Month: September 2022

           

Many consider church discipline as one of the most unpleasant acts a church can do. It is a scary thought to some as it conjures up thoughts of church councils, trials, judgment, and torture. We speak of discipling our children and most of the time we mean we have given them some sort of punishment to modify their behavior. This is not the way the Bible uses the term.

Discipline is related to disciple which in its verb form means to teach. In the noun form, it is a person who is taught. The purpose of discipline is to instruct and to correct through instruction. It is not necessarily a form of punishment. In fact, as a church exercise, discipline is not punishment at all. The goal of church discipline is always to correct, to restore to fellowship, and to bring an offender back into harmony with the Lord and his fellow church members. Thus, discipline is not considered punitive but formative.

We become confused about discipline when it must be stepped up to the next level. Sometimes we must protect the church by removing members that are involved in serious sins. We always remember that each of us is sinful, but there are some sins that are categorized as too harmful to the testimony of the body to let them go unanswered. These offenders must have their membership rescinded until they repent of their sin. There is no greater temporal judgment we can pass than to remove someone from fellowship.

We learn this biblical and effective method from Paul’s instructions to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 5. A man in the church was guilty of a sexual sin and had to be removed. Paul was concerned about the reproach on the name of Christ and how it would harm the church’s testimony. Later in 2 Corinthians, we learn the discipline worked. The man repented and was restored to fellowship. This is the expected result when a believer is confronted with his sin. If he does not repent as a response to this serious action, we are to assume he is an unbeliever. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to draw His people to Him. If this does not happen, what are we to assume but that they do not belong to Christ?

Removing members for sexual sins should not be a point of contention between us. The scriptures are clear what needs to be done. However, some offenses may not seem as serious, but they too warrant excisive discipline. We remove members for non-attendance which is often seen as an inconsequential action. It is merely procedural and does not carry the same weight as removal for other reasons. Is this true? I do not believe so.

The reason for removal does not change the eternal weight of the Lord’s most important institution. Non-attendance shows contempt for the Lord’s work. This contempt is also a sign of unbelief. We cannot love Christ if we do not love His church. The church is not helped by members that do not attend. Often, they are involved in a deep sin of which we are not aware.

Our duty is to protect our church. The Lord expects the purity of the body. Therefore, we will follow the instructions in the Bible. When we obey, we reflect the proper understanding of discipline. Christ wants only dedicated people in His church, and so do we.

                                                                        Pastor V. Mark Smith

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. (James 1:27) 

Each week, we begin with a church service, which should be indicative of our intentions to serve God faithfully throughout the week. Although we enjoy meeting for corporate worship, our service to God must not be confined to the few hours of weekly gathering. Worship is an ongoing process each day as we live out the faith of Christ in our daily lives.

The epistle of James enjoins us to have an active faith. James writes in 1:22: “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” Those that claim Christianity because they attend church and listen to preaching have not yet gone far enough to substantiate their claim. If all they do is attend and hear, and consider this enough, they are deceived about the depth of their faith. Real faith causes a Christian to actively pursue the good works that God demands from His people.   

Christ’s example is that of a faithful servant. A servant is not idle; he is always busy about his master’s work; and certainly, Jesus was not idle as every day was filled with tasks given by the Heavenly Father. He did not teach only by His words; He taught by the example of a God-centered active life. His disciples listened to His words, but they learned as much from His example as they did from His profound grasp of scripture.

The epistle of James is a great place to study the composition of real faith. James does not teach that we are saved by our works, but he emphatically makes the point that a person without good works cannot be a Christian. If Christ truly lives in the heart of the believer, the evidence of His presence cannot be suppressed. It will make itself known because the desire of every believer is to serve as Christ served. An example of this is given in the 27^th verse of the first chapter. ”Pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this…” and from there follows the examples of a living faith. Visiting orphans and widows and trying to stay out of sin is not the sum of our religion, and neither does James intend this to be a full definition of pure, undefiled faith. The point is that saving faith always demonstrates itself. It will do much more than what is mentioned in verse 27, but it will not do less.

Does this mean we must seek out orphans and go find widows or else we cannot have real faith? If this were so, then eternal life would be dependent upon orphans and widows! The gist of the message is that wherever we see those in need we must show our love for them. Your orphan or your widow may be a homeless person or a struggling person in this congregation. If you ignore their need, how have you demonstrated the life of Christ in you?

These are the kinds of considerations we must have to serve the Lord in a better way. Take your worship beyond the walls of the Berean Church. We worship God by obedience. He wants this far more than your “sacrifice of praise” if it comes from a falsely pious, cold, unconcerned heart (cp. 1 Sam. 15:22). Do your best to make each week a week of active obedience not only in attending church, but in being a beacon of the Saviour’s love in word and deed.

                                                            Pastor V. Mark Smith

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” (Psalms 32:1-2) 

            All of us are familiar with the life of David. The two major events that usually stand out about his life are the victory he had over Goliath as a very young man and the terrible sin of adultery he committed with Bathsheba after he became king. This sin only worsened as he tried to cover it up by murdering Uriah her husband. These two notable events show in the first an incredible demonstration of faith, and in the second a despicable demonstration of failure. Even though David defeated the giant Goliath, we would more remember him for his failure than his faith if not for this one important factor—God is merciful and He is always willing to forgive our sins.

            This psalm is a psalm of forgiveness. It is possible in the worst of our failures, in the deepest poverty of our sins, to find God’s forgiveness. The key is repentance. The joy of forgiveness David found was not until he uttered the words, “God, I have sinned.” It was then and only then that David was restored to happiness and fellowship with the Lord.

            The beginning of this psalm is an expression of the forgiveness found: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” “Impute” is not a word we often use but it simply means “to charge to the account of.” “Blessed is the man whose sins are not charged to him.” This statement begs further explanation. How and why does God not charge sin to a person who is as obviously guilty as David was? If God is a God of justice and true righteousness, how can He overlook sin? This is a very good question and one which has a rock solid answer rooted in the divine satisfaction of justice. God never lets sin go unpunished. Every evil deed must receive a just recompense of reward.

            If this is true, how was David granted forgiveness? The only answer is that somehow sin was punished by being meted out upon some other who bore the guilt of David’s sin. The New Testament has the answer for this: “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:20-21). This is in response to the Old Testament teaching of Isaiah 53:6:  “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” The death of Christ on the cross provided the means for double imputation without which none of us could be forgiven. Second Corinthians expresses it by saying Christ was made sin for us (our sins imputed to Him) and He is made righteousness for us (His righteousness imputed to us). This is the way God’s justice was satisfied for David’s sin and is the basis for his forgiveness. Our sins were punished in Christ and the merits of His righteous life are given to us. This all takes place by faith which was displayed by David when he recognized his sin and repented. He expected that God would do what He always promised—when there is sincere repentance, God always forgives. Later in the Psalms, David wrote: “Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalms 51:9-10). 

            Today we rejoice as David did because the same God that forgave him will also forgive us. You may have failed God deeply and you wonder if you can be forgiven. The answer is “yes.” Repent of your sins and place all your confidence in Christ. Trust Him as the redeemer of your soul and His death as the satisfaction for your sins. When you have done this, you will know the joy of David when he said, “Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven.”

                                                                        Pastor V. Mark Smith