Church Membership: a Biblical View

Introduction: The Importance of a Biblical View of the Church

0:01 Acts chapter 2, and I shall begin reading with the 43rd verse and read to the end of the chapter. The context, I trust, is clear in the memory of most, if not all of you. This is a record written some 30 years after the day of Pentecost of what happened on that day and during the days immediately following that first outpouring of the Spirit as the gift of the ascended Christ.

0:36 And after that initial ingathering of some 3,000 who were added to the church, the Scripture says, and fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. And all that believed were together and had all things common. And they said, And they sold their possessions and goods and parted them all according as any man had need. And day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.

1:19 And now our text for tonight. And the Lord added to them, or as the authorized version has, as found in many of the older manuscripts, And the Lord added to the church, day by day, such as should be saved, or, your translation may render it, those that were being saved, or as we have in the 1901 edition, those that were saved. And the Lord added to them, day by day, those that were saved.

1:54 This night being a special occasion, I have deemed it wise to use the occasion to underscore some elementary truths regarding the visible church of Christ, and in particular the subject of church membership. We must never underestimate the power of the human mind to hold the Bible before it and still miss its message or pervert it.

2:21 Let me repeat that. We must never underestimate the power of the human mind to have the Bible set before it and yet to miss its message or to pervert it. Jesus said of the spiritual leaders of his day, Ye search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life. And these are they which testify of me, but ye will not come to me that ye may have life.

2:45 They had their Bibles in front of their nose, but they would not come to the very one whom the scriptures proclaimed. And since the church is so vital a doctrine in the word of God, it is called the pillar. The pillar and the ground of the truth, 1 Timothy 3.15.

3:02 We must not be surprised that the devil has in history shown his determination to pervert and to obscure the clear teaching of the scriptures concerning the nature and the function of the visible church of Jesus Christ. The devil is an economist with his time. He doesn't spend time getting people muddled and mixed up on things that are of no account. But he does spend his time seeking.

3:28 He is seeking to get men muddled and mixed up on things that are of vital importance. And what could be of greater importance than that institution which the scripture says is the very pillar and the ground of the truth. And so historically we see the devil very early in the history of the Christian church seeking to pervert and obscure the clear teaching of the word of God as to the nature of the church of Jesus Christ. And that terrible period in history called the darkness, the dark ages is essentially a monument to the devil's ability and success in obscuring the biblical teaching concerning this question, what is the nature of the Christian church?

4:11 When under Constantine the church was conceived of as some kind of a semi-political, geographical, religious amalgamation so that you had this territorial church concept, it plunged the visible church into terrible darkness for nearly 50 years. Over 1,500 years, over 1,000 years, 1,100 years. And there's a sense in which even the greatest of the early reformers, Luther, Calvin and Zwingli, had much unfinished business in their reformation clearing away the rubble of those dark ages in this very area of the nature of the church. Calvin went further than Luther did in clearing away the rubble.

4:56 Knox went a bit further in some areas than perhaps Calvin. But I would dare to assert tonight that even these venerable men, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop and unloose, were nonetheless incomplete in clearing away all of the rubble on this vital question, what is the nature of the church of Jesus Christ? And so it is essential for us to come to this subject again and again and again, asking God to clear away the cobwebs and to help us to think clearly and biblically on the subject. Well, I propose to you that the text that I have read in your hearing gives us some very fundamental perspectives and I will suggest three from the text tonight. And the Lord added to them day by day those that were saved. And the first thing the text tells us is this. It tells us something about the author of genuine increase in the church of Jesus Christ.

The Author of Genuine Church Increase: The Lord Jesus Christ

5:56 Who is the author of the increase? Who is the author of the increase in this church in Jerusalem? Well, the text explicitly states that the author of this increase is the head of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Lord added day by day.

6:17 And we need to remind ourselves of this. In one of the first instances in which the doctrine of the church is clearly and explicitly enunciated in the Gospels, Jesus said in the 16th chapter of Matthew, I will build my church. And in the opening verses of the Acts of the Apostles, it's clear that Luke understood what our Lord meant. For he says, The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, concerning all that Jesus began both to do and to teach until the day in which he was received up.

6:55 In other words, the Gospel record of the activity of the Lord Jesus is but the beginning of the record of his mighty deeds. And the Acts of the Apostles is really the Acts of the risen Lord through the Apostles in building and in establishing his church. And Luke is very, very careful throughout the entirety of the book of the Acts to underscore this simple principle that the author of genuine increase in the churches of Jesus Christ is no one else other than the Lord himself. That's why in a historical record such as the book of Acts, you have some of the most profound theological statements to be found anywhere in Scripture. When Luke is describing the response of a woman by a riverside at a prayer meeting, how does he describe it? Paul comes down to a riverside and finds some women praying and he begins to preach to them and Luke says, in Luke 16, 14, concerning Lydia, these are his words, whose heart the Lord opened so that she attended to the things that were spoken by Paul. When he's writing up the record of the success of the Gospel at Antioch, how does he do it?

8:15 These are his words, Acts 13, 48, and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. Well, what an unusual place to stick such a powerful statement on the doctrine of the divine decrees. Why does Luke do it? Because Luke had this biblical perspective clearly fixed in his mind that whenever there was the increase of the church of Jesus Christ, he knew that its author was the Lord of the church, Jesus Christ himself.

8:50 The Apostle Paul was very conscious of this. The man who was used of God to see the birth and increase of the church throughout the whole Roman Empire, yet when he describes the cause of that increase, listen to these words in 1 Corinthians 3, 5 to 7. What then is Apollos and what is Paul? Ministers through whom he believed and each as the Lord gave to him.

9:18 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither is he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase. What is he saying? Whenever there is genuine increase, and I'm using that adjective purposely, not when there is any kind of increase, but when there is true increase, the author of that increase is the Lord himself.

9:45 Therefore, this has some practical implications. We must never view the increase of the church if it is genuine increase, in terms of promotion, in terms of organization, in terms of mere physical procreation. Touching pretty close to home, but I must say it, the increase of the church is not to be viewed as the result of the mere bringing forth of more covenant children. The Lord added to the church.

10:18 There's got to be something more than the mere activity of the human birth and the bringing forth of human life that happens to be brought forth within the framework of the church. The Lord must give the increase. And I believe this is added, there is added emphasis by the little phrase the Lord added, day by day. Was this a reflection of some clever method they hit on?

10:46 Someone came to town and said, I've got a new method. No, no. It's underscoring this very fact that this was a time when the Lord was pleased to give a great increase to His church. A time when He restrained opposition against the gospel.

11:02 It says that they had favor with the people. That didn't last very long. But during this time God is restraining opposition, giving favor with the people. It's a time of great increase.

11:13 But what's the answer to this? It is not that there was some special kind of a method that Peter and the apostles hit upon. It wasn't that they had a slick organization. Nor was it even to be found in some peculiar unction that rested upon Peter's preaching.

11:29 The Lord added, day by day. Why? Because this was a time of the goings forth of His power. And the head of the church said, it is a time of increase.

11:40 And a time of increase it became. Now what does this say to us? It says to us that if this that has stood before us tonight or these who have stood before us and borne witness to their faith in Christ, if God indeed has done for them what they have confessed with the lips, then the author of this is to be viewed biblically. And the author is the living God Himself.

12:10 People have asked us, how do you account for the fact that in the past two years you've seen more fruit in conversions and accessions to your church than in the previous seven years? What are you doing new? We said nothing. Just a time of increase.

12:25 And if God is pleased to bring us into a time when there isn't that increase, we're not going to do anything different. Because we frame our ministry not in terms of the latest in thing that seems to work. We frame the ministry by the principles of the Word of God in dependence upon the Spirit of God looking to the head of the church that the Lord will add day by day in His own sovereign purpose and in His own sovereign time. And how that needs to be emphasized in our day, particularly in our own country.

13:03 We're cursed with our gimmick mentality, the same mentality that faced the uncharted lands west of the Mississippi and caused our early forefathers to press out and establish a nation in a barren area. It was a blessing then, but that same mentality is a curse. We've got the American gimmick mentality. Give me a gimmick that'll work and let's get the wheels of the organization going.

13:31 I stand to protest tonight that any view of increase that does not give mere lip service to this principle, but has it worked into the warp and woof of the whole philosophy and perspective of church life stands under the curse of God. For God says, Cursed be he that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm and whose heart departeth from the Lord. The Lord added to the church day by day. Well, in the second place, the text gives us what I'm calling the indispensable requirement for membership in the church of Christ.

The Indispensable Requirement for Church Membership: Salvation

14:09 Not only the author of genuine increase, the Lord added, but the indispensable requirement for membership in the church of Christ. How is it set before us in the text? Here it is. The Lord added to them day by day those that were saved or those that were being saved.

14:33 You see, not anyone was made a part of that church. It was a distinct class delineated here as the saved. And that biblical word saved is the word which focuses on the mighty work of the triune God rescuing men from a state of nature and sin bringing them into a state of grace and forgiveness now and a state of glory in the world to come. What a rich word is the biblical word saved.

15:06 It means delivered. Thou shalt call His name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins. The totality of the influence of sin will be completely reversed by the mighty saving power of Christ in the life of every individual whom He saves. Now will you notice?

15:29 It does not say that the Lord added to them day by day those that were informed as to the contents of the gospel. These people were filling Jerusalem with their doctrine. But it was not enough to come up to them and say, say, fellows, I've heard your doctrine now. I think I like it and I can give it back to you.

15:48 All right, we'll ask you five questions. You answer the five questions. Welcome in, fellows. No, no.

15:52 No, no. No, no. There's something more than merely giving verbal assent to the contents of the gospel. The Lord added those that were saved.

16:01 They not only knew the word of the gospel, they'd experienced the power of the gospel. That's why we ask not a canned list of questions when we interview these people as elders. You believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Yes.

16:17 You believe He died on the cross for sinners? Yes. You believe that...

16:20 Well, of course they're going to say yes. It's a Christian church. I mean, really. When you think of it, no one in the world would dare to come into a Christian church and say, no, I don't believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, if it's known to be an evangelical church.

16:37 No, I don't believe He died on the cross for sinners. Of course people will answer yes to those questions. And the yeses can be echoing in your ears while they slip into hell. But the demons also believe and tremble.

16:52 No, no. We want to know not only do you have an acquaintance with the word of the gospel, but what's the gospel done in you? The old Puritan said it this way. We ask people two questions.

17:03 What has Christ done for you? What has Christ done in you? And being saved means that you can give a credible answer to both. What's Christ done for you?

17:14 How are we saved? By virtue of His own sinless life and His vicarious death upon the cross and His resurrection in which He burst the bands of sin. But all of the virtue of that saving work must be applied subjectively by the power of the Spirit making us new creatures in Christ. And so it was not merely the informed as to the contents of the gospel who were added, nor was it those who simply came along with their children.

17:47 It doesn't say, and the Lord added to them day by day those that were saved and their children. Now I'm not being nasty and I'm not looking for a fight, but I want to be scriptural. Now they weren't unconcerned about the children because the promise on the day of Pentecost, look at it. What should we do?

18:05 And the answer of Peter is, verse 38, Repent ye and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Spirit. Now look at the text carefully. Just let it say what it says. All right?

18:24 Peter says, Repent, be baptized unto remission. Now here's the promise. Ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for to you is the promise. The promise.

18:36 What promise? The promise of the Holy Ghost. Given upon condition of repentance and confession of Christ. Repent ye, be baptized unto the remission of sins and ye shall condition, promise.

18:50 This promise, he said, is to you, now notice, and to your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto you. Who receives the Spirit? The people who heard, their children, all that are afar off, those that are called. And what is effectual calling?

19:15 It's being brought out of darkness into light, being drawn by the Father to repentance and faith, and all who repent and believe receive the Spirit. It's not a promise of the Spirit given simply because they are the children, but it's the children who are called. Any more than it's a promise that all who are far off receive the Spirit without repentance and faith. There's no such thing taught in the Word of God.

19:44 Did they understand it that way? Well, look what it says. And with many other words he testified and exhorted, saying, Save yourselves from this co-creation. Then they that's got a new mom and dad

20:44 back in the home to teach them to pray with thee of the church of Jesus. The end of the requirement nor the will of what we are saved abhors itself in repentance and in faith. And so the indispensable requirement for membership in the church of Jesus Christ and whatever the church

21:56 lowers the condition, the basis of that community of the church of Christ. And there's been a curse upon because they refibical teaching. And so you've got whole answers to the gospel.

22:50 These young men are Christians. They make no bones about it. I don't intend to obey the Word of God, but don't you call me anything other than a Christian. When the young man dared to suggest to one of the elders, maybe we ought to forbid some of these to come to the table. He said, I don't care if you improve it from the Bible.

23:47 We've never done it. We're not going to do it again. Not in this church. The Bible taught.

24:01 The indispensable requirement for membership in the church of Christ is a man must... That's why the Bible even uses this term.

24:11 Look over to chapter 5, verse 14. Then I must hurry on, so I keep my word that my brief exposition be brief. Chapter 5, verse 14. ...were the more men and women who...

24:30 She says they were added to the expression of Christ. We better make sure that everyone whom we incorporate as much as humanly possible into that body has union with the head, the Lord Jesus. Well, in third place, the text tells us something about the inseparable relationship between salvation and the visible church of Jesus Christ. Look at what the text says. And the Lord increased, added to them day by day those that were saved.

The Inseparable Relationship Between Salvation and the Visible Church

25:37 Indispensable requirement. But notice the Lord added to them, or as some of the other manuscripts have it, the Lord added to the church such as would be saved. Literally, He added to them. Now, who is the them?

25:55 Well, the them... Let me get the English straight.

25:58 Now, the them in the passage are those in the passage I read to you earlier. Verse 41. They that were added unto them, they were added to 3,000 souls. Here's a group of people continuing steadfastly in the apostles' teaching, meeting together for shared life.

26:17 They break bread in remembrance of the Lord and they pray together. And their love deepens to where guys get convicted. They say, look, it's not right for me to have 10,000 in my bank account and here's my brother over here. He can partly keep soul and body together.

26:32 And they come to the apostles and they say, look, this isn't right. Look, will you fellows operate a common pot? Let's just throw everything into one pot and we trust you and you just dole it out as they have need. Their love was so deep, the reality of their responsibility to one another.

26:48 You see, the concept of the church here was not that they all came together in Solomon's porch to listen to Peter preach. No, no. Shared fellowship. And then it says, day by day continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple and breaking bread, took their food, gladness, singleness of heart, praising God, etc.

27:13 You see, the visible church was an organism with a living relationship to the Lord and to one another. And when the head of the church saved men, he immediately added them to the visible community. So I say the text shows the inseparable relationship between salvation and the visible church. The Lord added these that were saved to the image of the visible saints.

27:39 The church was not thought of in some kind of a mystical, invisible community of the saints. You could see them going up to Solomon's porch together. And you say, look at that crowd. Their religion, the boy, they sure live right.

27:54 Look how they love one another. Then they'd see them going and hearing the apostles preach. Here was a visible community with visible activities, means of grace to sustain and develop spiritual life. And so I would submit to you tonight that if you claim to be a child of God, then you have a responsibility to obey the head of the church and identify yourself with a visible community of these people, a community where you...

28:27 It doesn't say that some continued steadfastly, verse 42, in the apostles' teaching, and others who said, well, I'm not much of a doctrine man, but I'm a fellowship man. I'll go to fellowship meeting. And someone else who said, well, I'm not much for doctrine, not much for fellowship, but I sure love to come to the Lord's table. I think I'll go to the Lord's table.

28:50 And someone else said, well, you know, those are not very spiritual activities. I'll just go to the prayer meetings. You see? Now, I'm giving a caricature, but you see there wasn't any of that.

29:01 They became involved in the totality of the life of the church. And I say it's the responsibility and privilege of every...

29:08 Now, follow me closely. If you are this night a member of a church, a visible community, then you'll be in so far as the...

29:26 Well, my friend, listen. If you can't be involved in because there is unbiblical practice serious enough that you cannot be somewhere where you're involved. I'm not flushing for church members. I don't know where we're put anymore if God gives us some more.

29:50 So I can say before the Lord, I'm not pushing for church. You'll never hear any of that. I'm just trying to set biblical principles before you. And you've got to face this issue.

30:00 And if you believe before God that the ecclesiastical structure in which you are presently found has sufficiently departed from the word that you can entrust yourself to the elders as your overseers, you cannot come with expectation to the ministry of the word believing that it's pure apostolic doctrine. If you cannot have real experience, if you cannot gather to pray with those people, then I go of New Testament life and worship. That involves not finding a perfect church because if you found it, you'd ruin it the first day you were there. That involves finding a place where the word of God is taken seriously, where you can with confidence submit yourself to the elders as true spiritual shepherds of your soul. It involves being involved, sharing ministry one with another in prayers, fellowship, in the spread of the gospel. One of the most precious terms to many of us in the past year has been our family at Trinity and how I thank God for the family of His people here. What is family?

31:23 Family is the place where I go and I'm loved till they see the worst of me. My wife and my kids see the worst of me. The worst side of me. But they still love me.

31:32 That's family. Family is the place where you can be honest and know that you're not going to jeopardize your relationship by being honest. Family is the place where your burden becomes everybody else's burden and their burden becomes yours. That's family.

31:46 Thank God for the family of God in this place where we can bear one another's burdens, pray one for another, rejoice with one another. That's the church. That's the church. Not just a group of people meeting under a common roof to hear common words and sing common songs.

32:05 No, no. It's the sharing in the common life. That vision God has clearly stamped upon our hearts and our minds. We long that it become the vision of His people in our own day.

Addressing Paedobaptist Friends and the Consequences of Error

32:21 Well, this little text, I suggest, holds these three great principles and I leave them with you. And I know, to some of you dear people, I hope you realize some of my dear paedobaptist friends who attend so faithfully the ministry, I hope by now you know that I love you enough that you can realize that I'm not using the pulpit as a chance to scold you. I mean that sincerely. I do love you, but I love God's truth.

32:50 And I believe the paedobaptist error has caused the nature of the church to be misunderstood and has brought untold harm. I believe that. I believe that with all my heart. If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't preach the way I've preached tonight.

33:06 But I also know that you have to answer in your own conscience before God. And I'm not saying you're being dishonest. I would never question the integrity of your conscience. That's a matter between you and God.

33:16 But what I am doing is pleading with you to go to the book and see from the book, as our good friend, our shield would say. See if what we've expounded tonight is not an accurate projection of the teaching of the book of Acts. That when there is increase, it comes only when the head of the church saves men. Whether they be children of believers or whether they be children of pagans, such as we've had displayed before us tonight.

33:45 It's when the Lord saves. That's the indispensable requirement. And when He saves, it is His will that we become part of a visible community of His saints until we enter into the life and ministry of that assembly and know the joy of God in the communion of His people. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the head of the church would add to his church tonight?

A Call to the Unsaved and a Rebuke of Gimmicks

34:10 If he'd save some of you. Maybe tonight these testimonies have been very disarming to you. As you thought, oh well, the preacher, he's paid to do that and he's got the gift of gab and all the rest. But you've heard people talk tonight and you've sensed that this wasn't just some professional talk.

34:28 People were sharing the reality of what God has done for them. And the more you heard, the more you sat there saying, man, if that's what it's all about, I wonder if I've got the real thing. You better cherish that little bit of doubt. That may be the first ray of light that the Holy Ghost is shedding on your heart.

34:44 You better cherish it and you better go home and ask, Lord, do I have what those people talked about? And those people that say, look, look, the church has got to get with it. We can't draw young people in our day without having a bunch of twanging guitars and long-haired, half-converted guys jumping around a stage, singing Jesus jingles and all the rest. You notice the means and the mean age of those here tonight?

35:08 I've never asked Kirk how old he is, but I'd say they're all under 30, if perhaps with the exception of Kirk. So you can get away with things like this in a family.

35:26 Doesn't that say something to us? Is God trying to tell us something? Oh, no, the preaching's passe and all this. It's a lie.

35:39 It's a lie. God owns His Word. It's almost as though He's passed the generation that's believed the lie and laying hold of another generation that has walked around confused, and when they've heard the voice of the shepherd through the authoritative preaching of the Word, they say, that's it, that's it. Oh, may God speak to your heart.

36:03 If you're a stranger to grace, may you call upon the Savior who so graciously has wrought in the lives of these. He stands ready to save all who come unto God by Him. He's blind when it comes to background, color, sociological structure. Thank God, may I say it reverently, for a colored blind, sociologically blind Savior who only sees men as needy sinners whom He welcomes and whom He invites to Himself.

Prayer for Revival and Clear Demarcation

36:37 May you come to Him. Seek mercy from Him for He delights to save. Let us pray. Oh, God, our Heavenly Father, what praise can we render to You for what our ears have heard tonight?

36:58 And yet, as our ears have heard and our hearts have rejoiced at Your work of grace in so many, we've been pained because so many have said that they came out of religions, churches, but never heard the word of truth. And, God, we think tonight of the millions in our own country and around the world who've made their way to a building called a church somewhere, have sat and gone through the motions, have listened to some pious words from professional ecclesiastics, and have gone back to their homes dead, lost, blind. Oh, God, have mercy upon blind leaders of the blind. And will You not in our day and through this place and every place where Your truth is loved raise up a clarion voice? Oh, God, make the line between the church and the world a sharp line again. Lord, scrub away the blurry edges.

38:06 Scour away all of the gray areas. May it be said of the church in our day, no man dared join himself to them, but the Lord had it. Such as should be saved. Put again, we pray, that line of demarcation between Your people and the world.

Prayer for the Saved and the Church

38:26 Lord, deal tonight with those who may sit amongst us and who have the privilege of Christian nurture and the benefits of a covenant home, that this was enough. Oh, God, shatter them, we pray, and bring them broken to the feet of Christ. Lord, have mercy, we pray, upon all of us, for lest You open our eyes, lest You lead us, and we shall stumble and fall and bring reproach to You. We pray, particularly, for these who've borne testimony tonight.

39:02 Oh, may they continue to bear a good confession, even to the end of their days. May none of them live long enough to bring reproach to You by going back to the world, back to sin, back to the paths of evil. But, oh, God, may each of them prove by their persevering that indeed their testimony tonight was an honest confession of the grace wrought within. Behold, be with them.

39:32 Be with us as a church as we seek to have our hearts enlarged, to take them in, to love them, to care for them, to weep with them, to rejoice with them, to rebuke and to admonish them. Oh, God, open our hearts to them and open their hearts to us. And, Father, for those tonight who must do some serious wrestlings in the light of what they've heard, be with them. Help them.

39:58 Oh, God, help them to follow the Scriptures, to prove all things and to hold fast that which is good. Thank you for your presence. Thank you for being with us through another Lord's day. Now dismiss us with your blessing and lift up the light of your countenance upon us.

40:18 We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.