Scripture teaches church discipline. Those two words are not in the Bible together, church discipline, so how can someone say that church discipline itself is in the Bible? Those two words describe a doctrine, which is also a process in the New Testament, that God, the Lord Jesus Christ, gave to the church. Most people that understand and believe in church discipline, either do or might think of Matthew 18:15-17 as the church discipline chapter, but they are not all there is. Several...

The standard of “no-division” is a necessary aspect of the unity of the church prayed for (Jn 17) and required by the Lord Jesus Christ. God is one, so the church must be one, but one is not arbitrary or according to a creative or novel definition. The unity standard of no-division comes from Romans 16:17, which says: “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.” Do you see that? “Mark them which...

Charles Spurgeon, called the “Prince of Preachers,” longtime Baptist pastor in London, noted that those who truly love the King will love His palace, that a healthy Christian doesn't need to be driven to church by a sense of duty alone, but is drawn by a holy appetite. He famously remarked that if a person finds no joy in the earthly assembly of the saints, he is poorly prepared for the eternal assembly in heaven, and that a coal glowing in the fire stays hot, but one pulled away soon turns...