Caring for the Church

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szeZzPHoUI0

God wants us to do is to care for His church— its people, its place, and its profession of the gospel message.

1 Timothy 4:11-16 ESV - ¹¹ Command and teach these things. ¹² Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. ¹³ Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. ¹⁴ Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. ¹⁵ Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. ¹⁶ Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Let's look to the Lord in prayer.

Father, we thank You this day that we have gathered in this place to worship You, to read Your word, to share thoughts from Your word together, to encourage one another. We thank You, Lord, for providing us this place to gather and these people to interact with, to fellowship with, and to do Your work with. We pray, Lord, that You would bless us as we think these thoughts from Your word today. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.

If you're new to our church, you may not know the history of it. Our church was started in 1902 as a Sunday school to teach children the Bible. By 1908, they had added a preaching service and incorporated as the First Baptist Church of Metuchen.

And by 1911, they were able to build their first building. And they used that building for a number of years until we outgrew it. We'd come over here in 1965.

In 1972, the old building was sold to a land speculator. He just speculated in real estate and didn't know who would want an old church, but he bought it and it sat vacant for maybe five or six years until finally he found a buyer for it. And the buyer turned it into a Hindu temple.

And it was interesting because when it came to be 2011, the building was 100 years old. And somebody had the idea, “Why don't we try to go over there and give them a little history on their buildings? It's a hundred years old.”

The Hindu temple had no idea how old it was because we chiseled the cornerstone out and took it with us when we came here. You can see it downstairs in the in the gym area. It's built right into one of the walls there— 1911 First Baptist Church in Metuchen. So, they had no idea how old the building was.

We thought we would take the opportunity to go over there, which we did. They welcomed us and we had set a date and a good group of us went. I had never been in the building myself as it was sold two years prior to my arrival here. And we had a group some of whom had been baptized in that building and we went and walked inside it and people gathered and shared the history of the church and how we had outgrown it and what progressed from there.

And what made an impression on me was that as long as I was there, that I didn't give them just the history of the church but I also told them what we believed. So, it was great to have the gospel preached one more time in that building. Amen?

But a comment that somebody made to me was stuck with me. They said, “Oh, we thought this place had been abandoned. That the people who met here had just disappeared, grew too few, and disappeared. And it's really nice to know where the group went.”

I said, “Yeah, we outgrew it. We prospered.” And, of course, the church was built in the horse and buggy days. There was no parking lot. And I said, “You know, we outgrew it. And besides, there's no parking here.”

And they said, “Tell us about it.” They're frustrated by no parking either; street parking only in this day and age. Not good.

So, we shared the gospel and celebrated 100 years of that building being there.

You know, churches do come and go. Jesus said, “I will build my church. The gates of hell will not prevail against it.” But sometimes individual local congregations do disperse and disappear.

And that leads me to our thought for the day that we want to care for the church. Jesus will build the church. Make no mistake about that. We do not build it. He builds it. But He wants us to care for it.

I've put together, this is another message in a little series I've done of caring. My title now is the Care Pastor. And so, we've looked at caring for families and caring for the lonely and caring for strangers and caring for the next generation. Today, I'd like to direct our thoughts to caring for the church.

How do we do that? How do we care for a church?

First, We Must Care for Its People

Well, first, we must care for its people. Never lose sight of the fact that the church is people.

When we sold that building and it sat vacant for five or six years, it technically was not a church any longer, was it? Because it had no people. Well, it had the church mice, but they don't count. They came over here with us.

But the church is people and today, it's not a church, is it? Because the people of God are not there. They are not worshiping the God of the Bible. That was built to be a church that had the public reading of scripture, the preaching of the gospel. And so, its people that is the church.

Bear One Another’s Burdens (Galatians 6:2)

And so for this year, for our care ministries, I've adopted a verse from Galatians and it's appropriate when we think about caring for the church because it really tells us we're supposed to do together. Galatians 6:2 says, "Bear one another's burdens. And so fulfill the law of Christ.”

Bear one another's burdens. That's how we care for the church, by caring for each other and caring about each other.

But what's this business about fulfilling the law of Christ? Somebody will say, “Oh, wait a minute. We're under grace now, aren't we? What's this law stuff? Didn't did didn't Jesus give us grace?”

Well, no. He gave us some laws too, didn't he? He said in in John 13, “A new commandment [a new law] I give to you to love one another. As I have loved you, so you are to love one another.”

A little later in the chapter, it says, “And by this they will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” That's how we fulfill the law of Christ by bearing each other's burdens. Yes, it's about grace, but it's also about fulfilling the things that Jesus has told us to do.

And if we love him, we will want to do his will. We will want to reflect his will for us.

In the Old Testament, God had a people, didn't he, too? We know that today we are the church. We are God's people today because the word of God tells us that. But God had a people and the way He interacted with His people, the commands that he gave to the people in that day showed what He was desirous of them doing and being. God wouldn't command anything that wasn't consistent with His nature. And so when He commanded them to do things, it was consistent with His nature.

Provision Was Made for the Care of People in Israel (Deuteronomy 14:28-29)

And likewise, when He tells us to do something, it's always because it has this harmony and meshes with the nature of God, the very character and virtues of God we are to do. And so in Deuteronomy 14, we get a little glimpse of what God wanted to do. All through the books of the laws of Moses, we see the things that God wanted the people of God at that time to do to identify themselves as His people.

And He also told them things that He wanted to do, things that were on His heart that He wanted his people to do for one another and with one another. So in Deuteronomy 14:28-29 He gave them this specific thing and it reveals a little something of His heart. It says “²⁸ At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. ²⁹ And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.”

What was on God's heart was to provide for the people. And He gives a couple categories of people. He lists the Levites first. He says, “They didn't get any inheritance like the rest of you did. Their inheritance is to serve me and to serve the place of your worship. And so you need to bring your tithes and offerings to support them.”

Elsewhere, it said they were to support the maintenance of the place of worship. But he said, “You're to support the Levites because it's their job to lead you in worship and to be guides to you and to maintain the worship place of God and to teach you. And also it was on God's heart to care for the aliens, the widows, and the fatherless.”

So the Levites, because they had no inheritance, were to be cared for, provided for. And likewise, other people who had no other system of caring for them. That was God's heart. And so He wanted the people to come and to share; that the people of God would be blessed together. He gave them that structure.

The Responsibility of Caring for People was Carried Over into the Church (Acts 6:1-4)

It's interesting because when we turn to the book of Acts, this mandate that God gave to Israel seems to have been brought forward into the church. And we see that where it was brought forward in Acts 6 at the very, very early days of the church.

We read in Acts 6:1-4, “¹ Now in these days 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.”

The Hellenists were people who were Greek-speaking and they came from the Greek culture but they had come to Jerusalem. And then, there was those who were the Hebrew speakers. These were all believers in Jesus. They had recognized Jesus as Messiah and they came together. But there was a little bit of a rub here because the people that spoke a different language, they were the widows who were getting left out.

It continues in Acts 6:2-5a, “² 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. ³ Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. ⁴ But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. ^5a And what they said pleased the whole gathering…””

And Acts 6:5 goes on to say that they chose men to serve.  These are the first men appointed to be deacons and that's where we get our deacons from. The New Testament church has as officers, elders and deacons, and so the deacons came forth in the New Testament era to take that ministry upon themselves to see that certain things were cared for and people were cared for, particularly in their time of need, and the church took up that responsibility. That's how we care for people.

Application

Well, the question is, how are we doing caring for the people of the church? How are we doing? How do we do it?

Well, there's a number of ways that you can be cared for within the church.

• Our deacons care for you. If you're part of our church and you have a particular need, you can ask the deacons for assistance. If you have a financial need, they will weigh out what they feel they are able to do with the resources that we have to help you. And that's part of caring for the people of the church, isn't it? It's one thing that we do in caring for one another.

• We also have the Perpetual Pantry. There’s a chest in the gym entrance where you come in and you can bring non-perishable foods for those in need. Someone is responsible to take it from there and put it in a particular closet for someone in the church or people that come and knock on our door. They say they’re hungry, they need food, and we have a way to care for people.

• We also have a care team, a systematic way of calling the people who come here regularly and just touching base to see how they're doing. And I hope you’ve received a call. If not, it'll take a while for us to get through all of the whole list. But I know some of you have been receiving calls just to see how you’re doing. The church cares for you. And in a couple calls, we’ve uncovered particular needs that were referred to the deacons for assistance. That's how you care for people. You keep in touch with them.

• Oh, and there's another way that we care for the people of the church. Do you know what that is? It's you. You don't need to be on a care team to care about other people, do you? You have a little group of people. Maybe they're the group of people you sit around in church on Sunday morning. I hope you’re friendly with the people that you see week by week in church.

• Or is there some group you serve with or minister with? Call them up, talk to them. How you doing? What's the Lord doing in your life? Do you have any needs? Is anything I can pray about?

You see, that's how you care for the church. You care for its people. First way is to care for its people.

Second, We Must Care for Its Place

The second way is to care for its place. Again, the church is people. But when you have the people of God, it gives the place where they meet a special meaning and significance. Even in the Old Testament, they had a place. It was significant because God had agreed to meet with them there.

You can't contain the whole universe? You can't contain God, right? And so God, the Apostle Paul said in one of his sermons that the presence of God cannot be contained in a building made with human hands. But it's different when God says, “I have a chosen a place and I will meet with you there.” He promised to meet with His people at a particular place.

And I think that counts for us here too, doesn't it? “Where two or three are gathered, I am there in their midst.” That sounds to me like the promise that He will meet here. That becomes a particular place where the people of God have come together to meet. And so you do need a place. It's very helpful to have a place, a designated place and time where the people of God gather to meet and to gather with each other.

If we think about the Old Testament parallel to that, they had a place, didn't they? First it was the tabernacle, then it was the temple. And that required maintenance. Matter of fact, there was a particular tax that they were supposed to bring for the maintenance of the place of worship. It wasn't huge, but in addition to the to the food that they brought to care for those who had special need or were most vulnerable in in their body of believers, they were asked to share something to maintain their place of worship.

Got to happen, right? Place has to be maintained. And the Lord built that into the Old Testament. And I think the same carries for into the New Testament. If we can go from the Old Testament law where it was instituted all the things of the worship of God. Let's fast forward it to a time that really shed some light on the place where God's people met.

The Levites Maintained the Place of Worship and Instructed the People There (Nehemiah 8:7-8)

In Nehemiah 8:7-8, we see some Levites who are to help the people to understand the law. Before this, the people of God displeased God because they abandoned Him. And so after God's long suffering with them, He finally sent them into captivity for 70 years. And after 70 years, they got to come back and rebuild the place. The conquerors had destroyed it. They had to rebuild it. But God brought them back.

And so in Nehemiah's day, they were coming back and they're rededicating the next temple, the next place where God would meet with them. And they did it with great rejoicing under Nehemiah's leadership. And so he says the Levites came and helped the people to understand the law while the people remained in their places. They read from the book of the law of God clearly and they gave the sense so the people understood the reading.

In the New Testament, Paul says to Timothy to not neglect the public reading of the word. What were they doing in the Old Testament? Same thing. They read the word of God, but they had the Levites to train and instruct the people in the meaning and the understanding of what was written.

The Levites Conducted the Service of God in a Specific Place (Nehemiah 12:44-47)

So, we see that in Nehemiah's day, they the Levites were there to care for the people in not only leading them in worship, but teaching. In Nehemiah 12:44-47, we read, “⁴⁴ On that day, men were appointed over the storerooms, the contributions, the first fruits, and the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by the law for the priests and for the Levites according to the fields of the towns, for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered. ⁴⁵ And they performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did the singers and the gatekeepers, according to the command of David and his son Solomon. ⁴⁶ For long ago in the days of David and Asaph, there were directors of the singers, and there were songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. ⁴⁷ And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and in all the days of Nehemiah gave the daily portions for the singers and gatekeepers; and they set apart that which was for the Levites; and the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron.”

Nehemiah gathers the people again. They've rebuilt the place of worship and it's working. They're functioning. The Levites are there. The singers are there. So the Levites are there to assist and the priests were there to lead them in worship. So they're leading them in worship and they're faithful to teach them. And Nehemiah had everything working.

When the Tithes Were Not Collected, the Levites and Worship Leaders Dispersed (Nehemiah 13:10)

But you get to the next chapter of Nehemiah and what happens? Nehemiah 13:6 that some things were happening in the house of God that was not good. And he says, “While this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king.” What happened was a classic case of when the cats away the mice will play.

What happened when Nehemiah left? The people stopped bringing the tithes into the house of the Lord. And so, he says in Nehemiah 13:10, “¹⁰ I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each to his field.”

What happened? They didn't have the people leading them in worship anymore. They didn't have the Levites teaching them. And we all know what happened in their past when they were forsaking the worship of God and did not have the Levites to teach them. They dispersed.

It was very important to have that place where the Lord would meet with them. The place was important. Well, the church today is the people, but it's important to have our place.

The Church is a Household; There is Proper Conduct in It (1 Timothy 3:14-15)

So let's think about that in terms of today and what we do here and now.

Again, we think of another passage of scripture, 1 Timothy 3:14-15, “¹⁴ I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, ¹⁵ if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.”

The New Testament church is described as a household. Now, in order to have a household, you need to have a house, don't you? And so, if we are the household of God, we have a place to meet. And Paul is talking about behaving properly in this gathering, this collected gathering of God's people. Talking about what we're doing right now, aren't we? And God has given us a place to do it in. And we are the household of God today.

Application

So, how are we doing in caring for its place? Are there conditions here at the church that you wouldn't tolerate at home in the upkeep and the things that are needed here? At home, you’ve got it all taken care of, but at church, well, that's church. That's somebody else's business. No, it's not. It's ours collectively. How do you treat the church?

You know, I just got a little burr under my saddle. Every all the time I go in that church kitchen and you got the little basket in the sink. There's always cruddy food in it. Why can't you clean that basket out when you're done using the kitchen in the church? That bugs me and I wonder if they do this at their home? Well, if you do, well, that's your problem. But don't do it here, right?

There's lots of things that that go on that if you view it as somebody else's problem, well, the place of God's gathering of his people needs to be cared for like you would care for it at your home. Why do you do or don't do here what you would do at home? Why is anything different? If it's your household at home and this is your household here, treat it like that.

You're not just a customer. You're part of a household.

Don't leave it to somebody else if you wouldn't do it at home. Years ago, we had this wonderful, wonderful head deacon. Some of you remember Art Pearson. One day, after service, he sees that somebody had thrown a gum wrapper in the center aisle of the church here. Art was all bent out of shape over it. He look at that and said, “Can you imagine that somebody left a gum wrapper in the church?” And I said, “Yes, Art, but the expedient thing is for you to pick it up.” And I wasn't scolding Art. Art was a wonderful man of God and I love his memory.

But, you know, it's our church and we got to take care of it, don't we? And it reflects what you what you value, we need to value our church and keeping it as though you value it.

Third, We Must Care for Its Profession

And thirdly, we're going to care for its profession of the doctrines that we believe in.

Watch Over the Doctrines (1 Timothy 4:11-16)

1 Timothy 4:16 says, “¹⁶ Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

Keep a watch on your teaching. That's caring for the profession of the doctrines of scripture. That's what we're told to do. Keep a close watch on it.

Guard the Doctrines (2 Timothy 1:13-14)

Second Timothy 1:13-14 reads, “¹³ Follow the pattern of the sound[a] words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴ By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.”

Caring for your church is to guard the teaching of the church, to guard what is being professed and proclaimed, the proclamation of truth. That's what God tells us to do. If we're going to have this place of worship, it's got to remain the worship of the true God. It's got to remain the proclamation of the truths entrusted to us from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. We're to guard it.

Some Will Try to Distort the Doctrines (Acts 20:28-30)

In Acts 20, Paul is on his way to Jerusalem where he was to be held prisoner and ultimately taken to Rome. And so he's meeting with the Ephesian elders on his way past them to get to Jerusalem. And he gives them this message of encouragement. But notice what he says in Acts 20:28-30, “²⁸ Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. ²⁹ I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; ³⁰ and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.”

And so he tells them to care for the flock by guarding the truths of what are preached. That's how you care for the church, too. Watch the doctrine. Well, how are we going to make sure? Well, we make sure that the pastors and elders of the church remain faithful to the word of God.

Application

How do we do that? If you're going to police them to be sure they're teaching the right thing, you have to be a student of the scriptures, too, don't you? How can you how can you weigh and evaluate what's being taught if you yourself don't know the scripture? So, it's kind of it's kind of a cycle, isn't it?

We preach the word of God and you hear the word of God and you measure what's being preached to you because you know your scripture for yourself and it produces a good cycle of things. It prevents the cycle of Israel in the days of Nehemiah when they stopped keeping the place of God which meant they stopped the worship of God which meant they stopped the teaching of the word of God and spiraled downward.

And so the way to care for your church is to care for its doctrines. Very important to do that.

Closing Thought

Jesus said, “I will build my church.” And we then are responsible to care for it. We care for its people. We care for its place. We care for its proclamation of truth.

You can tell when you value something, can't you? If you have a possession, maybe you've invested money in something. And you really take care of that, too, don't you? Why? Because you've invested in it. You know the value of it. But you don't even need to invest something to value it.

I've had the opportunity twice— not just once— twice, to have a car given to me.

The second time by a complete stranger. We received this car. Okay. All right. So, the car was old enough to vote, right? It was not a new car. But I valued it because at that moment in my life, I needed a car. I had two daughters at home and one needed a car to get to a summer job and the other daughter had summer internship that she needed in order to qualify her for her degree. And where was I going to scrounge up for a car?

And through this wonderful provision of God, I had this old car. Now, did I devalue it because I didn't pay any money? No. I was grateful for it. The girls used it all that summer, and the one daughter took it when she went away to school. And I valued it not because of the money I invested in it, but because of what it did for me.

And you know, the same is true of the gospel. We don't pay for our salvation, do we? It's free.

Why do we value the gospel? Because of all the works that we're putting into to earning and possessing salvation? No, we don't. It's a free gift from God. So, should we value it less? No. We value it because of what it does for us. What does the gospel do for us? It gives us eternal life. You don't pay for it. You don't work for it. You don't earn it.

We all have the same problem that our sinfulness, the sinfulness of every human being who's been born. The sinfulness keeps us from the presence of God and will keep us from His holy presence. So, we got a big problem. But in His love and in His grace and in His mercy, he provided payment for our sin.

If you've never heard that before or believed that before, that is your greatest need in this moment. That you understand that your sin will keep you from the presence of God. That you will not enter the eternal kingdom of God because your sin will prevent it.

The bad news is that we are lost. We are bound for a Christ-less eternity. But the good news is that Jesus came and paid the price for our sin. And so we value our salvation because Jesus paid it all. I hope that you've believed in him. If you've not, I'd love to sit down and talk with you or one of our elders will talk with you and share with you how you may have the assurance of salvation.

When you're working to earn your salvation, you can never be sure you've done enough good. But if you receive the free gift of God through Jesus, through faith in him, you don't pay for it. It seems too simple. If you don't have to pay for it, it seems simple. But you value it all the more when you know what it will do for you. It will give to you eternal life.

If you've never put your faith in Jesus, I encourage you to do that. Don't leave here today without being assured that you've put your trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior. And if you've believed that, well, then you're part of God's household, God's people.

And what He wants us to do is to care for His church. And we care for its people. We care for its place. And we care for the profession of that gospel message that I've just shared with you in this moment— that Jesus died for you and gave you eternal life. We value it not because of what we've paid for it, but because of what it does for us.

Heavenly Father, thank You that Jesus solved our sin problem for us. Thank You that we have the free gift of eternal life.

Thank You that as a result it holds great value. And because it holds great value, we will care for it— the message of the gospel. We will care for its people and we will care for this place that You have given us very distinctly by Your work and Your will, Your action. And You gave us this place and we thank You for it because Jesus will build His church. Help us then that we might care for this church and the people of it. Bless us, in Jesus name. Amen.

Inductive Bible Study: Observation, Interpretation, Application

Observation: What Does the Text Say?

What do you learn about caring for the church from the following passages?

1.     Deuteronomy 14:28-29

2.     Numbers 18:21

3.     Acts 6:1-4

4.     Malachi 3:10

5.     Nehemiah 8:7-8

6.     Nehemiah 12:44-47

7.     Nehemiah 13:10-13

8.     Galatians 6:2

9.     1 Timothy 3:14-15

10.  1 Timothy 4:11-13, 16

11.  2 Timothy 1:13-14

12.  Acts 20:28-30

Interpretation: What does the text mean?

1.     What role did the Levites play in the Old Testament?

2.     What warnings does the New Testament give about guarding our doctrine?

3.     How important is it to have a place of ministry?

Application: How should this change us?

1.     How important is it to care for our place of ministry?

2.     What is something you can do or are doing to care for our place of ministry?

3.     How can you or /are you bearing the burdens of people at our church?

4.     What do you need to do to protect the soundness of our church doctrine?

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