Congregational Rule
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
I have heard this said of the local church, “A church is one bad pastor away from crumbling into liberalism.” In other words, if I the pastor were to die tomorrow, and you all were left with the decision to call a new pastor, if you make the wrong choice the consequences could be devastating for the church. Why do people say this? Well, it has happened in the past. But, where it has happened in the past there must have been a failure to understand and vigorously live out one key biblical priority of the local church. What is that biblical priority? It is this- the NT church must be ruled by the Congregation themselves. If you don’t understand this truth, and vigorously apply it, make it yours, shoulder this responsibility- then it could be said of this church, “it is one bad pastor away from crumbling into liberalism.” But, the truth of Congregational rule properly understood, proper applied, proper taken on as a responsibility for all of the members of this local church, will safe guard our church and enable it to continue to be a genuine pillar and ground for the truth.
What is the church?
What exactly is the NT church? What should it be according to the Scriptures? What should it look like? How should it function? What are its goals and what is its purpose? Specifically, how should each one of us, as members of this church, function? What are the roles and responsibilities of every member of a church? Why even join a church membership in the first place?
To begin answering this question we looked at many of the different pictures in the NT of the church, and specifically of the Universal church. And out of those pictures we developed several important themes.
Unity-
One Flock with One Shepherd
One New Humanity
That they might all be ONE as we Father are One
This unity is twofold- first there is an objective unity. This objective unity is on the basis of our common faith in the gospel. Our salvation in Jesus Christ objectively unifies us, it makes us all part of the One New Humanity, One New Race- The Christian Race. Only people who have put their faith in Christ’s blood for the forgiveness of their sins have this objective unity. Only believing sheep are a part of Christ’s Flock, only believers have had the middle wall of partition broken down and have been added into the New Humanity, only believers experience the kind of unity that the Father and Son experience because We are only ONE because of our common union in Christ. So there is an objective unity.
Secondly, there is a subjective unity. And this subjective unity determines how closely believers can fellowship with each other. We only have subjective unity as we follow our Shepherd Jesus Christ. If we all of us follow after Christ as closely as possible then we automatically will have this subjective unity. And through our study we determined that there is one primary factor that determines if we can have this kind of subjective unity- and that is our common belief in the the Word of God- it is our doctrine, our theology that gives us this unity. And in fact, at the church member level, there must be a very close agreement about the Word of God in order to have this very important thing called unity. So, in our endeavor to answer the question, What is the church? One very important theme keeps popping up- and that is the centrally, the importance, the primacy of the Word of God.
Out of our discussion of the Universal church we then funneled those truths into our understanding of the local church. The local church should mirror, as closely as possible, what the Universal church actually is. So these key themes of unity, both objective and subjective, and the centrality of our common belief in the Word of God, should have great impact on our specific local church here in Oconomowoc.
We talked about church membership and what actually makes us a church- and again the key to our understanding was the Word of God. What actually makes us a church is our covenant together to be a church. And much of the content of that covenant focuses on encouraging one another, exhorting one another, holding one another accountable, and even disciplining one another based on our common agreement of the Word of God. And this defines the responsibilities of ever church member. Even one of you voluntarily entered into an agreement to help one another obey and fulfill the commands of Scripture- unified together around the Word of God.
This defines our focus, this defines our purpose. What is the church? The church is not the building, you are the church- in fact Scripture says that we ourselves are the building. We are the dwelling place of God. And God is growing this building together as the church. What kind of building in God growing us into? He is growing us into a temple. So, the primary focus of the church is to worship and glorify God. And we have covenanted together to obey that purpose. It is all of our jobs to encourage everyone in this church, to be the temple that most please God, that brings the best and the most worship to God.
It means that our job as a church is to obey the command of Scripture to make disciples, to encourage each other on a constant basis to be giving the gospel and winning souls to Christ. But not just to stop there. We are all of us at one level of discipleship or another. And we all of us need each other to continue to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ- and this defines for us what our role or purpose or function is as a church.
Because, activities like confronting, counseling, encouraging, warning, disciple making, evangelizing are not the sole responsibility of spiritual leaders. These kind of things are the duties and privileges of all the members of our church. These are the kinds of things that ordinary saints must learn to do if we are going to progress toward being a church that is biblical.
I pray that all of the Scripture that we have looked at has shaped and changed your thinking about what is the church!
This morning we are going to add to that understanding, by talking about the ruling structure of the church. How should a NT church be governed? Who makes the decisions in a local church? Should our church be ruled by a bishop in Rome and the other bishops who are in communion with him? Should our church be ruled by a group of bishops acting collegially? Should our church be ruled by representative bodies that operate at various levels of authority? Should our church be rued by a self-perpetuating board of elders? These are all ruling structures that have been adopted by various churches.
Our ruling structure is different from all of these. We believe that a church ought to be ruled by the congregation itself. That is, we believe that the final authority under Christ for making the church’s decisions is invested in the congregation as a whole. We believe in Congregational rule.
Why do we believe this? The short answer is we believe this because it is the consistent pattern we find in the NT. In other words, we think it is biblical. My goal is to prove that to you today?
In order to show that Congregational Rule is biblical we have to address several questions.
Are congregations, that is a group of believers (who are still sinners by the way), are they really competent enough to make spiritual decisions. If the church is to be ruled by the congregation, and if that church is filled with people who are at all different points of discipleship, can they really be trusted to make wise decisions for the church as a whole?
I. Congregational rule is biblical because all believers possess the spiritual qualifications for understanding and obeying God.
I. Congregational rule is biblical because all believers possess the spiritual qualifications for understanding and obeying God.
One argument against congregational rule is that regular ordinary believers lack the necessary skills to make wise decisions in the local church.
One author wrote this, “Sheep are really dumb animals!… Since the Lord calls us sheep, the above description gives us a rude awakening as how we must really be spiritually. Helpless, hopeless, and un-trainable by nature! Thus we need shepherds.” (Mal Couch, A Biblical Theology of the Church, 166.)
In response to such a statement I would hold two baptist distinctive up in defense. By baptist distinctiveness I mean truths that define what it means to be a baptist church. I don’t mean that only baptist churches hold these truths, but that these truths are part of the makeup of our theology as a baptist church.
These two distinctives are 1). The priesthood of the believer- We have already laid the groundwork for this truth from Hebrews 10 (available online).
19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
All believers are themselves priests before God. All believers have access into the presence of the holiest of holies and can draw near to God. We all have direct access to God. We all are priests who stand directly in the presence of God. This means that every believer has the right of addressing God without having to go through any separate priesthood. This is one of the reasons that all believers possess the necessary spiritual qualifications for obeying God. We all have direct access.
Distinctive #2- Soul Liberty
Soul liberty is closely related to the priesthood of the believer. It is the responsibility that all believers share to understand and obey God’s requirements for themselves. So because we all have direct access to the presence of God, that also means that when God addresses us in Scripture, we personally bear the responsibility of grasping God’s message and obeying it.
Where do we turn in Scripture to understand this idea of Soul Liberty and thus spiritual competency?
Answer- I Corinthians 1 & 2
A. Every believer is spiritually competent because of his or her relationship to Jesus Christ
A. Every believer is spiritually competent because of his or her relationship to Jesus Christ
In I Cor 2.14 Paul makes a troubling statement about man’s spiritual competence:
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Natural man cannot receive or discern spiritual things, instead they are foolishness unto him. Paul is certain that something more that mere natural knowledge is necessary to comprehend Scripture. What else does one need then to know the Word of God?
Paul has already laid the foundation for this back in Chapter 1.
One of the first problems that Paul addresses in the Corinthian church was the problem of boasting.
12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
Paul’s answer to this problem was that no one could boast about anything because no man in and of himself possessed the wisdom necessarily to understand the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
Left to man’s wisdom the preaching of the cross is only foolishness.
19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
That is to say the truth of the cross turns the wisdom of man into utter foolishness.
20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
Notice man left to his own wisdom sees the cross as only a stumblingblock or as foolishness. What makes the difference?
24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
It is our calling, it is our salvation- only by means of genuine salvation does the foolishness of the cross become to us the wisdom of God.
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
For this reason we have no right, by virtue of our own ability to boast. Left to our own understanding, the gospel can only ever be foolishness. We need something or someone else to enable us to be spiritual competent. What or Who is that?
30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
Do you understand what this means? This means that to those who are saved, Christ has become unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. The idea is that all believers receive all these things when they trust Christ as Savior. In other words, those who have believed have already received spiritual wisdom.
Why is every believer spiritually competent to understand and obey God? Because to every believer Christ has become unto us wisdom. We have been given, in our relationship with Christ, spiritual wisdom to understand and obey God’s truth. This is true for everyone who has trusted Christ, not just the pastor/elder/bishop. Therefore, every believer has been gifted with spiritual wisdom in Christ.
B. Every believer is spiritually competent because of his or her relationship to the Holy Spirit
B. Every believer is spiritually competent because of his or her relationship to the Holy Spirit
Paul builds and expands on this thought of spiritual wisdom in chapter 2.
1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
What is Paul saying here? He is saying that the gospel message does not and cannot rely on the wisdom that comes from man- the power of the gospel is not put into effect by means of enticing word’s of man’s wisdom, rather the gospel carries its own power- and that power is in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. One of the reasons that the gospel carries with it power, is because of the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
The gospel is wisdom to the perfect or the spiritually mature, but the gospel is hidden from unsaved, even those who would be deemed as intellectuals.
7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Not even the rulers of this world understood the gospel, and this is clear because they crucified the Lord of glory. If the unsaved elite had understood the person of Jesus Christ they would never have crucified Him!
V. 9 is an incredible statement:
9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
That means that the gospel is a thing that not even the cleverest unsaved mind could have dreamed up, they could never have invented something so wonderful as the gospel- the gospel and the wisdom of God would never have entered into their heart. Only God could know and make know the things that He has prepared for them that love him.
So how is it that man can know and understand the gospel?
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
Through the Holy Spirit! God has revealed these things to us through the Holy Spirit. Notice this beautiful picture. How is it that the Holy Spirit can do these things? Because the Spirit searches and knows the mind of God in intimate detail!
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
And the same Spirit who knows even the most intimate details of the mind of God- the same Spirit who comprehends (not just knows but understands) all spiritual wisdom of God- this same Spirit has been given unto ALL BELIEVERS!
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
Why did God give us the gift of His Spirit? So that we might understand and comprehend spiritual truth!
“that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.”
This is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He provides for all believers an inner mechanism for grasping the truth of God’s Word.
13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
Spiritual mechanism = comparing spiritual things with spiritual / combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
The point of these verses is for Paul to say that all believers have access to the mind of God- the very deep things of God, how? Through the Word of God and through the Holy Spirit. All believers are spiritually competent to understand and obey God because everything we need is supplied to us by the Holy Spirit.
Then we get to the contrast of v. 14
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Without the Holy Spirit we are helpless to understand God’s truth. But with the Holy Spirit Paul seems to say that because of the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit we have a constant help to know and apply Scripture.
15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
He that is spiritual (in some way this person has the ministry of the Holy Spirit in their heart) that one judges all things or appraises or discerns all things. I think this means that what God wants of every believer is to discern the entire realm of spirit truth.
How is this discernment possible?
16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Because of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, all believers have the very mind of Christ.
C. How does the Holy Spirit help believers to understand the Scripture?
C. How does the Holy Spirit help believers to understand the Scripture?
All we need to do is place a bible under our pillow at night and the Holy Spirit will teach me everything I need to know right? No, the Holy Spirit doesn’t do the hard work for us. That is an important point to understand. Some people think that, but that is not what I Corinthians 2 teaches us. The Holy Spirit does not do the hard part of interpretation- He doesn’t identify nouns and verbs or diagram sentences or provide nuances on literary genres. The hard work part of Scripture is something believers have to do for themselves.
You don’t walk down a beach and lazily bend over and pick up nuggets of gold or rocks of diamonds. It isn’t that easy. If you want those kinds of precious metals you have to pick up a shovel and a pick and put in hours of hard work laboring in the earth to mine them out. So too with Scripture. Christians are responsible to put in the work, even if that means developing the necessary skills to do so.
So what does the Spirit do for the believer? Well we know that even unbelievers can interpret the text of Scripture, they can identify the grammar and the nuances of the language and can come up with a precise understanding of what the text is saying. So what can't they do? The cannot receive or welcome the message of the text.
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
It is one thing to understand what a text says; it is another to become so convinced of its truth that it completely rearranges one’s perspective. Unsaved people do not receive, they do not welcome the message of Scripture. Why not? It seems to contradict everything they think they know about the world- it seems to them as foolishness. This rejection makes it impossible to grasp the significance or the spiritual application of the Word of God.
So what does that mean for us? It means that the Holy Spirit does not perform a miracle of interpretation for believers. (All I need is the Bible and the Holy Spirit). What the Holy Spirit does is to so change our hearts that we welcome the message of Scripture that we once rejected as foolishness. And not only do we welcome it, but we submit to its authority, and as we submit to its authority it changes our whole perspective. We begin to see and think about everything- sin, the world, our normal every day lives, our marriages, our kids, our church, other people- we think about these things as we never have before.
And we develop a love for the Word of God and a hunger for the Word of God. We come back again and again drinking deeply from the truth of the Bible. And as we come back again and again, and we rest our hearts in Scripture again and again we find in it a wealth of help for confronting the reality of the world we live in.
As unbeliever we understood what the text of Scripture was saying, but now as believers we begin to understand what difference it makes. We grasp not only the meaning but also the significance. We are capable not only of interpretation but also of application.
This is something we call the illumination of the Holy Spirit.
16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Paul is not just praying that they would know the meaning of the hope of His calling and the riches of the glory of his inheritance and the exceeding greatness of his power. Paul is praying that the Holy Spirit would illuminate, would open the eyes of your understanding (lit. eyes of your heart) being enlightened. That is Paul wants them to grasp the relevance of these truths. The Holy Spirit does not make sense of the grammatical structures of these verses, but He makes sense the importance of the text in facing the various challenges of life. Through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, God grants to every believer the spiritual equipment they need to know and obey the Word of God.
D. What does this mean for Congregational Rule in our church?
D. What does this mean for Congregational Rule in our church?
It means you are NOT dumb sheep unable to know and obey Scripture for yourselves. Each individual believer is responsible to read and to understand the Scriptures correctly. Soul liberty is not liberty to believe what you want or do what you want- not license. Soul liberty is the liberty to believe what Scripture teaches. It is the liberty to personally understand Scripture and obey God.
It also means that every believer has a duty to study the Bible! I believe that a church can and should be ruled by the Congregation, but that means that everyone in the congregation has a duty to understand the Bible for themselves, and obey God. You cannot depend on your pastor to do that for you!
This duty to study the Bible, I believe means more that reading through the Bible every year, or memorizing some verses. It means you personally really need to understand the Bible on your own. You need to know how the Bible is put together, and how to interpret it rightly. These kinds of skills every believer should seek to acquire.
If every believer is part of the rule of the church, then every believer is responsible for how to understand the Bible. If we falter in this duty we will be unable to obey God as we should. Then, the statement- One bad pastor away from liberalism- is a true statement. But imagine a church, filled with believers who personally have put in the effort to know and obey Scripture for themselves. Those ones will not be swayed.
That means we will have to be able to obey what God commands- that means we need to understand our conduct and our practice (why we do things the way that we do them). It means knowing doctrine (knowing doctrinal statement and why you personally believe it)- reading books (ie. Baptist Distinctives).
Congregational rule is biblical because all believers possess the spiritual qualifications for understanding and obeying God.
Will you take that command personally? The truth of Congregational rule properly understood, proper applied, proper taken on as a responsibility for all of the members of this local church, will safe guard our church and enable it to continue to be a genuine pillar and ground for the truth.
In order to show that Congregational Rule is biblical we have to address several questions.
1). Are congregations, that is a group of believers (who are still sinners by the way), are they really competent enough to make spiritual decisions?
2). Does the NT actually provide for us the support for Congregational rule? Do we see the pattern of congregations making decisions in the NT?
II. Congregational rule is biblical because the churches in the NT actually made decisions
II. Congregational rule is biblical because the churches in the NT actually made decisions
This morning we argued for the spiritual competence of every believer. Every believer, no matter how humble, has been give access to the spiritual wisdom of the Holy Spirit as a gift from God.
This competence is backed up by the pattern of the NT churches. We can easily illustrate this because churches in the NT actually did make decisions.
1 And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.
3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.
5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:
6 Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.
7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Question: What kinds of decisions do congregations make in the church in the NT?
A. The NT churches made decisions in the selecting of their servants
A. The NT churches made decisions in the selecting of their servants
Rule of hermeneutics: Passages that aim to answer the question are more helpful that passages that simply mention the issue at hand. In this case, their are no teaching passages that aim to answer the question of how the church makes decisions. There is no text that specifically assigns the selection of servants to the congregation, or to the elders, deacons, or any other group. So, the best we can do is look at the cases in the NT where the church was choosing its servants, and when we do so we find a number of instances in which the congregation did the choosing. What we do not find is any CLEAR instance of the church leadership doing the selecting without congregational approval.
Example #1
5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:
6 Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.
Apostles functioned as the leadership of the church (next week we will talk about church leadership/pastoral leadership). Notice here that there existed both leadership and congregational polity.
When it came time to make the decision the congregation chose the seven men, i.e. the whole multitude, and the apostles ratified that choice- that is the confirmed the choice by laying their hands on the servants. This is exactly how church polity should work. There should be godly spiritual leadership in the church working hand in hand with the congregation as a whole. The congregation chose and the apostles appointed the seven servants (deacons).
Example #2
19 Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.
20 And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus.
21 And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.
22 Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.
23 Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord.
24 For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord.
The church (i.e. the congregation) made the decision to send Barnabas to Antioch to encourage the brothers.
Example #3
1 And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
2 When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.
3 And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren.
There arose a doctrinal deviation in Antioch. Some of the members of the Jerusalem church came to Antioch and taught that believers needed to be circumcised after the manner of Moses, or they could not be saved. Paul and Barnabas, however, took great exception to this teaching! So the church (i.e. the congregation) at Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas to the church at Jerusalem to investigate the doctrinal deviation of some of Jerusalem’s members.
22 Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren:
Here we see the whole church (i.e. the congregation) choosing men of their own company to travel with Paul and Barnabas back to Antioch with tits reply.
Example #4
18 And we have sent with him the brother, whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches;
19 And not that only, but who was also chosen of the churches to travel with us with this grace, which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord, and declaration of your ready mind:
20 Avoiding this, that no man should blame us in this abundance which is administered by us:
21 Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.
Here Paul is traveling with a financial offering for the church in Jerusalem. The churches (i.e. congregations) of Macedonia selected a brother to travel with Paul for the sake of accountability.
In each of these examples it is the congregation that makes the decision. What we see modeled for us by the churches in the NT is congregational rule.
What about problem passages?
1 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
Who is the “they” in v. 3? Does the “they” refer to the five prophets and teachers in v. 1 or does the “they” refer to the whole congregation? Grammatically, “they” could refer to the prophets and teachers. Most commentaries, however, understand “they” to include the entire church. The passage is not CLEAR, it is ambiguous.
Hermetical rule: Clear passages should interpret obscure passages. A passage that can only mean one thing should be used to interpret a passage that could possibly mean several things. So this passage, because it is ambiguous, should not be taken for evidence either way.
23 And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.
The “they” in this passage is Paul and Barnabas. Paul and Barnabas are said to ordain elders in every city. What do we do with this verse?
1). Issue of apostolic authority. The apostles had authority to command churches and to compel obedience. We do not have any apostolic authority today other than the written word of the Scriptures.
2). The verb “ordain” comes from the Greek word χειροτονέω and it is a term used for voting)
19 And not that only, but who was also chosen of the churches to travel with us with this grace, which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord, and declaration of your ready mind:
So very likely what is happening here is that Paul and Barnabas presided over the selection and ordination of elders, but congregational choice may well have been involved. So again, this passage could be taken one of two ways- it is ambiguous.
5 For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:
This Greek word for ordain is the same Greek word used of the apostles in Acts 6:6. As we clearly saw in Acts 6 the congregation chose the deacons, the apostles confirmed or ratified that decision. So this kind of ordaining does not rule out congregational choice. Again this passage is ambiguous.
So we should not make theological decisions on ambiguous passages. There are several passages in the NT that clearly show the congregation making the decisions as to the appointing of servants. We should use these clear texts to understand the unclear ones. Therefore, the reasonable conclusion is the NT church (i.e. the congregation) possess the authority to choose its own servants.
B. The NT churches made decisions in holding their servants accountable
B. The NT churches made decisions in holding their servants accountable
1 And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.
2 And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him,
3 Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.
This is after the conversion of Cornelius and his household (significant because Cornelius is a Gentile- the first one to clearly be saved and added to the Universal church), and because of this Peter is called into account by members of the church of Jerusalem.
If we were to take time to read all of Acts 11 one thing becomes clear, Peter did not pull rank. He did not use his office of apostle to bully the churches. Instead Peter the apostle welcomed congregational accountability. He explained carefully why he had done what he had. And note the result.
18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
Similarly:
27 And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.
Paul gave his report on his first missionary journey, not just to the prophets and teachers at Antioch. Rather, He gathered the whole church together to tell all that God had done with them. In other words Paul was accountable to the whole congregation for his efforts on his missionary journey.
One of the best examples of this in found in Acts 15- sometimes called the Jerusalem council. We are going to say the full exegesis of this text for next week when we look at Pastoral authority- Just note, if you read this passage- this is not a church council! This is a church business meeting in Jerusalem and the church comes to a decision to send a letter to the church in Antioch to give advice only- mainly to hold accountable or to repudiate the members of the Jersualem church that had been teaching bad doctrine.
24 Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:
This is an example of the church at Jerusalem defining its own doctrine (very notable!) and to call its own servants into account.
C. The NT churches made decisions in matters concerning church membership
C. The NT churches made decisions in matters concerning church membership
4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
The counterpart to this incident is found in 2 Corinthians 2
4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.
5 But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not overcharge you all.
6 Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many.
Situation where a church member had been disfellowshipped (not certain if it is the same situation in I Corinthians 5). But this person in 2 Corinthians had since repented of the sin. V. 6- the punishment was inflicted by the many or the majority- clearly congregational action.
7 So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.
8 Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him.
Now Paul is begging the congregation to forgive and comfort his brother and confirm him in their love. So not only is the responsibility in the congregation to discipline an erring brother, but it is also the responsibility of the congregation to restore an erring member.
From these three examples of congregational rule we can argue from the greater to the lesser. These decisions are of great importance in a church- Who is in and who is out of the church and who is in charge. If the church was given the responsibility to make these decisions, important as they are, certainly they are also responsible to make lesser decisions in the church.
So we believe that local churches must be governed by the congregation as a whole. It is the whole congregations job to rule the church, under Christ as their head. We are not to be governed by bishops, councils, colleges, committees, boards, elders, synods, district superintendents, general assemblies, conferences, associations, presbyteries, or popes. It is the responsibility of the whole congregation to make decisions, to make spiritual competent decisions based on their ability to understand and obey Scripture. How well are we doing?