Discipline In The Church

00:02 Invite you to turn in your copies of Scripture to Acts chapter 4. We'll be looking this morning at Acts chapter the end of chapter 4 and the beginning of chapter 5. So, Acts chapter 4, begin reading at 32. "Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul. 00:22 Neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own. But they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. Now there was nor was there anyone among them who lacked. 00:41 For all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold and laid them down or laid them at the apostles' feet, and they distributed to each as anyone had need. And Joseph, who also was named Barnabas by the apostles, which is translated son of encouragement, 01:03 a Levite of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet. But a certain man named Ananias with Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession. And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet. 01:23 And Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price for the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men, 01:42 but to God.' Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him. Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 02:03 And Peter answered her, 'Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.' She said, 'Yes, for so much.' Then Peter said to her, 'How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? 02:15 Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.' And immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead and, carrying her out, buried her with her husband. 02:31 So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things." I'd like to break these passages down this morning into three general ideas. Chapter 4, 34 and following, on the subject of generosity. Chapter 5, 02:52 the first part on the subject of hypocrisy. And then the last part of the message on accountability. So, first, generosity. Are we a generous people? Someone has said there are three kinds of givers: the flint, the sponge, and the honeycomb. To get anything out of a flint, 03:12 you must hammer it, and then you only get chips and sparks. To get water out of a sponge, you must squeeze it. And the more you squeeze, the more pressure you use, the more you will get. But the honeycomb just overflows with its sweetness. Which kind of giver are you? What we have here in the early church, 03:32 especially on chapter 4, verse 32 through 37, is a spirit of generosity. Generous people continuing the practical outgrowth of their newfound faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. A growing church that was a generous church. 03:51 And there was a mentality here that was not foreign to the Jewish people. Because there were different groups who have tried communal living through the years and through the history of the Jewish people. One of which was a group called the Essenes. 04:11 If you've ever been to the Holy Land, you remember the Qumran Caves where they discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls. Or maybe you've heard of those without being there. 04:22 But we saw those very places where there was a group of Essenes who were in charge of translating and preserving those Dead Sea Scrolls. And they were about in the first and second century BC. They're often linked with the Qumran community near the Dead Sea, 04:43 where the Dead Sea Scrolls obviously were discovered. There's a few biblical references, although they're not mentioned explicitly in the Bible. And some scholars would suggest that possibly John the Baptist was an Essene, was part of the Essen community. Although that cannot be substantiated. 05:03 There were writings from Josephus and Philo, who gave some context, extra biblical references to the Essenes. But they lived in community. The name was not chosen by the group, but rather assigned by scholars and writers. The Qumran community referred to themselves as sons of Zadok, 05:25 men of the community, members of the covenant, sons of light. And the root meaning of the Essenes is debated to mean either the modest ones or the silent ones or perhaps pious. The pious ones. 05:39 This was a group of community where they lived and sold their possessions and lived together as a group of men to pursue. Really, it was an apocalyptic vision. They believed the end was near and the coming of a Messiah figure was at hand. 06:00 And these were very much a part of the Judaic Jewish mindset when Jesus would have walked the landscape. And so this was kind of a model for these people. These were not Essenes. They were not living in communes. But they were living in community. 06:20 And we want to capture that as an American church, as Anabaptist community. To capture the aspect of a church community. Oftentimes I've heard our church referred to as our church family. And I think that's an appropriate way to refer to the community. 06:37 And we as Anabaptists have had a very good history of trying to model the generosity of the early church and the community aspect of the early church. And so what does that community aspect have to do? Well, there was a unity in this church. 06:59 There was a unity. There was a realigning of relationships and priorities. A unity of affection. A unity of purpose. We see that in verse 32. They were one heart and one soul. They lived together, keeping accountability for one another and protection of one another and provision for one another. 07:20 Where there were needs, there was supply. There was a selflessness, a spirit of selflessness in relationship to their personal possessions. While they had personal possessions, they were not private possessions. Neither was a personal need a private need. 07:34 But as they shared their needs and pooled their possessions, they developed a sense of community in relation to the needs of others. Many were likely facing the loss of income, of family, and friends by turning to Christ. Many of them would have lost jobs. Many of them were ostracized from family. 07:57 That and the fact that the gospel has historically resonated among the poor and the oppressed. This also was a Jewish mentality commanded in the Old Testament law. The Old Testament law, God said to ancient Israel in Leviticus, "When you reap the harvest of your land, 08:16 you shall not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest. Neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest. Thou shalt leave them unto the poor and to the stranger. I am the Lord your God." And so they were commanded to be generous. Remember when in my farming days, 08:35 Grandpa would follow the combine and put his hand under the back sieves and make sure that there was no seed going out the back end. Because whatever seed went out the back end was lost instead of being in the tank and was lost to seed the ground. And we didn't have any gleaners that were coming out there. 08:55 But the idea was, don't put your hand behind the sieve in your combine, in your threshing. And leave some for the poor people to come. And by the way, they had to work for it. Ruth was an example of this. And the story of Boaz and Ruth, where they went out as gleaners. 09:14 The poor in the land were able to go out and work for their living. But their living was at the hands of the wealthy. And Deuteronomy 15, "For the poor shall never cease out of the land. 09:26 Therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor and to thy needy in the land." Generosity is a characteristic of the righteous. "Blessed is he that considereth the poor. The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble." Stinginess is a characteristic of the unrighteous, of the wicked. 09:47 "The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor." Proverbs 14, verse 31, "He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his neighbor. 09:57 But he that honoreth him hath mercy on the poor." And this morning in our Scripture reading, Brother Ryan read about the citizens and the church in various parts of Macedonia and the Corinthian church and other churches preparing an offering 10:15 for the poor in Jerusalem who at that time were struggling with famine. The method here in Jerusalem for meeting the needs of others was a voluntary participation. Some people would see in this a form of communism rather than of community. This was not a communist system. 10:34 Communism requires that you steal from people, like we heard this morning. You steal from the rich. You give to the... And the government gives to the poor. And it's confiscatory. It is a mandatory giving. In this case, the giving was not mandatory. 10:52 It was encouraged and it was welcomed. 10:58 But it was not mandatory. As seen in the following account in chapter 5, "Was not this within your power when it was yours to either give or not give?" The problem was with Ananias. He was hypocritical. He lied, saying this is the whole proceeds. And it was not the whole proceeds. The problem was not that he held back part of the money. 11:19 The problem was that he said that he didn't. That this was the entire amount. And so it was a hypocrisy. This was a voluntary service kind of mission. This then led to an authorized distribution. They laid these funds and resources at the apostles' feet. 11:39 And the apostles distributed according to a plan. The role of widows was important. And we read over in chapter 6. When we get there, we'll see what we believe is the original deacons and delegated organization. 11:55 Organizational structure was delegated from the apostles now to the deacons to be in charge of the social program of the church. The physical meeting of the physical needs of the church. And we have attempted to model that with our deacons here at Living Water. The message for today's church is that we are to be a people of self-denial. 12:16 A people of generosity. A people with a group loyalty. A loyalty to our church family. God's Word says that we should provide for the needs of our family and the household of God and then the world around us. 12:37 So family is to care for family. Church family kicks in next. And then we also then, as we have opportunity, share with our community. But this was a family, a church family provision. And it came as a result of our spirit of self-denial and group loyalty. 12:58 There was 13:00 a story told of a woman missionary in the South Pacific Islands who was explaining to a group of children the custom of giving gifts at Christmas time. And so she encouraged them to find someone that they could give a gift to also. Later that week, a young boy came to her with a gift. 13:20 And she recognized this gift. It was a beautiful shell that had come from another part of the island, which was about a half hour or a half a day's walk. And she said, "Oh, you've given me such a beautiful gift. But you had to walk so far to get it. Thank you so much." And he said like this, 13:40 "Long walk, part of the gift. Part of the gift. Not just the thing that is given, but that which it represents. And that comes from a heart of self-denial and a heart of generosity. Comes from a group loyalty. 13:55 As we therefore have opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith." Now we move into chapter 5. And we see this abused. And we see a church in discipline. 14:15 A discipline not even from the church and not even from Peter, but from God. Now there's some questions that I have about this passage. And how did Peter know that this was going to happen? Did Peter actually kill them by striking them down? Or did Peter just recognize that God was going to strike him down? 14:34 I don't understand how that all worked in the actual outworking of it. But we do understand that it was a disciplinary action from God that we need to look after and to take mind of and take heed of. So we have the discipline of God. 14:56 Now God has also given to us a disciplinary procedure. Now we don't see people being struck dead when they sin. And that you come and confess a sin or you don't confess a sin and you're confronted with someone about sin. 15:15 And we lay hands on you and you die. That's not happening. At least not generally. But it happened here to remind us that God wants His church to be a holy church. Wants His church to walk in the fear of the Lord and in discipline of unrepented sin. 15:35 Verse 11, "So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things." So let's look at our own church discipline document. How many of you, this would be the first time you're seeing this? Well, I hope it's not the first time. Because this is something that is part of our church documents. 15:52 And I believe that this is an important part of church life when it comes to disciplining sin. Sin brings death. It really does. It brings the death of relationships. It brings the death of our relationship with God, with Christ. It separates us from God. And it brings ultimately spiritual death. 16:12 It brings death into a family. And we'll have more to say about that in a few minutes. But I'm just going to read through some of this. Church discipline is plainly taught in the Scriptures. It is the right and responsibility of every church member. It is one of the primary means that God has ordained for bringing about repentance and restoration in the lives of His erring children. 16:33 Discipline comes in various forms: self-discipline, formative discipline, and corrective discipline. By the way, I want to just make a comment about that being the right and responsibility of every church member. This is why church membership, we believe, is important. Because there needs to be an apparatus in place where discipline can take place. 16:55 It's hard to discipline someone who is not a part, who is not a member, who has not made that kind of commitment. And so church discipline is a responsibility, not of the preachers all alone, but of every member of the congregation. It is called church discipline, not preacher discipline. 17:15 And it is the right of everyone to expect. 17:19 And I've said this before in our church, that if I were to go off into sin, whether private sin or personal sin or public sin, I would expect, as that sin would become known, I would expect as one of my rights in Christ that you would confront me and that you would approach me and you would not let me go. 17:41 That is a right that we claim as a part of the body of Christ. It's part of the generosity of looking out for one another that's found in the last part of chapter 4. It's part of that generosity and of being involved in community and of being involved in one another's lives. So we go on to say, 18:01 "When practiced according to Scripture, corrective church discipline," which is the focus of our discipline document, "is an act of obedience that demonstrates our love for the Lord, our commitment to and love for the erring member, and our desire for fellowship by walking in the light. It also serves as a deterrent to sin, 18:22 preserves the unity, purity, and reputation of Christ's church, and helps to clear the conscience and reputation of the repenting member." Let's go on. "In practicing church discipline, each member of the church assumes a responsibility of lovingly watching over the souls of other members of the church for the purpose of stimulating spiritual growth, 18:43 encouraging holiness, and discouraging disorderly behavior in the brotherhood. Each member consents to being so watched over. When our other biblical measures prove ineffective, those members of the church who refuse to repent of sin and submit to the church will be expelled from the church and turned over to Satan." Matthew 18, 1 Corinthians 5. 19:05 There's a lot of Scriptures that go into this document. If you have a copy of the document in your church policy manual, you'll see there's a whole page, 8 1/2 x 11, of small fine print Scripture to go with this. 19:18 "When the disciplined member gives sufficient evidence of genuine repentance, the church is to heartily express forgiveness and receive the offender into fellowship again. 19:28 Each member of Living Water Mennonite Church agrees to submit to and participate in the discipline of the church." Offenses that call for implementing the discipline process would include habitual sin that already affects the individual, him or his family, the church, the honor of God, and the reputation of Jesus Christ. 19:50 Some examples from the New Testament include disorderly conduct, divisiveness, immoral behavior, covetousness, idolatry, abusive speech, and drunkenness and swindling, and false teaching. This is part of our responsibility and right in Christ. 20:10 Christ has given this authority to the church and not just to church leaders. This is church discipline and not pastoral discipline. "No one person shall be able to remove someone from fellowship." We don't just get up on Sunday and I as lead pastor excommunicate somebody without congregational involvement, elders' involvement, 20:30 or personal approaching of that person through a process. "The goal of church discipline is the honor of God, the purity of the church, the repentance and restoration of the individual, the following are biblical evidences of true repentance: acknowledge the sin, exhibit genuine sorrow instead of just being sorry they got caught, 20:50 seek to make restitution, manifest the fruit of repentance. And upon genuine repentance, the congregation is to forgive and restore the offender to full fellowship and communion. Restoration may or may not include a period of probation from church offices." And we have seen here in our congregation, Living Water, that this works. 21:12 And even if it doesn't work to our satisfaction, it's what Christ taught us to do. Ananias and Sapphira didn't even get a chance to repent. I guess they did. Yes, they did. They could have still asked and come clean. I'm convinced they could have come clean. But when it was over, it was over. 21:33 God, in His mercy, gives us more time. There's four things that I want to share with you by way of accountability from this passage in chapter 5. The story speaks for itself. It is what it is. It's true. 21:53 It's serious. It's severe. It is instructive. It is sobering. One of the things I don't believe I've ever heard applied from this passage of Scripture is my first point here in these four points. 22:11 "Husbands must lead in righteousness." What in the world was Ananias trying to do to his wife? He was obviously the instigator. Now whether or not, maybe she was a Jezebel. And Jezebel with Naboth, she was the instigator. 22:29 But it appears that he came in first. He's the one. He's the leader. And Scripture is very clear that we as husbands and fathers are to lead our children in the ways of righteousness, not in the ways of destruction. 22:46 God's Word says in the law several times in the Old Testament that God visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me. I don't know if Ananias and Sapphira had children or not. But what happened to them? What was their impression about what took place? 23:08 And it's very interesting that they were also not destroyed. 23:15 Adam would be a good example of this, that we are to be led and lead our children and families in righteousness. Adam did not. And the Scripture says that in Adam all die. But even so, in Christ shall all be made alive. "You remember the account in the book of Numbers of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. 23:33 And when the earth opened up and swallowed them because of their rebellion against God and against His appointed leaders, it swallowed up their wives, their sons, and their little children. When Achan..." Which would be a similar experience from the Old Testament as what they had here in chapter 5. 23:53 "Holding onto and stealing from God that which God had said was His." And you know the story of Achan, how Achan took of those garments and of that gold and silver and hid it under his tent. And when it came time for his discipline and his punishment, 24:14 it also affected his wife and his children. They were also punished. I don't understand that. I don't understand. And God didn't do that in this case. Like I said, we don't know if Ananias and Sapphira had children. But Ananias had a wife. And he was not leading his wife in the ways of the Lord. And he was setting her up for the same discipline and punishment that he experienced. 24:35 King Darius did this in Daniel's time as well. You recall the opponents who got him to turn against Daniel without his thinking it through and turned the law of the land against the man of God, Daniel. And the opponents, 24:54 when Daniel was taken out of the lion's den, the opponents were thrown in. It also says that the children of those men and their wives were thrown in also. 25:06 Evidently, it must have been a practice of kings to eliminate anyone so that there was no possibility of of of another generation picking up that bitterness. I don't understand it. But King Darius did it. And so I would just say to us as men, 25:25 "Oh man, be careful where you lead your wife. Be careful where you lead your children." The second thing that I would see in this Scripture is what happens teaches. What happens teaches. Just like it is in a family, 25:47 when there's a violation of family law or whatever you want to call it, family policies, family rules, family instructions, there is a discipline that is measured out. And that discipline is not only to speak to the one being disciplined, but it is to speak to the other children that are observing and that are watching, 26:10 even if they're not in the room at the time. And what happens teaches. What would it have taught the early church if God would have overlooked this? It would have been an opportunity for us to just not know what God's attitude towards sin was. But here God is saying, 26:28 "I may be a God of mercy and grace, but I'm also a God who deals with sin. And what happens teaches." What happened to Lot's wife taught and teaches yet today. Jesus said, "Remember Lot's wife. Remember." What happens teaches. 26:51 All of the Old Testament judgments and calamities, from the serpents for murmuring to the 40-year trek through the wilderness for their unbelief, teaches. What we do here at church teaches. It teaches what we will tolerate, what we will not tolerate. It teaches what sin is and how to restore sinners. 27:12 It teaches how to love, how to walk in community, how to give, how to share. What happens teaches. Never forget that. Number three, God takes sin seriously. In the New Covenant, we have a contrast with the Old Covenant. 27:32 The Old Covenant was one of proper justice and swift justice and judgment. It was one that called people to repent out of fear of punishment. The New Testament, the emphasis switches to the grace and mercy of God. 27:54 And all you have to do is read in the book of Hebrews, where it talks about whether we come to a mountain that's burning with smoke and fire and thunder and lightning and voices from heaven booming and fear, creating fear. 28:07 Or whether we're coming to the heavenly Zion, Mount Zion, the the the the innumerable company of of of angels and saints and and the beauty of of God's presence. 28:21 But even in Hebrews, we must not forget that it says, "Our God is a consuming fire." Our God takes sin seriously. Literally, as I mentioned a moment ago, sin is deadly. Achan in the Old Testament, stealing that which had been dedicated to God. God destroyed Egypt, 28:41 Sodom, Gomorrah. God destroyed the angels that sinned and cast them, according to the the epistle of of Peter, cast them into chains of darkness to be reserved for judgment. The Bible says that God did not spare the ancient world, bringing in the flood on the ungodly. The Bible also says in 1 Peter chapter 4, 29:03 this is New Testament, by the way, "It is now time for judgment to begin at the house of God." It begins with us. And if it begins with us, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? 29:17 Peter goes on to say, "If the righteous scarcely be saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?" The Christian church in America has had some devastating judgments upon churches and Christian leaders that tolerate sin. It started way back in the '80s and maybe prior to that. 29:39 There have been leaders, national leaders, international leaders in in mega churches that that that sinned, grievous sins against God. And God exposed. It's been happening for the last 40 years. 29:52 What's been fascinating to me in the last 10 years is how that judgment is is shifting from the church now to the government and to other to the ungodly world, politicians. It's happening. God is judging even before we get to the great white throne judgment. 30:13 He's judging sin. And if He judges His children and they are, in one sense, devastated, forgiven, but devastated, what will it be like when He gets around to the ungodly? And it's coming. 30:32 It's happening. "He brought plagues, pestilence, war, famine, disease, death." God takes sin seriously. Do you? Do I? And then the fourth point, God will judge sin sooner or later. He will. 30:52 Just because He hasn't judged it yet does not mean by any stretch that it will not be judged. God will judge sin sooner or later. Jesus said that every idle word will give account of in the day of judgment. Every idle word. 31:14 The Bible says that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. That each one... And He's talking to Christians there. That each one may receive the things done in the body, whether good or bad. We call that the Bema seat judgment, where we will be judged according to our works. Our sins will be have been judged at the cross. 31:33 Praise God. But our works will be evaluated as we stand before God. And when we come to understand that, verse 11 should be reality in our life. 31:46 "So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who hears these things." The Bible also says that the heavens and the earth are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. You see, there is a curse of destruction. There's a sentence of destruction upon this universe. 32:09 And the universe is being held in in in reserve unto the day of judgment. And when God says, "Now's the day," the elements will melt with fervent heat. And it will destroy the universe as we know it, 32:29 anywhere where it has been touched by sin, the world and they that dwell therein. "Out of which then will rise and emerge a new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness." But we cannot escape that God will judge sin sooner or later. I would rather have Him judge it sooner. 32:49 So we take our sins to the cross. We take our sins to the cross. And we repent. And we confess. And if we confess our sins... Finish the verse with me. 33:02 "He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." So what is it with us? Do we understand generosity? Do we understand the generosity of God? And does that motivate within us a generosity for others? 33:22 Do we understand hypocrisy? Saying one thing, Ananias, but in your heart harboring another. And do we understand accountability? To have someone watching over our soul? To give an account to God. 33:42 But even before that, to give an answer and account to our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ here at Living Water. Let's pray. Father, I thank You for Your generosity. That You have called us to be generous. 33:59 And You've given us resources to be generous with. Lord, make us aware and help us to be aware of the needs of those around us. And to be able to share in those needs. To share as we have opportunity in the body of Christ. Lord, keep us from being just self-reliant. 34:21 And and and Lord, thank You for a a a history of that is is is is represented by mutual aid and medical aid and and uh and sharing with with those who are less fortunate. And bearing one another's burdens. Lord, 34:40 in our in our our current situation here in America, where we're all so self-reliant and we have so many things that we can just go out and buy and get for our own our own help, to help ourselves, that we often deprive others of that opportunity to share together. 35:00 And then, Father, I pray that You'll help us to see the sin of hypocrisy in our lives. Lord, I had to stop and just take some account of my own life. Am I saying one thing? Am I doing another? 35:20 Am I more concerned about what people think or what God thinks? Lord, speak to us in that area, even beyond these walls as we leave here today. And then, Father, help us to be accountable to one another. To open our lives and our hearts to each other. 35:41 To open our phones and our computers to each other. And say, "Look over my shoulder so that I would not experience the judgment of God." Lord, search our hearts. Know our hearts. See if there be any wicked way in me. 36:01 And lead me. Lead us in the way everlasting. Through Christ, we pray. Amen.