hand maturing from a boy's hand to a man's hand, not in isolation but as part of the whole body's growth, to illustrate how individual believers mature only within the context of the church body.

In Ephesians chapter 4, and here I want now just not to quote, but I want you to see this with your own eyes, the apostle makes it plain that the maturation of any individual believer is realized in the context of the maturation of the whole body. And so in Ephesians 4, 15 and 16, breaking into the middle of a very lengthy sentence, but speaking the truth in it, it says, "...and that every body in love may grow up in all things into him who is the head, even Christ, from whom all the body, fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in due m...

13:11 - 14:25 Read in full sermon

Driving home: God has no lone ranger Christians. I could not as a little boy have my hands severed, stick it in a bell jar and cap it and say, come to masculine maturity all on your own.

The metaphor of 'lone ranger Christians' is used to describe believers who attempt to grow spiritually in isolation, arguing against this unbiblical approach to Christian life.

God has no lone ranger Christians. I could not as a little boy have my hands severed, stick it in a bell jar and cap it and say, come to masculine maturity all on your own. It would be nothing but a withered pile of stinking flesh if cut off from the rest of the little boy's body. And that hand could come to full masculine maturity only in its organic relationship to the whole organism.

15:46 - 16:20 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Acts 2:41-47 is presented as a model of the early church's steadfast commitment to apostolic teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer, underscoring the expectation of…

Martin mentions that his church has been 'lampooned and marked out as some kind of marginal fanatics' for expecting attendance and involvement from members, highlighting the counter-cultural nature of their membership requirements.

Where in the world will we be if we don't even expect them? And I know, I know there are people who pillory us. I have, without my name being mentioned, a rose called by any other name is a rose still. And I've read articles lambasting these churches that demand of those who come into the membership attendance at all the stated meetings.

21:35 - 22:03 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Acts 2:41-47 is presented as a model of the early church's steadfast commitment to apostolic teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer, underscoring the expectation of…

The analogy of the friend at midnight knocking on the door is used to represent a persistent seeker of church membership, emphasizing the thoroughness of the church's inquiry into their credentials.

Involvement, not in the life of the church. We have been lampooned and marked out as some kind of marginal fanatics because we state this is our expectation. But surely, with these passages before us, and I've just broad stroked whole sections of the New Testament, how can we settle for anything less than someone knocking at that front door saying, yes, I not only embrace the subordinate standards as an expression of what I believe and how I'm prepared to walk in this church in fellowship, but I intend to give wholehearted support to its life and to its ministry. I say these passages in my jud...

22:03 - 23:25 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin summarizes the requirements discussed so far and introduces the final requirement for membership: submission to the government and discipline of the assembly.

Repentance and faith are described as the 'texture of what I am in the present,' rather than just past memories, emphasizing their ongoing, transformative nature in a believer's life.

My repentance and faith are not precious memories of something done in the past. They are the texture of what I am in the present. I live a life of repentance and faith and my life has been transformed by the power of God, whether dramatically and radically from a profligate, dissolute life or gradually like the rising of the sun that gently dispels the night. I'm living as a penitent believing sinner and furthermore, I've borne witness to Christ's work in me and my commitment to Him in baptism.

23:45 - 24:21 Read in full sermon

Driving home: They mistake the matter who consider it as a democracy. It is a monarchy administered by superior magistrates chosen by their fellow subjects who are to execute the King's laws being guided solely by His word and neither…

Martin quotes John Brown stating that a Christian church is a 'very free society,' meaning membership is uncoerced and personal, contrasting it with forced religious identification.

Well, listen to John Brown who answers that kind of biblical ignorance. He writes, a Christian church is a very free society. In other words, no one can get you in a hammer lock and say, pound on that door until you get in. Nor can anyone bring you in on the basis of their faith and their desire that you become a Christian.

26:03 - 26:28 Read in full sermon

Driving home: They mistake the matter who consider it as a democracy. It is a monarchy administered by superior magistrates chosen by their fellow subjects who are to execute the King's laws being guided solely by His word and neither…

Martin quotes John Brown's description of the church as a 'monarchy administered by superior magistrates chosen by their fellow subjects,' clarifying that Christ is the King and elders are his appointed rulers, not a democracy.

But listen to the sagacious man of God. They mistake the matter who consider it as a democracy. It is a monarchy administered by superior magistrates chosen by their fellow subjects who are to execute the King's laws being guided solely by His word and neither by their own judgment or whims nor by the opinions and will of those whom they govern. Christ is the Lord and He administers His government by officers appointed according to His ordinance and regulated by His laws.

27:19 - 27:59 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin defines church discipline as corrective action and expounds Matthew 18:15-18, demonstrating the church's responsibility to address unrepentant sin and the seriousness of…

An example of a trivial offense ('John passed me three weeks ago... and he didn't look at me with a warm look in his eye') is used to illustrate what is NOT a matter for formal church discipline, emphasizing that discipline is for clearly established sins.

This is a sin that is not a matter. Well, you know, John passed me three weeks ago, two aisles away in the Target store, and I said hello to him and he didn't look at me with a warm look in his eye. Well, how are you going to establish that before witnesses? Case dismissed.

39:42 - 39:59 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin illustrates God's direct and severe discipline through the accounts of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5) and the Corinthians' sickness and death due to unworthy participation…

Martin shares the ballpark figure of the morning's offering ($60,000+) as an example of the 'spirit of unusual generosity' God can pour out, connecting it to the generosity seen in Acts 5.

God the Holy Spirit had poured out a spirit of unusual generosity as we've been praying. He would do in conjunction with the offering today. And where's Mr. Denzel?

52:15 - 52:28 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin illustrates God's direct and severe discipline through the accounts of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5) and the Corinthians' sickness and death due to unworthy participation…

The story of Ananias and Sapphira is recounted as an example of hypocrisy and God's direct, severe discipline within the church, highlighting the seriousness of lying to the Holy Spirit.

I've had the men who distribute the goods to the widows. That's in Acts 6. You apostles who are now distributing it you give it out as you see need. So word apparently got out that John was doing this and Harry was doing this and Pete was doing that and these two guys this guy and this gal Ananias and Sapphira said you know it would surely be nice to have people look at us as Mr. and Mrs.

53:30 - 53:51 Read in full sermon

Driving home: You come into that church you're not entering a religious club where all you have are the dynamics of what men can bring to a club. The living God is in their midst and you're not real with that God he might kill you.

Martin sarcastically notes that the Acts 5 passage on God killing hypocrites is likely not included in books on 'how to establish a user friendly church,' underscoring the stark contrast between biblical reality and modern church trends.

I don't think this passage often gets included if there are biblical passages in the latest books on how to establish a user friendly church. Pray that God will kill the hypocrites.

56:06 - 56:19 Read in full sermon

The point: Prayerfully consider whether it's time to stop shilly-shallying and humble yourself, recognizing you need what all other ordinary Christians need: to be within the family, committed to the family, and to its Lord and to …

Martin recalls his initial ignorance regarding the Westminster Confession's statement that 'ordinarily there is no salvation' outside the church, explaining its true meaning regarding God's saving purpose being carried out through the church.

When I first began to read some of the standard Reformed confessions, and I read in the Westminster Confession of Faith the statement concerning the church as that institution and organism out of which ordinarily there is no salvation. You know what I thought in my ignorance? I said, that's the remnants of Romanism that these guys in the 1600s hadn't yet flushed out of their system. They were right.

66:27 - 66:53 Read in full sermon

The point: Prayerfully consider whether it's time to stop shilly-shallying and humble yourself, recognizing you need what all other ordinary Christians need: to be within the family, committed to the family, and to its Lord and to …

He introduces the archaic word 'shilly-shally' and explains its origin ('shall I, shall I?'), using it to describe the indecision of believers who know they should join the church but procrastinate.

And when I was working on my application, the word shilly-shally came to my mind. I hadn't heard it in decades. And I said, where did that come from? I took out my dictionary and I said, I don't even know if it's a word.

67:38 - 67:48 Read in full sermon

The point: Pray that God will give you godly ambitions for a godly marriage.

Martin uses a humorous analogy of children's stages of interest in the opposite sex ('yuck,' 'hmm,' and 'hmm') to transition into discussing the development of godly ambitions for marriage and church membership in young people.

You see that there's still a glow in the husband's eye. And there's still a glow in the wife's eye. And as you're able to be in the homes and watch their interaction, as you begin to grow up and come out of the, you know, I talked about the three stages boys and girls go through. You say to girls, boys, and they say, yuck.

69:10 - 69:29 Read in full sermon