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Welcome, everyone. Welcome to
the delegates. Glad to see that you men have
made it safely and arrived here in sunny California. We're thankful
to have some nice weather for you over these next couple days.
Welcome also to the members of the congregation who were able
to make it this afternoon, and hopefully more can come this
evening. I'd like to begin by singing from psalter number 223. This is an office bearers conference,
and part of it has to do with the government of the church,
and thus we sing this versification of Psalm 82 in connection with
that, though it's entitled Responsibility of Civil Officers. We recognize
that the Old Testament civil officers point us to the office
bearers of the church of Christ. So let's sing the three stanzas,
all three of number 223. When foolish preachers gather,
The unseen God is near. When rulers fear their rulers,
Their judgment judges fear. ♪ To justice for the helpless ♪
♪ Be your faith's cause we believe ♪ when judges do forsake. The more
their stones are plowed, the more their foundation of our God. The need to make
us lesser, for we, like men, must die. The rights of our Eternal
God that are law-be-given. Let's open with prayer. Our Father which art in heaven,
we confess that Thou art the Sovereign over the universe.
And that Thou hast given to Thy Son, Jesus Christ, all glory,
might, and dominion. For He first humbled Himself,
came into this world, and was obedient even unto the death
of the cross. But having accomplished our salvation,
Thou hast exalted Him. Thou hast raised Him up from
the dead and made Him to sit at Thine own right hand, making
Him King over everything. And thus our confession In this
prayer is that Jesus Christ is the King of kings and the Lord
of lords who rules over all things with absolute might and perfect
control. And thus, we look to Jesus Christ
as a church, as His body, as His bride. We look to Christ
as the one who gathers, defends, and preserves His church throughout the whole history
of this world. And it's with this in mind that
we pray that Thou will grant Thy blessing upon our churches. We pray that Thou will bless
the individual congregations that are represented here today
with office bearers coming from different congregations throughout
Classus West. We pray that Thou will continue
to care for each one of our congregations, those visible manifestations
of the overall body of Christ. We pray, too, for our denomination
of churches and ask that Thou will continue to guide us and
sustain us. Especially in that we've gone
through many difficulties as a denomination. Truly, we have
had to pass through the waters and walk in
the midst of fires in recent months and especially in the
year that has now passed. And we pray that Thou will continue
to grant us healing. But more importantly, we pray,
make us faithful unto Thee and to Thy Word. Keep us from ever
departing, O Lord. May we remain committed to the
truths of the Reformed faith as they are summarized in our
Reformed confessions. And now, Heavenly Fathers, as
we gather together on this afternoon, we give Thee thanks for this
opportunity to enjoy the communion of the saints
as we gather here in the sanctuary to hear speeches on various topics
concerning the church. May these be edifying for us
who are in attendance. And to that end, bless the four
speakers. Give them grace as they Seek to explain the truths of
thy word with regard to the church of Jesus Christ. Bless also our
fellowship. We're thankful for this opportunity
to come together, for even the fellowship over lunch and the
opportunities to meet new people, to reacquaint ourselves with
old friends and family. And we pray that thou will continue
to grant thy blessing upon that aspect of this conference. Father,
forgive all that we've said and done in sin, keep us from sin
in this afternoon, and hear this prayer for Christ's sake alone,
amen. First, I'd like to give a brief
overview of the conference, considering the fact that we are an isolated
congregation here in Redlands. Our council decided if that,
since men are going to pay the expense to come all this way
here, it'd be good to make it more worth our while for everyone
to come. So we decided to have a conference. And rather than
choosing a theme first, really what we did is we came up with
different topics that we thought would be worthwhile. And in looking
at those topics, we We quickly saw that most of the ones we
had in mind all fit under the broad heading of the church of
Jesus Christ. So that's the unifying theme
that brings all these speeches together. But you will notice
there's really two halves to this conference. Because the
first two speeches this afternoon session concern really the government
of the church. How Christ would have his church
to be run. We want to look especially at
the various principles of a reformed or Presbyterian form of church
government. The other speeches concern the
sinfulness of the church of Christ. As a church, we are indeed sinful,
but that raises the question, what does that make us? How are
we to view the church in light of her sinfulness? And that's
what Rev. Ron Hanco will address tonight. But then in addition,
exactly because as a church we are sinful and sometimes go astray,
God in His faithfulness to us chastens us. And so the question
becomes what then is the proper response of the church, of the
believers, of the office bearers to that chastening? And that's
what Rev. Jonathan Langerak will address
tonight. So this afternoon we consider especially the government
of the church. And that connection I'd like
to read from Ephesians 6. I have the privilege of speaking
first simply because, excuse me, Acts 6, by the way. I have
the privilege of speaking first simply because from a logical
standpoint of view, this topic comes first. So, Acts 6. And I'd like to read the first
seven verses. We read this passage in connection
with this first speech which discusses the relationship between
the office of believer and the special office bearers of the
church. And this passage is foundational for a proper understanding. Acts
6, the first seven verses. In those days when the number
of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the
Grecians against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected
in the daily ministration. Then the twelve called the multitude
of the disciples unto them and said, It is not reason that we
should leave the word of God and serve tables. Wherefore,
brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full
of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this
business. But we will give ourselves continually
to prayer and to the ministry of the word. and the same pleased
the whole multitude. And they chose Stephan, a man
full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus,
and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte of
Antioch, whom they set before the apostles. And when they had
prayed, they laid their hands on them. And the word of God
increased, And the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem
greatly, and a great company of the priests were obedient
to the faith. The overarching purpose of these
first two speeches is to set forth the basic principles of
a reformed or Presbyterian church government. And the first and
most important principle is that Christ is the only head who rules
over His church by His Spirit and Word. Christ rules the church. This was prophesied Back in the
days of Isaiah, who foretold that his name would be Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. In that connection, we recognize
that Jesus Christ is the promised Son of David who establishes
an everlasting kingdom who sits upon an eternal throne. And thus,
even before Jesus Christ ascended up into heaven, He was able to
tell His disciples, all power, that is, all authority has been
given to Me. Christ is King of His church
and He rules His church by His Spirit and His Word. It's on the basis of Scripture,
therefore, that our Belgic Confession teaches, for example, in article
31, that Christ is the only universal Bishop and head of His church. It's on the basis of Scripture
that our Heidelberg Catechism in Lords Day 21 teaches us that
it's the Son of Man who gathers, defends, and preserves His church
unto Himself. So principle number one, Christ
is the head of His church who rules His church. But Christ is in heaven. He is sitting at God's right
hand, which is to say when he ascended up into heaven, he left
this physical earth. He's no longer corporeally present
here on this earth and among his people in a physical way. And so the question becomes then,
how does Christ carry out that rule? How does he exercise his
reign? over His church while He's in
heaven. And the answer is that He does
so in and through men. That is, He takes His authority
that's been granted to Him from the Father, and He now invests
it in His own blood-bought, Spirit-filled people. He gives them the right
to rule on His behalf. That is, He gives to them authority
in the sense of the ability to make decisions, to establish
laws, to enforce obedience to those laws. But the question becomes, to
whom does He give that authority? And that's the central question
that we need to consider in this afternoon. Christ is king of
the church. He gives authority to the church
to rule on his behalf. But the question is, does he
give that to the special office bearers in the church, or does
he give it to all those who occupy the office of believer? To put
the question differently, as it's been put in the past, what
is the primary receptacle of that authority that Christ gives
to his church. To put it still differently,
whom does he make to be the subject of the government of the church?
That's the question in front of us, and hopefully you recognize
that in facing that question, we're ultimately asking the question,
what is the relationship between the special office bearers, ministers,
elders, and deacons, on the one hand, and the believers in the
church who occupy the office of believer. And this is an important
question exactly because how one answers this question really
drives and dictates one's whole view of church government. And this is indeed a question
that's been wrestled with throughout the history of the church. And
the goal of this first speech is to provide what I believe
to be the proper middle ground that answers that question. A
biblical viewpoint concerning that relationship. And in order
to get at that proper biblical view that represents the middle
ground, we're going to slowly zero in on that view so that
we're going to start by looking at the two extreme answers that
are on either side of the spectrum. That it's all the special office
bearers or that it's all the members of the church. From there,
we'll come more toward middle and look at two views that approximate
the middle position, but yet I believe still lean too far
one direction or the other. And then having considered all
those views, hopefully the proper biblical view will come clearly
into focus so that the bulk of the speech is really shaped like
a funnel as we wind our way down to that view. Once we've arrived
at it, we also want to draw various implications and applications
out of it so that not just a funnel, this speech is shaped more like
an hourglass where we'll come to that middle viewpoint and
then make application to both the members as well as to the
special office bearers. So the title of my speech this
afternoon is A Delicate Balance The Relationship Between the
Office of a Believer and the Special Offices in the Church
of Christ. We want to start by looking at
those two extreme views that answer the question, to whom
does Christ give authority? And the extreme view on the one
hand is that Christ gives this authority only to the office
bearers of the church. That is, the community of believers,
they have no role, they have no function, they have no place
in the government of the church of Christ. but it's only those
who are appointed to the special offices. And I trust you all
recognize this is the viewpoint of the Roman Catholic Church,
which has the Pope on top of a hierarchy, which really identifies
the church with the clergy and gives no place to the members
of the congregations. It's also worth noting that not
only is this the view of the Roman Catholic Church, this view
is very prevalent in modern evangelical churches. Many churches have
a minister who really functions like the CEO of a company. He's the one who calls all the
shots. But this view is unbiblical because
it fails to recognize that all of God's people occupy the office
of believer. That's a part of our Reformed
heritage. Lord's Day 12 of the Heidelberg
Catechism teaches us that as those who are united to Christ,
we are partakers of his anointing, and because he is our prophet,
priest, and king, he's been anointed into that threefold office, we
too are now made to be prophets, priests, and kings. We occupy
an office, the office of believer. I trust this audience also recognizes
this was an important part of the reformation of the church
back in the 16th century. The recovery of this truth over
against the wrong view of church government that was found in
the Roman Catholic Church. So that on the one hand, is the
extreme view that gives all authority only to the office bearers. On
the other far end of the spectrum, is the view that says Christ
gives it to the members as a whole, to the exclusion of the office
bearers. That is according to this view,
the church is really to be run like a democracy. That the church
as a whole is to make all the different decisions that come
up. The church as a whole is to make judgments on whatever
comes their way and to establish all the rules. And insofar as
they do have office bearers, Those men really derive all of
their authority from the body of believers. These men are really
organs or instruments who function on behalf of the church as a
whole. In many ways, they're viewed
simply as a matter of convenience. We need somebody to go about
the day-to-day affairs, so we'll give some authority to the office
bearers. And this is the view of church
government that we would call independentism. This is the view
that's prevalent, for example, in Baptist churches as well as
other evangelical churches. But this view also fails and
that it does not recognize the real, genuine authority that
Christ gives to the special office bearers of the church. This view
is in conflict with such passages of Scripture as Hebrews 13, verse
17, for example. Obey them that have the rule
over you and submit yourselves. Likewise, we read in 1 Thessalonians
5 verses 12 and 13, Paul says, and to esteem them very highly
in love for their work's sake." Without going in depth into what
these passages are teaching, they do clearly teach us that
there are some who are in a position of authority and others who are
not. There are some who are placed over the members of the congregation
and there are those who are under those special office bearers. And I say again, this view that
says Christ gives the authority to the community of believers
and not to the special office bearers is contrary to these
passages of Scripture. So those are the two extreme
views. But now before we move on to those that come closer
to middle, it's worth stepping back and looking at what these
two extreme views share in common and how they therefore both pose
a threat to us. What they share in common is
that in the end, they really take the authority of Christ
and transfer it entirely to men. Now that's a strong statement
to make. But I would need evidence to
convince me that it's a caricature. Because when you look at the
Roman Catholic Church, or many modern evangelical churches,
or if you look at those who are governed, who have their church
governed by a sort of democracy, the reality is that what ends
up happening is that more and more the church is governed by
man's own desires, man's own opinion, and little regard is
paid to what Christ Himself tells us in His Word. Christ rules
by His Word. He tells us how His church is
to be governed. And often what happens with these
extreme views is the Word of Christ is set aside And in the
end, all that authority that is really Christ's is transferred
to men. And the only difference being
whether that authority is all concentrated in one man, or whether
that authority is spread out among the body of believers.
So that's what they have in common. And that leads us to how they
both pose a threat for us. In that every one of us, according
to our old men of sin, wants to be in charge. As one Dutch forefather evidently
commonly said, quote, each man's heart shelters a pope. End quote. Every one of us by nature loves
to have the preeminence so that if we are in the special offices,
Our sinful desire is that we want greater power, more authority. We want to hold greater sway
over the church. And if we're not in a special
office bearer, we think we ought to be. I should be the one in
charge instead. Because in the end, that's what
we want. We want to be the ones who have the say in the church
of Jesus Christ. So it'll always be the case that
within the church, even if the church has a proper biblical
and reform view of church government, there are gonna be some who wanna
give too much authority to the special office bearers, and there
are gonna be others who wanna give too much authority to the
members of the church. That means it's important to
recognize that when Christ gives this authority to the church,
he does so in such a way that he never relinquishes it. He
never fully lets go. But He remains the sovereign
head and ruler of His church. And what is more, we see the
wisdom of Jesus Christ. That He does not give absolute
authority to either of the two groups. It would be ruinous if
He did. If Christ gave absolute authority
to only the special office bearers, then we would all develop very
quickly the notions That we're on par with Christ. That we are
vicars of Christ. Hierarchy would ensue. And the
reality is that the church would come to look like a dictatorial
regime. So Christ did not give absolute
authority to the office bearers. But nor does He give absolute
authority to the members of the church because if He did so,
in the end, the church would simply be governed by popular
opinion. Or as one The Dutch forefather
put it, the church, if Christ had done this then, quote, the
demon of the sovereignty of the people would have slain its thousands,
end quote. So instead of giving absolute
authority to either the special office bearers or to the community
of believers, Christ gives it to both. And that's where we
start to come to the middle. But now even though we can say
the middle view is one that recognizes a place, a function and role
for both, there's still a question of what exactly does that look
like? What more specifically is that relationship between
the special office bearers and the office of all believer? And so here we come to the two
views that come close to middle, but I believe lean too far one
direction or the other. On the one hand, there's a view
that does not do full justice to the office of believer and
the place that he or she has in the church of Jesus Christ.
That view is set forth especially in this book. We'll have a book
for each of the two middle positions and then the third, the middle
position. This book, The Divine Right of Church Government by
Sundry Ministers of Christ within the City of London. That's going to be our representative
view on the one hand. And this view, this book certainly
comes close to middle in that The reality is, even though I'm
going to gently criticize this book, the reality is this book
is an excellent defense of the system of church government that
we hold to, namely a Presbyterian form of church government. And
this book certainly does not take an extreme view. This book
is opposed to all of the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church
with regard to how the church is governed. But in the end, I believe it
still leans too far in that direction of giving it to this authority
only to the special office bearers. And that comes out when this
book faces in chapter 9 the question that we're facing this afternoon. We read in that book, Now the
last thing which comes to consideration is the proper receptacle of all
this power from Christ or the peculiar subject entrusted by Christ with this power." Now
in answering this question, this book first of all rejects the
view that it's given to the civil government as the Erastians would
imagine. The book then rejects the view
that it's given of the community of believers as the independents
would propose. And then when it comes to setting
forth the positive, it says it's given to the special office bearers
of the church. I read, quote, the Presbyterians
hold that the proper subject wherein Christ has seated and
entrusted all church power and the exercise thereof is only
His own church officers, end quote. In the book, it makes
explicit what it means by Christ's own church officers. It's talking
about ministers, elders, and deacons. But I believe it leans too far
in the one direction because of that little word, only. that it's only in his own church
office spares. This book, to my knowledge, I
have not read it cover to cover, but this book, to my knowledge,
does not recognize the important place, role, and function that
the office of believer does have in the church of Jesus Christ. And now to be fair, this book
was written in a certain historical context and setting. When this
book was written, there was a movement on the rise that was an independent
movement that was giving all authority to the members. So
this book is really recoiling against that extreme view on
the other end. But in so doing, it leaned too
far in the direction of the special office bearers. So that on the
one hand, Now we want to look at the view on the other side
that comes close to the middle, but fails to do justice to the
special offices in the church. This view, as a representative
of this view, There is the writings of Cornelius
Wienhoff in this book, Bound Yet Free. Cornelius Wienhoff,
he has a contribution in this little book, and it's clear from
Wienhoff that he relies heavily on Abraham Kuyper, so really
this view could be attributed to him. And as we go into this
view, I'm aware that many in the audience will recognize this
view is not unknown in our Protestant Reformed churches. In fact, this
view was taught for many years in our seminary, so we proceed
with caution. This view does approach the middle
position in that it does fold justice to the office of believer.
Really, that's the point of emphasis in Wienhoff's writing in Kuyper's
and the quotes from Kuyper. And furthermore, it does recognize
the important place that the special office bearers have in
the church. But in the end, I believe it still leans too far in the
direction of giving too much to the members of the church
who occupy the office of all believer. I say that because
Wienhoff and others teach that In the end, Christ gives the
authority to the members, to the community of the faithful,
and from them, that authority is then given to the special
office bearers in the church. For example, Wienhoff quotes
Kuyper as saying, quote, the authority of the church was given
by the king of the church, not to its leaders, but originally
to the believers, end quote. And now another quotation. The
authority from Christ rests not with the consistory, but with
the congregation, end quote. So according to Wienhoff, the
primary receptacle of authority from Christ is the church as
a whole, the community of believers. And standing behind this is the
viewpoint that in the end, the office of believer is really
the more basic, the more fundamental office in the church. And that
the special office is really a rise out of the office of believer
so that the authority that the special office bearers have comes
from the office of believer and the community of the faithful.
And I do not believe I'm overstating this. For example, Wienhoff writes,
The flow of authority which issues from Christ into His church is
in part to be channeled in and through His church to the special
office bearers. Thus, these receive by way of
the congregation special authority from Christ. So if I interpret
Wienhoff correctly, he is saying that we need to envision it this
way, that Christ is king of the church, he gives authority to
all the members of the church, and from there, authority is
then given to the special office bearers of the church. And the
implication of this that Wienhoff himself and others make is that
it cannot be said that the special office bearers are over the members
of the congregation. Wienhoff writes, for example,
What is their authority? He's talking about the special
office bearers. No, they are not placed above the congregation. They are in every respect fellow
brothers with all the members of the church. Their authority
is not higher than that of the other members of the church." So though this view approaches
the middle, I believe it fails to do justice to the real, genuine
authority of the special office bearers. And that it leans too
far in the direction of giving too much to the members of the
church as a whole. Because Scripture teaches us
that when Christ gives authority to the special office bearers,
He gives it to them directly. He gives it to them immediately.
And that comes out from the various names that are given in Scripture
to the special office bearers. Paul often spoke of himself and
his fellow office bearers as servants of Christ. as fellow
laborers with God, as ambassadors of Christ. And all of those names
would indicate that this authority is coming directly from Christ
to these office bearers. But the view of Wienhoff fails
to recognize that. And in the end, it takes the
special office bearers It really makes them organs, instruments
of the church as a whole. The view of Wienhoff really turns
the church into a republic. But that's not a biblical presentation.
And what is more, it fails to do justice to that real authority.
We read earlier from 1 Thessalonians 5 which speaks of them that are over you in
the Lord." But yet, Wienhoff is saying, they're not above
the members of the church in any respect, but in every way
they're fellow brothers. Whereas Scripture says, no, there
is a certain sense in which the special office bearers are over
the members of the church. They have the right to establish
ordinances, to make rules for the maintaining of the welfare
of the body of Christ. This is part of our confession.
is a church that holds to the three forms of unity. Belgian
Confession, Article 32, gives to the special office bearers
this right to make various decisions. It cautions the special office
bearers, be careful that you don't go too far beyond Scripture,
that you don't ever contradict Scripture, but it still establishes
that right. And so there is a sense in which
the special office bearers are over the members of the church. So we've seen the two extremes.
We've looked at two views that come close to middle, but I believe
lean too far one direction or the other. And having done all
that, hopefully that proper middle view that preserves this delicate
balance that we're striving for is slowly coming into view. And
we want to look at that next. So what is this middle view?
Well, first of all, it needs to be stated this view is not
original to me. But this is what we were taught
in seminary. Furthermore, this is the view
set forth by James Bannerman in the church of Christ. So here's
our representative middle view of very excellent work regarding
the Presbyterian form of church government. But perhaps more
important to this audience, this is also the view Herman Hoeksema,
as well as the view of Bavinck. And this view can be stated succinctly
this way, and I quote from James Bannerman, quote, this third
theory ascribes the right of church power not to the one or
the other exclusively, but to both, and to both in accordance
with their respective characters and places in the Christian society. And there's really two parts
to what Bannerman's, excuse me, I should have said end quote.
There's really two parts to what Bannerman is stating there. On
the one hand, what Bannerman is telling us is that Christ
gives authority to both the special office bearers, as well as those
who occupy the office of believer. It's not to be viewed as a binary. Either them or them, but both
at the same time. Importantly, in both cases, this
authority comes directly from Jesus Christ. It's not Christ
gives authority to the community of believers who then give authority
to the special office bearers, nor is it Christ gives authority
to the special office bearers and then they give some of that
authority now to the members of the church. But instead, we
need to think of direct lines. A direct line running from Christ
to the special office bearers. He gives them authority. And
then a direct line running from Christ to the members of the
church. Both receive some of this authority. Both have a place directly from
Jesus Christ. And as I said, this is the view,
for example, of Herman Hoeksema. He writes in his Reform Dogmatics,
The office-bearers, therefore, do not receive their power and
authority from the members of the church, although it is through
the instrumentality of the congregation that they are called and ordained
as office-bearers, but they receive their authority to function in
the office only from Christ." And we could likewise quote from
Boving due to Time, though, we will refrain from doing so. So
Christ gives authority to both. And what this means is that He
gives absolute authority to neither. And we already talked about the
importance of this, but now from a positive view, in doing this,
what Christ has done is set up a mutual accountability between
the special office bearers on the one hand, and those who occupy
the office of believer on the other hand. The two keep each
other from ever departing, never forsaking God's word and what
Christ tells us regarding how the church is to be governed. So there's mutual accountability.
Now even that must not be misunderstood or misconstrued because when
we say that Christ gives authority directly, immediately to each,
We're not to think of this as though we now have two separate
but equal powers in the church. It's not as though we now have
two branches in the church of Jesus Christ and her government.
House office bearers and house believers. That's not how it
goes. Because the reality is that though
there is this mutual accountability, The relationship is not perfectly
reciprocal because there is something unique about the special offices
that Christ has instituted for His church. And that brings us
to the second half of this view that we're explaining. We said
on the one hand, that this view means Christ gives authority
to both and gives it directly. But the other part of what James
Bannerman and others teach us is that in giving authority to
each, Christ gives to each in accordance, in harmony with their
respective places in the church. We know He gives some authority
to each, but what does that look like? Well, what Christ gives
to each is in harmony with the place that each occupies. On
the one hand, to the office bearers Christ gives the right to administer
and to exercise His authority. In other words, Christ gives
to the special office bearers authority in the true sense of
the word. Authority in the sense that we
would often define it in a sermon regarding the fifth commandment.
He gives them the right to make decisions. He gives them the
right to establish rules and the right to enforce obedience
to those rules so that Christ truly carries out His reign in
and through the special office bearers. And that's in harmony
with their position. For the members of the church,
He gives them the authority in the sense that they have the
right to participate in the government of the church. To put it more
concretely, more specifically, He gives to all the members of
the church a voice. An important voice. A voice that
carries weight because they speak with kingly authority as those
who occupy the office of believer. And in stating what Christ gives
to each, really we've come to the second and third principles
of reformed church government. Principle number one, Christ
is the only head of his church who rules over it by his spirit
and word. Principle number two is that Christ rules through
the office bearers whom he gives real authority. That's what we've
been establishing. But then principle number three
follows very quickly that the members of the church, each holding
the office of believer, participate in the government of the church.
They're given a voice. And that I believe is the proper
middle view that preserves this delicate balance between the
special offices in the church and the office of believer. And I believe that's the case
because this is the direction Scripture points us. Though we've
been quoting from different theologians, it's not as though we're simply
drawing from what other men have written. But this is based on
Scripture. What we've been talking about.
And it comes out most clearly perhaps in the various passages
of Scripture that set forth before us the ordination of men into
those special offices. And we see the role of both those
special office bearers as well as the members of the church.
We have an Old Testament example. In the appointment of judges
in the days of Moses, at the advice of Jethro so that
Moses would not wither away due to the burden that was placed
upon him. When Moses recounts that history in Deuteronomy chapter
1, he says in Deuteronomy 1 verse 13 that he told the people, quote,
take you wise men and understanding and known among the tribes and
I will make them rulers over you, end quote. Notice Moses
says, I will make them rulers over you. That is, one who was
in a special office would be the one ultimately to put these
men into office. He'd be the one to ordain them.
But at the very same time, notice what he said at the beginning
of the verse. Take you, wise men. That is, as a congregation,
you have a say in this. You have a voice in who is going
to be put into these offices. We see that same dynamic in the
passage that we read at the outset in Acts 6. For example, in verse
3 we read this, Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men
of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we
may appoint over this business. Now again, we see the same dynamic.
It'd be the apostles who would appoint them over this position
or over this business. And we read later on in this
history that it's the apostles who are laying hands upon these
men who are being installed into the office of deacons. They're
the ones appointing these men. But yet the congregation had
a voice. The apostles told them, look ye out among you seven men. And verse five speaks of how
the people were pleased with this and they chose, and then
the list of names that follow. And so what we see is that it's
the teaching of Scripture that the exercise, the administration
of church government is given to the special office bearers
But yet at the very same time, the members are given a voice. They have a role, a function. And is this not the view reflected
in our own church order? Does it not recognize this same
dynamic? It does. The church order that
we officially subscribe to recognizes the unique place that the special
office bearers have in the church of Jesus Christ. And that comes
out even from the structure of our church order. Where does
it begin? First main section is on the
offices of minister, elder, and deacon. And that structure isn't
telling us something. It's telling us this is what's
fundamental to a Presbyterian view form of church government. The heart and center is the special
office bearers of the church. And that comes out in the subsequent
articles that set forth the various duties of the minister, elders,
and deacons. It becomes clear without going
into particulars that they're the ones who are given the exercise,
the administration of the authority of Christ. At the very same time,
Our church order recognizes the place of the members. And really,
the church order articulates more fully what that looks like.
It gives specific examples so that we see from our church order
that the members of the church are given a voice with regard
to the ordination of office bearers. Those articles that speak of
a lawful call into the special offices recognize that the members
are the one who Approve those men who elect those men. They're
also given a voice in the decisions that the church makes. And that
the church order recognizes the right of members to protest and
appeal. To make the case that this decision
is out of harmony with the Word of our God. And that's really
one of the main ways that the members of the church hold the
special office bearers accountable. Keep the special office bearers
from ever departing from the Word of God. The church order
also gives a place to the members of the church in that it sees
their voice in voting on those matters that are brought to a
congregational meeting. They play a role in the decisions
of the church. They're given a voice in the discipline of
the church. And the reality is that discipline
most often begins with the members of the church and only eventually
comes to the special office bearers of the church. And all of this underscores the
wisdom that went into this church order that we hold to. Let us
appreciate it. And may this be encouragement
for all of us to be diligent in studying the church order
that God has given to us as part of our heritage as Protestant
Reformed churches. So we've explained that middle
view that preserves this delicate balance Regarding the relationship
between the special office bearers and those who occupy the office
of all believers. We funneled our way down to that,
but now we want to draw applications out of that. Applications for
the members and those who occupy the office of believers. And
then more importantly, given the primary audience of this
speech, application for the special office bearers. First, for the
members of the church, participate in the government
of the church. We say participate because the
great danger for the members is that they neglect this. The
great danger for the members of the church is that they pay
little heed to what's going on in the church of Jesus Christ,
that they become entirely uninvolved in the government of the church. We just spent time establishing
that the members do indeed have a place. Christ has given you
a voice and now the calling is use that voice. Because the reality
is that this is not merely a privilege, This is a responsibility that
comes with receiving this privilege from Jesus Christ. A responsibility
that we are to exercise as believers, not just when we're aggrieved
by something, not just when I don't like what I see going on, but
at all times. An important part of that is
studying with a view to becoming better equipped to fulfill these
responsibilities. It's not just for the special
office bearers to be studying different things. Whether it's
the Word of God, whether it's the Reformed confessions, whether
it's Reformed theology, church polity, or even church history.
But all of those things are worthy topics of study for the believers
of the church as well so that they can become better equipped
to speak to Matters that come up in the church. That, first
of all, for the members of the church. Second, for the members
of the church. Honor those in positions of authority. They are given real authority.
And here we circle back to 1 Thessalonians 5 v. 13. The calling to esteem
them very highly in love for their work's sake. And a part
of this is a willingness to show a certain
level of deference to the wisdom, experience, and training of those
who occupy the special offices. And I say that because the temptation
for the member is to think, well, I have an opinion on this, And
my opinion carries as much weight as the opinion of anyone else
on this matter. What I think should be just as
important to everybody else, because after all, I'm in the
office of believer. But over against that thinking,
it's important to recognize that a part of reformed church government
in our church order is that the men that we put into
the special offices are men with wisdom and experience and training.
When we elect elders and deacons, We elect men whom we believe
are most qualified for those positions. And with regard to
ministers, we insist on having trained ministers. That's a part
of our church order in Article 8. That's the general rule. These men need to go to seminary.
They need to be trained. And as churches, we even pay
for their education. And so, ought we not as members show
a certain level of respect to those men. The fact that Christ
has given them a unique authority. And what that really looks like
is a willingness to at least entertain the idea maybe I have
a misunderstanding here. Maybe I'm the one who's missing
some part of the picture so that rather than jumping to the conclusion
so-and-so's wrong or that assembly messed that up, of at least being
willing to step back and ask for an explanation. And that's especially true when
we're talking about the broader assemblies. The meetings of a
consistory, of assemblies in general, including a consistory,
as well as the broader assemblies of classes and synod. Because the danger is that We
come to think that the ordinary way that God works in His church
is by raising up this one man or two men who stand against
all the corruption of the church. That that's the norm in God's
preserving of His church. That has happened. And praise
be to God when He does work that way. But that is the rare exception
in the history of the church. And what is more, as members
of the church, we must not fall into this thinking that when
men come together to give advice or to make some judgment on a
matter, that that becomes inherently high-handed. That's not the case. Because the teaching of Scripture
is that there's wisdom There's safety in a multitude of counselors. It's a good thing when we bring
all these special office bearers together to put their heads together,
to be led by the Spirit, to come to some decision on a matter. And such a decision is not to
be lightly dismissed or set aside. And finally in that connection,
It's important for the members of the church to recognize the
distinction between something that's different and something
that's wrong. There's a distinction between,
I do not like how that was worded, or I'm really not a fan of that
decision on the one hand, and on the other hand, This is contrary
to Scripture and the Reformed Confessions. I say there's a
distinction between something that's different, not the way
I would have done it, and something that's wrong. This is sinful. This is error. And it's important
to see that distinction so that when it happens that we don't
like a certain decision. We're not all in favor of the
direction the church is going here. that we step back and ask
the question, well, is this really something that's truly unbiblical
against the Reformed confessions? Or can I say this is simply different
than what I would have done? And all of that under the heading,
honor those in authority. So that even if it's not what
I would have done, I'm still going to submit myself to that
authority that Christ has set over me. But now this is an office bearers
conference. And so there needs to be a word for those of us
who are in the office of minister, elder, or deacon. First, men,
we are to use our positions to serve. To serve. Because is that not what Christ
taught us? When He told us He came into this world not to be
ministered unto, but to minister unto others. That is not to be
served by others, but to serve others. And He served us by laying
down His life, by giving His blood as a ransom for our salvation. He's teaching us that we're to
serve one another. This is the teaching of The Apostle
Paul in 2 Corinthians 4 v. 5 where he says, for we preach
not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves, your
servants, for Jesus' sake. Ourselves. Paul's talking about
himself and other men who preach the Word. And he says, ourselves,
your servants, for Jesus' sake. Reminding us that as office bearers,
we are not lords. And we must never be guilty of
lording it over the people. We're not to take this position
that Christ has given to us and use it for ourselves. Use it
for our own advancement. But we're to be humble servants
of the flock. We need to be willing to get on our hands and knees
and wash feet. Perform the most lowly of tasks
in the church of Jesus Christ. So first, we're to serve the
church. Second, as office bearers, we
must not give occasion for the members to dishonor the special
office bearers in the church. As office bearers, we may well
lament a lack of respect for the special office bearers, whether
that lack of respect is real or perceived. But insofar as
we see it, We have to ask the question, are we to blame for
that? Because it can happen that the
fault really lies with us. For insofar as we conduct ourselves
in a manner that's inappropriate, out of harmony with the office
that we've been given, insofar as we behave ourselves in an
unrespectable manner, we're giving the people an occasion to have
a low view of the special offices. So the application then is let
us take heed to ourselves. Let us take heed to ourselves
personally. in our day-to-day lives because
nothing is going to do more damage to the view that the people have
of the special office bearers than when we get caught up or
ensnared in some sin. Let's take heed to ourselves.
Let's take heed to ourselves in the decisions that we make.
as a broader assembly as we meet tomorrow. In our assemblies, we need to
make good decisions with clear grounds. And though it is necessary at
times to change course, to reverse a decision, we need to have the
humility to say we were wrong before. If we are always going
back and forth though, That is not going to inspire much confidence
in the people regarding the broader assemblies. So let us take heed
to ourselves. That's secondly. And third and
finally, the application for office bears, and this especially
ties into the speech as a whole, we must not be guilty of either
dismissing the voice of the people nor becoming afraid of the people. We must not dismiss the office
of believer. We must not have a proud, arrogant
attitude that says, there's no way a member could ever teach
me something new. There's no way that average person
in the congregation is going to be able to convince me that
I did something wrong here or there. We need to have the humility
to listen. Christ has given them a voice. And we should be glad
when they use the voice. Really, we should be eager for
it. We should encourage it. We should want to hear from the
members of the church. And seek out their input on different
things. So we must not be dismissive. But nor must we fear. Because
that's the other danger. And that's perhaps especially
tempting in this day in which we live having just gone through
a controversy and in some ways still in the midst of a controversy. Have we avoided saying certain
things from the pulpits? Because we want to avoid a protest?
Has the preaching become muffled because I don't want to have
to hear from that disgruntled member. Or have we not taken
a definite stand on certain things because we are afraid that certain
people are going to be alienated by that decision and maybe even
leave over that decision. If we have fallen into that,
we need to recognize the error of it. Because Christ, though
He would have us To listen to the people would not have us
be afraid of the people. Instead ultimately we serve Him. And thus we tie it all the way
back to where we started. Principle number one. is the
only head of His church who rules over it by His Spirit and Word. We must stand before the face
of our God in all of our work, men, and seek to do that which
is right and pleasing to our Savior, Jesus Christ, out of
thankfulness for the salvation that He has accomplished for
us, not only as individuals, but as a church as a whole. Thank you for your attention. This time, we are going to take
a break. It is 1.27. We are going to break
until 2 o'clock. I'll start trying to encourage
you to stand. And so I believe there will be
refreshments in the back. So half hour break.
"A Delicate Balance"
Series 2022 Office Bearers Conference
The Relationship between Office of
Believer and the Special Offices in the Church of Christ
| Sermon ID | 3522523372599 |
| Duration | 1:08:46 |
| Date | |
| Category | Conference |
| Language | English |
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