The decline in Christian fellowship and the struggles within the assembly movement stem from a lack of commitment, not from issues with programs or styles of worship. Examining the early church at Antioch, which was characterized by committed Christians born out of persecution, The examples highlight that true spiritual vitality comes from deep theological, ecclesiastical, and personal commitment. The sermon emphasizes that distinctives like a plurality of elders and the regular observance of the Lord's Supper, which reinforce core Christian truths, are essential for the church's identity and function. Ultimately, the message calls for a renewed commitment to these foundational principles and practices that have historically defined and strengthened the church.
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Welcome to it. Well, as in our second floor, so many young people sleeping on the floor. Welcome was with us. He decided it was time to wake up. Do you remember that incident and he found this football ratchet thing and whipped that around a few times? And we had so many young people on the feet at once. It was unbelievable. That was a Bible conference that a number of us were involved in in the Baltimore area when my wife and I were about John and Cheryl's age, and that's a long time ago now. And they were meaningful times. I reach a little further back into my life to the time when I was saved at the camp where Tom Taylor so frequently functions up at Greenwood Hills.
I went to camp for one season, I was saved, and my folks didn't think it was worth the money to send me anymore. But that was that experience. I think camps and conferences like these are very important, particularly now, because it seems that it is the only thing in our experience now that binds various assemblies together in Christian fellowships. We are becoming more and more involved in our own schedule, our independent activities, though they'd be very good in a local assembly. They are squeezing out a lot of the interaction that we once had. Have you experienced that?
And I think this is the last thing that keeps us together. The pity is camps and conferences are declining too. That may reflect a bigger problem. And as I travel about from time to time, for engagements like this and weekend ministries and different assemblies, it's not long that I arrive before I hear very similar stories, no matter what part of the country I'm in. And by and large, they're not encouraging. We are coming on perilous, troublesome times in the assembly movement as a whole.
I think you are aware of that. Just before coming down, my wife stopped by after going to the mailbox and she had another letter relating to some of the problems that exist in assembly life throughout North America. And this was a letter that most all of you workers will receive, I am certain, probably waiting in your mailbox right now. that ratchets a little tighter the struggles that are amongst assemblies nationwide. And it'll be just a little more complicated because of some of the issues that are raised in that particular letter.
Brethren, when they have taken to writing, have not usually united brothers and sisters in the Lord, have they? It has usually ended up in dividing us, and it's happening more and more across the country. Numbers are declining in individual assemblies, or at least plateauing. Conferences such as these and camps are finding less and less interest. And we are becoming more and more independent, isolated local assembly.
I'm not sure that's good. Now, in viewing all of this, we frequently will say, what's wrong? Let's fix it. A lot of things have been set forward as ways of fixing things. I heard one person say, what we really need to do is get rid of the chairs. You know, and sort of sit on the floor. This place will work pretty well because we already have the steps in there that will make it comfortable. And we need to get less formal, get a few guitars in and really start to share.
You know, and do away with the fancy trappings of buildings and pews and stained glass windows and all the rest. Catacomb Christians, you know, they want to go back to the way it was in the really good old days when we met in the catacomb. I don't know that that's going to fix a lot. I don't know what they're saying. It gets a little boring looking at the back of somebody's head, a person sitting in front of you, and the formality can get in the way of things. I understand that. But at my age in life, I can't get up after I've gone down on the ground, you know. I find it very uncomfortable. My ideal chapel would be one with airplane chairs and the big ones, you know, if you could tilt back and really get comfortable if you need it too.
And by the way, if you people are tired and you've driven all night or just plain tired, I'm going to sleep on better people than myself. So feel very comfortable about that and just doze off and come back when you can. I'd encourage you to do that instead of fighting it. It's much better. Now, some people amongst us want to get more formal. Do you know that? Some of the time we say, hey, we really got to go first class. Excellence. That's what we're after. Excellence in everything. And we really have the nice buildings and the robes, choirs, and the professional music, the whole nine yards. Like all those cathedral Christians, you know, that'll fix itself.
We do that. Some people say we, you know, we have lacked emotion, fire, spirit. And we sit here like bumps on the log. We never express ourselves. We should raise. Let's all try this. Put your hands up in here, everybody. Let's do. Look at that. I tell you, you've never seen anything like that in assembly. You never have. Does that do something for you? You know. One time at a Mass, the kids wanted to sing in one of the chapels, We Are One in the Spirit. And the big thing they wanted to do then when they did it was put their hand up with one finger.
We're One in the Spirit. We're One in the Lord. I wouldn't put my hand up. I hate moving myself around in a meeting, you know. I didn't even like the motion songs when I was a little kid. Deep and wide used to drive me crazy, you know. I just want to come in and sit down and be comfortable and listen to what's being said. Sing hard. Like Tom, I enjoy singing. I especially enjoy singing after eleven o'clock. Right, Tom? Where do you want to do it? I'll join you. Yeah. That's biblical, they say. Somebody else's. Yeah. But, you know, if that floats your boat, that's fine.
But I'm not certain that there's a real cause and effect relationship between movement, raising your hands, clapping your hands, and spirituality. I understand what I'm saying. Quick fix. Well, charismatic Christians. I don't think we have to go that route. Here's a big one. The poor ladies for all these years have been silent and covered. if we can only turn them loose in the church. That'll bring a new wave of enthusiasm and life that will rescue us from our peril. I'm glad some of you ladies are laughing.
The men aren't. I want to tell you that. I call those coed Christians, okay? If we could just have that kind of a church, then we'd have some life back. Some people, as always, say what we need are more procedures and rules and doing things the way they should be done. Codified Christians, that's been around for a long time. And that hasn't produced either. In fact, that destroys and devours. Choreographs Christian churches, where we have entertainment, even dance, that appeal to all the spectrum of taste that is out there.
Now I've visited a few of those places. I even caught the theme one time at one place. The first thing they had was a number of ladies who were very talented playing flutes. It was Handel's Water Music. That was beautiful. And then they went to another style with a guitar group. And I understood what they were playing. See, most people didn't always handle water music. They were playing the equivalent of it in the more contemporary thing down by the riverside, you see. And it was water. The theme was water that particular night. And it was nice entertainment. A lot of quick fixes.
And we've had a little bit of fun. just making a little humor over this. There are elements of reality in all of those. Formality can get in the way. And a lack of expression, rigidness can get in the way. And a rigid outlook on the way we relate to one another as men and women can get in the way. But these quick fixes aren't the real fixes we need. The problem is not the program. The church at Antioch, which I will be looking at with you throughout this week, is one of the few churches in the New Testament that doesn't get a letter from anybody.
And that's a compliment. We say we want to be like the New Testament church. The problem is we are like the New Testament church. We are for problems. And the apostles wrote addressing those problems. Ten problems at Corinth, a few at Philippi, some at Colossae, wherever you'd look, there were problems, and they'd write to address those problems. Nobody wrote to the church at Antioch. Yet Antioch is one of the main churches in the book of Acts. And I thought, just recently, I wonder why they never got a letter. And as I look at that church, as it's recorded in chapter eleven and thirteen, I find out why they never got a letter.
It was a rather ideal church. And there's a lot for us to learn out of the church of Antioch. And I'd like us to read a portion of that, and we'll be spending our time here in the book of Acts in chapter eleven and thirteen particularly. Verse nineteen of Acts chapter eleven. Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen, traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists preaching the Lord Jesus.
And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. Then news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord. For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. A great many people were added to the Lord. Then Barnabas departed to Tarsus to seek Saul. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people.
And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. This church was so ideal that a new word was invented that we each claim we are Christians. And that started up in the church at Antioch, not by their own testimony, but by those who observed how they functioned. They were first called Christians. at Antioch, a rather ideal setting. Now, let's see what characterizes the church at Antioch. As always, the answer for our church problems is the answer is in the Word of God.
Isn't that right? And here's an ideal church. The only struggle they ever had was when Peter got out of line a little later. We'll talk about that. Now I want this morning to look at the beginning of the church because tucked away in that is the real essence of what made the church at Antioch tick. The people who took the gospel to the church of Antioch were committed Christians. Now Tom is going to be addressing that subject this entire week I understand.
They were committed Christians. You say, how do you know that? Because this church was born out of persecution. The persecution arose and persecuted Christians who would stand for their faith in the face of opposition took the gospel to these new areas where it had not been taken before. The church at Antioch was born out of persecution. Persecution demonstrates faithfulness in persecution demonstrates commitment.
These people were faithful in the face of persecution. And what I am deriving out of that is that the founders of the church, consequently the church itself, were committed people. Now as we go around, we recognize there are a lot of us who should be committed. We understand that. But we're not looking at it in that way. Committed in the sense of being serious and living for God and for His purposes. This is what characterized the beginners of this church at Antioch, and it is what characterizes the church itself. Therein, I think, is the biggest problem.
in assembly life today. The question of commitment. The biggest problem with young people in anything. Let me tell you that. Commitment to anything. Whatever it is. Whether it be education, their work, Whatever is touching them particularly, this is a word that is not a normally practiced characteristic of the coming generation. To stick at a thing, no matter what.
The average person that graduates from any college, not just a mass, but from any college, if you ask them what they want to do in their life, they will say three words. I don't. No. It's a given. It's the way it is. Three percent of college students finish the program they start out for at the beginning of their college experience. Three percent, three out of a hundred, set out to be something and they finalize that. Now that's not all bad. In my day, you decided what you want to be when you were six, and that was it. You were locked out of anything else from that time on, and that was looked at as noble. And we got a lot of bad fits back in that day, because people went in the areas they had no business being in.
I went to an engineering school. Can you imagine the stupidity of that? Calculus. I flunked it three times. Pointless. I should have gone to the other school. that majored in history and literature and all that stuff that you don't have a right answer in. Okay? That's the way it is. But it was a custom in our family that if you were a boy, you went to Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, not that hated liberal art high school. That's what you did. There wasn't even a question. That was like Christianity. Yeah. Just had to do it. On the other hand, we've gone so far to the side that we say, you know, what do we feel like doing?
And if it's not pleasant, don't push at it. That this concept of commitment has slipped from not only our vocabulary, but from life itself. That's a hard thing to generate. When it comes to church life, without commitment on the part of God's people, The church will not properly function. It cannot. And I would like to talk about commitment today, maybe tomorrow, in three areas particularly. First of all, commitment, a theological commitment. It must be that.
And I'd like to expand on that for our own purposes and talk about an ecclesiastical commitment. That is related to theology, I realize. But then a third category of personal commitment. Theological, ecclesiastical, and personal. Three areas of commitment in our lives. What are you committed to theologically? What would you die for? That is part of your doctrinal statement. Put yourself back into... the church history and there is debate over the person of Jesus Christ.
Would you die to be able to say I believe in the full deity and perfect humanity of Jesus Christ? Is that something worth dying for? Yes? Yes sir. A lot of people have. What are those things of the Christian faith that you would die for? Maybe we wouldn't when it comes push to shove, but in theory, what are those basic truths that the Word of God says here is the very cardinal belief.
You must hold to this. early nineteen hundreds in the liberal fundamentalist controversy in Christendom in North America, they boiled it down to five things. In the fourth chapter of Ephesians, and I would think that would probably be more accurate than the five fundamentals of the faith, there are seven things that are spelled out as the creedal statement of the church. Perhaps we should look at that just to refresh our memories. Ephesians chapter four. In verse three, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace.
There is one body, the church. There is one Holy Spirit. There is one hope of our calling. There is one Lord. There is one faith. That may be the faith that makes us one with Christ, believing faith, or it may be the once-for-all delivered faith, the content, the body of faith. There is one baptism, debate as to whether that is water or spirit baptism. Since the Holy Spirit is mentioned above, I am inclined to think that that is the universally practiced baptism of believers in New Testament time, so that if you would see a believer, you could say he was a baptized person.
If you saw a baptized person, you could say he was a believer. One explanation. It may be spirit baptism that unites us into the body of Christ. There is one God. and Father of all. You have the Trinity stated. You have the faith stated, which is a very inclusive statement if that is our creedal faith. You have baptism that unites us together stated. Seven points that are the basis of the unity of Christianity. And I expect that I should be willing to stand for those.
I am committed to the truthfulness of those things." Now in the modernist fundamentalist controversy, they included one that probably is included in the statement of one faith, which could be a very elaborate thing. That one faith includes the truthfulness of the Word of God, the inerrancy, inspiration, accuracy of Holy Scripture. We are committed to that. Now, I don't think any of us would debate these things. These are core truths that unite us together in the body of Christ. These are core truths with which not only we as members of assemblies across the country, but all evangelical Christians would say, yes, I believe these things.
Is that all that is thought in Scripture? Are they the only things that are to be part of that body of truth to which we are committed as believers in Jesus Christ, these basic seven, or the basic five, or whatever your basic credo statement is? Are they the things that only are taught as practice in Scripture? I would suggest to you, and this is where we will come to some of the areas of debate in assembly life today, I would suggest to you that there are some other things beyond that to which we must be committed.
Our ecclesiastical commitments. These are beyond those basics that we've talked of now in Ephesians chapter four. Recently I was involved in a discussion over distinguishing between what is basic, creedal, truth, and those things that are traditions and customs. Under the concept of tradition and custom, came all other dimensions of things mentioned in Scripture aside from these basics that we mentioned in Ephesians four.
Under that would be things like not just the frequency of the Lord's Supper, but whether or not that's just a custom or tradition that may or may not be practiced. Under that would come things like church government. Under that would come all of the other things that are mentioned in Scripture that are not commanded specifically for us to follow today. And all of a sudden, some of the things that for all my life I have held important in church life came under question, as just falling under a category called tradition and customs.
Now I've been faced with that before. A teacher in seminary one day made the statement that there is no commandment to the form of church government found in Scripture. And that's true. There is no commandment that says, go and have a plurality of men serving as the government of a local church. No command to that anywhere in Scripture. We're aware of that. That's not newsflash. But then the question was raised, then why do you commit to that? Can you answer that question? If it's not commanded, why commit to it? And I think most of us come from assemblies where there is a plurality of male leadership.
Let's see here. Is that the universal here? Okay. There was a time in assembly life early on when some of the early founders of brethrenism, can I say that? Some of them felt that only apostles could appoint elders, and hence there were no apostles and no elders. Out of that came that cursed thing called the business meeting. The origin of that one. But it is more common in our Christian life and assembly life today to have recognized elders, at least elders, if they're not recognized. That's the move that is taking place across country. Is that just a suggestion of Scripture?
Is that something we commit to? I've grown up with the understanding of the Lord's Supper was rather important. How many of you shared that teaching? You know, all of a sudden I'm hearing people say, that's just tradition, custom. You know, we do it one way, other people do it another way. Who knows what's right or wrong? And if you weigh up a majority-minority, whoa, we're really in the minority. Now, how can you answer that question, just tradition? Just a custom. It's not commanded. At least the methodology isn't. That you remember is.
But how you remember, where's the command that says this is the way you should do it? We have to have answers to those questions nowadays. Now, we may be doing it the right way. We may be doing the right things. But those questions are being asked. And it's very good if we have some logical explanation that our commitment goes beyond just the seven basics of the five fundamentals. There are some other commitments that we have in the way the church is to be conducted that are worth standing for. Now, church government, how can we justify that?
every place the church government is mentioned in the New Testament, and it's not mentioned in connection with every church, but it is with most, either directly or indirectly, there is one form of church government that is everywhere established. They went everywhere appointing elders in all of the churches, Acts chapter fourteen. The apostles did that universally. They did it in different places of the world. where there were different social customs and practices. I tell you what, if you go into Crete and you pick up their literature and they had some Crete jokes, you know, they weren't Aggie jokes or Pollock jokes or whatever other kind of ethnic jokes, they were Crete jokes.
And they write poems about them and Paul quotes one of them. You know what he calls the Crete? He says, look, the Crete are always what? Does anybody know? Glottons and slow bellies. Lazy glottons and slow bellies. That's not a compliment. You know? And the Apostle Paul goes on to quote their part, and then he said, do you know what he said? The right. Now, here's a characteristic of a group of people. And you know, as much as we say those things don't exist, they do exist. Are you a little afraid about a unified Germany? How many of you don't like the sound of that? I'm German, I don't like the sound of that. You put those two nations back together again and blow a trumpet, get some Vagnerian music, and give somebody a gun, we're in trouble again.
That's the way it is. You know, there are traits that we reflect. That's why I don't like to raise my hand and do all that. I'm a tournament background. Let me alone, you know. Kind of thing. That's the way it is. There are nationalistic, ethnic traits that we all have. And that's neither right nor wrong in itself. But Paul goes to Crete and he says, oh, boy, you guys, are you lazy? Are you given to just what kind of government would you put in place there? We whip in some organizational man who could really put them together, show them how to do it, and then maybe put in four or five of the Crete there. Oh, no. Same form of government there that he puts in any other setting.
Universal practice of the apostles has been taught traditionally as being equivalent to the precept of the apostles. Do you hear that? And that's an important concept. That's why I'll go to the wall for church government. There's nothing new, no difference in society. No new thing that's come along in the twentieth century that wasn't there in that first century of Christianity in which the apostles went everywhere establishing only one form of church government. And I'll be very quick to say consequently, there's a right way to govern the church and there's a long way to govern the church. The right way, the biblical way, the pattern that is everywhere followed in the New Testament is a plurality of qualified men.
exercising authority over that church. They are under-shepherds. They are answerable to the chief shepherd of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's the way we are to function. That's worth going to the wall for. That's a distinctive. Now, that's not the distinctive that marks out brethrenism. There are a number of churches that have that form of church government. Presbyterian Church names it. on the local level that's what we are in form we are Presbyterian a plurality of qualified men that's how we're identified little p there that's the form of church government we all practice and I think that springs out of scripture but that doesn't mark us out when everything is boiled down when you want to know the difference between The groups that we represent and the rest of evangelical Christianity, there really is one major difference.
Can you identify? We have been identified by church historians as being Christocentric. I think that's a compliment. Christocentric. We are centered around Jesus Christ. And that shows itself. In my ecclesiology class at the college, I refer to Sherman Hills building regularly. Can I do this without getting in trouble? And I said, over and over again, if I could have all the money that was available to build a chapel, I'd build it like that.
And it's not because of the nice beautiful colonial architecture, which is my favorite and therefore right. Okay. And it's not because of the red brick of the building. And the nice platform that can accommodate a choir and has been the center for wonderful preaching for many, many years. But that big room off to the, I think, the left as you go in. where their chairs are three hundred fifty or so chairs and there is made an architectural statement there's not another church building in all of Greensboro or all the south that I know all of any place that has that statement that says we meet regularly around the Lord's table and we make a statement about that here it is there's a room for it I like that I don't think there's anything magic in the way you put your chairs I've said that already.
But here, I don't know if this was conscious or subconscious that it was done. An architectural statement is made that says, we are different from the rest of evangelical Christianity, and we purpose to be that way, and we're not ashamed of it. Do you hear that? But the Lord's Supper is the difference. That's the difference between us and the evangelical church down the corner. And I personally am committed to that. I'm committed to that for a lot of reasons. First of all, to my knowledge, we are the only group. Listen to me carefully on this. I've been misquoted on this one, which is no big deal thing.
But we are the only group that I know of that schedules in their church services a schedule for the exercise of the priesthood of all believers in worship. Catch that in worship. That's important in remembering the Lord, because other churches do for prayer. They have priesthood practice, but not in relationship to worship. And we do make that difference. And we base that on the structure. of the meetings in First Corinthians fourteen, in which every person comes with a hymn, with a psalm, with a praise, with a teaching. And the spirits are subject one to another and to the Holy Spirit, so that there can be open participation in the priesthood exercise in worship.
Now Luther rediscovered the concept of the priesthood of all believers. He didn't take it far enough. Look, he took things plenty far. It's one of my heroes. But the priesthood of all believers didn't make it into many local churches. We have functioned historically in a branch of evangelicalism where it has made it. There is theological basis for that practice. That is very important, the priesthood of all believers. It gives us all a chance to come together to remember the Lord. And sit quietly. Quiet is wonderful, isn't it?
Sit quietly and meditate on the finished work of Jesus Christ, who he is and what he has done. And sometime we rise to the point in our meditation where we really are thinking of him more than we're thinking of ourselves. And that's good when that happens. If we start playing games with the Lord's Supper, we may as well end up being a good Bible church folks. That's our distinction. We have been committed to that. And it's done something very interesting. One time I was in a debate with a fellow at seminary.
He was making fun of the assemblies. And I'm a very tolerant, patient person. My wife will tell you that. And he crossed the line. And I said, okay. I said, how many of your churches deny the dignity of Christ? He said, well, a good number of them do. How many of you deny inspiration in Scripture? Oh, I'm afraid a lot of them do, especially some of the seminaries. I said, how many of them? And I went down all these basic fundamentals. And he was embarrassed. But I said, do you know, I have never gone to an assembly in my life in which any of those things have been questioned. Never have. And I really stuffed him. And then I walked away.
I walked away from that scene. And I said to myself, I wonder why that's true. And you know why I think it is. Every Sunday when we remember the Lord, we're brought back to ground zero. Ground zero. I'm a sinner. Jesus died for me. I had offended God. It said so in the truthful scriptures. and rehearsed before us, not in a formal way, not in a structured way, but rehearsed before us by this man and another and a third and a fourth, are all of the basic elements of the truth of Holy Scripture.
Substitutionary death of Jesus Christ, his full deity, his perfect humanity, the inspiration of Scripture, the relationship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And it's not just one person who's been trained, it's this whole group. And they're saying it to one another. And whether we know it or not, we're being built up in our most holy faith. And in a setting in which we are not just doing it theoretically and academically, but we're there to praise God and thank him for it. And our brains are purified theologically every Sunday. And we go about, and I'll go out into Iowa, and if I make a mistake preaching, some farmer who's asleep will rise up and say, that's wrong, and flatten me, and go back to sleep.
Where did he know that? You know? It happens. How does that happen? Because we have this wonderful object lesson, Sunday after Sunday, of all the essential elements of Christianity. We do it together, the oneness of the body. On it goes. Am I committed to this? We start playing games with that. We are questioning the very reason for our existence. And when I look at the big picture of what God is doing in the church, And the contribution that brethrenism has made, let me use that word, I understand that it's heretical to do it that way, but the major contribution we have made to evangelicalism, there is one yet that hasn't filtered down and we're backing off from that.
And if we back off, we may be backing off for the very reason for our existence in God's big plan. And if that's the case, then what I've talked about at the beginning probably has a place in God's plan too. See, there are things to which we are committed that go beyond the basic elements of Christianity. And they do relate to the distinctives of church government and practice within the church, our ecclesiastical structure. And I want to conclude with that a little bit more next hour as we continue this study. We need to be committed Christians.
We need to be so to a basic fundamental faith, but also to the extension of that that marks us out as different from the rest of evangelicalism. Not different in a snobby, superior way, but different in a way that will contribute to their spiritual well-being as they included as part of church life, as it has been beneficial to our spiritual well-being over the years. It's something worth standing up for. We'll talk more to that point as we continue. Let's pray together.