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Allow me to just take a minute
or two to say something. I want to say that, well, say
thank you first for the introduction by Pastor Earl Blackburn. But
I have to say to him also that I'll deal with him on some of
the things he said. I came here thinking that I would
be a stranger in a strange country. I had been here in 1991, but
still, that didn't make me much more at home, because I'm from
a far country with a different culture. But to my wonder and
to my joy, I found that there are other strangers who are on
the same pilgrimage as me. And so I find much warmth and
acceptance in the midst of the brethren here. And I want to
thank you and all those who were particularly involved in getting
me to come over here. It is a great opportunity for
fellowship, for learning, for me as well, and for refreshing
of my soul. And we live in a situation in
which like-minded brethren are few, and therefore you can understand
why I appreciate the time of fellowship here. Now, a number
of my fellow pastors back in Malaysia said to convey their
greetings to the President over here. And so I thought I should
publicly say this, that the pastors there and the churches send their
greetings. And through this interaction,
I hope we would come to know you better as well. Over the
past few years, more than 10 years now, we have been receiving
your newsletters. At first it was the RBMS news,
and now it's the APKAR news. Each time that we receive a copy
of the news, we would photocopy sets of them and distribute to
those who come to church. And this is in order that they
can take home, read through in the Sunday afternoon, and know
what is happening around the rest of the world. Now, equally,
we would value very much your prayers. We are aware that a
number of churches, many churches, have been praying for us for
many years now. And please continue to pray. Currently, I'm quite burdened
with the fact that one of our pastors is dying of cancer, Pastor
Lim. And since there's no further
opportunity to talk about myself after this, I thought I'll make
it known now. So if you can please remember
him in prayer. Remember Pastor Lim and Mrs Lim.
Remember the work in Malaysia, we are such a small group of
people and now one man seems to be about to be taken away
from us. Now, I would like to direct your
attention to two other passages of scripture. Two short passages
to John chapter 12 first. John's Gospel chapter 12. reading from verse 23 to verse
26 John chapter 12 starting from
verse 23 but Jesus answered them saying the hour has come that
the Son of Man should be glorified most assuredly I say to you unless
a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies it remains alone
But if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life
will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep
it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, let him
follow me, and where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone
serves me, him my father will honor. Another passage is Matthew's
Gospel, chapter 28. verse 18 Matthew 28 reading from verse
18 and Jesus came and spoke to them saying all authority has
been given to me in heaven and on earth go therefore and make
disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching
them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo,
I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. Now let us pray. Almighty God, we bow ourselves
before you in worship. We know that you are the sovereign
God who first created the heavens and the earth. You are the one
who continue to sustain all things you have created. We owe all
things that we are and all things that we have to you. And at this
time we wish to acknowledge your greatness and your goodness to
an undeserving people. You sent your only begotten son
to this world to live that perfectly righteous life that all of us
have failed to live. He died on the cross of Calvary
in order to redeem us from our sins. And we thank you, Lord,
that salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone. For left
to ourselves, O God, we would not be able to be saved at all. For there is nothing good in
us and there is nothing good that we can do that can save
us. And at this time we pray, Father,
that the glorious truths of the Gospel will burn afresh in our
hearts. By the power of Your Holy Spirit,
O God, rekindle that love that You first gave us. We pray, Father,
that Your Word will again fit our spiritually needy souls,
and grant that in all things the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ,
will be greatly glorified. For in His name we pray all this.
Amen. Church planting. This is a very
lofty theme. The biblical and theological
basis of church planting. This is a very lofty subject. How am I going to cover this
lofty subject in this one session? I will need at least three sessions. But then, given the time, we
must attempt to cover as best as we can what has been assigned. And what I shall do is to compress
three sermons into one. And the sermons, each part of
the sermon will be based on one passage. Now, to help us in following
this message, We imagine a great big oak tree standing in front
of us. Now, if we were to go down into
the ground and follow that great oak tree, we will realize that
the roots go deep into the ground. Now, if we were to follow the
tree upwards above the ground, we have the sturdy trunk. that
is firmly planted in the ground. And as we follow the trunk further
up, we find many branches spreading further and further. Now that
is the way we are going to open up the subject. the biblical
and theological basis of church planting. The first main point
that I wish to make is that church planting is rooted in the eternal
purpose of God. The passage is Ephesians chapter
1 verse 3 to verse 14. Now in that passage, Paul the
apostle revels in the thought that salvation had been planned
by God. from eternity. Now we must follow
the reasoning of the Apostle Paul very briefly, and to help
us in that we must give ourselves a number of pegs or mugs around
which we will hang our thoughts. Now first we consider the doctrine
of the covenant from eternity past. Now we come to what is
called the covenant of redemption. It is also known as the Eternal
Covenant. The Holy Trinity in eternity
past made an agreement between themselves to save for himself
a people. God already knew that the human
race would fall and the human race will be held responsible
for their fall. But God being merciful, made
a plan to want to save them. The father chose for himself
a people to be saved. The son agreed that in due time
he would come to take on human nature without sin, to die and
atone for his people. The Holy Spirit agreed that when
the time came, he would apply the saving benefits of Christ
to those chosen people. Now that is what is known as
the Covenant of Redemption. The agreement, that solemn agreement
made between the three persons of the Holy Trinity. Now that
covenant unfolds itself in history as the Covenant of Grace. The
Covenant of Praise is that solemn agreement by which the Triune
God agreed to be the God of His people and those people are chosen
to be His. The formula that summarises all
the promises of that covenant is, I will be their God and they
shall be my people. Now that Covenant of Grace unfolds
itself in history in various ways, in different periods. That has been called the different
administrations of the Covenant. Now each administration of the
Covenant is actually a manifestation of the same Covenant of Grace
that runs through the centuries. There is only one way of salvation. salvation is by grace through
faith in Christ alone. But you see that covenant of
grace was revealed in stages, in different ways, and the different
manifestations of that covenant of grace are known by different
names according to the dominant individual that was involved. People have regarded the covenant
administration as that of Adam, of Noah, of Abraham, of Moses,
of David. Now, the different manifestations
of the covenant culminated in the covenant at Sinai, the Sinaitic
covenant, which is also known as the Old Covenant. Now, the
Old Covenant with the coming of Christ was replaced by the
new covenant. And we read in Hebrews chapter
8, Hebrews chapter 8, the clear declaration that the old covenant
will be replaced by the new. In chapter 8 verse 6 we read,
but now he has obtained a more excellent ministry inasmuch as
he is also mediator of a better covenant which was established
on better promises. Verse 7, For if that first covenant
had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for the
second. Verse 13, in that he says, a new covenant, he has
made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete
and growing old is ready to vanish away. Now, we must understand
that the new covenant has done away with the old covenant. But
nevertheless, the new covenant is a continuation from the series
of the manifestation of the same covenant of grace. Salvation
was the same in the Old Testament time just as in the New. All those chosen people of God
in the Old Testament were saved by grace through faith in Christ
alone. How were they saved if Christ
had not come yet? Actually, their faith was prospective. They looked forward to the coming
Saviour. And that was how they were saved. Our faith is retrospective. We
look back to the Christ who has already come. Now all God's people
are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. There is no other way
of salvation. So you see now that the covenant
of grace runs through. the whole history of humankind.
And it will continue to be so until Jesus Christ returns to
this earth to judge the world. Now, we have the Covenant of
Redemption in eternity. It develops or unfolds itself
in history as the Covenant of Grace. Now, from the Covenant
of Grace, we have what is called the Covenant of the Church. Now
salvation is individualistic in the manner. How are we saved? God does not save people by families
or by communities. Now God does send revivals. There have been times when the
Holy Spirit moved mightily and through just one sermon in a
short period of time, many people are converted. If we were to
examine such revivals, we would realize that All those who are
truly converted have been converted individually. Each of them has
understood the message, each of them has been convicted of
his sins, and each of them has already turned to trust in Jesus
Christ for salvation. So although a lot of people,
many people may be saved in the same time, in the same place,
but nevertheless the manner of salvation has been individualistic. So we are safe in an individual
manner. But we must remember that it
is never God's plan that a safe person should remain an individual. So while the manner of salvation
is individualistic, the end of salvation is actually communal. Various passages of scripture
show to us that believers must be bound together as the family
of God, as the household of God. Now we do not have to consider
too far, but just to consider Matthew chapter 28 verse 18 to
verse 20, the passage that has been called the Great Commission.
Now in the Great Commission, we learn that we are to go into
the world and make disciples of all the nations. Now the Great
Commission does not stop there. It goes on further to say we
are to baptize them, in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit. Now what does it mean to baptise?
Baptism has a meaning and it also has a purpose. The meaning
is that externally we are showing what has happened to us internally
and spiritually. We are showing that we have been
born again of the Spirit of God. So the external rite of baptism
means something. It indicates, it symbolises what
has happened to us inwardly. But it also has a purpose. The
purpose is to incorporate the new believer into the membership
of the local church. Now, we must distinguish between
meaning and purpose and never confuse them. There is a relationship
between them, but they are nevertheless distinct. Now, all churches have
believed that the purpose of baptism is to incorporate the
person into membership of the Church. Now, once in the Church,
the individual is taught all the Lord's Commands, which is
the next part of the Great Commission. Now, if the individual believer
is not incorporated into the life of the Church, how is he
going to be taught all the Lord's Commands? So you see now that
salvation is individual in its manner, but the end of it is
communal. In 1 Corinthians 12, we are taught
that the church is the body of Christ, and the members of the
church are the members of that body. Now when one member is
hurt, the other members will be hurt as well. When one member
is honoured, the other members will rejoice. Now, that cannot
be just empathy. That cannot be just a mere external
superficial sharing in the joy or the suffering of others. It
has to be more than the mere sympathy or empathy that we find
in the world. Now, what is being described
in 1 Corinthians 12 is actually the interaction between members
of a body that are so integrally united that the hurting of one
part really hurts the whole body. And the honoring of one part
really is the honoring of the whole body. Now we must understand
that the communal aspect of salvation has also to be emphasised, but
emphasised correctly in its proper place. Now we do not say that
people are safe communally. We don't go to a tribal group
and say that if the headman is converted then the whole village
will automatically be regarded as converted. We don't go to
a household and say if the head of the family is converted, then
the rest of the family are regarded as converted. No. Salvation is
individualistic, but the end of salvation is communal. When
an individual is converted, he must be taught to be a member
of a church. He must be incorporated into
that membership and be taught life in that local church. Now, remember that a covenant
is a solemn agreement. A covenant by definition has
to be between more than one party. So in the eternal covenant, it
was an agreement between the three persons of the Holy Trinity. Now in the covenant of grace,
the triune God entered into that covenant with his people. Now that covenant is initiated
by God. The people whom he has chosen
has no power to enter into that covenant, but God, by His grace,
chose them to be His. He therefore is the one who sets
the terms and conditions of that covenant. But we must remember
that although God is the one who initiates the covenant, and
He is the one who sets the terms and conditions of that covenant,
it requires to be responded to A covenant is valid only when
all the parties involved are in agreement with it. Now, in
a marriage covenant, for example, we do not go and grab hold of
a young lady and say, I swear to be your husband for the rest
of your life, but the lady just looks at you and she does not
respond. Now that will not constitute
a valid marriage. The other party involved in that
covenant must respond. And of course, the analogy is
not perfect. In the marriage relationship,
the relationship is entered into by two parties that are equal. But in the case of the covenant
of grace, God is the one who initiates and God is the one
who has the right to set the terms and the conditions. But
nevertheless, two parties are involved, and all the parties
concerned must show their consent. A response is therefore needed. In the Old Testament, the response
of the nation of Israel was shown in elaborate ceremonies. Now take an example. Turn with
me to Exodus chapter 24. Now, the nation had arrived at
the foot of Mount Sinai, and they affirmed the covenant that
God had entered in with them. In verse 3 of Exodus chapter
24, we read, So Moses came and told the people all the words
of the Lord, and all the judgments, and all the people answered with
one voice, and said all the words which the Lord had said we will
do. So they publicly affirmed that they will do what the Lord
wanted them to do. But that it was still not good
enough. What we read in verse 4 is, And Moses wrote all the
words of the Lord, and he rose early in the morning and built
an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according
to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the
children of Israel who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed
peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half the
blood and put it in basins and half the blood he sprinkled on
the altar. Verse 7. Then he took the book of the
covenant and read in the hearing of the people And they said,
all that the Lord has said we will do and be obedient. And
Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, this
is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with
you according to all these words. Now what we see there is that
the nation had to make a public affirmation that they were willingly
entering into that covenant. They were willingly accepting
the terms and stipulations of God in that covenant. And the
public affirmation was done in the context of a solemn worship
service. Now this continued to be the
practice of the people of God in the Old Testament all the
way through to the New Testament. And that we will show in a moment. But what we want to show is that
All the time there was a solemn ceremony involved when the people
of God publicly affirmed their acceptance of the covenant terms
and conditions. There was this response needed
to accept the terms set by God. Now we turn to just one more
passage, and that is Nehemiah chapter 9. Nehemiah chapter 9. Before the Book of Psalms, before
Job, we have Nehemiah chapter 9. Now in Nehemiah chapter 9,
we have the situation in which the exiled Jews had returned
to Jerusalem. And in chapter 9, verse 1, we
read, Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month, the children
of Israel were assembled with fasting in sackcloth and with
dust on their heads. Then those of Israelite lineage
separated themselves from all foreigners, and they stood and
confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.
And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the
Law of the Lord their God for one fourth of the day, and for
another fourth they confessed and worshipped the Lord their
God. Now you see what they were doing. They were actually engaging
in a solemn worship service in which the Law of God was read.
Then look at verse 38 of Nehemiah chapter 9. And it says, and because
of all this, we make a sure covenant and write it. Our leaders and
our Levites and our priests seal it. Then chapter 10, now those
who place their seal on the document were Nehemiah the governor and
so on and so on. So what we are seeing there is
that the nation came, and in a worship service, the laws of
God are read, the conditions, the terms are spelled out to
them, and they publicly affirm agreement, and the Book of Covenant
was signed by the leaders. Now that is what I would regard
as the covenant of the Church. It is the response of God's people
to the terms and conditions set by God in the covenant that He
has initiated. Now, as we move on to the New
Testament, we see that there is no explicit mention of the
affirmation of the covenant. But remember that scripture does
not have to teach by explicit statements. And remember that
the covenant of grace runs through the whole of the Bible. While
there are differences in the different administrations of
the covenant, we must remember they are at different administrations
of the same one covenant of grace. There is therefore a certain
continuity that runs through the Bible. There is a continuity
between the Old and the New Testament. Now, that continuity of the Bible
gives to us the unity of the Bible. The Bible is one book.
It speaks with one voice. And all of it is God's Word to
us. There is no contradiction in
its parts. Now, the continuity of The Bible,
between the Old and the New Testament, gives rise to what we may call
the form of the Church. Now, in the different administrations
of the Covenant, God may have required his people to show forth
their worship in different ways. But in all those ways, God was
showing forth also all the while that they could not be saved.
by any other way except by grace through faith in the coming Saviour.
The blood of the Lamb must be shed for the cleansing of their
sins. Now, when we come to the New
Testament, we see a fuller revelation of that way of salvation. But
it is the new expression of the one covenant of grace that has
run through the whole Bible. And since it is still the same
covenant of grace, we would expect that the people of God had also
affirmed their agreement to God's conditions and stipulations. And although there is no explicit
statement that New Testament churches were founded by people
coming together to affirm the covenant or to enter into a covenant
with God in a public manner. We nevertheless see indications. Now, if you turn with me to 2
Corinthians 6, you will see the words of the covenant of grace. being applied to the Corinthian
Christians. We are told in 2 Corinthians
6 verse 16, And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?
For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said,
I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God
and they shall be my people. And similarly in Hebrews Chapter
8, we read in Hebrews. Chapter 8, verse 10. For this
is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after
those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their mind
and write them on their hearts and I will be their God and they
shall be my people. Now, the New Testament community
of God's people are referred to as or in the words of the
covenant that God had promised he would establish. Now, we believe
that God's people are safe in the same way as his people in
the Old Testament. If the Old Testament community
of God's people had to affirm their agreement to the terms
of salvation, surely we can expect that the New Testament communities
of God's people must affirm their agreement as God's people. Now, it is with that understanding
that we come to see the greater significance of a number of New
Testament passages. Now, consider 2 Corinthians 8. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians
8. Now, the Apostle Paul had collected
a gift from the churches that were scattered in Macedonia.
And we are told in 2 Corinthians 8, verse 1, Moreover, brethren,
we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches
of Macedonia, that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance
of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their
liberality. for a bare witness that according
to their ability, yes and beyond their ability, they were freely
willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive
the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.
Then in verse 5, there is this significant verse, and not only
as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and
then to us by the will of God. Now how do you understand that
verse? Now people have different understanding of that verse maybe,
but as we consider the old commentators and how the earlier generation
of Christians understood that verse, we find a certain agreement
between the majority of them that this is actually an indication
of the covenant relationship that the believers of the churches
entered into. Now, whenever there is any mention
of the churches covenanting together, they quoted this verse. And so,
one way, therefore, of understanding this verse more fully is to see
that the Apostle Paul was saying that each of the Macedonian churches
were actually formed by believers who not only gave themselves
to the Lord, in other words, covenanted together as a local
church by vowing to uphold the beliefs that had been taught
to them. But at the same time, they also agreed to uphold all
that the apostles taught them. Now, the apostles were the founding
pastors of those churches. And when they first founded the
churches, they would have entered into a pastor-flock relationship
with them. As they moved on to plant other
churches, they continued to write and to send people to minister
to them. That relationship was sustained. And so when we come to a passage,
a verse like chapter 7, verse 3, we come to see the deeper
significance of what is being said. The Apostle Paul in protesting
to the Corinthian Christians said in verse 3 of chapter 7,
I do not say this to condemn, for I have said before that you
are in our hearts to die together and to live together. Now is
this not what is involved when a group of people vow to bind
themselves together as brothers and sisters in Christ? We stand
together as a church, we fall together as a church. Now, what
I'm trying to establish is that there is a strong indication
that the New Testament churches were founded by the same method
that the Old Testament people of God entered into covenant. Now, in the Old Testament, they
entered into covenant with one another to be bound to God's
laws. in solemn ceremonies of worship. In the New Testament, we would
expect that they also entered into covenant in solemn worship
services. Now, as we study the history
of the founding of churches, immediately after the Reformation,
with the recovery of many important Bible doctrines, we discover
that many of the independent churches were actually founded
by believers voluntarily coming together in solemn worship and
entering into covenant. Now, that is significant. Others,
more able, have already compiled together the documents relating to how those
churches immediately after the Reformation covenant together.
And so here I will not say more beyond this. But what we want
to say is this, the covenant that God made within the three
persons in eternity unfolded in history as a covenant of grace
which was shown or manifested in a New Testament in the form
of local churches, and each local church appeared to have been
formed by believers coming together and entering into covenant one
with another and with their God. Now if that is the right understanding,
then we see now the great significance involved whenever the New Testament
touches or teaches on the unity of that body, the local church. Take, for example, 1 Corinthians
chapter 5. Now, there was a discipline case
here, and the apostle Paul says in verse 4 of 1 Corinthians 5,
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered
together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus
Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of
the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord
Jesus. Now, if the local church were
to be made up of believers who loosely came together and there
was no definite explicit membership, if they had not covenanted together,
then this verse will lose its power, this verse will lose its
significance. Whereas if we understand the
New Testament churches as being made up of believers who voluntarily
covenanted together in the solemn worship service, then this verse
begins to take on deeper significance. Then look at verse 12 and verse
13 of that same chapter. It says, For what have I to do
with judging those who are outside? Do you not judge those who are
inside? But those who are outside, God judges. Therefore, put away
from yourself the evil person. Now the outside and the inside,
the contrast there cannot be the physical sanctuary of the
church and outside the church. It cannot be that, because we
know that in the sanctuary, in the worship, in the congregation,
There were always believers and non-believers together. We know
that because in 1 Corinthians 14, the apostle, in discussing
the place of tongues and prophecy, he mentions in verse 22. Therefore, 1 Corinthians 14 verse
22, Therefore, tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe,
but to unbelievers. But prophesying is not for unbelievers,
but for those who believe. Therefore, if the whole church
comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and
there come in those who are uninformed, or unbelievers, will they not
say that you are out of your mind? Who are these uninformed
people and who are these unbelievers? Are they a reference to the same
group of people? Some say yes, some say no. But
I'm going to argue that they are a reference to two different
groups of people. But however you look at them,
you discover that this group or these two groups are different
from the believers. Now because the two descriptions are repeated in the two verses,
there seems to be a deliberate indication here that there is
this group known as unbelievers, there is this other group known
as the uninformed, then there is this other group who are the
believers. Now if the two terms were referenced to just one group,
and if it's mentioned just once, we may say that is a possibility.
But because it is repeated deliberately in the two verses that are next
to one another, it seems clear that the two terms are referenced
to two different groups, and including the believers, we have
three groups in the Church. So what we are saying then is
that even in the time of the apostles, The congregations were
already made up of mixed groups of people. There were the believers,
there were the non-believers, and there were the uninformed,
who were most probably visiting believers, believers from elsewhere,
or who were seeking and were not totally unbelievers, but
perhaps, you know, attached to the Church in some ways, but
have not become members of the Church yet. So what we are saying
then is that even in the time of the Apostle, there was an
explicit membership, there was clear-cut membership, such that
when a person is excommunicated, he is regarded as outside and
no more inside that membership. So the outside and the inside,
the contrast is not between the geographical location in the
sanctuary and outside of the sanctuary, but rather it is an
indication of the two groups of people, those who are actually
members and those who are actually not members. Now, the continuity
between the Old and the New Testament gives rise to the form of the
Church. But there is also a certain discontinuity
between the Old Testament and the New Testament. And Hebrews
8 clearly shows us that in the New Covenant community, all the
members without exception are people who are regenerate. And
it follows, therefore, that the membership of the Church should
consist of those who show a credible profession of faith. We may not
be able to tell for sure whether a person is safe or not, but
nevertheless we must exercise judgment to determine whether
or not that person's profession of faith is believable or credible. Now, it is from a consideration
of the development of the doctrine of the covenant that we come
to this concept of the gathered community of God's people, in
which there is this covenant relationship among those who
are members of the Church. and the members in the new covenant
community are all believers. Now it would not be quite complete
if we were to stop there and so very quickly we will mention
that this covenant community, each local church, a covenant
community, together will be sanctified and in due time the whole Universal
Church will be ready to meet the Lord in Heaven. So in Ephesians
chapter 5, we read these words, verse 25, verse 24, Therefore,
just as the Church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be
subject to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love
your wives just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself
for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing
of water by the Word, that he might present her to himself
a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
but that she should be holy and without blemish. Now, we know
that the word Church may be a reference to the Universal Church of Christ,
or it may be a reference to many local congregations. While here
the word is used in reference to the Universal Church, we must
remember that the local church is not far from the thought of
the apostle. He was writing this letter to
a local church after all. And the universal church shows
itself in the world as local congregations. And it is as if
each local congregation is taught the Word of God in season, out
of season, it is as the people of God grow in the grace and
the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, that the
universal Church of Jesus Christ becomes sanctified more and more
until the time we are ready to be gathered together in heaven.
So church planting is rooted in the eternal purpose of God.
Now the second main point I wish to make is that church planting
is grounded in the atoning death of Jesus Christ. And for this
we look at John's Gospel chapter 12. Now in John's Gospel chapter
12, we read in verse 23 or verse 24, The Lord saying, Most assuredly
I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground
and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces much
grain. Now the Lord goes on to refer
to those who will be his followers, who will serve him. But here in verse 24, he was
referring to himself, saying that soon he would die on the
cross of Calvary and rise again. Now, the death of Jesus Christ
was foretold in the Old Testament. The prophets foretold that the
Messiah, the Saviour, will come. Then He will die on the cross. He will lay down His life for
His people. His blood will be shed for the
cleansing of their sins. And when the Lord Jesus Christ
came, He also foretold His coming death. And here is a foretelling
of His coming death. So Christ's death was foretold. But then the time came when Christ
really died and rose from the dead. So the grain of wheat fell
to the ground. And in his death, the death of
the grain, many grains are being produced. And Jesus Christ, by
his death, brings about many sons. The seed of Abraham has
been buried in the ground and in the process it has produced
many seeds. So we see now that Christ's death
is already fulfilled. All the prophecy concerning his
coming death has now been fulfilled. Now we come to the next stage.
Christ's death has to be applied and the Holy Spirit is the one
who applies the saving benefits of Christ's death to God's chosen
people. So when we come to Acts chapter
2, to the day of Pentecost, we come to realize that this is
yet another stage in the unfolding of God's plan. Christ's death
is an accomplished fact. What now? Now what now? The disciples of Christ waited
for what the Lord Jesus Christ had promised in chapter 1. It says there in verse 5, So
on the day of Pentecost, the apostles were waiting. They were
waiting. Now, although it is not mentioned
when, the promise of the Lord in Acts
1.5 that will be fulfilled. We need not draw the conclusion
that it wasn't told the disciples. In fact, the indication is that
the disciples knew what the Lord was talking about and they knew
when the Holy Spirit will be poured upon them. And that is
why when they were gathered on the day of Pentecost, They were gathered in prayer,
in expectation. And when the Holy Spirit was
poured down upon them, a new age was inaugurated, a new age
dawned. The New Testament age came into
being, and the New Testament Church was born on that day. So the Jerusalem Church, the
mothers of the New Testament churches, was born on that day. On that day, Peter the Apostle
stood up and quoted Joel's prophecy. And Joel's prophecy is contained
in Acts chapter 2 verse 17 to verse 21. Now how do we understand
this prophecy? Or how may we understand this
prophecy? One way of looking at it is to
see that there are three parts. Now the first part is found in
verse 17 to verse 18. Now this is a reference to the
beginning of the New Testament age in which signs and wonders
would be seen in the people of God. Not necessarily in every
individual in the Church, but nevertheless it is in the people
of God at the beginning of the New Age. Then in verse 19 to
verse 20, we have signs and wonders shown, this time not in the people
of God, but this time in the heavenly realms. And that would
correspond with the time when the Son of God will return to
judge the world. The language is the same as the
prophecies of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 24 and other
similar passages. And if we see, therefore, that
Joel's prophecy is being applied to the whole New Testament age,
in which the beginning of that age is marked by signs in the
people of God, and it will end with signs in the heavenly realm,
then we come to see that the period in between is described
by verse 21, and it shall come to pass that whoever calls on
the name of the Lord shall be saved. That then is one helpful
way for us to understand Joel's prophecy, that in this gospel
age, with the first coming of Christ and ending with his second
coming, we are seeing the saving benefits of Christ being applied
to all God's people. As the Gospel goes forth, the
Holy Spirit makes use of the preached word to convict, to
convince, and to bring to salvation God's people. Church planting,
therefore, is grounded in the atoning death of Jesus Christ.
Now, we move on to the third main point, and that is, church
planting is demanded by the Great Commission. Now the Great Commission
is truly great, but there is no time for us to discuss that. What we want to point out is
that it is a command to the local church and not to individuals,
not to para-church organisations, not to any other bodies. Now, why do we say that it is
a command to the local church? Now we know that the Great Commission
was given to the apostles immediately. The apostles were the recipient
of that command. But you see, anything that was
given to the apostles that was not tied to their peculiar office
or to their peculiar circumstances has to be regarded as given to
the subsequent New Testament churches. Let me put it in another
way. If the Lord were to give a command
or a teaching to the apostles which was peculiar to the apostolic
office, then we cannot claim that command as saying that it
is for us. If the command or the teaching
is peculiar to the circumstances of that time, We cannot say that
that practice or that teaching is normative and it is meant
for us. But if the command is given to the apostles and it
is not bound to the unique office of the apostles or to the unique
circumstances of the time, we are to look upon that command
or that teaching as meant for local churches after them. The
reason is because the apostles were actually representatives
of the New Testament Church. Now, in Revelation chapter 21,
we read of the New Jerusalem, which is the picture of the glorified church. And in
verse 14 we read, And the wall of the city had twelve foundations,
and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Now this is mentioned in connection with verse 12. And also she had a great and
high wall, with twelve gates and twelve angels of the gates,
and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes
of the children of Israel. So you see now that the heavenly
Jerusalem pictured for us here has walls in which the names
of the 12 tribes are written. Now this is symbolic of all God's
people in the Old Testament time. Then it has foundations in which
the names of the 12 apostles are written. Now this is symbolic
and representation of all God's people in the New Testament time.
Now the heavenly Jerusalem, the perfected Church of Jesus Christ
will be made up of believers from the Old Testament as well
as from the New Testament period. So you see now that anything
that was given to the apostles must be taken as given to the
New Testament churches. After them, the apostles were
actually representatives of the New Testament churches. Now we
see this worked out in many passages. Take the case of Matthew chapter
18. In Matthew chapter 18, we read
of how the Lord Jesus Christ taught the apostles discipline in the church. And
we are told in verse 15, Moreover, if your brother sins against
you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If
he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will
not hear, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of
two or three witnesses every word may be established. And
if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the Church. But if he refuses
even to hear the Church, let him be to you like a heathen
and a tax collector." Now the question is, where was the Church
at that time? The Church as we know it later,
as revealed in the New Testament, wasn't in existence yet. And
yet, All churches up to today refer to this passage and use
this passage as normative. This passage teaches us how to
exercise discipline in matters of private offence. And we instinctively
know that this passage is meant for us, although it was given
to the apostles. The reason is because we recognise
that the apostles were actually representatives of the New Testament
churches. so that any teaching or command
given to them was meant for the churches founded later. Now,
when we take the Lord's Supper, we come to understand now that
what was instituted in the presence of the apostles were actually
meant for local churches later. That is why today local churches
celebrate the Lord's Supper. instituted in the immediate presence
of the Apostles and we understand it to be meant for the local
churches today and that is why the Apostle Paul can say concerning
the Lord's Supper in 1 Corinthians 11 verse 23, for I received from
the Lord that which I also delivered to you that the Lord Jesus on
the same night in which he was betrayed took bread and so on. Now the Apostle Paul could say
that He was delivering to the church what was delivered to
him. He being an apostle, he having
met with Jesus Christ, he was giving what was given to him
to the local church. Now, we believe that the local
church has only two ordinances, special ordinances. Some of us
call them the sacraments. Now, what are they? Unlike the
Roman Catholics, we do not believe in many sacraments, five or seven
or however many they claim. But we believe in only two, baptism
and the Lord's Supper. We have already considered the
Lord's Supper. It was instituted in the immediate
presence of the apostles and is therefore regarded as given
to the Church. Now, what about baptism, the
other special ordinance? Where is it found, taught? We
find it in the Great Commission. The Great Commission was given
to the apostles and therefore it is meant for the local churches. And in the Great Commission we
have baptism, the other special ordinance. So you see now that
baptism as well as the Lord's Supper are meant to be ordinances
of local churches because they were given to the apostles and
therefore to us as well, the local churches. Now we see now
that when we look at it that way, we discover that the Great
Commission is actually a command to the local churches. It's never
a command to individuals. It was given to the apostles
and therefore it's meant for local churches. Now of course
we know that local churches are made up of individuals. They
are individuals who have been converted, have been baptised,
they have voluntarily covenanted together to worship God, to uphold
His ordinances. Now, such individuals covenanted
together have been given the Great Commission. They have now
to obey what the Lord has commanded. Now, what are they commanded
to obey? We have learnt already that it
is actually a command to plant other local churches, As we examined
the original Greek of the Great Commission, we find that there
is the main clause, make disciples of all the nations. And this
is backed up by three participles, namely going, baptizing, and
teaching. Now we see that baptizing has
a meaning and a purpose, and the purpose is to incorporate
the new disciples into membership of the local church. We have
seen also that teaching involves teaching all the Lord's Commands
and not just some or part of the Lord's Commands. And that
is a long-term process that can properly be carried out only
in the context of the local church. Then consider another point.
We have to go and make disciples. And it is of all the nations,
all ethnic groups, wherever they are. So as we go and evangelize
and preach the gospel, people are converted. Now, if they are
near the Mother Church, we can bring them back and incorporate
them into the Mother Church. But what if they are a thousand
miles away? How are we to incorporate them
into the Mother Church? It would not be practical, it
would not be possible even. Now, how are they going to be
taught the Lord's commands? And that is why we believe that
the Great Commission is a commission to plant other local churches. When people are converted elsewhere,
they are gathered together, they are covenanted together as local
churches. So we have established these
two points under the Great Commission. It is a command to the local
church to plant other local churches. Now it is a command so understood
by the apostles and the early church. As we study through the
New Testament, we discover that that was indeed the case. Remember
the Apostle Paul? In Acts chapter 13, in the church
of Antioch, he was one of the leaders of the church there.
And the Holy Spirit said to set him aside and Barnabas to be
missionaries. And Paul therefore went around
in his four missionary journeys to plant churches. Now, perhaps
some of you have pricked up your ears and say, did I say four?
Yes, indeed, I said four. Now, some of our Bibles have
a map and there it shows Paul's four missionary journeys. Which
is the fourth one? The fourth one was when he was
taken bound to go to Rome. Now, Paul was clearly told by
the Lord beforehand that he would go to Rome to preach the gospel.
And when Agabus tried to prevent him to go to Jerusalem, Paul
already knew it. But he knew also that it was
God's will that he should be bound in Jerusalem. And to be
taken bound, preaching all the way to Rome. So that is his fourth
missionary journey. But that is an aside. But what
we are saying is that throughout, wherever, whenever possible,
the Apostle Paul gathered the disciples together into local
churches. It might be a time-consuming
process. In Ephesus, when we worked out
the time that he was there, we discovered that he was most probably
there for around about three and a half years. In Thessalonica,
he was there only two weeks, and the church was founded. Whether
long or short, whether easy or difficult, the fact is that the
Apostle Paul constantly went back and followed up with the
work that had been done, with the aim of building up those
disciples to the point when they were a sufficient number and
they were sufficiently mature to be constituted as local churches. So we read of this in Acts chapter
14, verse 23. starting from verse 21, And when
they had preached the gospel to that city, and made many disciples,
they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the
souls of the disciples, exalting them to continue in the faith,
and saying, We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom
of God. Verse 23, So when they had appointed
elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commanded
them to the Lord, in whom they had believed. So you see in this
passage, the approach of the Apostle Paul, his method, he
went around preaching and making disciples. So they were taught
and then they were constantly gathering together. The Apostle
would write to them, send people to visit them. In his next missionary
journey, he would come back to them, or on the way back he would
come back to them. And then he, as he built up the
group in numbers and in maturity, the time came when they were
constituted as churches and officers were also appointed for those
churches. That then was the pattern practiced
by the Apostle Paul. It was the method practiced by
the church in Antioch. But what about the other apostles?
What about the church in Jerusalem, the Mother Church? They didn't
seem to be doing that. But as we study the scripture
more carefully, we discover that they were actually doing the
same thing. In 1 Corinthians 9, we have Paul there defending
his apostleship and his ministry. And in verse 5 we read, Do we
have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles,
the brothers of the Lord, and keepers Now who is this Kephas
or Cephas? It was Simon Peter. Simon Peter
was travelling around with his wife. And what was he doing travelling
around? And it wasn't just Simon Peter.
The brothers as well. Other brethren were travelling
around with their wives. Now were they just travelling
around for fun? Certainly not. The context showed
that Paul was referring to ministry. How were they travelling around
in a haphazard manner? Again, the indication is that
they were not. They were actually very systematic.
Their travelling was planned. And we see indications of this
in the Acts of the Apostles as well. You turn with me to Acts
chapter 9. Acts chapter 9. In Acts chapter 9 verse 31. It says
that then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee and Samaria
had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the
Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied. Now suddenly there were so many
churches scattered throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria. Where
did they come from? Now remember on the day of Pentecost,
3,000 souls were added to the existing membership which numbered
probably about 200. Now what happened to them after
that? They stayed around, they gathered together daily, out
of the spontaneity of the situation, they worshipped God, continuing
steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, in prayer, in the breaking
of bread, in fellowship. Then what happened? A number
of them, many of them would have returned to wherever they came
from, because Pentecost was a time when all the Jews and Hellenist
Jews, Greek-speaking Jews and others, proselytes, came from
various parts of the world. to worship in Jerusalem. So since
the feast was over, they would have returned. Wherever they
returned, they would have gathered as churches. And then, wherever
they went, they would have been worshipping, I mean, preaching,
gossiping the Gospel. And that is what we find in verse
32. Sorry, in chapter 8 of Acts of the Apostles, verse 4. And
subsequently persecution came and scattered the people. And
we read in verse 4, Therefore those who were scattered went
everywhere preaching the word. And you know that the word used
for preaching there can best be translated as gossiping the
word. But then with Philip it was different.
Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached
Christ there. And the word used is different.
This is authoritative preaching. It is a proclamation of the gospel
by a herald. So Philip was actually an official
preacher of the gospel sent out by the church in Jerusalem. And
you see him going down to Samaria preaching and he came back to
report to the church in Jerusalem and the Jerusalem church sent
two apostles to find out whether the Samaritans have really been
converted. So you see now that as believers
scattered either involuntarily, when they went back after the
Feast of Pentecost, or by force, scattered by persecution, wherever
they went, they gossiped the Gospel. And when they gossiped
the Gospel, people were converted. And at the same time, official
preachers, people from the Church, were being sent out to minister
to these scattered believers, and also to preach to non-believers.
And in that way, local churches were planted. And that is why
when we come to chapter 9 verse 31, we are not surprised to see
that churches were already scattered throughout all Judea, Galilee
and Samaria. And further indication of the
systematic planned way in which church planting was engaged in
by the New Testament Church is to be found in that same chapter.
In chapter 9, Acts chapter 9 verse 32, And it came to pass as Peter
went through all parts of the country that he also came down
to the saints which dwell in Lydda. We have already seen that
Peter was sent out by the church in Jerusalem to minister to the
scattered brethren to found churches. Now we see that in verse 38,
And since Lida was near Joppa, and the disciples had heard that
Peter was there, they sent two men to him, imploring him not
to delay in coming to them. This is again not a chance hearing. Read the record carefully. They
knew Peter was coming. And they heard that he was already
in Joppa. He had arrived. And his next
visit would be to them. And so they quickly sent men
to Joppa to say, please don't delay, come. And you see therefore
that church planting was more systematically done than is commonly
realised. Now, we have seen how the church
in Antioch engaged in church planting. We have seen how the
church in Jerusalem engaged in church planting. What about all
those churches that were planted? There are indications also that
those churches that were planted were similarly planting other
churches. And that was how the churches,
the seven churches in Asia came about. That was how the churches
in Galatia came about. When you study the missionary
journeys of the apostles, you discover that In the Acts of
the Apostles, he went to only seven places in Asia, but in
the Book of Revelation, we find that there are seven churches.
When we study the Book of Acts, we discover he went to places
like Colossae, but later we discover that there were churches in Rhodesia
and various other such places. So what we are saying then is
that the other churches were similarly active in propagating
the Gospel. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. We read in verse 2. To the Church
of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ
Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on
the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours. Now
how do you understand this passage? Now a lot of people would say
this letter was written to the Corinthians in particular and
in general is addressed to all the churches everywhere in the
world. So by way of application it is
meant for us as well today. But there is another way of looking
at it. We must see here that Paul was writing to the church
at Corinth But he was aware that there were other believers scattered
around Corinth, in the region of Achaia. And these churches
were being ministered to or pastored over by the church in Corinth. That was why the letter was sent
to the church in Corinth, so that it could be delivered also
to the satellite congregations. Now, we have support of that.
in Colossians 4, verse 16, that that was the practice of the
churches at that time. Colossians 4, verse 16. We are told there, now when this
epistle is read among you, see that it is read also in the church
of the Laodiceans, and that you likewise read the epistle from
Laodicea. Alright? So since this is recorded,
In the Bible, we see that that was the practice. We come back
to 1 Corinthians 1, verse 2, you discover that there is this
better way of understanding that passage. Okay? Now, we look at
2 Corinthians 1. 2 Corinthians 1. Look at verse
1. It says, in 2 Corinthians 1, verse 1, the second part. to the Church of God which is
at Corinth with all the saints who are in all Achaia. Now you
see the parallel involved here. The first letter was written
to the church in Corinth and the Corinthian church was told
that it was meant also to all the saints who are scattered
elsewhere. And in the second letter it was
again to the same church but this time we are told that it
is to the saints who are in all Achaia. Now you put the two together,
is it not reasonable to say that in the first letter, the letter
to the church there was meant for the scattered brethren in
Achaia? There were actually scattered
brethren being ministered to by the church in Corinth. The
Corinthian church was actually engaging in church planting work. There were satellite works all
around that region. So now, when you put all these
facts together, you come to realise, phew, the New Testament Church
was more active in church planting than we realised. Then you come
to realise also, phew, they were more systematic in their approach
than we realised. Now we must draw to a close.
Church planting is rooted in the eternal purpose of God. Church
planting is grounded in the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Church planting is demanded by
the Great Commission. Now, nothing redounds to the
glory of God more than the planting of churches. That is why, remembering
that the Universal Church manifests itself in this world as local
congregations, that is why we are not surprised when the Apostle
Paul finishes the doctrinal part of his letter to the Ephesians
with this word, verse 21. To him be glory in the church
by Christ Jesus in all generations forever and ever. Amen. So you see now that there is
this wonderful plan that has been unfolded. The Apostle Paul
revel in the word of God, the revelation that had been given
to him. He began the letter to the Ephesians by meditating upon
this great wondrous truth of how God, from eternity past,
had already planned for people to be saved, and how it was working
out in his time, and how it was being applied in the planting
of churches, and so he ended with that topology. Now, in my
very inadequate manner, I've been trying to help you capture
a glimpse of the glory of the revelation of God. It is too
lofty a theme to cover in just one talk, It is too lofty a thing
to be handled by a man of so limited gifts. But we can rejoice
and revel in the truth that has been revealed to us. And we can
end with the words of the Apostle Paul whom we have been quoting.
In 1 Corinthians 2, verse 6, he says, We speak wisdom among those who
are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers
of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom
of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before
the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age
knew, for had they known, they would not have crucified the
Lord of Glory. But as it is written, eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
nor have entered into the heart of men the things which God has
prepared for those who love Him. Amen.
The Biblical and Theological Basis of Church Planting
Series Church Planting
Dr. Poh Boon-Sing is Pastor of Damansara Baptist Church in Kaula Lampur, Malaysia. He also edits the online magazine, "Gospel Highway."
These messages on church planting were given at the annual meeting of ARBCA (The Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America) on March 6-8, 2001.
| Sermon ID | 3221011501110 |
| Duration | 1:19:57 |
| Date | |
| Category | Special Meeting |
| Bible Text | John 12:23-26; Matthew 28:18-20 |
| Language | English |
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