All righty, let's see if I can summon the masses, gather on in, and we will try to begin. Do pray for the Leonhards today. They went to see Jennifer's dad, go to church with him. And he just texted me, and they are not going to make it back today. And they were thinking about trying to make it back for service. So just pray for their travel. And I'm not sure about other specific prayer needs at the moment. Any? Yes, Tom? That's what I told you about earlier. Yes. I've got one of the most qualified guides in this church. And they found that out today. Do pray for them. This is Heather. Heather's dad. All right. Well, let's, uh, what's that word prayer? And we'll, we'll begin. All right. Heavenly father, we thank you for today and for your grace and your mercy. Father, we thank you that the way to the throne of grace is always open for us. We thank you that Christ ever lives to intercede for his children. We thank you that he has rendered a sufficient atonement for our sin, that we might receive the forgiveness of sins and have the constant opportunity to come boldly before a throne that is full of grace. And so we come this day and ask God for your mercy and your help in our times of need. Father, we do pray for the Lenhart family as they return today from visiting her dad and pray that's a good visit. We ask God you keep them safe. We ask that you continue to minister to their family and strengthen them. We ask that you encourage Jennifer as she continues to battle against cancer and fights in her own heart against the world, the flesh, the devil. Father, we pray for joy for them. We pray that you would encourage them today. We ask God that you would be with Tom and Mary Jane's daughter-in-law, Heather, and the passing of her father. And we ask God that you would use this by your power and by your sovereign purpose, that you would make use of this, God, for your glory and their good, that the gospel would go out at such a time. People are often brought to a point of realization of the frailty of life, that life is but a vapor. We are only here for a little while. We just ask God that you would bring those people into their lives and to the various meetings that will take place that will be ready to share a word of honor to Christ and encouragement to their souls. We ask God your blessing. on our time we have here, and we pray that you would bless our study, bless the children's classes as they meet, and we ask God that your word would be honored, that Christ would be exalted, that our hearts would be encouraged in coming to see him more clearly. We ask God all these things this day, in Jesus' name, amen. All right. It's good to see everybody, and I think I'll pray again. We just doubled in size just in the prayer. Let's all pray again. It's great to have everybody and good to see you today. You should have a handout. If you don't, let's see, Ben, could you grab a stack of those handouts? We're going to start a new brief study today, probably going to last us about four or five weeks. If you need a handout for today for Sunday school, please raise your hand up and we'll get some to you guys. Is that it? Nicole's not going to share. Anthony needs his own. She's kind of like that, I figured. Janice is like that too. She's terrible. We made plenty. All right. Well, so Paul asked me earlier why we were, he noticed we were going to do chapter 26 and I told him that we'd had somebody teach on this chapter. back a year or two ago, and it was pretty lame. So we were going to try to help it out. And, uh, no, Paul did such a wonderful job walking us through this, uh, through the, a wonderful personal medium of zoom. And, uh, man, that was, those were crazy days trying to do that. I'm so glad that's over. I hope it never come back. And, uh, but, um, so we're going to come back to chapter 26 though, for the purpose of focusing, more narrowly on a particular part of the chapter. Here next month, the end of March, I'm going to be heading off to the GA in Arizona, the General Assembly for ARBCA. And I found out last night. Is that still happening? OK. I found out last night. Going to have a church buddy with me. Matt is going to be going. So that's cool. And so that'll be fun. And I'm sorry? You better ask Katie. I did that first. He's learning. He's learning really, really, really quickly. So we'll see how, if we get to travel out there together or whatever, but we'll certainly get to hang out some there. Every year at the GA for the last three years, we have been working our way through Chapter 26. At the GA, for those of you who have never been to something like this, the GA takes place on a Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. And in the evening sessions, someone preaches or lectures. And so for the last two GAs, we've taken paragraphs 1 through 6. And I spoke a couple of years ago on paragraph 2 on visible saints. And I'm going to speak again this year, Lord willing, on paragraph 9. And so between now and then, I have to study for paragraph 9 You get to be the guinea pigs, but that doesn't just help me. I hope it will help you because you'll get to kind of visit something of the GA without actually traveling there. All right. So what I've done here with this particular handout, as you can see, we want to outline the whole of the chapter, and then we want to come and focus in on a specific portion, paragraphs four through 13, And here next week, hopefully, we will focus our attention specifically on paragraph nine, and we're gonna do that for three different Sundays, and I think that'll get us right up to the GA, and when we come back, we will do something else. So if you have that handout, let me just kind of draw your attention to the opening section there, the church under the headship of Christ. So, as kind of a simple outline for the entirety of the chapter, this is, I believe, the longest chapter in the Confession. It has 15 paragraphs, and it covers a lot of material, all on the Church. Paragraphs 1 to 4 address the Church universal. Now, there are other things that are covered in that, as we'll see as we read through it here in just a moment, but that's the general heading I'm going to give it. Paragraphs 5 through 13, look at the church local. And paragraphs 14 and 15, look at the church associational. So we're looking at the church Catholic or universal. That's a little c, all right? All the elect of all the ages, if you will, that make up the body of Christ. Then we're going to focus in on local churches, and then how those local churches work together in association. So if you have a copy of the confession, you might pull that out. I just want us to begin by reading through the whole of the chapter. And I have some of the chapter printed for you here on the handout, but hopefully you have a copy or maybe you're near somebody that has a copy or you can kind of just listen in. Chapter 26 of the church. Paragraph 1, the Catholic or universal church, which, with respect to the internal work of the Spirit and truth of grace, may be called invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one under Christ, the head thereof. And is the spouse, the body, the fullness of him, that fills all in all. Paragraph two, all persons throughout the world professing the faith of the gospel and obedience unto God by Christ according unto it, not destroying their own profession by any errors, inverting the foundation, or unholiness of conversation, are and may be called visible saints. And of such ought all particular congregations to be constituted. Three, the purest churches under heaven are subject to mixture and error, and some have so degenerated as to become no churches of Christ but synagogues of Satan. Nevertheless, Christ always hath had and ever shall have a kingdom in this world to the end thereof of such as believe in him and make profession of his name. Paragraph four, the Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the church. in whom, by the appointment of the Father, all power for the calling, institution, order, or government of the Church is invested in a supreme and sovereign manner. Neither can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof, but is that Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition that exalts himself in the Church against Christ and all that is called God, whom the Lord shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. These address the universal church. Paragraph five. In the execution of this power wherewith he is so entrusted, the Lord Jesus calls out of the world unto himself, through the ministry of his word, by his spirit, those that are given unto him by his father. that they may walk before him in all the ways of obedience which he hath prescribeth to them in his word. Those thus called he commandeth to walk together in particular societies or churches for their mutual edification and the due performance of that public worship which he requires of them in the world. Paragraph six. The members of these churches are saints by calling. visibly manifesting and evidencing, in and by their profession and walking, their obedience unto that call of Christ, and do willingly consent to walk together according to the appointment of Christ, giving up themselves to the Lord and to one another, and one to another, by the will of God, in professed subjection to the ordinances of the gospel. Paragraph seven. To each of these churches, thus gathered according to his mind declared in his word, he hath given all that power and authority which is in any way needful for their carrying on that order in worship and discipline which he hath instituted for them to observe, with commands and rules for the do and right exerting and executing of that power. Eighth, a particular church gathered and completely organized according to the mind of Christ, consists of officers and members. And the officers appointed by Christ to be chosen and set apart by the church, so called and gathered for the peculiar administration of ordinances and execution of power or duty which he entrusts them with or calls them to, to be continued to the end of the world, are bishops or elders deacons. Paragraph 9, the way appointed by Christ for the calling of any person fitted and gifted by the Holy Spirit unto the office of bishop or elder in a church is that he be chosen thereunto by the common suffrage of the church itself and solemnly set apart by fasting and prayer with imposition of hands of the eldership of the church and if there be any before constituted therein, and of a deacon, that he be chosen by the like suffrage, and set apart by prayer, and the like imposition of hands. 10, the work of pastors being constantly to attend the service of the church, excuse me, the service of Christ in his churches, in the ministry of word and prayer, with watching for their souls as they that must give an account to him, It is incumbent on the churches to whom they minister not only to give them all due respect, but also to communicate to them of their good things according to their ability, so as they may have a comfortable supply without being themselves entangled in secular affairs and may also be capable of exercising hospitality towards others. And this is required by the law of nature and by the express order of our Lord Jesus who has ordained that they that preach the gospel should live of the gospel. Paragraph 11. Although it be incumbent on the bishops or pastors of the churches to be instant in preaching the word by way of office, yet the work of preaching the word is not so peculiarly confined to them, but that others, also gifted and fitted by the Holy Spirit for it, and approved and called by the church, may and ought to perform it. Paragraph 12, as all believers are bound to join themselves to particular churches when and where they have opportunity to do so, all that are admitted unto the privileges of a church are also under the censures and government thereof according to the rule of Christ. 13, no church members upon any offense taken by them having performed their duty required of them towards the person they are offended at, ought to disturb any church order or absent themselves from the assemblies of the church or administration of any ordinances upon the account of such offense at any of their fellow members, but to wait upon Christ in the further proceeding of the church. And these deal with the local church. The last two here deal with the church association As each church and all the members of it are bound to pray continually for the good and prosperity of all the churches of Christ in all places and upon all occasions to further it, everyone within the bounds of their places and callings in the exercise of their gifts and graces, so the churches, when planted by the providence of God, so as they may enjoy opportunity and advantage for it, ought to hold communion among themselves for their peace, increase of love, and mutual edification. Lastly, paragraph 15. In cases of difficulties or differences, either in point of doctrine or administration, wherein either the churches in general are concerned, or any one church in their peace, union, and edification, or any member or members of any church are injured in or by any proceedings and censures not agreeable to truth and order, it is according to the mind of Christ that many churches holding communion together do by their messengers meet to consider and give their advice in or about that matter of difference to be reported to all the churches concerned. How be it these messengers assembled are not entrusted with any church power, properly so-called, or with any jurisdiction over the churches themselves, to exercise any censures, either over any churches or persons, or to impose their determination on the churches or officers." Well, like I said, it's the longest chapter, all right? I looked up. We're all still here. That's good. Nobody's passed out. Okay, I've talked a lot reading that and I'm going to take a break for a second. Questions, comments, before we kind of dig into this a little bit. Okay. Nobody. That wasn't the vocal break I was looking for. All right. Well, let's come and look at the church logo under the headship of Christ. Now, we're not going to read the whole thing again, but what I'd like to do is just kind of give you a breakdown or an outline overview of that which we just read. Paragraphs 5 through 13 deal with the church local, but we're going to start with paragraph 4. Paragraph 4 is somewhat of a transitional verse. It kind of concludes the issues that are addressed in those opening paragraphs. about the church universal or the church Catholic dealing with the headship of Christ. And that's going to lead us into paragraphs five through 13. We're going to look at all this section under the broad heading of the power of Christ as the head of the church. The power of Christ as the head of the church. Now that's paragraph four. Paragraphs 5 through 13 address the issue of this power of Christ as it relates to the churches themselves. So in paragraph 5, we find the power of Christ is available and readily here for the calling of the church. By his sovereign power, he calls men out of darkness into light, and he brings them together in local assemblies. The calling of the church. Paragraph 6, the institution of the church. Paragraph 7 focuses on the ordering of the church. And paragraphs 8 through 13 focus on the government of the church. Now, when we use that phrase, the government of the church, how will she be broken up and led And paragraph eight talks about the organization of her government. She consists of officers and members. That's the general breakdown of the government of the church. But there is specific authority or power vested in her officers. This particular paragraph also addresses officers in the church, and those officers are elders or sometimes referred to as bishops and deacons, so the government's organization. Secondly, paragraph nine, her government's calling. How does she go about setting aside men to serve as elders or bishops and deacons in a church? What kind of men do you look for? How should these men be considered? How should they be set apart? How should they be integrated within the leadership of the church? That's what paragraph 9 will focus on. Now, hopefully next week we will come back and we'll focus most of our attention there. Paragraph 10 talks about the support of that leadership or that government, principally focused in here on pastors. Paragraph 11 Her work. In other words, the government's work here is the ministry of the word. And so the principal task of the leadership that is set aside is set apart for service in the church is the ministry of the word. But it doesn't belong to the elders or bishops only by way of office. Others may also be what? Others may also be gifted in the church. And hence, this is one of the things we're going to experience today. Mishal is going to be coming to preach for us in the worship service today as part of his internship, as part of his training. And one of our tasks and roles as a church will be in hearing him preach and in hearing Julius preach over the coming months is to ascertain whether or not God has indeed given them gifts to do that in the body of Christ. And that falls under paragraph 11. And then finally, the discipline. The discipline of the church is going to be overseen by the leaders of the church, and this is paragraphs 12 and 13. When we join ourselves to a particular church, we come into covenant with that church, and we now come under the censures and the government of that church according to the rule of Christ. Lastly, That final paragraph there, paragraph 13, addresses the issue of if there is an offense within the body, how is it to be addressed? How is it to be dealt with? And the idea being that if there is an offense, you can't just get up and take your toys and leave while the church is left trying to hold the bag and deal with the offense. and your rather to wait upon Christ and the further proceedings of the church, which would be the disciplinary process of the church in addressing issues. So that's kind of a real quick overview of the chapter with some headings attached to that. I want to come back and I want to look specifically at paragraph number four. I'll ask again any questions or comments at this point before we jump into that. Okay, all right. Well, so let's come to paragraph four, and we will probably camp here for the rest of our time. The power of Christ as the head of the church. The Lord Jesus Christ, giving what we might think of as the full address of Christ, it's not just Jesus, not Christ, just Lord, but the Lord Jesus Christ, is the head of the church, in whom by the appointment of the Father, All power for, and notice these words, underline them at least in your eye, if not on your paper, for the calling, institution, order, or government of the church is invested in a supreme and sovereign manner. What's invested? All power. All power is addressed supremely and sovereignly in Christ as the head of the church to do four things in relation to the church. He has to call the church, he has to institute the church, he has to order the church, and he has to govern the church. Now we're gonna notice here in just a moment, all four of those things are the headings for the rest of the section that we just went through in paragraphs five through 13. Neither can the Pope of Rome in any sense behead thereof, but is that Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition, that exalted himself in the church against Christ, and all that is called God, whom the Lord shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." Now, our attention is just going to be on the first two lines of that statement. The Lord Jesus Christ is head of the church in whom by the appointment of the Father all power for the calling, institution, order, and government of the church is invested in a supreme and sovereign manner." Notice, after the word manner, what do you find in the paragraph? You find a semicolon, all right? So you want to pay attention to the punctuation in a paragraph because it's going to tell you where the breaks are. So later on when we get to paragraph nine, there are two semicolons. telling us that there are three main sections up to the first semicolon, the first one to the second one, and that last one to the final period. There are three sections in paragraph nine. So that kind of helps us kind of know how to quickly outline the paragraph and kind of know where we're heading. So I want us to look at this opening phrase about the Lord Jesus Christ being the head of the church and all power being invested in him for These four things, again, calling, institution, order, and government. Did you notice the connections there? Calling, that's paragraph five. Institution, that's paragraph six. Order, paragraph seven. Government, paragraphs eight through 13. And so those are the four things he holds this position of headship to accomplish. Now, this is not the only place in the Confession that Christ is referred to as the head of the church. And so I want us to look at this idea of headship as we find it in the Confession. In a moment, we're going to look up some Scripture texts that address this issue, but I want us to start off looking at the Confession itself. So here in 26.1, look back in chapter 26 in paragraph 1. We find Christ, again, spoken of as the head thereof. The Catholic or universal church, which, with respect to the internal work of the Spirit and truth of grace, may be called invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one under Christ, the head thereof. So when we say he is the head of the church, we mean not simply that he is the head of the local church, He is the head of the local church by virtue of the extension that, to the extent that the local church is kind of connected to or related to that universal church. But he is the head of the universal church. He is the head of the entirety of the Catholic or universal church. And again, that term sometimes causes, you know, a group of Baptists a problem. You know, you say Catholic, we mean Catholic little c. All right. The Roman Catholic church has, a head of that church, and it's not Jesus. It's a man who thinks he represents Jesus. But point being here, the Catholic or universal church, Catholic and universal are seen as what? Synonymous. They're synonymous. They're interchangeable. And Christ is the head of the universal or Catholic church. Since we're close to it, let's turn over to chapter 27, verse one. Sorry, I do it all the time. When I say verse one, I just mean paragraph one. Please don't crucify me. I do know that confession is not the Bible. All right, so chapter 27, paragraph one, it says this. All saints that are united to Jesus Christ, they're had by his spirit and faith, although they are not made thereby one person with him, have fellowship in his graces, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory, being united to one another in love, they have communion in each other's gifts and graces." Now, when it says in chapter 27, paragraph 1, all saints, what is that referring to? All believers, but think back chapter 26, paragraph 1. Universal Church all right all saints because if we look back in chapter 26 Paragraph 1 we find that idea. It says the Catholic or Universal Church Consists get down a maybe a line or so consists of the whole number of the elect Those are the saints That are mentioned in 27 1 right and notice what it says about them that Christ Christ is their head And because Christ is their head, what does that say about the relationship between each one of them? They are what? They are members of one another, and the text here in the Confession says they have fellowship in his graces, and hence they are united to one another. What does that make you think about in the Bible? Is there a passage in the Bible where Jesus prays that the church would be one, even as he and the Father are one. John 17, Stucky, you were right there to catch Jeff, just in case he messed that up. So, so yes, so they're united to one another. And notice, notice the depth of the unity when it says they have communion in each other's gifts and graces. This makes me think of 1 Peter 4 or 10. If anyone has a gift, we should use it to what? To minister to one another the manifold grace of God. So as you use your gifts to minister to me and I use mine to minister to you, we're sharing with one another the measure of Christ's grace and Christ's gift that has been given to us and mutually encouraging and helping one another. Let's go back in the confession to chapter 13. I was thinking as well that Paul makes very much, I can't say a big deal, but out of the members of the churches benefiting one another by their gifts and graces and being united with each other. Yes, yeah. My back, right about here, loves my hand because it can reach. It can scratch. Middle of my back is not like my hand. Middle of my back likes the wooden scratcher I have hanging on my desk that my hand grabs and scratches. So my hand still helps out. Yes, and so the parts of the body minister to the other parts of the body. You stub your toe, what do you do? Ow, you grab your foot, all right? You bump your, I have this little edge in the middle of the night, don't wanna turn the light on, you know, wake Janice up or whatever, and I go, and I come back in the room, the TV's sittin' on it, it's like a sharp edge, and every now and then, oh, and it gets me right there. Huh? What's that? File it down. File it down. Get a big ol' saw in there. All right. So, look in 13, 13.3. 13.3. Let's skip down to the last section, which we can find by looking for the last semicolon. This is a chapter here, chapter 13, on sanctification. It says, pressing after an heavenly life in evangelical obedience to all the commands which Christ as head and king in his word hath prescribed to them. He is our head. He is our king. All the way back to chapter eight, this is on Christ the mediator. Chapter eight, paragraph one. Chapter eight, paragraph one. Notice here, it pleased God in his eternal purpose to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only begotten son, according to the covenant made between them both, to be the mediator between God and man, the prophet, priest, and king, head and savior of his church, the heir of all things, and judge of the world. He is Head and Savior of the Church. Now, five times in the Confession, Christ is referred to in some way as the Head of the Church. And this language is not first found in the Confession. The language is first found in the Bible. That's where they're getting this from. And probably you noticed, as we read through that whole chapter on the Church, little bells, probably should have been going off in your mind, of phrases that you would probably get out of Paul's epistles or different places. So let's turn to two different epistles of Paul, Colossians and Ephesians, all right? So the full affirmation of Christ as the head of the church finds its ground in scripture's very clear teaching. So we want to make sure we notice these texts. So let's start in Colossians. Colossians chapter 1. Who can read that for us? Let me just go ahead and sign a few texts. Colossians 1. Tom? Ephesians 1, 22 and 23. Who can do that? Michael? All right. Ephesians 4, 15 and 16. Shaul? Ephesians 5, 23. I should, like, promise merit in these or something. Nicole, thank you very much. All right. So let's look at these. Colossians 1, 18. Ephesians 1, 22 and 23. Ephesians 4, 15 to 16. And Ephesians 5, 23. Colossians 1. Who's got that? Tom? Verse 18 only? Yes, sir. He is also the head of the body, the church, and he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself will come to that first place in everything. He is the head of the body, and the body is the what? The body is the church. So he is the head of the church. Ephesians 1, 22 and 23. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." Right. Gave him as head over all things to the church. This is a little more comprehensive, right? Pointing to his supremacy over all things, his headship over all things, but it does also encompass here the church. Gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body. Ephesians 4. Shaul, is that you? As a result, we are no longer to be children taught here and there by ways we carry about by every way of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness and deceitful scheming. But speaking of the truth and love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 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 where the building up of itself can rise. All right. Keep your finger on that. We're going to come back to that one in just a second. But let's go ahead and read Ephesians 5, 23. All right So husband the head Where are we here? I'm sorry 523, right? I got confused for a second the husband's head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. All right, so Let's go back to chapter 4 verses 15 and 16 for a moment and let's think about about this one a little more. Michelle, go to Regers again. You have, what do you have? New King James, ESV? NASB. Okay, so starting in 14, 15, and 16. Go ahead. As a result, we are no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind and downpour, by the trickery of men, by craftiness and deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into him who is the head, even Christ, 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 or the building up of itself in life. All right. Thanks, sir. All right. So notice a couple of things here that are said about Christ his relationship to the body. It says in in verse 15 that we grow up in all aspects into him or to him. There's kind of a kind of a movement, kind of a forward movement of what's happening in the life of the church and it's moving toward Christ. It's moving us toward him. We're growing up into him. We're moving toward him or to him. Notice Also, what it says in verse 16, again of Christ, we talked about verse 15 kind of having a forward movement going toward Christ, but what direction happens in verse 16? Anybody? Are we still moving toward Christ? Or is there something moving from Christ to us? From whom the whole body being what? Being fitted. I mean, the direction has kind of shifted here a little bit. So verse 15, we're growing up into him who is our head. Verse 16, the working is coming from him. From whom? The whole body. From Christ. The whole body. is fitted and held together, right? Now it does say then in verse 16, by what every joint supplies. So Christ, from Christ comes whatever we need to do the work that we are supposed to do in the church, but it's from him. So we have a sense in which in verse 15, everything is moving to him. But then in verse 16, everything begins to what? Come from him. Now something else happens here. Notice in verse 16, 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 and love I want you to I want you to notice this phrase here in verse 16 according to the proper working of each individual part This particular section could be more literally translated if you've got NAS you can look the footnote will help us here a little bit With this phrase working in measure now, let me kind of read this again a different way. I from whom the whole body being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies according to the working in measure of each individual part." Now, helpful here is verse 7, because the same phrasing is used here, some of the same terminology. Verse 7 says that to each one of us, grace was given according to the what? The measure of Christ's gift. So it seems that here Paul is trying to point to some kind of gracious provision that Christ has made for the church, and by her making use of that gracious provision, things happen in her midst. So I'm seeing here some language that ought to be very familiar to you. If we look at verse 15, things in the body are moving to him. Why? Because he's the head. Just like in your own body, there's a sense of direction given by the head, of propriety and privacy given to the head. Everything is kind of drawing attention to its dependence upon the head. The head is also giving what? Direction to all the parts of the body, all right? And through what the head provides, To each individual part, the body's able to do what? The body's able to function. So here in verse 15, we have everything moving to him. In verse 16, we have everything coming from him, and we have everything working through him. Does that bring up some familiar language to you? Everything toward the divine being of God is what? From, and through, and to him. This ensures that everything that is done, God gets what? God receives the glory. So that language is familiar to you probably because you've heard it before in Romans chapter 11. In verse 36, it says, for from him and through him and to him are all things to him be the glory forever. Amen. And I bring that out because this is true in the church. In particular, in a very intimate way, the body is held together, it is empowered, it is developed, all in love by the work that Christ does. I want you to notice a little bit of an overview through the rest of the chapter and see how this power of Christ works. Before we do that, let me just ask again if there are comments or questions or thoughts. Yeah, Jeff. A good medical example for that reality. wherein Christ is the perfect head, and hope is not. That if there is something wrong with your head, and it's not right, the rest of your body is not going to work. It's going to be not right. As an example, like a stroke person, or someone who's had an aneurysm, or whatever, traumatic brain injury, their head is no longer qualified, really. It's still there. It's still working. It's still functioning, just not like it should. And therefore, the other faculties of your body are not responding and acting like they should. So thus, in the Catholic Church, you get folks that, sorry to say, are kind of messed up because of their head is messed up. Well, and how could the actual perfecting of the church universal take place if the pope was actually the head of it? Because by their own admission, throughout history, there have been many bad popes, which would seem to stop the working of the body. But somehow the body continues to be built up. How? Because we don't depend upon a human head. We have a kingly head in the heavens. Paul? Just to emphasize that point, here at Ephesians 4, the one who claimed for himself to be a representative for Christ, where the only representative means we have, when we ask about how Christ is executing his headship, is through his word and his spirit, which is emphasized in Ephesians 4 and elsewhere. You know, there was a time in church history where the bishop of Rome, well, he didn't call himself the vicar of Peter, but then he did move into a time where he calls himself the vicar of Peter, the one who's the earthly representative of Peter. Fast forward several hundred years, he's starting to call himself the vicar of Christ. And so, you know, originally there's a real sense of humility And a man like Clement of Rome, who was the bishop of the church there in Rome in the probably late first, early second century, doesn't call himself anything like that. Writes a letter to the Corinthian church, doesn't assume some kind of authority that they have to listen to him because he is who he is. But that develops that view of the church in Rome as somehow a visible representation, the bishop there, somehow a visible representation of Christ in the world. And Michelle, did you have something there? Yeah, I haven't just thought of this, so I haven't walked through it or anything like that, but I remember a couple years ago, we walked through T. David Gordon's article on the 15 saints, right? And that precedes this text by just a couple verses. I wonder if that has anything to say about the general flow of 14 saints. He, I did not revisit his article for today. He does touch on, I think he touches all the way through 16 in that article. And I'm sure he would have several helpful things to say. Yeah, it's a great article. He's referring to an article by T. David Gordon on Ephesians 4. I think it's, is it 11? I think it's just 11 to 16, maybe a whole section. It's just the equipping of the saints, the equipping of the church, the equipping ministry of the church. Maybe that's the title for it. And I think several people have read it over the years. Who read it together? I think probably in a men's study we did that. I don't think we've ever done that in Sunday school. But then again, I'm getting old. I forget things. But it's a great article and really helpful. Sounds like Dave. somewhat prophetically almost fulfilled the decline or the place that Daniel talks about, the abomination of desolation, the one who sets himself up, where it should not be. Is that Daniel? Yeah, Daniel 9, I believe. Let me point out just a couple things looking through the paragraphs that we have left. I want you to see how this concept of power that resides in Christ. So being the head of the church, it is his position as the head of the church that he is granted here all power for calling institution, order, and government. Several paragraphs mentioned the concept of power explicitly. So, paragraphs 4, 5, 7, and 8. Paragraph 4, we already read, that all power for the calling, institution, order, and government of the Church is invested in Christ in a supreme and sovereign manner. Paragraph 5, he says, it says, in the execution of this power wherewith he is so entrusted, the Lord Jesus calleth out of the world. So he's calling by his power out of the world, man to himself. Secondly, notice paragraph seven, two times. it addresses the idea of power. To each of these churches thus gathered, this is on the ordering of the church, according to his mind declared in his words, he hath given that power and authority which is in any way needful for their carrying on that order and worship and discipline which he hath instituted for them to observe the commands and rules with commands and rules for the do and right exerting and executing of that power. So here the church is seen as having power. But where did the church get its power? Christ, who has all what? Who has all power. So notice that phrase back in paragraph four. All power invested in a supreme and sovereign manner. It's important that you notice the term all. He has all power. So if the church is ever found to have power, She must get it from Christ because Christ has all power, all right? And then she has given that power that she might duly and rightly exert and execute. That's a power that she has to exert and execute to fulfill his commands. Notice in paragraph eight, paragraph eight says, A particular church gathered and completely organized according to the mind of Christ Consists of officers and members and the officers appointed by Christ to be chosen and set apart by the church so called and gathered for the peculiar administration of ordinances and the execution of power or duty which he entrusts them with and calls them to the principal tasks here in this whole section of elders and bishops are going to be to minister the word and by their office. That's what they're called to do. They're called to administer ordinances. And they're also called to execute power or duty. And that phrase there, the execution of power or duty, is pointing to the bishop's or elder's responsibility to oversee discipline in the church. So for example, we have examples in church history of churches Now the power to well, let's go back to paragraph 7 It says the power and authority Which is needful for the church's carrying out Order in worship and what? Discipline is given to the church so the church has the power and authority to carry out worship and carry out discipline, however Our forefathers saw a relationship between the churches and the ministers in that a church that had power and authority to carry out worship and discipline, if that church did not have pastors, it couldn't actually execute the discipline on someone. Now, that's an interesting point, just a historical point, but they saw here that the church has the power to do things by Christ, but the actual execution of certain things could not happen unless she had ministers. So think back in the Bible, when Paul goes through Asia Minor on his first missionary journey, and on the way back through, they established what in all the churches? Elders in all the churches. Why? because you have a church there, but you've got to have some kind of leadership structure to oversee the actual execution of certain things. Imagine a church assembling with no leadership, and it wants to carry out discipline. I'm thinking it could kind of move into like a mob rule. You watch these TV shows, I don't know if you ever I was talking to I was talking to somebody this past week the lady that cut my hair We just got to chatting about you know, what do you what do you chat with the person? You cut your hair about you're trying to talk about the Lord and all we ended up talking about was the old TV show lost And some of you may remember that, all right? Worst series ever with the worst ending ever. I'm still bitter that I gave five seasons of my life to watch that. And the last season, they all walk off into a light. I'm like, come back. And where are you going? It can't be over. And I must qualify. I'm not recommending the season or the series, all right? But I'm still bitter. And where was I going with that? I have no idea. OK. So if you remember, those of you who saw it, you can imagine it's a plane that crashes on an island in the middle of nowhere. As the seasons go on, it gets weirder and weirder. But at the beginning, you think they're just a bunch of people crash on an island. And nobody's what? Nobody's in charge. So what begins to happen? Mob rule. They don't like one guy. He stole the toilet paper or whatever. Get a rope. We're going to hang this guy right here. Or this guy stole the food rations or whatever. And so it's just kind of crazed mob rule until they finally figure it out over a couple of seasons about who's going to be in charge for what. And then it all kind of begins to go south. But our forefathers saw that there was a need for some kind of structure. And so they say here. in paragraph 9, that the church is called and gathered, but they have leadership for the peculiar administration of ordinances and the execution of power or duty. Now, that's the last explicit mention of power. But notice something else. The implicit mention of authority or power is all throughout the section. Notice paragraph five. Just read it and I'll highlight some words. In the execution of this power wherewith he is so entrusted, the Lord Jesus calleth out of the world unto himself through the ministry of his word by his spirit, those that are given unto him by his father, that they may walk before him in all the ways of obedience. That implies power. It implies Christ's authority over the church, that she must walk after him in obedience. We're not just here for a free for all. We're not just here to do whatever we please. We are here to follow Christ in obedience to his commands. Obedience which he prescribes to them in his word. Those thus called, he does what? He commands. He doesn't suggest. He doesn't just offer ideas, like a larger version of helpful hints from Heloise or something like that. He's not just suggesting. He's commanding. He's commanding to walk together, that we walk together in particular societies or churches for their mutual edification, the due performance of that public worship, which he what? Requires of them. the world. All those things speak of power. And again, if we start with the premise that Christ has all power, then he can do this. He can command whatever he wants if he has all power. The institution of the church, paragraph 6, doesn't mention power explicitly, but notice what it does do. The members of these churches are saints by calling. Visibly manifesting and evidencing in and by their profession and walking their obedience again unto the call of Christ like a divine summons and Do willingly consent to walk together according to here's a phrase the appointment of Christ and this this concept of Christ Appointing things happens also in paragraph 8 and it happens again in Paragraph 9 that I'm appointing things It says also that they give themselves up to the Lord. Who do we give ourselves up to? To the Lord. You don't give yourselves up in the church to the deacons. You don't give yourselves up to the pastor. You give yourself to the Lord. So, children obey your parents, what? In the Lord, for this is right. It's not just a matter of blind obedience of parents. It's a giving up of yourself to the Lord in your obedience to earthly authorities. Yes. I will often tell my kids over the years, and we've had a lot of kids over a lot of years, I've lost the ability to count how many years of parenting we have. And by the way, we always do it right. I mean, we're just so good. It's just sick. No. It's sick that we're not. It's just so bad. But I'll tell the kids, the way you treat Mommy and Daddy, it's not the way I talk to Ben anymore, but he passed Mommy and Daddy stage last year probably. I still look at Bethany like this. But the way you treat mommy and daddy is what? It's indicative of the way you treat the Lord. If you disregard your mother and your father, it's highly likely that you disregard the Lord too. It's not a mystery. So he says here also, that by the will of God we now come together in professed subjection to the ordinances of the gospel. And the proof texts that are used here for this particular section are texts like Acts chapter 2, 41 and 42, devoting themselves to the apostle doctrine, prayer, breaking the bread, fellowship, these kinds of things. The things that kind of occupy church life. It's not just talking about the Lord's Supper and baptism. It is talking about the Lord's Supper and baptism, but they're not all it's talking about. We do a lot of things together, right? And when we do, we come together in subjection to these things. So the ordering of the church, paragraph seven, notice this, it says, to each of these churches, thus gathered, according to his mind, declared in his word, he's given all power and authority, which is in any way needful for their carrying on that order and worship and discipline, which he hath instituted for them to observe, with commands and rules for them, for the do and right exerting and executing of the power. We already mentioned paragraph eight, the appointment of Christ. Also at the end of paragraph eight, it says that he calls them to do certain things. Paragraph nine, the way appointed by Christ. And we'll come back to that paragraph next time. Paragraph 10 talks about the work of pastors being constantly to attend the service of Christ in his churches. Whose church? Christ's church. It's not my church. It's not your church. It's not our church. It's Christ's church. We use that language a lot. My church. I talk to other pastors. I talk about my church. And I have to catch myself and think, well, it's not my church. And you might tell somebody, your friends, oh, come visit my church. But it's not your church. All right. So we got to catch ourselves in our language. I understand what we're trying to say. But by the express order of the Lord Jesus, he says toward the end. He approved paragraph 11 he approved and called the approved and called by the church How can it how can a man be gifted and fitted by the Holy Spirit approved and called by the church? Because Christ has given the church what? Power to do it because he has what he has all power over that church And then in the end, it talks about discipline, censures, and government. These imply the idea of power from Christ according to the rule of Christ. We should wait upon Christ in the further proceeding of the church, and the church is simply executing the power that Christ has given to her. So I run through all that so that we can be thinking in terms of Christ having power and authority over the church. It is his rules that determine our life. It is his authority under which we submit when we come together. So next week when we come together and we look here at paragraph nine, the idea of appointing men to serve in the church must be done according to Christ's authority, Christ's power. It can't just be, you know, we want to do something. It has to be done according to his word, his will. All right, a little long. Comments, thoughts that are quick. Yeah, Tom? Just a quick follow-up. 40 matters a lot to God. It seems like, I don't know how many times in New Testament, Jesus himself says things like, all authority has been given to me. Sure. The people in the boat, you know, when Jesus comes to sea, they say, you know, this thing has authority over the waves, over these great forces of the earth that we can't even imagine the authority of, and so forth. So when we cite the authority of Christ, and we take that very, very seriously, It goes down to the individual people within the church, as well as everybody in the food chain, if I may use that term, in between. I mean, it's a gigantic concept in Scripture, going back to the very first part of the Old Testament. And especially that passage about, you know, he doesn't speak to us as the scribes and pharisees, but as one who has authority. One who has authority. Sure. That was one of the most distinctive things they recognized about Christ is his authority. And one of the things that churches today often seem to forget the quickest, that Christ has authority. Christ has not just authority, but he has all authority, all power. Well, let's pray and we'll be dismissed. Father, we thank you for the time in your word. Thank you for the time in our confession. We ask God that you would help us as we look through this subject regarding the church over the coming weeks. Pray that you would indeed direct our attention to the authority of Christ, the power of Christ over his church. Father, we ask that you would give us humble hearts, humble hearts to submit to whatever we find, ready minds to obey, ears that are open to hear. We thank you, Father, for your grace and your mercy. We pray for your blessing, your care of us as we move to a time of worship. We ask God your name be glorified and our hearts and souls be encouraged in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you all so much.