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Things because I'm not I'm not as sure it's as overly simple as we might think it is so I left it blank because I wanted to ask you to help To contribute so if you had to determine the marks of a true church Let me just say this I'm not talking about a What many times we talk about when we say a biblically functioning church because I do think there's a difference between That you can be a true church and not a biblically functioning church and that there is a Distinction in that but I really want to focus on is there a way to determine not only a true church but a false church and are we Comfortable if we can define what Makes up a true church.
Are we comfortable then using that as a Measuring stick to say Well, if the if a church doesn't do these particular things That means they're a false church. See see so I said it's it's simple yet. It's got some Ramifications as you roll downhill and are we willing to make We have to be very careful.
I think to determine what are the marks of a true church because again that is our That's where we put the stake in the ground and then therefore By implication we would have to say anyone outside of that if we can rightly define it is not a true church And it's a false church and that brings up a whole other issue.
So let's think about this What are the marks of a true church? What would you say would be something that is Essential and we'll develop this as we go through this morning because there are things that are essential and then there are things that are Perhaps not as essential and yet We want to make sure that we can come as close to the definition as possible.
But what are the essentials? What is it about a church that constitute a church? Okay. Yep, and I'm gonna put some stuff here because I Want to make sure we think about it. Okay, what else?
We always look for the preaching of God's word first. True so.
I'm gonna put that down as one of the things That is an absolute essential preaching the word and then we can go further after that to say, okay Are there things in preaching the word? That are Different in different situations in other words.
What if people have a different understanding of the word. Right. See what I and as I started to think about this started to think well, wait a minute. Yeah, it's it's it's crystal clear but But it also has a lot of nuances in it and we need to be careful to make sure that we are really defining what is absolutely Essential so preaching the word I would agree with you sister that that is Something that is absolutely essential coming together in prayer.
Okay I'm gonna write it this way brandy because I think you've included two things fellowship. Yes fellowship and prayer. Okay, but here here's the thing and I want us to think about it. Let's say There's not as much fellowship in a church does that then the mean that it's a false church.
Well, it could be a small church or I see a lot of Big churches that don't have a whole lot of fellowship either. So so that's why I'm gonna put these things down on this side, but this is an absolute agree That if someone is not preaching the word and I'm going to say in its entirety Then they would that would be a mock that they are a false church.
Okay, what else church discipline? Would you agree that? This discipline. I Would agree the church discipline is something that is absolutely essential in the making of a true church. Okay. Okay. Well, here's the thing and I'm glad you brought that up because I'm going to say that that Part falls on the preaching the word, but let me just but I will put this down.
And I'll put it down this way that they have hold to the offices of the church however, I could rightfully say that this Perhaps could fall underneath here but there's something else that I think is absolutely essential and I think many would agree is a specific mark of a true church.
Didn't do Communion, but like once a year and it was kind of weird. I think you hit it sister. Yep.
Ordinances another words. Are we willing to say if a church? Does not hold to the ordinances that are in the Word of God. Which we would define as what? Baptism baptism. Anything else? What are the two?
Oh, yeah, absolutely. The two ordinances in the church and we're going to look at Scripture just to support it but the two ordinances in the church are baptism and The Lord's Supper. We'll have to be careful because if you think about this that opens up another door and Then people get into the mode of baptism or the frequency of the Lord's Supper is.
Is that something that we have a crystal clear understanding of in other words? What if a church only observes the Lord's Supper once a year? What if a church does it every six months? What if it's bi-monthly?
What if it's weekly like we do? Does that constitute a true church and a false church? So I guess what I'm trying to ask us to think about is I agree that these are the three things that are marks of a true church.
But I also think there's some thought that has to follow in our minds because we can get lost in the forest I think.
Not to put the cherry on top, but Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior. Yeah, absolutely. There are satanic churches. There are all kinds of churches out there in today's day and age. Yeah, and and again.
Perhaps we could say that falls under Preaching the Word, right? So so let me just ask us to think and I want to try to make sure that we Can think clearly through this so Go to first Timothy first first Timothy chapter 4 and let's look at something and this is what I would use as a support that If a church does not preach the word that they are a false church.
Okay that in first Timothy chapter 4. What did I do? I'm sorry. It's it's No, but it's not what I wanted to. I wanted to look at where it tells where Paul tells Timothy. And I'm just having a brain freeze right now with Paul tells Timothy to preach the word Second Timothy.
Thank you, brother. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I'm sorry. So let's second Timothy chapter 4 and verse 1 I charge you therefore Before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead at his appearance and his kingdom.
Preach the word. This is Paul's instruction to Timothy now, there was a lot of other instructions that Paul gave Timothy told him to go around and ordain elders and he even gives that understanding to Titus but he says here preach the word Verse to be ready in season out of season convince rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and teaching now.
We could spend time on The manner in which that word is preached. And I'll get into it a little bit as we go. But are we willing to say that? A Absolute essential mark of a true church is if they don't preach the Word of God.
They are a false church. Are we willing to say that? Yes, I think we have to say that. Because again once you move away from the authority of the scriptures. You're you're in a In a place of anything goes so let me just support it with one other thing and that's in 2nd Peter.
So just flip over to 2nd Peter for a minute. Because I think we have this given to us in In 2nd Peter chapter 1. I'm bringing it really freezing. I'm looking right at 1st Timothy here it isn't in 2nd Timothy chapter 1 and Yeah, 2nd Peter chapter 1 verse 19.
Look what he says, this is again Peter given instruction. He said we have the prophetic word made more sure which you do well to heed as a light that shines in the darkness as The day until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts knowing this first.
No prophecy scripture is given of any private interpretation. For prophecy never came by the will of men, but holy men spoke. Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit to me. That's a support that a mark of a true church is that they preach the word.
We can think about what Paul says in Romans, right? How will they hear unless someone speaks and how will they go unless someone unless Someone is said and and again the emphasis is on preaching the word.
So if we think about it that way, I believe we can say that that is an absolute truth now. There's a lot of things that come underneath that right? What would you say are essential? Essential doctrines that must be preached that must be preached Absolutely The deity of Christ The Trinity Justification by Faith, I would say church discipline also has to be Something that is preached and if you think about it Those things are If you would be if you would non-negotiable right, so Let's take this one.
Let's just take the deity of Christ is So much very straightforward, right? So We can say or are we willing to say? that Jehovah Witnesses Mormons and a group of others who do not believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God.
Are we willing to say and declare that they are a false church. Okay, would you agree that so much of this world? Lumps Christianity under many many flags like in other words, the world has no problems calling the Mormons a Christian denomination or the Jehovah Witnesses All right, let me ask us to dig a little deeper.
The Roman Catholic Church Does not Will not teach justification by faith alone. Nor do they have a right understanding of original sin. Nor do they have a right understanding of the way of salvation. Okay, so let's think about this.
Are we willing to then say? That the Roman Catholic Church is a false church. That's a big statement. That's a big statement, right? That's not that's not gonna fly too. Well in a world that is Wants to just lump everything under one Christian power.
Isn't that the one that they have. The Vatican. The Roman Catholic Church is. Yeah.
Right and and you know what that to me does not absolutely exclude Them from being a true church just because of that I am saying that the essentials that we believe must be preached in the Word of God, which is the deity of Christ the final judgment that there is a day of a judgment that Justification by faith because the Catholic Church truly if you really look at what they're teaching they're teaching the salvation works.
Sure they were and and there's always been this antagonism. Because Many of the martyrs were killed by the Catholic Church. Yeah, and not only that but even you can go into the Church of England and all these other places.
That's one of the reasons. Why? Well, you think about it in the Reformation, you know Martin Luther really. Not only did he believe in justification by faith, but really his His argument In the great way was the Indulgences that the Catholic Church was selling because they was selling what forgiveness of sin.
Yeah, right. So so here's here's the next thing to think about and I'm trying to be careful because I don't want to go off to the deep end, but again There's another essential truth that I believe in the atonement.
Now I'm not talking about Let's just say let's use the atonement Christ died for his people. Okay churches That believe he died for everyone. Okay, free will are we going to say? That if they have a Different view of the atonement that they're a false church.
I. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah that ultimately everybody goes to heaven yeah and Christ died for everybody everybody's gonna make it one way or the other. Yeah, okay at some point Josh. What do you say? Yeah, because here's the thing we are not only saying that they must preach the word.
We're saying it must be the word that God gave us. But in that what if we have different understandings of how that word is to be interpreted. Or are we saying that if they use anything outside of the scriptures that then?
Disqualifies them from being a true church because if you think about it, so what does the Catholic Church do? I'm not trying to pick on a Catholic Church, but the more you think about it. They have the Apocrypha.
Which they say are inspired right those books that are in book. That are around it. I know you had a copy of the Apocrypha you showed us right and and it's the book of Judah and hell and the dragon. And the gospel of Thomas and all those other things.
But they then say that those are inspired so When we say preach the word. Do we have to further define that and say that it's the 66 books 39 in the Old Testament and that anything outside of that then disqualifies them from being called or being.
Having the marks of a true church so you see it's not as again, I it's simple, but You really got to kind of work through it almost doctrine by doctrine piece by piece other than saying once they go outside in the realms of the 66 books and if they now even within that what if they quote books outside the 66 what if they use that to at times Explain the word are we then going to say that that means that they're a false church?
Because if you think about it, what are the Mormons have? Take the Book of Mormon, right? What are the Jehovah Witnesses have they have the Watchtower, right? What does the Roman Catholic Church have?
Well, they have the Apocrypha plus they have whatever they think the Vatican is is Spit down so you see. When you really nail it down it has to be that we're really saying that the Word of God in what has been given to us in the original manuscripts right not copies because copies have because Brother Keith is has always been good about explaining that right that there's there's manuscript errors.
But we're saying the original Manuscripts are only the infallible Word of God, right? So again, I'm preaching the word is is an absolute essential but That's and it's probably gonna take two weeks by the way because I really I want us to think I enjoy interaction I Enjoy what other people think and then we as long as we use the scriptures to support it that that's cool, right?
It's kind of what you're talking about some characteristics of false teachers. They lead people astray. Yeah on the kingdoms speak from imagination not God. Right on this is peace when judgments coming claim dreams and visions falsely and encourage with wickedness.
Sure, and you remember even in the Old Testament and Deuteronomy it says if anyone adds to the words of this book God will what he will add to them in judgment and even in Revelation if anyone adds or takes away and I've always said if it's not in the Word of God, I Don't want it.
And if what you're telling me is already in the Word of God I don't need it because it's already in the Word of God. So but let's just think a little bit further because here's where people will make a Distinction and I'm not as willing to say it's a true distinction.
What kind of Methodology is used in the preaching of the word. Here's what I mean by this. Are we willing to say the only True church is one that Preaches Expository. In an expository manner and what I mean by that is the verse by verse book by book.
Are we willing to say that unless a church does that? They're not a true church because they're not preaching the word or Is there something even within that that lead that is a nuance or a Variable like in other words, what if and you had brought it up about a preacher?
What if a preacher preaches? Allegorically. What if a preacher what if a church teaches topically. In other words, they just take a theme and they and they run through it and and certainly many many churches do that.
Right, they'll have a theme whether it be parents or Salvation or whatever and they'll use that and that will be their springboard For preaching so I Think we have to be careful not to just say the only true church is the church that does it just like us.
Because there are a lot of variables within that brother George, what do you what are you some of your thoughts?
No, definitely, I think that uh, even within topically preaching you can be expository so. But there has to be a serious. I think a serious attitude towards the.
Towards more to the expository. Absolutely. Yeah, I'm not I'm not willing to say that expository preaching is Is not the best way what does it means where you pull out and open up what is actually being said from a historical setting from a grammatical setting that you're actually just taking the very words and Exegeting them pulling out what its meaning and giving that to the people so We are Mostly an expository teaching church, right like brother Keith.
He went through Genesis. He's going through John. We took what three years to go through Genesis. Yeah, I mean but still the marks of a true church. I'm just trying to suggest to us that we have to be careful that we don't make the definition of preaching the word Narrower Than preaching the word and that there's different methods to do it.
I'll give you an example In many ways Charles Spurgeon now if you ever read Charles Spurgeon, which is definitely worth reading. Many many times Spurgeon preached from a text he took a text and even many of the Those who were great revivals with Whitfield or Jonathan Edwards They took a text and preached it, right?
And to some extent That was their preparation Versus others who write and preach and teach in a very expository verse-by-verse Methodology is to me is not as essential as Preaching the word. That's you can't get away from that, right?
And again preaching the word is again Only preaching from the 66 books. Right as the you can't say thus saith the Lord With anything outside of the 66 books, right? Now that doesn't mean we can't use them and Surely that is used many times to help.
Because they in a sense that's what preaching is. I mean preaching is you Seek to open up the scriptures and at the same time you don't just always Just speak the scriptural words. There's something that's included in that.
So I Do think that we can make that understanding Clearer and I will say you say Would you be willing to say that preaching the word as a mark of a true church must be evangelistic. And what I mean by evangelistic is it's it's seeking to Bring others in Yes, right and that if a church Refuses to do that refuses to be evangelistic in its message.
That that very well could be the mark of a false church.
Because who who wouldn't want to spread the word if they were a true church. Who wouldn't want other people to know the Word of God and be a part of it.
A cult wouldn't. Right, how many times where someone says A cult is a church, right? But they have no outreach at all. All they're concerned with is There what goes on inside the walls. Well, yeah, I mean.
Yeah, I mean we're churches just. Who are called churches? That are not really preaching the word and and one of the marks is they don't preach evangelistically. They're not seeking. Other than trying to get people to join their little cult a family.
Yeah, and it's for it's for it's for them. It's not for the general public. Yeah, if you will, so.
A lot of those cult documentaries and stuff on like Netflix.
Yeah, absolutely. I mean we could think about So many that have you know recently Kind of been highlighted. So let me ask you this can someone be In a false church And be a true believer. Great. We all agree that that's so even though and I would I will say that the Catholic Roman Catholic Church and It's preaching of the Word of God is a false church again, because they don't teach in the deep.
They don't really don't teach on Justification by faith alone. They Still believe that Mary is basically a co-redeemer, right? So Christ isn't enough right and that's why they bring in the sacraments and the ordinances and all their hubbub and Aren't they also the ones that they?
Record. They kind of want you to. What is it?
Confession where you go? Yeah. Yeah, there's have to confess your sins. Yeah, it is. There's actually. In the Catholic Church, there's there's seven ordinances. There's seven sacraments. There's baptism, which they have a wild understanding of baptism and I don't even want to go into it right now then there's Confirmation.
I don't know if any of you know that but When you reach a certain age and I think I remember it was 13 you had to go through confirmation where The priest would slap you on the face. I It was it was. No, the nuns did that.
Cuz I went to Catholic school as a kid and I'm gonna tell you what. Those those nuns are some of them Bad dudes were bad do it do debts. But anyway There's that ordinance. There's baptism. There's confirmation.
There's confession that which is penance another sacrament matrimony. Last rites, they have all these things that they've added to. And They've added it as a requirement one time. There was three of us who came to know Christ basically the same time and we all work together.
And one day we decided we were going to go. I mean, let me tell you we were on fire. And we were going to go talk to a priest and we did it. We set it up we talked to the priest and man, we were just throwing scriptures at him left and right.
We just cut him up and what and it wasn't the best. One the best thing to do but but it was fun. Anyway, he finally looked at us and he said I'm gonna ask you a question. He said well you all three baptized as Catholics.
And we all said yeah, cuz we were all Catholic and he says, okay. You're good. Because you've been baptized you're just separated brethren, right? Once Catholic. Right and basically he then threw us out because Actually said that he said you need to leave now, but his his thought was as long as we were baptized as a Catholic We would get we would might have to crawl on the defense.
Might have spent, you know a gazillion years in purgatory, but ultimately. Because they really believe in their thinking that baptism by them Takes care of your righteousness. Although again, you might have to pay for it.
Burn it off all your sins in purgatory. My whole point in all this is that Preaching the word is an absolute essential. How that word is preached and what is preached is a little more complicated but in other words.
What if a church only preaches from the Old Testament? What if a church only preaches from the New Testament? I Would have to say I want to know the reason. Why they would only preach from the Old Testament or only preach from the New Testament because again this is the inspired Word of God the 66 books now if their reason is that They're spending time in the Old Testament fine.
But if their reason is we don't believe in the New Testament. That's different. And then we can get into some of the other denominations like Somebody's groups like Messianic Jews and all these other things that do not believe In the continuity of the revelation of God.
See it's not as it's not as cut and dry. That's why I think in part what I said at the beginning I don't want to really talk about at this point. What are the marks of a functionally a biblically functioning church.
Because I do think that varies to some degree. From the marks of a true church versus a false church. Absolutely preaching the word the 66 books is an absolute essential and the doctrines that fall under it again.
Trinity. There's no Negotiation, right? There is no room for discussion. Either we believe you believe in the triune God of the Bible father son Holy Spirit or your false church as simple as that and.
Yet how often we get into come we probably won't finish today. These groups that believe Jews and Gentiles. What Israel how could that be when the Jews? in these synagogues deny The Messiah and are we just going to say that well if they have a Different view of Christ that's okay all depends what that view is.
Right if they're going to say that he's not who he claims to be false church. Yeah. Yeah, there's lots of things so again. It's not as as as Clear. I'll give you a taste of what we're going to talk about next week.
Well, we're gonna We continue with this conversation, but I also want to talk about the ordinances and here's something to think about. We've established that the two ordinances are baptism lots of Non-negotiable, right.
Don't do it. You're a false church because we have expressed command and I will look at some scriptures. Express command to do those things. But then you can get into well. What if the way in which they baptize?
Has a different are we then going to say that a Presbyterian Church who sprinkles? Rather than immerses. Is a false church those who baptize babies? Are false church because the Word of God in our understanding clearly teaches that it's believers baptism.
So again when you think about these things There's a lot to be thought of and that's why I do think that This has to be very narrow. It can't be like a thousand different things. I'll give you another example of what we'll talk about church discipline and we'll look at some scriptures on ethics.
Is church discipline Enacted and if not, what's the reason behind it? In other words, what I'm trying to say is do we believe that the mark of a true church is a Regenerate membership that an own Unbelievers in in truth have no fellowship.
We believe is in that church discipline is to be enacted protect a regenerated membership a Believers membership, however, you want to frame it and that that then becomes an essential and then if Church discipline is not enacted.
What does that mean about that church? So again, man This thing is you could bust this thing wide open you can spend honestly we could spend months and months and months kicking this thing around, but I want a little bit more scriptures next week and asked us to think about a Couple other things.
I think this is worthwhile. I think it allows us to have a better foundation rather than just saying they're a cult or they're a false church or they're a true church and that When we talk to people need to have a reason and Give them a reason for the hope that is in us, right that not necessarily Only sovereign grace back family church is a true church.
And like I said, there could be False believers. I mean they can be true believers in a false church. Just as sure as they could be what false believers in a true church. And and if we don't recognize that then I'm not so sure we're preaching the word Right because we know clearly wheat and tares grow together.
All right, I think that's enough. Hey, brother rotated chip. Rotated chip, would you ask God's blessing?
Father Devin, we thank you for the time. We spent together today. Thank you for your word and clarity of your word. We thank you for brother. And we are teaching us this. Truths that are essential to our to the church and as we go into.