YOU and GOD

A prominent evangelical leader—Al Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville—indicted today’s churches with the following alarming evaluation: “The decline of church discipline is perhaps the most visible failure of the contemporary church.”

When was the last time you remember a church exercising this scriptural mandate?
Discipline is never joyous at the time, whether when a parent must exercise discipline toward a disobedient child, or a teacher toward a student, or a civil authority upon a delinquent citizen, or—God forbid—a church upon a wayward saint who is a member of His Body, serving in and through a local body, a church.

1. The precept of church discipline is based on scriptural injunctions. Old Testament Israelites, in covenant with their creator God, were given commandments regulating their diet, dress, and demeanor. To ignore these distinct directives was to jeopardize one’s standing as part of God’s family—and, in severe instances, even one’s life. In the New Testament economy, as God instructed His people about their walk and worship, the precept of discipline is inculcated into His Word. There are many examples of this, including Paul’s guidance to the church at Rome concerning those in that body who were causing “divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned…avoid them.” (Romans 16:17ff.)
2. The purpose of discipline was for the good and spiritual well-being of the local assembly and for the spiritual reclaiming of the wayward worshipper. James put it this way: “If any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” (James 5:19,20) The death James alludes to in this passage is the sin unto death of which John spoke in his first epistle, where he mentioned that there is sin unto death (which a brother can sin) and sin not unto death.” (I John 5:16-18)
3. The people of church discipline, then, are people living in open, flagrant sin that not only endangers their own well-being but puts in jeopardy the testimony and the validity of the whole body of believers. Paul wrote to the church at Corinth (I Cor. 5) reprimanding them because they had tolerated and ignored the fact that one of their members was living in immorality (the awfulness of which even unbelievers condemned); yet the church had become “puffed up” about the situation, rather than mournful about it, evidently “proud” of the exercise of the supposed “liberty” that they were embracing.

4. The practice of church discipline, therefore, was established in epistles that apostles wrote, and also in the explicit teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ when teaching the apostles, who would become the foundation of the Church that He had promised He would build. (Matt. 16:18) In Matthew 18:15ff., Jesus sets forth clearly the steps in the practice of disciplining members of the local assembly who were walking disorderly.
5. The pattern of church discipline can be observed in how Jesus told His followers to deal with a conflict between two estranged brothers. He told the offended brother to go to the offender and explain to him how he had been offended; if no resolution occurs through that meeting, he is go to a second time—this time with one or two members of the church accompanying him. Finally, if this meeting proves unfruitful in bringing about a resolution, he is to take the matter to the church (through proper channels, beginning with the pastor/elders). (Matt.18:15-18) The essence of this pattern or procedure was reiterated by Paul when he instructed the Corinthian church in how to deal with the member there who was living a life of reproach.
6. The purity of the local assembly is at stake. Al Mohler, quoted above, went on to say: “The absence of church discipline is no longer remarkable—it is generally not even noticed. Regulative and restorative church discipline is, to many church members, no longer a meaningful category, or even a memory. The present generation of both ministers and church members is virtually without experience of biblical church discipline.” One might ask then: “Is today’s church known for its purity or for its tolerance of just about any aberrant behavior?”
7. The peace that the practice of church discipline can afford is immeasurable in its benefits. Paul told the Galatians that if a brother was “overtaken” in a fault, one of the members in tune with God’s Spirit might, in meekness, when going to the brother, be used of God to restore the wayward member. (Gal. 6:1) Again, in his second letter to the Corinthian church, Paul intimates that the discipline that he had urged the church to exercise upon the fallen brother (I Cor. 5) had been successful in reaching its desired end; and now the brother, having repented, should be “forgiven…comforted… and confirmed” in love. (II Cor. 2:5-11)
8. Finally, a word about the pitfalls of church discipline. When exhorting the Galatian church about restoring a brother who had been overtaken in fault, Paul instructed that someone who was “spiritual” should approach the brother “in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” (Gal. 6:1) The ever-lurking monster of pride must be guarded against as one of the common pitfalls prevalent in our watch-care of one another.

As a pastor for most of my adult life, it was the unhappy duty on a few occasions to lead our church in the exercise of Biblical, local-church discipline. Some produced the desired effect; some, sadly, did not. To all pastors, I would encourage you with these words: if people visit your church from another local assembly, be sure to make a courtesy call to the pastor of the church they have belonged to. That pastor might inform you that your visitors have been disciplined by the church they are leaving. You must honor that disciplinary action. Encourage them to return to their church and, if possible, resolve problems there biblically. This is not always done. One more word from Dr. Mohler: “The contemporary church sees itself as a voluntary association of autonomous members, with minimal moral accountability to God, much less to each other.” Selah.

“Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide the multitude of sins.” (James 5:19,20)

Before and after pictures are always fascinating to me.

You know—like the ones you see in the newspapers or magazines; or, more commonly now, on commercials for diets, plastic surgery, or hair replacement.

The Word of God gives us a striking picture of a “before and after” of an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.

His name is Matthew, aka Levi, son of Alphaeus.

We have some insight into his life before and after his meeting with Jesus.

This study of God’s Word of this converted Jew will yield spiritual profit.

1.  Matthew before he met Jesus.

➢ He, like all the apostles, was a Jew.

➢ He was familiar with the Old Testament, quoting from it more than any other gospel writer and citing passages from the Torah, the poetic books and the prophets.

➢ He was looking for the Messiah.

➢ He was also known as “Levi” (the house of the “priestly order,” set apart for worship).

➢ He was from Capernaum, located on the northern end of the Sea of Galilee, an important east-west trade town—visited by travelers from Mesopotamia; sheiks from desert oases, artisans from the east, and entrepreneurs from Rome. Roman roads made travel to and from there possible. When Jesus was rejected by Nazareth, He made His “base of operations” Capernaum, where He did much of His teaching and healing. (Mark 1:33,34)

➢ He was a tax-collector, a “publican,” employed by and for Rome.

• These were known as “leeches.”
• None were detested more by the Jews than tax collectors. A common saying among Jews: “Take not a wife out of that family wherein is a publican, for they are all thieves, robbers and harlots.”
• They were cut off from family, friends, country, and the synagogue.
• When publicans came to John the Baptist, asking him what they could do, he answered them, “Exact no more than that which is appointed you.” (Luke 3:12,13)

2.  Matthew at the time he met Jesus, Matt. 9:9-13.

➢ Jesus met Matthew where he was (He found him!).

➢ Jesus gave him a simple command: “Follow me.”

• He was not commanded or asked to quit anything.
• He did not ask him to make any promises.
• He did not lecture Matthew on the evils of what he was doing. “You don’t quit something and then believe; you believe and then quit.”
• Matthew knew he needed Christ; he knew he couldn’t help himself; he knew what he was doing would never bring satisfaction; he repented—had a change of mind—and believing, followed Jesus.  

3.  Matthew after he met Jesus.

➢ He was an obedient follower, Matt. 9:9.

➢ He was a dedicated follower, cf. Luke 5:28. (He left his job, his high paying position, but, thankfully he kept his pen!).

➢ Matthew, in his gospel, systematized the Sermon on the Mount; Jesus’ parables on the kingdom; and the teaching about the second coming of Christ. He gave us the genealogy of Jesus through Joseph.

➢He was an enthused follower of the Lord Jesus, Luke 5:29. In Mark 2:15ff. it says Matthew gave a dinner to Jesus, the disciples, and “publicans and sinners.” Three times “publicans and sinners” are mentioned as being present at the meal—they were, no doubt, the only friends Matthew had at that time.

➢ He was a faithful follower of Jesus, Matt. 10:3. He will receive that which Jesus promised in Matthew 19:29: “Everyone that hath forsaken houses or brethren or sisters or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundred fold, and shall inherit everlasting life.”

Despised as he once was by contemporary Jews, Matthew—by the grace, mercy, and love of God—will have his name inscribed on one of the twelve foundations of the New Jerusalem. (Rev. 21:14) Tradition records that he was burned at the stake. In his prominent place as a tax collector in Capernaum, he heard much of the miracles and of the messages of Jesus of Nazareth. On that day that Jesus stopped where Matthew was sitting at the receipt of custom, when Jesus simply said to this son of Alphaeus, “Follow Me,” Matthew “arose and followed Him,” and never looked back.

He was never one of the inner circle of His master; never was he out front or the first to speak up. But his mind never stopped rehearsing and recording what Jesus did and said; and, at the right time, Matthew took up his pen and wrote a book designed especially to appeal to his Jewish brethren in an attempt to once and for all prove to them that Jesus of Nazareth—by His birth, His life, and His death—fulfilled every Old Testament prophecy of this One who presented Himself as sent from God to those who sat in darkness and the shadow of death spoken of by the prophet Isaiah centuries before His coming—by the sea, beyond Jordan to Galilee of the Gentiles, to proclaim “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 4:12-17)

“And as He passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed Him.” (Mark 2:14)

Evangelical churches are generally known by their desire to evangelize the unevangelized world; that is, to send missionaries into all the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ, in obedience to Christ’s command (Matt. 28:18-20). Then, when people who hear the gospel accept Christ, the missionary will endeavor to lead the convert into baptism, church membership, and then into a systematic discipleship program, grounding new believers in the doctrines taught in the Bible. All of this is done in the context of a local church ministry, as the church is the pillar and ground of the truth. (I Tim.3:15)

The goal of world mission endeavors originating in and mothered by a local church is the birthing of churches of like precious faith, churches that will in time—through teaching—become indigenous local assemblies; that is, bodies that are self-supporting, self-governing, and self-propagating. “To the uttermost part of the world” is the scope of this aggressive outreach that every local New Testament church has as its eventual goal. (Acts 1:8)

The part of “indigenous” that sometimes becomes a thorny issue—that of self-governing—has caused some unique challenges in the everyday, week after week, life of the local church.

Self-governing means that each local assembly, directed by the Holy Spirit through prayer and a consensus of the body, calls its own pastor, sends missionaries by action of the local church, and determines for itself what, when, and how the church, under the Headship and leadership of the Lord Jesus Christ, will conduct its worship and outreach without any directives from a “denominational” headquarters. Each local New Testament church, beginning with the first church in Jerusalem serving as a model (see Acts 15), governs its own affairs by Christ Jesus through the Spirit, led by an overseer—a bishop/pastor.

The earliest missions outreach, as set forth in Acts 13 and 14, was the result of the Holy Spirit directing the Antioch church to send forth two men whom the Spirit had set apart for service. These first missionaries were thrust out into missions ministries to start churches wherever people would accept Christ and gather together around Bible doctrine as taught by Paul and Barnabas in the earliest days of the Church. It should not be missed that, in many of these towns, Paul and his missionary companion not only led people to Christ but instituted Bible-doctrine classes, enrolling truth-thirsty new converts into a crash-course of New Testament teachings. Remarkably, in many of these cities, “elders—pastors” were “ordained” to lead the local flocks. That, at its core, was and is New Testament missions.

“Elders” were set apart, trained and left to be under shepherds of these baby churches. Later, in the epistles, Paul specified those who were delegated assignments in the church, and who were gifted by the Holy Spirit to execute their work responsibilities. (I Tim. 3) Peter, in his first epistle, addresses the elders as ones who were to “feed the flock” and to take the “oversight” thereof. These elders, pastors, bishops were called and equipped to do the work of the ministry, the bulk of which was to labor in the Word, teaching and preaching the whole counsel of God.

Early in the book of Acts, deacons were appointed, set apart in the local church, to “serve tables.” Qualifications for deacons were spiritual (I Tim. 3:8-14); there is no indication that they were to do anything but serve though. The work of a deacon was (is) to minister to the physical, temporal needs of those in the church who may, due to circumstances, find themselves in need of special assistance. Widows would be an example of those who, in some congregations, would need extra assistance in daily needs for food, shelter, watch care. There is not, in the New Testament, anything that would lend itself to the current, common mode of thinking that the duties of pastors and deacons are sometimes, somehow blended; and that deacons, if there is no pastor, can function as pastors. In extreme (yet not uncommon) instances, deacons sometimes feel that their “gift” to the church is that of assuming the duties of a pastor, that is, taking on pastoral responsibilities. This is unscriptural in any setting, in any church, whether the church has or does not have a pastor.

Pastors lead by the Spirit and at the direction of the Head, Jesus Christ; deacons serve as in “serving tables.” (Acts 6:1-5) The pastors give themselves over “continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the Word.” Too often, these Biblical roles are mingled. Pastors sometimes feel they need to “micromanage” every detail of the Body life; and, too often, deacons get the idea that their calling is tantamount to being an “assistant pastor.” This is not to say, though, that godly deacons cannot be an invaluable help to their pastor—by lifting his load of temporal cares, and by wise, thoughtful, and scriptural counsel.

The confusing and unscriptural mixing of ministries will cause dissension, division, and, if not corrected, the eventual death of what might have once been a great church. Any pastor who is blessed by the counsel, fellowship, prayers, and loyalty of a servant-deacon is a pastor whose ministry will flourish, as will the church that God has called him to lead.

No member, nor any visitor to any local church, should ever leave a service wondering, “Who’s in charge here?” Pastors, elders, and bishops are called and gifted to teach, preach, and lead the flock of God. Deacons are servers who do not have any “power,” either stated or implied. Happy and healthy is the local church that understands these distinctions in principle and in practice. Selah.

“And He gave some…pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” (Eph. 4:11,12)

The 12 men who uniquely lived and labored with Jesus of Nazareth for the duration of his 42-month public ministry are the subjects of this series on the Apostles.

They were holy men, yet not hallowed. They were good and godly men, yet men of passions and prejudices as men of today are.

They were convinced by and committed to the words and works of Jesus the Messiah.

They ultimately paid the supreme price for their faith and following of Jesus by dying a martyr’s death.

Of some of them, much us written; and of some, very little.

They were, for the most part, called one by one and sent out two by two.

They came from varying walks of life. And, though they possessed wide-ranging differences, one characteristic was common to all—they were to a man (with one exception) driven by devotion to Jesus Christ—a devotion that made them capable of any sacrifice.

They became the foundation of the Church that Jesus built and is building, Himself being the chief cornerstone.

Their messages and their ministries continue to touch lives world-wide today. When we study the Apostles, we learn not only of them but also of ourselves. We often see ourselves in them—their weaknesses are ours; their desires are ours, their faith and their frailties, most of us can easily identify with.

As we continue this study, our subject in this installment is a man introduced in John’s Gospel, chapter 1, verse 45:

1. His Identity

► Nathanael, “gift of God.” He was from Cana in Galilee.
► Nathanael was his common name; Bartholomew was a patronym. He was a son of Tolmai. (Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:14, John 21:2)

2. His Introduction

► He was sought and found by Philip, his friend, John 1:45. (Andrew found Peter; Jesus found Philip; Philip found Nathanael)
► He was a serious student of Scriptures, having read and studied the Law.
• Gen. 3:15: the “protoevangelium.”
• Gen. 49:10: “The sceptre shall not depart out of Judah….”
• Num. 24:17: “I shall see Him…I shall behold Him…a star out of Jacob….”
► He had studied the prophets and examined the Messianic prophecies
• Re: His virgin birth, 7:14; 9:6ff.
• Re: The time of His birth, Daniel 9:27
• Re: The place of His birth, Micah 5:2
• Re: The tribe from which He would come, Matt. 1:2ff.
►He was a sincere seeker, John 1:46-49
• Philip’s declaration indicates that they had been looking for the Messiah to come
• Nathanael’s question, v. 46, is out of sincerity not contempt. He was from Galilee himself, and Jews generally had a low view of Galilee. Common saying: “If any man would be rich, let him go to Galilee; if any would be wise, let him go to Jerusalem.”
• Nazareth was looked down upon because a Roman outpost was there; it was a notorious citadel of unbelief, Matt. 13:58.

3. His Meeting with Jesus

► What Jesus said about Nathanael
• He was a true Israelite (John 1:47; cf. Romans 2:28)
• He was guileless, i.e. sincere, honest, transparent
• It was said also of Jesus, “Neither was any guile found in His mouth.” (I Pt.2:22)
(See Psalm 15 for a divine description of a guileless person)
► What Nathanael said to Jesus, John 1:48,49
• He called Him “Rabbi.”
• He said He was “the Son of God.”
• He acknowledged He was the King of Israel. His search was over, His quest was completed; His thirst was quenched!
► What Jesus Promised to Nathanael: “Greater things than these….”
• “Son of God,” v. 49—The rest of John’s Gospel would prove that in the “greater things” that are enumerated in his gospel (John 20:30,31)
• “Son of Man,” v. 51—Jesus reveals that He was also the Son of Man

4. Things learned from studying Nathanael
   • As God knew Nathanael (before Nathanael met Jesus), so He knew each of us before we met Him.
   • With God, an interrogation can at once become a declaration:
   “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?”; “Thou are the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel.” (John 1:46,49)
   • Seeking faith will not be unrewarded, John 1:45.
   • Jesus can find you and will accept you where you are just now.

“Nathanael answered and saith unto Him, Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel.” (John 1:49)

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Fifty-one years ago, Ed Christy graduated from Beech Grove High School in Beech Grove, Indiana. After graduation he found a job, and working alongside of him was a member of Thompson Road Baptist Church, at that time pastored by Dr. Fred Moritz.  One day, Dick Reed, Ed’s co-worker, invited Ed to attend services at TRBC (Thompson Road Baptist Church), and Ed responded by saying that he would one day.

Ed had attended a local mainline denominational church with his family all of his life. He was a “good person,” and had felt no need of any further religious experience.  But, remembering his promise one rather cold and snowy Sunday morning, Ed drove the short distance to the Baptist church.

It so happened that Pastor Moritz was sick on that particular Lord’s Day and the youth pastor was filling the pulpit. He preached, and while the message was going forth the Holy Spirit was doing His work in Ed Christy’s heart. He testifies that the message he heard that day was the first time he had ever heard the gospel plan of salvation. He had not had that personal experience, so when the invitation was extended, he responded by going forward to meet a personal worker, to whom he said, “I need to be saved.” And so he was. A layman knelt with him, explaining further the simple plan of salvation and encouraging him to by faith ask Jesus to forgive his sins and come into his heart. In a few moments, Ed Christy was gloriously saved. A short time later he was baptized by immersion and joined in membership to the local Baptist assembly, where for the first time ever he had heard the gospel proclaimed. But that is just the beginning.

In the course of time, Ed enrolled at Tennessee Temple University, graduating with a B.S. in Secondary Education. Then he graduated from San Francisco Baptist Theological Seminary with an M.Div. (Masters of Divinity), and finally from Bob Jones University with a Ph.D. in Old Testament. At BJU, Ed met Sylvia Carr, a graduate with a nursing degree who at the time was working on staff at the university hospital. Ed had sought the Lord’s will for a life’s partner earnestly, and year after year his friends had intensified their prayers that he would find God’s choice for him. Sylvia was a “jewel.” They have been married 39 years and have two grown children and three grandchildren, all living in France. Not by chance, Sylvia had wanted to travel with a Wilds Christian Camp team the summer that Ed met her, but her contract with the university mandated that she remain there for the duration of her commitment. So she “happened” to be there just at the time that she and her future husband would meet. God had that meeting planned and prepared in answer to the effectual, fervent prayers of His people!

When Dr. Christy was attending TTU, he was challenged in a conference for world missions. He learned from one of the speakers that France had 35,000 villages in which there was no witness for Christ. He listened carefully over time to that still, small voice of God’s Spirit speaking to his heart about taking the Good News to one or more of those villages in France. Sylvia shared that burden with her husband, so the Christys made plans to go to Europe as vocational missionaries. They were led of God to the southwestern city of Bordeaux, France, where God has used them to plant two New Testament churches in France during their 35 years of sowing, watering and reaping there.  

The work at times has been slow. When Covid-19 made its ugly appearance in France, like churches most everywhere, the in-person meetings were curtailed and “on-line” services were substituted. At the end of June, 2020, an attempt was made to resume on-site services, but the first such service had the Christys and one other person in attendance. So, back to the “virtual” services for a while longer. Not long after that, a young couple called to see if they could attend a service, and Ed said the services were on-line but that they could come to the place where he was transmitting the message if they wanted to.  They came and kept coming. They are now enrolled in the Bible Institute where Ed teaches, near Paris, and are preparing for ministry.

One Sunday morning after in-person services resumed, Ed arrived at the church site to open up and found two adolescents at the front door. When Ed asked if they were from the neighborhood they said “no,” and told him that their parents were coming. When the Dad and Mom arrived, four other children were with them, so their attendance that day swelled by eight! This family still attends, and the father has had some ministerial experience. They are, of course, a great blessing!

At present, the church is meeting in a restaurant. Buildings are hard to find and very expensive to rent. When Ed inquired about the restaurant as a meeting place, asking what the rent would be, the proprietor asked Ed what he would be willing to pay—something unheard of! The amount was agreed upon, and though not an ideal meeting place it has met a need. Now, however, with forty or fifty or more in attendance on some Sundays, it is becoming evident that a larger meeting place is an urgent need.

So, from six people on a Sunday in June of 2020, to forty or fifty people regularly in attendance, the Lord has built and blessed this church in Bordeaux. Missionary/pastor Ed Christy shakes his head and says it has really been “nothing we have done, but the Lord has just been bringing people to us.” If you are like me, you cannot help but think of that admonition in Gal. 6:9, where Paul wrote: “And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

And it all began 51 years ago when one believer extended a simple invitation to his co-worker to attend a service at his church. Think of the rewards that person will receive at the judgment seat of Christ!

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

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