Life Cycle of Church Membership Pt 2: Leaving
Notes
Transcript
Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.
1. Don’t
1. Don’t
There is no scripture describing believers outside the local body.
You’ve lost that loving feeling - yeah, who hasn’t?
Your feelings got hurt
Matt 18:15-20 - go to them...
You don’t think the pastor does well / you don’t like him
Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.
How have you prayed for him? Offered to help? Talked to him?
“I just don’t get anything out of it.” / “What do you put into it?”
“Pastors come and go; the church remains.”
In short believers should be in churches, so mostly you shouldn’t leave. Unless there is clear reason and direction from God, you just shouldn’t leave.
2. Quietly
2. Quietly
I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’ ” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord’s anointed.” So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.
Whatever you do… discuss with the pastor (in person, in private) why you are leaving. He may be of great help
3. Dying
3. Dying
1. By Death. The dead can have no place in any earthly congregation of the saints.
The local church has eternal significance as God has ordained them for gospel ministry and support and forming of the saints, yet belongs to this age and this age only. There will be no Mt Juliet church in Heaven, just as the saints in Heaven do not now belong to Mt Juliet church
4. Moving
4. Moving
Find a church that preaches the gospel
Begin a Bible Study / plant a church
And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.
Move somewhere else
Lot should’ve moved
And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other.
and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,
I know that this view is seen as extreme, but if we truly put God first, it only makes sense that we would not be satisfied with just not having a local congregation, or efforts to plant one.
5. Discipline
5. Discipline
Regain a brother
you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ,
Still as a brother
Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.
If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
Sexual Immorality
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.
you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
Most churches who would deny membership based on homosexuality do so hypocritically for lack of concern about heterosexual immoralities. This is a WIDE SPREAD problem.
Falling away
For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
Denying Christ
For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.
Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.
Church Family, Believers should be in churches. There are good ways and reasons to leave churches. There is also a difficult requirement placed on churches to expel persons living in unrepentant patterns of sin. Disregarding any of this clear guidance is to work against God’s good purposes. Concern for and obedience in these matters is part of gospel witness and ministry; how we participate in the salvation of our loved ones.