Membership Means Authority

O God, our Father, we have gathered in the name of Jesus because you have gathered us under the rule of our Savior and our Lord, and we thank you for such a sweet slavery. we thank you for a king who loves us and gave himself for us who then gathers us together as his church who will see us all the way to glory who will fight our battles for us we thank you father for this powerful king who even in his humiliation powerfully redeemed a people for you. Now, Father, as we consider the truths from Scripture today concerning your church, we pray that you would guide our thinking. Lord, help this not to be just another thing that we learn, but rather help this to transform our thinking so that it's more in line with the gospel and more in line with what you have thought.

God, help us in this endeavor now, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen. What a great day this is. Bringing four people into the membership of the Rue Baptist Church with the promise that in a few more weeks, more will be joining us. However, I have a confession to make this morning. I've been wrong all these years about church membership.

Because when you look carefully at the Scriptures, you won't find church membership. Let me explain that. membership really is a word that you use for a club or a service organization or a team clubs and political parties and labor unions and charities have members no hey i heard you're a member of the science club what are you kidding only geeks are in the science club, I joined the wrestling team, right? I mean, even today, you could choose to become a member of the LaRue Community Alliance.

Maybe because we think membership, we tend to think of the church more as a club or a service organization or a voluntary association. And because we think that way Christians can think that it fine to attend a church indefinitely without ever joining They assume that they can make a perpetual habit of being absent from the church gathering a few Sundays a month or more, right? Christians make major life decisions like moving or accepting a promotion without ever even considering whether there's really a Bible-believing, Bible preaching church in the area where they're moving.

Or they don't even think about what that impact is going to have on the people that they've loved and the relationships they've built in a church over many years. So because we think membership in that typical way that most people think of membership, we assume that we have the authority to conduct our lives under our own authority and we can fit the church piece in there wherever we want, whenever we want. But the Bible doesn't view the church as a club or a voluntary association or a service organization.

A voluntary association of people does not say things like this, Jesus is Lord. That's the earliest confession of the church that we find recorded in the scripture. Jesus is Lord. Paul writes to the Corinthians, to the church of God, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.

He's talking about lordship, not just getting together with people of the same beliefs. Peter writes to the churches in Asia that they are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. So instead of starting with the idea of a church as a voluntary association, which is what most people think today, right? We need to start thinking, we need to start with the idea of it as the people of a kingdom or the people of a nation.

You don use the word membership in relation to government or the citizens of nations do you Hey so how that membership of the British nation doing You guys must have what maybe 60 million members or so It doesn't make sense. And so the Bible does not use words associated with membership. It uses words that speak of submission and authority. It uses words that speaks of lordship and citizenship.

It goes beyond what we typically think of when we use the word membership. So then, how should we understand church membership? Let's think about that this morning, shall we? This week and next week, I want to spend a little bit of time talking about that. Because I think in the culture in which we live, the church is just another one of those things that we do, rather than the highest authority in our lives on this earth until Jesus comes.

First of all, you need to recognize the authority of the local church. If you will, turn to Matthew chapter 16. Recognize the authority of the local church. That authority begins with the apostles. Begins with the apostles. Matthew 16 let's begin reading in verse 13 it's a familiar passage and one that has troubled many people because there's there's this keys business going on and what's that all about and so forth so you you follow along as I read Matthew 16 verses 13 through 20 now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples who do people say that the son of man is And they said, well, some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

He said to them, but who do you say that I am? Simon Peter replied, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus answered him, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I'll build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ Now this authority begins with the apostles Peter confesses the truth about Jesus, and Jesus then affirms that Peter has made a true gospel confession. You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And he goes, that's right. but flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you my father in heaven revealed that to you now in the next breath he gives peter the keys of the kingdom what is that all about what is this bind on earth bound in heaven loose on earth loosed on heaven what's that all about has something to do with those keys unlocking and opening and binding and so what is that all about well let's let's look at this carefully.

Peter rightly confessed who Jesus was. And Jesus said that Peter's right confession came from his father in heaven. Right? Notice the words. But my father in heaven has revealed this to you. Though Jesus was on earth, what is he doing?

He speaks on behalf of heaven. And then in the very next breath, he authorizes Peter to do the same thing, to represent what's bound and loosed in heaven by binding and loosing on earth. Peter, as representative of the apostles, now has the authority to do what Jesus has just done. And I think that's key. He has the authority now to do what Jesus just did, to act as God's official representative on earth for affirming true gospel confessions and true gospel confessors.

See, what did Jesus do? Peter made this confession, right? You're the Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus says, well, my father in heaven, that's exactly what he's revealed to you. On earth, Jesus is saying what happened in heaven. And he affirms that what Peter said was right.

He affirms his confession. Then he hands him the keys. What is that? Jesus gave the apostles this kind of authority. Like Jesus, they had the authority to stand in front of confessor to consider his or her confession, to consider his and her life, and to announce an official judgment on heaven's behalf. All right?

Your confession is a true gospel confession. And so the apostles had heaven's authority for declaring on earth who on earth is a kingdom's citizen and therefore represents heaven. OK, the authority of the keys, the authority. Listen carefully. The authority of the keys is the authority to assess a person's gospel words and deeds and to render a judgment.

All right. The authority of the keys is the authority to assess the gospel words and deeds of a person and to render a judgment. Now, did that authority die with the apostles? Well, turn over to Matthew 18. Something interesting happens here. Matthew 18.

Let's start in verse 15. If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church.

And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among you. Aha, we see the keys again, do we not? Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Now, by the way, when you look at verses 19 and 20, Jesus is not talking about a prayer meeting. If two or three Christians get together, I'm in their midst.

That's true, but that's not what this passage is teaching. This passage is teaching when those two or three witnesses go to confront a brother Jesus goes with them That what he saying Let's not ever hear this again around here, that where two or three are gathered in Jesus' name, he's there, and that's a really cool prayer meeting. Whatever we pray, God will do it, if we agree about it.

No, that's not what he's saying. He's saying, when those two or three are involved in the work of bringing the authority of the church to bear on someone who is walking off the path, Jesus is with them. And notice, the power of the keys is there. What's that? What's going on? Well, Jesus is obviously addressing a local church here.

The assembly of his people in a locality where they know one another, where you confront one another, where someone doesn't listen, you tell the whole assembly. The local church then has heaven's authority to declare who on earth is a kingdom citizen and therefore represents heaven. Now, do you see that? The church has the authority, the local church has heaven's authority to declare who on earth is a kingdom citizen and therefore represents heaven.

This does not mean, listen carefully, this does not mean that a local church makes you a citizen of heaven. That's not what Jesus is saying. But it formally affirms that you are a citizen of heaven. Now, I just got back from Romania. in order to get to another country you've got to have a passport alright and you guard those things because if you lose it you are in big trouble alright now in 2003 I got my passport does that mean that I became a citizen of the United States in 2003 no no it doesn't mean that at all I became a citizen in June of 1955 But that passport officially affirms and officially declares that I am a citizen of the United States to other nations.

All right. It tells those nations that I'm a citizen of the United States in a way that I can't tell them. Right. So what Jesus is talking about here is that the church has the authority. has heaven's authority to declare some things. Now that may shock some of you but I think the church we got a very low view of the church We do have a country club view of the church Yeah I a member there I pay my dues I put my offering in I don't want to go this week.

Like I don't want to go to the Y this week. But this is telling us that we need to recognize the authority of the church. So if you want to talk about real membership, then we need to talk about real authority in the local church. Have you ever seen that blue podium and on the front of it is this seal that says President of the United States behind it is a blue curtain and an American flag and there's this oval medallion hanging there that says the White House You ever seen that?

You haven't? Any of you watch television? Okay, I'm just wondering you're just kind of looking, I don't know, never saw it Yeah, you've seen it now who has the right to stand behind that podium and represent the president of the united states who has the right to stand behind that podium and represent the president of the united states do you see of course not what if you have a friend in the press corps who says hey the press room's empty let's go and you stand behind the podium do you have a right now to speak for the President of the United States?

You say, no, I don't have the right to speak for him. No, not at all. Well, then maybe the President's closest friends or his family. Well, no, not necessarily them. The only person who can stand behind that podium and speak for the President of the United States is the person that the President himself authorizes to speak for him. All right?

Right now it's a guy named Jay Carney. He's the only guy that can get behind there. other than the president, and officially represent what the president thinks, what his policies are. He's been authorized by the president to do that. Now, here's another question. Think about this. Have you ever spoken on behalf of Christ and his kingdom?

You say, yeah, I have. Let me ask you this. Who's authorized you to do that? You say, well, that's kind of a dumb question. Is it really? If you've got to have authorization to speak for the President of the United States, do you think you ought to have authorization official authorization to speak for the King of Presidents Now I don know if you ever thought about that have you Who authorized you to speak for Jesus Hmm.

Well, if what we've seen so far about this whole keys thing, then you've got to recognize the authority of the local church to authorize representatives of Jesus. the local church authorizes representatives of Jesus. You see, the church is not a club. It is not a voluntary association. It is not a team. You know what we need to do? We need to think of the church as an outpost, or better yet, an embassy of Christ's kingdom.

The church, this church, right here in Leroux, is an embassy of Christ's kingdom. Suppose I'm in Romania, and two days into the trip, I notice that my passport has expired. And by the way, they look at that kind of stuff. When you're going between countries, they look at that. I'm in trouble. If I try to leave Romania, or if I say I'm going to go next door to Ukraine or next door to Moldova, and I have an expired passport, there's no way.

I'm not getting into those countries. They're not going to let me in. Why? Because I no longer have valid documentation affirming that I am a United States citizen. I don't have it anymore. I would need to go to the American Embassy in Bucharest and to the place that represents my country and get it renewed.

And as they hand me a new passport, the embassy officially affirms my citizenship. Now, even though I am a U.S. citizen, I do not have the authority to declare myself one before the nations. I don't have that authority. I don't have the authority to say I'm a U.S. citizen. I've got to have proof from my government. Let me tell you something.

You leave the country. You fly back into Detroit. You get off and you go. to passport control. Every time you go to another country, you go through passport control. You usually have a yellow line painted in the carpet and you stand there. And don't go across that yellow line or you get in big trouble.

And there's a guy sitting in a glass booth. Right? And he usually does this. They're usually real nice people. They go... So you walk up there.

You hand them your passport. And if he looks at that and says, what are you doing here? This is expired. You can't say, I'm a U.S. citizen. All right? I am a U.S. citizen.

Listen to this accent. I'm from America. It doesn't make any difference. I do not have the right to declare myself a United States citizen to those people without official documentation. Do you understand what I'm saying here? The church is an embassy of Christ's kingdom in the kingdoms of this world.

And I have no right to represent Jesus apart from its authorization. Now this may sound to you pretty radical. But I think that's what the Bible teaches. How do you get that recognition? How do you get the official permission to speak for Jesus? You just witnessed it today. people profess Jesus.

And the church has listened to that confession and have said, you have a true gospel confession. You are a true confessor of Jesus and we're going to show that through baptism. The person has confessed Christ and it's a good confession. And now, she's authorized to speak for Jesus. The Lord's table. It's like a flag.

And every time you participate in the Lord's table, you show your allegiance to it. So church membership means that you receive authorization to represent the king. It means that you are publicly and officially recognized as a Christian. Boy, I'll bet you I'm rattling some cages this morning. I'll just bet I am. people go well I a Christian really how do I know that How do I know that Because I believe in Jesus Okay Have you publicly identified with him through baptism Well, no.

Well, then how do I know you're a Christian? Who's recognized that? Whose confession have you given that? To whom have you given that confession and how they recognized it? Church membership means that you receive the authorization to represent the king. Now, with that in mind, recognize the authority of the local church to oversee discipleship.

If what I've said is true, then the church has the authority to oversee your discipleship, the right to guide your walk in Jesus. Now, how many teachers do we have here? Laura? Levi's not here. Laura, Levi, Deb? Jackie?

Four teachers? Do we have any more teachers? We have four teachers in our congregation. How do they educate the children? Number one, they teach the lessons, right? Is that all there is to education?

Don't you wish. Number two, they correct the students' errors. I hated that part, right? You take the test and you're wrong. so how do you how do you learn you teach you learn the lesson and you have your errors collect corrected all right so how does the church church guide the discipleship the learning process of what it means to be one of christ's disciples turn to matthew 28 matthew 28 verse 18 and jesus came and said to them all authority in heaven on earth has been given to me go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son of the holy spirit teaching them to observe all that i've commanded you and behold I am with you always to the end of the age.

Wow. What does he say here? He says you make disciples. How do you do that? Well, baptizing, official recognition, and then teaching them to obey all that Jesus has commanded. Teaching them to obey There the teaching The purpose of the existence one of the main purposes of our existence is that we learn to obey Christ commandments That is, a disciple is one who translates truth into life.

That's my thumbnail description of a disciple, one who translates truth into life. Teaching them to obey all that I've commanded you. There's the teaching part. What about correcting the errors? Well, what did we just read in Matthew 18, if you want to turn back to it? If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you.

And if he listens, you've won your brother over. But if he does not listen, take two or three others along with you, so that the matter may be established by two or three witnesses. And if he doesn't listen to them, tell it to the church. If he doesn't listen to the church, then what? Treat him as you would a publican and a tax collector, as a traitor, as one who is not a believer.

Treat him like that. that's correcting the disciples errors if necessary it doesn't have you know it starts with what one-on-one and if it stops there great if you win your brother great but what's going on there we're correcting each other's errors that's part of the discipleship that's part of the learning process discipline is part of our education of course you realize do you notice the connection between disciple and discipline? Do you see that? Discipline is derived from disciple.

It's part of the learning process, you see. So, if a church member is an authorized representative of Jesus, then discipline is the correct course of action when that representation brings shame on Jesus' name. the local church has the authority to remove your credentials as a citizen of the kingdom doesn't say you're not because you may be a sinner or a believer who's gone that far in sin and you need some real heavy duty spankings called church discipline formal church discipline but what it does is it removes your credentials and says you're not authorized any longer to speak for Jesus. Your life isn't living up to that.

So church membership is more than joining some association. It places the Christian's claim to obey and follow Jesus into a real life situation where you have to live under authority You see Now the last Okay we talked about recognize the authority of the local church Recognize the authority of the local church to authorize representatives of the king. Recognize the authority of the local church to oversee your discipleship.

Last. And we could go on, but I want to not keep you here all day. recognize the authority of the local church to expect submission. Now that's hard for us. I don't know if you did. I grew up in a tradition that says, what, submit to the local church? No, we run it.

We run it. We're going to put everything up for a vote. Right? That's not what the Bible says. It says you need to submit to the authority of the local church. Well, how?

How do you do that? How can you submit to the local church? Look at Acts chapter 2, verse 41. Let me give you a number of ways of submitting to the local church. So assuming what I've said so far is biblical, then church membership is not so much about joining and more about submitting. You see?

Acts chapter 2, verse 41. Peter's preached this wonderful sermon at Pentecost, putting Jesus up there, displaying Christ. These people have said, what must we do? What must we do to be saved? He says, save yourself from this corrupt generation. Trust in Jesus.

Be baptized. And so what happens? So those who received his word were baptized and there were added that day about 3,000 souls. Submit to your local church publicly. that is formally, officially, publicly submit. So what we saw happen here today are folks saying, and when all four of them are out here, they're standing before you saying, we are publicly, officially submitting to this body of believers.

We're not just joining. We're not joining a club. We're not joining an association. We're not joining a Christian society. we are submitting to the authority of this body publicly and officially. Part of that means Hebrews 13, verse 17. You know what?

I can honestly tell you I was unfamiliar with this verse my entire growing up life. I'd never heard this verse because I grew up in a tradition that didn't say you submit to these people. It was those people submit to us. We're the majority. And that's not what the Bible says. Hebrews 13, 17.

Look at it carefully. Obey your leaders and submit to them. for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account let them do this with joy and not groaning for that would be of no advantage to you you see that he says submit to the leadership in the church that's another way of submitting submit to the leadership of the church that doesn't mean that i can show up at your door and tell you only two kids that's all you can have you get you have three children and you're going be subject to discipline. I can't do that.

That's not my authority. But you need to submit. When they bring the word of God to you and say, here's what the Bible says, that's wrong. Stop it and repent. You better submit. You see?

Submit to your leaders. I mean, obey your leaders and submit to them. There it is in black and white. How do you submit to the local church? Submit to those who minister the word of God to you. who will give an account for you. Okay?

You know, there are five men right now at this point in this congregation who someday, I don't know if you guys will be around, but we five are going to be standing before Jesus and give an account of how well we took care of you. You know that? We're going to have to give an account for that. I remember one of my mentors in counseling, Pastor Good. Godly man.

I loved him. we were in a discussion one day i can't remember what it was about is so many years ago but i remember him saying well i won't have to give an account for them they won't let me be their shepherd they're gonna have to give an account so submit to them as men who watch over your souls turn to acts chapter 2 again you can submit listen you can submit geographically you can submit geographically what does that mean well notice what it says in acts chapter 2 verse 42 and they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship to the breaking of bread and to the prayers Now, what's that talking about? It's talking about the fact that this church was together. It was together.

They were close enough so that they were part of each other's lives. And when you drop down to verse 46, it says, and day by day, attending the temple together, and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

They were together. Here's what I want to say to you. If you can, if you can, it's not always possible in the culture in which we live. If you can, live near the church or live near clumps of members so you can be part of each other's lives. when people listen when people consider houses or apartments where they're going to live what are the questions they ask they ask questions like this how much is this going to cost how much is this mortgage or rent going to cost and they ask are there any good schools nearby i think maybe christians should ask these kinds of questions as well will the rent or mortgage payments still allow me to be generous with other people Have you ever thought about that?

Will this mortgage that I'm taking on still allow me to be generous with my money so I can help other people and give to the church's ministry? I think that's a question we need. Here's another one. Will it give other church members quick access to me for discipleship and hospitality? Think about that. you see because we think so much of church as an association or society we show up at the meetings but the church is more than that isn't it it's living for and oftentimes with one another you know the lord has given my family tremendous opportunities i i'm trying to think of the number of people who've lived with us over the years that we've been here and that's just been such a blessing.

I mean, we've got a chicken coop we can put in there. The coop, we call it, which, by the way has electricity and no chickens But be that as it may we need to ask those kinds of questions Submit to each other geographically You should submit affectionately Some society some club you know, you see them once a week, you go to the meetings, it's no big deal. You don't invest your hearts.

Not so with this place, or these people, I should say. Listen to what 1 Corinthians 12, verses 25 and 26 say. It talks about that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, what does it say? All suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together. when something happens in your life all of us when you suffer all of us should suffer together but you know what because too many people have the society view of the church we don't know if we've had any losses our lives don't intersect we only see you an hour two times a month and so we don't know so we can't all weep together.

We can't all rejoice together. But that's what we should do. You submit affectionately. Here's another one. You should submit financially. You should submit financially.

1 John chapter 3 verse 17. Of course we could go to all kinds of places in the scripture on this one. The chapter that you heard read this morning in Acts chapter 2 talked about what? Talked about them. Man we love one another and people are in so much trouble Let's just put all our possessions together and make sure everybody's got something to eat. Everybody's got someplace to stay.

Right. First John, chapter three, verse 17. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does the God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth. I'm going to submit financially. I'm going to.

My finances are going to be used for ministry. They have to be. you can submit vocationally you say what my job listen church members go on forever jobs don't do they isn that right isn that right which should have the best investment your job or your brothers and sisters in Christ John Lehman in his book on church membership writes this He's in a church in Washington, D.C. He writes this.

I know men and women in secular employment who, for the sake of serving in their local churches, have turned down promotions and more money, who have moved from larger, more reputable firms to smaller ones who have refused to move to another city. In each case, the individual turned down the opportunity because he or she knew it would have hindered the ability to care for the church and family. Have you ever thought about that?

Let's say you get a promotion, but it means you're away five days out of the week. does it cross your mind if I'm gone five days how am I going to minister to my brothers and sisters in Christ I won't be around does that ever cross your mind it should you see you need to submit ethically you need to submit ethically Galatians chapter 6 verses 1 and 2 brothers if anyone is caught in any transgression you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness wow keep watch on yourselves lest you too be tempted bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ you know what if you and I are in the local archery club and you get involved with another woman, I may say, what a pity. But if you're part of a church, I can't walk away. And I have the responsibility to come to you and call for your repentance and to help you then be restored.

Now, it's not just submit to the boy rebuking you, but submitting to the fact that you're the one who has to go and do the job. You know something, folks? Listen. A lot of times when it gets to me, it could have been handled three people ago People in the congregation who knew about it long before me, or long before any of the other elders, and didn't do anything about it.

You need to submit ethically. We're in this together. You don't walk to heaven alone. Well, the last one, of course. Submit spiritually. What does that mean?

Well, this is where you exercise your gifts. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 7. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. You know, what's interesting is all the time when the elders and some of the deacons sit down with people who want to join the church and, what are your spiritual gifts? I don't know. I'm not sure.

What do you do with that? You know what you do with that? You say throw yourself into everything then and see what rises to the top and where you excel and go for that Right Do that This is where we build one another up in the faith. This is where we teach one another. This is where we rebuke, teach, encourage, exhort, all those things. We do that together.

So when you think church membership, don't think joining. rather think submitting. Well, you won't find membership in the Bible, but I would suggest you find something far more significant. However, I'm not so foolish as to think that now we're going to get rid of that from our Christian vocabulary. And that's especially true today as we welcome the Harpers and the Cousins into the membership of LaRue Baptist Church.

I can't think of another name to put on it. Alright? I can't think of another name. So if we can purge the term membership from our vocabulary or from our language at least let begin to invest it with biblical meaning Right Let's invest it with the meaning that the Bible has. As a member here, you should recognize that this church has authority. The authority of heaven behind it.

It has the authority to affirm representatives of Jesus. It has the authority to oversee and to shape your walk with Jesus. It has an authority that calls for submission. That's what membership is about. You know what? I believe that we need to honor God by seeing the church as He sees it, not seeing the church as we define it.

Because the church was bought by the blood of Jesus. so it's more than some sort of association it's the embassy of his kingdom let pray Father thank you for your word thank you that we are not left just to have private mystical experiences but You brought us together into a body a body that has authority, a body that speaks with the voice of Jesus as it ministers the Gospel. God, help us to remember that. Lord God, give us the view of the local church that You have.

Oh Lord, keep us from country club Christianity. Help us instead to submit to the body of believers that you call your church. Help us to live for Jesus, not just individually, but as the body of Christ. Help us to do this for your glory and our good. In Jesus' name, amen.