Let Your Light So Shine

The following is an excerpt from Dr. Martyn-Lloyd Jones' book "Studies In The Sermon On The Mount". In Chapter Sixteen, "Let Your Light So Shine", MLJ ex posits the necessity of a Christian having a real influence and impact upon those around him. The Christian is to be "hot" for the Gospel of Christ: not vague or non-committed; as trying to please the world and Christ. MLJ has warm words for those who hold to a "formal" Christianity.

"According to our Lord's argument that is the truth concerning the Christian. As I understand it, and it seems to me to be an inevitable piece of logic and interpretation, there is nothing in God's universe that is so utterly useless as a merely formal Christian. I mean by that, one who has the name but not the quality of a Christian. The apostle Paul describes this when he speaks of certain people 'having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof'. They appear to be Christian but they are not. They want to appear as Christians, but they are not functioning as Christians. They are salt without savour, light without light, if you can imagine such a thing....
The formal Christian is a man who knows enough about Christianity to spoil the world for him; but he does not know enough about it for it to be of any positive value. He does not go with the world because he knows just enough about it to be afraid of certain things; and the people who live right in the world know that he is trying to be different and that he cannot be whole-heartedly with them. On the other hand he has no real fellowship with the Christian. He has enough 'Christianity' to spoil everything else, but not enough to give him real happiness, peace and joy and abundance of life. I think such people are the most pathetic people in the world. Our Lord certainly says they are the most useless people in the world. They do not function as worldlings or as Christians. They are nothing, neither salt nor light, neither one thing nor the other. And as a matter of actual fact, they are cast out; cast out as it were, by the world and cast out by the Church....

The true Christian cannot be hid, he cannot escape notice. A man truly living and functioning as a Christian will stand out. He will be like salt; he will be like a city set upon a hill, a candle set upon a candlestick....A man who truly realizes what it means to be a Christian, who realizes all that the grace of God has meant to him and done for him, and understands that, ultimately, God has done this in order that he may influence others, is a man who cannot conceal it."

posted by john d.

Church Membership

The following article was published in Christianity Today and posted at Pure Church blogsite in response to the question of the necessity of formal membership in a local church. Enjoy.

An argument for the importance of formal membership by Pastor Thabiti Anyabwile.

There's a new debate among today's Christians. Does the New Testament require, suggest, even hint at local church membership? Are Christians required to belong to a local church, or is it an option? And what does such belonging entail?

The New Testament knows nothing of a creature reborn through faith in Christ, baptized in identification with Christ, communing with Christ at His table, and not a member of a visible, local, identifiable congregation of other born-again baptized believers.

By "membership" I mean the way in which the individual is known to be intentionally committed to every other member of the congregation, and the congregation known to be committed to the individual. On nearly every page of the New Testament, local church membership is assumed.

For example, no one disputes that each Christian is a "member of the body of Christ." We all belong to the spiritual body of our Lord, united to Him inseparably as Head to torso. In that sense, "member" is a peculiarly Christian idea (Rom. 12:3–8; 1 Cor. 12; Eph. 4:11–16)—not an idea lifted from Rotary, golf, or ski clubs. But the Bible shows that this spiritual union gets worked out in local church membership with other flesh-and-blood believers.

Consider also the "one another" passages of Scripture: "love one another" (John 13:34–35), "honor one another" (Rom. 12:10), "restore one another" (Gal. 6:1–2), etc. Many believe these commands can be carried out with their friends in a coffee shop. But all these commands are given to the entire church. And they mark out the entire community as separate from and witnessing to non-Christians (John 13:35). So, what the apostles have in view isn't the easy, cliquish love of friends, but the radical congregational love of the entire church. This radical vision calls for "no divisions in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other" (1 Cor. 12:25). Equal concern for every part requires the reciprocal commitment of self-conscious, intentional membership.

Finally, pastoral ministry requires local church membership. The apostle Peter exhorts the elders to "shepherd the flock of God that is in your care." The pastor isn't responsible for all the people of an area, but for the "flock of God." This doesn't include just any Christian he contacts, but that identifiable group or flock that is in his care. The sheep, then, must be known and committed to being "under" the care of the pastors. The command to obey your leaders requires local church membership (Heb. 13:7, 17).

Well, if the need for local church membership seems so obvious, why are some people breaking out in hives at the very idea? The reasons are legion, some good and some bad, some theological and some practical. But let me submit that every Christian—with the exception of the most renegade individualist—practices some form of membership. It's either a good practice or a weak one, but it's there.

Some Christians see their active involvement (regular attendance, perhaps serving in a ministry, giving, etc.) as sufficient evidence of their commitment to the church. Beyond that, they don't see the need. But what's critical for building strong, healthy spiritual community is that a few things be clearly in place and taught as part of what it means to be committed to the church.

First, you cannot practice meaningful membership or community where anonymity reigns. If people don't know each other, then it's impossible to knit the relationship fabric that is so central to biblical Christianity. So you need a practice that clearly reduces anonymity and increases interpersonal knowing.

Second, you cannot practice meaningful membership where gospel commitments and imperatives are not explicitly expected. Membership exists in large measure for the impartation of spiritual grace (1 Pet. 4:10–11), the exchange of love (John 13:34–35), correction (Gal. 6:1–2; Matt. 18:15–17), and so on. Membership means we are better together than we are apart. The membership process should make this clear, calling the members to "sign on the dotted line" of loving others across economic, social, linguistic, cultural, and other barriers.

Third, you need a practice that makes it clear that people are submitted to and desiring of pastoral oversight (1 Pet. 5:2). You cannot practice meaningful membership or community where anti-authority, anti-leadership, anti-accountability attitudes predominate. I'm afraid that these attitudes explain much of the resistance to membership; people don't want to be accountable. They imagine that their accountability to Jesus may be maintained without any accountability to His people. But it's among His people—through their love and care and commitment—that Jesus ordinarily establishes accountability with His sheep.

Finally, we need a membership process that maintains the Bible's temporal sequence of conversion, baptism, membership and communion. The observable pattern of the New Testament is: first, gospel preaching; second, hearing mixed with faith; and third, public profession of faith in baptism, which marks entrance into the covenant community, and consequently the privilege of communion at our Lord's Table.

Many have come to believe that membership is not essential because this pattern has been broken apart. It's possible to partake in all the benefits of membership (e.g., communion) without any of the commitments. It's the spiritual equivalent of "shacking up" with someone not your spouse. Until the conversion-baptism-membership-communion sequence is restored, the borders of the Christian life and church will remain fuzzy and membership neglected. Faithful pastors must repair the breakdown of this sequence.

The essence of biblical church membership is alive on every page of the New Testament: mutual love and commitment to all the other Christians in the assembly under the care of godly leadership as an expression of the kingdom and rule of God. That's not abstract. That's concrete, gritty, essential New Testament Christian living (Eph. 4:11-16) that brings discipleship and growth.

Thabiti Anyabwile is the senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman.

posted by john d.

The Beginning of the End?

What happens when a society or a culture ignores or disregards God's Word? What are the consequences? Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones addresses the outcome when children rebel and refuse to follow the command of Ephesians 6:1-3 [Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. ]

The summer 2009 issue of the Free Grace Broadcaster has an article by Dr. M.L.J. titled, "Children, Authority, and Society" (available from Chapel Library). In that article he makes a very astute observation of one of the reasons our country is in it's present state of anarchy.

"....this is one of those laws that, when neglected, leads to the collapse of society. Whether we like it or not, a breakdown in homelife will eventually lead to a breakdown everywhere. This is, surely, the most menacing and dangerous aspect of the state of society at this present time. Once a family idea, the family unit, the family life is broken up - once that goes, soon you will have no other allegiance. It is the most serious thing of all. And that is perhaps the reason why God attached this promise to it."

"...no other allegiance..."

No allegiance to the church, to marriage, to the Word of God. This has been the design of satan from the beginning when he spoke with Eve in the garden and said to her, "hath God said?".

posted by john d.

Sovereignty and Responsibility

I don't normally do this but I thought the post was so good that it should be shared.

http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2009/07/divine-sovereignty-and-human.html

posted by john d

Storms of Life

I recently ran across the lyrics to the hymn "When Gathering Clouds Around I View" by Robert Grant (1806). Grant also wrote the words to "O Worship the King". The lyrics seem appropriate for some of my friends at this time.

When gathering clouds around I view,
And days are dark, and friends are few,
On Him I lean, who not in vain
Experienced every human pain;
He sees my wants, allays my fears,
And counts and treasures all my tears.

If aught should tempt my soul to stray
From heavenly wisdom’s narrow way,
To fly the good I would pursue,
Or do the sin I would not do,
Still He, who felt temptation’s power,
Shall guard me in that dangerous hour.

If wounded love my bosom swell,
Deceived by those I prized too well,
He shall His pitying aid bestow,
Who felt on earth severer woe,
At once betrayed, denied, or fled,
By those who shared His daily bread.

If vexing thoughts within me rise
And, sore dismayed, my spirit dies,
Still He, who once vouchsafed to bear
The sickening anguish of despair,
Shall sweetly soothe, shall gently dry,
The throbbing heart, the streaming eye.

When, sorrowing, o’er some stone I bend,
Which covers what was once a friend,
And from his voice, his hand, his smile,
Divides me for a little while,
Thou, Savior, mark’st the tears I shed,
For Thou didst weep o’er Lazarus dead.

And O, when I have safely past,
Through every conflict but the last;
Still, still unchanging, watch beside
My painful bed, for Thou hast died;
Then point to realms of cloudless day,
And wipe the latest tear way.

posted by john d.

History? We Don't Need No History....

I often run across Christians who have little or no concern for church history. They delegate the study of history into the dustbin of the unimportant. Therefore, they know nothing of the Providence of God in dealing with men and women and empires and cultures of the past. They lose out on being able to relate to the experiences of those who went before us and perhaps experienced the same problems we face. News of the latest government fiasco, the tanking economy, the lack of zeal in the church, are looked at by them in despair not knowing or realizing that others have went through the same problems before and were not abandoned by God but strengthened and renewed.

Is our government racing towards a collapse? Perhaps, but is it worse than 400 AD Rome? Are our politicians seeking their best interest only? Certainly, but haven’t they always? Is our economy on the road to hyper-inflation? Ask the post-WWII Europeans. Is the True Church of Jesus Christ enduring persecution? The Waldensians wouldn’t think so. Anyway, you get my point – we are not the only ones to experience these current problems. We just arrogantly think so.

I read an interview this morning which makes a succinct point regarding a Christians interest in history, specifically church history, that I found interesting.

Guy Davies recently interviewed Professor R. Scott Clark who is a professor of church history and historical theology at Westminster Seminary California and maintains the blogsite “The Heidelblog”. Professor Scott was asked the question, “Why should today's Christians be interested in church history and historical theology?”

Professor Scott’s response was, “Christians are redeemed by Christ alone (sola gratia, sola fide) to be a part of the covenant community, i.e. the visible church. The church did not begin last week. It has a history and every Christian, by virtue of the fact of being a Christian, is a part of a historic tradition. Consider the very name "Christian." We are given the name of Christ in baptism. It is a historic name (given to us by others). It is the name of a historic person, God the Son who entered into history to be our Redeemer. Thus our faith itself is grounded in the history of salvation. The Christian faith is unavoidably historical. The way we worship, the way we read Scripture, the way we think of God, man, Christ, sin, salvation, the church, sacraments, last things, and the Christian life are all conditioned by history. Thus the question is not whether we are going think about history but whether we are going to do it well.”

So remember, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob never changes. As He rules over the universe cannot He overrule in our present situation? And if He does not, will He not give us the ability to endure – even to the end? History tells us He does and He will.

John 14:11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.

posted by john d.

Caleb Michael Velie

We interrupt our posting to welcome into our world Caleb Michael Velie, born at 8:30 p.m. on June 19, 2009. He rang the bell at 7 lb. 4 oz. and 19 inches in length. We congratulate the parents Jeremy and Deanna. May the Lord Jesus Christ direct them in raising Caleb for His honor and glory.

posted by john d.