Full Text for Christian Fellowship, part 3 (Text)

Qtnurnroiu ilIbtnlngiral :!IntttIJlg COlltilllling LEHRE UND WEHRE MAGAZIN FUER Ev.-LUTH. HOMILETIK THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY· THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY Vol. XVI August, 1945 No.8 CONTENTS Paa'. The Lord's Prayer, the Pastor's Prayer. G. H. Smukal _.____ 505 Christian Fellowship. (Concluded.) c. August Hardt ___........ _ 513 Keeping the Doctrine Pure. J. H. C. Fritz ________._ 533 Ontlines on Gospels Adopted by Synodical Conference ___ _ 54Z Miscellanea ___.____._......_._ ..___........ ____._....__ 55Z 7heoI0gical Observer _ ...... _._._._._.__._._...... _._ ..._.....___ 558 Book Review .___....... _ .. _ ...__.. __ .._ ... __ ._._____.____ 5'lZ &In PredI.Ier _ 1I1c:ht aUeln 1Del­ Ell lat · Itela DID& du die Leute .... alIo daa er die Scbafe unter­ melIr bel der Kln:he behaelt deDn __ wl.e ale rechte ChrlIten aollen dIe gu1e Predqt. - Apolocrte. An. 24 ....~ auch clllDebeil den Woe!­ feD _"",,,- dau ale dIe Schafe II1cht IIIIIJNIfeD und mit tal8cher Lebre ver­ If the trumpet lift an uncertIJn fuebreD und Irrtum eIJIfuebreD. sound. who Iball prepare ~ to ~ the battle? -1 Cor. 14:' PuhllsW for the BY. Lath. S7JIOd of MIsIIoarI, Ohio, uti 0tIIer State. '--11'­ CONCORDIA PUBLISHING BOUSE, St.Louis 18, 110. _IIIV. L&. '. Christian Fellowship 513 pious, and that he may not be disqualified as pastor by conditions in his home. 1 Tim. 3: 5. Making provision for later years is not a sin. Neglect of pro- viding for the rainy day is a sin, of which some congregations and pastors are guilty. Our synodical pension system is a gift of God and should be received with thanksgiving. After years of tireless activity in the Naehrstand, Wehrstand, and Lehrstand the pastor and his wife enter the Ruhestand. The new generation rises. Old associations pass away. The pastor and his sacrificing service are almost forgotten. "New leaf, new life, new love." The aged pastor, yet young in spirit, does not suit the newer day. It is difficult for him to adapt himelf when he reaches the crossing where God has placed the sign pointing to the Ruhestand . He is haunted by a sense of uselessness. "At evening time it shall be light," Zech.14: 7. Give us this day our daily bread! Sometimes we emphasize too much the darkness and uncertainty of the future and too little the brightness of it. The proverb which teaches us not to boast of the morrow, for we know not what a day may bring for th , does not deny the element of darkness and ignorance; but it ascribes that ignorance to us, not to the future. Our blessed Lord Jesus put a last question to His disciples before rising to go t o the Mount of Olives, Luke 22: 35. "When I sent you without purse and scrip and shoes, lacked ye anything?" And shall we, who in spite of painful economy had at times an empty purse, a worthless scrip, torn shoes, not gratefully join the company of the holy Apostles in their answer: "Nothing"? Los Angeles, Calif. G. H. SMUKAL ~ . , Christian Fellowship (Concluded) IV Restrictions upon Manifestations of Christian Fellowship After having dwelt at some length on the manifestations of Christian fellowship, we now come to consider restrictions upon such manifestations. Let us begin by stating the obvious: There are restrictions; not man-made, originating in the decrees of church councils or in synodical resolutions, to be sure, but im- posed by God Himself, the Head of the Church. To us this may seem self-evident, yet it is not conceded by all who lay claim to the name "Christian." There are those who aver that Christian fellowship must be unrestricted. Nothing must be allowed to limit it, they say, for that would be contrary to the spirit of the Founder of our faith, who openly consorted with publicans and sinners. 33 514 Christian Fellowship "Self-withdrawal and exclusiveness belong to the religion of the Old Testament; the New Testament requires communion of all who partake of its spirit, even with those in whom the life of Christ does not yet bear sway." 113) The position which we have maintained in our Synod for almost one hundred years is branded as unchristian aloofness, which has no warrant in Holy Writ. How shall we defend ourselves against such charges? By appealing our case to the Word of God. It should . be said at the very outset that all those who criticize us severely because of our refusal to practice indiscriminate church fellowship are guilty of the same mistake that so many religionists make; they emphasize one or several passages of Scripture to support their argument, but partially or totally disregard others which invalidate their as- sertions. Excluding believers from Christian fellowship, they say, is not consonant with the principle of Christian love. They point to such words as, "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged; condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned"-114) "Above all things have fervent charity among yourselves," 115) but ignore all those passages which bind reproof, correction, separation, and even excommuni- cation upon the hearts and consciences of believers. When the Tempter subtly urged Christ to cast Himself down from the pin- nacle of the Temple, and even quoted Scripture to seduce Him, our Redeemer did not find the real deceit in this, that Satan omitted a significant phrase from P salm 91, but that he quoted one verse of Scripture without taking into account what was said else- where. For this reason Christ rejected the sinister suggestion of the evil one by replying: "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord, thy God." 116) "Scriptura per Scripturam interpretanda et concilianda." (Bengel.) One Biblical truth cannot be incon- sistent with another. If we have learned of Jesus to see the truth as revealed in Scripture, and to see it whole, we shall know that there are definite restrictions upon the manifestations of Christian fellowship. They result, first, from an ungodly life. 1. Reshictions Resulting from Unholy Living That there are restrictions upon Christian fellowship we may gather, first, from 2 Thess. 3, where Paul writes: "Now we com- mand you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh dis- orderly and not after the tradition which he received of us." 117) Further on he says: "1£ any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be 113) John F. Spalding, The Best Mode of Working a Parish, p . 89. 114) Luke 6: 37. 116) Matt. 4: 6, 7. 115) 1 Pet. 4: 8. 117) 2 Thess. 3: 6. '= ristian Fe 515 ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother." 118) 'The Apostle is referring to the idlers who, mis- interpreting his words about the imminence of the Lord's return, worked not at all, but --.'ere busy'::::::~:::: Obviously, the words vv ltndraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly," (iTEAAHP:Jm u/-tuc; ano mJ.'V"to~ a()EA.cpou en; f EQ1J[(noiivl '''have no company with him," !-Ll] (iuvuvu/-t(yvlIol}(u utn;tors; whom God has appointed as . watchmen over the house of ISiad," have a right and a duty to bar from the I.o,'r1'~ 'T",ble thoSE',;,h,) openly fiOUL alj(jstolic teH,~hiIlg. If a brotheily admonition .L"c- " uitless, s lbers are . , ~rred pel "y and excluded from the Christian congregation; every for... _~ __ ~igious fellowship is to be denied them. This becomes evident from 1 Cor. 5: 1 ff. The situation there referred to was this: A member was guilty of incest, an offense of the most revolting kind. He was impenitent; yet he remained in the congregation. The Apostle sharply reproved the Corinthians for not removing the offender from their midst. He was deeply grieved at their indifference, and he summarily directed them: "Put away from yourselves that wicked person," E~aQu'tc 'tov JtOVTlQOV E; v/-t&v ulmov.119) This can be nothing else than what we are ac- customed to call "excommunication." The incestuous offender was to be excluded from the fellowship of the congregation. Though he was still called a brother, he was no longer a Christian in fact, being impenitent, and therefore he was not to be regarded as a brother in the faith. The practice of Christian fellowship was to cease altogether. Paul had told them in an earlier letter that they were not even to eat with a fornicator, though he might be caLled a US) 2 Thess. 3: 14, 15, 119) 1 Cor, 5: 13. 516 Christian Fellowship brother.120l If they were not even to sit at the same table with such a man, they certainly were not to kneel at the same altar and jointly partake o( the Lord's Supper. Paul's peremptory lan- guage in 1 Cor. 5: 13, "Put away from yourselves that wicked person," is clearly reminiscent of the stern injunction in Deut. 17: 7: "So thou shalt put the evil from among you." There the reference is to the stoning of an idolater. Even as idolaters were not to be tolerated among the children of Israel, so manifest and impenitent sinners should not be allowed to enjoy the fellowship of a Christian congregation. This is by no means unchristian, as some would have us be- lieve, but according to the very words of Him whose name we bear. He has stated explicitly: "If he [the trespassing brother] neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican."121) We cannot continue to maintain brotherly relations with those who turn a deaf ear to kindly admonitions and remain impenitent. The fraternal relationship which existed before is to be terminated. The Lord Himself declares: "What- soever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven." 122) A person who has sinned and fails to repent is no longer a child of God; by that same token he is no longer a brother in the faith and cannot be regarded as such. Christians should therefore no longer associate with such a one as a brother. Re- ligious fellowship with all that it implies must cease the moment excommunication has taken place. Those who denounce excommunication as uncharitable do not understand the real purpose of such action. According to Scripture it is remedial. Exclusion from Christian fellowship is not intended to destroy, but to save. Paul makes that clear in 1 Cor. 5: 3-5. "I verily, as absent in body but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the Day of the Lord Jesus." 123) By the very act of excommunication the offender is 120) 1 Cor. 5: 11. 121) ~att. 18:17 . 122) ~att. 18: 18. 123) The Greek for the last part of verse 5 is: naQul\ouvuL 'tOY 'tOLOU'tOV 't