In his sermon on 'Local Church Membership,' Jason Dohm discusses the importance and biblical basis for formal church membership. The sermon is part of a 12-week series on core convictions and distinctives of the church. Dohm emphasizes that local church membership is a biblical concept, not just a human invention, and is crucial for fulfilling mutual obligations among believers. He presents five propositions supporting this view: the local church is a distinct biblical entity, likened to a flock with elders as shepherds; church life involves serious obligations requiring order; and the regulative principle of worship necessitates church membership. Dohm argues that these obligations and commitments cannot be casual or assumed but must be formally recognized to effectively carry out the church's mission. He uses scriptural references from Matthew, Acts, and Hebrews to support his points, highlighting the role of elders and the need for a structured community. The sermon calls for believers to consider whether they can submit to the doctrine and authority of their church leaders and fully commit to their local church community.

Local church membership. So let's just review where we are. We're in the middle of 12 weeks on core convictions and distinctives. It's really an unusual time in our church. We are almost always doing sequential expository preaching, going chapter by chapter and section by section through a book of the Bible.

So this is unusual for us. This is sort of the new members class that we've never had. So welcome to the new members class, you who have been here for 13 years. So far, here's where we are in our 12 weeks. We had a message on the sufficiency of Scripture, on the centrality of the gospel, on sequential expository preaching and the importance of being devoted to that.

Of age integration and family discipleship. Of Christian modesty. Last week on Believer's Baptism. Today on Local Church Membership. This will be number seven.

So we have five weeks to go. Then we'll have a joint service with Hope Baptist. Then we'll dive into Genesis 1-11. So that's where we are. So our Redeemer Community Church is a local church.

We have members who have entered into a membership covenant together, officially committing together to fulfill a series of obligations. So it's all there in black and white. What we're officially committing together to fulfill in terms of mutual obligations. Why are we organized that way? Is that something that the Bible even requires?

I'm obviously going to be arguing that yes, local church membership is biblical, and that how casual the average Christian is about local church life Betrays that these things are not even close to sufficiently considered. So we're going to officially consider them this morning So buckle up as I work to convince you of five propositions. That's the, if you've got a handout, you'll see those five propositions. Let's pray. God, I thank you for believers across the world.

Just these trophies of Your grace that show that You have broken into the lives of sinners to claim them as Your own, and You're still doing it today. Thank You for these objects of Your grace that show us who You are. Pray that You would make Your church strong in the earth, and that You would make local churches strong, especially in our community. Pray for the other local churches in our community that you make them a strong voice for the Gospel here where you've placed us to live. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Okay, without further ado, Number 1, the local church is a distinct biblical entity. If you're taking notes on the handout by filling in the blanks, entity fills in the blanks, it means it's a thing. The local church is a distinct biblical entity. If you're taking notes on the handout by filling in the blanks, entity fills in the blank, it means it's a thing. The local church is a distinct biblical entity, or a New Testament thing.

Listen to Matthew 16 verses 15 through 18. Matthew 16 verses 15 through 18. Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Jesus just asked the disciple, who do people say that I am? He gets the answer and says, who do you say that I am?

This is Peter's answer. You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Jesus answered and said to him, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." So this is Jesus' promise that He Himself will build His church and that the gates of hell will not be able to prevail against his church that he is building. Here we have the word church.

What is Jesus referring to in Matthew chapter 16? The church that spans all geographies, it's not limited to a location that spans the earth, and all ages. It includes dead people, and all the people who are alive now, who are trusting in Jesus Christ, and even people who haven't been born yet, ultimately will be brought into this church. Theologians call this the universal church, the one true church. People can fool you and me, act like they're part of the one true church, and they're not really, but Jesus has never fooled.

There's actually an exact number of people in the end who will have lived and trusted in God and be saved through Jesus Christ. There is a number. I don't know the number, but God knows the exact number. It can't be one less than that number, and it can't be one more than that number. God has committed himself to save those people, and he will save those people.

This is Jesus' church. His body, the body of Christ, his bride, in this text he calls it, my church. The Greek word is ecclesia and it simply means those who are called out to assemble. It actually was used in the Greek speaking world very generally. If you were called out to assemble, citizens called out to gather and meet, then this word would be used.

So it has a non-religious usage too, and that's it, Those who are called out to a symbol. We should think of Revelation chapter 5. In Revelation chapter 5, there's a multitude that can't be counted, and there's a throne and one on the throne as a lamb, as if it had been slain, and those around are from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. They are saying, You have made us priests and kings to our God. You have made us kings and priests to our God.

You have saved us to God by Your blood and made us kings and priests to our God. You have saved us to God by your blood and made us kings and priests to our God. This is the universal church, the one true church, Jesus' body, Jesus' bride. Now, is that the only way the word church or the Greek word ecclesia is used in the New Testament? No.

Listen to Acts chapter 20 verse 17, and this is just very representative, meaning I could go to a bunch of different places where the word ecclesia or church is used in a very different way, like it is in Acts 20 verse 17. From my leadest he, Paul, sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. The elders, a distinct body of leaders in the church of Ephesus, a distinct church in that location. A single location, Ephesus, and it has this singular entity there, the church. I'm not talking about the universal church that isn't bound by geography and isn't bound even by who's alive today.

That's a different usage, a different kind of church. This is a local church, a distinct church belonging to a location. And this was the norm. So It wasn't that Ephesus had something that didn't exist in many other places in the New Testament. No, this was the norm.

Listen to what Paul and his ministry companions did at the end of Paul's first missionary journey. In Acts chapter 14, Paul has been on this loop. If you go to the back of your Bible, you probably have a map that says Paul's missionary journeys. You'll find three loops. This is one of those loops.

It's his first missionary journey. It's ending in Acts 14 verse 23. We read this. Acts 14 verse 23. So when they had appointed elders in every church and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

So they went to these places, preached the gospel, there were converts and so groups of Christians coming together in locations and then in that missionary journey they doubled back to those places to encourage the brethren and to appoint elders, a plurality of leaders, in every church singular, singular churches in these different locations. So when they had appointed elders in every church, each church is distinct. So It is distinct from the others. It has its boundaries, and each has its own official appointed leadership structure. We know it's official because Paul appointed them.

It's an official appointed leadership structure. So you have local participants and local leadership in each local church. By the way, before you get to Revelation 5, and this glorious picture of the universal church, people from every tribe, tongue, people and nation worshipping Jesus at the throne, you've already been through Revelations 2 and 3, which is the letters to the churches. The church of Ephesus gets a letter. The church in Smyrna gets a letter.

The church in Pergamos gets a letter. The church in Thyatira. The church in Sardis. The church in Philadelphia. The Church of the Laodiceans.

These are seven distinct churches that get a letter from Jesus. How would you like to get a letter from Jesus? Actually, you've got a bunch of letters from Jesus. It's okay. Don't feel left out.

Now, I believe it is accurate to say that most Christians see the Universal Church as being the important entity. Of course, who doesn't want to be in Revelation chapter 5? Where we're together with the people from all ages and in all locations on planet earth who have put their hope in God and are there worshipping the lamb who has been slain and whose blood has purchased them to God and made them kings and priests to their God. Our hearts say, of course that's the thing that matters. When we do that, the local church becomes almost an afterthought.

In the meantime, until we can get to the big glorious thing, we have these little pockets, but someday the good things are coming. I understand that urge, but I want to argue in exactly the opposite direction. Why? Because while the universal church is a glorious concept, the local church is actually concrete. Praise God for the concept, but you don't get the partake of the concept until this future time that's beyond your lifespan.

In the meantime you have something that is concrete. The universal church, a glorious concept, is mostly just conceptual to me on this side of heaven. It's just that, a concept. It is the local church that is designed by God to most influence me. I don't know how the universal church is going to influence me, other than just looking forward to it.

I guess that's an influence. It's the local church that is designed by God to most influence me, and to be most influenced by me. So I get from the local church, and God designed it that way. I give to the local church, God designed it that way. Proposition number one, the local church is a distinct biblical entity.

You find it in the New Testament. This is not our invention. What we're doing here today is not our invention. God wants to gather believers together in these groups that are representative of something glorious and larger, but that is going to have to wait until the future. This is all God's idea.

Two, the local church is a flock. If you're taking notes on the handout, flock fills in the blank. The local church is a flock. What kind of entity is the local church? The New Testament writers say, it's a flock.

Please turn to Acts chapter 20. Paul is nearing his time of imprisonment in Jerusalem, imprisoned in two years in Jerusalem, then on to Rome. More years imprisonment in Rome, so He's headed for this time. On his way there, he summons the elders from Ephesus. That's where we are.

Acts chapter 20, I'm going to read chapter 17-31. Acts chapter 20 verses 17-31. From Miletus he, Paul, sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. When they had come to him, he said to them, You know from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews, how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews and also to Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And see, now I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me.

None of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And indeed, now I know that you all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God will see my face no more. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Therefore, because of all that was just said, therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which he purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch. And remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. Here's a summary. So Paul gathers the elders from a local church.

It's not the local church, it's the leaders, the appointed elders in this local church. Paul gathers them, and here's a summary of what he says. In your duties as elders, Do what I did when I was there. Follow my example. I served the Lord with all humility.

You served the Lord with all humility. I didn't hold back from proclaiming anything that was helpful. You don't hold back from proclaiming anything that was helpful. I taught publicly and from house to house. You teach publicly from house to house.

I declared the whole Council of God. You declare the whole Council of God. Furthermore, I know that wolves are coming. Protect this flock from wolves. Verse 28 is the key.

Look again at verse 28. Therefore, take heed to yourselves, Vigilantly watch over your hearts and your lives. These sheep depend on you. Therefore, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to Shepherd the church of God which he purchased with his own blood. Take heed to yourselves.

Take heed to all the flock. The Holy Spirit Himself has made you overseers over this flock to shepherd them. Jesus purchased them with his own blood. They are precious to him. You shepherd them.

Shepherds, watch over and know and lead and feed and protect the flock. By the way, not the flock universal. A shepherd not in charge of the sheep of the world. They have a flock, and they're to watch over and know and lead and feed and protect that flock. Ephesian elders, you do those things with the flock God has entrusted to you.

This is what Paul is saying. And it isn't just Paul. Peter says much the same. Turn to 1 Peter chapter 5. It's remarkable how consistent Paul and Peter are in this.

1st Peter chapter 5. I'll read verses 1 through 4. I'll read verses 1-4. Paul writes, excuse me, Peter writes. It would be surprising if Paul was writing in 1 Peter.

1 Peter 5, Peter writes, The elders who are among you, I exhort, I who am a fellow elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed. Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, nor for dishonest gain but eagerly, nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. In verse 1, The elders are among the believers. In verse 2, the believers are among the elders.

There it is. The picture is of shepherds and their flock totally interwoven. Totally interwoven. In the military, the saying is that officers, the leaders, aren't to fraternize. In other words, to be developing friendships with the enlisted officers, no fraternizing with the enlisted men or those being led.

It's viewed as bad for the leaders in the military to be developing close relationships with those who are being led in the military, because the sense is it will compromise your authority if they become your friends. No fraternizing with the enlisted men. God is saying through Peter, local churches aren't like that. The elders are among the believers, the believers are among the elders, fraternize with the enlisted. The exact opposite of the military.

Peter exhorts elders to offer willing, eager service never for dishonest gain. They aren't to be heavy handed As if the sheep belong to them, lording their authority over the flock. Instead, their leadership is to be heavily reliant on example. Lead by example. This is what Peter says.

Here's the key phrase, Chief Shepherd. When the Chief Shepherd appears, local church leaders should read that phrase once a day. I don't do that, but I should. It would help me. Psalm 23, David says, the Lord is my shepherd.

I shall not want. John 10, Jesus says, I am the good shepherd. So The shepherd, the one who actually owns the sheep, is the Lord. Elders are his under-shepherds. He takes of the mature and puts them in place to be physically present to care for his sheep.

He is present among his people, but he raises up men to maturity. His Holy Spirit makes them elders to be physically present to care for his sheep. The local church is envisioned in the New Testament as a flock, not a business with bosses and workers, or a military division with officers and the enlisted, no fraternizing, but a flock with under shepherds and sheep, where the priority of the under shepherds is to care, is the care and welfare of the sheep according to the instructions of the chief shepherd. So under Shepherds don't just get to do whatever they want. They have an instruction manual from the Chief Shepherd, and they're supposed to do that work that way.

This is the design of God. So That's proposition two. The local church is a flock. It's not a business with bosses and workers or a military division with officers enlisted. It's a flock with under shepherds and sheep.

Three. Local church life involves serious obligations which require order. You're filling in blanks on the handout. Require, fills in the blank. Local church life involves serious obligations which require order.

This is no baby shower where we gather, drink tea, chat, and go home. God bless baby showers. This isn't that. We are to be certain things to one another, and we're supposed to band together to do certain things. The things that we're supposed to be to each other are serious things, and the things that we're supposed to be to each other are serious things, and the things that we're supposed to do together are serious things.

And that all requires order. Now consider Hebrews 13.17. Just let me read it to you. Hebrews 13.17. Hebrews 13-17.

Obey those who rule over you. Be submissive. For they watch out for your souls as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy, not with grief, for that would be unprofitable to you." Here's the point where Bodhi Bakam would say, I don't write the mail, I just deliver it. Don't throw things at me.

I didn't write it, I just delivered it. Obey those who rule over you. Be submissive. For they watch out for your souls as those who must give an account. So on one side, We have an obligation to obey and be submissive.

It's not a small thing. This is heavy duty. On the other hand, we have the authority to lead and the responsibility to watch out for souls and accounting for souls. And this is heavy duty. So It's heavy duty in both directions.

I'm not sure who should be less happy with their obligation. Should it be you or me? We'll call it a draw. It's heavy stuff in both directions. Now, let me ask a question.

What initiates all this? What do you mean? When does it start? Let's start with the absurd to prove a point. It's your first visit.

You're new in town. You visit to dip your toe in. After the service, James and I meet you and say, Welcome to Sovereign Redeemer Community Church. We're your leaders now. We're going to need you to obey us, to be submissive to us, so we have a few things in mind as starting points.

Everyone would hear your tires as you peeled out the parking lot. Never to return. I wouldn't return. Would you return? Or the other way.

Let's go the other direction. Your first visit, you're new in town, you visit. After the service, you approach James and I and you say, you're my leaders now, So thank you in advance for watching over my soul. I have a few ideas about what would help me. So if you could get moving on those things right away, that would be great.

We would probably say something like this. Thank you for coming. Don't ever come again. Our duty is to care for sheep. We're going to need to get to know you well enough to be able to affirm that you are a follower of Jesus.

We do not accept what you are imposing on us yet. That you've repented and believed the gospel, and that you're committed to walking with Jesus. That's the mark of actually having repented and believed in Jesus, is that there's some evidence of a commitment to follow him. That's how we can tell whether the talk is real. You need time and opportunity to observe James and I and understand what our doctrine is, and what we're like, who we are against the qualifications of 1st Timothy 3 and Titus 1.

A long list in both places. We're supposed to be that. To hear the preaching and to be among the people here, It's not just James and I that people are evaluating when they visit this church. They want to know what all of us are like together in order to make the conscious decision to cross the line, I accept these obligations. James and I need the same opportunity to get to know you in order to make the conscious decision to cross the line.

I accept these obligations. That isn't the only serious obligation in a local church, is it? How are we going to choose leaders? What's the process going to be like? Who gets to be involved in that?

You have to decide. There's going to have to be a way, and there's going to have to be lines of demarcation. You can argue for one kind of process versus another, but let's just agree there needs to be a process. If you're going to appoint leaders, that assumes a process, and people who can participate in that process. What about dealing with sin, discipline for sin?

How are we going to go about that? What about caring for believers in financial crisis? What kind of commitment are we making to each other? How are we going to go about that when the need arises? Of course, any individual believer is free to help anyone they want financially, but what about a local church?

When you're talking about our pooled resources, we need to know what we're obligating ourselves to and how we're going to go about that. When does the church have an obligation to engage? Here's the secret. I'm giving you the secret. Are you ready?

Here it is. All local churches have church membership. Even the ones that don't. Here's what I mean. I'd just become a deacon.

I'd never been a deacon before. I was becoming a deacon with three other men. None of the three of them had ever been a deacon before. So we knew a guy who had written a book on deacons. I think it's the book on deacons, but whatever.

And so we called him up and said, would you put us in contact with your most experienced deacon. We wanted to have a couple of calls with him to pick his brain so that he could help us from getting scar tissue from making rookie mistakes. He did. This man is Plymouth Brethren. Plymouth Brethren don't have official church membership.

We got the best advice from this seasoned deacon, and They even shared with us their Deacon team's working documents about how they dealt with this, that, or the other. It was very organized, very structured. Their benevolence form, if somebody needed financial help, the expectation is they would provide this information on this form and the first thing on the form was, how long have you been a member? I said wait, this is the Brethren Church. They don't have members?

I called them up. Reed, that's the guy's name, Reed. Reed, you're a Brethren. You don't have members. I'm looking at your benevolence form.

Did you get this from a church that has members? He said, no, it's just shorthand for us. If you're going to consider financial support for someone, it can't be somebody who just walked through the door, or at least you want to know if they just... It's shorthand for us. How long have they been committed to participating in our church life?

So we have a short hand for that, we just call it a member. So when push comes to shove and it's time to undertake one of the very serious functions of a local church, you will have church membership. When you're deciding when should we provide financial aid or not, how will we appoint leaders, who can be a leader. You will have church membership in one form or another. And when you don't have official church membership, you may very well end up with ill-conceived, informal, impromptu membership, where you're deciding the criteria in the heat of the moment when the serious obligation is upon you and those decisions just have to be made.

You haven't made them in a formal way beforehand, so in the heat of the moment, lines have to be drawn. We have to decide about these things, so you do it then. Implied or assumed criteria beforehand is a terrible, terrible substitute. Assumed expectations beforehand are a terrible, terrible substitute. I would never belong to a church that one of those things to be applied or assumed and not defined.

I would never. Because They're serious things and they require organization. And if you're going to do that, you will get organized. Those decisions will get made. The only question is when.

Four, The regular principle requires church membership, not precludes it. So, requires fills in the blank. The regular principle, this is a Reformation doctrine, the reformers, Martin Luther, John Calvin, they recovered this idea of the regulative principle of worship, requires church membership, not precludes it. The regulative principle of worship says that we must be, and can only be regulated by scripture in our corporate life. How we worship together must be and can only be regulated by scripture.

How we function corporately must be and can only be regulated by Scripture. How we function corporately must be and can only be regulated by Scripture. The Reformers rightly said that you need one of three things to have a legitimate basis from Scripture for that worship practice, or for our corporate life. If you don't have one of these three things, you don't have a legitimate basis from Scripture for this thing about your corporate life. Here are the three things.

A command. That's easy. God tells us to do it. We have to do it. We're bound to it.

Or an approved pattern. They did it repeatedly in the New Testament, so there's not a command for it. But they were doing it in the New Testament. The Scripture looks favorably. The reading of those instances are favorable.

Then you have a legitimate basis from Scripture and an approved pattern, or a good and necessary inference. Oh boy. What's a good and necessary inference? A good and necessary inference is an unavoidable implication. There's no wiggling out of this conclusion.

An unavoidable implication, a conclusion that you can't wiggle out of from something that Scripture says that reflects a good practice. Generally speaking, these are usually things that are implied from what is said and downstream from what is said. Meaning, it's implied, it's not explicitly said, but you can tell it's just beneath the surface. It has to be just beneath the surface. And, it's downstream from what is said, meaning they're talking about it after this.

The writer of the New Testament is talking about something that comes after it and presupposes it, assumes that it's so. Like what? Here are some examples. Local churches are to appoint elders who meet very specific qualifications. So you got two lists, one in First Timothy 3, one in Titus 1.

So local churches are supposed to appoint elders who meet these very specific qualifications. So that is required of local churches. Now who can participate in that process and what should that process be? You know there's one because it says you have to do this, So who gets to take part in it and what should the process be? The New Testament doesn't say, but there is no way to do what the New Testament requires without making some decisions there.

It's downstream. It says this is required. Well okay, how do we get downstream to there? The New Testament doesn't say. The New Testament isn't a book of church order.

Have you ever been part of a denomination that had a book of church order? They're usually very thick and they try to cover every permutation of the things that could happen and give you the answer of what you're supposed to do. Only you get impossible, so you still end up having to think through things. The New Testament isn't a book of church order that spells out every single step and anticipates every combination of things that could happen. So often the New Testament simply gives us the endpoint, appoint elders, and Then local churches have both the freedom and responsibility to organize things to get to that endpoint.

So you understand what I'm saying? The New Testament gives you the endpoint. Appoint elders. Then the local church has the freedom and the responsibility to organize things to get to that endpoint. That's what's assumed.

You're gonna have to make some decisions to get here. Another example. Local churches are to officially exclude people who will not repent of serious sin. Officially Exclude people who will not repent of serious sin, right? Officially exclude people who will not repent of serious sin.

I ask a question. How can you officially exclude people who have never been officially included. Like how? Do you think a local church has the authority or the obligation to excommunicate someone who has never acknowledged the authority of that local church? Think about it.

I'll ask the question again. Do you think a local church has the authority or the obligation to excommunicate, kick out, officially kick out, someone who has never acknowledged the authority of that church. When? On the second time they come, third time they come, tenth time they come, twentieth time? Does it matter?

Let's talk about something the New Testament says about official discipline. Listen to 2 Corinthians 2 verses 5 through 8. You can turn there if you like. 2 Corinthians 2 verses 5 through 8. Paul writes, But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but all of you to some extent, not to be too severe, This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, so that on the contrary you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow.

I urge you therefore to reaffirm your love to him." Now what is this? Probably it's the follow-on to 1st Corinthians 5. In his first letter to them he says in 1st Corinthians 5, you've got this man in your church engaged in a sin that even the Gentiles are ashamed to talk about, and you won't address that sin. When you come together, I'll be spiritually present with you. You put that man out from the midst.

You deal with the sin and put him out of your church. It's probably the follow on to that. It doesn't have to be the follow on to that. That makes perfect sense. I think it is.

In any event, in the second letter, he's talking about an instance of punishment inflicted by the majority, and he's telling them, call off the dogs. It's time to call off the dog. The majority inflicted the punishment. That was good, that was necessary, but now it's time to reaffirm your love and care for this man and to bring him back in. I want to focus on this one phrase.

This punishment which was inflicted by the majority. That's verse 6. First we learn that Church discipline isn't elder discipline. James and I decide you did the wrong thing. Like we're taking disciplinary measures.

Constitutionally, we can't do that because scripturally, we don't believe that church discipline is elder discipline. There will not be official discipline in this church without the members of this church consenting to it and enacting it because of this verse. Because of this verse. So first we learn that church discipline isn't elder discipline. It is church discipline.

Second, we have a word, majority. This punishment, which was inflicted by the majority, only has meaning with a definite number. Only has meaning with a definite number. Majority is meaningless if you don't know what the number is. Do you think that it means whoever happened to attend that day?

Whoever came to worship service in Corinth on that day? 50% plus one said, we're kicking them out. Just whoever was there. No. Majority reflects a body of believers with boundaries.

It is known who is inside and who is outside. There's a number and the majority inflicted the punishment. By the way, the flock entrusted to you from 1 Peter 5, remember we went to 1 Peter 5, the flock entrusted to you is the same. That sheep part of your flock? I don't know.

Probably, maybe. Wait, you're giving an account for that soul? You don't know if that sheep is part of your flock or not? This flock is just a random assortment of the sheep that happened to show up in this pasture today. In the article that I wrote on this, here's what I said.

I was very proud of it, so now I'm quoting myself. You can't be excluded without having been included, and only a majority of the included can exclude. You can't be excluded without having been included and only a majority of the included can exclude. Final example. 1 Timothy 5 talks about financial support for widows.

There's a decent portion of a chapter given to that. 1 Timothy 5. Family is the first line of defense. If that isn't sufficient, Paul says this, don't take her, the widow, into the number. Literally, don't put her on the list.

That's literally what it says. Don't put her on the list unless she meets these criteria. She has to be at least 60 years old, and she has to have been a faithful woman, faithful in her marriage, serving the saints. Don't put her on the list for support. Now my argument isn't that this is the only official list based on certain criteria that appears in the New Testament.

I think that's actually accurate. I can't think of another list mentioned like that in the New Testament. My argument isn't that this is the only list, though I think that's true. My argument is that this is representative of the organization that is required to obey all sorts of the functions given to local churches. We should probably have a number of lists.

It's representative of the order that's required to decide, are we going to support this widow? At what point do we support this widow? What kind of widows do we support? Criteria in advance. And Local churches will organize to fulfill these serious functions, either officially or unofficially.

Or they will just decide, we're not going to engage in these functions. This stuff's too serious. I am not here for all this heavy stuff. The New Testament requires these things in local churches, but we're just not doing them. We want to be more casual than that.

So we don't need to be organized. If we're going to do these things, we have to organize certain things to do that. You have to. A thought experiment. I'm almost done.

A thought experiment. Would the Templetons and the Carringtons have uprooted their families to go to Turkey if they didn't have local churches behind them, comprised of believers who had made official commitments to each other? Would they have sold their things and kiss their loved ones goodbye and moved to Turkey intending to spend the rest of their lives there without local churches behind them comprised of believers who had made official commitments to each other, who did not view these things as casual. With domes, have left a very stable prosperous life to plant sovereign redeemer community church without a local church behind them comprised of believers who have made official commitments. That's not a thought experiment.

The answer is no. I know the answer to that question, the answer is no. Please understand this. If you're here and don't believe in local church membership, you're riding the coattails of people who believe differently. Five.

Blessings await those who cross two lines. Blessings await those who cross two lines. Blessings await those who cross two lines. Observation number one. Two questions form two critical lines in the sand.

Here they are, drawing the lines in the sand. First question, can I submit myself and my family to the doctrine and authority of these leaders? There's a line in the sand. Yes or no? I can commit myself and my family to the doctrine and authority of these leaders.

Second question, can I commit myself to these people? You're walking with them over the long term, investing in their lives, and have them be the people who are investing in my life over the long term. If you intend for your local church to be a place you and your family can be for the long haul, to minister and to be ministered to, you should take those two questions very seriously. And answer them. Land it.

Some people never land the plane. They circle the airport forever. They never force themselves to get to the bottom of these questions. Can I submit myself and my family to the doctrine and authority of these leaders? I don't know.

Can I commit myself to these people to invest in them and have them be the ones investing me over the long term? I don't know. They never force themselves to get to the bottom of these questions and render a verdict. Be here long enough to render a verdict. So they never say, I submit myself to the doctrine and authority of these men.

I'll go on record. And they never say, I'll commit myself to these brethren. I'll go on record. Observation number two, it matters. Whether you will or will not decisively and publicly answer those two questions and cross those two lines will shape what you get out of local church life.

God has designed local church life to be a key means of help to you in your Christian life. I can get all that without the formal commitment, not true. Not true. This is not my first rodeo, or second, or hundred. I think I was saved when I was ten.

I'm fifty-four now. I've seen a lot. I've Been in a number of different churches. Here's how I ended that article on church membership. This is no intellectual exercise, the parsing of a fine point that has little impact on real life.

Whether you will or will not answer those two questions, cross those two lines, and send roots down deep into a good local church will determine so much about the welfare of your soul. Person who carefully chooses a local church home, where they can joyfully submit to godly leaders and invest in the lives of other sincere believers, and then stays on that track for decades, becomes a very different person than their counterpart who never really lands. Being in serious, committed fellowship with both authorities and peers for a long period of time has a transforming effect. There are no substitutes. There are no shortcuts.

The transformation requires the investment. The me and Jesus mentality has not been good for individual believers or for the church. We need more God and His people in both thought and life. To myself I say, Amen. This is what the core of this church believes.

You didn't walk in believing that. I get it. I don't have a chapter and verse for you. I acknowledge that. It's based on the serious obligations that are given to local churches.

That requires organization. You can call it whatever you want. You have to organize to do these things, or say, we're not doing serious stuff. Nobody's selling their stuff and kissing their family goodbye to be deployed to the mission field on implied expectations and commitments. That's not how it works.

Nobody's planning a church based on that. That's not how it works. If you're going to engage in the serious functions, you have to organize for it, and have it not be implied expectations, but agreed expectations. If you didn't walk in believing this, I hope you can be convinced. James and I would say this, and I would say really on behalf of the other members of this church, use these 12 weeks to determine whether you can do this here or not, and then act on what you decide.

You know, in the last three months we've had three families and two adult singles leave. They actually took these questions seriously and decided and acted on that decision. They'll be able to go somewhere where they can answer both of those questions, yes, wholeheartedly. And I trust they will be people who will then engage in the way that people engage when they actually land on those questions, actually answer and render a verdict on those questions. They'll be the better for finding the home that they can say, yes, I can submit myself to the doctrine and authority of these men.

Yes, I can commit myself to these people over the long term. Let's pray. God, thank you for the little church that we have here. God I pray that you would help us to be bonded together so closely. You would help us to be able to engage the serious matters that you have put on the plates of local churches and that you would help us to be careful in how we organize to do these things and that you would give us a platform from which we can do serious things for your kingdom in this world.

In Jesus' name, Amen.