Three More Truths God Wants Us To Know About the C

February 8, 1992

- studying Basic Bible truths
- these last couple of weeks we've looked at God's Provision
Through The Local Church

- we've talked about some very important concepts the last
couple of weeks
- we've talked about:
1) Why this study is important - and how that the local
church is one of the Lord's primary provisions for our
growth and service.
- salvation itself, of course, doesn't come through
the church.
- salvation is an individual relationship with God
through His Son
- but once that decision is made, the Lord has
given the church to help us grow.

2) We've talked about "what the church is."
- the Bible uses the term in 2 ways, "universal"
church and "local church."
- the universal church is made up of all believers in
Jesus Christ from the day of Pentecost to the
rapture.
- as soon as a person is saved, he/she is baptized by
the Holy Spirit and brought into the universal
church.

- usually when the Bible talks about the church, the
Lord is speaking about local churches.
- a local church is a "body of baptized believers
convening together for worship, growth, fellowship,
service, and to carry out the commission given by
its head, Jesus Christ."

- last week we began looking at some truths the Lord wants
us to know about the church.
1) INPUT - When did the church begin? (day of Pentecost)
INPUT - what chapter in the Bible? (Acts 2)
INPUT - when had that been predicted? (Acts 1)
INPUT - what do you remember about the "nature" of
that prediction and what point did we major on as
a result?
- Jesus predicted that there would be a great
working of the Holy Spirit (fulfillment of
Joel 2)
- point - the local church is spiritual
business.

2) The foundation and the Head of the church is Jesus
Christ.

3) The Local church has an organized membership.

- this morning, I'd like us to study three more truths the
Lord wants us to know about His church

- the first one, in some ways, is a continuation of what we
ended with last week

I. Steps That Precede Local Church Membership

- last week we saw that the Lord wants every person who
has been saved to be baptized and to be a member of a
local Bible-believing church.
- we studied several biblical reasons why that's so.
- the Bible just doesn't recognize a person who says
they're a believer but who isn't a member of a
church.

- now, let's push that a step further by talking about
the requirements for church membership.

INPUT - A very important question that we're going to be
asking about each of these points this morning is:

How should we determine the answer to this question?
(by studying the model of churches in the NT and
what the Lord revealed through the epistles)

Acts 2:37-41, 47

A. Conviction

- v. 37 - when they header this they were pricked in
their heart...

B. Repentance and Faith

- "then they that gladly received his word"

C. Baptism

INPUT - why is it important that a church do
everything it can to insure that those coming into
the membership are saved?

- it's the way it was done in the NT church

- otherwise, the church over time will be
populated with unbelievers.
INPUT - why would that be so bad?
- would mar the testimony of the
church.
- would insure that over time the
church will go astray because of
congregational government.

INPUT - why is it important that the church body
hears the testimonies of those coming into
the church? (like we do on Sunday nights)
- couldn't vote unless you knew the person
professed to be saved and baptized.

INPUT - why no "no" votes?

- point is - membership in a local church is a very serious
matter to the Lord.

- The Lord is pleased when we view it as a great
privilege and an important responsibility.

- cf. coming home on Thanksgiving break

- cf. Sharon's opportunity to attend a different one
instead of staying at our church and working with
youth.

INPUT - What are some things that we can be doing now to
build those kinds of convictions into our children?

II. Local Churches Have Distinct Purposes

- INPUT - How should we determine what our church should
be doing? (our purposes)
(study the example of the early church and the
Lord's instructions in the epistles)

- there's a lot of discussion about this issue (in fact,
it was even the subject of some discussion in our
local paper this week - we'll mention that a little
later)

- INPUT - why is it important that we study it together?

(it will affect what we do in our services, what we
major on in preaching and teaching, what programs
we have and don't have)

- there's different ways we could organize this material, but
I think it's best to study:
- our purpose as we "come together"
- our purpose as we "go out"

- it seems to me that it's at that very point that the
confusion comes in (on this matter of our purpose)

- Let me ask you to think about some questions (relating to
out purposes)

1) Does the church have the same purpose when it comes
together as when it "goes out?"
2) Is it possible to get those purposes confused, or
even reversed?
3) What will happen if a church hasn't thoroughly and
biblically thought through its purpose?

A. The Church's Purpose As We Meet Together

1. perfecting the saints through studying God's Word

- Eph. 4:12 - for the perfecting of the saints

- Acts 2:42 - "continually devoting themselves to
the apostles teaching."

- Matt. 28:20 - teaching (to observe)

2. worship

- John 4:24 - they that worship Him must worship
Him in Spirit and in truth

- not that worship can only take place in a
church service, but surely our services are
to seek to bring honor and glory to the
Lord in all aspects

3. fellowship

- I John 1:3

- Acts 2:42 - "continually devoting
themselves...to fellowship."

- not the way we often think of fellowship
(sloppy Joes and cookies after the evening
service)
- building relationships to help one another
grow

4. observing the ordinances

- Acts 2:42 - "breaking of bread"

5. prayer

- Acts 2:42

6. baptizing - Matt. 28:19

- now, let's talk about some applications of this 1) while
there may be some variation in the ways these purposes are
achieved - we have no right to deviate from these primary
purposes of the church services.

cf. new movement today
- Sunday morning - purpose is evangelism
- do everything you can for the "seekers"
- don't make the church look like a church
- don't sing songs
- very little or no Bible
- "slip" the gospel in where you can
- the church for the 90's

- most of these churches don't have a service on
Sunday evening (or if they do, they're very poorly
attended)
- meet together on Wednesdays (or in home Bible
studies) for instruction

- lot of "catch-phrases" to go with the movement
- "non-traditional," "alternative church services"

- but the bottom line is - the primary purpose for
the church services (when the church comes
together) is not evangelism
- we'll talk about where evangelism fits in in a
moment

- we have to let the Scripture determine our purposes
for coming together

- now there's some flexibility within those
guidelines
- we're not saying that if a church doesn't begin
with an opener by the choir, have a congregational
hymn (standing), have someone lead in prayer--that
that’s wrong
- there's freedom within the parameters we've
mentioned

- but we can't change the purpose

- (develop - importance of faithfulness to the services)

B. The church's purpose as we go out

(not necessarily in order)

1. do the work of the ministry

Eph. 4:12

- some Christians have the same view toward
church as they do toward NFL Football (Sunday
is game day)

2. edifying the body of Christ

Eph. 4:12

- looking for concrete ways to build up fellow
believers in their faith during the week

3. mutual helpfulness

Acts 2:44-46