The Church Authority and the Believer's Priesthood

Tonight we're on lesson number 17 in our study of ecclesiology, and we're going to be looking at the authority of the church and the priesthood of the believer.

We live in a day and age where we see crazy news stories about churches sometimes with horrible abuse of authority, where churches will dictate things that their congregants must do and oftentimes leaders abuse their authority. And at the same time, we also know that individuals must honor the word of God. What did Peter and the apostles say? We must obey God and not men. So how do we reconcile this and how are we to properly understand church authority and the priesthood of the believer? Well, Scripture has a lot to say about that, so we'll be looking at that tonight.

And we'll begin with Bible point number one. The church is the great company of persons who Christ has saved. This is our definition we've been working with. We are regenerate members in the church. There's no such thing as an unsaved church member. In whom He dwells, to whom and through whom He reveals God, and in whom He exercises spiritual dominion. In other words, a true member of the church is saved, is united to Christ. Christ has revealed Himself to them. He reveals Himself through them. They are a witness for Him and He exercises dominion over them. He is their Lord and they're gonna follow Him. And if they're not doing those things, then they're not truly a church member. They're not truly a member of the body of Christ. United to Christ, the church is the temple of God's indwelling. The organization of the church exists in regenerate members, united in equality with one another, whose sole authority — authority is a first blank — and lawgiver — lawgiver is a second blank — is Christ as expressed in Scripture — Scripture is a third blank. So the first blank is authority. Second blank is lawgiver. Third blank is Scripture. That statement sounds familiar. That's a rehearsal of what we did in lesson 12, the government of the church. Right? The church is governed by the word of God. There's one lawgiver, there's one authority, and it's Christ as expressed in Scripture.

In determining the will of Christ and applying His commands, the Holy Spirit guides — guides is the fourth blank — the whole body to the right conclusions. That's the Spirit's role, is to take the things of Christ and apply them to us, to lead us and guide us into all truth. And every single member of the church, by our definition, is regenerate, right? God indwells in them. That means the Spirit lives within us, and His Spirit will lead and guide us into all truth.

God has appointed the offices of elder and deacon to minister and to serve the church. This again harkens back to lesson 12. We talked about how there are two offices in the church. There's that of elder. Elder is another name for pastor, overseer, bishop, and what an elder's job is to do two things. It's to feed and lead, right? It's to teach the word of God, teach sound doctrine, and to lead the congregation, to nurture them, to look at their spiritual needs and to provide them, to bring them to pasture, if you will. And then the second office of the church is deacon. And the office of deacon is simply a servant or minister who attends to both the physical and spiritual needs of the congregation. They work hand in hand with the pastor.

In the early church, we saw that they appointed deacons to oversee the distribution of food to the widows. They were being overlooked, right? Those were physical needs, but it's also spiritual needs too, right? Because they were gathered together as a church. And how dare we neglect anyone in our church? And oftentimes physical needs are part and parcel with spiritual needs, right? So the office of elder and deacon work together to serve the church.

The application for number one: who is the ultimate authority of the church?

Christ, exactly right. My brother tells me a humorous story. He's an attorney. And years ago, he had agreed to be counsel for a church. And they went through several pastors and he didn't really keep up with it, you know, but he was considered to be on retainer for them. And he got a call one day and they were having a fracas, if you will. And he was called into the church office and the pastor said, "Mr. Parker, counselor," is what he called my brother. He says, "Tell them what this document says." And my brother had never seen the document. And it was the deed to the church. And the pastor had moved the deed to the church into his own name.

And so the people of the church were wanting him to go. And he says, "Tell them I'm not going anywhere. The deed is mine," right? That's not proper authority, right? There is one authority in the church and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. But point number two, the new covenant is mediated through Christ. Christ is the blank. There's one mediator of the new covenant and it is the Lord Jesus Christ. God took on humanity, added humanity to His deity, came in the form of man.

He lived in a fashion and manner of a man, subject to the law, born under the law, kept it perfectly in all points, tempted just as we are, yet without sin, right?

He was tortured, crucified under Pilate, right? Buried, rose again, because death cannot contain Him, because He was holy before the Lord. He was just before the Lord. So He was raised, right? And His justification becomes ours when we put our trust in Him. He's the one mediator of the new covenant.

Whereas the old covenant was mediated only through specially chosen and endowed leaders. In the old covenant, we had three offices, the offices of prophet. They said, "Thus says the Lord," right? They spoke on God's behalf. The office of priest, the priest would go in and do business with God. They would offer up sacrifices and intercede for Israel, right? We also had a teaching element there as well. And then we also had the office of king, right? The king was to deliver Israel from its enemies. And those three offices were appointed at various times. And all those offices pointed to the one mediator, Jesus Christ, who is our prophet, the one who reveals God, who's God made flesh, right? The word of God became flesh and dwelt among us. We beheld His glory, glory of the only begotten Son of God. We also see that Christ is a true priest. He is the one who made sacrifice for us. He is the one that, because of His death, we can stand before God clean and righteous, right? He's gone past through the veil, right, to the very throne of God. So we have access to the throne of God because of Christ. And He's the king. He's the king who's delivered us from death and from bondage to sin, right? Translated us into His kingdom of glory through His death, burial, and resurrection.

Every new covenant member is chosen by God.

And in the old covenant, right, you had only certain mediators who were chosen to those positions, right? But everyone in the new covenant is chosen by God and is equipped — equipped is the second blank — equipped for service by His Spirit.

Service was limited to being a prophet, priest, or king in the old covenant. But in the new covenant, we're all equipped for service. We're gonna be looking at this in a few weeks when we look at spiritual gifts, the gifts of the church. Every single regenerate member who's indwelt by the Spirit of God is gifted for service, and that service is to edify the body, to build up the body, to bring God glory.

Every new covenant member is chosen by God, equipped for service by His Spirit, and has direct access — access is a third blank — to God through our union with Christ. Because Christ has now risen and ascended and sits at the right hand of the throne of God.

We have access to God, right? We can call God Father because Jesus' Father is God Almighty, right?

In the new covenant, every believer is a priest who knows God, whose sins are forgiven, and who is empowered by His Spirit to serve the body of Christ, and to mediate the knowledge of God to the nations. So the fourth blank is priest. Everybody in the new covenant is therefore a priest before God, because we are in Christ, and Christ is our great high priest, right? And Jeremiah 31, you'll find on the back, we're not gonna read it today. We've read it before, where everyone in the new covenant says we know God, right? And everyone in the new covenant, we stand forgiven, right? Because of what Christ has done, His blood that was offered on our behalf.

So everyone in the new covenant, every believer is a priest who knows God, whose sins are forgiven, and who is empowered by the Holy Spirit to serve the body of Christ, and to mediate the knowledge of God to the nations. It's our job to be a witness, right? That's what Israel was supposed to be. Israel was supposed to be chosen by God to be a light to the nations, and they failed miserably, right? In the new covenant, we are empowered by the Spirit to do just that. We are the people of God whom God has revealed Himself to and through. That's our definition, right? By definition, we are to be image bearers of Christ.

Every believer is a royal — that's the fifth blank — a royal priest before God. Just as Christ is king, God has made us kings and priests to God, is what the Bible tells us, right? Look in 1 Peter 2:4 through 5.

"Coming to Him," that's Christ, "as a living stone rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious. You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." Because we are in Christ, we are considered to be a royal priesthood, right? Just as Christ was a royal priest after the Order of Melchizedek, so are we. You know that the things that you do in service to our King are acceptable to God because of what Jesus did for us.

You may admit that even all of our service to the Lord is still imperfect, right? Sometimes we do it for improper motivations, or we do it poorly, or we do it half-heartedly, right? But Christ takes our works that He ordained that we should walk in, and He sanctifies them, right? And through Christ, they are made acceptable to God. So we can offer up spiritual sacrifices as priests to God. 1 Peter 2:9 through 10, just a few verses later: "But you are a chosen generation." This was words that were spoken to Israel at the initiation of the covenant, the old covenant on Mount Sinai. You find this in Exodus 19. "Now it's spoken to the church: you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." Why has He made you a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, His special people? Why? "That you may proclaim His praises," is what it says, "of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." We are made to glorify God. We are made to proclaim Him, right?

"Who once were not a people, but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy because of Christ." A glorious promise that is. The application for number two.

"In what ways are you a royal priesthood ministering to God?" We often think of what Christ has done for us, but we forget what He's doing for us. How has God empowered you to be a royal priest to God?

Prayer.

Sharing God's word. Yeah. Every time you pray, you are being motivated to pray by the Holy Spirit who lives within you. In Christ, our intercessor is before the very throne of God, and His Spirit is beckoning you in your heart to pray at the same time, right? And God loves us to bring our prayers before Him, and it honors Him, right? Our witness before the world, right? That is how we can be a royal priesthood, by declaring that God has saved us and translated us out of darkness and into light. How about our songs?

Our worship. Isn't that part of what the priestly class of the Levites did, right? Led the congregation in praise. It honors God to praise Him. Even if no one hears you but God Himself.

I clean pools, and when no one's around, I've been known to belt out a praise song or two, right? Sure, there are cameras that probably got me, and people are laughing at me, right? But I don't care. I'm praising the Lord, right? And we can praise the Lord, and that honors Him in doing so.

Bible point number three. The priesthood of the believer means the church is subject to Christ alone. He is our high priest, and we are subject to Christ alone. Not to human authorities, not even to government authorities. Christ alone is the ultimate authority that we must be responsible to.

The church's sole source of authority is the absolute monarchy of the Lord Jesus Christ. The headship — headship is the first blank for number three — the headship of Christ and the authority — authority is a second blank — the headship of Christ is the preeminence of Christ, it's Christ's lordship. And the authority of His word necessitates that no one person has a right to be the original authority in the church or has power over the whole. I have heard men preach online saying that they stand in the place of God, and that they are little gods. You've heard that, the New Apostolic Reformation, right? You've heard that kind of preaching, little god theology. And they'll say, "As I say, you are to do."

That's horse-bucky, right? There is one authority, and it's Christ. And we find the revelation of that authority in His word.

No one can interfere with Christ's direct and absolute sovereignty over the hearts of His subjects. No one can come between us and Christ. No one can compel another to go against what his conscience — the third blank — has determined to be right from Scripture — Scripture is the fourth blank. Conscience is the third blank. Scripture is the fourth blank. When we discussed anthropology last year, we talked about the human conscience. It's a gift from God, and it's an organ, if you will, that either accuses us or excuses us according to the knowledge that we have of God. Our conscience can be misinformed, right? It can be seared. It can be darkened. But the more that we have light and the knowledge of God's word, that is how we have a redeemed conscience, a sensitive conscience. That's how we hear the voice of God — through knowledge of His word. And then our conscience will say, "You're doing right. You're obeying God." Or it will say, "No, you're not. Don't walk that way." The Bible says, "Walk not past her. Turn from her and pass away," right? The dictation of Scripture, rightly embraced by the conscience, is the voice of God within our hearts. Right? That's how we hear His word — by remembering what is written in the word of God.

This does not mean that the individual decides for himself what is true. The fact that our conscience is governed by the word of God doesn't mean that we can say the word of God is whatever we want it to mean. Right?

The word of God is not subjective. It's not relative. It's objective. We must labor to understand it. There are indeed some parts of Scripture that are hard to understand. Right? But when we talked about what we call bibliology, we talked in there about perspicuity — it's a big word — of Scripture, which means the clearness of Scripture. God's word is written for us to understand and grasp. When we come across a part that may be unclear, we read through the Scriptures and we interpret Scripture by Scripture. We interpret the less clear in light of the clear. Right? We have hermeneutical principles that help us understand properly, rightly divide the word of God. And here in Beulah, we've been going over our 5D Bible study. It's basically inductive Bible study, right? Where we look at the close context. What's it saying there in that paragraph, chapter, and book that it's written? We look at the continuing context, where it relates back through all the covenants and through the one story of God that focuses on our redemption through Christ Jesus. And we look into the continuing context, how it points forward to glory and to our consummation of all things in Christ Jesus. So we always interpret Scripture according to Scripture.

This does not mean that the individual decides for himself what is true. It means that Scripture declares truth — that's the fourth blank — and we must tremble before it.

The word of God, Scripture, is God-breathed.

It's the truth of God. So we're to tremble before it and give close attention to it, to heed it, never to disregard it. Flip over on the back.

Isaiah 66:1 through 2: "Thus says the Lord, heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you will build for me? And where is the place of my rest?" God doesn't need us to build Him a dwelling place. But let me tell you what He's concerned about, verse 2: "For all these things my hand has made, and all these things exist," says the Lord. "But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit and who trembles at my word." One who has a poor and contrite spirit is one who has spiritual bankruptcy, has no riches or merit or treasure in and of himself. He recognizes that all goodness comes from God.

That's the very picture of faith. We come before God empty-handed.

It's one who trusts in God and in His righteousness and in His goodness to fill us. And one who trembles at His word.

We never take God's word lightly. Application for number three: "Is God's word a burden or a delight — delight is the blank — to His church?"

It's a delight. It is a pleasure to be able to read His word. It's a pleasure to talk about His word, to fellowship over His word, to break bread together over His word, to sing about His word, to hear His word read, to memorize His word as we do on Sunday mornings, right? To hear the word of God exposited. It's joy, right? Because the word of God is clean and enduring forever. It's altogether perfect.

Bible point number four: "The priesthood of the believer means that the entire" — entire is a first blank for number four — "the entire church is involved in the governance of the church." The priesthood of the believer means the entire church is involved in the governance of the church.

The church is not a spectator sport.

We don't sit back and say, well, we'll let the elders and the deacons do the ministry, right? We're just here to feed at the trough and watch the show. No, the priesthood of the believer means that we're all intricately involved in the governance and the life of the church. The whole church is entrusted with the shared — shared is a second blank — the shared duty and responsibility of carrying out the laws of Christ expressed in His word. We are our brother's keeper, right?

We have a duty towards one another to encourage one another, to edify one another. When Eliana got up here, we recited that verse. Didn't you know how your heart rejoiced, right? And don't we want to all encourage her, right? Because she just blessed us and encouraged us, the littlest one among us blessing us. What a beautiful picture that is of the body of Christ edifying one another. That is what we're all supposed to do. We're all supposed to participate in the body of Christ and in upholding the authority of Christ in our words, because what is the church? It's the one whom Christ rules over, right? It's the one, as we said in our definition, that He is the sole lawgiver of the church, and He exercises His spiritual dominion among us, right? And He does that through the word and by His Spirit.

Every member has an equal voice — that's the third blank — and responsibility — responsibility is the fourth blank — in the interpretation and obedience of His will by the body. We all are responsible for making sure that the word of God is being taught. You are to be Bereans, right? On Sunday mornings, Wednesday nights, whether it's Bible study, whether it's Pastor Casey preaching, we are to examine the word of God for ourselves, right? And see that it is being properly taught. That is our corporate responsibility. The Holy Spirit enlightens one member of the church through the counsel of another, resulting in a combined deliberation by which the whole body is led to the right by the Spirit through the word.

Have you ever had someone say just the right word of encouragement, the right word of Scripture to you in the body, and it uplifted you and encouraged you?

It's the work of the Holy Spirit through you, right?

That is what we are to do, is to use Scripture to edify one another, to build one another up.

This mutual submission — submission is the fourth blank — and unity in the church is only possible by the inflowing of Christ's Spirit. Christ dwells in you and He dwells in me. We should expect this, right? To be speaking to one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody in our hearts to the Lord.

Romans 12:5 says, "So we, being many, are one body in Christ and individually members of one another." We are joined to each other just as we are joined to Christ. If Christ is in you and Christ is in me, that makes us brothers and sisters, right? And so we have a responsibility towards one another to see that we walk faithfully, to see that we avoid pitfalls, to see that our weak are encouraged, right? That the weak hands are made strong. We have that duty towards one another.

Application for number four. Why must we strive together — together is a blank — for purity and unity of the body?

Why must we strive together for purity and unity of the body?

To glorify Christ, yes.

Can't do it alone.

Do we not sometimes have blind spots? We may not realize that we're failing or that we are walking straight into a pit, right? And a wiser older sister or brother may say, "Don't go down that road. Don't do that." You need to pay more attention to your kids. Children, you need to listen to your parents, right? That's how we help and edify one another. We need each other. It's something we do together to be able to edify the church. We must strive for this purity and this unity because it doesn't happen by itself, right?

Bible point number five: the priesthood of the believer does not stand in contradiction — contradiction is the first blank — to Christ-appointed leadership — leadership is the second blank. The first blank is contradiction. Second blank is leadership. The priesthood of the believer does not stand in contradiction to Christ-appointed leadership of the church and the offices of elder and deacon. The fact that every member of the church is accountable directly to Christ, and that we have His word informing our conscience as our sole authority, does not contradict that we have officers or leaders in our church, that of pastor and of deacon, or elder and of deacon.

Elders and deacons are divinely ordained and gifted to serve the church. Where does all authority come from?

From Christ, right? Does not Christ appoint the civil magistrate? We read about that in Romans 13 and 14, right? He appoints leaders, He raises kings and takes them down, right? And in the church, does He not raise leaders as well to serve His body? He definitely does. Elders and deacons are essentially different from the old covenant officers such as prophet, priest, and king, who were mediators between God and His people and even exerted authoritative rule over them. Mediators is a third blank. Elders and deacons are different altogether, qualitatively different from the officers of the old covenant.

And what's different is that we're not mediators between you and God.

Every individual has a personal relationship with God in the new covenant. In the new covenant, they all know God, right? They're all indwelt by His Spirit, right? So instead of being above or in between, elders and deacons are alongside, or fellow members of the same body, right?

In contrast, elders and deacons are fellow believers who are gifted for oversight — oversight is the fourth blank — and service — service is the fifth blank — to lead the church in unity so that the entire congregation can exercise their spiritual gifts for the mutual edification and for God's glory.

Elders and deacons are therefore both oversight and service, right?

We have a wonderful group of deacons at this church. Our deacons faithfully call upon our church members. Every church member or family is assigned a deacon, right? And whether they see you in person or they call you, they're checking in on you, seeing how you are doing, right? Not only are they providing spiritual care, but they're looking after constantly the needs of our building here, right? Our building and grounds. We have people who are mowing. We have people who are looking after the building, catching mice sometimes, right? Well, whatever it is that a large building may have, our deacons are faithful for doing that. Our elders are great here. I'm so honored to work alongside Caleb Brown and Mr. Colson and Hal Epperson and Casey Butner. What wonderful men of God who love God's word and they seek to teach it properly. They tremble at His word and they seek to provide oversight, not as lords, but through service, through serving the body of Christ, right?

Ephesians 4:11 through 12 says this: "And He Himself, Christ, gave some to be apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." What are pastors and teachers — it's often used synonymously because a pastor is to feed and lead. What is their gift for? It says in verse 12, "For the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." A pastor's job is to do his best to encourage the formation of Christ in each and every member, right? To see their spiritual maturation. That's what we desire to do.

Application for number five.

Is the church designed to function without oversight — oversight is the blank?

No. And it went through and he appointed elders in every city, right? We need that oversight. Pastor Casey is up here all during the week. And if he wasn't up here during all the week, this place would be chaos. There's so much that goes on. People drop by with ministry needs at the church office. We have so much going on on this campus with homeschool groups, right, that are meeting with the Presbyterian church that meets over in the chapel, with the Spanish church that meets over in the learning center. And that's in addition to pastor caring for the sick and being there at the hospital, or being there when someone dies, when there's an accident, when a marriage is breaking up, when he gets a phone call in the middle of the night. And that's in addition to him preparing for the sermon on Sunday, right, to faithfully lead. And that's in addition to him trying to be a father and a husband, right, and fulfill all of his roles. So we need oversight. And we are so blessed to have a full-time pastor here at Villa Baptist Church.

Bible point number six, the faithful elder is worthy of respect and high — high is the blank — high esteem for their labor. We find this in 1 Thessalonians 5:12 through 13. Now, I'm not talking my own book here. I'm a lay elder and so is Caleb and Hal and Mr. Colson. We get to turn our phones off at night when we go to sleep. But what I'm speaking of here is our full-time pastors, pastors who have a vocational call for ministry who do this — they're worthy of double honor, right? Flip over on the back. Let's look at 1 Thessalonians 5:12 through 13: "And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. Be at peace among yourselves." We are to esteem them very highly. Well, we often joke, "Oh, pastors got an easy job. He works one hour on Sunday," right?

That's as far from the truth as possible. Look at Hebrews 13:7: "Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, and consider the outcome of their conduct," right? They are to lead exemplary lives for the congregation.

1 Peter 5:2 through 3: "Shepherd the flock which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly, not as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock."

Pastors are to view their flock as a trust given to them, right? Shepherd the sheep whom they are responsible for and will be accountable for before the Lord. That's why James says, "Be not many teachers," right? And they're to be personal examples to them, not just in their teaching but in their life. They're to model what they teach. 1 Timothy 5:17 through 18: "Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. For Scripture says, 'You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain, and the laborer is worthy of his wages.'" Paul is doing something extraordinary. He's taking the Old Testament Levitical code, taking this law code that deals with oxen, and he's applying it to the church here. How does that work? Well, an ox that's treading and plowing needs to eat, right? Or he'll grow weary and won't have the strength to do what he needs to do. And in the same way, full-time ministers are worthy of our support. They're worthy of our support because they are doing a work that we can't do and aren't able to do on our own. But thank God, through the gift of the church, we're able to do that.

With all of our busy schedules, we can't be at the hospital everywhere, but praise God, we have a pastor who tries to juggle everything, and he does a great job of doing that. So he's worthy of our support. 1 Corinthians 9:13 through 14: "Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar?" Speaking of the Levitical priests, they had their portion, right? "Even so, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel." It's a right thing to pay a pastor and to pay him well. Galatians 6:6: "Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches."

So we see that we have an obligation to support our full-time vocational pastor. Their lives are to be models for us to follow — flip back over on the front. Because of their faithful labor — labor is a second blank — they are worthy of material — material is the third blank — material support. First blank is high esteem. Second blank is faithful labor. Third blank is material support.

Because of their faithful ministry, we're to be slow to accuse them. We find that in 1 Timothy 5:19. Now when there is an accusation against an elder, it should be substantiated. It shouldn't just be, "I heard the pastor isn't being a really good pastor," starting some rumor mill. You're supposed to have a couple of witnesses. Because a pastor and his family, they live in a fishbowl. Like it or not, that's the way it is. We shouldn't put anyone on a pedestal, but their lives are always front and center for the whole congregation to see. And some people like to be nitpickers, right? They like to pick the tiniest things and to find fault. So we are to be slow in accusation. Make sure that if there's an accusation — which sometimes has merit, that you've seen things in the news where a pastor has been unfaithful to his wife, or where a pastor has been greedy, dishonest gain, and has embezzled from the church — those are things that are worthy of condemnation, right? But we are to show grace and mercy, right?

Because of a faithful ministry, we're to be slow to accuse, 1 Timothy 5:19. Because of a faithful ministry, we are to spiritually support in prayer and in other ways. Spiritual is the fourth blank. We've talked about financial support, material support. Have you thought about how you can spiritually support Pastor Casey and Christie and their family? Have you thought about that before? Scripture tells us some ways that we can do that. Flip over on the back.

Look over at Ephesians 6:18 through 19: "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful in this, and with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints, and for me." Paul's writing to the Ephesian church and says, "Pray for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel." You pray for Pastor Casey. You pray for Christie. You pray for Abby and Alyssa and Olivia. You pray for them every day. You pray for Aaron, right? We pray for their family because we are so blessed to have them in our lives and we have a responsibility to uplift them, not only for their boldness. Look at Colossians 4:2 through 4.

"Continue earnestly in prayer, being diligent in it with thanksgiving. Meanwhile, praying also for us that God would open a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I might make it manifest as I ought to speak." Do you pray for the effectiveness of their ministry? For open doors for them — whether that door is a funeral, whether that door is a marriage, whether that door is a visitation — whatever it is, that the gospel may be furthered. Look in 2 Thessalonians 3:1 through 2: "Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, for not all have faith." He says pray that we see fruit in people's lives through the gospel and for protection from wicked men.

When a man of God is doing the work of God, he will become a target, right?

His family will become a target. So we pray for those who labor among us. Look in Hebrews 13:18 through 19: "Pray for us, for we are confident that we have a good conscience in all things, desiring to live honorably, but I especially urge you to do this that I may be restored to you sooner." He's praying not only for an honorable walk here, but he's praying that he would be able to come and be with them, right? He's praying for fellowship with them. And that's something we all enjoy, fellowship with our pastors. And we should pray that we could be a refreshment and an encouragement to them, and ask God, how can we refresh them? How can we encourage them? How can we bless them?

Look at Romans 15:30 through 33: "Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me." Fight with me, join with me in prayer,

"that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to all the saints, that I may come to you with joy by the will of God and may be refreshed together with you. Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen." We can fight alongside our pastor and his family by joining their cause in prayer, right? Flip back over on the front.

"How can you minister to your pastor" — pastor is the blank — "and his family?" That's the application for number six. How can you minister?

Pray for them, exactly right. We just gave several examples of the body of Christ being urged to pray for them. How also can you minister to the pastor and his family, since he and his family have ministered to you, how can you minister to them?

Amen. Joining and providing, exactly — growing kids. I remember those days, you get them a new pair of shoes and a month later, they're already a different size or they're worn out, you know? Those are things that we can do. We can share with them. We can also encourage them. Can you not? I know several of you are so faithful in sending cards. I've received them, Toby's received them. Some of you have a wonderful gift of the ministry of writing little letters. People love to be encouraged, right? A word of encouragement, right? You may think that a pastor doesn't need encouragement. The pastor needs more encouragement than anybody else. He hears things that he can't share all the time, and he holds those things in confidence, and they weigh on his soul. And to come up and tell him, "Thank you, I'm praying for you, I love you and I'm with you," goes a long, long way.

Application, or rather point number seven. The authority of the elder is not the sword.

Who does the authority of the sword belong to? The state, right? God has ordained the governor. He's given them the power of the sword to punish the evildoers, as the book of Romans tells us. The authority of the elder is not of the sword,

but it is a spiritual sword, is it not? Not a physical sword.

But it is of spiritual persuasion — persuasion is the first blank for number seven. The authority of the elder is only the word of God.

Pastor doesn't say, "Thus says David," or "Thus says Casey," or "Thus says Caleb." He says, "Thus says the Lord," right? And whoever quotes Scripture, he says thus says his own name, you better run, right? It's "Thus says the Lord."

In our elder meetings, we have a plurality of elders and we meet once a month.

And all of our decisions we've agreed to make unanimously. That means we persuade one another through the testimony of the word of God and prayer, right? That keeps us humble. There's no need or purpose for haughtiness or arrogance. That actually works against you when you're trying to persuade somebody, right? It's in humility saying, "Look at what the word of God says. I think this is the most congruent with that." And we've never been at a stump yet. We've been doing this for three years now under this constitution that we have adopted as a church. And we feel very blessed to do that. Our authority is the word of God.

The authority of the elder is only the word of God. Elders exercise their authority by faithfully applying Scripture. We exercise our authority through faithfully applying Scripture through teaching, exhorting, encouraging, and admonishing the church.

Their spiritual persuasion will be limited to their faithfulness in sound interpretation — the third blank — and application of the Scripture. That's why pastors must be very careful in interpreting the Scripture, that they're rightly dividing it, and in applying it correctly, right? We've all enjoyed hearing Kaylee talk about, hearing kids' moments about wrong applications, right, of passages where people abuse Scripture by applying it wrongly. Well, a pastor must not only interpret it correctly but also must apply it correctly as well. It is also limited — their spiritual persuasion is also limited — to their faithfulness in holy — holy is the fifth blank — holy living before God.

If a pastor is not living holy before God, you will know it. You will know it in his sermons. They will lack unction. They will lack power. They will lack genuineness and authority. A preacher who is struggling with immorality will not be a bold preacher against immorality. He will not be rightly upholding the word of God. He will not have the freedom to do so, right? So we must be careful, not only in our doctrine but in our life. 1 Timothy 4:16 says, "Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine and to the teaching, the things that you've learned that I've committed to you, you commit to faithful men as well. Continue in them, for in doing so, you will save both yourself and those who hear you." It's critical that a pastor, in order to have any spiritual authority, pays attention to doctrine and to his own life, because that's the only authority he has — the word of God. Nothing outside of that.

Application. Should not every believer exercise — exercise is the blank — spiritual persuasion?

Should not every believer exercise spiritual persuasion?

Husbands, you're the head of your household.

Do you know what your authority is?

It's the word of God.

And how do you exercise and wield that authority? Through spiritual persuasion. Through lovingly, gently teaching, exhorting, leading, guiding, properly interpreting, and applying Scripture.

Ladies, as mothers, you have such spiritual authority over your children, you don't even realize it. You're there day to day, teaching them the precepts of the word of God.

What is your authority?

Again, it's not the spatula.

It's not the flyswatter.

Your authority is the word of God, right? It's the word of God in spiritual persuasion, to properly interpret it and apply it faithfully to your children's lives. We're all to exercise spiritual persuasion based on the word of God.

Bible point number eight. The church exercises spiritual discipline in two ways. Sometimes it's necessary for a church to exercise spiritual discipline. And it does so in two ways.

The first, it exercises what's called formative — that's the first blank — formative discipline. And this is common. We're doing this tonight, actually, formative discipline. This is simply seeking the spiritual maturation of believers through teaching and training.

What does 2 Timothy 3:16 through 17 tell us?

Does it not say, flip over on the back, "All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." What does the Great Commission tell us today?

Go, but it's not to make converts. Converts are part and parcel of making disciples, of course. What does it say? Matthew 28:18 through 20: "And Jesus came and spoke to them, 'All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.'" Look at Colossians 1:28 through 29: "Him we preach, Christ we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor and strive according to His working, which works in me mightily." Saying, I have the very power of Christ through His Spirit working in me. And the goal of my ministry is to see Christ formed in those that I minister to, right? So the church exercises formative discipline, and this is simply discipleship — we are forming Christ in one another.

Its goal is to present every man complete in Christ.

Secondly, the church exercises corrective discipline when necessary — corrective is a second blank.

Sometimes it's not just formative discipline but corrective discipline. Someone has erred, someone has stepped outside of bounds, and they need to be corrected.

With personal offenses — that's the third blank — this begins between private parties and progresses before the whole church if necessary. We find these steps laid out in Matthew 18:15 through 20. Flip up on the back, let's read that. So the lower right-hand corner. "Moreover, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone." Right, you don't air out his faults or his dirty laundry in front of other people or in front of the whole congregation. You go to him in private, right? And say, "Hey, you've done wrong. You've offended me, you've sinned against me." And the goal of that is for restoration, right? Restoration of your fellowship, restoration of his walk with Christ. "If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established." So you take another brother or sister as a neutral third party, right, to hear things out and to look at the Scripture and to say, this is right, we need to reconcile. Verse 17: "And if he refuses to hear, then tell it to the church." There is a point where if a person is unrepentant and is openly sinning against you — whether he's gossiping or backbiting or doing you injury or worse — you tell it to the church. "And if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen or a tax collector." In other words, you evangelize him, but he's no longer considered to be in good standing in the church, right?

He is no longer to enjoy the benefits of Christian fellowship, to be able to partake of the Lord's Supper, right, of being able to take the blessings of the body of Christ. You evangelize him, you hope that he turns, but you call him to repentance, right? And that's part of this discipline. "Assuredly, I say to you that whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Now, a lot of people stop before you get to this verse, but Jesus says, "Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them." You often hear that quoted in the name of church, you know, "Hey, two or more are gathered, God's here," right? But the context is discipline. And the idea of binding and loosing is that we will say that a person is in their sins based on the word of God, say, "This is the word of God. The word of God says this is sin,

and they have not repented of the sin." So we're going to treat them as unrepentant, unregenerate people. As it is in heaven, so it is on earth, is what Christ is saying. Our testimony is aligning with the testimony of heaven in that case, right? And if they repent, right? We receive them back into fellowship, right? And we have a party. The sheep that was lost has now been found, right? Flip back over on the front.

With general or public — this is the fourth blank — with general or public offenses, this can immediately be brought before the whole church. 1 Corinthians 5:1 is a reference here. You know that where Paul is writing to the Corinthians and he says, "I hear there's someone among you who has his father's wife, his own stepmother, and he's living with her." He says, "That's not even practiced among the pagans. And you think that you're all mature and that you're all inclusive," and say, "Look at us. We're hip and we're celebrating this." He's saying, "Shame on you."

And he says, "Let this one be delivered to Satan for the destruction of his flesh," which simply means to be expelled from the church, outside of the authority and the protection of the church.

This includes when open sin is present among church leadership. We have Galatians 2:11 through 12, and 1 Timothy 5:20 as an example. In Galatians 2:11 through 12, there's a story where Paul goes, and he sees that Peter is being a hypocrite, that he's hanging out with the Gentiles until the Jews show up. And when the Jews show up, then he ignores the Gentiles and he placates and panders to the Jews. He doesn't treat them as being equal, as not being unclean, as God had given him that vision that we find earlier in the book of Acts, that he should accept all men as clean if they have received the Holy Spirit, if they have been born again, if they've put their trust and faith in Christ Jesus. So Paul says, "I withstood Peter to the face." He didn't do it privately. This was a public sin, an open sin. And so it needed to be spoken of in front of the congregation. And likewise in Timothy, where it says we ought to be slow to accuse, it says, "However, if they sin openly, rebuke them openly." A pastor who has embezzled or a pastor who has lived an open sin is making a mockery of the word of God, right? Is making a show, a pretense of the ministry. And in those cases — thank God those should be very rare indeed — but when that happens, they should be dealt with not quietly, not away, but before the whole church, so the whole church can see that sin is being dealt with and that there is accountability, because there is a great responsibility in being an elder, right?

Discipline is the responsibility of the whole — whole is the fifth blank — the whole church under its leadership, but not apart from the body. This one is the responsibility of the whole church. That's why the last step in Matthew 18 is to present them to the whole church, right? It's the responsibility of the whole church under the leadership of the church, but never apart from the congregation. What I mean by that is this: discipline should never be done secretly and in the closet, so to speak, of the pastoral office. Oftentimes you see that done in some modern churches. A pastor will say, "Well, I'm excluding you from the congregation," right? Without being brought up to the body of Christ.

That's wrong, right? There's a church —

not gonna name the name of the church, but it's in Washington, D.C., just outside of D.C., where they decided

there were people who thought that the church was adding elders inappropriately and who were inappropriately qualified, and they were correct, and they wanted to make a stand for righteousness at the church business meeting. They showed up and they received letters that they had been disfellowshipped from the church.

They couldn't vote, and it was done by fiat, by the elders behind closed doors. No, that's why the discipline of the church must be done by the body, because we're all responsible for the governance of the church, right? Every one of us, never done in secret, right?

Application: exclusion from the church should never — never is a blank — never be a private matter.

Bible point number nine. Discipline is necessary because Christ commanded it.

We find that in Matthew 18, where He tells us to do it. It is necessary because God requires us to be separate — separate is the second blank — from sin. Now, I have here three references. I want to read these to you because they're often overlooked when we think about church discipline. Romans 16:17 through 18.

Listen to what Paul writes. He says, "Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause division and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple."

You're letting people infiltrate your congregation who are teaching against the doctrine of Christ. They're gonna cause a sheep to stumble, one of these little ones to stumble. So we're not to have them among us, right? What does it say in 2 Thessalonians 3:6, and then 14 through 15. Let me read that to you. 2 Thessalonians 3:6: "But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition he received from us."

"And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother." In other words, again, the goal of our correction is not to expel them forever, right? But it's to admonish them as a brother, to correct them so they can be brought back into the fellowship of the body. And then look at 2 Timothy 3:1 through 5.

Paul writes, "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people, turn away." That's why it's necessary for us to have church discipline — because Christ commanded it, because God requires us to be separate from sin. It's necessary because it demonstrates God's love.

You know, discipline demonstrates the love of God. Hebrews 12 — which we'll be getting to before we know it as we go through the book of Hebrews on Sundays — but starting verse 6, it says, "For whom the Lord loves, He chastens," — He's quoting the book of Proverbs here — "and scourges every son He receives. Whom the Lord loves, He chastens." There's a difference again between punishment and chastisement. There's no punishment for the Christian, because all penal satisfaction has been made by Christ on the cross. Penalty is the due merit of the outraged holiness of God. But Christ has died for us on the cross, and every believer in Him has justification, so there's no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. But there is correction from God, there is chastisement, and it may feel just like punishment and look just like punishment, but the motivation is not justice, the motivation is love. As the Father loves his son and corrects his son, so our heavenly Father corrects us. "For if you endure chastening, God deals with us as with sons." It's good news, right? That you're a son that He loves you enough to correct you. "For what son is there whom a father does not chasten?" If you're not correcting your children, it's because you don't love your children.

This world has a thing — oh, we've got to be our children's best friends, right? It's a sure way to end up with a child who's a hellion, right?

"But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons." You never receive chastisement?

Don't tell me it's because you've never done wrong, right?

We all do wrong, so chastisement should be expected if we're the sons of God, right? "For we have had human fathers who corrected us and we paid them respect; shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness." Now, no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful. Nevertheless, afterwards it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it, right? So we do church discipline not just because Christ commanded it, not just because God demands us to be separate from sin, but because it's a mark of the love of God. If we love our brothers and sisters, we will correct them when there is error. It is necessary because it demonstrates God's love. We are given the ministry of reconciliation.

That is our ministry.

2 Corinthians talks about that, that we are ambassadors for Christ. Now we've been given the ministry of reconciliation, just as we've been reconciled to God, we're to reconcile others to Him. But I want to read to you from Galatians chapter six, verses one through four.

"Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass" — that's a sin — "you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another, for each shall bear his own load." We are responsible, in other words, for our walk with the Lord, but we're also responsible for others' walk with the Lord, right? And we are to do that in humbleness and in humility, bearing their burdens as if they're our own, because we are one with them, right? They are our brothers and sisters in Christ.

The application for number nine: "Are training and correction" — easy is the blank — easy things? Are they easy things?

Does anyone enjoy correcting their children?

No.

You have to be a sadistic person to do that, right?

Does anyone enjoy having to correct a brother or sister in Christ, to have an uncomfortable conversation with them, right? No.

But it's necessary, right? It's not easy, but it's necessary. Are training and correcting easy things — that is the first blank — and are they necessary? That's the second blank. Yes, it is necessary both to see Christ formed in them and to have them protected, and that's the purpose of discipline. It is used both in the sense of training in righteousness and correcting them also from error, right? The question is: what will happen to a church that does not exercise discipline? Well, A, they're not gonna have spiritual maturity, right? Because that's part of discipline — to train them up in correction and training and righteousness. And B, you're going to have a slaughter of sheep.

Oh, yes, exactly. If we allow people, as we read in Thessalonians, to come into the church and wreak havoc, who is harmed but our little lambs? Those little lambs are precious, and we will be held accountable for that, right? Jesus says, "If you cause the least of one of these to stumble, you might as well take a giant millstone and put it on your neck and be cast into the sea."

Don't want to face that fate.

Exactly, you're right. No, that makes great sense. Matthew 18 is our roadmap for that. We go to them first individually, privately. Then if they don't listen, we bring a second person,

two or three people. And third, we bring it before the church if they're still unrepentant after that. But there are some cases where it's grave public sin, where someone's robbed a bank and it's in the newspaper, the whole body knows, and to pretend like it hasn't happened is to discourage the church and it's to tell the church, "Hey, we're permitting sin in our congregation." So we address it publicly when it's a public sin.