Oct 24
27
Second London Confession 26.3
“The purest churches under heaven are subject to mixture and error; and some have so degenerated as to become no churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satan; nevertheless Christ always hath had, and ever shall have a kingdom in this world, to the end thereof, of such as believe in him, and make profession of his name.” (1 Corinthians 5; Revelation 2; Revelation 3; Revelation 18:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:11, 12; Matthew 16:18; Psalms 72:17; Psalm 102:28; Revelation 12:17)
Scripture Reading: Revelation 2:18–29
“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze. ‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. Only hold fast what you have until I come. The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” (Revelation 2:18–29)
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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.
Introduction
In this sermon, we will eventually come to consider Second Confession (2LCF) 26.3. But I wish to begin with a question. Please do not answer out loud. Instead, answer the question, quickly and definitively, in the privacy of your mind.
The question is this: are Christians called to judge?
I do suspect that many in the world and many in the church today would say, no. Christians must never judge. Judging is strictly forbidden! Judging is a sin!
Christians Must Judge
Dear brothers and sisters, if it is your view that a Christian must never judge, the Word of God disagrees with you.
Passages such as Matthew 18:15-20, 1 Corinthians 5, and 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 clearly command Christians to judge. For the sake of time, I’ll read only 1 Corinthians 5 to prove the point. Here Paul is dealing with a situation in the church of Corinth wherein a man had sinned in a heinous way and was unrepentant. He wrote to the church and said, “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. For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 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? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. ‘Purge the evil person from among you” (1 Corinthians 5). Other texts of scripture could be read to demonstrate that Christians operating as members of a local church, with elders in the lead, are called to make and pronounce judgments, but this text alone settles the issue. If it is your opinion that a Christian is never to judge, you are at odds with God’s Word.
Christians must judge if they are to obey God’s word. And what are they to judge? In brief, Christians, operating as members of a rightly ordered local church with elders in the lead, are called to judge the credibility of a person’s profession of faith.
This we must do before receiving a person into the membership of the church. Let me remind you that in 2LCF 26.2 we are told that local churches are to be made up of visible saints, and that visible saints are those who have professed “the faith of the gospel, and obedience unto God by Christ according unto it, not destroying their own profession by any errors everting the foundation, or unholiness of conversation…” the meaning is this: it is those who have made a credible profession of faith who are to be received into the membership of the church and given baptism if they have not been baptized upon profession before. Stated differently, before a new member can be received into the church the existing members, with the elders in the lead, must judge the credibility of the person’s profession of faith.
The great commission that Christ delivered to the church through the Apostles demands this. “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18–20). Who is to be baptized? Disciples of Jesus are to be baptized. And who is to be taught to observe all that Christ has commanded (the Lord’s Supper is undoubtedly included in this). Baptized disciples are to be taught to observe all that Christ has commanded. If baptism is to be applied and if the Lord’s Supper is to be faithfully administered, then judgments must be made. A person’s profession of faith must be heard, considered, and judged to be credible before he or she is baptized and received into the church and recognized as a member of the body of Christ.
And there is another situation that will sometimes arise within church life that requires the judgment of the congregation with the elders in the lead, and that is in cases of church discipline. Two of the most famous passages on the topic of church discipline are Matthew 18:15-20 and 1 Corinthians 5. There are other texts on the topic of disciple that must be considered, but these are the most famous. These two passages are about different circumstances. Matthew 18 teaches us what to do in a situation where one member sins against another. In 1 Corinthians 5, we see how to handle heinous sin in the congregation when the sinner remains unrepentant. The situations are different and so the processes are different. But in the end, the result is the same. If a church member – if a person who bears the name, “brother” – if a person who was baptized into Christ upon profession of faith in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – is living in unrepentant sin, the members of the church (with the elders in the lead) must act. In Matthew 18, Christ Jesus the Lord commands that the unrepentant sinner be put out of the congregation and regarded as a Gentile and tax collector. This means the person is no longer to be regarded as a brother or sister in Christ, but as a non-believer. The person is removed from the church, wherein the kingdom of God is made visible, and is put out into the world where Satan reigns as king. In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul the Apostle instructed the church in Corinth to do the same thing with the unrepentant sinner. The process was different because the sin was different. This was no private offense. It was very public. The whole church knew about it. And the sin was heinous. It was the kind of sin that would make even a non-believer blush. And the sinner was clearly unrepentant. The sinner was even boasting about it and members of the church we boasting too. And so there was no need for the three-step process of Matthew 18 – go to him alone – if he does not listen to you take one or two others to serve as witness – and if he does not listen to them, tell it to the church. No, this man was to quickly be removed from the church because the case was so clear. But the end result of the Matthew 18 scenario and the 1 Corinthians 5 scenario is the same. The members of the church with the elders in the lead were commanded by Paul to put the unrepentant sinner out of the church. Paul put it this way: “you [church] 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.” This means that man was to be removed from the church, wherein the kingdom of Christ is made visible, and put out into the world. No longer was he to be regarded as a brother but as a nonbeliever. The hope and prayer of the church was that this mans flesh – that is to say, his sinful flesh would be destroyed, so that his soul would be saved. In other words, when a person is excommunicated or excluded from the church, the hope must always be that they will turn from their sins and to Christ, and thus be saved.
Dear brothers and sisters, the Holy Scriptures are very clear about this. Christians, operating as members of local congregations, with elders in the lead, are called by Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Church, to judge the credibility of a person’s profession of faith when receiving new members and in cases of discipline. It is the elders who are to lead in matters of discipline, it is the members who are to judge, and it is the elders who are called to pronounce the judgment! If a church will not judge in these matters according to the commands and directions of Holy Scripture, the whole church will find itself living in rebellion against Christ the King and under his displeasure, just as the church of Thyatira found itself under the displeasure of Christ for tolerating that false teacher and seductress, Jezebel, and allowing her to remain in their midst to spread her poison.
Christians Must Judge Not
Now please hear me. I do understand where this idea that Christians must never judge comes from.
For one, the culture has criticized Chritsians and churches for being judgemental. In some cases, the criticism is probably valid. And so some Christians, wishing to avoid that charge and wishing to avoid that error, will not only do away with a sinful, judgemental spirit but will refuse to judge at all, even in those cases where God’s word demands it. These Christians have failed to distinguish between judgment that is good and right and judgment that is sinful. Sadly, they have thrown the baby out with the bathwater.
Two, I do believe that some Christians think that Christians must never judge because they have read the Bible, but they have read it poorly. Friends, there are many passages of Scripture that command us not to judge sinfully, harshly, unjustly, or hypocritically. And there are many other passages that command us to love one another (see John 13:34-35; John 15:12), to be willing to cover or overlook personal offenses and sins (see Proverbs 10:12 and 1 Peter 4:8), to be gentle and patient with one another (see Ephesians 4:2), to always forgive one another (see Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13), and to restore those who repentant after being disciplined (see 2 Corinthians 2:6-11). These passages need to be taken very seriously and obeyed. But they must also be interpreted properly. This involves interpreting them in the light of the passages that call the church to judge.
Perhaps the most famous passage forbidding judgment of a sinful kind is Matthew 7:1-6. There Christ speaks to his disciples saying, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” That seems rather straightforward, doesn’t it? I can see how someone, after reading this one Bible verse, could come to the conclusion that judgment of all kinds is strictly forbidden by God. But we must read on. Verse 2: “For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” Ah, so the judgment that Christ forbids is a particular kind of judgment, namely judgment that is overly harsh or stringent. We must read on. Verse 3: “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” Interesting. Christ here teaches that we are to take the speck out of our brother’s eye. If we love them, we will. But we must be careful to avoid the sin of pride and hypocrisy. So it is prideful, hypocritical judgement that is here forbidden. And We must read on. In verse 6 we find these words: “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you” (Matthew 7:1–6). So then, the passage that begins with the words of Christ, “Judge not, that you be not judged” ends with Christ commanding his disciples to judge (distinguish) between those who are worthy to receive the holy things of God and those who are dogs and pigs.
Don’t ever read a Bible verse, friends. Most theological errors have arisen by taking Bible verse out of context. We must always remember what we have read before and read on to be sure we understand the true meaning of a text in its context. And do not forget that the context of every verse in the Bible is ultimately every other verse in the Bible. And so we must not only read Matthew 7:1, “judge not, that you be not judged”, but read on through verse 6. More than this, we must read on through Matthew 16 to consider the keys given to Peter – the keys that bind on earth and in heaven. We must read on through Matthew 18 to consider what Christ taught concerning the use of these keys in church discipline. And we must read on to consider passages like 1 Corinthians 5 to see how these keys of judgment and authority were used in the churches established by the Apostles of Christ, consisting of officers and members. Read on, read on, read on. Study the scriptures with care, dear brothers and sisters, to be sure that what you believe about the church is true. Our aim must be to obey Jesus Christ, for he is indeed the Lord of the church, and we are his servants.
Second London Confession 26.3
What does this have to do with Second London Confession 26.3?
I’ve introduced this paragraph in this way because I want to draw your attention to how our Confession of Faith, on the one hand, insists that judgments be made in the reception and removal of members, while on the other hand, protecting us against the error of judging too harshly. In fact, paragraphs 2 and 3 both state things in such a way as to keep us from judging too strictly.
Paragraph 2 answers the question, who should the members of the local church be? Who is to be received into the membership of local churches? Or to speak in terms of the sacraments, who is to be given baptism and the Lord’s Supper? Answer: only visible saints. So the question becomes, who is to be regarded by the church, with the elders in the lead, as a visible saint? Our confession summarizes the teaching of the Holy Scriptures when it says, “all people throughout the world professing the faith of the gospel, and obedience unto God by Christ according unto it, not destroying their own profession by any errors everting the foundation, or unholiness of conversation, are and may be called visible saints…”
We considered this statement last Sunday. I will not repeat all that was said in that sermon. But notice what our confession does not say. Who should be received into the membership of local churches? Thankfully, our confession does not say, only those who have mastered Christian doctrine, or only those who agree with every point of doctrine expressed in this confession, or only those whose belief is pure and without any error, or only those who do not ever sin, or only those who are mature in matters of faith and obedience. Our confession state the qualifications for membership in the local church perfectly. Who should be received into the membership of our churches? The answer is simple and clear. Christians must be received. All people who make a credible profession should be received. All who profess
“the faith of the gospel, and obedience unto God by Christ according unto it, not destroying their own profession by any errors everting the foundation, or unholiness of conversation”, must be received.
Must the church judge the credibility of a person’s profession of faith before receiving that person into the membership of the church? Yes, of course! But the bar for being received into the church must not be set even a millimeter higher than where the Scriptures set it.
Stated possibly, must a person trust in Jesus? Must they know the fundamentals of the faith and claim to believe those fundamentals to be received into the church a regarded as a believer? Yes. Stated negatively, should we regard a person to be a believer who destroys the credibility of their profession of faith by holding to theological errors that undermine the foundation of the faith they claim to believe? No.
Stated positively, must a person turn from sin and endeavor to obey God and Christ if their profession of faith is to be judged true? Yes, of course. True faith always involves repentance and a striving after new obedience. Real Christians obey Jesus (see John 14:15). Stated negatively, should we regard a person to be a Christian – should we call them “brother” or “sister” – if they have destroyed the credibility of their profession by living a life of sin? No.
The thing I want you to see is that our confession slams the bar or standard for membership in the local church down as far as the Scriptures will allow it to go. Or to use the image of a door, our confession opens the door to the church as wide as the Scriptures allow it to be opened. If the bar were set any lower than our confession sets it, or if the door was opened any wider, the world would be permitted membership in the church and granted access to the holy things of God (baptism and the Lord’s Supper), and this cannot be. To quote Nehemiah Coxe, if this error were made, “our numbers may increase, but not our joy” (A Sermon Preached At The Ordination Of An Elder And Deacon In A Baptized Congregation In London, Nehemiah Coxe)!
But the consequence of raising the bar for membership in the church higher than the Scriptures set it would be truly tragic. The result would be that God’s children – people for whom Christ died – brothers and sisters in the faith – would be kept out of the membership of the church and unjustly denied access to the holy things of God, namely, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Brothers and sisters, our standards for membership in the church must be low enough to obey Romans 14:1 which says, “Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things” (Romans 14:1). But our standards for membership must be high enough to distinguish between the church and the world. Our standards for membership must agree perfectly with the Scriptures. And because we can only judge based upon what we see and hear, I do believe it is right for us to judge graciously and to give the benefit of the doubt whenever possible.
And of course, everything I have just said regarding the standard for becoming a member of the church applies to the question of discipline as well. Who must be put out of the church? Should those who are immature be put out? Should those who are offensive be put out? Should those who hold to errors in minor points of doctrine be put out? Should those who sin be put out? No. If these were the standards, there would be no church left! But those who destroy the credibility of the profession of faith they once made by holding to errors that evert or undermine the very foundation of faith, or live an unholy life and will not repent, must be put out. Those who destroy their profession lose the right to be called visible saints. They also lose access to the Lord’s Table wherein our union with Christ and fellowship within one another is signified.
Brothers and sisters, the church must judge in these matters. It must judge in a spirit of love, in gentleness, and with much patience. And the church must judge, not according to the arbitrary standards set by the fallible opinions of men, but according to the standards of God’s Holy Word. Some refuse to judge in these matters because they feel it is not loving. The truth is, by judging in these matters, we show our love for God, for Christ, for the church he has purchased with his blood, and even for the person who has destroyed their profession of faith. If you love a person, you will call them to repentance and faith when you see them persistently living in error and sin.
2LCF 26.3 also keeps us from judging too strictly. The focus here is not on the credibility of an individual’s profession of faith but on whether or not a local church is to be regarded as a true church. Our confession says, “The purest churches under heaven are subject to mixture and error; and some have so degenerated as to become no churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satan; nevertheless Christ always hath had, and ever shall have a kingdom in this world, to the end thereof, of such as believe in him, and make profession of his name.”
Notice, first of all, that our confession links the local, visible church with the kingdom of Christ. Christ’s kingdom is invisible. It is spiritual. But where is it manifest on earth? Where is Christ’s kingdom made visible? In and through the local church. Those who are citizens of Christ’s kingdom ought to be members of local churches. Ordinarily, to be a citizen in Christ’s kingdom is to be a member of Christ’s church, and to be a member of Christ’s church is to be a citizen in Christ’s kingdom. This is what is meant by the language of Matthew 16 and 18, “whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19). If you have loved ones who claim to be Christians and they are not members of a local church, you should warn them concerning their sin. Real Christians obey Jesus. And Jesus commanded his disciples to walk together in churches.
But what church should a person join? Preferably, a healthy one, but at the very least a true church must be joined. There are false churches. Our confession says, “some have so degenerated as to become no churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satan…” When does this happen? We can borrow the concepts from 2LCF 26.2 to gain some clarity. A church degenerates to this level when it corporately destroys its profession by preaching and teaching errors that evert the foundation of faith, or is overrun by members and officers who live unholy lives. Historically, true churches are said to bear these three marks: they preach and teach the word of God truthfully, they administer the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper faithfully, and they exercise church discipline. Healthy churches will do these things well. Unhealthy churches will do these things poorly. A church that does not do one or all of these things should be avoided. To be clear, it is Jesus’ job to remove the lampstands of false churches (see Revelation chapters 2 and 3). But true believers are to separate themselves from false churches so they can join true churches.
And to keep us from judging churches too harshly, our confession says, “The purest churches under heaven are subject to mixture and error…” In other words, even the best, most healthy, and strongest churches on earth still have a mixture in them. This means, there will always be false professors in our churches and there will always be sin, for even true Christians are not perfect. And there will be errors too. This must refer to errors in doctrine, order, and practice. This line in our confession should keep us from judging the church we are members of too harshly and it should also keep us from judging other local churches too harshly.
Please allow me to read you a quote from Benjamin Keach, a prominent pastor who lived in the 17th century and subscribed to the confession that we subscribe to. Are Particular or Reformed Baptist churches the only true churches? Keach said no. He warned his readers against judging too harshly, saying,
“Speak well of all your brethren who hold the Head [that is, Christ], or are sound in the faith, in respect of all fundamental principles, though not in everything of your opinion in some points of religion: for peace among ourselves ought not to be restrained only to the members of that church we belong unto, but to all the saints, let them be Presbyterians, Independents, or Baptists. I do not mean that it is your duty to hold church communion [i.e. membership in one congregation] with all; no, that cannot be, unless all were of one judgment in all the essentials of church constitution: for mutual love is not to be the rule of our church-communion and fellowship, but the word of Christ. But though we cannot as yet be all of one judgment in this case, yet we ought not to censure one another but own each other for brethren, and be all united in love and affections. How unchristian-like is it to render them that differ from us odious, as if they were not members of the mystical body of Christ, or belonged not to the universal church? ‘Speak evil of no man’, no, nor speak of the evils of any, except the evil or sin they are guilty of be public, and notorious; and that not then out of an ill purpose, to expose the person out of spite and revenge; for that is most hateful and abominable in the sight of God, and tends to strife and discord. ‘As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men’[Romans 12:18], but much more with all the saints and people of God.” (James Renihan quoting Benjamin Keach in Baptist Symbolics Volume 2, 484).
Conclusion
Brothers and sisters, I am aware that this sermon is much longer than the sermons in the second portion of our liturgy typically are. Don’t worry this isn’t the new norm. I’ve taken the time to address this subject with you in some detail because I think it is needed. For some time I have been concerned that we are weak in our understanding of the doctrine of the church we confess. And though I thought that the members meeting we had last Sunday was the best one we have ever had (due to the dialogue that took place amongst the members – our ecclesiology requires deliberation amongst the members) it did confirm my suspicion that there is still some confusion regarding the nature of the church, the purpose and end of discipline, and the responsibilities of the members in discipline. One of the most fundamental questions we must have settled in our minds is, who are the members of the church to be? Once we see that the members are to be those who make and maintain a credible profession of faith, then we must ask, what are the qualities or marks of a credible profession of faith? God’s word is our standard. Our confession of faith does a fine job of summing up the teaching of Holy Scripture. Brothers and sisters, we need to have these truths straight in our minds. We need to hold to these truths with conviction. And we must be willing to act upon these convictions out of love for God, Christ, the church he has purchased with his blood, and one another. May the Lord help us. Amen.
