Shepherds' Fellowship

Jesus brings His lost sheep to Himself. Two folds of sheep are now one fold, under one Good Shepherd, who has given gifts to His fold: pastors-teachers. "And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding." Jesus said to Peter, "If you really love me Peter, then tend and feed My sheep."

Thanks for the nice post.

Thank yo for this great post. It is my prayer that others will see the importance of the local church. The church does assist in helping the vitality of our faith in Christ. The local church is family and should be treated as such. Thank you for the great reminder

What a great article. I am constantly involved in discussions with acquaintances about this very subject. It seems to me, that most church members seem to think that the only function of the local church is to "get people saved."

Now I have no problem with people attending church, hearing the gospel preached, then being convicted by the Holy Spirit, and being Born From Above. However, I agree with Mr MacArthur, that the primary purpose of a local church is to, number one, TEACH the Word, then fellowship, and the valid practice of baptism and the Lord's Supper.

It is this teaching function that the average local church has failed in. This day and age, it seems to be more about psychobabble, self-esteem, about what the church can do for me, or how to be financially successful, how great of a youth program or music program the church has, ad nauseam.

If I had my way, you would have a good, solid bible study on Sunday Morning, then a two-hour sermon where the Preacher goes through the bible verse by verse. Then, during the week have several hours of in depth bible study, church history, doctrine, etc.

I'm afraid that the local church is not doing a very good job of teaching. It's seem to be more about entertainment. MInd you, not all churches, but I think the vast majority are a total failure. I wish I could be more positive, but facts are facts.

Some day, just for fun, pick a church at random and see what you learn. It is a depressing exercise in futility, to say the least.

We have a local daily radio ministry. When time permits at the end of the Friday program I encourage people to be with the Lord's people on the Lord's day and invite them to visit our church if they don't have a church home yet. When I (sometimes) say "It is impossible to truly practice Christianity apart from commitment to a local church" I get more angry mail than on any doctrinal issue I have ever confronted. Obviously it irriates some people who claim to belong to Christ when you call them to obey Him.

Now we have a generation of church leaders who are teaching overtly or subtly that the church is not the primary arena of God's work on earth. or that commitment to a local church is unimportant. If only this post could be placed on a few hundred sites other than Shepherds Fellowship where nearly all will agree.

A very timely reminder, Pastor John. I am currently teaching a church membership class and out of the six couples, four of them that transferred to our church that didn't require membership. They were appreciative and humbled of the fact that membership not only entail accountability but "intimacy" of relationship stirring people to love and good works.
Second to that, how can one enact the church discipline prescribed by Christ in Matthew 18 if there is no local church to connect with? It's interesting to note that no matter how much there are mega churches around the United States, yet biblical morality and ethics seem to play second role or literally none in our culture. Unlike in book of Acts, a few followers were able to "turn the world upside down." Big churches but no impact.

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To me it seems clear from the Greek that meaning of Hebrews 10:25 is an admonition to not presently forsake the singular assembly before God in the future as opposed to a regular meeting together. Two other Bible passages that support this future singular assembly to be judged are Matthew 24:31 and 2 Thessalonian 2:1. I'm fairly certain that this is what the author of Hebrews was referring to. Note the, "as you see the day drawing near." This is the day of your assembly before God. It all fits together nicely without changing nouns to verbs and/or verbs to nouns to aid people in their understanding of what the passage doesn't mean.

Nonetheless, the point John makes about being under the authority and teaching of a Bible teaching local church is absolutely correct and clearly a fundamental truth of Scripture. However I personally will not yield Hebrews 10:25 in support of this as broadly and with as much liberty as this post has used it.

Would this teaching be appropriate in the period of history prior to Luther? Was the teaching from the local church at that time aligned with the Scriptures? Would this teaching be appropriate with the word of faith movement, or in a seeker sensitive community, or in an emergent church culture? Is it appropriate with the mega circus church bodies? Would an acceptable local church be one where the Master’s College trained pastors preached the God’s word, but allowed non reverent, worldly entertainment based loud rock and roll music to be used as worship? Or where the pastor encouraged the church body to be “cross centered” ignoring the first and second commandments? No matter how you cut it, in whatever period you choose, the local church leaders have generally been followers of the traditions and trapping of men and not obedient to all of the Scriptures. Many have added to and subtracted from the Scriptures. Many have profited from and been elevated to positions of authority not authorized by the Maker and Redeemer. Shouldn’t the definition of “local body” and “local church” be fully defined with Scriptural references before such broad brush statements are expressed? Blind allegiance to a local church, a pastor, a theology or denomination not grounded entirely in the Scriptures will overshadow Christ. Would the Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita Kansas be a good example of the local church?

One fact that I think is overlooked, but important to this discussion, is that the New Testament was not written for the individual. The authors of the New Testament wrote to local Church bodies. It seems that God intended to minister to us as in the context of the local church and there doesn't seem to be any other means that God has ordained to minister to his saints. I have been asked to give advice to people who claimed to be believers, but were not part of a local church. I always tell them that they should not make tough discussions outside of the counsel of the church. The New Testament doesn't have much to say to individuals outside of the Church (unbelievers being called to repentance is one obvious exception). It is within the church that we are able to properly interpret Scripture and live worshipful lives. This was a great subject to bring up that we need to be reminded of.

Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;
he breaks out against all sound judgment (Prov. 18:1).