Text: Matthew 28:19, Title: RRB 4: Biblical Church, Date/Place: NRBC, 7/12/09, AM
A. Opening illustration: John Smyth was a Cambridge-educated Anglican priest, who came to be convinced of the illegitimacy of infant baptism in about 1605. And after much persecution of the “Anabaptists” views (which stretched back to 1525 with Zwingli, Grebel, Hubmaiaer, and Simons), Smyth fled to Amsterdam whether religious freedom could be found. There he bumped into the Mennonites, and adopted some of their views, got together with Thomas Helwys and 40 others, and baptized himself, and the others, and began the first official “Baptist” church in 1609. It would eventually cost them their lives as it did hundreds, maybe thousands of earlier Anabaptists. “The martyrs (of the Anabaptists) were many—probably more than those who died during the first three centuries of persecution before the time of Constantine. The manner of their death varied from region to region, and even from case to case. With ironic cruelty, many were drowned. Others were burned to death, as had become customary with heretics centuries earlier. Some were tortured to death, or drawn and quartered. The stories of heroism in such difficult circumstances would fill several volumes. And still, the more fiercely it was persecuted, the more the movement grew.” –Gonzalez,
B. Background to passage: There are many components of a biblical worldview. Academically, there is how one thinks about God, knowledge, reality, anthropology, origins, etc. Practically, we would include what one thinks about creation, theology, purpose of life, even down to education, the family, and finally the church, and how all these things intertwine together. Obviously, we couldn’t deal with all of these things this morning (you think I preached long last week?), so I what to deal with the last of these—the church. The first thing that Jesus mentions after the command to make disciples of all nations is to baptize them. In essence He gives a lesson on the church, a concept that He has only used twice in the gospels. Review those.
C. Main thought: Getting “church” right is a very important part of having biblical worldview
A. Too Low a View of Its Significance
1. If we simply based our conclusion on the percentage of the population that regularly attends church, I think that we would have enough evidence. With their feet, people are voting that the church and church attendance is really not that important. And of course, the reality is that meeting with the rest of the local body is not important, therefore people are not important. But the church in the eyes of God is precious.
2. Acts 20:28, 1 Tim 3:5, 1 Peter 2:9, Eph 5:29, Matt 18:17-18,
3. Illustration: - 75% say they sense that “God is motivating people to stay connected with Him, but in different ways and through different types of experiences than in the past.”- 64% say they are “completely open to carrying out and pursuing your faith in an environment or structure that differs from that of a typical church.”- 71% say they are “more likely to develop my religious beliefs on my own, rather than to accept an entire set of beliefs that a particular church teaches.” –Barna Research, 37% of Southern Baptists attend church on a regular Sunday in America. That is about 10 million people that miss church each week, “The church of Jesus Christ is the most important institution in the world. The assembly of the redeemed, the company of the saints, the children of God are more significant in world history than any other group, organization or nation. The United States of America compares to the church of Jesus Christ like a speck of dust compares to the sun. The drama of international relations compares to the mission of the church like a kindergarten riddle compares to Hamlet or King Lear. And all pomp of May Day in Red Square and the pageantry of New Year’s in Pasadena fade into a formless grey against the splendor of the bride of Christ.”
4. Of course, I am preaching to the choir today, you are here. But I think even us who are here regularly fall victim to this ploy. How often do we think about not coming, because of this or that? Church regularly takes second place to family, job, recreational pursuits, sleep, you name it. Church attendance isn’t the only matter in consideration, in fact, it is only an indicator. But you can also “despise the church” by coming and acting like unbelievers. We must endeavor to raise our opinion of the church of Jesus Christ. Because Jesus cherishes the church, we are too. Knowing that it is not a building, but a people; it is not a social club, but a band of brethren; it is not an institution to be maintained, but a fellowship to advance the gospel upon the universe! Speak about how the church is supposed to advance against the gates of hell, rather than simply hold our ground. The Land of the Dead cannot stop the advance of the gospel/church. “Stop circling the wagons, and live in the mission!” –Stetzer,
B. Too Light a View of Its Doctrine
1. In general terms, evangelical Christians do not know doctrine. One of the main indicators of this is the ease by which people choose churches. Rarely, do we ever have people change denominations for theological reasons. The news media and culture make fun of those that have doctrinal convictions and let those convictions shape their lives.
2. Heb 5:12-14, Col 3:16, Isa 28:9-11, 1 Cor 3:2-3, Eph 4:13-14,
3. Illustration: even every bad pastor joke begins with St. Peter at the pearly gates, story of the church in Jacksonville, FL that had the nerve to carry out church discipline against a member who was shaking up with her boyfriend, “Some might think that a sermon examining doctrine is dry and boring. More than that, they might think that doctrine isn’t as important as something you can apply directly to your life situation. You might think, you want something that will help you with your marriage, with your other relationships, with your children, with your work, with your finances, with direction and purpose in your life. And those things are all important. And I believe scripture has much to say about all those things. But consider this...the cement slab your house sits on may be boring, too. It’s basically a small parking lot with a house on it. How boring is that? The cement slab may not be as exciting as the kitchen cabinets, the wood paneling, the decorative moldings, ceiling fixtures, the carpet, the appliances you build on top of it. But, without that boring cement slab, you cannot build anything that will last. Without that foundation, none of these more interesting, more exciting, seemingly more useful things can even stand at all.”
4. I am constantly amazed when I speak to visitors, and I ask them where they have visited, and they tell me three or four churches (assuming they are really looking) and they span the gamut of religious groups from Pentecostal/charismatic to Baptist to Methodist. Do we not know that there are huge theological differences between these groups? What is the first thought that comes into our minds when I say “doctrinal study?” This also applies to the structure of the church and how it organizes itself (as if it was supposed to self-organize). Unfortunately, this is the reason that we are loosing people left and right, especially our children. Parents that don’t know doctrine, rear children that despise doctrine. Evolution, pluralism, gay marriage, abortion, church discipline, liberalism, etc.—all these things have a doctrinal root. This is the reason that only 6% of evangelical young people have a biblical worldview. And Isaiah could ask us the same question he asked of the drunken priests.
C. Too Cynical a View of Its Practice
1. The trend in the culture now, and even somewhat in the church is to continue to allow practices, behaviors and ministries that are unbecoming to persist. Therefore the general attitude toward the church’s practices is hypocrisy. This is the reason for the emerging church movement—people want real church. They don’t what high school drama with adults, they don’t want power clubs, they don’t want a wash of committees that talk much and serve little, they don’t want more meetings to go to that don’t help. They are tire of what they see.
2. Illustration: Calvin, who saw that the Devil’s chief device was disunity and division and who preached that there should be friendly fellowship for all ministers of Christ, made a similar point in a letter to a trusted colleague: "Among Christians there ought to be so great a dislike of schism, as that they may always avoid it so fast as lies in their power. Take Jessica for instance, a pastor’s daughter who does not attend because of “bad experiences” that people in churches have done to her and her family, take the pastor out in Poulan Baptist, the stories that he tells one could not believe they could really happen in a church, and nobody do anything, then they asked him how much it would take for him not to ever come back,
3. We have all been to those churches that for seasons become places that you do not look forward to coming to, in fact, they may become places you despise because of the actions of some of its members. But this mentality, when it stays too long, causes us to have a very cynical attitude. And the world shares that attitude 10-fold. This is why hypocrisy cannot, will not, and must not be tolerated at any level. We must warn the unruly together. People get upset with how hypocrisy is handled, when they did nothing. We must examine our attitude toward the church, not just our theology. We must also be a church that strives to break the norms, go against the grain of typical church, makes new stereotypes, not just so we can be different, but so that Christ can be honored. Because most of what the world sees, they don’t want. And they have many reasons to by cynical of organized religion.
A. Closing illustration: “God AIMS to fill the universe with the glory of his Son, Jesus, by making the church the showcase of his perfections. Or, to put it another way, and include the idea of body: God means to fill the universe with the glory of his Son by putting the church on display as the embodiment of his Son.”…“God did not exalt Jesus and subject all things to him and then simply say, "Now go ahead and fill the universe with your glory; fill all things with yourself." Instead he raised him and exalted him and subjected all things under him and then made him one with the church, as head to the body, and said, "Now, my Son, you and those with whom you are united as head to body, go forth in the universe and fill it with all that you are in your body. Let everything, from the highest heaven to the lowest hell, be filled with a revelation of your glorious perfections in the form of a chosen, destined, blood-bought, called, justified, holy, glorified, and infinitely, everlastingly satisfied people, your body, the church of the living God. Amen” –Piper
B. Recap
C. Invitation to commitment
Additional Notes
• Is Christ Exalted, Magnified, Honored, and Glorified?
