Spurgeon Blog

“The Church in thy house.” – Philemon 2.

Is there a Church in this house?  Are parents, children, friends, servants, all members of it?  Or are some still unconverted?  Let us pause here, and let the question go round – Am I a member of the Church in this house?  How would father’s heart leap for joy, and mother’s eyes fill with holy tears, if from the eldest to the youngest all were saved!  Let us pray for this great mercy until the Lord shall grant it to us.  Probably it had been the dearest object of Philemon’s desires to have all his household saved; but it was not at first granted him in its fulness.  He had a wicked servant, Onesimus, who, having wronged him, ran away from his service.  His master’s prayers followed him, and at last, as God would have it, Onesimus was lead to hear Paul preach; his heart was touched, and he returned to Philemon, not only to be a faithful servant, but a brother beloved, adding another member to the Church in Philemon’s house.  Is there an unconverted servant or child absent this morning?  Make a special supplication that such may, on their return to their home, gladden all hearts with good news of what grace has done!  Is there one present?  Let him partake in the same earnest entreaty.

If there be such a Church in our house, let us order it well, and let all act as in the sight of God.  Let us move in the common affairs of life with studied holiness, diligence, kindness, and integrity.  More is expected of a Church than of an ordinary household; family worship must, in such a case, be more devout and hearty; internal love must be more warm and unbroken, and external conduct must be more sanctified and Christ-like.  We need not feat that the smallness of our number will put out of the list of Churches, for the Holy Spirit has here enrolled a family-church in the inspired book of remembrance.  As a Church let us now draw nigh to the great Head of the one Church universal, and let us beseech Him to give us grace to shine before men to the glory of His name.

A common conversation with God:

“Lord, I love you.  I know that Jesus is the head of the church, which He purchased with His blood.  I know my sins have been forgiven and I am no longer my own; I belong to Christ.  But you don’t know what my life is like.  I really want to be in church on Sunday, but my life is just too busy.  I’m exhausted after a busy week and the only day I have to recuperate is Sunday.  I’m sure you know that I need some time to myself.  I can worship you just as well at a football game or at the mall.  It’s not like I never go to church.  And those at church have no right to judge me.  They have their own problems.  Thanks, Lord.  I knew that you would understand. “

God’s response:

Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;  and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.  For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries (Hebrews 10:19-27).

Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin (James 4:17).

1689 LBC 26. 3 The purest churches under heaven are subject to mixture and error…

Have you ever fallen into the “perfect church” trap? Many have. They delay joining a local body of believers under the guise that the perfect church is just one more Lord’s Day away. But no matter how many churches they visit there is something not quite right about that wannabe perfect church. Maybe they sing/don’t sing psalms, perhaps the pastor preaches too long/too short, they serves grape juice instead of wine, the pastor does/doesn’t wear a robe…I can go on, but for the sake of brevity I’ll end it here.

The point is that there is no perfect church. There are those who believe in believers baptism only, and others who baptize infants, who refuse to join the only good Reformed church in town because it doesn’t share their baptismal conviction. The alternative is no church or a long, long drive to a church that they have to settle for. In the meantime there are churches, made of up of dear saints, that will never know the joy of our fellowship, and vice versa.

If you ever find yourself  looking for a new church home, perform your due diligence, but remember that there is no such thing as a perfect church.

In his article, “A Tale of Two Kingdoms” Michael Horton writes, “In our Christian circles in the United States today, we can discern a “Christendom” view, where some imagine America to be a Christian nation invested with a divine commission to bring freedom to the ends of the earth.  Of course, Christians have an obligation both to proclaim the heavenly and everlasting freedom of the Gospel and the earthly and temporal freedom from injustice.  But they are different.  When we confuse them, we take the kingdom into our own hands, transforming it from a kingdom of grace into a kingdom of glory and power.  We recognize an opposite view, more characteristic of the Anabaptist perspective, as evangelist D.L. Moody asserted, “I look upon this world as a wrecked vessel.  God has given me a lifeboat and said to me, ‘Moody, save all you can.’”  In this view, improving the lot of our neighbors in the world is like polishing the brass of a sinking ship.  Christians are often encouraged to focus almost exclusively on personal salvation (their own as well as that of others), unsure of the value of their secular vocations.”

Horton’s article is a ressurection of Augustine’s “two kingdoms” doctrine; namely that God has a role for the temporal world (the city of man) as well as the church (the city of God).  In his article Horton describes the Anabaptist perspective which, in his opinion, “regarded the earthly city as simply evil and unworthy of Christian involvement.”  Was D.L. Moody actually sharing the Anabaptist mindset?  Are we sharing with it if we view a strict dichotomy between the world and the church?  If this dichotomy exists, does it necessarily follow that those who hold to it advocate total separation from the world?  

The Apostle John wrote, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.  The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” (1 John 2:15-17)  Horton and Augustine would accept as an axiom that the world is passing away.  I believe the Apostle meant the physical world and it’s works.  This is the world that Moody saw when he made his comment that the world is a “wrecked vessel.”  While the world is passing away and exhibits all the evidence of a wrecked vessel, does that mean society has no redeeming role today?  Can the temporal co-exist with the eternal, and if so, how is the church to view its role in the world?

In Matthew 13, our Lord tells the parable of the wheat and the tares.  The sons of the kingdom co-exist side by side with the sons of the evil one.  At the end of the age the sons of the evil one are removed, bound and judged.  These two “sons” co-exist with each other in the current temporal world.  We breathe the same air, walk on the same planet and are warmed by the same sun.  This co-existence does not mean a marriage of ideals, although there may be commonality in areas that both groups share.  Both groups have reason to want lawful government, clean air and strong economies.  The fact that these things appeal to both groups and that both groups may work together to achieve them does not mean sons of the kingdom have blurred the lines of disctinction.   Total depravity teaches that all men are fallen in their nature; although they may not always act as depraved as they can be.  The prevalent society today is equally depraved (Moody’s “wrecked vessel” analogy), but that does not mean it doesn’t function in some form.  The fact that Moody verbalized the stark differences between the church and the world, and the urgency of preaching the gospel, does not mean he was advocating the Anabaptist perspective.  On the contrary, Moody understood the peril the sons of this present world faced.  While the sons of both kingdoms live together, work together and play together – the sons of the devil are on borrowed time.