Where did I go?

I had been planning to post on the next portion of Acts 2:42 (Fellowship), but by God's providence I have been hindered. Since the beginning of my wife's pregnancy, she has been confined to the bed. This was due at first to severe morning sickness, but now it is due to a heart condition. Because of this, I now have the priviledge of experiencing what my wife does so capably - run the home. I have a renewed appreciation for her role as mother/caregiver/nurse/chef/organizer/sanitation specialist (a nice PC term eh?)/and nurturer. I am like a little league player stepping into the shoes of the major league MVP. It is not pretty, but the job is getting done.

Because of this, I will take a hiatus from this blog in order to care for my family. Mid June is the time that we are looking forward to holding a new bambino. Your prayers are appreciated.

I look foward to continuing this series after our baby is born.

Bert

The Function of the Church

There are probably as many opinions about how a church should function as there are churches in the world. I would not presume to claim to be an authority on this issue, but I do know the authority. The Word of God teaches a great deal about the function of the church. Our job is to faithfully interpret God's Word and strip off anything that we may be tempted to add to it.

Like every person in the world, I do not approach this subject neutrally. I have preconceptions that are always in play whether I would like them to be or not. We have to be honest about this fact. However, some preconceptions are good. Here are some that will be in play as we look to understand the function of the church.

• The Bible is true and sufficient to teach people about God and how they relate to Him.
• The God presented in the Bible is real and exists even now.
• God is sovereign and has complete control over His creation at all time.

The outline that I would like to use for the function of the church is Acts 2:42:

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

It would be good to get some context, for without it we could make this verse mean whatever we want it to mean.

Acts chapter 2 begins with the Spirit of God descending on the disciples and causing them to glorify God in different tongues not their own. This was the fulfillment of the promise of Jesus in Acts 1:8 (and John 14:16-17). After this, Peter launches into his great pentecostal sermon that ends with the people being cut to the heart and saying, "Brothers, what shall we do?" What happened next was miraculous:

And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself." And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation." So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. (Act 2:38-41)

The reaction of the people who received Peter's word and were baptized was DEVOTION. It is important to note that this verse is not a command. God did not save these people and then say, "you shall devote yourselves. . ."

The natural reaction of sinners saved by the grace of God is devotion to Him. True conversion leads to a changed life. In this day and age when many church devote themselves to serving felt needs or sensitivity to so-called seekers this is often neglected. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." A heart that is changed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ will express its new faith by overflowing with worship that glorifies God. The natural reaction leads to the fourfold devotion that Luke described, and I would argue that this is the case in all believers.

First up is The Apostles' Teaching

The Apostles taught scripture. More specifically, the Apostles taught the Gospel. They were witnesses to the good message of Jesus Christ and everything they taught was in view of the cross of Christ. Old Testament passages were taught and preached with the truth that Jesus is their fulfillment.

Believers soak up the Gospel like a dry sponge tossed into a tidal wave. We cannot get enough and there is too much to get. It is not drudgery or painful work. It is not the homework that must be done before we can play outside on a warm spring day. It is everything to us. Devotion to the Word of God is the natural reaction to the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

I was speaking with a friend recently and he asked why Christian musicians only seem to sing about God and their faith in Him. The question struck me as odd. I could not fathom a Christian musician singing about anything but the Gospel. My friend was showing that a changed heart cannot help but sing about the God that changed it, while other musicians sing about what their passions are: the truck and the dog they lost, the car they love, the glory days in high school.

In other words, the Gospel is effective and there is evidence of the radical change that has occurred. The Gospel is that Jesus REALLY bled for us. It is not some existential idea that we think about.

So one of the functions of the church is devotion to the Gospel. But what does that look like? What forms does the Apostles teaching take in the church today? One obvious answer to this is preaching.

Preaching is paramount to the church. Why? Because it is foolish. How is that for a paradox? The idea of preaching about a cross is foolish if you really think about it. How could a man dying on a Roman execution instrument do anything? That is the reasoning of the world. That is the reasoning of the perishing in 1 Corinthians 1:18. So God has set up a way for us to learn about Him in a way that most glorifies Him. We glorify Him the most when the seemingly impossible is accomplished by Him. This is why it absolutely critical that God's sovereignty is preached as well. Who devotes themselves to anything that is powerless? Preaching the cross of Christ may seem foolish to the perishing but the rest of the verse is wonderful -- but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. When God saves you, you even see, and hear, and feel, and smell, and sense, and know things differently. That is because you were dead before and now you are alive!

The sense of Acts 2:42 is that the church is devoted to ALL the teaching of the Apostles -- not only part of it. The type of preaching that does this best is expository preaching. It is preaching based on a text of scripture and that text determines the subject matter of the sermon. This type of preaching protects both the preacher and the church by keeping the authority where it belongs -- on the Word of God. A good expositor of scripture does not skip difficult passages and lets them speak for themselves in the sermon.

However, preaching is not the only form of teaching in the church. The Bible describes many other ways by which the church was taught. The books of the Bible themselves are often letters. The Apostles exhorted, appealed, rebuked, reproved, and corrected. Even church discipline is a form of teaching. I would lump these things as well as preaching into the category of love. They loved the people of God with a full love. By loving the people, the Apostles taught the people. The most effective teachers in my life were those who deeply cared for me. Survey your past teachers in your mind, and you will probably find that the ones that you remember the most and who has the greatest impact on your life were those who loved you. And since the Apostles loved the churches that they taught, the people were devoted to the Apostles' teaching. Where does this kind of love originate? It is from God.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. (1 John 4:7-9)

This may seem like a strange turn going from the Apostles' teaching to love but the good teaching depends on love. Good teaching cannot exist without love.

Next up is Fellowship!

The Foundation of the Church

I have some questions for you - but I will not ask them until the end of this post.

I used to love to play with Legos. Since I have children that enjoy them, I again have an excuse to play with them. They are the kind of simple toy that has passed the test of time and continue to inspire young minds. I am convinced that both of my brothers became engineers because of the use of Legos as children. They would create the most amazing devices and structures: snowmobiles with independent suspension, bridges that would bear an amazing amount of weight. I am still amazed by their use of Legos.

A few years ago my son, Anthony, was constructing a tower with Legos but it kept falling down. The problem was in the foundation of his tower.

Physics dictated a wider base for the structure but he did not know this. I sat down on the floor and began showing him how a good foundation would make his tower strong.

The foundation upon which God chose to establish His church is strong. He is a master builder that knew that the foundation had to be a rock instead of soft sand.

The foundation of the church is built by God's sovereign plan.

What is the foundation of His church?

Matt. 16:13-18 gives us our first clue:

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

From this passage it is clear that Jesus is up to more than trying to find out what people think of Him. There is a bigger reason why He was probing Peter.

First, notice that Peter confesses what he believes. "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." How did Peter know this? Jesus explains how - Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. Peter's confession of Christ was based on what he believed regarding the revelation of Christ. I find it interesting that Jesus draws a sharp contrast between Peter's earthly father (Bar-Jonah, or Son of Jonah) and where Peter REALLY received this knowledge of God, namely the Father who is in heaven.

Remember Peter's calling! He was a fisherman. He would not usually talk of such lofty religious ideas while pulling up smelly fish. (Disclaimer - I know some very smart fishermen. This is not a slam on fishermen). This was the kind of language that the Scribes and Pharisees would use.

Peter was affected by the direct revelation of God regarding the Christ, Jesus our Lord. And Peter's confession was based on that revelation. It was natural. It was the outpouring of Peter's heart.

And then comes one of my favorite verses in scripture - Matthew 16:18 - Jesus nicknames Simon. Please allow me to paraphrase: "Simon, you?re going to be called 'the Rock' because the My Father has revealed who I truly am to you and that revelation is going to be the foundation of My church." It is probably not right that this conjures up images of Peter as a professional wrestler. Actually, based on Peter?s passion for things, maybe that is not far off.

The foundation of the church is the revelation of God to His people. The living Word, Jesus Christ, was revealed in person to Peter. The Living Word is revealed to us through the Gospel in the Bible.

After Peter preaches the Gospel at Pentecost to the gathered people in Jerusalem, we find the formal establishment of the church in Act 2:41-42.

So those who received his word were baptized, and there
were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

The Apostles' teaching to which Luke (the author of Acts) was referring was the same revelation that Peter received when Jesus nicknamed him. The foundation of the church is the revelation of God in the Bible to us. It is the Good Message of Jesus Christ to which the whole of Scripture points. The people that compose the church are to be people of The Word. They are people of the revelation of God that can confess with Peter, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

The hymn writer says it this way:

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord
Is laid for your faith, in His excellent Word
What more can He say, than to you He hath said
To you, who for refuge, to Jesus have fled?

It is one thing to recognize that the revelation of Jesus Christ is the foundation of the church, but what are we to do with this information? If we simply sit back and admire the fact that this is the case, we miss the point entirely. This should be a call to action. This should call the troops to battle array. We have commands from the Lord, what now will we do?

The natural reactions of God's people to this call will be detailed in later posts but for now I would like to show the reaction of the people in Acts 2:43-47.

And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

This is a radical shift that can only be explained by a supernatural occurrence. The God of the universe founded His church by revealing Himself to His people.

He revealed Himself to me through Ephesians 5:25 - "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her."

Through this verse I learned of and believed in Jesus? atoning death on a cross for me and my relationship (then) with Him. He also saved my marriage with it. It is indeed a precious verse for me.

Here are the questions I have for you:
What is your verse? If you are a Christian, what part of God's revelation did He use to call you into His church?

Beginning

This blog is designed to encourage the faith of believers in every facet of our lives. To do this, I will look to the Word of God and glean what the Lord is teaching us regarding our faith in Him. Comments are not only welcome but greatly encouraged.

In thinking about beginning any work devoted to serving the Lord, I find that it is almost overwhelming to begin. My mom used to say to me that the hardest thing to do is start. She is right.

I have been composing short posts that explain my thoughts, so I will begin posting them in the days and weeks ahead. The best way to begin is with a definition of the church.

What is the church?

The church is the people that God has called together in His sovereignty. In 1 Corinthians 1:2 we have a good working definition of the church in Corinth and by implication, to the church today:

To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.

Those sanctified in Christ Jesus
We see that the church is composed of people who have had a radical change in their lives. They have been sanctified. Simply stated, they have been washed clean of the stain of their sin.

Called to be saints
The church is a people who are called. They are called by their great shepherd as Jesus describes a shepherd calling his sheep in John 10:2-3.

But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

It’s God’s sovereign choice that creates the church, not our choice.

We are called to be saints. The term ‘saints’ in a modern context can be confusing because of the Catholic usage of it. For Paul, ‘saints’ is synonymous with believers in Jesus Christ. The link is made later in 1 Corinthians 1:9 where Paul further identifies God’s sovereignty in calling the church:

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Together
We are called to be together. Paul leaves little room for believers to wiggle out of this command.

. . .called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.

He is the Lord. We belong to Him. That is the meaning of the word ‘Lord.’

So the church is the people that God has called together in His sovereignty.

So what are some implications for us?

One implication is that the church exists to bring glory to God. It does so by people calling upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. If there is no mention of Jesus, there is no church. Many churches shy away from proclaiming Jesus Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 1:23). This is the offence of the cross that will separate believers from unbelievers. Do you treasure Jesus Christ crucified or is this foolish to you? Are you offended when someone mentions that they believe that Jesus Christ died for their sins on a cross or do you praise Him for it? I urge you to call upon the name of Jesus Christ. Cry out to Him for the forgiveness of your sin. If you do so and you start to see the cross as your treasure, an amazing thing has happened. You will find that even before you called upon His name, He called you into fellowship and saved you. That is the beauty of the Gospel – The Good Message of Jesus Christ – that we love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

Another implication is that churches are not groups of perfect people. Matthew 9:13 quotes Jesus saying ". . . I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." We are called together to glorify God as sinners saved by Him but the Proverbs 14:4 principle applies – "Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox." As my children have learned, I can apply this verse to virtually every area of life but it is especially true with the church.

We are the imperfect means to glorifying a perfect God. It may get messy at times since we all come into it with residual sin, but we are called nonetheless. We bear each others’ burdens to the glory of God. We love each other to the glory of God. We edify each other to the glory of God.

To God be the glory through His church.


Some of the topics that I will address in the posts to come are:

• The foundation of the church
• The function of the church
• The leading of the church
• The witness of the church