Nazarenes

And what happened is some of the Methodist churches started to get a little frustrated with what they felt like was a lack of emphasis on holiness in their denomination. So they felt like churches they were belonging to kind of started to soft pedal the call to holiness that the Bible gives.

And so they were kind of looking for a way to correct that. They were looking for a way out almost. And there are also Pentecostal holiness churches that did emphasize holiness, hence the name holiness.

But they were frustrated because Pentecostalism started to veer hard toward the speaking in tongues, you know, should have bought a Hyundai, but about a Honda kind of stuff. And that wasn't actual tongues.

I said should have bought a Honda, but I bought a Hyundai. And so they started leaning hard into the miraculous gifts and all kinds of crazy stuff. And so they were looking to just stay focused on holiness and didn't want to be caught up with all of that baggage.

And so these two kind of frustrated people groups split off and formed what's now called the Church of the Nazarene. And one of these Pentecostal churches dropped the name Pentecostal and just called itself the Church of the Nazarene in Southern California.

And so these churches eventually got together, met together, formed a new group, and they just adopted the name the Church of the Nazarene. Nazarene obviously being a reference to the birthplace of Christ, the hometown, not the birthplace, the hometown of Christ being Nazareth.

And so that's how the Nazarene Church got started. They wanted to focus on holiness, and they really wanted to emphasize servant-heartedness.

They wanted to serve those who are poor and homeless in inner-city places, and they've done a good job at that historically. And so finally, these two groups came together and formed the Nazarene denomination, and it started officially in 1908.

And so because of them being kind of between these two worlds, they share a lot of heritage with the Methodists. So pretty much everything we looked at last week is going to be the same theologically this week.

They also have some carryover from Pentecostalism, a few common terms, a few borrowed thoughts. We'll look at those as well. But they belong to the Wesleyan holiness tradition.

The headquarters are actually in Lenexa, Kansas, which isn't far from here, actually. And it's where Lacey's from. I don't know if Lacey made it in here yet, but she's from Lenexa, Kansas. And she's the best person from Lenexa, Kansas, because she's a Baptist, baby.

But it's headquartered in Lenexa, and that's not too far over the border from us. The Nazarene denomination has kind of been shrinking in the United States since its founding, percentage-wise at least.

So in 1958, so it had been around 50 years, 20% of Nazarenes were outside the United States. So 20% of this denomination was elsewhere other than the United States.

It's in 2008, their centennial anniversary. Okay, that means 100 years. Yep. And they had 45% outside the United States.

And as of 2020, 75% of all Nazarenes were not in the United States. And I didn't do enough research to actually interpret that. It could be that it's just exploding overseas. I'm not sure.

But percentage-wise, they're shrinking in the United States. There's only one Nazarene church in Mustang, and it's Mustang Church of the Nazarene, right by St. Anthony's on 152 and Sarah Road.

They call themselves Mustang Naz, which sounds pretty cool, not going to lie. Mustang Naz. And they call their ministries like Naz Youth, Naz Kids. I feel like they could have called it Naz T Kids.

Missed a good opportunity there, but not my call, not my call. So I was in the Nazarene church one time, not as a member, but I was there for a see you at the pole rally, which were always wild times.

And the guy that was speaking actually rode down the center aisle from the back on a Harley and then got up and made fun of Baptists a couple times. So that was an interesting experience. I don't hold that against the Nazarenes.

I don't think that was an accurate representation of what they think. But that's my only experience inside the walls of a Nazarene church. And so we'll be looking tonight at what is it that makes the Nazarene church tick?

What is it they hold to? What is it they teach? And like I said, there's going to be a lot of carryover from last week. But what I want to do is zoom in on just a few of the topics we kind of had to skim over last week.

So pretty much all the terminology is going to be similar from last week. I just want to kind of double click on a couple of things. So, but first, number two, the positives of the church of the Nazarene, the positives of the Nazarenes.

Historically, they've been faithful to the message of the gospel. Faithful Nazarene churches to this day will still preach the gospel that you have to repent of your sins and believe in Christ for salvation.

We in ourselves are ruined sinners deserving of God's wrath and judgment. And the only way to obtain forgiveness is through turning from sin and believing in Christ.

Christ came from God, laid down his life on the cross, died, was buried, and rose again for the forgiveness of his people's sins. The Nazarene church has preached that from its founding.

It still continues to preach that today. Today, I've got a few friends who are Nazarenes and they believe the gospel faithfully. They understand the gospel rightly. They are inside the kingdom.

They're preaching the same gospel that we are. So they've been faithful to the gospel. Number two, they're service oriented. They're service oriented.

They've been faithful to the gospel. They're service oriented. And from their very beginning, they've especially wanted to serve the poor. They've wanted to serve those who aren't able to provide for themselves or for their families.

And they've done a good job doing that. And so they're very service oriented from their beginning in the early 1900s. And then number three, similar to Methodism from last week, they take personal holiness very seriously.

They take personal holiness very seriously. And we'll touch on a little bit of why that is, what some of their motivation is behind that. But John Wesley, who's kind of their theological forefather and the Nazarene church historically, have taught that good works were the result of salvation and not the cause of it.

And so good works give evidence that there's life in your soul. Good works give proof that you've been saved. But good works don't earn your salvation. Good works don't earn God's favor.

So if you think of an apple tree, a tree that's producing healthy apples, those apples don't cause the root system to be healthy. The apples are the result of the tree's health, not vice versa.

And so same thing with the Christian life. Good works are necessary. They're called, God commands us to do them, but they don't cause us to be saved. They're the result of us being saved.

And so we could say more, but those three things in an overarching view are three positives of the Nazarene church historically that they've contributed. And I think they should be commended for those things.

And then number three, where we'll spend most of our time, specific beliefs. Specific beliefs. And so we'll look at first church structure or church governance.

And this is probably their biggest difference between Methodists. Last week, we looked at how Methodists, the domination itself, owns the church building, owns the church property, to some extent owns the church pastors.

They can move them around as they please. The Nazarenes stepped away from that. And so they, Nazarene churches, have the ability to hire their own pastors. They have the ability to fire their own pastors if the need should arise.

They're able to take church votes. They're able to decide what direction their church goes. Now, as they hire a pastor, as they govern themselves as a church, they're overseen by what's called a superintendent.

And the superintendent kind of just makes sure that the pastor they're hiring is in step with what the Nazarene church teaches, that he's theologically sound, and that he's a good fit. But the superintendent doesn't have authority over the churches directly.

Their role is just to provide some oversight and direction for them. And the Nazarenes, they break up these geographic regions into what are called districts. And Oklahoma itself is one district.

And Oklahoma is actually the biggest Nazarene district in North America. And so this is kind of the hub, the North American hub of the Church of the Nazarene. And anyone heard of SNU, Southern Nazarene University?

That's the fourth largest Southern Nazarene University in North America. It's the sixth largest in the world. And it's in Bethany. So maybe you've driven past it or know where it is.

But that university is in the biggest district in North America. And so they're proud of it. And it's in large part of faithful school. So now let's move on to the second thing, their belief on the Bible.

Thoughts on the Bible. And if you would open in your Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 3. Our church would believe what the Scripture says that the whole Bible is breathed out by God.

All of Scripture is from God. And it's without error. It's pure. It's faithful. It's trustworthy. It's reliable. And one word we could use to describe the Bible is inerrant.

And that word just means without error. It tells the truth in whatever it speaks to. Every word is true. And the Nazarenes would be a little squishy on inerrancy.

They'd be a little soft on calling all of the Bible inerrant. And so here's what one of their church documents says. It says, we believe the Bible is inerrant in all things necessary to our salvation.

And if you just read that quickly, it's like, all right, good to go.

We believe the same thing. But the way this definition is phrased is actually a little bit softer than what we would say. We would say all of Scripture is completely without error.

And what they're saying in this definition is that any part of Scripture that addresses our salvation, we would say that's inerrant. And so the question is, well, there are tons of things in the Bible that don't directly relate to our salvation.

We would say with confidence those are inerrant too. Those are without error as well. Nazarenes would be more comfortable and more open to saying, yeah, the Bible could have some scientific errors in it.

But the Bible, you know, it's retelling the story of a war in the Old Testament might not tell that exactly accurately. And so they open themselves up to not believing all of Scripture is without error.

And you think about this. What about creation? That doesn't have direct bearing on our salvation. We would say that's completely without error. And according to their church documents, they wouldn't be willing to say that.

What about the future? What about Christ's future return? There are some details that aren't directly linked to our salvation. We would say if the Bible says it, it's without error because it's from God.

And so here's from one of our denominations documents, the Baptist faith and message. It says all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. All Scripture is totally true and trustworthy.

And that's built on things that we find in the Bible like in 2 Timothy 3. If you look with me at verses 16 and 17. The Apostle Paul says to Timothy, all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable.

And so it comes from God and it's useful. What's it useful for? Teaching, reproof, correction, and for training in righteousness. Here's the purpose.

That the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. And so what the Apostle Paul himself teaches about Scripture is that all of it is breathed out by God.

All of it is spoken by God. And so that means it's without error because God himself cannot change. God himself cannot lie. And you might think, okay, this is just kind of theological.

Like I could see this having some implications theologically. But this actually affects a lot about the way our church is set up. The way our Christian life is lived.

How we make decisions both individually and as a church. And how our church preaches God's word. And so if you have a kind of weakened view of Scripture.

If you have a weakened view of what inerrancy is. That's going to affect the way you give that message to others. That's going to affect the way your church preaches. And so if you don't think all of the Bible is without error.

You're probably not going to spend several months in the book of Nahum. Like our church is on Sunday evenings. Whenever it is we're doing that. Sorry. You're probably not going to spend time doing that.

Because it's a historical narrative. It's prophetic. Who knows if it's actually true or not. But if we're actually convinced that every word of God is true. Then every word of God is profitable.

And so we'll go line by line. Verse by verse through Nahum or Philippians. And preach it. Because this is God speaking to his church. Because every word in the Bible is without error.

And from God. And so the way we preach would be typically expository. Just going line by line through books of the Bible. Because we believe that as the Bible is understood.

God is speaking to his church through his word. So that's their thoughts on the Bible. Let's move on next to grace and salvation.

Grace and salvation. And since the Nazarenes came from Methodism. Their beliefs on this area pretty much line up perfectly.

So we looked at last week how the Methodists teach about what's called prevenient grace. That this grace goes before. And removes some of the effects of Adam's sin.

So that we have free will and are able to respond to the gospel. Able to walk out of our slavery. To sin by our own choice. By our own will. And because they view salvation that way.

They also think that you can lose your salvation. You can walk into your salvation of your own will. You can walk out of your salvation of your own will. Through your sin.

And so Nazarenes would agree with that. They would think you can lose your salvation. And we dealt with that a bit last week. Looking at Romans 8. Part of which Kagan read earlier.

Looked at John 10. There are other places you could go as well. That this eternal life is eternal. My mom was a reading paraprofessional.

In Mustang Public Schools for a number of years. And so she would help keep kids on grade level. And try to get them above grade level. In their reading skills. And she worked for the reading specialist.

At this school. And she was a Nazarene. And she was a very godly lady. Very kind lady. Very compassionate lady. And anytime there was kind of an issue.

Or a conflict. If there was some anxiety. Or some heated moments. This lady would say. This isn't worth losing your salvation over. And so she was trying to get.

These Christian ladies. Under her care. Working with her. To think like. Hey. If you struggle. If you continue to struggle with this sin. You're going to lose your salvation. And so.

Because she thought she could lose her salvation. It really pushed her. To be a godly lady. Which was a good result. But her motivation. Stemmed from this idea. That she thought she could lose her salvation.

Through her sin. And so they believe you can lose your salvation. And now let's look at their view of sanctification. Which is connected to salvation.

They would believe what's called perfectionism. Or complete sanctification. And I just kind of passed over this last week. I want to spend some time thinking through this.

And so they would say that. Someone who's received this perfectionism. Someone who's been entirely sanctified. Has completely overcome sin in this life.

And the Methodist would say that. This is a result of. You continuing to mature. This is like. You mature and mature and mature. Become more and more holy. And eventually you get to where you stop sinning.

And the Nazarenes also believe in entire sanctification. But they think it comes another way. So they don't think it's the result of maturity. They would call it a second act of grace.

A second blessing of grace. From the Holy Spirit. John Wesley described this state of perfection. As being free from outward sin.

As well as from evil thoughts. And tempers. And so both externally and internally. Being free from sin.

Now Wesley taught a lot about personal holiness. Which is great. The Nazarenes have taught a lot about personal holiness. Which is also great. But they don't do it in a biblically accurate way.

And so they teach that holiness shouldn't just be pursued. That perfection shouldn't just be pursued. But that perfection can actually be achieved in this life.

That you could get to a point where you stop sinning here on earth. And the Nazarenes, as I said, think this is a second act of grace by the Holy Spirit.

And so for the Nazarenes, this isn't a result of maturity over time. This can happen as a new believer. This can happen as an old believer. The Spirit just moves and boom.

Now you're perfect. Now you're entirely sanctified. And this kind of comes from some Pentecostal ideas of a second blessing of the Holy Spirit. Which we'll look at next week. But the downside of this.

One of the downsides. Is this just automatically creates two classes of Christians. They're just normal Christians. And they're the sanctified Christians.

They're the Christians that really know what's going on. Really know how to live. But where do they get this in the Bible? Where do they come up with this? How do they get to this conclusion?

Go with me to Matthew chapter 5. We'll be in Matthew 5 verse 48. Verse 48.

Ultimately this teaching comes from John Wesley himself.

And he taught that perfection isn't just pursued in this life. It can actually be achieved. And the way he got to this way of thinking is partly through a faulty premise.

He had a faulty way of reading scripture. And so here's what he thought. Wesley assumed that every time he read a command in the Bible.

He had the ability to obey that command. And so he's sitting back thinking. Why would God command us to do something that we cannot do? And so if God commands it.

That means we must have the ability to do it. And at a human level this seems to make sense. Like you guys would think I was crazy if I made my kids do something that I knew they could not do.

So if I dropped them over the fence at the zoo and asked them to go tackle the rhino. Like I would be locked up for a long time. Probably. Never tried it. Because I'm asking them to do something that they cannot do.

And so that makes sense at a human level. It makes sense that God wouldn't ask us to do something we're not capable of doing. And so Wesley thought that if God tells me to obey.

I must be able to obey. And so if God tells me to be perfect. Then I must have the ability to be perfect. And so we see in Matthew 5 verse 48.

This is Jesus speaking. You therefore must be perfect. As your heavenly father is perfect. Wesley would look at a verse like this and say God is commanding us to be perfect.

Therefore we must have the ability to achieve this perfection in this life. So does God commanding something imply that we have the ability to do it?

Wesley would have said yes. As we look at the Bible I think the answer is not necessarily. There are very many times where his command is given.

To enforce his standard on our conscience. And I think this is one of those times. Jesus is saying you must be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect.

And I think the honest listener to Jesus here says there's no way. I can't do that. I can't achieve that. That's impossible.

And even if I were to live perfectly from this day forward. My record still wouldn't be perfect. Because I've got all these sins in my past. And so the point of this command in Matthew 5 38 is enforcing God's standard on our consciences.

Showing us that we fall short of his standard. And other times God's command. With the command he does give us the ability to obey or accomplish this otherwise impossible task.

But the ability that comes with the command isn't within us. The ability doesn't originate within us but it comes from God. So one example of that would be Lazarus in John 11.

Lazarus is dead dead. Like four days dead. Stinking dead. Literally. And what does Jesus do? He gives him a command. He says Lazarus come out.

And Lazarus obeyed. With the command came the ability to obey it. But did Lazarus have this ability in himself to listen and obey? He was dead.

And so the command itself gave life. The command itself was an act of miraculous grace to enable him to obey. Or you think about creation. God commands creation into existence.

Let there be light. And there was light. With his commands came the supernatural ability to obey that command. Or about his commands to repent.

Does the sinner have power within himself to overcome his sin? No. And you know this.

Even if you're a Christian. If you've ever tried to overcome a sin in your own strength. It does not work. And so even the commands to repent and believe the gospel.

When God saves someone. That command itself comes with the power of God to obey it. Another place Wesley would get this is in Titus. So if you're going to go with me to the right.

To the book of Titus. If you find 1 and 2 Timothy. Keep turning to the right. If you get to Hebrews. Back it up.

You went too far. But Titus 2. Verses 11 and 12. Paul's writing to Titus.

Here in this passage about the grace of God. It says the grace of God has appeared. Bringing salvation for all people. And here's what this salvation does.

Here's what this grace does. It's training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions. And to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age.

And so Nazarenes would read this. Wesley would read this. And say grace trains us to permanently renounce sin. Grace trains us to live a godly life.

And so at some point we will be able to do this perfectly. We will always 100% of the time be able to renounce sin. Once grace trains us up. Once God sanctifies us in this life.

And so they look at commands. They look at examples like this. Of where it says that God's grace empowers us to overcome sin. And they believe that at some point in this life.

There would come a time where we would stop sinning. As a result of the Spirit's work in us. Now as Christians. With these New Testament commands.

Through the Spirit we have the power to obey. We have the power to overcome sin. But we don't have the power to obey perfectly.

We don't have the power to be perfect. When it comes to our obedience. We are sinners.

And we're not as bad as we used to be. Because God has saved us. And continued to grow us. But we'll never be as good as we one day will be. When we see Christ face to face.

That's our hope. That's our only hope of perfection. Not in this life. But in the next. Now when it comes to the Nazarenes. And this doctrine of perfection.

I read this week that. The pastors. Have to profess to having achieved this perfection. And I don't know how strictly they enforce this.

But if you want to be a pastor. In the Nazarene church. You have to give testament to the fact. That you have achieved this state of perfection. And now go with me another place.

To 1 John. It's all the way toward the end of the New Testament. What should we make of a Christian.

Who claims. To be without sin. But what should we think about someone. Who claims to have achieved. A state of perfection.

1 John 1 verse 7. It says. If we walk in the light. As he is in the light. We have fellowship with one another. And the blood of Jesus his son.

Cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin. Or if we claim to be perfect. We deceive ourselves. And the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins. He is faithful and just. To forgive us our sins. And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned. We make him a liar.

We make God a liar. And his word is not in us. And so if anyone would claim to be beyond the point of sinning in this life.

1 John would say they've deceived themselves. And worse. 1 John would say that. They're making God a liar. And how is it they would make God a liar?

Well what has God said about us? All have sinned. And fallen short of the glory of God. And so if you're saying you've overcome that. If you're saying that you're perfect.

You're saying that what God has said about us is untrue. That's also why John can say you make God a liar. And so worst case scenario is that all the Nazarene pastors are liars.

Who have deceived themselves. Best case scenario would be. This is their official church stance. But they don't really enforce it. They've kind of softened on it.

But let's compare what these Nazarenes and Methodists would say about perfection. And what they can achieve in this life with what the Apostle Paul said about himself. And so I want you to go to 1 Timothy.

We're not going to be there just yet. But 1 Timothy chapter 1. And then I want to read for you what the Apostle Paul says about himself elsewhere.

And what we see with the Apostle Paul is that as he grows in holiness. As he grows to know Christ more deeply. His view of himself shrinks. His view of himself goes lower and lower and lower.

And so you're in 1 Timothy. If you're taking notes you can write down 1 Corinthians 15 9. And it's here that the Apostle Paul says. I'm the least of all the Apostles.

And so of all the men that God has called to be in this leadership position. I'm the least of them. Later on in his ministry in Ephesians 3 verse 8. He says I'm the least of all the saints.

And so of all the people that God has saved. I'm in last place. And then you're in 1 Timothy 1. Let's pick up reading in verse 12. Paul says I thank him who's given me strength.

Christ Jesus our Lord because he judged me faithful. Appointing me to his service. Though formerly I was a blasphemer. Persecutor. An insolent opponent. But I received mercy.

Because I acted ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance.

That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason.

That in me as the foremost. Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience. As an example to those who are to believe in him. For eternal life. And so here at the end of Paul's ministry.

He says I'm not just the least of the apostles. I'm not just the least of the saints. I'm the worst sinner I know. I was in first place in the race of sin.

I exceeded all of my classmates in sin. And so as Paul gets closer and closer to meeting Jesus face to face in heaven. His view of himself gets lower and lower and lower.

And that should be the trajectory of our lives too. We should sin less as we grow in Christ. But we'll never be sinless until we see Christ.

We should grow in humility even as we grow in holiness. This has been true of everyone in the Old Testament and New Testament who's faithful to the Lord. They recognize how deeply sinful their hearts actually are.

Another thing to look at briefly would be baptism. Their view of baptism. The Nazarenes think that baptism is for believers.

So those who profess faith in Christ. But they allow baptism by any means. And so they would sprinkle. They would pour. They would immerse like we do. Dunk underwater. And interestingly, according to their church documents, their denomination prefers the babies not be baptized.

But if you want to baptize your baby, you can. So they would prefer not to, but they're willing to let you if you want to. As long as the parents are committing to train their child in the Lord.

And then let's look at their ministry. Who they allow in ministry. From the beginning, Nazarenes have allowed women to serve in positions of church leadership.

They've allowed them to be pastors. And they will call them elders. And you're in 1 Timothy. Flip over to chapter 3 with me. This will be the last place we go tonight. Last week we looked at the end of 1 Timothy 2 about what Paul does command women to do in church.

But in 1 Timothy 3 he gives qualifications for who a pastor is to be. Who an elder is to be. So he says in 1 Timothy 3 verse 1, The saying is trustworthy.

If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach.

The husband of one wife. Sober minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable. End of verse 2. Able to teach. And that's what he doesn't allow women to do at the end of chapter 2.

Verse 4. He must manage his own household well. And so on and so forth. Referring to this potential elder as a man.

And so if you talk to Nazarenes or Methodists about women serving in pastoral ministry, the conversation will very quickly go toward kind of an emotional response of like, well, how could we not allow women to do this?

Or it'll go toward reason of like, how that's so barbaric of you to think that women couldn't serve in this capacity. What you won't find typically is a text-based argument for why women should be pastors.

You won't find that because I think the Bible speaks very clearly in 1 Timothy about who a pastor is to be. And the last thing we'll look at tonight is their stance on sexuality.

Their stance on sexuality. And last week we saw the United Methodists have kind of gone off the rails in what they allow, what they tolerate. They've thrown open their arms toward receiving homosexuality almost as a virtue, far away from condemning it as a sin.

And by God's grace, the Nazarene Church has stayed faithful to the Bible on this topic. And so in 2023, they released this statement, and I'll read it for you. Because we believe that it is God's intention for our sexuality to be lived out in the covenantal union between one woman and one man, we believe the practice of same-sex sexual intimacy is contrary to God's will for human sexuality.

While a person's homosexual attraction may be complex and have differing origins, and the implication of this call to sexual purity is costly, we believe the grace of God is sufficient for such a calling.

And so praise God that as of two years ago, they're remaining faithful to what the Bible teaches on this cultural issue. And so just to conclude tonight, there are very many Nazarenes who are serious about serving the Lord.

All of the Nazarenes that I know personally are serious about the gospel. And serious about being faithful and living a holy life for the Lord. My mom's former co-worker I referenced.

My friends who are in the Nazarene Church are faithful Christians, and I'm thankful for them. Historically, their church has held on to the faithful teaching of the gospel, proclaiming God's grace for sinners through Christ.

And so there are very many ways where I'm grateful for the Nazarene Church. And so we'll continue next week looking at Pentecostalism and some of its craziness at the extremes.

But I'll pray for us, and I hope you have a good week until then. Let's pray. Our Father, I thank you so much for all of our students. They love your word. And that's a result of not their own ability or their own strength.

That's a result of your grace in giving us your word and creating new hearts within us to cause us to desire your word. And so I pray for the students as they go throughout their week at school and in their families and in their friend groups, that they would be faithful witnesses to you, faithful representatives of your character.

And I pray we'd gather again on Sunday morning to once again proclaim your excellencies, because you've called us out of darkness into your marvelous light. And it's by your Son you've done this, and it's in his name we pray.

Amen.