Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Matthew 16:18-19 | Date: September 28, 2025 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

We’ve been working our way through the Psalms and we are going to interrupt that now for just a few weeks to give you a little explanation as to why. We have announced—we’ve told you—that the elders are in search for another pastor to come on board with us to serve, preferably someone younger than the rest of us.

And we’re in that search, and this was months ago in an elders meeting we discussed that it has been—I don’t know when—that we have taken up the subject in the congregation here to look at how Christ has ordered the church and how we are to be, what the roles and the functions of the various parts of the church are, particularly the offices of the church. How is the church supposed to be structured? I don’t know when we’ve looked at that in any kind of a focused way. And so we decided that it would be a good thing to do.

Originally, it was decided we should do this in a Sunday night series. So that was going to be in the summer. And then our summer schedule was so erratic this year that we decided it’d be best to wait till the fall. And now looking ahead, our evening schedule is a bit erratic as well. And so it was decided we come to the mornings and we’ll interrupt the Psalm studies for this. So that will be this week and I think three weeks more after this. But this is the beginning then of a series on the ordering of the church.

Today we look particularly at the subject of the apostles and their role in it. Matthew chapter 16, a familiar passage here, beginning with verse 13:

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly charged his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

Let’s bow together for prayer. Our Father, we are grateful for this institution called the church. We’re grateful for the blessing it has been to all of us in so many different kinds of ways. We pray that you will give us a better understanding of what we are under your care, what our roles and responsibilities are in it. We pray that through it, you will help us to honor more our Lord Jesus Christ, the great head of the church. We pray in his name. Amen.

The Church Belongs To Christ

Begin with just a few observations here from Matthew 16 in these verses that we’ve read. First of all, we have here a statement from Christ that the church belongs to him. The church belongs to Christ. He says that here in verse 18: “My church. I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I’ll build my church.”

He’s the head of the church. It belongs to him. He’s purchased it. He directs it. He’s purchased it by himself. He’s the exalted Lord over the church. You are familiar, of course, with the many passages in the New Testament, in the epistles, where Christ is referred to as the head of the church. And every discussion of the ordering of the church really must begin here with an acknowledgment that Christ is the head of the church. The church belongs to him. It’s his church.

Christ Is The Builder Of The Church

There’s another observation here, before we move on to our closest focus, and that is that Christ says that he will build the church. He’s the builder of the church. Now there’s much, much entailed in that. We have Christ—this is what he said back in Matthew chapter 9—that he’s the Lord of the harvest. We have implications here regarding effectual grace, Christ coming and taking up those people that have been given to him, bringing them together and making them his, bringing them to faith in him. We see that spelled out for us in the book of Acts.

The next chapter of the church’s history here, after the death and resurrection of Jesus, we find in Acts chapter 1, Jesus is exalted, ascended to heaven, takes his place at the right hand of God. Chapter 2, the first work of Christ as the exalted Savior, in his mediatorial lordship, is to dispense his Spirit into the world, and through the rest of the book of Acts we see him doing that—advancing his church by means of the gospel, extending his kingdom through the witness that has been given throughout the earth.

And so we read in verse 18, because he’s the Lord of the church and because he will build the church, because he is its builder, the gates of hell will not prevail against it. This project will not end in failure. This is his church; he’ll see to it that it succeeds.

The Foundation Of The Apostles

And now coming to our closer focus for today: another observation from these verses. Again, verse 18, Jesus is the builder of the church, and he builds on a particular foundation. Verse 18: “I say that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.” Now I’m sure many of you are aware that there’s endless discussion on this score. What is the meaning of that? “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.”

The Roman Catholic Church has made much of this with regard to the primacy of the Pope. Peter was the first pope, and it is his successors then who are the succeeding popes after Peter, and this verse they use to establish the authority of the pope, the infallibility of the pope, the succession of the apostolic papacy, and so on. There are lots of problems with that, and it just won’t end. There are historical issues with that. There are biblical issues with that. Peter dies. John is still alive, and there’s a successor of Peter who has authority over John. How are we to understand these things? We have Paul in Galatians chapter 2 rebuking Peter. How does that fit into that model?

There are a lot of problems with that. And I think because there are so many problems with that, many Protestants have argued that Peter is not in view when Jesus says, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.” Rather—and this is what many have argued, you have to watch me when I say this so you can get it—Jesus is saying, “You are Peter, and on this rock [pointing to himself] I will build my church.” So it’s a play. So Jesus is on this rock, myself, on me, I’ll build my church. That doesn’t seem to fit the passage here at all. The focus is on Peter.

And so others have said, “Well, it’s the confession that Peter makes: ‘You’re the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ That’s the foundation on which, or the rock on which, Christ will build his church.” Well, how do we sort all that out?

Well, clearly, as I’ve mentioned, Peter is obviously in view. That’s the whole point of the play on words. You are Petros, and on this Petra, I will build my church. Verse 19, clearly Peter is still in view: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” He’s clearly referring to a unique role that is given to Peter.

We find hints of that in the gospels as well. We have the apostolic company. Within the apostolic company of twelve, we have three: Peter, James, and John. Within those three, it’s always Peter who’s the spokesman. He’s the one who takes the leadership. We turn to the book of Acts and we find the same there. Peter leads the way. And then of course we have John and Paul as well. Particularly in the latter half of the book of Acts, Paul is the dominant figure. But Peter is the initial spokesman. But it’s not Peter alone then. It is Peter as representative of the apostolic company. So there’s a unique role given to Peter, but it is Peter as one of the apostles. It’s the apostolic company that is in view.

So Christ is the builder of the church, and he builds the church on the foundation of the apostles. And we have other passages. Keep your hand here, we’ll be back. But look at Ephesians chapter two. I want to take the time for you to see this with your own eyes. Ephesians chapter two. Our point here is that Christ is the builder, but he builds on the foundation that is laid by the apostles.

Ephesians 2 verse 20: He speaks of the church that is built on “the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.” So there’s an apostolic foundation to the church. They’re building on Christ. So there’s a greater sense in which Christ is the foundation. But still at the same time, and in another sense, the apostles are the foundation of the church, on which it is on their foundation that the church is built.

If you’d like to jot down, you can write down Revelation 21 verse 14. We have the same thing there alluded to, where the heavenly Jerusalem has come down and the walls of the city had twelve foundations. And on the foundations were the stones with the twelve names of the twelve apostles, again showing that they’re foundational to the church.

And I think it’s pretty clear what Jesus is after here in verses 18 and 19 in Matthew 16. The unique role that is given to the apostles, and that is to give us Christ. And it is on that foundation the church is built. “You are Peter. And on this rock, I’ll build my church. And whatever you bind and whatever you loose, that will be the way it is.” The apostolic witness to Christ then is the foundation of the church.

Now let me develop this just a little bit further. Go to John chapter 14. We have here the Upper Room Discourse of our Lord. You remember this is the night before his crucifixion. He has served the Passover meal. He is instructing his disciples on many things. The leading themes in his Upper Room Discourse is the triunity of God, and within that, particularly, the role of the Holy Spirit. “I’m leaving, I’m gonna go away, I’ll leave another helper, he’ll take my place, and he’ll be with you.” And that’s a major emphasis running through John 14, 15, and 16. And we even have hints of it in John 17 as well. But his theme here then is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to the apostles.

Look at John 14, verses 16 and 17: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper.” “I’m leaving?” “He’ll send a replacement.” Pardon the language, a vicar of Christ. Someone who comes in his place. And that is the Holy Spirit. “He will be with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth.” And notice here, he’s called the Spirit of Truth. And that has to do with the role that he has come to serve for the apostles. Jesus here is not speaking to all of us generally. He’s speaking to the apostles specifically. And this is the promise to the apostles. The Spirit of Truth will be given to them. There’ll be a ministry of revelation, a continued teaching ministry of Christ given to the apostles by means of the Spirit. This is the church doctrine of the inspiration of scriptures here with reference to the Apostles in particular.

Glance down a few verses. John 14 verses 25 and 26: “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.” In other words, “I have been teaching you.” Verse 26: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” So notice this: the Spirit will come. “I’ve been teaching you, I’m about to leave, but now I’m leaving.” And verse 26, the Helper, the Holy Spirit, will come and he’ll teach you. And he will bring to your remembrance all that I’ve said to you. This is the ministry that the Holy Spirit will come to fulfill in the apostles.

Now look at John 16, verses 12 and following. Here Jesus picks up the same thing: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” Here again, it’s Jesus as their teacher. “When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. Therefore, I said that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.”

Now, a couple of things here. Number one, and this is a huge theme in the New Testament, and that is Christ as the supreme climactic revelation of God. “All that the Father has is mine,” verse 15. He is the supreme revealer of who God is. And so when the Spirit comes, he will take from me and give it to you. We had that back in chapter 14, verse 25: “These things I’ve spoken to you while I was still with you.” First, he’s the teacher. He’s the one who reveals God to them. We find that in chapter 17 as well in his high priestly prayer: “I’ve given them your name.”

Well, here in chapter 16 now, verse 12: “I,” as Christ the revealer, Christ the teacher, “I still have many things to say to you, but you can’t bear them now.” Verse 15: “He will take what is mine and give it to you.” Again, it’s a huge New Testament theme. Probably the biggest verse—most notable verse in this regard—is in Hebrews chapter one. The writer there says, “God at various times and various ways has spoken to our fathers by the prophets. But now in these last days, he has spoken to us by no other than his own Son.” He is the climactic revealer of God.

This is why John speaks of Jesus when he introduces him in John chapter one. He speaks of him with the title of the Word. He is God making himself known, God speaking. And all when we read through the Gospel of John, and John announces it up front, this is God in the flesh. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. He is the one who is making God known. He’s God speaking. So the first assumption here is that Jesus is the climax of divine revelation.

But then to our point, what he is emphasizing here is that the apostles are stewards of that revelation that is given. We have the revelation of Christ coming in its fullness, and now coming by means of the Spirit to his apostles. That’s chapter 14 again, verse 26: “He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” You see, this is not just a promise to all of us; this is a promise to the apostles. The Holy Spirit will come and teach them everything. And he’ll bring to their remembrance what Christ has taught them. Chapter 16 again, verse 13: “He will guide you into all the truth and declare to you the things that are to come.” This is the witness the apostles bear to Jesus and his teaching. What the apostles give us is not grounded in their own memory. It’s not grounded in their own initiative. It is the Spirit of Truth who has come to guide them into all truth. And that then is the trustworthiness of their teaching and the authority of it.

Now when you look at all of these statements together that I’ve surveyed, you see a perfect description of the New Testament scriptures. Again, chapter 14, verse 26: he reminds them of what Jesus taught them. That’s the Gospels. In chapter 16, verse 13: he leads them into all the truth. That is, he’ll declare the full significance of what Jesus has said and done. That’s what we find in the book of Acts and through all the epistles. And then in chapter 16, verse 13: he declares things that are to come. That’s the prophecies of the epistles and of the book of Revelation. So this is the unique authority, this is the unique role of the apostles. It’s the task to which Christ brought them. He’s called them for this purpose: to give us a revelation of Christ in its fullness.

An interesting question is answered here, by the way, and that’s regarding the canon of Scripture. How do we know which books belong in the Bible? Surely you can’t find a better answer to that question than say, “Well, what did Jesus say?” Right? Well, we have that for the Old Testament scriptures. We have Jesus’ imprimatur on the canon as it was received by the Jews of his day—the law, the prophets, and the writings. We have Jesus’ stamp of approval. That’s the canon. We have the same thing for the New Testament scriptures as well, only Jesus’ imprimatur is given before the fact. “This is the role to which I have called you. The Spirit will come. He’ll give you my teaching. He’ll teach you the full implications of it all. He’ll show you things to come.” And that is your role in the church: to lay the foundation of the church.

So consider for a second: what is the purpose of Christianity? What’s its reason for being? Now you’ve got to say something like, “It’s a redemptive religion,” right? It has come to address sinners in their lostness and show them redemption has come. Specifically, it has come in God the Son incarnate, who has come to stand in the place of sinners, offered himself as sacrifice to God, and brought them to God through his sacrifice on their behalf. Now how would we know that? And how would the church fulfill its duty to carry that gospel to the world? How would we know that if it were not for the apostolic witness that is given to it? That’s the role of the apostles.

We sang our hearts out this morning. Wonderful song. We sang of the blessed assurance that we have in Christ. That he will hold us fast. How could we ever know that, apart from the apostolic witness, that “he who has begun a good work in you will perform it to the day of Jesus Christ”? We come and we sing of the glories of Christ, his person and his work. How would we know that? How could we sing any of that without the apostolic witness? This is the foundation. This is the ground of all—everything about the church. God appoints chosen men. Christ says, “Here, this is your role.” He bestows his Spirit to inspire them, to give them his word to us, and as a guide for faith and practice.

Now, there’s more here in this. Look at John 16, verse 13. The Holy Spirit will lead them into some of the truth? Notice that. Isn’t that a marvelous statement? He will lead them into all the truth. We have the same thing back in chapter 14, verse 26: “He will teach you all things.” So what we have there, of course—he’s not teaching disciples the apostles did not become omniscient. All things with regard to the faith have been taught to them. The entire body of Christian teaching was given from Christ through the apostles.

Now there’s some related designations for this in the New Testament. You might be familiar with expressions like “the deposit,” or “that which is entrusted to you.” Or maybe more familiar, Jude verse three: “contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.” There’s this body of truth that has come in the climactic revelation in Christ through the apostles and it’s been deposited in the church, entrusted to the church. And it is that which lays the groundwork, the foundation of the church entirely. And in fact, then there’s something here of what we call the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture. “He’ll guide you into all truth.” You don’t need any more. You have all truth.

We have way too many people today claiming to be prophets, that they’re bringing a new revelation. It’s a dangerous thing. And what that is, is an assault on the sufficiency of Scripture that Christ has given through his apostles—all truth, once for all, delivered to the saints. And by the way, we come close to that in our own circles as well, when you talk like, “Well, I wonder what God’s will is,” and you’re looking for something outside of Scripture. “Well, God is telling me to…” and then name whatever it is. “God has told me to leave the church. God has told me to quit this ministry,” or “God has told me to take this job,” or whatever. And you wonder, whatever happened to “all truth” given to the apostles? And within that framework, there’s Christian freedom.

I remember one time—this is years ago—I went to the dentist. It was a Wednesday. I went to the dentist. I was sitting there in the chair. He knows I’m a minister; he’s a Roman Catholic man. And he said, in a conversation, “I suppose this is a busy time of year for you, isn’t it?” I’m thinking, my mouth is open. And then it dawned on me—this is Ash Wednesday. And finally I was able to speak. But before I could speak, he detected the hesitation in my voice and he spoke first and he says, “Oh yeah, you guys just go by the Bible at your church, don’t you?” I loved it. Would you say that again? Let me record that.

Some of you know the name S. Lewis Johnson. Bruce remembers him; had him at our church years ago. Lewis was just an outstanding theologian of the latter part of the 20th century. Marvelous man, a saint, wonderful guy, New Testament scholar, powerful theologian. He started the church in Dallas, Texas, called Believer’s Chapel. One time, I don’t know why, but he said that one time the IRS contacted them and asked for a copy of their church constitution. That was strange. Well, they wrote back. They said, “We’ve enclosed a copy of the constitution. We were sure that even the IRS would have a copy, but we’ve enclosed it here for you.” It was a New Testament. And they were so committed to the sufficiency of Scripture. That’s all we need. Let’s just go by that. All truth given to the church by the apostles once and for all. That’s all we need.

Well, the New Testament then is the full revelation of Christ given to the church by his apostles. The apostles are the divine legates, Christ’s spokesmen. That’s what apostle means: spokesman. They’re ambassadors. They’re spokesmen for Christ. Now let me give you just a brief touch of how the apostles themselves spoke like that.

Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 14. 1 Corinthians chapter 14. What I’m getting at here is just to sample some verses where the apostles speak claiming to have the authority of Christ when they speak. Another one I could mention earlier, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4: “This I say to you by the word of the Lord,” speaking with Christ’s authority. Look at this one in 1 Corinthians 14 verse 37: “If anyone thinks that he is a prophet or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things that I am writing to you are a command of the Lord.” Can you imagine that? You think you’re spiritual? What would you think if I stood up here and said, “You think you’re spiritual, you’re a good Christian, well then you better acknowledge that what I’m saying to you is a command of Christ”? Well, you’d throw me out by my ear. But that’s how the Apostle Paul would speak.

Look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 13: “We also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us…” There it is. The word of God, which you heard from us. “…you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.” So what they spoke was the word of God.

If you’d like—well, we’re in 1 Thessalonians—look at chapter 4, verses 1 and 2: “Finally then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that as you receive from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.” The apostolic witness is in fact the word of Christ given to the church.

Over a page, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 15: “Stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.” That word of “traditions” there is an interesting one. It’s an important one. We in evangelical-type circles are a little afraid of the idea of tradition. That’s what marks more of other churches. But there is a sense in which we must recognize the importance of the tradition. What is a tradition? A tradition is something that’s handed down—from God, climactically in his Son, the Lord Jesus, through the Holy Spirit to the apostles. That’s the tradition. That’s what’s been handed down. And Paul says here, “that tradition that’s been handed to you now is binding on you.”

Chapter three, 2 Thessalonians 3, verse six: “Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…” We have the same in verse 12: “Such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work” and so on. 2 Thessalonians, well, same verses 14 and 15: “If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.” So here Paul is saying, not only is my word the word of Christ, but the word that I give you is the ground and the basis of your fellowship with others who profess Christ. The apostles’ authority in the church is unique, it’s absolute, it’s sufficient.

And of course, that was the attitude then of the early church. We find in a wonderful statement in Acts chapter 2, where the church, those new body of believers, “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching.” Wonderful definition of the church. So it’s essential, first of all, laying the groundwork, it’s essential to affirm, first of all, that Christ is the head of the church. But to embrace that affirmation fully, it is essential also to recognize the unique role that Christ gave to the apostles.

Some today will make a clever maneuver to get around that: “We look to Christ as our authority, not a book.” You know, there’s something that sounds compelling about that, isn’t there? Who could be a more final authority than Jesus? Not a book, it’s Jesus that’s our authority. It’s a clever maneuver. And what they’ve done is driving a wedge where Jesus will not allow it. Jesus’ authority is given to us by his apostles. This is how Christ rules in the church. What Christ’s authority and what Christ’s rule means in the church—how he exercises his headship in the church—is that he gives his authoritative word to the church by means of the apostles under inspiration of the Spirit, and that is their unique role. And it is the church’s job—it is the church’s responsibility then—to take that which is entrusted to them and to be faithful to it.

One word that’s important in this regard, a word that was used by—I’ve not seen it used elsewhere because I think it has some negative connotations, but Benjamin Warfield used this word when speaking about the scriptures, particularly with regard to the New Testament. These are the documents that have been—here’s his word—”imposed” on the church. That has negative connotations often, and so I think it’s not been used because of that, but he is exactly right. It was imposed, not in a negative sense, but in an authoritative sense. Like the state imposing the speed limit. The state imposing the stop at the stop sign law. It’s not a negative thing; it’s a statement of authority.

What is emphasized then—and he captures this exactly well with that one word—is the writings that the apostles give us, the teaching that they give us. Of course, Paul calls it “that system of sound words” that the apostles give us. This has been imposed on the church, and we are obligated to believe and to live accordingly. And so this is how we must understand the New Testament writings—the Gospels, Acts, Epistles—all of it is the authoritative Word of Christ. It is entirely right to say as we read these scriptures, “This is the Word of Christ to us.” Read it. Here’s what’s true. Here’s what I believe. Here’s what I must do. Here’s my standard of behavior, my standard of conduct.

We read Paul. We’ll read Peter or John. And they’ll develop some theological theme. We are obliged at that point to say, “That’s true. That’s what I believe.” When they convey some promise of God—”He that began a good work in you will perform it to the day of Jesus Christ”—when they convey some promise of God, we’re obliged to believe it, to trust it, say, “That’s my hope.” When they issue commands, we’re obliged to obey. Scriptures teach us how to live, how to behave, how to order the church, how to think, how to feel. And at every step of it, we are obliged to say, “I will. I must.”

We’re obliged then when we read the scriptures to say, “This is the word of our Lord Jesus Christ to us.” This is what defines for us what we believe. This defines for us our hope and what we trust. This defines for us our standards of conduct. What we must not ever do—what we must not ever do—is read the scriptures standing over them as though we are a judge as to what is applicable, what is binding.

This has become, of course, the issue in the last 150 years or more: the rise of what’s called modernism. We refer to it more as liberalism. The modernist mind was—we’ve passed more recently into the post-modernist mind. The post-modernist mind says we can’t know anything for sure. The mark of the modernist mind was a supreme confidence in the human mind and that we can determine what is true and what is right. And then it comes to Christianity and you’ve got this book that claims to be given by God, and why would we need God to write a book? And the whole thought of external authority is just repugnant to the modern mind. “We can determine what is true and what is right.” We read the miracles of scripture: “We know better than that now. We’re modern men.” Virgin birth? “Who believes in that?” Resurrection? “Who believes in that?” Standing over the scriptures, claiming to be Christian, but then changing the meanings throughout.

So we have the wonderful observation that Warfield made back in the heyday of his career, and also Machen, his student, to point out that you can call yourself Christian, but when you deny the teachings in the scriptures, you’ve given up the right. A Christianity that believes everything or anything, believes nothing. You can’t have the Jesus of the Bible and not take the Bible of Jesus. It’s all or nothing. Now, of course, today we have more clever ways of getting around it. The so-called new hermeneutic, the postmodern mind: the meaning of the text is really not in the text. The meaning of the text is out in front of the text. And so how you read the text is not necessarily how he reads the text, or she reads the text, or how your community reads it may not be the same as how they read it. And the meaning is “out in front.” And any idea of authorial intent and authorial authority? Gone. I started a local seminary here some time ago. I’ve met with the professors over it. That’s what they teach. And of course you think, “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it’s because there’s no light in them.” Scriptures are not a wax nose that you can just shape any way you like. This faith has been given once for all to the church.

Today we have culture shifting in all kinds of its ways as we get further and further from our Christian moorings. And so everything’s up for grabs—human origins, human identity, sexual identity, gender roles—all of this is just up for grabs. And in the mainline churches, mainline denominational churches, it’s just this: you wet your finger, you put it to the wind, whatever way culture is blowing, that’s what we believe, and we’re going to stand for it. Until this week, I read the audacity of it. Couldn’t believe it. The ELCA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. By the way, don’t be confused by that. The word evangelical in their name doesn’t mean they’re evangelicals. They’re long since beyond that. It’s more of a historical designation: Protestant, something like that. The ELCA has officially announced a list of verses that they have determined are “harmful.” And of course, it has to do with women’s roles and stuff like that. “These are harmful. We don’t believe them.” And so now we’ve gotten beyond trying to explain it away. We just dismiss it altogether.

It has never been and it never will be the church’s responsibility to take its cues from the world. It is our responsibility always to keep that which is committed to our trust, to contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints. There’s actually more application that could come from all of this. It comes a little closer to home. And that is we must be careful then, recognizing the singular authority of Scripture. We must be very careful never to impose standards on the church without biblical warrant. The Bible allows many areas of freedom. We must be careful not to confuse personal preferences or even local traditions with biblical mandate.

And I have a purpose in bringing that up. I have a newsflash for you. This is a big announcement that you’ve not considered. A newsflash for you, and that is that the elder team that you have at RBC today will not be here very long. I’m almost 68 years old. Boy, Greg, they’re lots older than that. Eric is younger; you’ll be stuck with him for a while. But here’s another newsflash: when another team of elders is here in place, some things will be different. And those changes are going to make some of you uncomfortable.

Now maybe you are the exception, maybe RBC is more sanctified than any church in the history of the church, but that’s where the rub often comes when you have new pastors coming in—things change inevitably. And I’ve warned churches for years: the last seven words of a dying church. Now get this—you got a church that’s dying, it’s dwindling, hanging on barely—what is it they’re saying? “We’ve never done it that way before.” There’s one standard by which to judge, and that’s not our personal preferences, not our local customs. It is the singular authority of the Word of God.

The Apostles Exercising Authority

So Christ builds his church on the apostles. Here in 2 Thessalonians, turn the page, look over at 1 Timothy 3, and I’ll be quick with this. It’s not surprising then, if Christ rules his church by means of his apostles, it’s not surprising then to see in the New Testament epistles the apostles exercising authority over local churches. Ordering the church—that’s our focus in this series.

So 1 Timothy 3 verses 14 and 15, Paul says, “I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.”

So Paul is writing here. Well, first of all, notice the expression that he has: “the truth.” The church is the pillar and buttress of the truth. That’s what we’re talking about. The truth—this body of teaching that’s been given to us by the apostles once and for all. And notice how he describes and characterizes the church. The church is the pillar and buttress of the truth. That is, the church is not the originator of the truth; the church is responsible simply to preserve, proclaim, and propagate the truth that has been given to it. This is who we are as a people. This is Christ’s church. He oversees it by his apostles. They have given us this body of truth. We are responsible then to preserve and to proclaim that truth that’s been given to us.

Notice what he says here in the same verse, verse 15: “I’m writing so that you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God.” The household of God. That’s the church. That’s us. The household of God is not this building. It’s us. It’s people. This is God’s household, and yet it’s overseen and directed by the apostles. And here, the Apostle Paul is doing that: “I’m writing so that you know how to behave in the church.”

Now if you look back to verses 1 to 13 of the same chapter, he’s imposing order on the church. “You appoint elders, you appoint deacons, here are the qualifications.” This is the apostles appointing order in the congregation. You look back to chapter 1, we have responsibilities imposed on the church by the apostles with regard to false teachers in the church, with regards to the gospel and faithfulness to it. Chapter two, he’s imposing his will on the church with regards to corporate prayer, the roles of women in the church—that’s the last part of chapter two, a famous passage.

You jump to chapter four, Paul does it more. He’s again dealing with false teachers, deals with the function and the role of elders in the church. Chapter five: the church’s responsibility with regard to the elderly, with regard to widows, with regard to young women, and even how to pay the preacher. “Pay them twice,” he says—the honor given to their office for giving the word. Chapter six: what to do with factious people, false teachers, elders’ responsibilities.

This is the apostles speaking, not just broadly, but specifically to the church. “Here’s how it must be ordered,” imposing the will of Christ on the church, exercising the apostle’s delegated authority. You go to Titus, you find the same thing, another pastoral epistle. Paul writes to Titus, “Put things in order. And here’s what it is,” and he gives qualifications for elders and so on. First Corinthians we’ve been looking at in Sunday school, and virtually every epistle in the New Testament is the same. It is the apostles imposing the will of Christ on the church with regard to church unity, how to get along with one another, how to relate to the outsiders, how to exercise spiritual gifts.

It is the apostles imposing the will of Christ on the church. This is what we believe. This is how we behave. This is how we order the congregation. So, one: Christ is the head of the church. And two: he delegates that authority to his apostles. That is their role. They are the spokesmen for Christ.

In practical terms, what that means for this local church is, number one: we are a people with a message. We’ve been entrusted with a body of truth to believe, to submit to, to proclaim, and to preserve. We’re a people with a message. And number two—this is what I’ve been stressing throughout—and that is we are a people under orders. In the Lord Jesus Christ, by his apostles, we’ve been given a binding and a sufficient guide for faith and practice. On the individual level, corporate level, we are shaped and ordered by Scripture. We submit to its authority. We recognize its unique status as the documents given to us by Christ to guide us and to shape us. And we must never think that we know better. We must never think that we need something else or something more.

It is essential to our worship of Christ that we recognize the scriptures as given to us by him and to submit to them accordingly. This is our only rule of faith and practice. Amen. Let’s pray.