A Local Church Ordinance

With the establishing of the New Testament Church on earth by Jesus Christ before His ascension, the Lord’s local church was made the exclusive and inclusive administrator of the Lord’s work. He placed just two ordinances in His church, i.e., water baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

The New Testament Church is a local congregation of baptized believers, joined together by God as the Body of Christ, with Christ as the Head. The church is responsible for the great commission of Matthew 28:19-20. Its mission is to preach the gospel, baptize the believer, and teach them to observe all things commanded by Christ.

Christ set forth the observance of the Lord’s Supper with His apostles, who were the first set in the church. It was not set forth as an open communion for public participation, but was delivered to the local membership only. The Bible gives no record of the observance of the Lord’s Supper in any other capacity other than local church observance.

Since Christ made the local church the agent and administrator of His work, and the Lord’s Supper was delivered to those in local church capacity, the local church is then the agent and administrator of the Lord’s Supper, as well as the ordinance of water baptism. 1 Corinthians 11:2 declares that the ordinances are to be kept as they were originally delivered. They are not to be expanded by man’s innovations and aspirations. They are not to be reduced to the level of accommodating the desires of men. But their value is seen in being administered according the Heaven’s authority unto having Heaven’s sanction.

The scripture requires the local church to have jurisdiction over the ordinances it administers. The Lord’s Supper is not an individual ordinance, but a local church ordinance.
1 Corinthians 11:18,20,33 – “…when ye come together in the church”, “…when ye come together into one place”, “…when ye come together to eat”, etc.

And in coming together, the members are to examine themselves in view of
their standing with Christ, as a member of His body, and observe the ordinance with respect to Christ, who purchased for them their position and privilege, by His own shed blood.

A church has no authority to serve the Lord’s Supper to non-members. Non-members cannot examine themselves with respect to their standing in the church as a member. The church has no jurisdiction over non-members. Until one becomes a member of the local church, they are not included in what that particular Body is doing in observing the ordinance. It is not a matter of excluding non-members from the ordinance observance, but a non-member is not in the position to partake as a member of the Body in the observance.

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Adam, Where Art Thou? (Genesis 3:9)

“And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.” Ezekiel 22:30

The serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty (2 Corinthians 11:3) but Adam was not deceived (1 Timothy 2:14).

The spiritual fall and death of the human race occurred when Adam failed to make up the hedge and stand in the gap. Adam took the easy way out. He allowed to go on what God’s Word forbade. His “sweetie pie” was all for eating the forbidden fruit; so rather than disturb the sweetness of the relationship, he chose to go along with her. Adam not only condemned himself in that which he allowed (Romans 14:22), but he also brought the whole human race under the condemnation of sin by his transgression (Romans 5:18).

In the “hubby” and “daddy” role, it is so easy to give in to things that seem to keep the sweetness in the relationship. After all, to not do so would seem so mean.

But in the responsible role of being a godly man, watching out for the spiritual welfare of home and family, it is not about being “sugar”. It is about being “salt” and “light”.

Human behavior, which is prone to wander and go astray, needs a solid, thick hedge that defines the perimeters of conduct, and someone to stand in the gap between what is the will of the flesh, versus what is the truth of God’s will and way.

By following human philosophy, religion has quit planting the hedges and eliminated the gap standing, so as to just shower sweetness upon people, no matter what they choose to eat on. With some, sin abounds under their ministry of loving “grace”.

The problem with taking no stand on and with God’s Word, is that apart from God’s Word, Satan has people beguiled unto enjoying that which is the transgression of God’s Word.

Young men are called upon “to be sober minded” (Titus 2:6), to be strong in the Lord, with the Word of God abiding in you, to overcome the wicked one (1 John 2:14).

“And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4

YOUNG MEN AND FATHERS, WHERE ARE WE?

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Obedience Due To Honor

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.” Ephesians 6:1-3

According to Jesus (Matthew 15:4-6) this honor includes watching out for the parents’ welfare when they are no longer able to do for themselves.

That is the minor, as obeying the right teaching and upbringing supplied by the parents is the major. This following of their teaching true to the Bible, is to be continued even after they are gone, for it is the truth, not the person, that is the principle concern.

There are three primary reasons given why this must needs be:
First, “for this is right”. God will require it in judgment.

Second, “the first commandment with promise”. It will extend on into the building of a person’s character, as well as afford them right direction and purpose for their lives.

Third, “that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.”. A person’s overall well being is best served by hearkening unto the wise counsel of their parents.

Since this is God’s way, God’s order, God’s command, how one carries this out towards their parents is how they are regarding God. To not do this is to be sinning against God.

All of God’s ways are for the good of mankind. To not see this, is to be deceived. Everything right with God has promise for this life and the life to come. Everything in disobedience to God’s way will only produce regret and eternal loss.

Parents need to establish early on that a child is to respect parental authority, as a matter of honoring their parents, not as a matter of forced compliance. A child must be trained that obedience is owed to their parents for the love and care that their parents give. A child needs to understand that any defiance, disobedience, rebellion, etc., is a wrong on their part, that they should be ashamed and repent of. They also need to understand that they will face God and give account to Him for this principle for life.

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Members Make Up The Body

“For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.” 1 Corinthians 12:12

The charge against the church at Ephesus (Revelation 2:4) was that they had left their first love. The charge against the church at Sardis (Revelation 3:1) was that their works had died off. This was about what the people were or were not doing.

“What would my church be if every member was just like me? In reality, since the church is comprised of members, it will, in almost every way, just be what the members are.
–It is members who prepare themselves for the teaching and preaching.
–It is members who prepare to lead in singing praises to God.
–It is members who make up congregational singing.
–It is members who do the praying for the church.
–It is members who provide the fellowship in the church.
–It is members who support the operation of the church.
–It is members who promote the advancement of the church.
–It is members who supply the admonishment needed to uproot wrong thinking, and keep the focus right.

It is possible to think of the church as an incubator, with a freshly prepared buffet, with live entertainment. As one steps inside, they are made to feel warm all over, their appetites are filled, and their feelings gratified. With that concept, all that is needed is to drag in and dart out.

But in reality, the church is like an empty room, that what goes on there is determined by what you bring and do while you are there. What you find will be what you are seeking. What you reap will be what you have sown. The satisfaction you get will be from what you contribute. It is sort of like a carry-in dinner: what is there to eat, is what is brought in by the eaters.

God’s part is in blessing us in our deeds: “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” James 1:25

“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measure to you again.” Luke 6:38

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Keep The Sores Clean

“And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.” 1 Samuel 25:32-22

David had been scorned by Nabal, and it made him really sore. He was on his way to take deadly action against Nabal. But with Abigail’s intercession, he was made to realize that to destroy Nabal would do more hurt to his own character and testimony than it would solve the problem with Nabal.

“For what glory is it, if when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.” 1 Peter 2:20

When we get a physical sore somewhere on our body, we need to keep it as clean as possible so it will heal. Above all, we must not consciously put things on the sore that are unclean, which will only trigger an infection and prevent the healing process.

When it comes to life, some of the “sores” we encounter are self-inflicted, while others are from what we consider to be the fault of someone else.

Which ever the case, once the sore exists, it is not a matter of what caused the sore, but the need is to do what will promote the healing of the sore, with the main thing being to keep it clean to allow for unhindered healing.

So, when we wind up with a “sore”, we must not add to it anything in our minds that will add to the sore, keep it sore, or make it more sore. We must keep everything else out of the sore, so it can heal properly.

It will be by overcoming that we heal: “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21

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