Introduction (A. N. Martin)

Introduction to the Pre-Membership and Post-Membership Classes

0:02 The following message was delivered on Sunday, February 9th, 1992, in the Adult Sunday School class of the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. This is lecture number one in the pre-membership class.

0:19 Now, most of you gathered here in this class this morning are well aware that we are in what I have called a period of transition with reference to the subject matter set before you in this adult Bible class. Several weeks ago, we completed what was, in principle, at least a year-long series of studies on the training of our children, and next week, God willing, we shall begin a new series of studies which will last for probably at least a year and a half, God sparing us. And we have used this...

0:58 This three-week period of transition to address some general pastoral concerns, the first being some helpful hints to enhance our worship, last week, some pastoral perspectives to enhance our new round of pastoral visitation, and now today, in preparation for the subject matter of the next months, I propose to set before you an introduction to the pre-membership and post-membership material which will be set before you in this class. Now, my goals in doing this are basically three, and as I said last week, forgive me if I stay unusually tied to my paper. I have a lot of material to cover. I have carefully prepared it and believe reasonably it can be covered in the hour, but only if I constantly exercise the discipline of restraint by sticking to what I have written and not allowing...

1:58 ...the preacher in me any rain or very little rain.

Three Goals for the Introduction

2:02 Now, my goals are three. Number one, to inform your minds and persuade your judgments concerning the necessity for these studies. I state up front that I am committed in this hour to informing your minds and hopefully then to persuade your judgment concerning the necessity for these studies. Secondly, to awaken interest and cultivate expectation for these studies.

2:33 It is one thing when a pastor stands before a gathered people who are there out of loving duty and obedience to Christ and who are prepared to study certain things like taking certain distasteful and unpleasant medications

2:52 nor do you do it with any degree of personal interest and delightful expectation of the techniques that are provided and conducted by the churches and the practice and the daily militancy of the community of Christ in this first year of church. expectation. And I would that Pastor Nichols, who will have the main burden of this teaching and the rest of us who have a secondary part, would stand before a people full of holy interest and of real expectation. Then thirdly, my goal is to stir you up to pray for the blessing of God upon these studies in the light of their critical importance. Now, that's my set of goals as I introduce the subject. And if you do not have presently in your hand these three yellow sheets, would you raise your hand and they'll be distributed to you. All right, the brethren did not distribute them. They will do so now. And I believe we have enough of one per person, not just one per family. So as

Explanation of Terms: Pre-Membership and Post-Membership Classes

3:49 these are distributed, take one. Please don't start to study through it or we'll not be together as a class. Now, while the papers are being distributed, I believe you can concentrate enough to listen while I say something under my first heading. I have three major headings this morning, and the first is an explanation of the terms. You will notice when you receive these materials that at the top of page one, there is a pre-membership class. With the word pre-underlined, and then pre-membership class, and then the outline given, and then on page two, post-membership class, a condensed outline, post-membership class, a more detailed outline. And I thought it would be helpful if I began with an explanation of the terms. Up until now, anyone who has been interested in church membership has been given a package of the terms and a packet of materials containing a confession of faith, a constitution, and a couple of tapes.

4:58 And after you've gone through that material, you've set up an interview with the elders, and if they were satisfied that you manifested sufficient knowledge to suppose that your professed faith were real and experience that validated that faith and understanding that would make your church membership meaningful, unless the congregation voiced its opinion, you would not be able to participate in the membership class. And if you were to make the most objection over the next couple of weeks, you were received into membership. We have never had a membership class for those who have applied for membership. Well, God willing, in the future, we are going to have such a pre-membership class. And it is our proposed order that when someone expresses interest in membership, there will be an initial interview at which time the elders will focus in upon one thing and one thing only. And that is the pre-membership only. Whether or not the person who appears before us has a credible profession of faith. We will focus only upon the matter of their professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the basis of it, the evidence of the changes, and the ongoing manifestations in a Christian life. And if the

6:14 elders are satisfied that that profession is valid, then such people will be candidates for a thirteen-year membership. And if the elders are satisfied that that profession is valid, then such will be candidates for a thirteen-year membership. And if the elders are satisfied that that profession is valid, then such people will be candidates for a sixteen-year membership. And if the elders are satisfied that that profession is valid, or fourteen-week pre-membership class. They will go from that initial interview in which their credible profession of faith is validated by the judgment of the elders, which is not an infallible judgment, but must be based on the principles of the word of God, assuming the person is speaking truth to us. And then they will go into a pre-membership class. And after going through that class, there will be a pre-membership class. And after going through that class, there will be a pre-membership be a second interview by the elders to see if they are now prepared to assume the responsibilities and the commitments of church membership, and they will be received into the membership, and as soon as they're received into the membership, instead of coming into the regular adult class,

7:11 they will go into the post-membership class. So here is the initial interview, and then they go into the pre-membership class, and then when they are received into the church, they will go immediately into the post-membership class, rather than the ordinary adult class, and assuming this will continue over a period of approximately 40 weeks, if they come in at week 23, they go from there to the end, and then back to the beginning until that point. So that every new member will, in the course of his first year of membership in this church, go through the contents of the post-membership class. So that is an explanation of the terms pre-membership class, post-membership class. Both of them will be held during the time of this adult class, so that we are not placing the burden of an additional meeting upon the those who either apply for membership, or enter into the membership. All right? Having

Specific Rationale for the Pre-Membership Class

8:25 given the explanation of the terms, now secondly, and this will take the major part of our time, I want to give an explanation of the reasons for these classes. Surely it isn't because your elders are sitting around saying, you know, we've got a bad conscience that we're not earning our salary, we'd better find a little more work to do. And we just think that the people...

8:49 We need something different. Now, you know us better than I hope even to think that those are the reasons. And in giving this explanation of the reasons for the classes, I have three heads. The specific rationale for the pre-membership class, the specific rationale for the post-membership class, and some generic rationale for both classes. All right? Simple enough outline.

9:19 First of all, then, the specific rationale for the pre-membership class, and I have two sub-points. Number one, to ensure as much as is biblically reasonable that only truly regenerate and genuinely converted men and women enter into the membership. That's the first specific rationale for the pre-membership class. To ensure as much as is biblically reasonable to ensure as much as is biblically reasonable that only truly regenerate and genuinely converted men and women enter into the membership.

10:00 And while we spent a considerable amount of time in the manifesto some months ago on our determination to strive for a truly regenerate and genuinely converted membership, I do want to give you at least one pivotal text under each of these heads even though many more were brought forward under the subject in recent months. But in Acts chapter 2 and verse 47, speaking of the growth of the church in the early days after Pentecost in Jerusalem, it is said that they were found praising God, Acts 2.47, and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to them day by day those that were being, saved. When the Lord adds to the church, He adds those who are being saved. And therefore all of the descriptions of the churches that come out either in the teaching or the exhortations or in the greetings assume that New Testament churches are comprised of those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus that are in God the Father and in Christ Jesus. and in Christ Jesus.

11:17 All of that terminology points to this very principle that the membership was assumed to be a membership of truly regenerate and genuinely converted men and women. Therefore, the initial interview is an attempt on the part of the elders to ascertain whether or not the man or woman who has applied for membership is a member of the church. This is a converted man or woman. But lest we put the language and the terminology in their mouth by having extensive teaching on the subject before the interview, we have the interview first and then look at your outline and see in the pre-membership class what the first four weeks are taken up with. The instrument of true conversion, the gospel of God, the nature of true conversion, the nature of true conversion, the nature of true conversion, regeneration, repentance, faith, justification, gift of the Spirit, the evidence of true conversion, a holy life, and Christian baptism, which we might say is the badge and the external profession of true conversion. So in the initial studies of the pre-membership class,

12:41 it is our desire to focus upon the biblical doctrine of conversion, so that the person who has given a credible profession of faith and been encouraged to enter this class will have some concentrated, systematic, biblical teaching by which to do what 2 Corinthians 13, 5 mandates. Examine yourself. Prove yourself whether ye be in the faith. Or in the language of Peter, 2 Peter 1, 10, make your calling and election sure.

13:15 And so the rationale, for the pre-membership class, is first of all, specifically to ensure as much as is biblically reasonable that only truly regenerate and genuinely converted men and women enter the membership. But then there's a second specific rationale for the pre-membership class, and it is this. To ensure as much as is biblically reasonable that only people with an intelligent, wholehearted, committed commitment to the basic doctrine and polity of our church will enter into membership. To ensure as much as is biblically reasonable, and I've chosen my words carefully, and I wrestled long and hard and threw out many other words, but there must be a biblically reasonable effort to admit into the church only such as have an intelligent, wholehearted commitment, to the basic doctrine and polity of the church. And that is why you will notice in lectures or classes 5 through to 13, we deal with the matter of our corporate distinctives, our doctrinal and practical distinctives, then the responsibilities of membership,

14:42 then the privileges and liabilities of membership. And on what biblical grounds do we desire as elders to admit into membership only those who have an intelligent, wholehearted commitment to the basic doctrine and policy of the church? Well, again, we turn to Acts chapter 2 and see that this was the pattern under the guidance of the apostles. On that day of Pentecost, when Peter preached in the Spirit of God, marvelously owned the preaching, we read verse 40 of Acts 2, with many other words, he testified and exhorted them, saying, Save yourselves from this crooked generation. Then they that received his word were baptized, and there were added unto them in that day about three thousand souls, and they, that is, the three thousand that were added,

15:45 continued steadfastly, in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers. In other words, when they made the commitment they made, they made a commitment that found them integrated into the total life and activity of the church. And that is the second specific rationale for the pre-membership class is to give a broad overview of our doctrinal distinctives, a broad overview of our polity directives, that when, at the end of that class, a person asks for a second interview and says, Yes, having heard the teaching on conversion, I'm more certain than ever I'm a truly converted man or woman, and having had that broad overview of what the church believes and what will be expected of me with all my heart, I'm ready to commit myself to that kind of church life within that kind of building. That's biblical doctrine. So that's the rationale for the pre-membership class. You say, well, why is it only 13 weeks?

16:54 Well, biblically reasonable. Because we know enough of you who know your Bibles, sooner or later you're going to ask, why in the book of Acts did we receive it in the first day? Well, I'm not going to take up that question now because we don't have enough time to. But we know enough of you who know your Bibles to know that there is a pattern in many places where there is an explicit indication where there is an explicit indication where there is an explicit indication that we are going to have a new church.

17:17 that we are going to have a new church. that we are going to have a new church. That from professed conversion into church membership, it was a relatively short route. And that's why we've used the term biblically reasonable.

Summary of Pre-Membership Rationale and Introduction to Post-Membership Rationale

17:26 That we dare not set up a standard that takes us so far removed from the overarching principles and precedents of Scripture that we are making what may be sincere and zealous, but unwarranted demands upon would-be members. All right? In summary then, here are the specific reasons, or the specific rationale for the pre-membership class to ensure as much as is biblically reasonable that only regenerate and converted people enter the membership, to ensure as much as is biblically reasonable that only people with an intelligent, wholehearted commitment to the doctrine and polity of our assembly will enter into membership. But now, letter B, under the reasons, we have now the specific rationale for the post-membership class. The rationale for the pre-membership class, one and two. Now the rationale for the post-membership class, as I went down through this and sought to state it in ways that I hope you will find helpful, are five. Or the rationale has five prongs to it.

Specific Rationale for the Post-Membership Class: History and Doctrine

18:41 Five headings, all right? Number one, to ensure that as soon as possible, new members will be made aware of the history of this assembly. Now look at your post-membership class on page two, and you'll notice study number one, introduction, rationale and purpose of class, overview of topics, importance and nature of class, that's setting the table. And then what's the first course that will be served up?

19:10 Week two, study two, history and distinctives of Trinity Baptist Church. Now you say, Pastor, now you're really pressing it. Where in the world are you going to find a text to justify that? Trinity Church didn't exist until 2,000 years after the New Testament documents were written.

19:29 Ah, yes, but there are principles. And those principles are found in many, many parts of Scripture. Again, I've limited myself to just one or two key texts in the interest of covering the material. And we find many of them in a book such as the Book of Deuteronomy.

19:46 Turn there, if you will, for a moment. Deuteronomy chapter 4, God speaking to Israel through Moses as they are about to enter a new phase of their development as a nation entering into the land of Canaan, dispossessing the Canaanites. Deuteronomy 4 and verse 9, Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes saw, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life. But make them known unto thy children and thy children's children the day that thou stoodest before God, etc. We know that in this whole section, God constantly commands the adults to make known to the subsequent generation the words, the precepts, the commandments of God. We find it earlier in chapter 4, You shall not add one word which I command you, neither shall you diminish it, that you may keep the commandments of Jehovah your God, which I command you. And then he goes on in chapter 6 and says, You are to speak of them to your children when you walk in the way, when you sit down, when you rise up.

21:07 But not only were they to pass on the words of God, they were to pass on the history of God's dealings with them. And that's what's in focus here in chapter 4 and verse 9. Take heed to yourself lest you forget not only my words, but you forget the things that your eyes saw of my mighty works. And there is a great principle.

21:33 The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all those that have pleasure therein. You find it again in chapter 6 and verse 20. When thy son asks thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies? and the statutes, and the ordinances.

21:50 What means this book you're constantly teaching me from? When your kids say, why are you always impressing upon me the Bible? Then thou shalt say unto thy son, and then you give your history of how you became God's covenant people bound to the Bible. You see that?

22:08 Then you tell them what happened down in Israel, down in Egypt, and how God delivered you. Well, there's the principle. So, as a rising generation, spiritual generation comes among us, they are not only to be taught the words of God, but they are to be taught how it is that there is a company of people in this place committed to doing the words of God. And that's why we want, as soon as possible, to ensure that new members will be made aware of the history of this assembly.

22:44 There is the biblical, biblical principle established again and again. We find it in the Psalms and celebrate it in hymns, in the Bible, etc. All right? Second strand of the rationale for the post-membership class is this, to ensure as soon as possible that new members become grounded in the doctrines of the Bible as formulated in our confession of faith.

23:15 Now, you'll look at your outline. Notice, lesson three, importance of confession, history and overview of the 1689, and all the way from lesson three through to lesson 29, there is a study of our confession of faith. And the rationale for this post-membership class, then, is obviously to ensure, as soon as possible, that members become, become grounded in the doctrines of the Bible as formulated in our confession of faith. And why is this so important?

23:56 Well, turn to 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 10. 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 10. Concerned to correct the problem of divisions at the church at Corinth, Paul articulates many, many principles which are vital to the whole subject of unity in the church. And his opening volley is found in verse 10.

24:22 I beseech you, brethren, 1 Corinthians 1.10, through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, now notice, that you all see the same thing, and that there be no divisions or schisms among you, but that you be perfected together in the same mind and same judgment. You see how he moves? From the outward to the inward.

24:50 I want you to speak with one voice, but a speaking that grows out of oneness of mind and of judgment. And no church can know this kind of unity based upon doctrinal harmony if it does not have a confession of faith and ground its people in that confession of faith as soon as possible. You see, everyone who is an evangelical points to his Bible and says, all of my faith is contained within the lips of the Bible. I believe the Bible.

25:28 And as you've heard somebody say, even the cover that says Holy Bible, I believe that too. All right? If it's a black one, if it's brown, it's suspect, if it's blue, it's more suspect. But a good black Bible that says Holy Bible, and if with some people, if it's the old authorized version, then that's the real, that's the real Bible.

25:48 That's my faith. It's there in the Bible. Everybody who's an evangelical says their faith is in the Bible. Now, but when you ask them, all right, please articulate the faith that you find in the Bible.

26:01 The Bible is God's message. What do you understand that message to be? That's your confession of faith. And everyone has one, whether it's ever written, whether it ever sees printers ink.

26:13 So it's not enough to say, well, we have the Bible. Everybody says they believe the Bible. Well, what do we understand? We understand the Bible to teach about God, about sin, about salvation, about the Christian life, about the church.

26:25 That's all our confession is. It's an attempt to codify in our own human language what we understand the Bible to teach about the critical matters of faith and life. And if we are to have biblical unity, we must ensure as soon as possible, that new members become grounded in the doctrines of the Bible as formulated in our confession of faith. Now then, let's the preacher leap out of me down to number three.

Specific Rationale for the Post-Membership Class: Polity and Missions

27:00 Number three, rationale, specific rationale for post-membership class. To ensure as soon as possible that new members become grounded in the church practice mandated by the Bible as codified in our constitution. To ensure as soon as possible that new members become grounded in the church practice mandated by the Bible as codified in our constitution. Now, let me put my Bible over here.

27:43 This is the Bible for doctrine. And all evangelicals say, Oh, I believe. But the Bible teaches. Well, what do you understand the Bible to teach?

27:52 Give me your confession of faith. Likewise, all evangelicals say, We order our life individually and corporately by the Bible. We're Bible-believing, Bible-obeying Christians. Very well and good.

28:06 I ask you, what do you understand the Bible to teach about the responsibility of church members? Tell me. That's your constitution. What do you believe the Bible teaches about church discipline?

28:20 Once you've told me, that's your constitution. What do you believe the Bible teaches about elders and deacons and how they should be recognized and how they should function? Where is ecclesiastical authority deposited? And the minute you answer, that is your polity.

28:40 That's your constitution. Now, you may not understand it, but that is it. So our concern is to ensure as soon as possible that new members become grounded in the church practice mandated by the Bible. You say, why do you keep shouting by the Bible?

28:58 Because we do not ground our life in the confession or in our constitution. It's grounded in the Bible. But what we believe the Bible to teach is what's in our confession. And what we believe the Bible to mandate in our walk is embodied in our constitution.

29:19 And that's why we can alter and modify the Bible. We can modify our confession as God gives us new light from the Bible. And why we can get cross-eyed and gray-haired. I've gotten gray hairs abundantly.

29:33 I don't know if there's any connection during this period of marathon sessions seeking to make our constitution come into close conformity to the Bible.

29:45 And why do I emphasize it so much? Not only to persuade your judgment, but as you'll see later, to arm you to answer objectively. But now, number four. Fourth rationale for the post-membership class.

30:00 To ensure as soon as possible that new members understand and become intelligently supportive of our missions policy. For if you'll notice on page two, you have lesson number 30 is our church constitution. And constitution goes down to lesson 30. Lessons 30, 34.

30:25 Then picking up in lessons 37 through 41, we have more matters that are included in our constitution. Church discipline, corporate worship, the regulative principle, etc. But sandwiched in between lessons 35 and 36, our church missions polity to lessons. Why is that stuck in there?

30:51 Well, I'm not quite sure why we stuck it at that place. I couldn't remember. And I didn't want to bother my fellow elders and ask them. But whether we did it for that reason or not or it just happened, I think it's good that in the midst of wrestling with our church's polity for our internal life, we don't forget why the church exists.

31:11 As a church, we not only exist as a new company of priests and a living temple to offer up spiritual sacrifices, but Matthew 28, 18 to 20, Jesus said, All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and in earth, going therefore make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. Acts 1, 8, You shall receive power of the Holy Spirit coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth. So we want to ensure as soon as possible that in the outworking of this great, great purpose of worldwide missionary vision and endeavor, new members are grounded in what we're doing, why we're doing it, and why we do it the way we do it. Now I've got to give you a couple of texts under the matter of polity. I got away from my notes and I didn't give them to you. Why is polity so important?

32:15 What we practice? Several texts. 1 Timothy 3, 15, that men may know how to behave themselves in the house of God. 1 Corinthians 14, 15, 40, let all things be done decently and in order.

32:28 Amos 3, 3, can two walk together except they be agreed? They got to be agreed about where they're going, how fast they're going, by what means they're going to go there. Ever try to take a walk with someone who wants to go east and you want to go west? He wants to walk at four and a half miles an hour and you want to amble at a mile and a half?

32:47 An hour? You've got to be agreed. Where you're going, how fast you're going. Those are the principles that mandate a common polity.

Specific Rationale for the Post-Membership Class: Service

32:55 And I've given the texts that mandate a central place given to missions and then the fifth specific rationale for the post-membership class is this. To ensure as soon as possible that new members will be aware of and find their place of service in the various ministries of our assembly. To ensure as soon as possible that new members will be aware of and find their place of service in the various ministries of our assembly. Now look at your outline.

33:31 That's study number 42. TBC Ministries and Opportunities for Service. And that may not be able to be covered in one week. We're leaving ourselves some flexibility.

33:46 Well, why is that important according to the Bible? Well, let's look at three texts quickly. 1 Peter 4 and verse 10.

33:54 1 Peter 4 and verse 10. Here Peter assumes that every believer has been given a divine endowment for service. 1 Peter 4 and verse 10. According as each hath received a gift, ministering it among yourselves as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

34:20 According as each hath received a gift, ministering it among yourselves. Ephesians 4, what is sometimes called body life and abused into a denigration of preaching and definitive visible leadership. Nonetheless, there is a biblical doctrine of body life. And Ephesians 4, 15 and 16 is one of the clearest statements of it.

34:46 But speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things unto him who is the head, even Christ, from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint supplies according to the working in due measure of each several part maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love. Do I need to comment? The text is plain.

35:18 All the body, every joint, each several part. God puts no lifeless paralyzed limbs into his body. He fills everyone he adds to the body with his spirit and the life of his son. And whether that function is that of a pinky or a little toe or an earlobe or an eye, whatever it is, according to 1 Corinthians 12, every single part is vital to the functioning of the whole.

35:58 And therefore, in 1 Corinthians 12, 7, the apostle again assumes that there is a giftedness for every member of the body, but to each one is given the manifestation of the spirit to profit with all. Now, I know the great problem is that some people think the only gifts that matter are those that either let you talk or do something that other people can see. And then you have to contend with people who the only person in all the universe who's convinced they've got a gift to talk and to speak in Sunday school or somewhere else is them.

36:35 And God knows that even four-year-old children after trying to listen to them for three minutes would cry out with Cain, my punishment is more than I can bear.

36:46 But oh, when you try to convince them, they feel they have no significance unless they've got their mouth open. That's the cursed, rotten nonsense about this so-called body-like teaching. Unless when we come together everybody stands up in blethers, then you have a one-man ministry. That's sheer nonsense.

37:01 If God hasn't gifted a man with utterance and the Holy Ghost isn't upon him to preach, then let him go around and shine the saint's shoes in the name of Christ and get the reward of a servant. But don't let him pain God's people and shame God's truth by mumbling nonsense and incoherent gibberish in a pulpit. I said I shouldn't let myself preach. I've got to get back to my notes.

Illustrations of the Classes' Purpose

37:26 All right. These things form then. What I trust, brethren, is a convincing rationale for this class. If I convinced your judgment, if that doesn't do it, I don't know how to do it.

37:36 That this is a necessary thing for our life and usefulness. It's kind of an ecclesiastical boot camp. As I was trying to think of imageries that could help make the thing stick. Someone's been going down to the local recruiter's office.

37:51 He's been asking for all the information about what's involved in becoming a Marine. And he's talked with the recruiter about the various fields he could go into. And the various skills he could develop. And the various technical skills he could acquire in the Marines.

38:06 He's had a pre-membership class. And then the day comes when he gets sworn in. He's now in the Marines. Then they ship him off to a place down south called, I believe, Parris Island.

38:19 Now he's a real Marine. And he goes to boot camp. And they whip him into shape in a short time. So that at the end of that concentrated time, he can take his place along with fellow Marines.

38:31 As a crack soldier in a very elite segment of the military. Now that's a little bit what the post-membership class is. You've gone down to the recruiter's office when you came for an interview with the elders. And you read all the literature.

38:46 And you got sworn in. You were received in the membership. Then they ship you off to boot camp. And boot camp is the post-membership class.

38:54 Oh, for you who don't like military imagery, you wish all armies would be disbanded and you're a peacenik. All right. I'll change the imagery. It's an extended industrial orientation class.

39:06 All right. You're taking on someone into a company that is a one of these mega companies with all kinds of complex infrastructure. And a man's going to have a pivotal place. And if he doesn't see the whole, he can't function efficiently in his part.

39:22 And so they ship him off for four weeks of intensive exposure to the whole structure of the company. To the basic policy of the company. The principles of hiring and firing and promoting and all the rest. So that at the end of those four weeks, when he becomes a bona fide part of the whole, he functions efficiently to the optimum benefit of the entire company.

General Rationale for Both Classes: Unity, Stability, Perpetuity, Apology

39:44 Now, you feel more comfortable with the company? Take your pick. Military, industrial, that's what the post-membership class is intended to be. Now, having given you the specific rationale for the pre-membership class, two headings, the specific rationale for the post-membership class, the specific rationale for the post-membership class, the specific rationale for the post-membership class, the specific rationale for the pre-membership class, the specific rationale for the post-membership class, five headings.

40:03 Now, large letter C under Roman numeral II, reasons for these classes. I want to give the general rationale for both. There is a general rationale when you put the two together. And I tried to reduce it to a key word.

40:21 And I have four headings. One, two, three, four, and just one key word under each heading. The mandate for unity. That's the first one.

40:34 Unity. The mandate for unity. We already looked at 1 Corinthians 1.10.

40:40 But what was said of confessional unity according to Ephesians 4, the unity of the Spirit we are to strive to maintain is a unity that has as its substructure our commitment to the one Lord, our belief of and love for the one faith. We have undergone one baptism. We call upon one God and Father of all who is over all and in us all. And even though there is diversity of giftedness, it goes on in the passage, the whole appeal to unity is unity in a framework of vigorous doctrinal content, of realistic diversity of giftedness, and realistic interaction in the life of the body as it is, more fully expounded in Ephesians 4. So a general rationale for both of these classes is the mandate for unity. Second word, stability. The mandate for stability.

41:45 God wants His people stable. And Ephesians 4 tells us that one of the major reasons for which He gives men who indeed have a gift of utterance and have the mental furniture essential to teach and preach unto edification and all the other gifts and graces He gives pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of service, unto the building up of the body of Christ. Verse 14, that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the slight of men in craftiness after the wiles of error. There's a mandate for stability. And we believe that both of these classes, if they are blessed of the Holy Spirit, will go very far in pursuing this mandate for stability. That relatively early, members will be stable having been immunized with the Bible's teaching on the main pivotal aspects of our faith as you work through the confession, stabilized in our polity because you will have seen laid bare the biblical tap roots of why we do what we do and when we do it and how we do it.

43:11 And you'll not soon be shaken either as to what you believe or what you practice. Now that's a mandate for us as your pastors. We are to be used of God to help you to be stable. And that's why we felt the pressure.

43:24 We're not looking for more work, but we want to do the work God's already given to us.

43:30 Third general rationale, mandate for unity. Stability. Thirdly, perpetuity. The mandate for perpetuity.

43:39 And what do I mean by that? The great apostle was concerned that apostolic doctrine inspired by the Spirit embodied in the scriptures passed on orally to men like Timothy. Now its only resting place is the Bible.

43:59 He was concerned for its perpetuity. 2 Timothy 2.2 The things which are thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. Ah, but you say, Pastor, that's the specialists.

44:19 That's what you're doing in the academy. They are to be concerned about the perpetuity of the faith. Ah, but in Jude, there is no specialty class envisioned. For in the epistle of Jude, we read, verse 3, Beloved, while I was giving all diligence to write unto you of our common salvation, I was constrained to write unto you, exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

44:49 That's the saints who are to contend earnestly for the apostolic faith. How can you contend for that concerning which you have gaping areas of ignorance,

45:03 concerning which you don't have a solid ground upon the biblical substance of what it is that you believe and why you believe it? And if there is to be perpetuity, there must be some framework whereby the things we envision in these two classes are conveyed. We're not saying this is the only way to do it. We're not telling the whole church take our framework or else.

45:28 We're not saying that at all. We're not inferring it. It never entered my mind until just now to even say it. But what we are saying, is that there must be a framework whereby you have a reasonable expectation that without sitting for 20 years and absorbing by bits and pieces relatively young believers will be able to contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.

45:54 So the mandate for unity, stability, perpetuity, and I got the fourth one by giving you a little Greek lesson, apology. Apology. Only not apology in the way we use it. We, we don't apologize when we have wronged someone and we're asking their forgiveness.

46:12 But the Greek word apologia means what we now mean when we speak of apologetics. Being able to give an intelligent defense and explanation of what we believe. And here I refer you to 1 Peter 3 and verse 15 for that's the Greek word used in 1 Peter 3 and verse 15. Written to all believers not to specialists sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord being ready always to give an apology.

46:48 The word answer there is apologia. To give an apology an intelligent, reasoned, biblically grounded defense of what you believe to every man who asks you concerning the hope, that is in you yet with meekness and fear. Be ready always to give answer to every man that asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you. So there is the mandate for apology.

47:26 It's a word Paul used in Philippians 1.7 and 1.17 when he said I'm set for the defense as well as the proclamation of the gospel. This is what I believe.

47:37 And this is why I believe it. This is what we do in our church and this is why we do it. Confession and polity. That's it.

Why All Members Are Being Taught This Material

47:49 And so I say for both classes pre and post membership classes there is a joint rationale the mandate of unity, stability, perpetuity and apology. And now I come to Roman numeral 3 having given you an explanation of the terms pre and post membership class having sought to give you reasons for these classes specific rationale for pre membership specific rationale for post membership generic rationale for both. Now an explanation Roman numeral 3 an explanation of why all the members are being taught this material regardless of how long you've been among us. Why are we all going to sit in the pre membership class when we're already members?

48:34 And why should some of us who are old timers and know everything there is to know about us and know around here sit in a post membership class? Why don't you send us down to the first grade Sunday school class? I feel insulted. Well, just hold back a little bit.

48:48 Again, fishing for an illustration. This is the only one that came to my mind at the time. Suppose your elders and they wouldn't do this because they wouldn't have biblical grounds but suppose they somewhere found a hidden text that had long been buried somewhere and nobody discovered it that we were going to mandate that as of May the 1st everyone had to come to church with a Trinity Baptist Church uniform.

49:12 That's right. It's made of a certain kind of cloth just like school uniforms. They're all the same. Seen one, seen them all.

49:19 Only difference would be size, shape but everyone's going to have a uniform. As of May the 1st everyone's going to have a Trinity Baptist Church uniform. If you come to the front door and don't have the uniform on you've got to go sit in the parking lot go home and listen on the phone and come in. Well, if we made such a mandate what would happen?

49:36 Well, between now and May the 1st we'd have to have a concentrated time when we had a lot of tailors here measuring you all up for your uniform.

49:45 And there'd be a great concentrated period of uniformitis here in the church. And on May the 1st then all existing members have their uniform and then from there on in there would never be a concentrated flurry again three members come in part of between interview here and these weeks and reception we'd tell them they have to go to the tailor and get measured for the uniform. So they'd have their uniform and they'd come in and they'd fit with everyone else. And then another would see when you make any kind of a radical or fundamental change in a group situation if the group is to be unified you've got to bring everyone on board at some point all at once.

50:24 And then from there on in you bring them on board one at a time. Okay? So we use the on board illustration we use the uniform illustration. And that's what we're doing.

50:34 Because this is something new in our church life we believed it would be not only unto your edification to have this material and anyone sitting here who can face all of that and not get excited I think I'm excited and I'm not even going to be the teacher for most of it. I got excited. Just as I was excited when we went through our constitution and confession in times past and through our missions policy. But we need to all get on board together for our own well-being.

51:06 But then hear carefully now when others are received into membership at a communion service in the future. You as members having sat through this class will know what they were exposed to here what they were exposed to here and if you find them coming out with something that is radically off the wall with what they supposedly heard and accepted you can be part of the instrument under God either to help them if it's ignorance or to reprove them if it's incipiently in error and heresy it's going to mean that there is a greater possibility of a tighter grid of corporate awareness of who and what we are that we might better preserve it and perpetuate it to another generation. Now if you're resentful of sitting in on these classes with those noble ends in view then I really wonder if you belong here at all because I do believe every member who loves this place and does believe not that our confession is the word of God or stands on a parallel plane with the Bible but who finds delight that there's an ancient document that formalizes and articulates clearly the things most surely believe in your own heart.

52:36 You're glad to have that confession taught because it expresses what you see being taught in the Bible and you're glad to have your constitution taught and hear and listen through the rationale for the proposed additions and alterations which we believe bring us closer to the word of God and more fully express certain aspects of the word of God. Why? Because you want to live by the Bible as the Bible is understood in its practical outworking embodied in the directives and propositions and propositions of our constitution. Well, that's an explanation as to why all the members are being taught all the material at once and then there's a final reason for doing that. We are not sure as elders given the space problem how we're going to implement this once we get through all this material. Whether we're going to have potentially new members sit in in a class by a living teacher twice a year. Whether we're going to have them offer this class four times a year and just have them keep running it in cycle with tapes having an elder sit in.

53:48 We don't know. This way we'll get it all on tape and we'll have the widest possibility of how we're going to use it. Okay? No secret agenda.

53:57 That's it. Those are the two or three fundamental reasons as to why the whole adult class is going to sit in on this material as we go through it the first time and then another reason came to me because I have a minute left here and we always welcome this. We'll have your input. Maybe fine tune it and do it better by the time we actually start doing it with potentially new members and we will welcome that input all along the way.

Conclusion and Prayer

54:24 Well, I said at the beginning I had three goals. I wanted to inform your minds and persuade your judgment concerning the necessity of these studies. I hope I've done that. I won't ask for a show of hands but I hope I've done that.

54:37 Secondly, to awaken interest and cultivate expectation for these studies. And the way a lot of you have moved this morning I think that's because I think that's been done. And thirdly, I hope you've been stirred up to pray for the blessing of God upon these studies. And if you do and continue to pray then what a delight it will be for those who lead the studies and for those of us who sit involved in the studies as we are led into the word of God in these critical matters and in a concentrated way pursue the mandate of unity, stability, perpetuity, and apology in the life of God.

55:15 In the life of this assembly. Well, thank the Lord for His help to get through all that material. Let's pray and ask God to write these things upon our hearts. Before we do, any of the elders, because this wasn't a group production, I had a bit of an input, any of the elders think of any other major strand of thing that ought to be mentioned so that I've rightly represented your mind.

55:39 All right, if not, I assume then I've spoken for my brethren. Let's pray together.

55:46 Our Father, we're so thankful that we have the scriptures as a lamp unto our feet and a light to our pathway. And we do believe that You have in answer to the prayers of Your people who have pleaded for us in past retreats when we've informed them that we would be wrestling with this concept. And now You've brought us to the threshold of it coming to birth. And we have confidence, O Lord, that we've not run hastily into this, but that You have indeed led us as Your people have prayed, and we have prayed, and we have sought Your mind and Your face.

56:23 And now this morning granted us a sense of corporate enthusiasm and commitment. O Lord, would You do all of this to mock us? We refuse to believe it. O gracious God, may the seal of Your blessing rest upon this entire endeavor even until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ in glory and in power.

56:47 We ask, we ask in His name. Amen.