Normal Context is the Local Church

Pastoral Introduction and Return to Systematic Studies

0:03 Those of you who are familiar with the seven letters to the seven churches recorded in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 will remember that each of those letters closes with the words of the glorified Christ to his people, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

0:28 And since we believe that the Spirit speaks only by and with the written Word of God, it is no little part of pastoral duty and privilege to seek to be sensitive to the guidance of the Spirit with respect to those themes or portions of the Word of God which constitute the voice of the Spirit to the Church at any given point in its life and ministry.

0:55 And though systematic, consecutive exposition of the Word of God is what we may rightly call the backbone of the life and ministry of this Church, we are not so slavishly bound to that normal pattern that we do not move from it when there are good reasons to do so. And those of you who attend here regularly will know that for the past three months we have moved away from our regular, consecutive study in the morning and in the evening

1:26 And in a very real sense, the most central and fundamental themes of the gospel have been set before you constantly, week after week, during this period. There were good and wise reasons for that, not the least of which was the indication that God by the Spirit was granting us at least a little season of ingathering. And the baptismal service today is witness to that blessed reality.

1:55 But we return this morning to our regular studies and again this evening. Now, for some of you, I'm very aware that's a disappointing announcement. Some of you have said you like the excitement of not knowing from Sunday to Sunday what was going to be preached. Others of you have dropped little hints that you'd about had it with the other fine and you were welcoming.

2:19 a return to the more systematic study of the Word of God. Well, all I can say is you ought to be glad that we do not determine these things by common consensus, or we'd probably have a pretty neat split right down the middle of the congregation. But rather, as your elders, we seek prayerfully to assess the needs of the congregation and regulate the public ministries accordingly. And so this morning, we return after a digression of almost three months,

2:49 to the contemplation of what we have called the cardinal blessings of salvation in Jesus Christ. Having examined the blessings that I have called the threshold blessings, namely regeneration and calling, we then examine those blessings which come to us immediately upon passing over the threshold of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light.

3:17 And it was our joy to examine the central teaching of the Word of God concerning justification and adoption. And now we are considering together the third of these blessings, which, though it begins immediately upon our union with Christ, extends unto the consummation even the blessing of sanctification. And you will remember, I trust, that I have suggested an analogy which I hope has proved helpful

3:46 in pulling together and holding together the major lines of biblical teaching concerning this great provision of God's grace. And that was the analogy of a vast mountain with three major peaks, the mountain being the doctrine or the teaching of the Bible on sanctification, the three main peaks being sanctification begun or definitive sanctification,

4:14 sanctification continued, or progressive sanctification, and sanctification completed, or that which I have called climactic sanctification. Now in the course of our studies, we've examined the first of those mountains, definitive sanctification, the teaching which finds its watershed in a passage such as Romans chapter 6,

4:38 in which the Word of God clearly teaches that everyone who is truly regenerated and effectually called and brought into union with Christ, thereby justified and adopted, is also, by virtue of that same union with Christ, brought to a position described in the Bible as having died to sin. Or in the language of Colossians 3,

5:06 There is a putting off of the old man and a putting on of the new. And then for some weeks we were examining the second mountain peak, progressive sanctification or sanctification continued. We saw from the scriptures the fact of this process of sanctification. We noted the necessity for it, the goal of it, the agents involved in it, and finally the pattern for sanctification.

The Thesis: Local Church as Normal Context

5:34 this process of sanctification. Now this morning I want to conclude our studies of the second mountain peak, progressive sanctification, by considering with you the God-ordained normal context for progressive sanctification. What setting or context has God ordained within which this process of gradual conformity to Christ and the increasing mortification of sin is to be carried on. Well, in opening up that subject, I will first of all make an assertion or state a thesis, and then secondly, demonstrate the biblical basis for that assertion or thesis, and then thirdly, draw forth some practical implications from the assertion. First of all then, the assertion or the major thesis

6:34 and it is this. The God-ordained normal context for the believer's progressive sanctification is the life and ministry of a specific assembly of God's people functioning in their corporate life according to the rule of the Word of God. Or, reduced to more simple terms, The God-ordained normal context of progressive sanctification is the local church governed by the Scriptures. Now let me explain briefly what I mean by the assertion, and then we'll seek to demonstrate the validity of it from the Scriptures. When I use the term the God-ordained context, I am doing so to underscore that this

7:33 In other words, the fact that the context for progressive sanctification is the local church is not the result of man's wisdom or man's design or man's desire. It is an expression of the purpose, the wisdom, and the sovereign will of God. And when I use the word the normal context, I am doing so because I am very much aware that there are exceptions.

8:18 the man or woman in the military service, the person in prison, the shut-in. There are exceptions where progressive sanctification is carried on in a context divorced from the life and ministry of a local assembly governed by the Word of God. And I'm very much aware that in those situations, God will give grace for the process to be carried on

8:47 even though in His providence He has not provided the normal context. And when I use the term specific assembly of God's people or local church, I am speaking of a body of God's people professing submission to the Word of God, organized and constituted according to the principles of Holy Scripture. I'm not talking about a little group of people who've gathered together and have a lovely feeling toward one another and call themselves a church. I'm using the term local assembly or church in its full, vigorous New Testament context. The way in which the Apostle Paul uses it in 1 Timothy 3.15 when he says the church is the pillar and ground of the truth, and in the context he's talking about the church itself.

9:43 as assemblies of God's people walking by the rule of Scripture with regard to government, with regard to worship, with regard to ministry, with regard to discipline, with regard to diaconal services, with respect to the whole spectrum of New Testament church life. Well then, that's what I mean by my thesis. The assertion is this, that the normal God-ordained context

10:14 for the progressive sanctification of the believer is an assembly of God's people functioning according to the rule of the Word of God. Now then, the proof of this assertion. And I've gathered the proof under two major headings. First of all, several pivotal passages in the epistles which clearly teach this, and then several specimen passages

Proof from the Epistles: Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12

10:43 from the book of Acts, which teach the same truth. First of all then, several pivotal passages in the epistles. Will you turn please to the twelfth chapter of Romans? Romans chapter 12. Now remember, what we're attempting to do over the next probably twenty minutes is to demonstrate the biblical basis for the assertion

11:10 that God's ordained context for progressive sanctification is His church, and to seek it anywhere else is to seek it contrary to the will of God. All right, Romans chapter 12, verses 1 and 2 constitute one of the clearest calls to progressive sanctification. In fact, we used these verses when demonstrating the fact and necessity for progressive sanctification.

11:39 writing to a people already described in Romans 6 as having died to sin, having risen to newness of life in Christ, in these verses the apostle calls them to a life in which the totality of life is lived as a sacrifice unto God, which will involve in practical terms, verse 2, this constant non-conformity to the world and and this constant process of transformation by the renewing of the mind. And he uses a present verb, be ye continually transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what the will of God is, that which is good, acceptable, and perfect. So here is a call to progressive sanctification.

12:34 But now notice that immediately in verse 3, the apostle delineates the context within which that process will be carried on. For through the grace given to me, I say to every man among you, not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many

13:03 Members in one body, and all members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise them accordingly, if prophecy, etc. Now, do you see how the apostle makes the transition? From this summons to progressive sanctification, conceived of in verse 2, as non-conformity to the world, constant transformation of the mind unto the experiential proving of the will of God, he moves immediately then into the concept of those who are seeking to do this as being one body in Christ, as being members one of another.

14:00 as constituting a people who must cultivate the consciousness that they are not just a group of individuals seeking to be more and more like Christ, less and less like the world, but they are to think of themselves in terms of their corporate identity and life. And so it is not surprising then that he goes on to say, emphasize that within the one body there is diversity of gift, there is the necessity of exercising those gifts within the body for the good of the body, and then general exhortations to corporate life, such as you have in verse 10, be devoted to one another in brotherly love, give preference to one another in honor, verse 13, contributing to the needs of the saints,

14:55 practicing hospitality. And then verses 15 and 16, Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. So you see, stand on the very surface of this call to progressive sanctifications.

15:21 is a description of the God-ordained context within which that sanctification is to be carried on. Anyone who says that he is dead in earnest about the appeal of verses 1 and 2, but is insensitive to the context delineated in verses 3 and following, is one who is either willfully ignorant or

15:50 blatantly and wickedly disobedient to the clear teaching of the Word of God. Now you have a similar emphasis over in 1 Corinthians 12, another pivotal passage which underscores the assertion, the major thesis that I've laid before you this morning. Here the apostle is dealing with a discussion concerning spiritual gifts.

16:18 And in the midst of that discussion, he says in verse 20, But now there are many members but one body. And he's going to buttress everything he has taught about the diversity and nature and end for which gifts are given in the following verses. The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you. Or again, the head to the feet, I have no need of you. On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor. And our unseemly members come to have more abundant seemliness, whereas our seemly members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked.

17:16 that there should be no division in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. If one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are Christ's body and individually members of it.

17:39 So you see, basically the same emphasis or a parallel emphasis is that which we saw in Romans 12. That these gifts are given, not that individuals may receive them and see how they may use them to their own profit and to their own blessing. But they must understand that their gift is to be recognized as a functional dimension in an organic whole. Verse 20 says,

18:09 Now, but there are many members but one body, and the body is to function for its own well-being in the totality of its organic wholeness. So the context, then, of growth and development by means of the gifts that are given is the context of the one body, a body that is open to to the sympathetic vibrations, as it were, of the other parts of the body. If one member suffers, all suffer with it. If one is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now then, over to Ephesians chapter 4. Another passage which underscores this truth, that the God-ordained context of progressive sanctification is the assembly of God's people.

Proof from Ephesians 4 and Colossians 3

19:05 In Ephesians 4, we have the call to a walk that is worthy of the God, or the summons to a walk that is worthy of our spiritual calling. And then the graces that should characterize that calling are underscored in verses 2 and 3, humility, gentleness. And then the apostle gives, as it were, the raw materials which constitute the substructure of the oneness of the people of God. There is one body, one spirit, called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith. Then he goes on to demonstrate that within that God-ordained and God-constituted oneness, there is diversity of gift, very similar to Romans chapter 12. But it is within that oneness, with its diversity, that God has ordained the well-being of his people.

20:02 He gave, verse 11, some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints unto the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ. And then he goes on to describe that building up in practical terms, culminating in verse 16, from whom the whole body being fitted and held together through that which every body Joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. What do we have then in principle in this passage? Well, we have the same emphasis that the individual Christians at Ephesus are not to conceive of their growth and development

20:57 into the stature of Christ apart from the context ordained by the living God. And that context is His body, His church, with specific gifts and specific ministries, all of them functioning so that the individual members may make their own God-ordained contribution. The great emphasis of verse 16. And in a wonderful way, this passage is keeps that tension between a Romish kind of clericalism that gives undue prominence to the official leaders in the church and this vicious anarchy of so-called body life in which every believer feels he has as much to contribute as every other believer. Well, neither is the teaching of those scriptures. In this very passage we are told that there are specially gifted men who

21:55 who with those gifts are given offices, and in those gifts and offices function for the building up of the body of Christ. But you see, they do not function simply that men may absorb the fruit of their gift and influence, but that being built up and strengthened, they may make their own proper individual contribution to the life and to the upbuilding of the body of Christ. Verse 16, so that the emphasis falls here upon that which every joint supplies. The working of each individual part causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. And so the church conceived in this passage by the apostle Paul under the inspiration of the Spirit,

22:52 is not simply a group of people who are dependent upon the special gifts and office bearers within the church, nor on the other hand, whose attitude is, well, we could just as well do away with teachers and elders and pastors. Every one of us has the Holy Ghost and has the Word of God. No, no. There is that beautiful fusion, and it's in the context of the church, functioning in this way, that growth and development is, is set before us in this passage. Well, there is a similar emphasis in Philippians chapter 2. Time will not permit me to open up the passage, but I just remind you that we looked at verses 12 and 13 as a pivotal passage dealing with the agents of progressive sanctification. Work out your own salvation. God is at work in you. The agents are God and the believers.

23:51 But the context is given to us in the preceding verses. There is a call to unity and oneness and to likeness to Christ in that immediately preceding context. And the apostle knows of no conformity to Christ in isolation. It's not a conformity to Christ with someone sitting off in a cave somewhere in the contemplative life.

24:17 It's conformity to Christ in the interaction with the body of Christ, which demands self-giving love, setting our minds upon the things of others, not upon our own things. I commend that passage for your meditation. Similarly with Colossians chapter 3, the chapter begins with a call to heavenly mindedness. Set your mind on the things that are above. That's an aspect of progressive sanctification. It goes on with a call to mortification. Put to death your members which are upon the earth. That's progressive sanctification. But it's interesting that in verses 12 to 16, the apostle then goes on to describe the God-ordained context within which this process is to be carried on.

25:08 And so as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another, forgiving each other. Whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. And beyond all these things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity, and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And then on to verse 16, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly where? Sitting on the top of a pole away from the world? No. Sitting out in a cave? No. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly with all wisdom and

26:01 and admonishing one another. He knows of no rich indwelling of the word of Christ that stops with the believer's heart, but it flows out in edification to the other parts of the body. And then perhaps one of the most pivotal passages in the New Testament, Hebrews chapter 10,

Capstone: Hebrews 10 and the Historical Pattern of Acts

26:27 which perhaps we can consider as the capstone of these other passages, demonstrating that progressive sanctification has for its God-ordained context this matter of the life of the people of God within the Church of God. In this tenth chapter, Christ is set forth in His great work as the mediator of the new covenant,

26:53 The privileges of the believer are set forth in terms of the full pardon of sin, the writing of the law upon the heart. And in the light of those privileges, verse 19, the writer gives an invitation to believers to enjoy the privileges of the new covenant. Since, therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus Christ, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil that is to say His flesh. And since we have a great High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering,

27:46 For he who promised is faithful. Here is a call to believers to enjoy to the full the privileges that were purchased by the Lord Jesus. But now in what context are they to enjoy them? Only in the closet of prayer when they draw near through the new and living way? Only in the secret, personal, private exercises of spiritual life? No, no. He goes right on in verse 24 to say,

28:15 And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and to good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some. You had some way back then who said, well, I'm a freelance Christian. I've got the Holy Ghost. I've got the mediator of the new covenant. I have all the privileges of redemption in Christ. The church is a luxury.

28:45 want to be involved and it's convenient, I'll be so. When I don't, I won't. I've got Christ. I've got the Holy Ghost. What more do I need? God says you need something else. You need my body, the church. You need the assembly of my people. Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love in good deeds, not forsaking our assembling together as is the habit of somebody.

29:12 encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. For then comes a sober warning about apostasy. And often the first step to apostasy is a despising of the God-ordained context of spiritual growth. I have lived long enough to see a number of men and women and fellows and girls turn their backs upon the Christian faith And almost invariably, it began when they began to despise the institution of the church. They could develop alone. They could grow in isolation from God's people. They could grow without the stated ministry of the works.

30:06 They could grow without gathering with God's people to pray. They could reach God in the closet as much as a Wednesday night with God's people. And almost invariably, the first step to apostasy was a despising of the context of spiritual growth. And it's not without purpose that the writer to the Hebrews brings these two things into very close proximity. Well, other passages could be brought forward, but I want to stick to my time schedule.

30:35 Surely the combined witness of these specimen passages is clear. When I assert that the God-ordained normal context of progressive sanctification is the life and ministry of a specific assembly of God's people functioning by the Word of God, I am not concocting that notion in order to promote the cause of Trinity Baptist Church. I am simply reflecting faithfully the teaching of of the Word of God. And then I suggest that you go through the book of the Acts to see that this is indeed the pattern that is seen. I will only take the one passage and list the others for you. In Acts chapter 2, the first picture given to us of the Christian church in its post-Pentecostal form and life

31:32 is a picture in which you do not have a crass individualism, but rather you have the people of God growing as one. You remember the setting Peter has preached in the day of Pentecost. The Spirit of God has worked mightily. Numerous people have been smitten in their hearts and cried out, and Peter has given them directions. Now we read in Acts 2.41,

32:02 So then, those who had received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls, and they were continually devoting themselves to private devotions, to personal witnessing, and to involvement with parachurch organizations that are constituted to be the arm of the church.

32:35 Now, sad to say, that's the way the record of many professed converts in our day would have to be written. The moment someone professes faith in Christ, he is told that the most important thing in the world is his own private devotional exercises, or are his own private devotional exercises. Next to that, the most important thing is his own private personal witnessing. And then next to that, get lined up with some group where the action is really going. The old institutional church, dead, stuck in the mud. All they do is sing psalms and hymns and pray. That's dead. You want action? Go where the real action is. And usually you're pointed to some parachurch organization. But not so this body of people. Look at the record. They were continually devoting themselves to...

33:29 To the apostles' teaching. They didn't go around saying, well, we've got the Holy Ghost as much as anyone else. We've got the Old Testament Scriptures. We don't need authoritative teaching. No, no. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching. And to fellowship. That is, to real, genuine, shared life with the people of God. With all of its self-demand.

33:57 or its demands upon carnal self. It's risky business exposing yourself to the burdens and concerns of others. It's demanding business to enter into true fellowship. You're vulnerable to someone else's burdens. And the pressure of that burden that makes them weep and keep them awake at night may so affect you as to begin to cause you to lose sleep.

34:25 Becoming privy to some of the personal needs may make a pinch upon your own purse strings as well as upon your time. You see, this whole idea that with God and the Holy Ghost and my Bible, it's all I need, that's a cop-out to preserve your own unmortified self-life. Because then you can pick and choose what you'll take from the Word of God. And then you can pick and choose what burdens you will and will not bear.

34:55 But if you devote yourself to the apostles teaching that is to the systematic preaching and teaching of the word of God in its total exposure. Then you don't choose as to what will bring its pressure to bear upon your conscience in the presence of God. When you devote yourself to fellowship to getting involved with God's people. You see it's demanding it's risky business it's costly business.

35:23 But they devoted themselves to it and to the breaking of bread, which either refers to the sacramental meal, the Lord's Supper, or it could refer to social meals. But in either case, it's the concept again of their corporate life and literally to the prayers. Not just to prayer in general, but to the stated seasons of public prayer.

35:50 When people came out of their closets and said, it is not enough that I draw near to God alone. I must be found with the people of God. When the body gathers there to feel the pulse of the Spirit's constraints laid upon that body as it prays. And as you go through the book of Acts, you will find that emphasis coming through again and again. Acts chapter 4, 32 to 35.

36:17 Acts chapter 9, 26 to 28 with the Apostle Paul. Acts chapter 13, 1 to 3 and many other passages could be cited. Suffice it to say that the combined testimony of the epistles and the pattern of church life in the Acts supports the thesis that the normal God-ordained context for progressive sanctification is the assembly of the people of God functioning by the rule of the Word of God. Now, having stated the thesis, having demonstrated its validity from the Word, now, thirdly, what are some of the practical implications which derive from this assertion? If God has established a context for growth and progress in progressive sanctification—

Implication One: Abnormality of No Visible Commitment

37:11 And if that context is the local church in its total life with the deposit of gift and diversity of functions, then certain very practical implications flow out of that. And I want to give you, if time permits, three. Otherwise, two now and maybe flesh out the third one next week if I have to. It's so vital. The first one is this. It is a growth stunting, that's a hyphenated word,

37:40 It is a growth-stunting abnormality for one to be in Christ by living faith, but not to be in his church by visible commitment and identity. It is a growth-stunting abnormality for one to be in Christ by living faith, but not to be in his church by visible commitment and and identity. Now, in order to become a Christian, a person does not need to, quote, join a church. The scripture tells us in 2 Corinthians 5, 17, if any is in Christ, he is a new creature. To be a Christian, you must be united to Christ.

38:30 And the only way any sinner is united to Christ is when, from the divine perspective, the Holy Spirit regenerates him, gives him life, and in the power of that life he repents and embraces Christ in faith. He is united to Christ. And in union with Christ he is justified, he is adopted. But now, If he is in Christ really and vitally by the regenerating work of the Spirit and the response of faith, it is a growth-stunting abnormality if he is not immediately and visibly identified with a specific body of Christ. The biblical norm is for all who are in Christ

39:25 To be joined to his body, to be formed, to be joined to a specific expression of that body in a visible and formal act of commitment. You say, Pastor, where do you find the words visible and formal in the Bible? I don't find the words, but I find the concept in these words. There were added to them in the same day three thousand souls.

39:50 Before they were added, they knew they weren't there. After they were added, they knew they were. There was a visible, formal commitment. It says in Acts 9 that when Paul came to Jerusalem, he sought to join himself to the disciples. He didn't simply show up in the back row one day and say, oh, well, I'm a Christian, here's Christians, I declare myself a part of them. No, no, even an apostle couldn't do that.

40:15 And there are people who say, well, I go to a church like Trinity Church or some other church. I'm there when the word's preached. I regard myself a member. Well, what you regard yourself and what you are are two different things, my friend. You may regard yourself the President of the United States and try to veto bills that Congress sends out, but your signature isn't going to cut much mustard.

40:37 The Apostle Paul realized it wasn't enough that he just showed up at Jerusalem and sat in on the back row. It said he attempted to join himself to them. He wanted recognition that while there he was a part of that assembly. And he could not declare it unilaterally. And it is a growth-stunting abnormality if I'm speaking to someone sitting here this morning who is in Christ.

41:05 but you are not visibly and formally identified with His church. Christ is dishonored, His cause is hindered, because your own growth is arrested, and you ought to deal with that abnormality immediately, without delay. And I'm not saying you should join yourself to this assembly or any other specific assembly, but for you to have no one who is disordered By the charge of Christ, watching over your soul is a frightening thing. It's in His church that He has put under shepherds. And He has charged them with tending the flock of God. Not tending any old animal that calls itself a part of the flock of God. But those who are visibly a part of the flock of God.

Implication Two: Irregularity of No Practical Involvement

41:58 But then there is a second implication, and this is one that I trust God will write upon the hearts of many of you this morning. It is a growth-stunting irregularity to be formally committed to a local assembly, but not integrated by practical involvement into its total life and ministry. You see the progression now?

42:26 It is a growth-stunting irregularity to be formally committed to a local assembly, but not integrated by practical involvement into its total life and ministry. According to the passages we read from the epistles, Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians chapter 4 in particular, all of the functions and gifts ordained of God

42:54 are designed for the well-being of the whole body. And so when anyone cuts himself off from the input of the function of any of those gifts, he is cursing himself with stunted growth. Notice that emphasis again in Acts 2.42. It does not say, Some who had a love for doctrine devoted themselves to the apostles' teachings.

43:23 Others who had a love for fellowship and were people persons, they devoted themselves to fellowship. And some who were more devotional, they devoted themselves to the breaking of bread. And then the real spiritual ones and the prayer warriors, they devoted themselves to the prayers. No, you didn't have this picking and choosing. It says they all committed themselves to the totality of the life of that body. And it is a gross daunting irregularity, which some of you find yourselves in this morning. You are formally committed to this assembly, but you are not integrated by practical involvement into its total life in ministry, and it's not because you are providentially hindered. It's because of willful disobedience on the part of some. It's because of sluggishness on the part of others. It's because

44:21 perhaps ignorance on the part of others. But it is true nonetheless. Your voice is needed every time this body gathers to make complete the sacrifice of praise that is to be offered up from this place. Peter says we as living stones are built up into this spiritual temple to offer up spiritual sacrifices. Why did God put you into this particular temple of His?

44:51 and make you a priest in this temple, that you might be present to offer your part of the corporate sacrifice of praise and worship. And when you are willfully absent, when you are absent through a carelessness, you to that extent rob God of that which His Son died to have from this people. When you are absent, your heart is needed to make complete the symphony of praise and the oneness of aspiration in prayer and supplication. Your hands are needed to engage in the sacrifice of giving. Your words are needed by your brethren to encourage and to admonish and to exhort them. And your ears need to be present to hear the voice of God. Think of the physical body. When it acts, it acts as a complete organic hold.

45:49 When I go to sleep, all of me goes to sleep. Now, I wish there are times I could leave my head upstairs to do some more studying, but when I decide to go to sleep, the head's got to go where the rest of me is. There are times I wish I could have my head up in the study while my hands were out in the garden pulling weeds. I look out the window and see all the weeds that need to be pulled, and I'd love to go out and pull them, but I've got to feed God's sheep, and so I'm torn between pulling weeds and

46:14 And sticking with the books would be lovely. I don't need my hands at times when I'm studying. It would be lovely. No, but it doesn't work that way. Well, the whole concept of the body, you see, is that of the organic whole. When one member suffers, all suffer with it. Let's put it in the practical. When a suffering saint bears his or her heart through a specific need that is made known in the assembly, such as the need of our sister Elaine Hiller this morning, such as the needs that are made known in a Wednesday night prayer meeting. If you are not present through willful neglect of that stated meeting, do you see what you've done? You've cut yourself off from the nerve impulses that should extend to the entire body. When one member suffers, all suffer with it. You can't rejoice then when a prayer is answered. You cannot exult with the people of God because you've not been present to share that burden.

47:13 I want to speak even more specifically to a mentality that has emerged in the last few years, and it's this. Well, back when Trinity was a little twerk and there were only 50, 60 of us, I really wouldn't think about being away any more than was absolutely necessary to fulfill duty, either to my family, to fulfill duty in some other respect. But Trinity's so large now, I don't need to be careful about whether or not I'm present. I can be a lot more relaxed about deciding to go off to visit this friend or that friend or this relative and that relative. What's the difference? When you've got 325, what's my absence? My friend, that's a wicked mentality. That is a totally self-centered mentality. Whether the church is ten or a thousand, is God worthy of the full residue of praise from his people?

48:12 Is he worthy of the full swell of the praise of every voice, of every priest whom he has constituted a priest in his living temple? No, the attitude should be, are my obligations and responsibilities lessened one whit because the church has grown from 50 to 350? No, in fact, they are increased.

48:42 When this body was smaller, it had much less in the way of responsibility as a corporate organism. As a little baby, all it had to do was hold a rattle and stick a thumb in the mouth in between feedings. That was about the extent of its responsibilities. But with the growth of the organic whole comes increased responsibility for all the members in that body. And dear ones, that's true of this church.

49:13 not needed less because we have grown, you are needed more. If we are to exhort one another lest we be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin and there are more people to be exhorted, then there's got to be more exhorters doing the exhortation. If we're to bear one another's burdens and there are more people with more burdens to be borne, there better be more people deeply involved whose shoulders can bear those burdens.

49:44 wicked and selfish mentality. And I've waited for an appropriate occasion to address myself to it. And I believe this truth is the occasion to speak to it. And I speak not to scold you, but I speak to admonish and to exhort you, particularly as we stand on the threshold now of entering, God willing, in about six to seven months to a new building. And with that will come new dimensions of outreach and increase.

50:14 Oh, what a terrible thing it would be if this mentality, this cancerous mentality increased. Well, it doesn't make any difference if I'm absent and I can make all my plans around personal desires and interests and my presence at all the stated gatherings and my involvement is really not important. If God has shown you the wickedness of that, I pray that some of you will deeply repent during the hours of this day

Implication Three: Immorality of Un-Christlike Attitudes

50:44 And that the fruit of repentance will be manifested in the days that lie ahead. And then I will touch very briefly on the third implication of this great truth, and it is this. It is a growth-stunting immorality, and I've used the word purposely. It is a growth-stunting immorality to be in Christ's church, but not rightly related to the other members of the body.

51:15 The word immorality simply means contrary to the moral code. And God's moral code demands that we not only be in the body, but dwelling in the body in love. Love such as is described by 1 Corinthians 13, that thinks no evil, that bears all things, that is not easily provoked, taketh not account of evil,

51:46 the love described in the last six of the Ten Commandments. The great responsibility is to dwell together in love which is the bond of perfectness, a love that cuts channels such as those described in the last half of the Decalogue, such as is described in 1 Corinthians 13. And it is immoral to be a part of Christ's body,

52:13 And to have anything in our hearts contrary to that love one to another. I commend for your careful reading the flatter part of Ephesians 4. Where the apostle says, Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. And in the context before and after. He is dealing with interpersonal relationships. Let him that stole steal no more. Don't lie one to another. Why? We are members one of another.

52:41 My friend, what would you think if on the way home today you saw a man standing on Bloomfield Avenue with his hand over a parking meter and he had a penknife and was standing there lancing his own hand? You would stop in shocked horror and say, what in the world is that man doing? Is he crazy? What is he doing? Piercing and lancing his own hand, a member of his own body.

53:08 The Word of God says we are members one of another. Lie not! Will you lance a brother with dishonesty? Will you lance a sister with gossip and slander? That's exactly what you do. Every time you gossip and slander your brothers or sisters, you lance them with your tongue. And it's immoral! It is wicked!

53:35 if you lance them with a judgmental attitude, if you lance them and pierce them, in these ways described in the Word of God. And it is a growth-stunting immorality to do so. Why? Because the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of love, is grieved. And when He is grieved, He withdraws His powerful operations, producing in us those things which result in our growth in grace.

54:05 Could it be that the reason some of you are so stunted in your growth, even though you are a part of a visible body of God's people, even though you are present for all of the stated activities, is that you are grieving the Spirit because of your horizontal relationships. There is bitterness and wrath and anger and unforgiveness and suspicion expressing itself in judgmental attitudes and slander and gossip.

54:36 That's exactly the things that are addressed in Ephesians chapter 4. Oh, may God have mercy upon any who sit here this morning lancing other members of the body of Christ. May God give you to see the horror of it because it's Christ's body. And your treatment of the members of His body is regarded by Christ as your treatment of Him.

55:02 Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these, my little ones, ye have done it unto me. Away with this piousity of saying, all is well between me and my Lord, when all is not right between me and my brethren. If a man says he loves God, but hates his brethren, If he does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he love God whom he has not seen? That's John's answer to that piosity. May God grant that we as a people will suffer the word of exhortation as we are serious about progressing in likeness to Christ.

Closing Application and Prayer

55:50 more and more putting to death the deeds of the flesh, more and more being conformed to His likeness. There is one normally God-ordained context for that process. That's the life and ministry of a local congregation living by the rule of Scripture with all of its sin, with all of its imperfection. Christ has given no other institution within which to carry on that process

56:21 And if you are here as one guilty of that growth-crippling abnormality of being in Christ but not in His church, do something about it. If you are here as one guilty of that growth-crippling irregularity of being in His church but not totally integrated into its life, do something about it. And if you are here guilty of that growth-stunting immorality of being in His church...

56:51 but not right in your attitudes to the members of the body, may God help you to do something about it even today, that as a people we may know the blessed reality of growing up into Christ in all things through that which every joint supplies. Let us pray.

57:20 Our Father, we are thankful that you in wisdom and in sovereignty have instituted the Church as the context within which your people will grow. We pray that you will forgive some of us who for years, through poor teaching, through willful ignorance, despised the Church. Some of us, O Lord, hang our heads with shame When we think of the years we lived as Christians and were stunted in our growth because we despised that which you have instituted for our growth. We pray for those amongst us who may be guilty of these abnormalities and irregularities, those who may be guilty of the immorality of having bitterness and unforgiveness,

58:18 in their hearts to any of their brethren. Lord, have dealings with us that this church and every church represented here this morning may be a glorious, vibrant expression of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Seal then your word to our hearts and receive our thanks for your presence with us. We ask through our Lord Jesus Christ,