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We’re at the end of our “high view” series – a high view of God, the Scriptures, Jesus Christ, the Gospel, and this morning, a high view of the Church. These are fundamental, to-die-for distinctives to which we as a church are committed. I’m sure many, if not all of you, are concerned about the biblical integrity of our church. How often have you heard someone say, “We’re looking for a good church.” What does that mean? What makes a good church? If I was looking for a church, I’d be looking for a church that regularly teaches the Bible with expository preaching, plowing through biblical passages with accurate teaching and practical application for growth and sanctification. I’d be looking for godly male leadership. If a woman got up to preach I’d be gone in 60 seconds. I’d be looking for a solidly complementarian church where they believe God has distinct complementary roles for men and women. I am thankful for the ladies Bible studies here at our church. We have women who have studied God’s Word and I’m confident in their teaching other women and our children. I’d be looking for a church with a solid doctrinal stand. I’d look for solid cessationists who believe the sign gifts such as tongues, prophecy, and miracles were designed to authenticate the apostles’ ministry and ceased with the apostolic age. If people were encouraged to speak in tongues or come forward for healing or if they brought out snakes, show me the exit, quick! I’d be looking for some degree of personal discipleship where folks encourage one another to grow through one-on-one studies, small groups, and gatherings for prayer.
If the worship was world-mimicking, people hopping around on the stage backed by fog and a light show, rocking out for Jesus, or if the pastor exegetes the latest movie with actual clips on the screen instead of expositing Scripture; or the preacher laments his whiteness and devotes sermon time to dealing with systemic racism and social justice, and affirms behaviors clearly at odds with Scripture, I’d be gone. If there’s an effort to attract people to church with entertainment, it’s not the church for me. Spurgeon said, “The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people with a view to winning them.”
So what are the biblical distinctives of a high view of the church? We’re going to look at five passages of Scripture that define and describe God’s view of the church.
JESUS CHRIST IS BUILDING HIS CHURCH
Matthew 16:16-18, Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
In Matthew 16 Jesus and his disciples are at a watershed point in Christ’s ministry. He asks his disciples who people were saying He was. They replied, “Jeremiah, Elijah, John the Baptist, or one of the prophets.” So much for determining truth by polls and surveys. Then Jesus looks at Peter, “Who do you say that I am?” And Peter comes out with this astounding, clear confession: “You’re the Christ (or Messiah). You are the Son of the living God.” – a confession of Christ’s deity and revealing of the living God. I love that! Peter’s words of a living God contrast greatly to all the dead wooden and stone idols scattered among the nations of the world.
How could Peter say this? How did he know this? Clearly God revealed this to Peter; he didn’t figure it out on his own. And then Jesus assures us of the key truth on which He is going to build His church. “Peter, you’re a stone (petros), but you just uttered a massive boulder (petra).” Jesus says He’s going to build His church on the boulder of Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Son of the living God. Any group that denies the deity of Christ is not God’s church.
Now watch Jesus’ language: “I will build My church.” Whose church is it? Who sets the rules? Who tells us what to believe, how to function, and what the purpose of the church is? The Builder! We take orders from Him. And it’s an ecclesia – a called out assembly of people comprised of Jews and Gentiles, people from every tongue and nation around the world: Asians, Indians, Africans, Anglo-Saxons, Spanish, Ukrainians, Belarussians, and Russians and more. He is building His church!
Plus, it is an indestructible church. The “gates of Hades” speaks either of death or the devil and his minions, or both. By Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, he stormed the gates of Hades so death would not be able to destroy any of His people. That, my friends, is a high view of the church. For 2000 years the church has sailed through bloody seas, as Isaac Watts put it. Christ’s enemies have burned and drowned and tortured and persecuted the church. The church has been criticized, belittled, and rejected, but Christ’s church is indestructible. You have Christ’s promise for it. And He’s going to keep building it until the last living stone is in place. Then He’ll come for us at the rapture and take us to be with Him forever!
THE CHURCH’S TOP MISSION IS TO PROCLAIM THE TRUTH
1 Timothy 3:15-16, but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. 16 By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.
John Calvin’s comments on the church in verse 15 are powerful:
Could it have been described in loftier language? Is anything more venerable, or more holy, than that everlasting truth which embraces both the glory of God and the salvation of men? Now it is preserved on earth by the ministry of the Church alone. What a weight, therefore, rests on the pastors, who have been entrusted with the charge of so inestimable a treasure!
The Son of the living God is building the church of the living God. The church is where God especially dwells on earth – “the household of God.” And what is its mission? As God’s pillar on earth it displays and proclaims the truth of God’s Word to this world. That’s why we’re here. Plus, the church is the support of the truth. Every church Christ is building stands firmly and securely on the truth of God without compromising. When you go to that church, you’re going to hear the truth. You won’t have your ears tickled or told how wonderful you are or have your self-esteem nurtured.
Paul summarized the truth in verse 16. God has visited our planet, joined the human race as the second Adam, and has done everything necessary to rescue sinners and to redeem sinners from sin and slavery to sin. This is the main message. And it includes everything else in God’s Word. We’re not here to engage the culture or entertain the world or be a world-changer or work to unite all the religions in the world or have conversations with false religions. As God’s church our mission to this world is to proclaim Christ and the whole message of God’s Word.
When you want to know what the church should do in this world, ask, “What did Paul do?” He said, “I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified!” Paul’s mission was to herald the immeasurable greatness and grace of Jesus Christ from Damascus to Rome! They stoned him, left him for dead, threw him in prison time after time as he preached Christ in cities and villages. He didn’t go out to overthrow the government, start movements to rid the world of all ethnic differences. He didn’t preach a social justice message that set ethnic groups against each other. In 2 Timothy 2:15 he told Timothy to “accurately handle the word of truth.”
In our post-modern world where there is no ultimate and final truth, the church must keep on pumping out the truth of God from Genesis 1 to Revelation, from six-day creation to the final consummation and everything in between. Can you imagine the United States with no more Bible teaching churches? Calvin says the church transmits the truth to posterity. “If there are no godly ministers who, by their preaching, rescue truth from darkness and forgetfulness, instantly falsehoods, errors, impostures, superstitions, and every kind of corruption will reign.” Robert Bork famously said we’re “slouching toward Gomorrah.” Our culture is sliding into Gomorrah and in many cases, is already there.
THE CHURCH IS LED, FED AND PROTECTED, BY GODLY LEADERS
Acts 20:27-29, “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. 28 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. 29 “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;
I love this passage. I fed on John MacArthur’s Acts 20 messages as a young pastor just starting out. Paul didn’t shrink, conceal, or hide any of God’s truth. He preached the whole counsel of God. He gave them the whole thing. When you come to Christ, you matriculate immediately into God’s University of Divine Truth. With the Holy Spirit giving you new eyes and ears, you are qualified and able to learn everything God has for His church. There are no secrets and no hidden truths (like the Masons) revealed only to a select few. You get it all as you study and grow in the faith: predestination, election, propitiation, trinity, hypostatic union and so much more. Remember, the word “disciple” means learner or student. We are all learners of God’s truth.
Now Paul in Acts is talking to the elders from Ephesus and expects them to do the same thing. God has established leadership for His church. There are three titles for these leading men: elders (presbuteroi) – mature men with godly character; overseers (episcopoi) – to watch out for the good of the flock; and pastors or shepherds – to feed and lead the flock. Here Paul gives the responsibilities of elders in a nutshell.
First, watch yourself or be on guard for yourself. The enemy wants to destroy elders. So watch yourself! Stay humble but courageous and committed to truth. The Spirit of God Himself places elders and teachers in the church to shepherd, feed, lead, assist, comfort, clean, and keep safe. Then he says, “Men, you better take good care of these sheep. They aren’t your sheep; they belong to God. God Himself purchased them with the blood of His own Son. They are God’s church. You better shepherd them well.” Have you ever been entrusted with something valuable? Someone once offered to let me drive their Corvette for a week. I was so concerned I’d put a ding on it. You may be entrusted with a dog for a week. You better take utmost care of it. You better not starve it or abuse it in anyway. Now consider the church…God’s people. Remember, they belong to God. Elders must be on guard and care for all the flock.
Way too many church leaders have abused their position and the flock. I picked up a book this week called Things That Go Bump in the Church. It has three authors. All three got their degrees from Master’s Seminary. But when I looked at the last name, I couldn’t believe it. I’d seen that name before. Yes, he used to be pastor of Community Bible Church in Nashville, Tennessee, until he had an affair with the wife of a couple he was counseling. His affair with the wife of a former Chicago Cubs player happened after he co-authored the book. Take heed to yourself. Paul told Timothy the same in 1Timothy 4:16 – Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching. Make sure you’re right with God. Make sure you are disciplining yourself for godliness.
A high view of the church includes godly leadership who not only feed and lead, but protect the sheep. In verses 29ff Paul warned them about the wolves. There will always be wolves, whether within the church (the most deadly) or from without. The church in this world is called the church militant. We’re always at war. Always under attack. Always in need of feeding and leading and guarding. Savage wolves are after the church. The Roman church in the middle ages went after so-called heretics like Jon Hus, the Waldensians, Martin Luther, and many others who preached the Bible in opposition to Rome. Then there are heretics denying cardinal doctrines of the faith, liberalism, evil political regimes, and godless cultural battles against everything the gospel and God’s Word stand for. Elders have to keep their discernment sharp to warn against wolves, enemies that want to destroy the flock.
THE CHURCH EQUIPS GOD’S PEOPLE TO GROW AND SERVE
Ephesians 4:11-16, And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
This is such a crucial passage for a high view of the church. Here you have it all. God has gifted the church with leaders. Their job is to equip God’s people (the saints) to serve and so build up the body of Christ. The goal of God’s people is to become more and more like Jesus Christ, the head of the body. This is called progressive sanctification, fleeing ungodliness and following after holiness. We are to be firmly grounded and not tossed around with every wind of doctrine and by man’s trickery – and there is plenty of that.
And how do leaders equip God’s people? Speak the truth. Remember, the church is the pillar and support of the truth. But truth must be spoken with love, with sincere caring for the good of the flock. What’s the result? What should the equipped and growing church look like? It is evident when every part is working properly within the body so that the body is growing and the growth is seen by God’s kind of sacrificial love being given to one another, the same kind Christ had for us. Notice in verse 16 – every joint and each individual part functioning according to God’s plan. That includes every one of you. God put you in this church body to grow and also to serve. God has gifted every one of His people and each gift is needed. You may be a knee or an elbow. Knees and elbows are important. Imagine a football game with no knees or elbows.
THE CHURCH’S CALL IS TO BE FAITHFUL
Hebrews 10:23-25, Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
If you have a high view of the church, you’ll be faithful. First, hold your faith with a firm, strong grip. You need to hold fast to what you know is true and that gives you true hope. Don’t let it slip away under all the pressures and temptations and struggles of this life. Hold your confession of faith firmly. Don’t waver. Don’t compromise. Don’t let the world get a grip on your heart causing you to forsake or desert the faith like Demas did. Christ will honor His people. He is faithful. Run to Him and His truth. He won’t let you down.
And then verse 24 tells us each member is to be faithful in stimulating others to love and good deeds. Consider means think carefully. Put on your thinking caps about how you can provoke (irritate) or motivate others in the church to love and good deeds. One way to be faithful to the assembling of the body – that means, be here, get involved with others. Join a small group, encourage others to attend, look for strangers to greet. Be on a clean-up crew, serve in the nursery, teach Sunday School, pray with God’s people, pick up communion cups and trash. Look, if you’re going to be on the team, you’ve got to show up for practice, right? God says don’t develop the habit of skipping church just because you don’t feel like going. Every ember is needed to produce a glowing fire and warmth of a local body. You are missed when you are not here and you pass opportunities to encourage others.
SO WHAT?
This is a high view of the church. There’s nothing more exciting for true believers than a church where you come to hear the Word of God preached Sunday after Sunday. You come and rub shoulders with other people who are feeding and growing in the Word, learning to walk in the Spirit, and handling life God’s way. A growing church is – where people are faithfully serving and helping one another become more like Christ – where people are praying for one another – where people are concerned for lost people at work or in the family and looking for opportunities to share Christ with them – where people are excited about what God is doing and marvel at God’s faithfulness – where people cheerfully give and participate in the ongoing ministry. Love God’s body, the church!
May Evansville Bible Church remain true to her God-given calling and stand strong for our Savior, regardless of how hot the battle becomes. Speak the truth in love; be strong in the Lord and the power of His might! And may God open your eyes, like Peter, to truly grasp and submit to Jesus Christ as your only Lord and Savior.