You're listening to audio from Ascend Church. For more information about Ascend or to access more gospel-centered tools to grow as a disciple of Christ, visit ascendkc.org. So let's turn in our Bibles to Matthew chapter 7. Matthew chapter 7 is where we are going to start. The outline this morning is essentially three points with a fourth final application. And the three points will string together to be able to make a sentence that I want us to apply. If you don't have a Bible, just let our ushers know that it'll be coming up the aisles, that you would like one. You can follow along. We are going to let our fingers do the walking. You remember that ad with the yellow pages? Who uses the yellow pages anymore? But we're going to let our fingers do the walking through the New Testament. And we're beginning with Matthew chapter 7. The first part of our sentence that we will, Lord willing, apply at the end is that God intends his Christians to have a public participation. A public participation. Listen, eyes up here. If you look at the statistics in the United States, around 70% of American citizens claim to be Christians. Now time does not allow for us to poke the holes in a statement like that and provide the clarifications that are necessary, but suffice it to say is that as Americans, most people, 7 out of 10, would claim to be Christians. There are people in this room who claim to be Christians. But listen, beloved, as we will find in Matthew chapter seven, the ultimate decision maker will be the King of kings and Lord of lords. And his decision will determine eternity in heaven or determine eternity in hell for you as an individual. So it's probably pretty important that you as an individual who claim to be a Christian have mechanisms to affirm that profession. That's why we look, first of all, at public participation. Listen to Matthew 7, verse 21. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven." Pause right there. We just came out of the Halloween. That one might have to be struck from the recording. We just came out of Halloween, and that places an emphasis on being afraid or being scared, doesn't it? Movies, costumes, houses, blah, blah, blah. And all God's people say, thank God it's done. But the scariest words that any human can ever hear is what I just read. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, these individuals claim to be Christians. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven. So there's a contrast there. There's a contrast between what you say and the evaluation of what you do. Now look at the claims of these individuals in verse 22. On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Could we all agree that's a good thing? And did we not cast out demons in your name? Could we all agree that's a good thing? And in your name, we did mighty works. Could we not all agree those are good things? But look at the response of Jesus in verse 23, and then I will declare to them, I never knew you. The word knew is a word of relationship, of intimacy. He says, I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Elsewhere in the Gospels it says, depart from me to the place of torment. Beloved, listen, we are in a place where you as an individual have a crossroads in your life. If you claim to be a Christian, there is a mechanism that God has given to authenticate or deny that claim. Look back up a few verses at the end of Matthew 7 and verse 20. It says, Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. What's Jesus talking about? Those who claim to be proclaimers of his truth. Now it's not just limited to Matthew chapter 7. In fact, listen to some other passages that I would encourage you to write down. Romans chapter 9 and verse 6. Paul says, not all who are Israel are actually Israel. Explain Paul. Well, that's what the rest of chapter nine through 11 is. It's not all who claim to be followers of Christ, not all who claim to be God's people are actually God's people. And there he unpacks that it's not ethnicity that determines whether or not you're God's people. Another passage, James, chapter two, verses 18 through 26. James says, you claim to have faith, show me your faith by your works. How about 1 John 2 and verse 19, John says, they, the professors of Christ, went out from us, they left the local church, meaning they left it behind because they were never of us. They were never saved. The scriptures are filled with passages that alert us to the fact that just because you claim to be a follower of Christ does not mean that it's authentic. There must be a public participation. To illustrate this more vividly, let's look at the words of Jesus. Turn over to Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13 is the parable of the sower and the seeds. Now, what's awesome about this parable is that Jesus gives the parable, he gives the story, and then he unpacks it so vividly. So we'll look at verse 1 of Matthew chapter 13. That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea and great crowds gathered about him so that he got in a boat and sat down. That's what teachers did as a position of authority for instruction that was what to follow. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying, a sower went out to sow. That means this is a farmer, has a bag of seed, goes out to his ground and spreads the seed. That is the setting of the story. But the point is going to be what we're driving home this morning. And Jesus unpacks four different types of ground and four responses to the seed. Look at the first one in verse four. He sowed some seeds that fell along the path. Now he explains this when we get down to verse 19. It says, when anyone hears the words of the kingdom, so they actually heard the words of the kingdom, the gospel was presented to them. And then it says, they did not understand it. Now just stop right there. What that doesn't mean is that they're ignorant. It doesn't mean that they're sitting there and they hear the gospel and they're like, ah, I just can't figure it out. And the sower's like, sorry, I have to move on. That's not what that word means. What it means is that they heard it, it was clearly presented, and they said, nope, I don't want anything to do with it. That's what the beginning is, the seed that fell along the path. It says the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart and basically they don't think about it anymore. This is what was sown along the path. That's the first type of ground in the first response. The second type of ground in response is found in verse 5. Other seeds fell on rocky ground. There wasn't much soil. And immediately it sprang up, but since they had no depth of soil, when the sun rose, they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. The explanation of this is found in verse 20. It says, as for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word. Again, they heard the word. It was explained to them clearly. And immediately, look at this, receives it with joy. Now, wouldn't we hear that and conclude, well, they've got to be saved. They received the word with joy. And in fact, earlier it says that they actually started springing up. It says in verse 21, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, that's important. They start to get criticized. Oh, you're a Christian? Oh, you're religious? You're a pastor's kid? And all of a sudden, that criticism becomes so much for that individual, it says immediately he falls away. The third ground is similar to the second ground. It's found in verse 7. It says, other seeds fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked them, implying that the plant grew up as well. The explanation is provided in verse 22, as for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word. Again, there's a hearing of the word, it is clearly proclaimed, but the cares of the world in this case, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves, look at this phrase, unfruitful. Beloved, that's the key thus far. Let me just practically illustrate these last two types of ground. The first one is somebody who tries Jesus, but then things get hard because of their claim for Christ, and they fall away. The thorny ground is that they get excited about Jesus for whatever reason. They have an emotional response. They were down on their luck and they heard the gospel and I want Jesus. Then all of a sudden the cares of the world and the attraction of the world becomes so much that they're like, I tried Jesus, not interested. I had this illustrated last week. A friend of mine that went to seminary with me, we got to catch up. We hadn't seen each other in a long time. He's a real estate agent and he had a fellow real estate agent that he shared the gospel with and the man responded. In fact, my friend even got to baptize him and we're like, yes, yes. I mean, that's one of those got to work videos, right? But all of a sudden, slowly but surely, he started to distance himself from the local church. My friend went and asked him, like, what's going on, man? Why are you distancing yourself? And he's like, look, as soon as I claimed to be a follower of Christ, my wife's relationship with me changed. As soon as I claimed to be a follower of Christ, I wasn't able to do the things that I'd done before, and so now I'm not making as much money. Now, all of us would agree, hopefully, that a relationship with your wife being healthy is a good thing, amen? All of us would agree that a job that provides for your needs is a good thing, amen? But here's what happens is that when the desire for good things eclipses the best things and causes you to resolve to move away from the best things, you're giving evidence that you probably were not saved. Beloved, there are people in this room, sadly, who have had the seed go into thorny and rocky ground. And you're sitting here and you're just trying out Jesus. And as long as things in your life are going okay or they don't get too bad, Jesus is all right with you. But beloved, there's only one ground and response in this story that is the evidence of a true believer. Look at verse eight. Other seeds fell on good ground and produced grain. That's the key. Some a hundredfold, some 60, some 30. The explanation is found in verse 23. And for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word. Again, look at this. Every time they heard the word, These understood it, but here is the evidence of authenticity. They bear fruit and yield in one case 100 fold and another 60 and another 30. That's the reality. Now how can you tell whether or not you are bearing fruit? What's the answer to that question? Eternity hangs, and the balance to how you answer that question is the answer, I attend church. Is the answer, I attend BSF, Bible Study Fellowship? Is the answer, I give tithes? Is the answer, see, if that's what you're looking for as the evidence of your authenticity, then you might be in that category of Matthew 7, 21 through 23. Beloved, listen, it is not what you do, it is the patterns of your life. And I'm going to argue that the New Testament says that the way that that can be affirmed in your life is through your membership in the local church. I had a friend that I met with a couple of weeks ago. He's a member of our church. He's working through some things and he said, Jeff, if I was to be asked the question, what does it look like to be a member of a SEND church? I wouldn't know how to answer. And maybe some of you would say the same thing. So I want to answer that question for you. Three ways I would encourage you to write this down. First of all, affirmation. Number one is affirmation. Membership in the New Testament is an affirmation. Write down Acts chapter 18 verse 27. Apollos, when he moved from one church to another, had a letter of commendation sent with him. It was a church standing behind his profession of faith saying, we vouch for Apollos. We say that he is an authentic follower of Christ. In fact, this was the illustration that Ben gave last week. Ben talked about the passport. See, it's not the passport that makes you a citizen. It's the passport that affirms your citizenship. and it is the membership of the local church that is your passport. Write down Acts 2, verse 41. At the end of Peter's amazing message at Pentecost, the men asked, what must we do in response? And he said, repent, that means exercise faith, and then be baptized. What he meant by that is baptism puts you into membership of the local church. I'm gonna argue that even more here in just a minute. That was Peter's response. Be saved individually and then publicly connect to the local church. It says that the number were 3,000 men. Then you get to Acts chapter 4 and verse 4 and then it was 5,000 men. You see in Acts 13 that the church sent out missionaries. The leadership of the church sent out missionaries. They sent out Paul and Barnabas. And when Paul and Barnabas were done with their first missionary journey, Acts chapter 14 verses 26 to 28 says they came back and gave an account to their authority who were the leaders of a local church. Beloved, this is the beginnings of what will continue to be developed in the apostles' letters, the epistles, that the New Testament expects that if you are a follower of Christ, it's not an individual thing only. It's an individual thing that manifests itself in a public participation. So the church, through membership, affirms your profession of faith. Let me just say here before we move on, the ultimate authority within the church is not the elders. It's the King of kings and Lord of lords. Amen? But to whom did he give his authority? The elders of the local church. Matthew 16, verse 19, to Peter and then the disciples, and then in Acts, we see the local church. To you, I will give the keys to the kingdom to affirm on earth what has already been concluded in heaven. In Matthew chapter 18, at the end of the process of church discipline, Matthew 18, 18, I will give you the authority to affirm on earth what has been concluded in heaven. You see that Jesus is beginning the unpacking of this age. And that is that individual Christians are to be members of the local church so that there can be public participation and affirmation or a passport as it were of authenticity. Now what do we affirm as a local church? We affirm that you as a member understand the gospel. That's so important. That will actually be visibly demonstrated through baptism. But then we affirm that as best as we can tell, you are in right relationship with God. Listen, you can't do that in a context outside of this, in terms of Christ's structure. You can have buddies who are Christians, you can have Bible studies, you can go to BSF, and all of that is good. But in terms of who God gave the authority to affirm what has been concluded in heaven, it is the local church. Church membership means that your profession is affirmed, but number two, it means that you're given oversight. You're given oversight and we need oversight. Salvation isn't just a prayer and then you're off on your own and you're on your little sailboat out in the middle of the ocean. No, it's accountability, it's oversight, it's shepherding, it's care, it's equipping, it's discipline where needed, it's instruction and authority. Right down Matthew chapter 28 verses 19 through 20. We'll look at this here in just a minute. Jesus commands his disciples and the subsequent generations of church leaders to make disciples. One of the ways they do that is by an ongoing work of teaching and equipping. We need this as individual Christians. Let's not be individual Christians who say, hey, my church is podcasts. Let's not be individual Christians who say, my church is Bible study. That's not how Christ prescribed it. It is the local church where the ongoing oversight is provided individual Christians, which leads to number three, submission. This is your role. Submission. Beloved, listen, when you submit to the authority of the local church, this is one of the greatest guards against modern individualism. We're such an individualistic society. I don't need anybody. I don't want anyone. Church membership and submitting to authority is one of the greatest guards against this. Listen to what Jonathan Lehman said in his book, The Church and the Surprising Offense of God's Love. Now, when I read this, it will be offensive to many. So please just write it down. And then if you're going to argue against it, let's argue against it from scripture. A person cannot claim to belong to the church. without belonging to a church. Let me say that again. A person cannot claim to be a member of the church, the big C church, the global church, without being a member of a local church. He goes on to say, a person who demonstrates what appears to be inability to submit to divinely decreed human mediators. Listen, that's what Matthew 16 and Matthew 18 are prescribing, is that God has divinely appointed human mediators between individual Christians and God through the local church. The person who demonstrates what appears to be an inability to submit to divinely decreed human mediators demonstrates what appears to be an inability to submit to Christ the King. Listen, let me just stop right there and say, hey, I'm not saying that if you are not a member of the local church, there's no way that you're a Christian. Not saying that. But I am saying that if you are truly a follower of Christ and you hear these words, And you don't have scripture within the right context. Remember, we've been talking about that a lot over the last several weeks. Take your verse, but understand it in context. When you hear this and you understand that, and yet you sit and proverbially fold your arms and say, not going to do it. It does expose something about your heart. This is the submission that the New Testament calls for. This is not merely an event, it's not an initiation, it is an ongoing public relationship which demonstrates a public participation, which moves us to number two. That public participation is based on a public profession. Let me just stop right there and say, you guys might be looking at the clock. So he's got four points, just covered only one. They progressively get shorter until the last one is like you're going to be bowing your heads and closing your eyes. That's going to be the last point, OK? So bear with me on this. Number two, that public participation is based on a public profession. Would you turn over to Matthew chapter 3? Matthew chapter 3, if you arrive there, you will see in the heading of that chapter, John the Baptist prepares the way. Now the reason he was Baptist was not because he was the founder of the Southern Baptist Convention. He was known as John the Baptist because his ministry was characterized by the rite or the ceremony of baptism. Now baptism was not new with John. He did not create baptism. Baptism was something that was done over the years throughout the generations within Judaism. In fact, a Gentile who wanted to become a Jew would follow a certain amount of prescription and then ceremoniously, publicly be washed through baptism. It was a public identification of sorts. And so what was the baptism of John the Baptist? Was it simply a public identification with John himself? No, listen to what he's preaching in verse two. It says, repent for the kingdom is at hand. Repent for the kingdom is at hand. His message was a message of gospel relationship. See, the prevailing movement of his day, religiously speaking, was a religion of me, a religion of tradition, a horizontal religion. John was blasting through that and saying, no, repent and establish relationship with God vertically. That was his message. The message of the kingdom, that is that we do not live according to the citizenship of our ethnicity. We do not live according to the citizenship of our culture. We live in accordance with the commands and the gospel and the ethics of the kingdom. So along comes verse seven. When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to him, his baptism, see they thought this was religion. They thought this was ceremony. So they're like, hey, there's a movement going out in the wilderness. We're kind of the religious elite, so we want to be a part of it. But all they cared about was public identity. All they cared about was public relationship. They didn't care about the mechanism to get them to what John was calling them to, repentance. And so look at his response in verse eight, or verse seven. You brood of vipers. Wouldn't you have loved to have been there? I mean, here they come with their uniform, their religious uniform, with their entourage behind them. And John, we want to be baptized. Actually, that's not a Jewish accent, is it? But I would have just loved to have seen that. And some movies have attempted to convey this. He's like, you brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. That's always what it's about. It's always about relationship, and so when John was baptizing people, he was baptizing them as evidence of relationship, as evidence of commitment, that they were no longer associated with the religion of their day, that they were associated now as their identity with God himself. and with a group of disciples who followed the gospel of the kingdom. More on that in just a moment. So how is this supposed to play out? Turn over to Matthew chapter 28. I mentioned that we would unpack this a little bit more. Matthew chapter 28 is, as many of you know, verses 19 and 20, the Great Commission. We're part of the Great Commission Collective. This is the instruction that Jesus gave to his disciples that is to be carried out until what it says at the end of verse 20. Now, the instruction has been misunderstood through the years. There's actually a command, and then there's three ways in which that command is to play out. The command many think is the first verb in verse 19. Do you see what it says? It says, go therefore. But that's actually not the command. It's actually the application of the command. The command is the next verb, and that is make disciples. That is the imperative. That is the command. As followers of Christ, as church members, our command is to make disciples as modeled by the leaders of the church. But there's three ways in which this applies itself. The first one is to go. And what's fascinating, and I don't have time to unpack this, the first two verbs actually have a one tense, and the next two verbs have another tense. And the point in sharing that is that the first two verbs emphasize the action, the next two verbs emphasize the ongoing patterns. So we see make disciples, action. We have to be going, active, action. But then it says in verse 20, teaching them. See the disciples need to be taught. You don't come to Christ and then all of a sudden you're like, yep, I'm good. You come to Christ as the beginning of a lifetime of learning and applying. That's the teaching part. But then I skipped over verse 19 where it says baptizing them. The tense argues this is supposed to be an ongoing pattern. And then what Jesus says at the end of verse 20 is the argument that I alluded to a few moments ago. And that is, he says, Behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. Listen, beloved, this great commission is to be carried out until he comes in his second coming and sets up his kingdom. And that's what we're all looking forward to. So we find ourselves within this age. to carry out the Great Commission, which includes going, it includes teaching, and it includes baptism. Some people would argue that this is simply for the time of Christ, or others would say, no, this is for the apostles or a certain number of the apostles. Would you turn over to Acts chapter 2, please? Acts chapter 2. Shows how the disciples understood and applied this, now being filled with the Holy Spirit. Acts chapter 2, again this is Peter with his famous message at Pentecost. It says in verse 37, now when they, this is the crowd, heard this, they were cut to the heart, meaning they were convicted, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do? What I love about this is even at this point, they understood that when they learned something, it was expected to be lived out. And so how did Peter respond? And Peter said to them, repent. Beloved, that is first for a reason. And that is that as an individual, this is how you initiate relationship. It's through repentance. And the verb that follows has caused great misunderstanding within the church even today. People think that repentance and baptism, that they're both required for salvation. No, no, no. Repentance is required for baptism. You may say, well, pastor, why is baptism there? Because, listen, Peter had just unpacked all of the repentance part. They were ready to respond. They got the repentance part, but they needed to be instructed on the baptism part. So when you get to Romans 10, nine, they needed to be instructed on the repentance part. We see in Ephesians 2, eight, nine, they had to be reminded of the faith through grace, grace through faith part. That is how you enter into relationships. So eyes up here. Listen, is there anyone here who has never repented of their sins and by faith surrendered to Christ as the Lord of their life? Then do it today. That is the appropriate response to the message of the gospel. That is how you as an individual enter into relationship with God. But then there's an expected public profession. And that's why he says immediately after that, repent. and be baptized. The be baptized part is the expected public profession. And it's not only symbolism. It's symbolism of the gospel and surrender and connecting with the local church. Listen to what Jonathan Lehman says. He says it symbolizes one's submission to Christ and one's unity with him in death and resurrection. Most people acknowledge that. But it occurs through submitting oneself to the authority and oversight of human beings in a local church. Beloved, this is the first step of public profession. It is the waters of baptism. Salvation is always by grace through faith alone. This is what Ben preached last week. But the first expected step of obedience is a public one, and that is an outward profession of faith. It is identifying with the local church. Because, beloved, the local church has clear borders, and those have been prescribed in Scripture. The local church is to police those borders. The borders are orthodoxy. The borders are patterns of behavior. And the leaders of church have been entrusted by Christ to patrol those borders. Everyone on the inside are those who understand the gospel, have responded to it, and as best as they can tell, are living in right relationship with him. Outside the borders are all of those who have rejected repentance. They are living for themselves. They are living for the kingdom of me. And the elders of the church are expected to police those borders. How do we police it? First of all, through baptism. by the individual saying, look, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It's already taken place inwardly. Now I want to share that publicly by associating with symbolic the death and resurrection of Christ and committing to the local church. This is the purpose of baptism. Now practically, how does that play out here as a church? Well, first of all, there's a clear expectation from the New Testament that somebody who is baptized understands and has responded to the gospel. That's why we do a baptism class. I mean, if you give your life to Christ today, that's awesome. The first step for you is to go to that info table, grab a baptism application, because we are going to walk through the gospel and make sure that you understand it, make sure that you're processing it in a way that was not just emotional, so that when you are publicly baptized, it is a public profession. But then number two, how this plays out, this is why also as a general rule, as a church, we do not baptize anyone under the age of 12. That's a general rule. Why is that? Because if you've been around kids under 12, they're easily influenced by a number of different things, aren't they? A strong Sunday school leader, a strong parent, veggie tales. And we want to make sure that the person who stands in the waters of baptism understands and has responded to the gospel. Does that mean nobody under the age of 12 can ever be baptized? No, but as a general rule, that's why we do it. Beloved, you may say, well, you stayed in the Gospels and Acts quite a bit. Look at 1 Corinthians 1 later on, and you can see that the practice of Paul was baptism. Look at the rest of the epistles. They will use baptism symbolically. 1 Peter does that. We study in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 how baptism is symbolically representing what takes place in our heart and doesn't just transfer and wash for us, but it actually initiates us into the membership of the local church. Beloved, listen, this is the emphasis of the New Testament. And sadly, the trajectory of Christianity is away from the institutional church, away from the organizational church, away from the authority of the church, so that as long as you and Jesus are all right, we're good. And so Christians bounce from church to church because something has ruffled their feathers, they haven't connected, something just doesn't feel right. That's not the New Testament church. The New Testament church is a place where Christians get an affirmation of their faith. They're given oversight. They submit to the authority. And if there is a biblical reason for you to move from one church to the next, then there should be a letter or communication from that church to the new church. But that's not the way an American church functions. And frankly, beloved, listen, a few years ago, I would have thought the guy standing up here was an idiot. I would have had all of my reasons lined up against this. Pastor, you don't know. That's your opinion. This is your denomination. No, this is the conclusions I'm coming from as I study the New Testament. And if you disagree with that, I love grabbing coffees because listen, I'm acknowledging that it's taken me years to get to a place where I'm able to articulate this. So much grace. If you want to talk about it, let's grab a coffee and share the scripture that you want to share to argue against this, and I'm open to that. But as I'm studying the scripture in context, I'm having a hard time believing that your argument is going to fit the big story. See, it is a public participation demonstrated by a public profession. Then number three, based on a public profession, is demonstrated by a public participation. So again, remember, the local church has the keys to the kingdom. affirms on earth what has been already concluded in heaven. Baptism is the visible profession that Christians have to say, I am transformed by Christ and I'm surrendering to the local church, submitting to the local church. But the ongoing tool and mechanism for visibility is the Lord's table. Turn over to 1 Corinthians 11. 1 Corinthians 11, the opening words of verse 23 are so important. Paul is applying what Jesus prescribed in Matthew 28, 19, and 20. It says in verse 23, for I, Paul, received from the Lord what I also delivered to you. He is teaching what Christ taught. And what's fascinating is that he is articulating that he had taught the Corinthians about the Lord's table and he is reminding them of his teaching. He says that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And in the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Again, this is the era that we find ourselves in, the new covenant. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. This is the ongoing prescription that Christ gave the disciples that Paul is now carrying out to the Corinthian church and to the rest of the churches for all generations, the Lord's Table. What is the purpose of it? It's twofold. I would encourage you to write this down. The Lord's Table is an ongoing self-examination. That's the first part. It is you and I as individuals who profess to be followers of Christ. It gives us the opportunity to have a self examination. Look down at verse 27. What does that mean? That means that if you're doing this as a pattern, it is giving evidence that you are likely not saved. It is a tool of visibility for the local church. Verse 28, let a person examine himself. That's where I got that word, examine himself. Then and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill and some have even died. This is serious, beloved. It is an ongoing mechanism. Unlike baptism, baptism is a one time thing. Unlike baptism, this is an ongoing regular visibility that demonstrates whether or not you are in healthy relationship with Christ. The second purpose is a humble worship. It is a humble worship. You see if we can get to a place as we examine ourselves that by God's grace I am in healthy relationship with Christ then the only conclusion that we can make is to celebrate and worship humbly. It is not our own doing left to our own devices. I love what John Piper said, I would lose my salvation if that were possible. If we are in right relationship with him. then we celebrate humbly as an expression of worship. The partaking of the elements is the ongoing opportunity to publicly participate in the symbolism of healthy submission and humble worship. But here's where the second part is that doesn't get emphasized a whole lot. It's not just healthy relationship with Christ, it's also, listen to this, healthy relationship with his local church. That's why elsewhere it says that when you come to worship, if you have a relationship that is not right, you leave your sacrifice and you go and you take care of that relationship. If you're not joyfully submitting to the leaders of the church, you have something against the leaders of the church, you leave the Lord's table and you go and you interact with them and you take care of that. Beloved, the Lord's table is the ongoing symbolic opportunity to visibly demonstrate that you are in right relationship with Christ and his church. So we have a public participation based on a public profession demonstrated by a public participation. So here is the question, what is your public application? We're going to actually take the Lord's table this week. I know we did it last week. But I told Ben, I said, brother, listen, this passage just puts the ball in the tee. I got to hit it. And so we're going to have an opportunity to self-examine. Beloved, listen, the local church is a visible church. And Christ has imparted the disciples and the subsequent generation three tools to put that visibility on display. The first one is membership. You might be sitting there and say, but pastor, I struggle with membership. I have an experience or I have tradition or I've been taught something different. That's okay, but let's talk about it. Let's have healthy and humble conversations because I'm at a place now where I don't believe I've emphasized this the way the New Testament has emphasized it. I've apologized. I've been so gracious that maybe people haven't felt like, well, maybe I can, maybe I can't. Do it. The second one is baptism. Some of you are truly followers of Christ, but for whatever reason, tradition, passages that maybe you've been taught and that you've wrestled through and you think it means a certain thing, you just haven't been baptized. My challenge to you is we need to talk about that. Because as I look not just at the Gospels and Acts, but the rest of the epistles, baptism is expected of all believers of this age. And then the Lord's Table, you're going to have an opportunity to apply that one. And we as elders, listen, this is my own journey. We're actually reading through a book that has impacted me so much. So we're fleshing this out. So I'm not going to prescribe that only members can take the Lord's table. I'm still working through that myself, and the elders are as well. But here's what I'm going to do is I'm going to put the ball in your lap, and I'm going to leave it up to you and your conviction. But as you examine your life, if you are in right relationship with Christ and right relationship with the church, then would you partake in the Lord's table? That's why self-examination is so important. So much of this we can take care of in a prayer right now at your seats. And I'm going to give you that opportunity. Some of it, you're going to have to go talk to somebody else. So just pass the elements. Don't worry about what the people next to you think. The first audience is Christ. So let's take a couple minutes right now. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? Let's process the visibility of the local church, process your walk with Christ, process your relationship with the local church, and get yourself to a place where you can partake of these elements in humble worship because of what Christ has done. Would you pray at your seats?