An Understanding of the Church

Introduction

Tonight is Vision Night

Take opportunity to discuss one of my favorite topics

The function, nature, and Biblical description of a church

Introduction / looking for agreement that this matters

As you grow up you have many things that are borrowed or belong to the family. As you mature you will need your own. A Biblical understanding of the church is certainly one of those vital things. As we look at the Scripture I belong I will be able to make a case for why I identify as a baptist and if I was to ever move would seek membership at a baptist church.

“No creed but Jesus.”

What do you think of this statement?

What is good about it?

What is problematic about it?

Matthew 28:20 “20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

What do we refer to this passage as?

Do you know of any other Great Commission passages?

Do you know any in the OT?

There is an “internal” and “external” command in the passage.

The primacy given to the internal elements does not mean that the external elements have little value or lack importance

If Christ and His apostles gave commands relating to external elements then it “cannot be healthy if they are disregarded.”

The man on the cross knew “that the man of the middle cross said I could come” however, we would expect if he would have not died that day he would have been discipled by the believers who were there.

The Gospel is the first but not last message we deliver. 1 Cor 15:3-4 “3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”

Thou external commands are not as important, as they do not directly convey the power to make one “wise unto salvation” (2 Tim 3:15; cf. Rom 1:16).

The external commands are vital for healthy Christian living, preserving the internal message for future generations, and therefore should not be discarded.

Example baptism

Jesus instructs the disciples to baptize the new disciples in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Here the command to baptize marks an external component in the commission. Matthew 28:19 “19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:”

Peter answers “what shall we do?” with a call to repent and step of discipleship. Acts 2:36-38 “36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. 37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

Acts 8 we see Philip teach about salvation and baptism.

The baptism of the Ethiopian reinforces the notion that the external commands given in the New Testament, while not primary, are nonetheless important and should be incorporated properly into any presentation of the “good news about Jesus.”

Preserving the internal message for future generation

Simpy, there are things outsider of the Gospel that if we get them wrong it will create confusion for others to get the Gospel wrong.

When Paul writes to Timothy to instruct him in “how one ought to behave in the household of God,”

Where is this found?

What does it mean?

What can we learn about its meaning by the context of the passage?

Paul describes the local church as the “pillar and buttress of the truth” 1 Tim 3:15 “15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”

The New Testament teaches that this “truth” was, and is, to be handed over or delivered from one generation to the next through the local church. Luke 1:1-4 “1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, 2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; 3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, 4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.”

You need to know what you believe about the church

1. It is a duty we owe to ourselves

Phil 4:9 “9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”

2. It is a duty we owe our fellow Christians.

Christian charity may thus be promoted by correcting ignorance.

Think Apollos and Aquilla and Priscilla

3. It is a duty we owe to the unbelieving world.

Phil 2:14-15 “14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings: 15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;”

4. It is a duty we owe to Christ.

Matthew 28:19-20 “19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”