I. Pray

II. Introduction

Last week we spent our time discussing why we should be members of a local Church. Yet, as believers and as members of local congregations, we must recognize the other responsibilities that come along with these distinctions. What we want to look at today is our responsibility to learn in and as the local Church.

III. Opening comments concerning learning in the Church:

A. John Gill, in writing a book to the Church entitled Body of Divinity, included many sections on the responsibilities of members in churches. In one list, he laid out the responsibilities of members during the preaching of the Word. Gill contended that not only does the preacher have the responsibility to preach the Word faithfully, but the congregation had the responsibility to learn faithfully. Thus, he laid out the responsibilities of the congregation during preaching. We usually do not consider our responsibility to learn as we sit and listen to the sermon every Sunday. In Spiritual Disciplines Within the Church, Donald Whitney quotes Jonathan Edwards as saying: "If God have [sic] made it the business of some to be teachers, it will follow, that he hath made it the business of others to be learners; for teachers and learners are correlates, one of which was never intended to be without the other. God hath never made it the duty of some to take pains to teach those who are not obligated to take pains to learn" (182). Thus, again we see those in history as approaching this question different from how we often approach it today.

B. Recognizing that the Church has struggled (often failed) to teach its members, we are trying at Cornerstone to be faithful in our preaching and teaching, so as to train our members in the faith. This Sunday School class is part of that mission. Thus, it follows that as the leadership labors to teach, then the members should also labor to learn. This is the very point of what we are discussing today. The responsibility of learning in the Church falls on all the members, those in leadership and teaching positions, and those not in those positions. Now, we want to turn our attention to the Biblical mandate for learning in the Church.

IV. Biblical foundations for learning in the Church:

A. The first passage I want to look at is 1 Timothy 3:14-15. In this passage Paul calls the Church 'a pillar and buttress of truth.' We cannot be this if only a few (such as the elders or teachers) know the truth and are trained in it. In order for the Church to be faithful in this calling, then the members must be faithful to learn. Yes, there may be differences between us and what we know, but that does not excuse any of us from seeking to learn in and as the Church. Throughout these two letters to Timothy, Paul encourages Timothy to labor in teaching the truth to the Church that it might avoid false doctrines (1 Timothy 4:6-8, 11-16, 2 Timothy 2:2, 3:14f, 4:1-5). Again, we as the members need to labor in learning the truth that we might avoid these false doctrines.

B. The second passage I want to look at is Galatians 1:6-8. In this passage Paul again lays clear responsibility on the Church as a whole. The apparent situation in the Galatian Church is that they are believing ideas that are contradictory to the gospel (they are placing their hope in works of the Law rather than believing in the work of Christ). Paul then begins his letter by telling them of their responsibility to believe the gospel they received from Paul. Thus, if heresy is being taught in the Church, then the Church is responsible for not believing it. We see in this Paul's call for the Church as a whole to be responsible in what it is learning. We must labor to know and understand the gospel we have received in order to avoid being taught untruth (we will talk more about how we do this below).

C. The last passage I want us to look at is one we will looking at extensively throughout this semester. This passage is Acts 2:42. It is clear from this verse that the early Church modeled for us a hunger for the Apostles teaching. The passage says that they devoted themselves to it. We do not get the picture here that they saw learning as optional. Rather, they devoted themselves to it because of its importance for their faith. Another good model of this in the book of Acts is Paul's trip to Berea in Acts 17:10-11. Here we see the Bereans as being "more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so." Thus, Luke, the writer of Acts, commends the Bereans for their labor in learning and seeking to understand if what Paul is teaching them was supported in the Scriptures.

D. These passages are just a small sampling of the texts that encourage believers to learn, but even from these texts we see a clear responsibility that falls on believers to learn in the Church. Thus, we need to embrace this responsibility in our own day by striving to learn in and as the Church. At this point, we have argued from these texts that we need to learn in the Church. The question that follows then is what exactly do we need to learn?

V. What is the content of what we are to learn?

A. The content of what we are to learn in the Church is the Word of God. 2 Timothy 3: 10-17 teaches us the importance of learning the Word of God. Paul encourages Timothy to continue in his learning of the Scriptures for "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." Paul goes on in chapter 4 to encourage Timothy to preach the Word to his people. Why such an emphasis on the Word of God? Because our ultimate goal in the Christian life is know God and to honor Him with all that we are and do. Yet, how are we to know God apart from His Word? Thus, we labor in learning the Word of God in the Church that we might know God and honor Him with our lives.

B. We must be careful that we do not give this only lip service and do not actually labor in learning the Word. This continues to be a real temptation for Churches. Our churches claim the Bible as its ultimate authority and yet our memberships remain biblically illiterate. This is a serious problem in the Church. I would venture to say that all of us in this room would at least acknowledge the importance of the Word of God if we were asked. Yet, the question is what do we acknowledge as important with our practice? If we want to know what we really believe about the Word of God then we simply need to look at the priority it takes in our lives and in our Churches. This is a challenge for the leadership in our Churches as well as the rest of the congregation. This leads us to our last question.

VI. How do we go about this at Cornerstone?

A. The first way we can go about this at Cornerstone is to learn during preaching. This is probably the most obvious and most important ways that we can learn in the Church. We need to understand the weight of being the people of God hearing the Word of God explained to us corporately. This is a holy hour and we should treat it as such. Obviously I cannot tell you that you must take notes. However, I can say that you need to engage your minds and if taking notes can assist you in that then I encourage you to do so. We must understand our responsibility here. Again, this is no trivial matter. We must place a proper emphasis on hearing the Word of God preached.

B. The second way I want to mention that we can learn at Cornerstone is through Sunday School. The very goal of our Sunday School program is that you would be trained theologically. So, our hope is that you truly will learn during this hour. This time is different from preaching in that it is a time for questions and struggles and engagement with what is being taught. Thus, Sunday School offers a different setting for learning in the Church with also a different particular emphasis as well.

C. A third way to learn at Cornerstone is to learn during Wednesday night classes. This is another opportunity for you to learn with a different emphasis (depending on the semester and what classes are being taught). Again, you must take advantage of this opportunity. Right now we have just started our classes so it is a good time to get involved.

D. The last way I want to mention is learning through personal discipleship. There are people here who will invest in your life and you need that as a college student or adult. There are also people here who need you to invest in their lives, so you need to take that seriously as well.
E. Although other means could be mentioned, my goal is simply to point out that there are numerous ways for you to learn here at Cornerstone and that in the end the responsibility falls on you to take advantage of those means. I encourage you to take the responsibility seriously and to get involved in learning here at the Church.

VII. Close in prayer

Responsibilities for Members to Learn