welcome once again basic bible doctrine uh lesson class number nine we're going to be on lesson number seven part b as i mentioned last week we did part a because we've got a lot of things we want to cover today um i want to encourage you to get get get a nice clean sheet of paper out i've got some things i want to share with you that i'm expecting you to write down and to know they're not in your notes even though they're part of your notes and i think you're going to be blessed by all that god's going to do today let's pray father in the wonderful name of jesus we just give you the glory and the honor and praise for all you have done and are doing through the lord jesus christ his finished work on calvary his death burial and resurrection have secured our eternal salvation you said the gates of hell were not prevailed against the church and he would build it and today we're going to be some building in the name of jesus holy spirit leading guidance to all truth and understanding in jesus name amen and amen amen i have a different pair of glasses on because my other ones are being repaired anyway uh get your notes out and again get that blank sheet of paper out make it big it's a big sheet of paper uh with a good pencil or pen because we're gonna do look at some things that are not in the notes that i want you to write down because it's going to impact your life anyway let's look at our notes first of all start there where we left off um after we had talked about um the uh the local churches organizations deacons elders and and and and deacons um we're going to look at now the next page called discipline in the local church um this is a interesting subject that i i i get to participate in at times when there is something going on that should not be going on inside the church i guess where maybe some churches have failed if they know how to discipline but don't know how to restore some of you may know what i mean they know how to discipline put you in the back of the church throw you out of the church make your name known throughout the church for what you did but don't not many churches are known for restoring people and i want to give you uh something today i hope will help you understand how that's done and you can be a blessing to the body of christ because god is in the business not just of saving but of restoring the same how's that you get saved and sometimes you mess up how do i get restored i'll show you some principles but anyway let's look at our notes we'll just follow along as i read here um discipline the church even though the church is under grace which it is due to the flesh the lord has laid down rules of discipline for the church the believer um letter a first of all judgment by ourselves that's interesting uh first corinthians chapter 11 verse 31 it says if we judge ourselves we would not be judge taking a stand against that which is wrong with myself will mortify these in the flesh what does that mean i i think those of us who are the children of god we have the holy spirit he's called the holy spirit both are emphasized holy spirit not just the spirit but he's holy and living in us so whenever we're out of the line of walking holy i don't mean perfection it does mean christ's likeness how's that um when we're out of line when we're slipping and sliding and chucking and jiving when we're sleeping and creeping and drinking and winking some of you know what i mean right um it's time for self-examination the scripture says well circumspectually around yourself and make sure you're in the faith if you sin and there's no conscious conviction make sure you're saved but those of us who are saved and do something we shouldn't have done and i've been there myself especially when i first was saved my first couple of years of my salvation i'm 43 years old in christ now and my first couple years with you know a time of growth and challenge and struggle if you roll over the things and habits and former associates of my life but every time i did something i knew i shouldn't have done it oh and you know what i mean so we judge ourselves i can't drink that no more i can't talk that way no more i can't go there no more i i i was dead but now i'm alive i was blind now i can see i was lost i'm fouled i'm not going back to them lost places anymore so we start to judge ourselves um let it be judged about the church first corinthians 5 11 and 12 it says this but now did the apostle paul write to the church who was having a lot of struggles i don't know if some of you know but if you were part of my uh first corinthians class the church of corinth that paul was writing to was only a year and a half old in the lord so they were going through a lot of changes a lot of challenges and like some of us have and you know people who are going through help them through their time of transition anyway paul said but now i've written under you not to keep company over if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator or an extortioner with such a one not even to eat for what about to judge them that are out there without do not judge those who are within the church has every right to judge within why the scripture says god judges outside we are leaders to judge inside how we judge and what we do about that has always been the challenge um here we're not to keep company with any man who's called the brother who who was called a brother if he's a fornicator idolater brailler drunkard extortioner but any judgment should be measured only out after significant effort to restore as seen in galatians chapter 6 verse 1. let's look at a little bit of restoration in the church now we're talking about the church the church is multifaceted in its function and the way it handles things and i trust you have your bible uh galatians chapter 6 verse 1 this verse sounds says a lot especially to me i deal with some of these areas at times here at epic church and i'm very careful as to what the instructions are but listen what paul says brother that's us sister if a man or woman is overtaken in any trespass any trespass you who are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of gentleness considering yourself unless you also be tempted whoa what's that what's going on here brother joe um paul starts out with knowing that sometimes we stumble and fall uh hebrews talks about the sin that so easily can entangle us old habits sinful ones that we're working through sometimes follow us into our christian growth because we haven't dealt with them uh we haven't gotten the uh maybe counsel we need to disassociate ourselves as i told some of you i was still turning back speedometers uh when i was saved you know you know turning back speedometers means mileage on a car what's the first thing you ask when you buy a used car how many miles are on it why do you ask that question because you judge the car's value and performance by the mileage don't you well i was called joe the clock i ran central new jersey to a high degree monmouth county and ocean county and some beyond at times turning back mileage we used to call dipping the car in the fountain of youth i had a chateau case i was very good at what i did i did chop shops wholesalers and retailers in the car business not gonna mention anybody's name okay dealerships that is anyway after i got saved is my point i was still turning back speedometers six months into my conversion i was still turning back the numbers and i hated every time i did it i knew i had to deal with i was caught in a trespass if you will and i had to get with my pastor my old pastor and and and and the holy ghost to give me some help as a six-month-old babe in christ i didn't really there's nothing in the bible it says thou shall not turn back speedometers there's a lot of thou shall announce in our lives that are not in the book right there but the holy ghost hmm holy ghost holy what's rising i've been saying touch not taste not turn back not and so going across the bridge in asbury park was a big lake there called interlaken i threw my speedometer tools in the lake all of them and i came across that bridge getting to the other side feeling like i had just been lifted up ten feet off the ground in my heart that is because now i knew i was free um from the guilt and and then the unctions of the holy ghost that what i was doing was wrong you can judge yourself as my point and deal with it but in the church sometimes we need to get involved for whatever reason someone's sin is more overt than covert so i don't want to say one's worse or better than the other is that when it comes to leadership's attention and here's where maybe a lot of church members have been very disappointed in their leadership that they did not get involved with what was told them is happening in the congregation and how we now handle it here's what paul says if a man is overtaken overrun if you will in any sin sometimes you're in fornication you can't break it come tell the leadership will help you if you shack it up we'll help you shot down in love and gets you out of that thing it gets you married need me let me go back to the text here um you who are spiritual see you you got to be spiritual to deal with people who are struggling here's why restore such a one in the spirit of gentleness the the greek language there is like putting a bone back in place that's out of joint it's got to be done carefully and here's why here's what scares brother joe most of all and if you're a leader be aware of this as you have to judge things judge with the love of jesus and the word of god not with the guilt and condemnation here's why the end of the verse says considering yourself lest you also be tempted that's frightening in my spiritual perception that if i'm not gentle with you or with someone who's going through a challenging time of their life that's come to leadership's attention and lay out how to help you and how to pray for you and love you through this transition it's amazing that it says here list i also let you also be tempted if we're doing it with a harsh and condescending and guilt-ridden way um in other words if someone's continually drinking and and it's known to the church and that person is an elder in the church and they're getting tipsy when they're coming on sunday morning and we bring them in and we start to bash them uh if you hated liquor and hate drinking and you're not gentle to the one who's doing the drinking i think the scripture is saying here you're going to start hallelujah alcohol the enemy will get an advantage on you what's my point let's be gentle with each other let's do all we can to restore people i i i believe restoration is the heart of god i'm sure you agree in fact in matthew 5 verse 9 the master the lord jesus says blessed are the peacemakers for these are the sons of god that's matthew 5 verse 9. he also says in the same chapter chapter 5 there if you bring your gift to the altar this is peace making concepts now in in the church how to resolve conflict here it says um in matthew chapter five in fact let me get the exact text for you um i do know where matthew is there we go matthew chapter five yeah oh boy yeah starting in verse 23 it says therefore if you bring your gift to the altar in other words you you bring your tithe in the office to the church of something morning and remember that your brother has something against you oh boy leave your gift there before the altar go your way first be reconciled to your brother then come and offer your gift boy the master is more concerned about relationships than he is our tithes and our offerings and i know we put a great emphasis on giving tithing and offerings and rightly so because the bible does too but the master is more concerned about relationships than he is our money now he is concerned about our money because i like what it says there in the text it really carefully says leave your gift there i like the lord jesus he said bring it and leave it here otherwise i want but i want the right way go first and reconcile yourself with whomever it is you're having contentions with get things right that's the first principle of restoration of dealing with issues in our lives matthew 18 says even clearer look at this matthew 18 this is all for the church to keep it you know endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace we need our churches to be peacemakers not troublemakers and not we're peace makers not peace fakers some of you who have been in my class at the conflict resolution know about that we're peace makers not peace fakers we don't fake like there's nothing going on in the church that leadership has gotten a bad reputation for knowing about something and not dealing with it jesus never called us to ignore the issues and the sins in the church he wants us to deal with them but in the right way amen david did not deal with absalom you read it there in second samuel oh yeah david did not deal with epsilon and absalon at one point drove his father out of the kingdom nobody could take david down nobody his son did because david didn't deal with absalom correctly that's just teaching for another time but matthew 18 gives us a bigger picture now how to deal with issues in the church remember we're talking about the body of christ you and i who sometimes just don't get along and sometimes see things differently it never should divide us it should unite us in love knowing that there are different perceptions about things anyway look what the master says here in matthew 18 verse 15. these are not your notes these are just some nuggets i believe will help you understand the church more and your responsibilities in it to make it resemble christ even greater matthew 18 verse 15 moreover if your brother sins against you go and beat him up and throw him under a bus no that's not jesus this is moreover if your brother sins against you go and tell go not to your home boy and your sisters and and and and your best friends no go and tell him his fault between you and him alone that's the first principle you and that person alone nobody else it started with you and me not the pastor not the elder not the deacon not the leadership not your neighbor it starts first and here's where it should end you and me 90 of all church conflict can be resolved at this level oh go tell a pastor about this that you might know we here at epic church do it this way we will encourage you to go and get it right now i'm not talking about lawful things that are broken child molestation sexual things in the church we're calling the cops on you right now we're ordered by the law to do that but for the most part where there's conflict between you and i it says we are to we are to reconcile it ourselves if we can't of course there is another step if he hears you you've gained your brother that's the whole goal let's sit down and what's the bible say in the in in isaiah come now let us reason together says the lord you imagine god says talk to me let's talk about this then why can't i reason things out with you or are you with her or you with him reason now if he hears you you've gained your brother thought the word we let the devil divide us was okay i didn't know you meant what you said i thought you meant this so that's usually what happens but if you want to hear you take with you two or three more witnesses and it gets it gets bigger and more more involved with others when we can keep it just between you and i that's for issues if that starts there it should stop there and again not every situation ends this way but 90 of all church conflict and really most conflict it should be resolved between you and that person because that's how it began anyway joe how do we restore people especially if they've been a bummer how do i restore a 35 year old drug addict who says now that they did that they're changing how do i bring them back what do i use to to judge if they really have changed here watch this put this down your notes you will love this or in your bible somewhere okay it's called the three r's of restoration we use it in the church but i want you to be able to use it in your life or help your neighbor with how to handle a wayward husband or wife who wants to come back home now and there's nothing wrong with that we are in the restoring business but how can i tell if someone really wants to be restored here's how you can tell real quick it's called the three r's three r's of restoration um move this out of the way first star number one good day did they repent did they repent i'll go a little further number two did they take did they take responsibility and number three they make the repairs what do you mean brother joe the three hours of restoration that you can you can guide people through or show them what they need to do some people don't know what to do but they don't know how to judge if someone's ready to come back here's what they should do did they repent did they repent i don't mean just are they sorrowful which is good now but that's a fleshly level i want to know how they ask for forgiveness and some people don't know they're supposed to you and i as leaders need to lead them in the understanding of how of how they can show their truly need to be restored and want to be restored did they repent of their sin it's obvious in second corinthians chapter two if you know anything about first corinthians there was a man that had his father's wife you his stepmother if you will never having a sexual relationship it looks like he was excommunicated out of the church and it looks like in chat in in second corinthians chapter two uh it looks like he wants to come back in and the church won't let him back in because they they their sin was too great for them to handle and paul said look he's repenting welcome him back in forgive him and please don't forget forgiveness is one of the one of the the primary elements of restoring relationships because sometimes things can't be refixed it happened and all i can ask you is to forgive me that's my point not just sorry but forgive me that's part of repentance don't we wish adam would have repented in the garden and taken responsibility that's a whole nother word right there in other words the the the husband wants to come back home but he still wants to blame the wife for everything that this house is a mess they're they're not ready yet then to come back in to the home uh what do i mean in other words a true repetitive heart and one who takes responsibility will do this honey i i've accepted christ as my savior um i'm i've changed and i want to take full responsibility for the divorce that i was was pending for the mess i've made in this family i take full responsibility i'm not blaming you for anything put it all on me man do we have someone who's ready to be restored amen or if she went wandering out um and was playing whatever and she gets saved because god has his way in people's lives as we all know and wants to come back now to the to the three children she gave birth to it to a man who still loves her kind of like jose a concept if you will or her son wants to come back home and he has he has he has he has removed the money from the from the savior's account from the banking account and use your credit card and he got saved you can tell if he repents asks for forgiveness and number two takes full responsibility that's still blame shifting wouldn't have been awesome had adam taken have repented before god and taken full responsibility for eating of that fruit just a scenario i might throw at you in the garden after he ate and god came and said what is this you have done what if adam would have said elohim jehovah and i please forgive me i have eaten of that which you said not to i repent i take full responsibility for eve's action and my action elohim have mercy on me wow wow this is theological discourses we have sometimes about what if i wonder and this is just brother joe's perception the ball would have been down in god's court of forgiveness interesting thought huh when you come to god no matter how bad messed up you have done the master through the shed blood of jesus christ his finished work on calvary is always available to restore and forgive amen number three here's what really separates these two because anybody can fake repentance and anybody can fake taking responsibilities can't they i know brother joe's off the block so i know they can they they can fake those out okay and make you think they're they're they're changing here's the real deal number three do they make the repairs what do i mean did i make the repairs whoa here it goes man do they now let's say you had an issue with a spouse that was cheating on you and never let you look at their cell phone in fact they might have had two one for them her the other her one for themselves and then let's just see that other one what i mean by repairs in other words the phone sometimes is need to get rid of and get a new one so that he or she can't call them anymore they're making repairs if they're sincere about being restored back home with you and if they didn't have their phone number which i don't believe normally this thing has become this thing will find you out this thing can trace where you've been what you've been doing and who you've been talking to most lawyers today don't need anything but your cell phone to show the judge is where he was and what he said but if someone's truly repented taking full responsibility they will say honey there's no more lock on my phone there's this is total access to you in fact i go even further if um if um if i uh uh they she he has my phone number or the people i'm messing with do i'm i'm casting this out with verizon or ray t whoever and i'm gonna get a new phone that has a new phone number and right now only for you to have total access no lock whoa that person's making repairs let's say you were having an affair at the office and that girl or that guy is just a stone throw away in the company you were at and and you got caught but yet you you got saved you you repented you took responsibility now how you make repairs you simply tell your spouse that i'm transferring myself out of that office to get away from him or her see see what what's my point here we're making repairs we're doing things so what led up to the mess i made i no longer am part of that amen so i trust this is the three hours of restoration if they repent and take responsibility make prepared let them back in your life and let them back in your home amen back to our notes that's for free let's look at the ordinances in the local church there's two uh listen carefully as i read here it says that the church has two ordinances water baptism and the lord's supper we stress that these are ordinances not sacraments an ordinance is a statue establish a rule while a sacrament suggests a sacred right or solemn oh supposedly offering a special grace there is no special grace there is no um merit of grace in order baptism or the lord's supper these are simply commandments that are given to us to obey and do that's it it's a sign that we are saved not getting saved and i think you know what i mean just listen carefully here about baptism from the greek word baptism meaning to dip to plunge to emerge matthew 28 verse 18 the master said go into all the world you know just look at that uh we don't hear much about this anymore um matthew 28 verse 18 it says all and jesus came to him and started saying i love the beginning of this all authority all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth what's our problem what's our problem all authority nothing's going to happen without the master intervening and being involved why because it all has to do with the bottom line of his return one day even this election i'll leave that alone all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth go therefore see where to go we don't call him we go and get them a whole nother teacher go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the father of the son of the holy spirit teaching them to observe all things that loath command you and with you always even to the end of the age baptism is a public declaration of faith in christ an outward sign of an inward grace immersion fully displays both burial and resurrection it is not a saving ordinance you don't get saved by being baptized you get baptized because you are saved amen they're going down is in the burial of the lord jesus christ and coming up is the resurrection that's the master of the grave and it's a public declaration to all um you can get baptized in a lake in a river in a baptismal tub i was baptized in the atlantic ocean in belmar on a saturday morning with i think several other people by my old baptist minister following the uh command of the lord jesus christ i trust you have been baptized and encouraged those who get saved to get work baptized it's a great time of leading others to the lord jesus as they see what god has done in your life anyway the second one is the lord's supper outlined by paul as an ordinance as seen in first corinthians chapter 11. let's just if you have your bible you better have your bible letters first corinthians chapter 11. love this love this text it's a little strong for some people um all of us have to be aware of ourselves when we come to the lord's table i don't want to flippantly saying that everyone should partake in lord's supper who's not saved and even those of us who are saved need to be a little careful how we approach this sacred time why because paul tells us why follow along as i read here in first corinthians chapter 11 starting at verse 23 he says for i received from the lord that which i also delivered to you so this came directly from the lord jesus not paul didn't make this up that the lord jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed he took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said take e this is my body which is broken for you do this in remembrance of me this is always about remembering the finished work of our lord and savior jesus christ it's always remembering him and in the same manner he also took the cup after supper and the cup of what they call redemption i love it man the safe it's called the cup of redemption i wish i could talk a little bit about that he also took the cup after supper saying this cup is the new covenant remember you are in a new covenant you're no longer under the old rules regulations and ordinances of the old testament you are now under a new covenant in his blood oh hallelujah thank you jesus this do partake of this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me he says all remember him at all times but especially during that time he says for often as you drink this cup and eat this bread you proclaim blue's death till he comes hallelujah therefore now watch where it gets a little challenging whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body of blood the lord you delivered people who don't take this seriously and all the master has done for them and look at this but let a man examine himself making sure that my life is is is where it's supposed to be not not flippantly allowing sin in my life and let me put this way not allowing sin in my life going unconfessed because we all have to deal with things don't worry let's get things right real quick when we do miss the mark and that's what sin is really about missing god's standard and when we do and we know when we do the holy ghost lets us know we should have not said it that way we should have done we should have told the truth we should not we know that get it right with god by confessing and asking for forgiveness here examine yourself in other words make sure you've confessed those besetting sins to him as we're coming to the table and sold in the meat of the bread and drink of the cup see see confession breeds a clear conscience you can partake with no guilt look at this for he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself not remembering not discerning the lord's body in verse 30 i'm not going to spend time i just want you to read this for this reason many are weak and sick among you and many sleep well weak sick and dead not good what's the point here let's just get things right with god even if we're still working on some things and you know what i mean we still ask him for forgiveness and we get up and we're cleansed then we move on and we keep working out our own salvation with fear and trembling and dealing with those issues that we know we should not be involved in god's graceful and the blood this blood of jesus that we drink in in grape juice as figuratively is eternal blood it has cleansed you for eternity but your conscience when it does something needs to be cleansed too and and on that basis of when you need forgiveness no matter how often you do it and how many times you do it confess it ask for forgiveness say thank you get up and move on with jesus amen okay how often do you do communion as often as you like we know most protestant churches that is done the first sunday of the month i'm familiar with that other church should do it once a quarter some churches do it every sunday as often as you want to you can do it should you be with believers and do it yes and can you do it by yourself at home yes just do it let's move on here now i i know that's the end of your notes and i want to show you one more illustration about the church okay then and then we'll wrap this thing up i want to show you how a church grows what are the avenues of spiritual success that helped me know where i am and where i should be and where i'm going and and and i simply just just want to do this real quick for you um watch this type of church is not in your notes it's how a church grows you gotta know how to grow you gotta know where you're at what are my next steps after conversion well let's look it first begins with something called evangelism someone shared the word with you whether it was a person a track tv radio internet a friend you were in a church there was event that's why jesus would go into all the world and preach the gospel that's the first step the church which is you and i must be doing this called evangelism matthew 28 18 to 22 and we need to be out there how we do that there's multi-faceted ways there's personal evangelism there's corporate evangelism there's personal witnessing by yourself in your normal daily routines at work in shoprite home depot lowe's wherever always be available for the lord to use you but what should we be looking for when we do batch life what's the result of evangelism watch actually here's here step number one the result the result of evangelism it should be to make a a convert someone who receives jesus christ the lord and savior that's what we're looking at is out there doing nothing and not looking for we're looking for results for people to bow their heads and confess in their heart that jesus christ is lord and believe that god raised him from the dead with their mouth they are we're looking for a result we are result orientated people we're looking for them to become a convert but what happened after they become a convert another result they become a a disciple yeah from conversion we now want to grow to be a disciple of jesus christ putting off the old putting on the new and what happens after they become a disciple what are we looking for here we go we're looking now for worker workers the result we're looking for people now to get involved they've been discipled they've grown they're starting to bear fruit they should not get involved in the church they should not plug themselves in somewhere where they're gifting them with their desires just to please god and be a blessing to their pastor into a little congregation this is what the church is all about and from a worker what should be next a result of a a servant a servant leader the result we're looking for these things to happen what's what's the point look congress disciple worker servant leader all three of these are doing evangelism they're all talking about jesus everybody so the church begins to grow not just numerically but nutritionally not just in number but also with strength scripturally in the middle of this whole thing in the d-i b-i-v-l-e telling us how these things all should be done so more witnessing witnessing make convert become a disciple i'm a worker you can go serve a leader now from all this let me just check my time here i got about five more minutes from from this this is where you know you can tell where you're at some people get stuck and don't know where to go from being a cycle to a worker and some workers don't realize they have the gifting and calling to be a servant leader but everyone is doing the witnessing to make a convert become a disciple become a worker and become a leader you're somewhere here and if you're in the pastoral working sense and you're there this takes about 14 years 15 years to manifest itself with a servant leader in between here and here and here and here here are lessons if you hear here here are more lessons teaching lessons teaching teaching lessons on how to how to do these things and here too more lessons we're growing the grace and knowledge of jesus christ amen watch here's where you are fed and here's where you're being fed remember remember who instructed you when you first got saved and they they taught you how to how to how to read the bible how to learn about the love of jesus right remember those days i remember baptist minister the first two three years of my christian life he was feeding me and and this is where you're you're fed between your conversion stage your disciples are staying here's where you feed yourself when you're a disciple now you can give out between here and there is where you you feed yourself you don't no longer need someone to to teach you you always do need that but now you're able to sit down by yourself in the morning and have your own morning devotional time and then here when you're here when you're about 14 years old or younger this is where you feed others love it love it you feed others now you're a teacher now you're training other people now you're helping them to witness and every time you do more witnessing you make more congress you'll become disciples you become workers you serve leaders all this is done so one day you can take that leader and start a new church and you're all on the same page i trust that's been a blessing to you today i'm excited about how the church grows and how you're going to grow in the church and remember to call that ones when the master has paid for this precious life and his precious blood for you and i father we thank you for our time together thank you your word will not return void it will accomplish that which is sent forth to do in jesus name amen and amen god bless you we'll see you next week and don't forget only two things last fraternity the word and people put the word into people you have a double investment in eternity