The Christian life - Church..

Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.

com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. We are going to continue with our series of Bible studies that the Lord has given us the grace to have this time, not only to pray, but also to come and have a meditation around his word. So let us open our Bibles to Ephesians chapter one.

We're going to continue with those studies that we're doing on the Christian life. And we started on the individual life, the family life, and we're doing the life of the church. And tonight we're going to be addressing the topic of church government. Church government, that is basically how the church is supposed to be organized or their operations of the church. And I want us to read Ephesians chapter one.

We're gonna pay attention to verse 22, but let us read together from verse 11. And pay special attention to the last portion of the prayer of the apostles, I think perhaps from verse 21. Let us read carefully from verse 11, Ephesians chapter one. This is the word of the Lord. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ may be to the praise of his glory.

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promise of the Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it. to the praise of His glory. For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His powers toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might, that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at the right hand in the heavenly places, far above, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is the body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Amen.

This is the word of the Lord. Let me just pray for us and then we will read that verse 22 and 23 again. Lord Jesus, we come before you and I ask you that you may help us, Lord, in the feebleness of our minds and the limitations of our minds, Lord, and of our hearts to meditate around your words, Lord, Help us, please, to be clear and help us, Lord, to the brethren who are to be in the sounds of my voice, either present here or online, to pay attention to this and perhaps, Lord, that by your grace and your mercy, you may grant us a greater manifestation of your presence. And as the apostle prayed here, that we may be enlightened in the revelation of the knowledge of Christ and what he has for his church. So, Lord Jesus, that every day we may grow in conformity to you, not only individually, but also as a church, as Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church.

Lord Jesus, we come before you. Please help us in the meditations of our hearts, in the words that we are going to speak, in the words that the brethren will hear. Give us a humble heart to speak, a humble heart to receive, and give us of your spirit to discern that which corresponds to the scriptures. Be with us, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Beloved brethren here and those of you online, let us read once again this verse 22. I said to you that I want to share with you about a church government. That is, how is the church organized for the operations of the church? In verse 22, it gives us something of that order. It says in verse 22, And he put all things under his, he's been Christ, his feet, and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Now, beloved brothers and sisters, church government is, even though it is not a fundamental doctrine of our faith, namely something compared with the deity of Christ or the trinity or the gospel or the atonement, church government is a very important doctrine that relates to how the church is to be organized and how the church is to operate. If there is one great attack, or if there is one of the greatest criticisms, perhaps, of the Catholic Church to Protestants, is that in the Protestant camp we have thousands and thousands, I haven't counted them, but this is what people say, that there are thousands and thousands of different denominations and ways that Protestant churches not only believe, but also are organized. The Catholic Church is one in their ways, and they are structured and organized in a particular way, and then they criticize the Protestants because the Protestants have thousands and thousands of denominations and different beliefs, and again, different ways of doing church, and how the church is organized and how the church operates. Now, the fact that the Catholic Church has a particular way to do things and how they organize, or the fact that the denominations, or the multiple denominations on the side of the Protestant Church, either unity or multiple denominations, none of those two guarantees that they have the truth. Not the Catholic Church, by only having one particular system of unity in how the Church operates, less on the Protestant side when you have thousands and thousands of denominations in beliefs and in ways that they operate.

Now the Scriptures is one, and the message of the Scripture is only one. And the Scriptures testify to all truths, to the truths of the Gospel, to the truths of Christ, to the truths of the Trinity, and also testifies to the truth of how the Church is to be organized. So we are not going to go through the stream of the Catholic Church, in which there are many heresies there and many errors, doctrinal speaking, just at times trying to pursue unity by force and by the authority of the Church, going against the authority of the Scriptures. But also we are not to be passive and we are not to be just complacent, if that is the word, on the side of the multiple denominations not trying to seek and pursue the truth of what the Scripture says about Church government. Now, church government is the word that theologians and pastors use simply to speak about how the church is to be organized, how the church is to operate.

And if we are going to understand this concept of church government, there are two important words that we need to understand so that we will understand church government. The first word is structure, and the second word is authority. The doctrine of church government answers the question, how should the church be structured or organized or put together to exercise authority? Those are the two key words that help us understand what the doctrine of church government is. structure, and authority.

That is actually something that you can see in the government, for instance. The government of our country is a government that is structured in a particular way, and the structure of the government is with the purpose of exercising authority. So the government exercises authority that they have, and this is done in different levels of structure or organization. So this topic that we're going to be addressing today is very important, because the organization of the structure of the Church to exercise authority is vital for the life of the individual. So not pursuing the way of unity in the flesh of the Catholic Church, but not being complacent in the multiple denomination of the Protestant Church and just agreeing to disagree on how the Church is to operate, then the saints are to come to the scriptures and try to see what the scriptures say about church and government.

What I want to do tonight is just simply to present to you the four main ways of church government that, generally speaking, churches from the extreme of Catholicism to Protestants have their four ways of church government. I'm going to present three of them briefly, I hope, and generally just going through them, presenting what they believe and what they are wrong, perhaps. And then finally, we're going to arrive to the final way of church government, which is the one that we believe and the one that we hold from the scriptures. So I'm going to present four different ways of church government. The first three are not the one that we hold to as a church, the last one is.

But before I present these four, the last one being the one that we believe and we hold, because we believe that that is in the scriptures, before we go into this four type of church government, that will tell us and inform us about how the church is to be organized and structured so that we can use those four principles to analyze and to discern all of these other four types of church government and perhaps arrive to the conclusion of the last one, which is the one that we hold and we believe. So two sets of fours. The first is that we're going to give you four principles, I hope, biblical principles that will help us according to the truth of the scriptures to discern what are the criteria that we need to pay attention to from the scriptures when we decide to answer that question of how should the church be structured to exercise authority, in other words, church government. We go through those four principles, and then we use those four principles to go through the four main ways of church government, and then analyze each one of them, remove, if you want, I don't know what the word is, you know, remove the first three, and then present the final one as the one that we think is biblical and according to the scriptures, okay? So let us do that first.

The first is going to be the principle, I said to you, if you remember, the definition is, in church government, you need to understand this, structure and authority. So the first principle is that the structure and the authority of the Church is given by Christ. And that is what we see here in verse 22. So I'm going to be referring you to lots of the scriptures because, brethren, those of you here present and those who are online, you will imagine why there are thousands of denominations on the Protestant side, right? They all have the Bible.

We all have the scriptures. Many of them are generally following the scriptures, and many of them are following traditions for many, many centuries and years, even coming from the Reformation. So we need to ask the Scriptures first, what do the Scriptures say about this church government, and then analyze all of those. So let us do that first and be diligent in the Scriptures. I'm going to be referring to you to different passages, so that it will not be my argument or my reasoning, but that which comes from the Scriptures.

So principle number one. This structure and this authority of the church, which is what gives church government, is given by Christ. And we see it here in verse 22, it says, Now, when we speak about a structure, we speak about order. Something that is a structure, something that is order, that follows a particular order. And when we speak about authority, you know, we speak about authority, I don't have any other synonym for authority, power, to exercise and to command someone to follow authority.

In this verse here, we can see both of them. The first one, I want you to see how the apostle makes this analogy to the body. You see the body there, you see feet, head and body, you see those three parts of the body. And this is the part of the structure. Speaking of Christ says that all things have been put under his feet.

This verse is actually very powerful and I'm very tempted to remain there. But, you know, it says that everything has been under his feet. And then he says that Christ is the head. And the head of who? The church, and the church is the body.

So you have Christ as the head, and the church as the body, and all things, because of the authority that God has given to Jesus Christ by virtue of what he accomplished, are under the feet of Christ. But the feet of Christ is the church, right? So the head, the church, and all things are under his feet. of Christ, of course, is the Church. That is the structure of the Church.

And you can see here also, implicitly, you can see the topic or the concept of authority when we read from verse 20 or even from verse 21. It says, above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come." That is the authority that he has received. All authority has been given to Christ, it says Matthew 28, verse 18 and 19, right? Jesus Christ has received all authority in heaven and on earth.

That is the authority. And this authority is given to the church, but with a structure, right? He's the head, and the church is the body, and all things are under his feet. That is the first principle. Christ is the one that defines the structure.

He's the head to the church, and he's the one that gives the authority. Now there is an important thing about this principle of Christ defining this structure and this authority. Because the way that Christ defines this authority or this structure within his church is in two ways. The first way is individual, and the second way is as a church. And this one here, the one that I'm just going to speak now, is still in the first principle.

We're still in the first principle. It's very important to understand biblically, because the many mistakes that are made on the Protestant side about the different denominations is usually made about trying to distinguish between the lordship of Christ over individual and the lordship of Christ upon the church as a body. So we need to understand that the Lord Jesus Christ is Lord of the Church, and the Lord Jesus Christ is Lord of the individual. And the Lordship of Christ to the individual is priority over the Church, because the Church is just simply coming together of individuals who have been generally saved. If you remember the first Bible study that we did about the nature of the church, this is why that is very important that we will understand that the church is those who have been generally saved.

Because the authority that Christ has over the church is by virtue of the general relationship that he has to individuals. Let me take you to Romans chapter 14, because this is very important. Because, you know, like the Catholic Church, what do you think that they overemphasize? The authority of Christ as an individual, or the authority of Christ to the Church? To the Church, right?

And then the relationship of the individual to Christ is through the Church. That happens in the Catholic side, but it also happens in the Protestant side. because we need to keep those two in a balance, biblical balance. So if you come please with me to Romans chapter 14, I said, I just want to give you the biblical argument for you to know that Christ is head, if you want, primarily of the person, you can even just go to the first chapter 11 and speak in that case of certain level of authority to the man, but Christ is the head and in particular a relationship of authority to the individual first as a servant and then he is the head of the church by virtue of that spiritual reality. So in Romans chapter 14 we can see the individuality aspect of this servant and how that is so important to understand.

It says in Romans chapter 14, As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person, we're speaking of an individual, right? One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats. for God has welcomed him."

So speaking, don't dispute about food, don't fight against each other about this particular thing that you individually do. Do not pass judgment about these particular practices. And then he continues in verse 4, who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? Namely saying, who are you to judge your brother while your brother or sister is servant of who? of the Lord, he is going to say, it is before his own master, or before his own Lord, that he stands or falls, and he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

One person seems one day as better than another, while another seems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor to the Lord and gives thanks to God." Now, brethren, let us think and analyze this together.

Here the apostle is saying that there may be people in the church that in their conscience, right, they hold to a certain belief, which is eating this or eating that. And the Apostle is saying to the brothers or the brethren in the Church, do not judge that brother who eats or does not eat that food. You do what you do before the Lord, and he does or she does what they do before the Lord. Because there is a servant-Lord relationship that is from the individual. However, when it comes to foods and when it comes to Sabbaths, there's one truth.

And the Scriptures speaks of that truth. And the Church as a whole is to pursue the truth about what it is about foods and what it is about Sabbaths. This is for the church to pursue that truth. But as the church pursues that truth covenantally as a community, then you are to respect the conscience of the person that is obedient to the Lord in a particular way. You can see here how the Lord is in a lower servant relationship to the person.

So, the Lord is your head. By virtue of the grace, He is your Lord, He is your head. That is very important. So church government, the first principle that I'm saying is that the structure and authority are given from Christ. And if you're going to understand this structure and this authority, the first thing that we need to understand is that there is a distinction between the individual and then also the church.

What about the church then? The Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 3, verse 15, something that we've read before, speaks about that. If you come there, please. This is a verse that we have read many times. It says, verse 15 in 1 Smith chapter 3, if I delay, you may know that you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and a batteries of the truth.

And then if you go to Colossians chapter 1, speaking about Christ being the head of the church, and even just the passage that we have just read in Ephesians, it says that Jesus Christ is the head of the body. So this is very important, brother. These are things, perhaps, that we know, but let me just progress through your mind and your heart, perhaps, with these four principles. The first principle for us to discern how we ought to operate as a church properly is that Jesus Christ is the one that defines the structure and the authority in the church. And this is done to the individual and this is done to the congregation.

Second principle. This structure and this authority of Christ to the individual and to the church is operated through the scriptures. So it's the Word of God, the one that operates this structure and this authority to the individual and also to the Church. Now, to the individual, we could have continued reading there Romans chapter 14, and you will see that it is the Scriptures, the ones that define the conscience of the person. Because the person is not going to say, I'm going to eat whatever I want to eat just because I want to eat.

And I'm going to say that I'm eating that before the Lord. Or I'm going to observe the Sabbath. I'm not going to observe the Sabbath just because I want to do it. That is insulting to the Lord. The person is to do it before the Lord.

So that means that that person has asked, Lord, what do you want me to do? And that question is answered only through the scriptures. Now, that person might arrive to a wrong conclusion of the scriptures and then submit themselves to a particular practice, but that is to be done through their conscience. So the Lord is the Lord of the conscience of the individual, and the conscience of the individual is meant to be fed, illuminated through the scriptures. Each person is meant to fill his heart and his mind with the Scriptures so that their conscience will be clean before the Lord.

As the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians chapter 4, speaking of him and Apollos, that his conscience was clean before the Lord, but it's not him who justifies himself, but the Lord justifies him. So the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, the structure and authority to the Church, operates through the scriptures for the individual, but also to the Church. In one sense to the Church, in the sense that we have here in 1 Timothy chapter 3. It says there in verse 15 that the Church of the Living God is a pillar and a buttress of truth. You see there?

It's a foundation of the truth. It is the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is now the collective aspect of all of this, namely the body, is the buttress of the truth. If you come with me to Ephesians chapter 3, this is a passage that I have referred to in the past, you will see this very important comment of the Apostle in Ephesians chapter 3, speaking about the authority of the Church as is given from Christ as the collective of the Church, or the body of the Church. In Ephesians chapter 3, This is a passage that we have read many times together. It says, in verse 7, we've read it in the past from the beginning, but let us just read from chapter, from verse 7.

It says, of this gospel, I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things. Then he says, so he's speaking, if you pay attention to what he said, he said, this mystery was reserved from the ages, you know, from before the ages, it was kept. Even the men of old did not know about this mystery, which was the gospel for the Gentiles. Of this gospel, I have been made a minister.

He says, I'm revealing this through the preaching of the word to the Gentiles. And then it says, verse 10, so that through the church, the meaningful wisdom of God may be made known to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places. That is that the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is the means, in the word, through, is the means by which, in this age, God reveals His wisdom to the rulers. The Church is the buttress and the foundation of truth. The Lord gives truth to the individual through the conscience and process of illumination, and the Lord gives truth to the Church.

Principle number one is that the structure and the authority of the church is only from Christ. He is the head of the individual and he's the head of the church. Principle number two, that authority is given to or through the scriptures, both to the individual and to the church. You cannot have the exercising of Christ's authority exercised in the context of the church if it's not through the scriptures. That is principle number two.

Now this third principle is also very important. Third principle. Each believer in the context of the church, now we're speaking of the church as the body of many members, many individual members in the context of the church, Jesus Christ being the head of the individual and Jesus Christ being the head of this church, this church is the coming together of these many individuals. Each one of these individuals is the same before the Lord. There is no distinction.

Each one of these is the same before the Lord. We can come to Galatians chapter 3 and we can see that this is a very important principle. Every believer is the same. Galatians chapter 3. Let us read from verse 27.

It says, for as many of you were baptized, chapter 3, verse 27, for as many of you For as many of you as were baptized into Christ, in other words, have been saved, right? This is to be baptized in Christ to be saved, have put on Christ, that is being conformed to Christ. Now it says, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus, and if you are Christ's, then your Abraham's offspring heirs according to promise. That is that by virtue of the grace that each individual receives, That person is a member not only of the body, but is a person of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that belonging is equal. There's no one that is better than others.

There is no difference in the sense of spiritual unity to the Lord Jesus Christ. The faith of the humble is the same, well, it's not the same, but the blessing of grace of the humble is the same blessing of grace of the one that is lofty and elevated and it is even with high reputation in the world. There is no distinction. The grace and the faith that is given to each one of them, the grace the same, faith perhaps different, but the grace that is given to each one of them unites them to Christ and by virtue of that unity they are the same. There is no distinction.

exactly the same. But here you start to see how things become a little bit complicated, right? Because now we have the distinction between the individual and the body of which Christ is the head of the individual and Christ is the head of the body. And now these individuals are all the same into this body. There's no one that is more important.

There's no one who's going to have a greater revelation of Christ or anything like that. All of them are the same. For that reason, it's very important that we understand the fourth principle. And the fourth principle is that even though, so first principle is that the structure and the authority is from or by Christ. Second principle, for the individual and for the church.

The second principle is that this structure and this authority from Christ is through the scriptures, for the individual and for the body. The third principle is that all of these individuals are the same in the context of the church. And then the fourth principle is that each one of these individuals, even though they are the same, they receive different gifts from the Lord. So let us come to Romans chapter 12. And in Romans chapter 12, we can see the words of the apostle in the same way that he was speaking in Ephesians chapter 1, in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, and in, well, the other apostle, Peter, in 1 Peter chapter 4.

But let us come to Romans chapter 12. And in this passage here, brethren, we can see something very important. So I said, the fourth principle is that even though all Christians are the same, spiritually speaking, Christians receive or are given different gifts. Now please pay attention to this because the differences of gifts will be transformed into something next. Let us perhaps read and then I will say what is that something different.

So it says, chapter 12, verse 3, it says, For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sovereign judgment. Each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. You pay attention to that. Each one. Each one to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Let us continue. For us, in one body, we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function. Now, but he said in Galatians chapter 3 that all members were what? One, right? Equal.

not Greek, there was not a spiritual distinction, but he says, for as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, that is the body of the Lord, though many, are one body in Christ and individually members of one another, having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us. So are the gifts the same? No, they are not the same. Each one of those members, even though they are one and the same in the body of Christ's spiritual speaking, they have different gifts. It says, having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them with prophecy in proportion to our faith.

in service in our serving, the one who teaches in his teaching, the one who exhorts in his exhortation, the one who contributes in generosity, the one who leads with zeal, the one who does act of mercy with cheerfulness. You can see that, in spite of my horrible reading, you can see there the multiple ways of kids. So now, is going to be everyone teaching in the church? No. Is everyone going to have the gift of generosity in the church?

No. Is everyone going to have the same gift of leading in the church with zeal? No. Is everyone going to have the same grace for mercy or acts of mercy? No.

The saints are the same, but they have different gifts. Now, remember what I said in principle number one, that understanding the distinction between the individual and the church was very important. Now, what I'm going to say here is also very important. The value of the member of the church is not in the gift that they have, but in the grace that was given to them to be united to the body. This is very important because here on the Catholic side and here on the Protestant side, the gift is what exalts the member above the others.

but the members are meant to be the same and the gifts are just simply manifestations of the grace of the Lord for that individual for the benefit of the church. Now, the difference of gifts moves us to a second important step. That is, principle number one, that the church government is through a structure and authority, and this structure and authority is given from Christ. This is through the word of the Lord. Third principle is that we are all the same, one in Christ.

And the fourth principle is that we have different gifts that are given, according to 1 Corinthians chapter 12, from the will of the Spirit. Now, the gifts that each one of the saints are given in the church Which moves us to a second thing, that is the different roles. Now because we have different gifts, we have now different roles. We're all the same in Christ's spiritual speaking, but because we have different gifts, now we have different roles. By having different roles, it makes us any different to one another spiritually speaking?

No. We just simply have different roles and different gifts that have been given from the Lord. Is one member of the body more important because they have one gift that is more public and that is seen by others? No. They are all exactly the same independently of the gift and independently of the role.

So we have gifts define differences in roles. And these differences in roles moves to an important now part of church government, which is different offices. Offices of the church. Why? Because church government, remember, is having this how the church is structured to exercise authority.

And this authority is through the word of the Lord. We're all the same, but we are different. We have different gifts, and these gifts give us different roles. Some of those roles are going to be related to the words of the Lord, and the words of the Lord is going to define different offices in the context of the Church. So if we come to 1 Corinthians or 1 Timothy chapter 3, we will see the two offices of the Church.

Okay, so the first, we know this and we have studied this before, but then the two offices of the Church, and when I say offices, I'm simply speaking those who will exercise the authority of Christ in the context of the Church through the preaching and the management of the words of God and the faith of the Church. that is first of all the elders that is the same to the pastors if you want or is the same to overseer or is the same to shepherds and that is found in chapter three it says the same is trustworthy if anyone aspires to the office of overseer so you could replace that word there with pastor if you go to first Peter chapter 5, you will see that the concept is used interchangeably. Overseer, pastor, shepherd, to elder. And then if you go to verse 8, it speaks of a second office, which is beacons likewise must be dignified. So these are now how these gifts that give different roles are now seen in a particular office that is not going to be reduced.

You start, you know, everyone has different gifts and different roles, and now it moves into different offices. Not everyone will be receiving the grace of having one of these offices. Because as we see, for instance, in verse 2 it says, Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband and one wife. That means that this office of being an elder now is excluding women. Now, that word excluding now, it sounds horrible.

But if you understand that everyone is the same, it's not horrible, it's just simply the way that the Lord intended that the Church will have different manifestations or roles. And the same thing happened with Deakins. Deakins being the second office to speak there only having one wife. That's it. Those are the four principles that I wanted you to have in your mind.

It's very important that when we handle the scriptures, we will understand the different nuances that the scriptures give to a particular doctrine, and also how to balance those. The individual, the church, the lordship of Christ, the unity, the equality of the members of the church, but also the distinction of the members of the church. Now let me just present to you, I hope briefly, the four main ways of church government, one, two, three, that we don't hold, and then moving on to the one that we hold, and then I will just make simple comments about what the Lord actually requires of us as a church, not to have the right church government, but to have the right heart, of course. So the first one, there are brothers and sisters genuine brothers and sisters who hold to a church government that is called non-government. That is, that they say, you know, that the brethren, these brothers and sisters say, Christ Jesus is the Lord of the individual.

And the church is just simply the place in which we come together just to enjoy and to grow in our individual lives that we have with the Lord Jesus Christ. So they overemphasize the lordship and the authority of Jesus Christ over the individual, and then they only make the church a congregation or the congregation in the sense of, you know, the coming together in a particular period of time, and when they will just simply experience their faith before the Lord. There are many brothers and sisters that will say that. And then, hence, it does not matter if we have, you know, preachers and teachers Whoever the Spirit of God leads and moves and we all come together and then we just pray and we just wait that the Spirit of God manifests someone among us and then that person will just simply speak there because he's the God to the individual and the Lord to the individual. They diminish or they reduce, if you want, the accountability and the union that the saint has to one another and the role of the church as an institution or as an organism as the body of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now there are many verses that we could refer to and then just to see that there is a relationship between the individual to the individual. The one that we read in Romans chapter 12, it says, Ephesians chapter 5. It says, I just want to present verses to you because, you know, we will know. It says, just the verse, chapter 5, verse 21, it says, submitting one to another out of reverence for Christ. And this is before he starts to speak about submission of husbands to wives.

This is in the context of the church. Now, you do not submit to someone who does not have certain level of authority, right? Now, this authority is given to Christ, but it's submission of one to the other. And if that is not clear, we can come to 1 Timothy chapter 2. It says in chapter 2 verse 11, let a woman, speaking in the context of the church, let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.

I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man. Rather, she is to remain quiet. Now, here the apostle is connecting teaching with exercising authority. Now, independently of the teaching that men are the ones that are to teach within the context of the church, here the apostle assumes that there's going to be an exercising of authority within the context of the church, that in this case is not meant to be done by the woman. So there's levels of authority, levels of submissions, levels of exercising of this authority that is in the context of the body of the church.

Hence, we cannot. removing the context of the church. That is the first one. I will try to go quicker through this so that we will manage our time properly. Second one.

The second one is the one that is going to be hierarchical. That's the word? Hierarchical in nature. You don't understand that. It's hierarchy.

Hierarchy. So that there's a hierarchy in nature. And the word, if you come to 1 Timothy chapter three, you have there in front of you, it says, The saying is trustworthy. If anyone aspires to the office of, and you have in your ESV, you have the word overseer, right? Now, the word there is like, I don't know what the word in English you have.

You have something that is episcopal? Okay, so in Spanish we have the word that is kind of like a bishop, right? Like a bishop, like a bishop or a person that is like, Episcopal. That is, a person that exercises a level of authority. So the second model that I want to present to you is an Episcopalian or Bishop-based type of model.

And this one, what they say is simply that you have Jesus Christ as the authority of the Church. Then you have a bishop, perhaps it's easier to say, a bishop who is a man, according to this passage here, and this man will be in charge of churches, of different churches, and the churches will then lead the different congregations. So the saint is submitted to the church, the church is submitted to a man that is a bishop, and then this bishop will be submitted to Christ. So how does Christ exercise or structure his authority in the church? It's through this bishop that is in charge of many churches, and these many churches in different congregations.

Now, this model is the one that is mostly used in the Catholic Church, right? So the bishop will be their who, the pope. But there's also many methods, many different, now you will know who uses it, many Protestants that will have certain ways of bishop based type of thing. You know, there are some general Baptist churches in America that will be pastor church that rules over different churches and then Christ and this single pastor that is the bishop of the church ruling to different churches and these churches to other people or the congregants, you will have certain methodist and so on. and so on.

So this one is hierarchical. I wish I could show you some scriptures that they use. No, they don't use any scriptures to speak about this, but they use the principle of apostolic succession, right? So they will say the apostles, you know, the role of the apostle is to be succeeded or to continue if you want over time. So the apostles were the ones that were planting different churches and overseeing different churches, and they had the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they were planting different churches, and you can see Paul being, you know, the rulings over different churches and so on, and even the Catholics will use the case of Peter and so on.

So you have the bishop ruling over different churches and also different people. That is the second one. I will try to go quicker through this so we get into the one that we need to discuss. The third one is the reformed one. Now I'm going to shock you because, you know, we are a reformed Baptist church.

So the third one is the reformed way of church government. So the first one was non-government. So there's no hierarchy, there's no structure, there's no forms of authority or power. The second one is the bishop base or a peace propellant. a peace-compelling type of church, you will have there, you know, like the Lutherans, the Catholics, some Methodists.

The third one is the reformed one. And I really want to use the word reform because I want to be fair to the reformed people coming out of their reformation, that the way that they do church government is the way that is called reform. So it's the reformed way of doing churches. Now, the principle on this one is one of representative authority. So in the previous one was of hierarchy, that was one man that was ruling over others.

This, in the second one, is one of representation of authority. And they do use a passage, they actually use a theological framework to come to that, of which I'm not going to mention anything about that, but I'm just going to use some of the practical, exegetical principles that are used, and that is primarily found in Acts chapter 15. So Acts chapter 15 will be the Reformed. And when I'm saying Reformed, of course, I'm not including the Reformed Baptist churches, even though we call ourselves a Reformed Baptist church. I'm speaking more about, you know, Presbyterians, I'm speaking more about Dutch Reformed, I'm speaking more about, you know, 16th century Reformers, and all of this they carry.

Now, this is not a personal opinion, this is not from the Scriptures. I believe that in the process of the Reformation, the Reformers were so focused on the important aspects of the Reformation, which was salvation by grace through faith alone, and the authority of the scriptures, that it was impossible for them to try to reform every single aspect that the Catholic Church had been crooked, you know, all the ways that they had done wrong. So it's not to blame the reformers, because they actually, by God's grace and providence, they rescued, you can say that humanly speaking, the gospel. The gospel was always there, but, you know, they reformed in that sense. But perhaps the way that they do church government and many other things were things that were not considered, and they continued with all of those things.

They did not do the same thing that the Catholic Church did, but they did it in certain ways. So as I said, this reformed way of church government is one of representation. And basically, what it works is like this. The first one that I gave you, the non-government, is Christ to the individual. There's nothing here.

The church is just kind of like a The second one was hierarchical. There was a man, so Christ, the bishop, and then you have groups of churches, and then you have the congregants. This man is in charge of appointing elders, appointing deacons, and people within the church, and so on. Christ, the bishop, and then the churches, and then the congregation. This one is one of representation.

So you have Christ, you have a representation of the churches, right? Like a representative sample, if you want, of the churches, or institution, if you want, that represents all the churches, and then you have the local churches, and then you have the congregations. Now, the idea of this is kind of like having an institution, let's say, an organism that rules over all the local churches. And then you have Christ, this institution, this organism that is represented there by the churches, and then the churches and the congregation. This is taken from this narrative you may remember Brother Bertie preached in Acts 15.

We could read the whole thing, but it's too long. So let me just simply just read, just to remind you of this story, and then we will move on to the third one, the fourth one. It says, but some men, you remember there was a dispute, but some even, your Bibles will give you there a title, right? It would say the Jerusalem Council. So a council is, you know, when people kind of like come together.

But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, unless you're circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and to the others about this question. Now pay attention to that. Paul and Barnabas were in a church, right? And in those churches, where they were, there was this situation, this controversy.

Do we need to be circumcised in order to be saved? Yes or no? And there was a discussion there. So now the churches are going to send a representative. You see how it says there?

It says some of the others, Barnabas and some of the others, were appointed in the passive form. So that means that someone, in this case the churches, appointed them to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. So that is We, local church, have an issue that we cannot dissent, an issue of truth. Truth, which is the exercising of Christ's authority in the conscience of the church. What are we going to do?

Well, let's appoint these men that will go to the apostles who are the ones that are preaching all of these messages, all of these truths, all of these scriptures that's coming through. Well, they wouldn't say that, but you know, the apostles that are preaching and the ones that were with Christ, let us send them to the apostles and to the elders so that we will solve this situation in the local church through the authority that is coming there from Jerusalem and that is actually what happened so Paul Barnabas they go down to Jerusalem to ask the question in verse 3 so being sent on their way by the church even is there They passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles and brought great joy to all the brothers. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. Some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, it is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses. The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.

So now we have the center there in Jerusalem. They are now going to consider this matter that is coming from this church there, right? And after there had been much debate, Peter, you know, it would have been very interesting to be in those debates. Peter stood up and said to them, brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you that by mouth that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the words of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows their hearts, bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us.

And he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord, Jesus, just as they will. Now, you know that they will write a letter if you jump to verse 19 says, Therefore, my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them. Two, abstain from the things polluted by idols and from sexual immorality and what has been strangled and from blood.

From ancient generations, Moses has had in every city those who proclaimed him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues. So now, pay attention to that, brethren. In Jerusalem, now they're going to write a letter that has now apostolic authority, And now when we turn, we see that it says there if you go there to verse 22, then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders with the whole church, we ended up reading the whole thing, I'm sorry, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch. You see? So now they are going to choose men, representation coming from Jerusalem, to now to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.

Now, if you jump to verse 19, here's what to verse 27, this is the conclusion. They are going to be sent there to bring the solution of the resolution of the apostles and the elders. Verse 27, we have there for St. Judas and Silas, representatives of the apostles, who themselves will tell you the same things by words of mouth. Actually, these words were prophets.

They were prophets, it says, I think in the text somewhere. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements. The apostles and the elders, through the written letter, now are going to define something that had a reason from a local church, a question of truth and doctrine. And now the apostles, not the apostles, but it's actually the Holy Spirit, that is through the apostles now sending this letter that will become the means by which this is going to be solved. So then the reform said, you see, there has to be something about the local church that is comprised by representatives even they would say that at times some of them will say not everyone but when Paul was traveling in Phoenicia and Samaria that they carry some of the elders even of those churches to come to Jerusalem but they will say you see there has to be something about the local church whatever it is, a senate or like a council or something that is representative of the church that defines many of the truth matters of the local churches.

The local churches will operate independently. They will have the congregants, they will have the elders, but they will have something above them, an organization or an institution that will help them to regulate certain ways of church. That is the reformed way. Christ, this organization here that takes different names according to the denomination, the Reformed denomination, then you will have the local churches, and then you will have the congregants. We could say many more things, but I want to use the last of your energy for the one that is important, which is the fourth model.

Now, the fourth model is called Congregationalist. Okay? So, a congregational church government. And the congregational church government, what basically says is that Christ is the head of the church. And the church is comprised by many individuals.

Basically, the principles that I said. In that church, all of them are the same, but all of them have different gifts, roles, and offices. Hence, the church, the local church, is able, by virtue of the Lordship of Christ upon the church, and by virtue of the Lordship of Christ, more importantly, upon the individual, to rule herself. In Spanish, church for us is feminine, like it's female. I don't know if it's in English, but, you know, itself.

It sounds weird in my head that the church speaks, but herself. the church will have the ability to govern herself. There is nothing in between Christ and the church that will regulate the church or the exercise of the authority in the context of the church. The church, the congregation of the saints in the local aspect, because I cannot be with the saints in the universal church, right, related to one another, the local church is able under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to regulate herself with individuals. Now, of course, the regulation happens through the Scriptures.

Now, let me just present to you from the book of Acts this, because, and this is, I think, very clear, even it will help us understand Acts chapter 15. Let us come and please pay attention to this journey or this thing that we're going to go through. Acts, I want to explain to you this congregational model of church, okay? Congregational model of church government, which is the one that we hold and that we believe that it is is the biblical way that the Church should operate. That is that the Church, Acts chapter 1, that the Church in and of herself is able, the Church in and of herself is able to govern and rule and exercise authority, the Church as a congregation.

This is very important. I'm not saying the Church, someone in the Church. The Church as a congregation is able to rule herself. So the first example, again a long portion, will be, I just want to show you this, the very early manifestations of Congregationalism in Acts chapter 1, in the choosing of the replacement of Judas. So it says, let us read quickly, I'm going to take it's important that we will know from the scriptures this model of church government it says in verse 15 of chapter 1 in those days Peter stood up among the brothers the company of person was in all about a hundred and twenty and said brothers the scripture have to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas and who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.

For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry. Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle, and all his bowels gushed out. And he came on to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called to him their own language, a keldama, that is a field of blood. For it is written in the book of Psalms, May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it. And let another take his office."

That is the interpretation of the Scriptures by Peter. Now it comes in verse 21, One of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken out from us, one of these men has become with us a witness to his resurrection. And they put forward two, Joseph called Barzabas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place. And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with eleven apostles.

primitive, early hints of Congregationalism. That is, the Church coming together and then praying before the Lord and the Church herself deciding on a very important matter. Even in the castellas, that would seem like something very responsible to do. But they, with the power of the Holy Spirit's supplication, the power of the Spirit among them, the Church decides. Right?

Now you will say, yeah, but they were apostles. Well, let us see how this progresses. Let us come to Acts chapter 6. And in Acts chapter 6, now we're going to see very important teaching here of Congregationalism. And brothers and sisters, please bear with me, because the connection that I'm going to take you through the next five or six passages It's very important.

It's something that I had not even seen before this study, so I want to share that with you. Acts chapter 6. From here, if the Lord allows me, I want to show you a couple of things. Here you may remember that now the church was growing in numbers, right? Many people were being saved.

Thousands of people were being saved by the preaching of the word. Now the church needs to be organized, and the apostles are going to organize the church, and we will learn something very important here. Now it says, now in these days, Acts chapter 6, when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. Problems in the church were happening. Verse 2, and the twelve, that is the apostles, right?

The twelve, now with Matthias. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, it is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. It's not that the apostles were in lusted or, you know, prideful about the role and they did not want to move tables and things like that, but the preaching of the word was of major importance for the time of the Church, as it is through the times of the Church. So it's important that we continue to preach the Word. Pay attention to what the Apostles say, don't say, it's important that we continue to receive revelation that is going to become the Scriptures and that is going to become the New Testament, of course.

They did not know that. But he focuses on the preaching of the Word. Now it says, therefore, brothers and sisters, gives an instruction. Pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. Brethren, pay attention to that verse.

Who is choosing the seven men? Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men. So who is choosing the seven men? Are the apostles choosing the seven men? No.

The congregation is choosing the seven men, right? If you pay attention there carefully, brethren, it says, they're for brothers. He doesn't say, we are going to pick from among you seven men. He doesn't say that, right? He says, he gives an instruction, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom.

And then he says, once you choose them, then whom we will appoint to this duty. Brethren, please see that distinction. The apostles say to the congregation that is now growing, we need seven men that will help us in these duties of the church, these things that are taking place. Now the apostles speak to the congregation and say, hey brothers and sisters, please, pick from among you seven men that will take care of this. And once you pick those, or to choose those seven men, we will, it says, appoint them to this duty.

You choose, we appoint. It says, verse four, that we, the apostles, will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. Continue, please. And what they said, please the whole gathering. That's the congregation.

And they chose, who is they? The congregation, right? They chose Stephen, full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Procorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles. You see, they brought these seven men before the apostles, and then it says, And they prayed and laid their hands on them.

That is the appointing of verse 3. Choose them, we will appoint them. They chose them, they brought them to the apostles, and the apostles appointed them. In which way? They prayed and they laid their hands on them.

This is very important, brethren. The church that was there in this gathering chose men, and then in this case the ones that were leading the church, in this case the apostles, appointed those who had been chosen by the congregation by praying and laying those hands. Now come with me to Acts chapter 13, please. We are progressing there through Acts chapter 1, Acts chapter 6. Now come to Acts chapter 13, please.

All of this is very important, so please bear with me. Chapter 13. You may remember that Barnabas and Paul also are going to be sent, right, as evangelists. And in chapter 13 it says, Now there were in the church, it's not speaking about the universal church, but that particular church, at Antioch, clarified there by the words, prophets and teachers. We're speaking about the context of the local church here, right?

It says, Barnabas, Simeon, who was called Neger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, a lifelong friend of Herod the Tetrarch, and Spaul. While they were worshipping, either only them or perhaps the entire church, but while they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, set apart for me. You see the same thing? giving the instruction to them, to the church, to whoever was there, set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Then, verse 3, then, after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

Who is they? These are at least some of the church, if not the whole church, but at least some of the church. The spirit says set them apart and then they same thing they pray, they fasted, they laid their hands and they said through the local church that was in Antioch. Verse four says, so being sent out by the Holy Spirit. So it's the sending of them by the church with the laying of hands is not equated to the Holy Spirit sending these people.

But this happened in the context of the local church. This is very important, laying hands. Why is this important? Actually, let me just say this. This is very important because both Peace Companion, or Bishop Base, the second one that I said, and the Reformed, will take the example of the apostles and apostolic men to say, you see, there's interaction in churches, either hierarchical or interactions in churches in the way of representation as in Acts 15.

Come with me now to Acts chapter 14, and I will explain something very important. Acts 14. Speaking of Paul, you may remember this. Speaking of Paul, let us just read from verse 19. Chapter 14, verse 19.

But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. Remember that. No, he was stoned. But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city. And on the next day, he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.

When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church with prayer and fasting, they committed to them to the Lord in whom they had believed. What is the model that has been operating from Acts chapter 1, Acts chapter 6, and also in Acts chapter 13? That is that the congregation chooses and that appointing means lay hands and then send them up, which is exactly what it says here. And when they had appointed elders from them in every church with prayer and fasting, they committed to them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

They were appointed by just giving them, you know, like the ministry or whatever they had to do in this case, the elders. That will help you to understand in verse, in chapter 15, that Paul and Barnabas were appointed by the church that they belong to for a specific duty under the authority of the church. Let us quickly come to Titus, please, and then I will conclude very soon. Come with me to Titus, please. Chapter one.

What am I trying to say here, brothers and sisters, is that what happens in Acts chapter 6, what happened in Acts chapter 13, it was what the Church was doing in the early times and is what the Church ought to do. That is, that the Church is able to regulate herself, to govern herself through the authority of whoever is preaching. In this case, it was the apostles, but also in the case of the Church after the apostles, the elders. and the church is able to regulate itself in the choosing and in the many decisions that the local church is supposed to do, like the church in Jerusalem in Acts chapter 6, and the church in Antioch in Acts chapter 13, and the different churches that the apostles were planting in the traveling, and even as many of the churches will be appointed elders, as we will see here in Titus chapter 1. It says, many people will say, but you see there were apostolic men, like Paul or Titus or Timothy, who had enough themselves, the authority to go and appoint those in other churches.

So that means that you need either a man who is supervising other churches, or you need someone above churches that is actually doing so. It says in verse 5 of chapter 1, this is why I left you in Crete, so that you may put what remains into order and appoint elders. Appoint elders, that don't mean that Titus is going to come to choose the elders, because he might not even know the elders, and then he gives the requirements in every town, as I directed you, if anyone is about reproach the husband of one wife and his children and believers and so on, all of the character type qualities that could only be assessed by the congregation in where these men were living and operating, so the congregation would have recognized and acknowledged these men, or Titus, or Timothy, or even Cole would come and appoint the elders by the laying of their hands, and by the praying and the fasting will be appointed to the service, which is exactly what happened to Timothy, and you will see it here, how this evolves if you come to 1 Timothy chapter 4. It was not only the apostolic men, it was not only the apostles themselves that were doing this, but if you come to 1 Timothy chapter 4, chapter 14, it says to Timothy, do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. This was then passed on to the elders of the local church for the appointing of those who were commissioned for whatever ministry.

The church was growing, the church was spreading, and many of these ministries, many of these offices, many of these duties will not be able to be supplied in the context of the church, so many people will be just simply sent, but it was the context of the church the one that will choose, the one that will regulate, and the one that will appoint, even to this point that we'll see here, the presbytery, which is the elders, when the council of the elders laid hands on you. Beloved brother and sister here, this is actually very, very important. So we believe that the Church is able to regulate herself under the authority of Christ, but this authority not only given to the Church, primarily and more importantly according to the first principle that I gave you, to the individual. When Jesus Christ is ruling in the heart of the individual, the coming together of the individual gives the church the authority to do and to act as they are supposed to act. The congregational way of church government is what corresponds to the scriptures.

The relationship of the church to Christ is not mediated by any man and is not mediated by any organization. to have, by virtue of the presence of Christ among us, the ability and the light to regulate any type of matter. That there are difficulties in the local church doing this on their own, of course there are difficulties that are caused primarily because of sin and because of the lack of Christ in the heart of the individual in the context of the church, but that does not take that the desire of the Lord is that the church will be the backers and the foundation of the truth by having Christ Jesus in the heart of each one of individuals. Please come with me to Ephesians chapter 4 and let me just show you something very important that I think we have seen it before. Ephesians chapter 4.

Pay attention to this, it says, verse 15, chapter 4, rather speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head. Individually in union with Christ. Into Christ, and then it says, from whom the whole body joined and held together. Yes, we are joined and held together spiritually speaking to all of our brothers and sisters throughout the world, but practically and manifested in life is in the context of the local church from whom the whole body joined and held together and says by every joint with which it is equipped. What is the joints that equip the body?

What is these joints that keep the members of the body together? If you go there to verse 11 of the same chapter, a lot of the scriptures, but I hope that that helps us. Chapter four, verse 11, it says, and he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, the teachers, but for to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. And it continues and it continues. What are the joints that keep the saints hold together are not men.

are not people, but are ministries of the Word of God. The apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and the teachers are different manifestations of the ministry of the Word of God of Christ for the church. Once in the scriptures being closed, in the prophetic word, in the proclamation of the word, in the teaching or the preaching of the word, all of them, the common denominator is that is the words of the Lord Jesus Christ being given to the individual and to the context of the church. As he says in Derringer 15, held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Now, brother, let me now just give the important practical matter of this.

Why is this important? And I will take three minutes, perhaps. This is very, it's not about saying we are not reformed Presbyterian, or we are not reformed Dutch, Dutch reformer, we are not the peace compellion, or we are not the brethren, like the brethren non-government churches, and we are just a reformed Baptist, a congregational church. not about us only being a congregational church abstractively, in which we are going to make a decision and there's no one else that we need to go and ask, but it's only us that will come and vote. Because, brother and sister, this is what contemporary churches have done.

They have transformed congregationalism into a human democracy. That is, how are we going to make decisions in our church? We're going to vote. And if we get 50% plus one vote, then we go with it. What?

You're going to have 49% of your church not deciding to go with a particular decision, but if you get 50% plus one, or if you get 70% plus one, then you make an important decision of the church? Congregationalism is not a human democracy in which the ones or the majority make the decision, or the ones that are more powerful or more reputable in the context of the church, or the elders and not the others. Congregationalism is, in other words, an organism. That is, that the Church is meant to be united in such a way that when we say, who is going to be a deacon among us? Who is going to be an elder among us?

The congregation comes and picks those words. filled with the Spirit, those who are walking in by faith, those that is so clearly manifested that the eyes of the congregation can easily come to an agreement, so then the Lord Jesus Christ with the Spirit will appoint them through the elders for whatever role the person has, in the same way that the one that pushes the tables or the one that does whatever thing in the context of the church, manifesting their gifts, does it unto the Lord. Congregationalism is not only a particular democracy. And secondly, brethren, is that this demonstrates the importance of every individual member of the church. The church is not the elders.

The church is not a synod, it's not an institution that is above the church. The church is every single member. That is that every single member has to have the ability to discern the spiritual matters because the Word of God is in their hearts. The Church will never work as an organism as it should work if the individual members are not working by faith and in the Spirit. The Church will never grow in Jesus Christ if the individual members are not working in truth and if they are not working in love.

The Church is never going to be able to decide in the Spirit decisions and controversies and difficulties that may arise. The church is never going to be able to remain unity if individual members are not working in the spirit. Amen. I hope that helps.