#10 Church Order

[AI translation] In the verses we are about to read, we have before us the order of one of the oldest churches. It is not a church law, but an ordinance which provides for the most essential thing: the mutual responsibility of the members of the congregation to one another. There is no organisation, no legal, statutory order, but some internal unity that holds the congregation together. We get a glimpse into the mystery of a living church of Christ, and this is good because we can look at the life of our own church from this perspective.The apostle marks the basis of church membership with these words, "For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord, who died for us, that whether we are awake or asleep we may live together with him." (1 Thess 5:9-10) What this means is that anyone who belongs to this church has experienced something great. No one could be a member of the church by simply being born into it, or by simply slipping in, joining the ranks without anything else. It wasn't that simple. Those people had something happen in their lives first. Once they were faced with a decision and had to make a choice. Through the preaching of the apostle, they were addressed by Jesus Christ himself and they had to take a stand, they had to say yes. One may have yielded to the call sooner, another may have wavered and only slowly matured the decision to surrender to Jesus, but in whatever way, each member of the congregation came into a personal relationship of faith with Jesus the Saviour, surrendered to him. So he went through that great experience we usually call conversion. This was the inner connection, the binding force that kept the church life in order. They were all part of the living and vital organism of Jesus' church. That is why the apostle writes to them, "For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Thess 5:9).
And even though the question of church membership has been regulated since then by a great variety of external laws, ecclesiastical and secular, this is still the basis of true, spiritual church membership: that is, the happy recognition in faith that God has not appointed us to wrath, but to salvation through Jesus Christ. It is not the fact that someone is born a Christian and Reformed, or is confirmed, or supports the church financially, or tries to keep the rules of the church, that decides whether he is a member of the church - but who can say yes in his heart, by a personal decision of faith: yes, God has also appointed me to be saved through Jesus Christ, who died for me! I have asked it many times in other words, now let me ask it again on the basis of this Word: can we all say it? Do we have the inner certainty that this is true for us too? Is there anyone else among us who doubts, who wavers on this most fundamental question of our faith? Who does not yet have this certainty of salvation? We seldom talk about this nowadays, not because it is not an important question, but because the hurry of life raises many other practical problems which we need to be informed by the light of the Word. But then, the question of personal choice is not one that any of us can avoid! It is good, therefore, that God now confronts us with it again. So where do we stand with this decision?
It sometimes happens that, in the process of settling down, a person comes across an old, yellowed letter addressed to him. It may have been written by your mother a long time ago, and the tangled letters still ooze love, and as soon as you read them again, your heart warms. In this way, I recently came across a verse. An old, familiar message from the Bible, from the book of Isaiah: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, you are mine. ...Because you are dear to me, you are precious and I love you" (Isa 43:1a. 4b) As I thoughtfully read it through, it warmed my heart again. God's personal message to me: 'I have redeemed you', he says, so the forgiving power and renewing effect of the holy blood that was shed at Calvary applies to you too! "I have called you by name", he says. Yes: he called me by my name, my own name. A whole congregation heard this long ago, 44 years ago in the Reformed Church of Kecskemét, when you linked my name with your holy name in baptism. "You are mine!" he continues. Yes, I am, His, for He marked me with a holy sign, the redeeming blood represented by the baptismal water, just as I mark my books with my signature, or a groom marks his bride with his wedding ring. "You are dear in my eyes," I continue to read the wonderful letter, and this is only possible because it is through Jesus that he looks at me, sees me, in whom he has reason to delight. "You are beautiful", he continues. I am a treasure, I am a precious treasure in the infinite world of the great God! I, the speck of dust, I, the nobody? Can it be true? Yet it must be so, for he has paid a terrible price for me, bought me with divine blood! "And I love you" - I believe that too.
Do you understand how my heart warmed when I read this old letter again? And this letter with the same text, addressed to all of you by name, without exception! You too have had this letter from heaven for a long time, since you were baptised. Because the baptism you received sealed this divine message for you. Have you opened it, have you read it? What has your response been? From this message, which you have received just as I have, you know that God has not destined you to wrath, but to salvation through your Lord Jesus Christ, who died for you! So the apostle says: "He who died for us... that we might live with him" (1 Thess 5:10). A life set free by Him, resolved, in which He Himself wants to be the ruling centre. Let us live together with Him - that is, with Jesus. In Him I find God nearby. In Him God speaks to me in a language I can understand, in Him He speaks in human language. In him we have a divine companion, a companion who walks with us, who goes with us in all our situations, in all our questions, in all our joys, in all our sufferings, in all our problems, who will go with us even to death. On the basis of this experience, this certainty, we are members of the church of Christ. The Christians of Thessalonica had such an experience of their Lord. They have received salvation through Him, and now they can live with Him. And it is to this most essential point that we too must return again and again: to receive salvation under the cross of Jesus and to live a new life with Him. It is only in this way that we too can become part of the living body of Christ's church.
Among those who have found salvation in Christ and are living with Him, there is a voluntary gift, which the apostle continues, "Therefore comfort one another, and build up one another, even as you do." (1Thess 5,11) So let it not be that one man comforts and the other sits quietly! Let not one or two men build, and the rest just watch the building, but in this way: "Therefore comfort one another, and build one another up..." In the living church, this mutual responsibility is what connects believers to one another. They do not live their Christian lives independently of one another, in isolation, but as hopeful possessors of the same salvation: they are in constant interaction with one another. The congregation is not like an audience in a concert hall or a theatre, but like a large, close-knit family community, interested in and open to one another. Of course, this cannot be done artificially, but if we live with the Lord, this church fellowship will grow among us, around Him, and for Him. This phrase, comfort one another, literally translates as: mutually draw one another there! Where else can we call one another but again and again to Him, our Lord. And it is in this way that we become His church, one in the centre of which He wants to dwell. And if you can think of someone to call to Him now, don't put it off, do it today!
And build one upon another! Building is not easy. It is much easier to destroy. To build is to keep adding more and more bricks and stones to the new building, to make it grow. Let us help one another to build into the true church community of Christ! The apostle also details this mutual responsibility. He speaks first of all of the elders who lead and care for the church. He knows from his own experience how difficult it is to be an overseer, how many temptations, external and internal tribulations and perils are involved. An overseer is only a man who can only live under the cross; he himself must always allow himself to be called to Christ. That is why he also needs the service of the whole congregation. Do not abandon your elders," says the apostle. "For their work's sake, have a special love for them." (1 Thess 5,13) So bear their personal infirmities, bear their ministries in prayer and supplication. God's blessing would be greatly increased in our congregations if we would pray more for our leaders instead of adoring or criticising them.
Then there are those who cause trouble for the Lord and His church. Even these cannot be put aside, and the church shows its vitality in the very members with whom it has trouble. Such as the disorderly who refuse to get in line. They are stubborn, obstinate, and detached, so that they can criticise the actions of others from a distance. The apostle says: rebuke them! That is: call them here! Receive them! Make them feel that they are members of the church! You are also responsible for them! Then there are those with a fearful heart, who lack courage, are easily discouraged, quickly disappointed and discouraged. They have no courage to believe. They dare not let go and leave themselves entirely to the Lord. They always look to their own weakness and that is why they lose their courage to live the Christian life. They think they cannot persevere and it paralyses them. Encourage them," says the apostle. Help them, testify to them that Christ will not break a broken reed! If you know someone with a fearful heart, the Lord will hold him accountable: encourage him!
And there are those who are powerless, who have no strength, no inner strength, they are always falling back. They want so much to be different, but they never succeed! Do not give up on the weak, says the apostle, nor on hope for them, but support them! Be patient with their weaknesses! Bear them up! "But we who are strong owe it to ourselves to bear the infirmities of the weak." (Rom 15:1) Don't tell them how weak they are - they already know - but make them feel the greater strength by supporting them!
This is how the church is built from the root of a common walk with the Lord. The church is made up of people who have been saved in Christ, who live with Him, and who therefore have a responsibility to one another. In this way they all move together: the church is a great movement, a procession, a group of pilgrims on earth, wandering towards heaven. We too can be part of the community in Christ.
Our faithful shepherd, lead your orphan flock,
In this earthly maze, show us the way;
In thy holy footsteps we go to heaven,
O immortal Word, our guide, our Master.
(Canto 229, verse 1)
Amen
Date: 7 March 1954.