The Duty to Join the Church

Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian's Reasonable Service, Vol. 2, pp. 55-56:

It is the duty of everyone who desires to be saved to turn to the church, making diligent effort to be accepted as a member of the church community.

First, this is God's way whereby He leads the elect unto salvation. "And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved" (Acts 2:47); "Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from His people" (Isa. 56:3).

Secondly, this has been the task of the apostles in accordance with their commission (Mat. 28:19), as is to be observed in the entire Acts of the Apostles.

Thirdly, this is consistent with the nature of God's children. As soon as they are converted, they cannot rest until they have been received into the bosom of their spiritual mother (Gal. 4:26).

Fourthly, this is the consistent confession of the church of all ages, and particularly of churches of the Netherlands. In article 28 of the Belgic Confession we read: "We believe, since this holy congregation is an assembly of those who are saved, and that out of it there is no salvation, that no person of whatsoever state or condition he may be, ought to withdraw himself, to live in a separate state from it; but that all men are in duty bound to join and unite themselves with it."...

Fifthly, the church is the glory of Christ. It is there that Christ is confessed and proclaimed throughout the world, being held forth as a banner upon a hill around which one must gather himself. This is the city upon a hill, and a light shining in the darkness. She is the means whereby truth is made known and preserved, and the means unto the conversion of souls. Everyone is therefore obligated to facilitate this by joining himself to the church.

Church Members at Church Meetings

Should church members be involved in what the Westminster Assembly termed "congregational assemblies, that is, the meeting of the ruling officers of a particular congregation," (meetings of the session or consistory), as well as those of "classical" and "synodical assemblies"?

Here is the answer of Herman Bavinck, as found in Reformed Dogmatics, Vol. 4, p. 431:

All these meetings reported in the New Testament were assemblies of the local church, attended only in Acts 15 by representatives from other places. This custom [of congregational involvement] was also followed later, as early as the second century. In important matters such as the appointment or deposition of a bishop, excommunication, the absolution of mortal sins, and so forth, not only did the presbyterium offer leadership, but the congregation also gave its consent. Cyprian still writes that from the beginning of his episcopate he did nothing without the advice of his presbyterium [or "body of elders," ibid, p. 430] and the consent of the congregation.83 Present at the synods of the second and third century, therefore, are not only the bishops but also the presbyters, deacons, and ordinary church members. Even the Council of Nicea was attended, aside from bishops, also by presbyters, deacons, and members who took part in the debates. And the delegates who were invited to congregational meetings of neighboring churches in that period were absolutely not only bishops but also included presbyters, deacons, or other members of the church. But the result of the development of the hierarchical idea was the consent of the congregation was increasingly less frequently requested, the presbyters and deacons were detached from the congregation and changed into counselors and helpers of the bishop, and the synods were gradually held only by bishops.

Pray Me Full, Preach You Full

As was mentioned in a sermon preached tonight on Heb. 13.17, it is a saying among Dutch Reformed ministers to their congregants: "Pray me full, and I'll preach you full." What a true saying, which illustrates how much pastors -- and other church officers -- need and depend upon the prayers of the saints.

Another version of this sentiment is found in the old adage quoted by J.W. Alexander in his classic Thought on Family Worship, pp. 148-149:

The primary advantage of family-prayer to the church, is that it is answered. It is no small thing for any congregation to have daily cries for God's blessings on it ascending from a hundred firesides. What a spring of refreshment to a pastor! The family-devotions of praying Kidderminster, no doubt, made [Richard] Baxter a better minister, and a happier man; and it is possible that we are reaping the fruits of them, in his "Saints' Rest," and "Dying Thoughts." We have all heard of the preacher who told his flock that he had "lost his prayer-book," meaning their prayers; as also that good quaint saying of the last age, "A praying people makes a preaching minister." Such aid has been well compared to that of Aaron and Hur. Faithful and affectionate Christians never fail to remember their spiritual guide in their household supplications.

Pray for the Reign of Grace Over All the Earth

William Swan Plumer, The Rock of Our Salvation, pp. 434-439 (HT: Holdfast):

God's people can pray for the reign of grace over all the earth.. Such supplications are agreeable to the will of God. Psa. 122:6. The first three petitions of the Lord's prayer embrace the same subject. There is too little united, hearty calling on God. All the progress hitherto made in bringing men to a saving knowledge of the Redeemer has been in answer to the fervent cries of the children of God. There is nothing more powerful for good than prayer.

Those who know somewhat the doleful case of the heathen, ought to plead their cause before all Christian people. Mankind are slow to believe how terribly the perishing nations have multiplied their sorrows by hastening after other gods than Jehovah.

Every member of the church should be trained and urged to do his full share of the great work. He should know his place, and keep it. He should love to do what he can for so blessed a cause.

All the churches should be trained to liberality in giving their worldly substance for spreading the gospel. Systematic, benevolence is loudly called for. We must learn to carry our liberality to the extent of self-denial. We must remember the power of littles. The ocean consists of the aggregation of drops.

Our young men must freely give themselves to the work of the ministry at home and abroad. Parents must cheerfully give their sons to this service. It must come to be, in popular esteem, an honor to serve the Lord in any way his providence may permit. Why is the ministry so lighty esteemed ? Why do we so seldom find a Hannah, a Eunice, or a Monica in the church of God? One well-qualified, laborious minister of the gospel is commonly far more useful than two men of equal talents in any other calling. It is enough to break the heart to see revival after revival without a host of young men rising up to publish salvation.

There should be a much deeper tone of piety in all the churches. Love is too cold. Faith too often staggers. Repentance sheds too few tears. Joy has but few feasts. Pity for the perishing too seldom stirs the soul to its depths. Adoring views of God have too little power over men's minds. Hope is too feeble to impart much animation. "In doing good," says Burke, "we are generally cold, and languid, and sluggish, and of all things, afraid of being too much in the right. But the works of malice and injustice are quite in another style. They are finished with a bold, masterly hand, touched as they are with the spirit of those vehement passions that call forth all our energies when we oppress and persecute." Oh that ministers and people, fathers and mothers, young men and maidens loved as they should a dying world, and labored as they ought to turn many to righteousness.

Prayer.

Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts! The whole earth is full of thy glory. Blessed be the Lord for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath, and for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon, and for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills, and for the precious things of the earth, and the fulness thereof. Still more would we bless thee for the good will of Him that dwelt in the bush, and for thy precious loving-kindness, and for the precious seed of gospel truth, and for the precious promises, and for precious faith to believe thy word, and for the precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, and for the precious death of thy saints, and for the precious name of Jesus, which is as ointment poured forth, and for the precious blood of the Son of God, through whom we have redemption.

Look in mercy on this dark world. Remember Zion. Make Joseph a fruitful bough, whose branches run over the wall. Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion. Bring back the captivity of thy people, that Jacob may rejoice and Israel be glad. Thou hast set thy Son on thy holy hill of Zion. Righteousness is the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. Hasten the time when the wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the young lion and the fat-ling together, and a child shall lead them; and the cow and the bear shall feed, and their young ones lie down together, and the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the nations shall learn war no more, and thy ancient people the Jews and the fulness of the Gentiles shall be brought in; when the kingdoms of the world shall become the kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ; when the Lord shall call them his people which are not now his people; when the angel shall fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.

Lord God of hosts, cut short the work in righteousness. Let the ploughman overtake the reaper, and let a nation be born in a day.

"Pity the nations, 0 our God;
Constrain the earth to come;
Send thy victorious word abroad,
And bring the strangers home."

We are indeed asking great things, but we do it at thy command. We ask no more than thou hast promised to thy Son, and no more than he has purchased by his most precious blood, and no more than he himself intercedes for in heaven. Amen.

Be a Berean

Johannes Vanderkamp (1664-1718), The Christian Entirely the Property of Christ, in Life and Death, Exhibited in Fifty-Three Sermons on the Heidelberg Catechism, Vol. 1, Preface, p. viii:

But the Reformed teach altogether differently from this: they require that all men should, like the Bereans, search the scriptures daily, whether the things, which their pastors teach them, be agreeable to the word of God; they enjoin upon every one to live by his own faith, and not by the faith of his teachers; and therefore certain marks, which are taken only from the Bible, are proposed to him by our people, that he may see for himself, whether he be in that church, which is described in the book of God, as his beloved people. But what a listlesness hath seized even upon many of God's people, that they do not so much as inquire, but suppose in a careless manner; that they are in the true church: this matter, they think, is too high for them; they conceive that their parents, who procured their incorporation into this church and educated them in it, knew what they were about, and they think that their ministers are too wise, and too pious to mislead them. Is this thy conduct also, reader: hast thou then a better proof and ground for thy faith than a heathen, Jew, Turk or Papist, and wouldest thou not be one of them, as thou are now one of us, if thou wert only educated among them? and if a persecution should arise against us, and thou shouldest be obliged to suffer reproach, pain, and shame for the doctrine of our church, wouldest thou then indeed have a single reason, why thou wouldest not forsake us, and join thyself to our adversaries?

Even Unto Death

The 1561 Belgic Confession speaks of the duty of all Christians to join the true church despite whatever obstacles may providentially stand in the way, even the violent opposition of wicked magistrates, including capital punishment.

Belgic Confession, Chap. 28:

EVERY ONE IS BOUND TO JOIN HIMSELF TO THE TRUE CHURCH

We believe, since this holy congregation is an assembly of those who are saved, and out of it there is no salvation,1 that no person, of whatsoever state or condition he may be, ought to withdraw himself to live in a separate state from it;2 but that all men are in duty bound to join and unite themselves with it, maintaining the unity of the church;3 submitting themselves to the doctrine and discipline thereof; bowing their necks under the yoke of Jesus Christ;4 and as mutual members of the same body,5 serving to the edification of the brethren, according to the talents God has given them.

And that this may be the more effectually observed, it is the duty of all believers, according to the Word of God, to separate themselves from all those who do not belong to the church,6 and to join themselves to this congregation wheresoever God hath established it,7 even though the magistrates and edicts of princes be against it, yea, though they should suffer death or any other corporal punishment.8 Therefore all those who separate themselves from the same, or do not join themselves to it, act contrary to the ordinance of God.

8 Dan. 3:17, 18—If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Dan. 6:8-10—Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree. Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. Rev. 14:14—And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. Acts 4:17—But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. Acts 4:19—But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. Acts 17:7—Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus. Acts 18:13—Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.

Guido de Brès, the author of this confession of, sealed these words with his own blood on May 31, 1567, when he died a martyr's death at a prison in Valenciennes, France. The story of his life and death is a remarkable one, even in an age when many held fast to the faith even unto death itself. Wes Bredenhof, among others, has done a great service through his research and translation work concerning de Brès, and rather than give a biographical sketch of our hero of the faith here, I encourage the reader to tolle lege, take up and read, concerning his life and death, most particularly, a first-hand account of the martyr's death, and de Brès' final letter to his wife, which is comparable to those letters from Christopher Love to his wife (and hers to him) as he likewise awaited death.

The Apostle Paul teaches that "all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Tim. 3.12). It is worth considering if this text speaks truly of us. Yet, not all are called to lay down their lives for the gospel, at least not as martyrs, though no Christian should shrink from the privilege of walking the same path which our Master walked at such a cost if it is given to us to lay down our lives for his sake. We do not choose the age in which we live "but," as Gandalf told Frodo once, "that is not for [us] to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."

As we remember Guido de Brès on the anniversary of his death-day, his entrance into the heavenly reward of the faithful, we do well to consider what William Gouge reminds us, that even in an age of peace and calm for the Church of Christ -- and while it is so in many respects today in the United States, there are places even now where there is great persecution against the saints, and our brethren who suffer for righteousness sake stand in need of our prayers -- it is our duty, and our blessed privilege, to be martyr-minded:

O that all who profess the Faith of Christ were like minded! It well becomes us all to be so minded. And if indeed we be so minded, God who knows the mind, heart, and spirit of a man will answerably account of him, and accept him, though he never be brought to the fiery trial, as if he had been brought to it, and endured it to the very uttermost: The virtues and graces of the mind sometimes are manifested in their deed or work: and sometimes lie hid in their habit, as the virtue of Martyrdom. Many may have the same prowess that Martyrs have, who are not brought to the same proof thereof....As it is therefore needful and useful in the prime and strength of our age, when we have best health to meditate on the sundry kinds of diseases, and manifold casualties whereunto we are subject, and on death, the end of all: so in the most flourishing times of the Church, meditation on the uttermost that may be endured even to the shedding of blood for fast-holding our profession of Christ, is a most meet meditation.

Pray For Your Pastor

John Shaw, The Character of a Pastor According to God's Heart, a sermon preached on August 25, 1752, pp. 14-15:

They [the people] should be much in prayer for him. The best minister in the world, though abounding in gifts and graces, is yet desirous to have the pious and godly among his hearers, not insensible that he needs them. So was the Apostle, Romans 15:30, Now I beseech you brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me, in your prayers to God for me. So it is in Ephesians 6:18-19, Praying always...for me that utterance may be given me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel. If such a minister of Christ as the Apostle, who was filled with the Holy Ghost in an extraordinary manner, yet needed and desired the prayers of the godly, certainly, then, the ordinary and standing ministers of the gospel need them. And, if they need and desire the prayers of a people, it is the duty of a people to pray for them.

A Remedy for Contentions in the Church

Richard Steele, "How the Uncharitable and Dangerous Contentions That Are Among Professors of the True Religion May Be Allayed," in Puritan Sermons: 1659-1689, Vol. 4, pp. 248, 251-252:

Apply yourselves to the practice of real piety. By this I mean, that we should employ our chief care to procure and increase a lively faith, to exercise daily repentance, to strengthen our hope, to inflame our love to God and to our neighbour, to grow in humility, zeal, patience, and self-denial: to be more diligent in watchfulness over our thoughts, words, ways, in mortification of our sinful passions and affections, in the examination of our spiritual estate, in meditation, in secret and fervent prayer, and in universal and steady obedience. In these things do run the vital spirits of religion: and whoso is seriously employed in these, will have but little time, and less mind, for unnecessary contentions. These will keep that heat about the heart, which evaporating, degenerates into airy and fiery exhalations, and leaves the soul as cold as ice to any holy desires. "It is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein." (Heb. xiii.9.)

It is manifest what a sad decay of these hath followed our multiplied quarrels; and how hard it is to be "fervent in spirit," and withal to be fiery in controversies. He that walks with God, and whose "conversation is in heaven," will be quickly weary of windy disputes with men, and will be apt to conclude, with one of the ancients, Lassus sum, dum et cum sermone atque invidia, et cum hostibus et cum nostris, pugno:* which hath occasioned divers great divines the more earnestly to long for heaven, that they might be out of the noise of endless and perverse disputations. The serious practice of godliness hath the promise of divine direction in all material points: "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant." (Psalm xxv. 14.) "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God." (John vii. 17.) And likewise, he that "lives in the Spirit, and walks in the Spirit," dares not "bite or devour" his neighbour. "Let not us," saith the apostle, that so walk, "be desirous of vain-glory, provoking one another, envying one another." (Gal. v. 25, 26.)
...
Observe that good old rule, of doing to others as you would be done to. -- You would have others to bear with you; and why will not you bear with others? You would have the best sense put upon your words, actions, and carriages; and why will not you put the best sense on their words, actions, and carriages? You would not be imposed on, censured, reproached, backbitten, slandered; no more should you impose on others, or censure them, or reproach or backbite or slander them. I may say to you, as Chrysostom, on that, Matt. vii. 12: "Let thine own will here be thy law." Let not this rule, which was reverenced by Heathens, be trampled on by Christians. It is true, error cannot reasonably expect the same regard from truth, as truth may from error; yet erroneous persons, whose errors are not mortal, should no more be devoured by the servants of truth, than those who have right on their side, by those that are in the wrong. Those who have not otherwise forfeited the repute of sobriety, piety, and honesty, save only that they cannot be of your mind; let them still be so esteemed and treated, as you yourselves desire to be esteemed and treated, if any contrary party should ever have wind and sun with them. Remember how this melted Sesotris, a Pagan, into compassion, when he observed one of his royal captives, who helped to draw his chariot, looking wistly on the wheel, how the part now lowest was presently uppermost; so that he, considering the mutability of these sublunary things, released him from that bondage. And, however, forget not what the Holy Ghost saith: "He shall have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment." (James ii. 13.)

Twelve Rules for Promoting Harmony Among Church Members

Twelve Rules for Promoting Harmony among Church Members by Thomas Smyth:

1. To remember that we are all subject to failings and infirmities, of one kind or another. Matt 7:1-5; Rom 2:21-23.

2. To bear with and not magnify each other's infirmities. Gal 6:1.

3. To pray one for another in our social meetings, and particularly in private. James 5:16.

4. To avoid going from house to house, for the purpose of hearing news, and interfering with other people's business. Lev 19:16.

5. Always to turn a deaf ear to any slanderous report, and to allow no charge to be brought against any person until well founded and proved. Prov 25:23.

6. If a member be in fault, to tell him of it in private, before it is mentioned to others. Matt 18:15.

7. To watch against shyness of each other, and put the best construction on any action that has the appearance of opposition or resentment. Prov 10:12.

8. To observe the just rule of Solomon, that is, to leave off contention before it be meddled with. Prov 17:14.

9. If a member has offended, to consider how glorious, how God-like it is to forgive, and how unlike a Christian it is to revenge. Eph 4:2.

10. To remember that it is always a grand artifice of the Devil, to promote distance and animosity among members of Churches, and we should, therefore, watch against everything that furthers his the Devil's end. James 3:16.

11. To consider how much more good we can do in the world at large, and in the Church in particular when we are all united in love, than we could do when acting alone, and indulging a contrary spirit. John 13:35.

12. Lastly, to consider the express injunction of Scripture, and the beautiful example of Christ, as to these important things. Eph 4:32; 1 Pet 2:21; John 13:5,35.