Voddie Baucham - Why Church Membership Matters

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Well, this morning, if you will open your bibles with
me to the Book of Ephesians, we will take a
brief excursion in the midst of a hiatus. If you'll remember,
we started with the first six chapters of Daniel and
then paused there and went to the first five chapters

(00:22):
of Revelation, then put a pin there to come back
and finish Daniel. We still have a couple more chapters
left to go in that, but before we go back
and finish our time with Daniel and then get back
to Revelation, we take this break today in view of
our conference to address this issue of membership in the

(00:45):
local body, and to do so from a passage of
scripture that is very familiar. And as we've said on
many occasions, that is one of the most dangerous statements
that we can ever make, that a passage of is
very familiar, because the more familiar we are with a text,

(01:06):
the more likely we are to make assumptions, and the
more likely we are to make assumptions, the more likely.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
We are to be very very wrong.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
Amen, how many times in our course of reading the
scriptures do we come across a passage of scripture that's
very familiar? To you, and you don't even look down
as we read. You're sort of glancing up as we
read and look down as we read, and you're saying
it because it's so familiar to you. But then there
are a couple of words that are different than you remembered,

(01:41):
and then you have to stop and pause and look
back down at your Bible to pick up and make
sure that we're in the right place, because we're certain
that everybody else has messed up, because we have to
have it right in our minds. Amen not always the case,
it's never the case. It's always us it's wrong, and

(02:02):
not everyone else. And Ifhesians chapter four, we find one
of those passages of scripture that's familiar. And though there
may be instances within the paragraph that we'll read here
this last paragraph, where there are words that are different
than you remember, that's not what I mean when I

(02:23):
talk about us being wrong and our familiarity. I believe
that it is the tenor of this text, the purpose
of this text, and the broader context of this passage
of scripture that we miss because of our familiarity. So
what I want to do is just read it for you,

(02:44):
and as I read it for you just let it
rest upon you the way it normally does. And then
back up and look at the context and the tone
and the tenor of this passage of scripture, and how
it relates to the issue of church membership, which we
almost inevitably miss in this paragraph. If Esians chapter four,

(03:09):
beginning at verse twenty five, and if you have the ESV,
let's read this together. You stand with me. If you
don't have the ESV. I'm not saying that your Bible

(03:31):
is bad, it just won't work very well if.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
You read with us.

Speaker 1 (03:40):
If Esians chapter five, that chapter four, I'm sorry, beginning
at verse twenty five. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let
each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor,
for we are members of one another. Be angry and
do not sin. Do not let the sun go down
on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.

(04:04):
Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him
labor doing honest work with his own hands, so that
he may have something to share with anyone in need.
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but
only such as is good for building up as search
the occasion to those who hear, and do not grieve

(04:28):
the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed
for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath,
and anger, and clamor and slander be put away from you,
along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender hearted,
forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (04:50):
Please take your seat as we read that text. Let
me make several observations before we even begin to examine
this passage of scripture. As we read that text, it's
very familiar to us. But it's familiar to us because

(05:14):
we often apply this text almost exclusively to interpersonal relationships,
and not just any interpersonal relationships. But as we read
this text, what immediately came to your mind was the
relationship between husband and wife in the home, and the
relationship between siblings in the home. You probably didn't immediately

(05:37):
think about the relationship between members of a local congregation. Inevitably,
as we read this text, what we think about is
those relationships that we have with people outside of the
context of the local church.

Speaker 2 (05:54):
We think about.

Speaker 1 (05:55):
Those people to whom we are most closely related, because
it is those people the ones with whom we are
most closely related that we are most likely to engage
with in a manner where we have to remind.

Speaker 2 (06:10):
Ourselves of these truths. Amen.

Speaker 1 (06:15):
There's another aspect to this, though, that I believe is
a little bit off because of our familiarity. Again, not
that it's wrong to apply these truths to the way
that we relate as husband and wife, or the way
that we relate in the home as brother and sister.
I was rating, by the way on verse thirty two.

(06:37):
I was waiting to hear a lot of high pitched
voices as children heard this all too familiar. Ver, be
kind to one another. I could just see all over
the room kids going, oh, wait a minute. I know
that because if you have children and more than one,
you know Ephesians, chapter four and verse thirty two. Amen, hallelujah,

(06:59):
praise the lad Lord. All right, but there's another issue here.
As we read that, and if we just sort of
let it rest on our hearing, it comes across as
a list of things that we must do to be
good Christians, almost just pure law, just imperative after imperative

(07:27):
after imperative. And I don't know about you, but when
I read a passage like that, and there are all
these imperatives. What it forces me to do is examine
those areas in my life that are, shall we say,
not exactly in line all the time with what I'm

(07:48):
being commanded to do, or shall I just be more honest?
It shows me my sin and it doesn't give me
a lot of hope. There are a couple of ways
that you can respond to a passage like this. When
you read a passage like this and all these imperatives

(08:09):
and we hear over and over and over again the
things that we're not doing that we ought to be doing,
or the things that we are doing well wherein we
should be encouraged, there are two responses. The one response
is to be absolutely overwhelmed and crushed under the weight
of it because we can't get there from here, because
we always have to be reminded of this, because we
mess up on this one over and over and over again.

(08:33):
That's one response, and it can be discouraging. But there's
another response. I believe it's worse, and that's the response
that looks at it and goes rich young ruler, Yeah,
I did that. I'm good. That's even worse. That kind
of self righteousness, where we actually believe that there has

(08:56):
been a single day in our life where we have
done this to the degree that it's required of us.
That's dangerous, that's self righteousness. That's as far away from
the truth, I believe as we can possibly get. So

(09:17):
we don't want to fall on this side of the
road where we view this exclusively in our interpersonal relationships
outside of church membership. Nor do we want to fall
on the other side of the road, or we view
this exclusively as imperatives and law that we're supposed to

(09:37):
pull up our bootstraps and do just because we can.
So how do we look at this? I'm glad you asked.
We have to put it in its context. And once
we put it into its context, several things will become clear. One,
you'll understand what this has to do with membership of
the local church. Two, under stand that it absolutely applies

(10:03):
to those other interpersonal relationships, but not in the way
that we think different starting point. And three will understand
that this is in no way just pure law, you know,
the way we use it with our children. Let's put

(10:23):
this in context.

Speaker 2 (10:25):
First.

Speaker 1 (10:25):
Again, we're familiar with this the Book of Ephesians. The
Book of Ephesians is beautiful in many ways and for
many reasons, not least of which is its symmetry divided
right down the middle. The first three chapters, the last
three chapters. The first three chapters orthodoxy, last three chapters orthopraxy,
the first three chapters right believing, the last three chapters

(10:48):
right behaving, the first three chapters indicatives, the last three
chapters imperatives, the first three chapters Who we are in Christ,
the last three chapters how we live in light of
and because of who we are in Christ. And he
lets us know about this division at the end of
chapter three and the beginning of chapter four. Chapter three

(11:11):
ends with a doxology and an amen. Chapter four begins
with a therefore clause. So he says at the end
of chapter three, I'm closing something out, and he says
at the beginning of chapter four, I'm starting something new.
But we also see this because of the tone and
the tenor of the two halves of the letter. The

(11:33):
first half again the indicative half. For those who may
not know what this means. An indicative indicates what something is.
I'm indicating that that is our worship bulletin. That's an
indicative I'm indicating what it is. That is a worship bulletin.
Pick up the worship bulletin. That's an imperative telling me
something to do.

Speaker 2 (11:53):
Now.

Speaker 1 (11:54):
From a theological standpoint, indicatives tell us who we are
light of the finished work of Jesus Christ, who we
are because of what Christ has accomplished on our behalf.
It is a picture that points to the reality that
we don't always see and therefore must be reminded of.

(12:18):
That's the indicative side of it. The imperatives are what
we are called commanded and enabled to do because of
who we are in Christ. And if we mix these up,
if we don't understand the difference between the indicative and
the imperative, then we will look at the indicatives as

(12:38):
though they are something that we are called to accomplish
in and of ourselves, which is works righteousness, which is
the absolute opposite of the truth of the Gospel. Or
if all we have is the indicatives and no imperatives,
that leads us to a sort of antinomianism, as though

(13:00):
Christ's righteousness in us is not real, bears no fruit,
makes no difference, brings about no change.

Speaker 2 (13:12):
So both of these are important.

Speaker 1 (13:15):
An example, the classic example of finding the indicatous and
the imperatives together, I believe as there in Philippians too,
flipping shoot twelve, work out your old salvation and fear
and trembling. It's one of the scariest passages in the
entire Bible. I say one of because there's others that

(13:35):
are scarier. I could give you a list, but I won't.
But that's scary. Work out your salvation with fear and driven.
That just scary, and it even has fear and trembling
in it. And it's an imperative. So does that mean
that the Christian life is live like this? What's the

(13:55):
next verse? Where it is God who works in us
both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
There's the indicative, there's the indicative, And in Ephesians we
find it first half and then second half. Our text
today comes in the second half of the letter. So
in order to understand its significance, we have to understand

(14:17):
a little bit about the first half of the letter.
Bear with me for a moment. In the first half
of the letter, I believe what we have is a
series of three overarching indicatives that help us understand the
entire letter to the Ephesians. At the end of each chapter,
there's a sort of crescendo, if you will, and we

(14:40):
get this picture of the overarching indicative that's given in
that chapter. Look with me, for example, at the end
of chapter one and verse twenty two, and he put
all things under his feet and gave him Christ as
head over all things to the Church, which is his body,

(15:02):
the fullness of him Christ, who fills all in all.
So here's a picture of Christ's headship over his church.
Christ is the head of his church, and that's one
of the main overarching indicatives in the Book of Ephesians.
Christ is the head of his church. If you want
to understand the imperatives in the second half, understand this

(15:23):
first and foremost, Christ is the head.

Speaker 2 (15:24):
Of his church.

Speaker 1 (15:25):
Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord.
Why because Christ is the head of his church.

Speaker 2 (15:35):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (15:38):
Look at the end of chapter two, beginning of verse nineteen.
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but
you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of
the household of God. Look you this language household of

(16:00):
God built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.
So we got household build foundations, Christ Jesus himself being
the cornerstone household build foundation, cornerstone and whom the whole
structure being joined together grows into. Now we go from
language about a dwelling where people live, to language about

(16:23):
a spiritual dwelling being built together into a dwelling place
for God by the Spirit. So we have Christ's headship
over his body. Now we see a picture of unity
in Christ's body. One Lord, one Faith, one baptism, one
God and Father all. That's how chapter four begins. Unity, unity, unity, unity.

(16:50):
Christ is head over his body. And the next major
indicative is this unity in Christ's body that is being
brought about by the Spirit. That's the work that the
Spirit is doing. He is calling out, bringing together and
unifying Christ's body. And then at the end of chapter
three there is this great crescendo that ends it all.

(17:14):
Now to him who is able to do far more
abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the
power at work within us, according to the power at
work within us, according to the power at work within us,
to Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus,
throughout all generations, forever and ever, Amen, there's glory that

(17:35):
the body gives to its head. So we have Christ
and his headship over his body. We have the unity
in Christ's body, and then there is this glory that
the body gives to its head. I believe that those
three main overarching indicatives helped to put the rest of
the Book of Ephesians in context, and especially our paragraph

(18:00):
with me to our paragraph beginning in verse twenty five.
And there's a couple of things that I want to
show you. One, I want you to see this in
light of the indicatives in the first half of the letter.
But I also want you to see that if you're
like me, and as you read here, you missed indicatives
here in the second half. In the first half, it's indicatives, indicatives, indicatives, indicatives.

(18:24):
And you would think in the second half we just
get imperatives, right, No, we actually get imperatives and more indicatives. Therefore,
having put away falsehood, it is a therefore put away falsehood.
Therefore having put away falsehood, pointing to the paragraph before,

(18:46):
there's a picture there of what has happened to us
because we are in Christ. You have put away falsehood,
because you're in Christ. You don't put away falsehoods so
that you can be in Christ. If you could put
away falsehoods so that you could be in Christ, why
would you need to be in Christ. You have put
away falsehood because you're in Christ. This is indicative. This

(19:08):
is who we are. We are not people of falsehood.
Because we are in Christ. All things have passed away,
new things have come. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let
each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor,
for we are members of one another. There's another indicative.

(19:29):
It's not just speak the truth. Speak the truth, don't
tell lies. Speak the truth, don't tell lies. Is that
true that we should speak the truth.

Speaker 2 (19:37):
And not tell lies. Yes?

Speaker 1 (19:38):
Absolutely, we shouldn't bear false witness. Amen, Hollelujah, Praise the Lord.
Don't lie? Can you do that? I can't do that.
I'm a liar, newsflash, you are too. And if you
just thought, no, I'm not, that.

Speaker 2 (19:58):
Was a lie. But watch what he does here.

Speaker 1 (20:06):
Therefore, having put away falsehood, Okay, number one, Lying is
inconsistent with who you are in Christ.

Speaker 2 (20:17):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (20:19):
Lying is inconsistent with the reality of who you are
in Christ. Let each one of you speak the truth
to his neighbor. For we are members of one another,
because we belong to each other. So watch remember what
I said about these indicatives. They tell us who we
are in Christ. They empower us and motivate us. That's

(20:43):
what's just happened here. Who are you? You're one who's
put away falsehood. You've put away falsehood because of who
Christ is in you. Therefore, speak the truth with your neighbor. Why,
because we are members of one another, we belong to
one another. Newsflash, I have been to Christ, and because
I've been united to Christ, I've been united to you

(21:05):
as my brother and or sister in Christ. If I'm
united to Christ, number one, i am no longer a
man of falsehood. I've been transformed into a man who's
put away falsehood. But even beyond that, because you are
a member of Christ and also a member of me,
as we are both in Christ, to lie to you

(21:28):
is to lie to the one who bought me. We
belong to each other. We belong to each other, folks.
This is church membership. Now are there implications here for

(21:49):
family life and so forth? Yeah, yes there are, But
don't put the emfascists on the wrong salable. This is
not true because it quote unquote works in family life.
This works in family life because it's true. And note
when I say works in family life, I'm using that

(22:10):
because it works semantically. Okay, I'm not using that pragmatically.
If you do this right here, your family life will
be all squared away.

Speaker 2 (22:19):
Newsflash.

Speaker 1 (22:21):
If you go home today and don't lie to each other,
you're still gonna be dysfunctional.

Speaker 2 (22:30):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (22:31):
There's only ever been one family that wasn't dysfunctional. That
was Adam and Eve, and they invented dysfunction. We belong
to each other, the least one as you speak the
truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one
of them. He noticed, He says with his neighbor, this
is about our membership. Now, this doesn't mean that we

(22:53):
can go lying to everyone else with impunity. But understand
the context. This is about Christ's headship over his body,
unity in Christ's body, and the glory that the body
gets to its head, and it brings glory to Christ.

Speaker 2 (23:09):
When we live with one another in this way.

Speaker 1 (23:11):
Then he says, be angry, and do not sin, Do
not let the sun go down on your anger. We
read that, and we always apply that to husband and wife,
don't we If you can't say amen, you ought to
say out.

Speaker 2 (23:22):
We do.

Speaker 1 (23:23):
We read that and we always apply it to husband
and wife. Don't let the sun go down on your
anger because husband and wife, you know, they sleep in
the same room, they sleep in the same bed, so
you know, before you go to bed, make sure that
if you're angry, that you know you reconcile. Don't go
to bed angry. Okay, don't go to bed angry. That's

(23:44):
it's not a bad idea. It's not what the text says.
Remember the context. This is membership in the Body of Christ.
This is us being united to one another in the church.
So this is again I'm not saying that you ought
to go to bed angry with your spouse, or that

(24:05):
you ought to go to bed, you know, not having
dealt with and reconciled with your spouse.

Speaker 2 (24:10):
Now I'm not saying that at all.

Speaker 1 (24:12):
But what I am saying is that the picture that's
being painted here is that we don't let the sun
go down on our anger between one another as fellow
members in a covenant body. It's not just true for
you and your wife, that's true for you and me too,

(24:33):
and you and him, and you and her and you,
And it's true for us who belonged to one another
here in the body of Christ. Why is it look
at this, be angry and do not sin, Do not
let the sun go down on your anger, and give
no opportunity to the devil.

Speaker 2 (24:58):
To do? What to do?

Speaker 1 (25:01):
What to establish bitterness and distance between us? Because we
don't keep short accounts? Why because we belong to one another?

Speaker 2 (25:16):
Amen?

Speaker 1 (25:18):
And because we belong to Christ. Because that's not who
we are. This is about membership. This is about how
people in a body deal with one another. But you
know what we do. Oftentimes what we say is that's fine.

(25:38):
I just won't deal with him. I just won't deal
with her. There's plenty other people in the church. You
ever heard your pikitou. I've broken mind on a number

(25:59):
of And you know what doesn't matter how big and
strong you are. If you break your pinkito, walking is
extremely difficult and all the rest of your body. What
you say is, that's okay, I'll just put my weight elsewhere.

(26:23):
Then what happens You start getting cramps in other muscles
in your body because you've changed your gait in.

Speaker 2 (26:31):
Order to not put weight on your pinkitou.

Speaker 1 (26:35):
And so now your other members are being affected because
of that one small part of your body. Do you
think for a moment that you, as a member of
the Body of Christ, can harbor anger and bitterness toward

(26:57):
another member of the Body of Christ and just bypass them,
circumvent them, go somewhere else.

Speaker 2 (27:06):
And that never.

Speaker 1 (27:08):
Resurface as a problem. We belong to one another. This
is about Christ's headship over his body. This is about
the unity in Christ's body and the glory that the
body gets to its head. Our desire is that Christ

(27:31):
be glorified.

Speaker 2 (27:33):
Then look at this one.

Speaker 1 (27:35):
It's always interesting because this is the one when we
try to make this just about interpersonal relationships, this is
the one that gets really difficult. It's really hard to
kind of, you know, apply this one. Let the thief
no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest
work with his own hands, so that he might have
something to share with anyone in need. All a sad

(27:59):
agent that doesn't fit the marriage thing. Real well, if
this is just about you know, if this is just
about how we do marriage, we're gonna get to marriage.
And by the way, when we get the marriage in
the the the the next parent in the next chapter.
In the next chapter, what does he do? He points
back to those indicatives in the first half. He points
it back to the Gospel. He points it back to

(28:20):
who we are in Christ. We're gonna get to that.
Do these things apply in a marriage relationship? Yes they do,
But if we try to force that on this text,
this one right here doesn't. Let that doesn't fit. By
the way, husband, if you're stealing from your wife, you
need to I just you know, you don't get that
one a whole lot. You don't get the couple sitting

(28:44):
down before the marriage counselor mister and missus Jones, how
can I help you?

Speaker 2 (28:52):
He steals my things? Okay, I just have to ask.

Speaker 1 (29:02):
You because it'll make a difference in how we sort
of approach this.

Speaker 2 (29:08):
Which which things disease? Okay, Let.

Speaker 1 (29:16):
Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor. Yeah,
if I'm stealing, what am I doing? Stealing is me
illegitimately making use of something that belongs to you. But
it belongs to you because of your labor. So you've labored,

(29:38):
and I'm illegitimately benefiting from your labor. By the way,
you're a member of the Body of Christ, so whatever
you have comes from Christ.

Speaker 2 (29:50):
I am not only.

Speaker 1 (29:51):
Benefiting from your labor illegitimately, but I'm also saying that
God does not know how to distribute goods among his people,
and I can do better. He says, don't do that,
but instead labor with your hands, and then this phrase,
so that you might have something to share with anyone

(30:11):
in need. What's the opposite of me illegitimately be benefiting
from the labor of another member of the Body of Christ.
What's the opposite of that? Me laboring so that I
have excess, so that when there are other members of
the Body of Christ, they can benefit from my labor.
But not illegitimately, very legitimately, because I'm more than willing

(30:32):
to give.

Speaker 2 (30:33):
Why.

Speaker 1 (30:34):
Because we belong to one another. Do you see how
church membership is the only way that these things fit
and makes sense. It's because we belong to one another.
It's because of covenant membership. By the way, this does
not fit if we're just talking about the universal church.

(30:55):
David can't borrow my stuff. No, my King, David, He's
he's gone. You can't borrow my stuff. Okay, others who
have gone on before, those who I don't, whom I
don't know that This doesn't work there, And it's definitely
not just in general with everyone who's out there. The
context here forces us to look at it in church membership.

(31:20):
But in church membership, in a local body where we
know one another, where we know who members are, this
doesn't make sense in another context. This only works if
we are supposed to be members of a local church,
accountable to a local church, and in covenant with one another.

(31:41):
Otherwise it doesn't work. It doesn't fit. Look at the
next part of this, This is another one that we put.
Now we get into the siblings. The first part of
that we talk about marriage, and then there's that little
inconvenient stealing passage, and then we get talking about siblings.

(32:01):
So generally, here's where we get to talking to our
children about the way they relate to one another. Okay,
that first part we take and we go marriage, and
then that second part we kind of go, yeah, don't
know what to do with that, And then that last
part we go to siblings. Let no corrupting talk come
out of your mouths. That corrupting talk. By the way,
it's corrosive. Think about what acid does and how acid corrodes.

(32:25):
Let nothing come out of your mouth that corrodes like acid.
That's very important. By the way, that no corrupting talk
come out of your mouths, but only such as it's
good for building up. By the way, did we hear
some building language earlier? We heard building language in chapter two.
The first major indicative is Christ to his head over

(32:46):
his body. That second major indicative is this unity in
the body as the spirit is building the body up.
So we've heard this building language before. So now don't
speak words that are corrosive like acid. Acid destroys. Instead,
you're to speak words that build. The Spirit of God

(33:09):
is building the church as fits the occasion that it
may give grace to those who hear.

Speaker 2 (33:15):
And then here's the first that's so difficult for us
to interpret. What does this mean?

Speaker 1 (33:21):
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by
whom you were sealed for the day of redemption?

Speaker 2 (33:26):
What does it mean?

Speaker 1 (33:27):
How do you grieve the spirit? Really simple when you
put it in context. Who's the one building the body?

Speaker 2 (33:37):
The spirit?

Speaker 1 (33:38):
You're speaking words that are like acid destroying. What the
spirit is building. You're grieving the Spirit in his work
of building this body as he redeems us and brings
us to Christ, unites us with Christ, and unites us
with one another. Of course, it's grievous to the Spirit

(33:59):
of God when we are tearing down that which he's building.
Why because we belong to one another. We belong to
one another. This is a beautiful thing. If Christ is

(34:25):
my head and yours, and if we are unified because
we both belong to Christ, and if it brings much
glory to Christ as we're conformed to his image, then
as I speak words to you that builds you, I

(34:49):
am being used by God to accomplish his work of
bringing glory and honor to the one who died to
redeem both you and me. That's a beautiful thing. This
is not just about us enduring each other. This is

(35:14):
about us building each other. That my desire for you,
that your desire for me would be that the other
would be conformed to the image of Christ, and that
our words would have a building impact in that regard

(35:37):
that This is not about manipulating people, by the way,
That's not what the text is talking about here. This
is what the spirit is doing. This is not about
me manipulating you so that you like me more. This
is about my desire for Christ. This is about me
being transformed. This is about the one who redeemed me,
being foremost in my heart and.

Speaker 2 (35:58):
In my mind and in my my desires.

Speaker 1 (36:01):
And when I know that you belong to him, my
greatest desire, as you would bring him much glory, that
he would have the full reward for.

Speaker 2 (36:10):
Which he laid down his life.

Speaker 1 (36:17):
Finally, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor
and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
And then here's the verse. Kids, Can we say this together,
be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as
God in Christ forgave you. I just just confess to

(36:45):
having blown it on a number of occasions with my
own children and my use of this, because I think
that's the best way for us to understand how we
misuse this verse, which I believe will open our eyes
to the whole point of this message.

Speaker 2 (37:09):
Johnny's unconverted. Johnny doesn't know Christ.

Speaker 1 (37:16):
Johnny and Susie are like oil and water, and it's
just constant. And I look at Johnny and I say
Johnny Ephesians four thirty two, and Johnny says, head down,
be kind to one another. By the way, Johnny generally
is not going to finish the rest of the verse

(37:36):
because Johnny doesn't know all the verse. But Johnny just
knows to be kind to one another. He puts his
head down, be kind to one another. The head down
means I failed again. I wasn't kind. I gotta do better.
I need to do better. I need to be kind
to Susie. You know what the problem is with that,

(37:58):
be kind to one another, tender heart, forgiving one another,
as God in Christ also forgave you. My ability to
forgive is contingent upon my having been forgiven. It is
a byproduct of what Christ has done in me. To
tell little Johnny to just be kind to his sister
as pure law is basically saying, Johnny, you can do

(38:19):
in and of yourself that which only Christ can produce
through his death, burial, and resurrection. You don't need Jesus
to save you. You just need to try harder. You know,
the worst thing that can happen to little Johnny is

(38:40):
that he succeeded. That's the worst thing in the world
that could happen to little Johnny is that he walk
around thinking that he did Ephesians four point thirty two
as an unconverted child who does not know Christ.

Speaker 2 (39:02):
So is this off the table? No? How could I
do that without doing to think? What it's got to be?
Off the table? Pastor?

Speaker 1 (39:12):
No? It doesn't. Yeah, I mean it does because I can't.
I mean, how what else am I gonna do?

Speaker 2 (39:17):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (39:18):
Maybe this, Johnny the fet four thirty two, be kind
to one another. The rest of it, tender hearting, tender hearted,
forgiving each other is God in Christ also forgave you. Johnny,
do you know why you're unforgiving towards your sister? Because

(39:38):
you desperately need forgiveness that can only come from God
and you haven't received it. Do you know what your
attitude towards your sister ought to remind you of, Johnny,
that you need Christ, that you're not saved, and you
need to be same verse, completely different theology. This theology

(40:04):
says Johnny, I want to remind you that you just
showed the fruit. They are not saved. The other one says, Johnny,
I want to remind you you're not working quite hard
enough because if you were, you would be righteous by
your own works apart from Christ. Two completely different theologies

(40:28):
from the exact same verse. Now, we don't give up
on the imperatives. We just root them in the indicatives.
And Johnny's got to be reminded of all of this stuff.
But every time Johnny's reminded of it, and it gets
tiring to remind Johnny of it, But every time we

(40:49):
remind him of it. What we remind him of is
this desperate need for Christ to be formed in him,
his desperate need to come to repentance and faith. It's
desperate need to not be who he is but to
be somebody else, and his inability to become that somebody else.
But the fact that he doesn't have to become that
somebody else in and of himself, because Christ died that sinners,

(41:14):
through their repentance and faith, might become new creatures in Christ.

Speaker 2 (41:19):
And here's the news flash.

Speaker 1 (41:21):
It's the same with you and your wife, and it's
the same with you and your fellow members in this body.

(41:42):
I'm angry with him, I'm angry with her. Forget By
the way, newsflash, forgiveness doesn't mean that you forget human
beings were not made to forget. When human beings forget,
that means they're malfunctioning. You either have Alzheimer's or you
took a blow to the head. We weren't made to forget.

(42:07):
That's not what forgiveness is. In fact, the beauty of
forgiveness is seen more clearly in the fact that we
don't forget. You know what forgiveness is. Forgiveness says Oh,
I remember it, but I relinquish every right that I
have to retribution against you. That's forgiveness. That's forgiveness. And

(42:33):
why can we do that because we're forgiven. That's why
I'm unable to do that. I'm empowered to do that,
and I'm reminded to do that because I am forgiven
in Christ. Otherwise, here's what I'm saying. If it's a believer,
here's what I'm saying to the believer. I know Jesus

(42:54):
died for that sin, and that's enough for the Father,
but it ain't enough for me. I need you to
experience the discomfort of my anger and my ire toward
you in addition to christ death on the cross. Yeah,
it's satisfied the Father's wrath, but not mine. That's what
you say to a believer whom you won't forgive. By

(43:19):
the way, it's not all that better for an unbeliever.
You know what you say to an unbeliever whom you
won't forgive. You are going to die and spend eternity
in hell for your sin against a holy and righteous God.
And that's enough for God. But it's not enough for me.
You need eternity in hell plus my nasty looks. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

(43:45):
I'm sure that'll fix it. That can't be our response
because when we're reminded that God in Christ has forgiven us,
here's what we're reminded of. Whatever you did to me

(44:05):
pales in comparison to what was nailed to the cross
on my behalf.

Speaker 2 (44:13):
How dare I not forgive.

Speaker 1 (44:16):
You? See how you connect the indicatives and the imperatives.
It's a beautiful thing. These imperatives are still here. They're
still here, they haven't gone anywhere. They're still important. But
why are they important? Because if we try hard enough,
we can do them. No, no, no, they're important because
they point us again and again and again to the
fact that we are redeemed, that we are united with

(44:38):
Christ because of his person and work, and that we're
united with one another because of what the Spirit is
doing to build the church, and that as we walk
in these truths, it brings much glory to our redeemer
that changes everything. Now, these imperators are not a weight

(44:58):
on our shoulders. Instead, they are actually cause for praise
for worship of the one who has worked and is
working these things in us by his grace and for

(45:19):
his glory. In a few moments, as we partake of
the Lord's Supper, let us all be reminded in the
broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ, of the
forgiveness that we have received, of the union that we
have with Christ, and of our union that we have

(45:44):
with one another. Because of these seminal truths, I belong
to you, You belong to me, because we belong.

Speaker 2 (46:04):
To Christ. Let's pray