Responsibilities One to Another, Part 3

Introduction to the Series and Prayer

0:03 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, March 15, 1987, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:13 Now, for the benefit of those who are visiting with us, I should say that we have taken a brief, relatively brief recess from our consecutive expositions in the Gospel of Mark in order to give our attention to an intensely practical and pastoral concern which the elders felt ought to be addressed at this particular time in our church life. And so, for some seven Lord's Day mornings, today being the eighth, we have been considering together some of the major biblical materials relative to the responsibilities and privileges of membership in the Church of Jesus Christ. God willing, after my return from the ministry, in England later on this month and into early April, we shall resume our studies in the tenth chapter of Mark's Gospel. I plan, God willing, to complete this series of studies in our exposition next Lord's Day morning. Now then, let us ask the help of God as we come to this eighth study in this series that the Lord, by His Spirit, will do what we've asked Him to do in the language of the hymn we have sung, that He will illuminate our minds, and that that illumination will lead to the purifying and sanctifying of our hearts and our wills

1:41 that we may walk well-pleasing unto God. Let us pray.

1:49 Our Father, we do thank You for the gift of Your Holy Word. We thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit. And we now earnestly plead that as we take Your Word into our hands, as its truths will be set before our minds, that the very Spirit who inspired the biblical writers in the penning of those original words, that He may be present powerfully and actively to press home to every conscience, to every heart, the demands of Your Holy Word. We have not come simply to be informed, but, O Lord, we have come, to be transformed by Your Holy Word, that we may think of You as we ought, that we may particularly think of our privileges and duties as members of the Church of Christ in a way that is, in some measure, parallel to the teaching of Your Word, and that our conduct may reflect a believing and an obedient reception of Your truth. Hear our cry and help us. We plead through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Review of Previous Studies on Church Membership

3:13 Now, as we take up this eighth in our series of studies on the subject of church membership, let me briefly remind you of where we have been and where we are, and then I will tell you where I hope to go with you in the study of the Word this morning. We began by looking at Acts chapter 2, verses 41 and 42 in this study, from which passage we considered two very fundamental questions. First of all, who was admitted into the apostolic church, and then what happened to them once they were admitted. And we saw that only those who received the Word of God were received into the church. It was only those who had confronted the great truths of sin and of God's grace, grace in Jesus Christ, and had responded in obedience and faith to the call to repentance and faith. Only such were received into that community of the people of God at Jerusalem. And having been received, their internal life was described in terms of four major activities.

4:32 The scripture says that they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, in fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and the prayers. There is not a word about religious drama. There is not a word about religious mime. There is not a word about merely social activities that have no reference to distinct Christian truth and activities.

4:59 These are all encumbrances which have invaded the church of Jesus Christ without warrant from the Word. They continued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching. They adhered to the Word of God. There was constant interaction with the people of God.

5:20 They continued in fellowship. There was continual feeding upon the Son of God in that symbolic supper of remembrance. And there was continuous calling upon the power of God in prayer. Well, from that, from that general biblical description of who was admitted and what happened when they were admitted, we then began to consider selectively some of the major duties and privileges of church membership as they are found scattered throughout the New Testament.

5:56 And I suggested that a helpful, not the only, but a helpful organizational diagram or framework to sort out the many duties and privileges for the church members and members of the church. to sort out the many duties and privileges for the church members and members of the church. to sort out the many duties and privileges for the church members and members of the church. And to consider the churches of Jesus Christ in one idea.

6:07 privileges of church membership is the diagram of a circle with arrows going upward out of the circle in the direction of God, arrows pointing inward, and then arrows going outward. And our responsibilities and privileges can be considered in terms of those privileges which are directed primarily to God, the privileges that have to do with his stated worship and the congregating of his people. And now for several weeks we've been considering the inward arrows, the duties that we have with respect to one another. And God willing, next week we'll look at the outward pointing arrows, our great duties and privileges with respect to the world. Now obviously, I've had to be selective, and I have tried to be selective in terms of times in the recent ministry of the Word or subjects which, in the light of our own present current condition as a congregation, need particular emphasis. Thus far, in looking at the inward arrows,

The Overarching Duty of Love and Its General Expressions

7:26 we have seen that the great, overarching, all-encompassing, all-embracing duty that we have to one another is to love one another. God's law is the basis of that duty. He that loves has fulfilled the law. Christ's love to us is the pattern of that duty. Love one another as I have loved you. And the Holy Spirit's grace and power is the ultimate source of that love. The fruit of the Spirit is love. And in another very unique text, Paul says, I beseech you by the love of the Spirit. But how does that love express itself in specifics? Well, the Word of God does

8:20 not leave us at the mercy of our imagination. It tells us in very constant and constant form that we have to love one another. And in another very unique text, it tells us in very constant and constant form that we have to love one another. And in another very concrete ways what loving one another means in the interaction of church member with church member. And so we have looked at two of the great duties which love must perform in church fellowship. First of all, we are to receive one another, and then we considered last week that we are to edify one another. Now those were general duties and privileges which God lays upon all of the members in relationship to one another. And what we'll do today is to take up a second major category of the inward pointing arrows, a second major category of our duties one to another. Having looked at several of the duties of one another, we

Specific Duties to Brethren in Special Positions and Extraordinary Circumstances: Overview

9:22 see the major general duties that we are all to perform one to another. Our subject today is the specific duties to brethren in special positions and extraordinary circumstances. Now do you see the difference? Some duties are general and they are to be exercised towards all of the brethren at all times.

9:52 You see that God has given us special duties, not just for the brethren but for all of them. You see that God has given us special duties, and if we are to put them all together, God be able to find another one. Now what is the most poder about this purpose? Isn't the and in all circumstances.

9:55 But today we're going to concentrate on some specific, that is, some tailor-made duties that are to be exercised and fulfilled with respect to brethren in special positions and in extraordinary circumstances. And here again I confess an embarrassment of riches. I must therefore be selective in contrast to comprehensive. In the breadth of what we touch, I will be selective, not comprehensive, and merely suggestive in contrast to exhaustive.

10:34 So I won't be very broad and I won't be very deep. Only selective, only suggestive. And I have three categories under this major heading of the specific duties to brethren in special positions and extraordinary circumstances. The first heading is this.

10:53 The duties of members to their leaders. Secondly, the duties of members to their fellow members in conditions of discovered need. And thirdly, we shall consider the duties of members to those with evident chronic spiritual disorders. You see, I've been...

Duties of Members to Their Leaders: Reception, Submission, and Disposition

11:18 I've been selective, not exhaustive, but there is a rationale for that selectivity. I'll not weary you with expounding it. First of all, then, the duties of members to their leaders. The Bible is clear that all of us in the Church of Christ stand on equal ground in terms of our fundamental spiritual needs and in terms of our fundamental spiritual needs.

11:48 We stand on equal ground in terms of our fundamental spiritual privileges in Jesus Christ. There is ground in the Church where every single square centimeter is perfectly level. And when we stand on the ground together assessing what we are in Adam, what we are in our native guilt and alienation from God, our culpability before God, our exposure to the world, our exposure to the world, and the wrath of God, we stand on level ground. No distinctions whatsoever.

12:27 When we stand on the ground marked out privileges in Jesus Christ, privileges in union with Christ, some of which are acceptance in the Beloved, the full pardon of our sins, the justifying sentence of the Court of Heaven, adopted as sons and daughters, given the gift of the Holy Spirit, the pledge of an inheritance. When we contemplate our privileges in Christ again, the ground is absolutely level. Level when we consider what we are in guilt and in sin, level when we consider what we are in the privileges of grace, and absolutely level when we consider our ultimate and supreme Lord and Master, Jesus Christ Himself, Jesus Christ alone. It is Christ who said in terms of ultimate authority, Call no man master. You have one Lord, one Master. Do not share that title with another.

13:51 Yet, the same Bible that teaches these truths which we affirm without any mental reservation is the Bible that teaches that Christ has instituted a government in His church in which only some are designated as shepherds and many others are designated. As she. Acts 20, 28. Some are called upon to govern and to lead and others are called upon to submit to that government and to follow.

14:32 Hebrews 13, 17. Now this means that each member has some distinct personal responsibilities and privileges with respect to his...

14:47 Christ-appointed, God-given leaders. Now this subject has been dealt with in great detail in the Sunday school class by Pastor Nichols several years ago and if you've never had a thorough treatment of all the major passages, I commend that series that is on tape, what it means to embrace our rulers. I dealt with in a very extensive way in a series of some seven exposés and expositions on Hebrews 13, 17, again several years ago. So what I propose to do is basically a reminder for those who may have heard the more extensive treatment, but particularly just an appetizer for some of you who have come out of a framework in which congregationalism was either the formal or the informal framework of church life. And congregationalism basically, basically, not always, but basically leads to a situation such as we have in the book of Judges where it is said, there was no king in Israel and every man did that which is right in his own eyes. Congregationalism is a form of church government at the practical level in which so often the thought is that every member,

16:14 because he is... is equal on level ground with every other member in sin and in his standing in grace, therefore he stands on equal ground in determining the government of the church.

16:33 And this is simply not the teaching of the Word of God. And so because some of you come out of that background, I want to address the issue briefly. I have a second reason for wanting to address it and that is one of the constant slanders that is made against any church that seeks to take seriously both the reality of the areas of our equality in Christ in spiritual standing and privilege while at the same time taking seriously the instituted government of Christ is that such a congregation will generally sooner or later find itself vulnerable to the slander that its leaders are some kind of a spiritual Gestapo and they have a pope or several popes who lord it over the consciences of God's people. And so that I might immunize you against that slander when it comes to you, I want to bring this brief treatment. And I have just three simple heads. I'm just going to quote some text, comment briefly and pass on.

17:46 What are your duties as members to your leaders? Well, let me suggest that they can be understood in this very simple way. Number one, you are to be governed by the Bible in your reception and recognition of them. You are to be governed by the Bible in your reception and recognition of them.

18:12 Ephesians 4.11 says that it is Christ who gives shepherds and teachers to his church. But Christ does not do it by a miraculous donation. Rather, he does it by guiding a congregation to look into his own holy word and by his word to discern whether or not he is depositing among us the gift of a leader, a ruler, a shepherd, a teacher or an official servant of the church, in the form of a deacon.

18:49 And this is why in Acts 6.3 in the selection of those men, these words are very clear. Look out among you, brethren. And then the apostles set the standard on behalf of the Lord Jesus and gave certain spiritual qualities that were essential.

19:11 Likewise, in 1 Timothy 3.1, we have a very clear statement about what must be present in a man if he is Christ's gift to the church. If any man desire the office of a bishop, he desires a good work. The bishop, the overseer, the pastor, the elder, all synonymous terms must be.

19:36 And then there is a generic list of the qualities that must be present indicative of matured, proven Christian character, and matured, proven, ministering gift. Likewise, in Titus 1.5-9, we have a parallel passage. Now, what does that mean to a congregation?

20:00 It means that one of your duties with respect to your leaders is the duty of being governed by the Bible in your reception and recognition of your leaders. You are not to be governed by sentiment. You are not to be governed by the ties of natural friendship. You are not to be governed by natural charisma of personality.

20:30 You are not to be governed by anything other than the Word of the Living God. Our Lord Jesus Christ has made it abundantly clear that He is the One who equips and gives gifts to His church, and that is only realized in the context of a congregation whose conscience is held captive by the Word of God, refusing to recognize and receive any man who does not manifest those graces and gifts which God says must be present, while prepared to receive every man in whom those gifts and graces are present, who aspires to that office and who is deemed at any given point in the life of the church necessary for the ongoing maturation of the church of Christ. So that's your first duty, to be governed by the Bible in your reception and recognition of them. Secondly, you are to be governed by the Bible in your submission to them.

21:46 What is your duty to your leaders? You are to be governed by the Bible in your submission to them. On the one hand, Jesus said, call no man master. However loved, esteemed, respected, whatever the reputation and track record of any given leader may be, you are never to yield up to any human being an allegiance which belongs to Jesus Christ alone.

22:15 And I don't know how to state it any more, more plainly than that.

22:20 But this same Lord said to his apostles, make disciples of all the nations, baptize them, teaching them to observe, to do whatsoever I have commanded you. And now that original apostolic commission has merged into the standing orders of the church who through those properly recognized on the basis of the Bible as the church the leaders and teachers and governors and instructors of the church, when they open the word of God, when they apply that word to the life of the church corporately, when they apply it to your individual life privately and individually, their word is the word of God to you. And in that sense, the scripture says, obey them that have the rule over you and submit to them for they watch for your souls, Hebrews 13, 17. And you have people see who say, well, I have no problem with obeying Christ. I have a problem with obeying men.

23:32 Well, you've set up a false dichotomy. Jesus didn't say, obey the words of them that have the rule over you. He says, obey them. Obey them.

23:43 That is, as they meet the description of Hebrews 13, 7, remember them that have the rule over you, men who spoke unto you the word of God. And we must somehow break through this notion that because it's a fellow sinner who stands on equal ground with me in sin, in wrath, in death, in hell, in serpentness, because he is a mere fellow sinner redeemed by grace who stands with me on equal ground in the grace, of justification, adoption, the gift of the Spirit, the pledge of inheritance. When that man, that person, stands on equal grounds with me there and there, then when he speaks the word of God, there is no differing relationship. That is not a biblical concept. When one duly recognized to the office of an elder, a public teacher and governor in Christ's church brings the word of God, that, that is God exercising His authority over you. That's why Jesus said, He that receives you receives me.

25:00 He that receives whomsoever I send receives me. And he that receives me receives him who sent me. Now that does not mean in matters that are not clearly and explicitly taught in the Word, when in the government of the church, decisions of judgment must be made that do not have as their either or truth or error heresy in all of its deluding, damning influence or truth in all of its saving, sanctifying influence that your judgment must agree with the judgment of your leaders. It doesn't mean that at all.

25:42 But it means if God has given to them the responsibility to order the life of the church and they ultimately decide that the pulpit shall be a five-sided pulpit, that it will be most aesthetically and from the standpoint of public discourse most helpful in giving the entire sweep of the congregation a sense that the preacher is looking right at them. See, you get three nice equal planes when I look at you. When I look at them, you get three nice equal planes. And when I look at you, it's like I've got a revolving pulpit.

26:16 Well, you see, a judgment had to be made about the shape of the pulpit. And it's basically an octagon with three sides cut off. Now, there were reasons for that. But we couldn't produce chapter and verse that said, Almighty God has told us thou shalt make a five-sided pulpit.

26:37 Now, you are free to sit there and say, every time I look at that five-sided pulpit, it just jangles my sense of aesthetics. That's fine.

26:47 But if you're prepared to buck and squawk and fight and not peacefully embrace the fact that God put the decision of the shape of the pulpit in the hands of others rather than you and accept joyfully that administrative decision, you've got a problem with authority. It's like a husband-wife relationship. God says, wives, be subject to your husbands in everything. Does that mean a husband will have chapter and verse for everything he does in the administration of the household?

27:19 No! And some things he does, he's got to make judgment calls like an umpire. But God says, when the umpire's made his call, don't stomp and fuss and throw your hat like an old weaver does and kick up dust in his face.

27:35 Well, some of you know, know baseball. You know an old weaver fit. You know what I'm talking about. You may be convinced your husband's judgment was off the wall, but it wasn't a matter where he was asking you to do something that violated a clear teaching of the Bible.

27:51 If your husband ever requires of you to do something that God's law forbids, not only is it your privilege, it is your responsibility to rear back on your hind legs and roar a thundering no! And tell him I must obey God rather than you, hubby. You have no right to bind my conscience to go contrary to the word of God. When you've prayed, when you've talked, and when you've discussed, and the moment of truth comes and you're in the showroom and you've got to pick out a car,

28:22 and for a number of reasons it seems best to buy that, the blue car, the deal on it, the options, everything, and your husband, that's his attitude to blue. He's indifferent. But your attitude to blue is yuck.

28:37 And he says, dear, all the factors being considered, I believe we've got to buy the blue car. Now that's the point at which your submission is put to the test. That's a judgment call. That's a matter, not a matter of right, he's not doing it because he's, ah, she doesn't like blue, I'm going to get blue and rough it in.

28:52 No, that's not his motive at all. He has good and wise administration, administrative, economic reasons for choosing the blue car. Now that's the point at which you must sweetly submit. And not every time you say, blue car again, and for the next seven years the poor guy's got to live with a contentious woman.

29:14 And God says it's better to dwell in the corner of a rooftop than in a wide house with a contentious woman. Well, you see, dear people, that's what I'm talking about when I say your responsibility to your leaders is to be governed by the Bible in your submission to them. When they open the Word of God, show the path of the mind of God out of a responsible treatment of the Scriptures, that is God speaking. And you are solemnly obligated to be obedient to that Word and to that directive.

29:50 And on matters of judgment where it's not yes or no, you are at liberty to disagree, to differ, but nonetheless to be submissive that there may be peace in God's house. But then thirdly, you are not only to be governed by the Bible in your reception and recognition of them, governed by the Bible in your submission to them, but you're to be governed by the Bible in your disposition and relationship towards them. You're to be governed by the Bible in your disposition and relationship towards them. And here I'm merely quoting the passages 1 Thessalonians 5, 12, and 13.

30:32 Know them, esteem them, highly in love for their work's sake. 1 Timothy 5, 17, the elders that rule well are worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the Word and in doctrine. Galatians 6, 6, let him that is taught in the Word communicate to him who teaches in every good thing. And 1 Timothy 5, 19, against the world, an elder received not an accusation except it be at the mouth of two or three witnesses.

31:04 Be governed by the Bible in your disposition and relationship towards them. Don't allow yourself to think in terms of an adversarial relationship. They are not your enemies. They are helpers of your faith.

31:20 They live and labor to help get you to heaven in as good shape possible with as many others hanging on your coattails. Esteem them highly in love for their work's sake. Those that are set apart to labor in the Word and in doctrine, they are to be supported and not be made suspect because they live of the gospel. If there's any suspicion about their relationship to money, they ought not to be recognized for one of the requirements of an elder is that he be not greedy of filthy lucre.

31:54 And if you're convinced a man is not a money grabber, then that issue is never to be broken. Brought into focus. And remember, dear people, slander is not made established testimony because three people are saying the same slander.

32:09 There's a false notion. Receive not an accusation except it be at the mouth of two or three witnesses. Well, I've heard four people make the same accusation. Therefore, I can receive.

32:20 No, no. It says witnesses.

32:24 Witnesses. Those who saw and heard and can establish as witnesses. Not simply the repetition and the proliferation of slander. Now that, be briefly, is a statement of the duties of the members to their leaders.

The Blessing of a Submissive Congregation

32:44 And let me say as I pass over it now to the next heading, how blessed, how peaceful, how useful and happy is that congregation where these clear duties are performed out of love to Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit. There's a beautiful text in Judge, Judges 5 and verse 2 that I thought of in the preparation and can say that this has been by and large over 20 plus years our experience in this place. This precious text in the book of Judges right after Joshua. Judges chapter 5 where a hymn of praise is being sung to God for His deliverance.

33:27 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day saying, For that the leaders took the lead in Israel, for that the people offered themselves willingly, bless ye Jehovah. When you have a congregation in which the leaders take the lead and the people offer themselves willingly, there you have a situation where Jehovah is blessed and His work advances with great alacrity and efficiency for the spread of the world. Now then, the second area. We're concerned now about duties that are specific to brethren in special positions and extraordinary circumstances. Our second major heading is the duties of members to those fellow members in conditions of discovered need. And you'll see why I've used the word discovered need. The duties of members to those fellow members in conditions of discovered need.

Duties of Members to Fellow Members in Conditions of Discovered Need

34:36 And there are two key texts. First John chapter 3 and here I'll not just quote the references and a portion of the verse but ask you to turn with me. First John chapter 3 and verse 16. Hereby know we love because He laid down His life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

35:09 You remember earlier I said that Christ's love for us is the pattern of our love to one another? Here's an example of that. How was His love manifested? He laid down His life for us.

35:21 Therefore, John reasons, if Christ's love to us is the pattern of our love to one another, we are under obligation. That word ought is the concept of obligation. We are obligated to lay down our lives for the brethren. That is to be prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice of life itself if the good of our brethren demands it.

35:46 But, whoso has this world's goods and beholds there's the key word beholds his brother in need and shuts up his compassion from him how does the love of God abide in him? My little children let us not love in word neither with the tongue but in due course and truth. Now what's the picture? Here's the picture.

36:15 The child of God thinking of the great mercies that have come to him through Jesus Christ that have taken him out of that level ground of sin, death, condemnation, hell deservedness and has put him here with all of his brethren on the level ground of justification, adoption, the gift of the Spirit, forgiveness of sins and all the other blessings when he realizes that they all have their fountain in God's eternal love that cut a swath through the broken body and the shrouded heavens and the cry of dereliction upon the cross thinking of what Jesus did that he might have these privileges. He says yes as long as I keep fixing my mind on the love of Christ to me surely if he the infinite holy eternal one would take a true humanity and in that humanity live the life I should have lived but did not die the death I should have died and in my room instead was willing to experience the pangs of hell all out of love to a wretch like me surely if he's the pattern of my love to my brethren I stand prepared by his grace to lay down my life

37:43 for them. Now with that disposition he turns around and he sees a brother he beholds a brother and that brother has a need and as he looks at that brother's need he sees that he has some commodity called in the text this world's good whatever it may be and that world's good that he possesses is precisely what his brother's brother needs now this is what he must do the moment he sees his brother in need has some commodity that answers to that need he must do one of two things he must allow the dictates of love to empty his hands sufficiently to meet the needs of his brother or he must do what the text says he must shut up the bowels of his compassion that is he must cauterize his brother's needs he must cauterize the instinctive motions of the love of God that is in his heart by the Holy Spirit he's got to do one of the other he must either having seen his brother's need he must either have his heart move his hand to the brother in his need or he must shut up the bowels of his compassion now John says if he does the latter how can the love of God dwell in him?

39:11 when God's love he held our need and it was in his hand to give what did he do? God so loved that he gave and what did he give? his only begotten son now how can that kind of love be in us if we behold need and do not give just something external to us the son was not external to the father he was one with him in the mystery of an eternitarian life and fellowship and yet he gave and all we have is some world's commodity something and we withhold that how does the love of God dwell in us? you see the argument you see the logic you feel the pressure of it that's a key text but the assumption is that the need is seen and that the ability to meet God to meet it is present you see that in the text? look at it this is vital lest somebody come under false guilt whoso has that's possession of the ability and beholds that's awareness of the need you see that?

40:37 I'll do it faster than it goes on you see that? you see that? you see that? you see that?

40:42 you see that? well it works for him I'll start trying it you see that? okay it's there possession of ability and awareness of need now it's in that context that if we shut up the bowels of our compassion there's a question as to whether or not the love of God even dwells in us for our love like God's is not to be a bunch of words it's to be manifested in deed and truth that's the first key text what is the duty of church members to fellow members in conditions of discovered need? it's to respond in the love of Christ to that need appropriate to my ability as it is able to meet the need parallel text we don't have time to look at is Proverbs 3 27-28 put it in your notes withhold not good from them to whom it is due when it is in the power of your hand to do it but a second key text is Matthew 25 in the great day of judgment when our Lord separates all men he likens that separation in his own words in this chapter to the separation which a shepherd makes between his sheep and his goats and to the sheep his people we read verse 33 he shall set the sheep Matthew 25-33 on his right hand

42:10 the goats on his left then shall the king say to them on his right hand come you blessed of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world for now let me pause in this that follows Jesus is the Lord who is not telling the sheep that the basis on which they earned heaven is what he now describes now surely the Lord Jesus who is on the threshold of going to the cross and dying because no one could get to heaven without his death in the place of sinners would not teach on the threshold of his death that you can go to heaven by doing nice things what he is doing is vindicating before the entire universe that those who have been saved by his grace have all the power to do good and also been transformed by his grace from self-centered sinners into loving saints and he is going to manifest the validity of that transformation by his grace he is not describing the grounds of their acceptance that is his own death his own perfect virtue and righteousness the cumulative virtue of his perfect life of obedience obedience unto death even the death of the cross but now notice as he is about to vindicate his own action in welcoming them notice how he describes them

43:40 in their actions I was hungry and you gave me to eat I was thirsty and you gave me to drink I was a stranger and you took me in naked and you clothed me I was sick and you visited me I was in prison and you came unto me then shall the righteous answer him saying Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you thirsty and give you drink and when did we see you a stranger and take you in and when did we see you sick or in prison and come unto you and the king shall answer and say unto them truly I say unto you inasmuch as you did it unto one of these my brethren even the least you did it unto me now it's interesting I never saw this in the Bible until my preparation for this meditation this morning you see the Lord has two groupings of need you have what you might call low key or ordinary needs and you have three of them food, drink and shelter then you have critical or extraordinary needs clothing ministering in sickness and visitation in imprisonment and I believe there are definitely two groupings I haven't found that mentioned in the commentators but I believe it's evident on the surface you see hunger is an ongoing

45:08 ordinary need most of it experience it at least to some little degree once or twice a day many of us have never known it to a painful degree but there doesn't seem to be any indication that this is a case where someone was starving to death there was legitimate ordinary hunger and someone aware of that hunger gave food there was ordinary thirst and I don't think we should read into this the picture of the man that you've seen in the movie who's trudged across the desert for three and a half weeks and his skin is all cracked and his tongue is sticking to the roof and he's seeing mirages and oh no no just feeling what I feel when I'm preaching thirsty in need of drink and he says you gave me that drink and then he says I was a stranger I came as a visitor into an area I had no certain place of lodging and this was before motels and hotels and I was in a room and I was in a room and I was in a room and you welcomed me into your home there was the awareness of what we might call low-key non-critical ordinary need and he says you responded to it but he said furthermore there was unusual extraordinary critical crucial need I was naked I lacked sufficient clothing to be protected from shame or from the elements or possibly both and you clothed me I was sick I was late

46:36 I was laid aside with illness and you came and performed the task I could not do for myself or others you came as an aid to me in this critical crucial situation and then I was imprisoned cut off from loved ones and friends cut off from the ability to care for them provide for them remember this was a situation where the social structures as we know it today was entirely unknown and what is the whole point of the passage the point of the passage is this that Jesus takes this whole matter of the members of his body responding to discovered need in other members as that element of their character that he will highlight in the day of judgment to vindicate to the whole moral universe the fact that they are indeed transformed sinners by his grace now friends that's pretty powerful stuff because when you read on the goats are described not in terms of what we would call great wickedness and immorality they're described in one category alone look at it verse 41 then shall he say to them on the left hand depart from me you cursed into the eternal fire for you were murderers and blasphemers

48:04 and adulterers and whoremongers and adulterers and perverts no I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink I was a stranger and you didn't take me in I was naked and you didn't clothe me I was sick and in prison you didn't come to me and they say Lord when did we see you hungry or a thirst or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison didn't minister to you then shall he say and oh what frightening things words in as much as you did it not in as much as you did it not in as much as you did it unto what or unto whom you did it not unto one of these least you did it not unto me do you remember way back in the beginning I made the statement that the great principle is that the nature of the world the nature of our duties as church member grows out of the nature of the church and out of the nature of the relationship we have to one another Jesus is telling us and oh that we may grasp it may God help me to state it accurately and in such a way that he'll have an instrument in his hands to drive it home to our hearts

49:33 before the cloud of glory appears before the heaven is rolled up as a scroll before the voice of the archangel and the trump of God and the retinue of ten thousand times ten thousands of angels welcome our returning Lord and we see him with these eyes the closest thing you'll come to seeing Jesus with your eyes is seeing his people in their need all you're going to see of Jesus before the cloud before you get to heaven if you're going to get there is what you see of him and his people that's right don't talk to me about your visions of Christ and all the rest no all you're going to see of Jesus tangibly with your physical eyes until the day of consummation is what you see of him and his people and he cuts all through our sophistry and says oh I adore his glory I worship his glory his majesty I love his beauty well we've got a closed heart to this meeting he said it doesn't wash folks it don't wash now

51:00 and it won't wash in the day of judgment men will be sent to hell with these words ringing in their ears you did it not you did it not you did it not you did it not you did it not what did you not do he says you did not receive respond in love to the observed need of your professed brethren according to your ability now my friends if the bible teaches anything whatever else the passage teaches teaches that that ought to scare the liver and the spleen and the kidneys and a few other organs out of some of you who've got a religion that is all vertical you can talk in glowing terms of your relationship to Christ your relationship to God relationship to God, your relationship to the Spirit, but you can be so indifferent and callous in the faith of the need of His people whom He owns as His brethren. So what are our duties to the members of the church in conditions of discovered need? Our duty is to pray that we'll have eyes to see the need, because we can play a head

52:25 game on ourselves, and the book of Proverbs describes it in that searching passage when God speaks of the responsibility of meeting the needs of the needy, and He says, If you say we knew it not, doth not he that way the hearts consider, and doth not he know it? There are times when the only reason we don't see is because we willfully, deliberately pull down the shade over our hearts, and we need to pray that God will grant us eyes that see and hearts that respond to our fellow members in conditions of discovered need. Now I know that God has instituted the diaconate as a tangible, formal expression of the heart and hand of Christ to the brethren, to what I would call crucial lawlessness. There are long-standing needs, and the Bible has much to say about the care of the widows in Acts 6 and in 1 Timothy chapter 6, but upon all the saints is this duty, Romans 12 and verse 13, distributing to the necessities of the saints. And dear people of God, what a wonderful thing it is to move among you and to find out in ways that aren't the fruit of probing.

53:48 But it just kind of leaks out, and a brother or a sister is rejoicing and testifying of God's faithfulness and says, you know, Pastor, this amazing thing a few weeks ago, such and such happened, and lo and behold, one of the brethren gave me a thousand dollars to help me with this, or gave me fifty dollars and told me. It's lovely to know that that does go on, and only the people involved in the Lord know about it. But my word is, let us abound yet more and more. Pray for eyes that see, and hearts that are moved, and hands that willingly follow the impulse of hearts suffused with the love of Christ.

Duties of Members to Those with Evident Chronic Spiritual Disorders: Introduction

54:30 But then, I've got to hasten to a conclusion. The duties of members to those with evident chronic spiritual disorders. The duties of members to those with evident chronic spiritual disorders. Now, listen to me carefully.

54:49 Because in the interest of time, I can't expand, I'll read what I've written in my notes and make no further comment. In addressing this category, I'm not referring to the kinds of mild disorders which come under the directive of 1 Peter 4.8. Have fervent love among yourselves, for love shall cover a multitude of sins.

55:15 For mild disorders, we ought to be one big union of blanket members. I was thinking this morning about trying to have some imagery that would stick, and I said, well, maybe this one will stick. We want to unionize Trinity Church, and the union is going to be local 47 of blanket makers. We make blankets, all the time, making blankets. What for?

55:41 To throw them over the mild disorders of our bed. Have fervent love among yourselves, for love shall cover a multitude of sins. Well, if you've got a multitude of sins to cover, you better have a lot of blankets to throw over. So let's become a union of blanket makers.

55:58 A union of blanket makers. Mild disorders, the blanket of love. Gross disorders, they are dealt with by formal, public, corrected discipline. 2 Thessalonians 3.6, 1 Corinthians chapter 5, 1 Timothy 5.20.

56:17 So on the one hand, you have mild disorders, and you need a union of blanket makers. Throw the blanket over. Don't get over it. Gross disorders, public discipline under the leadership of your elders, and we need to have principled commitment to the word of God, not the soupy sentiment of our present age that calls it cruel and harsh, but that is determined for the good of the disciplined soul and the glory of God and the health of the church, to deal biblically with gross disorders.

56:46 But then there's a middle class. The kind of disorders addressed in 1 Thessalonians 5.6. And this is the one passage we're going to look at as we treat this heading.

Admonishing the Disorderly (1 Thessalonians 5:14)

56:57 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. This is one class of responsibility we have to special members of the church, those characterized by chronic spiritual disorders. 1 Thessalonians 5, the words, verses 14 and 15. 1 Thessalonians 5.6.

57:24 And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the disorderly. 2 Corinthians 5.6. And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the disorderly.

57:27 1 Thessalonians 5.6. And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the disorderly. 1 Corinthians 5.6.

57:30 And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the disorderly. 1 Corinthians 5.6. And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the disorderly.

57:33 1 Corinthians 5.6. Now, think briefly of the larger context. Here's an infant church.

57:38 Paul preached there for only three weeks. Many of them came out of Paganism, some out of Judaism. They were synagogue worshipers. But many of them as you read at the end of chapter 1 turned from Pagan idols to the living God.

57:52 They were already plunged into a baptism of suffering and persecution. They were ignorant of Allah and their laws. a lot of basic Christian doctrines. Paul had to teach them, as he does in this very epistle and the next epistle.

58:04 But this group of people, this church, relatively an infant church with a pagan background, very limited in their knowledge, yet Paul, to such a people, first of all tells them that they have a special class of leaders, verses 12 and 13, those that are over them in the Lord and who officially and ministerially, pastorally admonish them and how they're to relate to them. But then he says, but we exhort you, brethren, that is, all of the church, though there are those who by office and special recognition admonish you in their office as shepherds, as overseers, as leaders, those that are over you. Yet he says, don't think that the work of admonition is exorbitant. It's exhausted by their function. No, we exhort you, brethren.

59:00 And then there follow four imperatives. The last one, it's questionable as to whether it applies to the first three or is another general directive, and so I'm going to admit it. That is, the long-suffering to all. And I want us to concentrate on the first three imperatives.

59:16 Look at them. This is a job of all the brethren. This is a directive to church members, to special classes of people within the church. Admonish, the disorderly, number one.

59:28 Encourage, the faint-hearted, number two. Support, the weak. All right? Admonish, the disorderly.

59:34 What is the disorder? Well, the word literally means undisciplined or out of rank, out of step. Some people believe it's a direct reference back to chapter 4, verses 11 and 12. In my preparation, I came across two commentators who took a very strong position that Paul is referring directly to those described in chapter 4, verses 11 and 12, who say that the disorderly were the fanatics, the busybodies and the lazy, whom Paul deals with in verses 11 and 12 of chapter 4.

60:08 But others say, no, the term is too general for that. It refers to anyone who is evidently out of step with the marching orders of Jesus for his church. And it comes from a term that has military connotations. The order of which these people are devoid is the order of a well-trained army.

60:33 Now, try to picture. It's 7 o'clock in the morning and the drill sergeant has called the troops out to the parade ground. And on this morning, the whole platoon lines up, everyone in his place, the marching orders are given, and everyone's right in step, all the shoulders square to one another, the line straight as an arrow, everyone in step. And one of the men in line number 3, fourth one back, he hits a rock that was on the parade ground and he stumbles for a couple of minutes and gets right up again, sees his first pair of his shoulders, now, that's not a disorderly man who happens to hit a stone and stumbles out of step.

61:10 But if you're watching at 7 o'clock every morning for three weeks and you notice that in the third row, fourth one back, every single morning, halfway through their drill exercises, this particular character hitches a step and while everyone's going left, he's going right. And when everyone's in line straight as an arrow, he's always six inches to the right. And when the drill sergeant says, halt, stop, whatever he uses, everyone, one step, heels quick, he always takes an extra step. And after a while, you get the idea, hey, this guy is out of step.

61:52 He's out of order. You see what I'm saying? Now, that's what the malady is. Here's a churchman, not just stumbling, in many things we all offend, when we stumble on any given morning, we throw the blanket of love over.

62:10 If the guy's so riotous that when the drill sergeant calls him out, he says, I ain't gonna obey you, thumbs his nose at him, cusses at him, that guy'll get court-martialed.

62:21 I'm not talking about formal discipline, nor throwing the blanket of love, but we're talking about, someone that's got a pattern of being out of step. There's something in him, whether he feels it's the only way he can maintain his identity, his individuality, don't want to get lost in the crowd. I don't know what the psychological, emotional perversity is, but it's obvious he's not in order. Now, that's the disorder.

62:48 Specifically, what would that be? In a congregation like ours, it would be when there is a pattern of something less than biblical discipline, and it's not a pattern, it's a pattern of something less than biblical discipline, observed in a parent's relationship to his children. You have enough proximity to Mr. and Mrs. So-and-so to know that there is a clear pattern of excessive harshness on the part of the father when he disciplines his children. He disciplines rashly, he disciplines excessively, and you've seen it not once. That may be that he'd been up all night with the baby crying and all the rest in his step, and the time for him was short and he was excessive. One time, you don't go and admonish him once.

63:33 He hit a stone and he stumbled. Watch him for at least a few mornings before you label him disorderly.

63:41 But when you've been in a number of situations over a period of weeks or months, and it's evident that this brother is harsh in his discipline or the opposite, he is inconsistent in his discipline. In one situation, he does not let the child get away with talking back to his mother. In another, he does. There's no consistency.

64:05 You've seen it not once, not twice. There's a pattern. Or it may be in the area of someone dominating conversation in the normal groupings of people. The Scripture says, in honor to prefer one another, each counting other better than himself.

64:23 But you've noticed there's one dear sister. I mean, if she gets the floor, forget it. I mean, she's a lovely sister. But it's like her mouth took speed.

64:33 It just doesn't stop.

64:36 She just goes on and on. And at the end of an evening, nobody's been able to share their joys, their burdens. She's dominating the conversation. She's disorderly.

64:45 You've seen it once, twice, three, four, five. There's a pattern. And you've seen it in the ordinary groupings and interaction. It's evident to everyone.

64:54 That's disorderly. Out of step with biblical norms. Or maybe it's the area of gossiping. You've noticed a pattern.

65:02 Every time this particular man or woman calls you, after about ten minutes of edifying conversation, the next twenty minutes are garbage. Gossip, gossip, gossip, gossip. Hearsay, hearsay, hearsay, hearsay. You've got a Trinity head of hopper.

65:18 But the latest bit of news on this. A little bit, not edifying. Just picking up tidbits of nasty stuff. Negative stuff.

65:24 And there's a pattern. And you know it. That's disorderly. Because the Bible says, let no corrupting, no speech proceed from your mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying.

65:35 Maybe you've noticed a consistently sloppy house that's a disgrace to Christ.

65:42 Yes, a disgrace to Christ. You've gone into this particular house not once, not twice, not three, but enough times in enough differing circumstances you know that that man has no conscience about seeing to it that his wife keeps a neat house. That's disorderly. Because God has something to say about older women training the younger women keepers at home and how their domestic life is to reflect the influence of the gospel that the word of God be not blasphemed.

66:11 Or it may be that in company with certain couples you notice that the man continually digs and demeans his wife and puts her down the little verbal jibes. And there's a pattern. And you know that that's not loving her as Christ loved the church. Or you notice that the wife is always making little digs at her husband.

66:30 Not open defiance of his authority. But something less than reverencing him. Supporting him. Making him noble in the eyes of all around.

66:39 She tries to underscore his foibles and his shortcomings. Now you've got enough ideas, alright? You've got enough ideas what it means? That's being disorderly.

66:49 Clearly revealed biblical patterns of how we're to march in order as the people of God. And you see that this person is always six inches to the right. When the left foot should be forward, the right foot is forward. Now there's a pattern.

67:06 A pattern. A discernible, disorderly pattern. Now what are you to do? Look at the text.

67:14 God says, when you see the disorderly, go tell another brother about it. No. Go tell the elders about it. No.

67:24 We exhort you, brethren, admonish.

67:28 Admonish the disorderly. That is, come to them in a spirit of graciousness, in loving, Christian, brotherly, sisterly compassion, and in a way that you would like to be treated. You bring the Word of God to bear upon their conduct. You say, in an appropriate situation, you don't barge right in in the midst of a social situation with twelve people and say, Sister, I determined if it was the twelfth time and you did it, I was going to obey.

68:02 See what we heard from the Word of God in March that I'm going to admonish you. So here and now I admonish you. Stop dominating the conversation. Well, is that the way you'd like to be dealt with?

68:14 As you would that others do unto you, even so do ye also unto them. So what do you do? You invite the sister over. And when you're having tea, you pray and say, Lord, bless our time together.

68:27 And Lord, especially bless me as I try to speak lovingly to my sister about something that's been on my heart for a long time. You've served her a little notice, you see. And so after you've picked your head up from prayer, she said, what did you mean in your prayer?

68:45 And you say, well, I'm glad you asked.

68:49 I've been praying for some time. You know that I love you, don't you? Oh, yes. And I believe with all my heart you want to please the Lord, don't you?

68:59 Yes. And if you can't say that of every other member in Trinity Church, something's wrong with our membership.

69:06 Something's wrong. If we can't affirm, if we can't affirm before any admonition, you know that I love you? Yes. And I believe you want to please the Lord, don't you?

69:17 Yes. Well, then you say, are you aware that there's a pattern in your life that is contrary to Scripture? Well, I'm sure there's a lot I do that is, but what do you have in mind in particular? Well, to put it bluntly, you hog the conversation.

69:34 I do? You mean no one has ever pointed this out to you before? No. And you find that it's just, it's just been a blind spot.

69:44 And lo and behold, when you give them the for instances and the examples and you bring the Word of God to bear as to why this can appear as selfishness and self-centeredness, they are broken, they ask God to forgive them, and then they even say, look, set up some hand signals with me. I've gotten in such a habit, I don't know when I'm doing it. So in a group situation, I'll keep looking at you and if you ever put your finger on the end of your nose, that'll be a signal. That'll be a signal.

70:10 And you set up, you say, Pastor, you're serious? Yeah, I'm serious. That's the way my wife and I have worked with one another in areas where we've needed to help one another. We've had hand signals to help each other over areas that were less than up to biblical norms.

70:28 Admonish. Oh yes. Admonish means to correct. Admonish may mean to rebuke.

70:34 But in the context of graciousness, of love, of goodwill, that's the appropriate, that's the appropriate remedy. The soft answer breaks the bone. May God help us in that. Well, our time is gone.

Encouraging the Faint-Hearted (1 Thessalonians 5:14)

70:51 We're to encourage the faint-hearted. Literally means the little soul, the small soul. What Bunyan called Mr. Feeble Mind and Mr. Fearing and Mr. Ready to Halt. Always afraid they're going to apostatize day after tomorrow. Always afraid every time there's a disciplinary thing, oh, the church is going to blow up.

71:11 Every time there's a new rumble in the world, oh, it's all going to come to... They just seem to have fear woven into the fiber of every cell in their bodies.

71:20 What are you to do? God says encourage the small soul. Not everyone's a Mr. Great Heart.

71:27 We have our Mr. Fearings. We're to encourage them. You just look up at your leisure, John 11, 19 and 31.

71:34 It's what they tried to do by a graveside with grieving people to encourage them. God says that's what we're to do. We're to encourage the faint-hearted. When we see a pattern, we're to encourage them with the Word of God, the promises of God.

Supporting the Weak (1 Thessalonians 5:14)

71:50 Remind them of God's commitment to preserve His own. And then God says support the weak. And I don't have time to give my reasons for the definition, but the weak here probably means in the broadest sense those weak in faith as described in the Christian Liberty passages. Their consciences are all the time hung up in areas where they shouldn't be if they were better taught.

72:13 It may mean morally weak. Some take the position that he's referring to the problem in chapter 4, verses 1 to 8, who are weak in the face of the pressure to immorality and to fornication. I take the position that it's anyone who is weak, easily turned aside, easily brought into bondage, easily brought under false guilt. And what's the appropriate remedy?

72:39 The word support is interesting. It means to hold on. Hold on to them. Matthew 6, 24.

72:45 No man can serve two masters. Either he will hold to the one or despise the other. It's the opposite of despising and casting off. Holding on.

72:56 Titus 1, 9 speaks of elders who are to hold on to the faithful word. Now God says when they find that weak person, hold on to it. You're to hold on to the weak. You're not to despise it.

73:11 You're not to say, oh man, there he goes. He's about to fall down again. How many times have I got to go and pick him by the elbow and pull him back from the brink? God says don't let him go.

73:21 Hold on to him in the death. Hold on to him. Hold on to him. Hold on.

73:30 Hold on to him. Don't let him go.

73:34 And you say, how long am I to hold on until we all get over the river safely together?

Conclusion and Prayer

73:40 And then there'll be no Mr. Weak's and ready to halt. Well, dear people, I hope we've seen enough this morning that you will be able to hold on to it. I hope you realize we have wonderful and solemn privileges and responsibilities not only to one another in general, to receive one another, to edify one another, but we have specific duties to brethren in special positions and in extraordinary circumstances.

74:07 And by the grace of God, let us determine that out of love to Christ and in the power of the Spirit, we will render proper duties or render our duties properly to our leaders, to those in observed need, and to those in categories of chronic spiritual disorders. And in this way, the body ministers to itself in love. Christ the Great Head nourishes and cherishes his own body by the life-giving power of the Spirit, creating both the graces and the disposition, so to minister one another that we shall grow up into him in all things while we await the day when the heavenly bridegroom will come and take away all the spots and the wrinkles and we shall forever be with the Lord. Let us pray.

75:11 Our Father, how we thank you again for your word. We thank you for the privileges as well as the responsibilities you have given us one to another. Help us to learn how graciously and consistently to discharge these responsibilities, to fulfill the duties and seize our privileges, that we as a church may more and more grow up into Christ in all things and be helpers of each other's faith. Hear us and dismiss us with your blessing, we ask in Jesus' name.

75:51 Amen.