************ Sermon on Belgic Confession Article 29 ************
Doctrine: True and False Church
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on January 31, 1999
B.C. 29(a)
Jude
"The True and False Church"
Introduction
"How Can a False Religion Be So Successful?" That's what Michael Maudlin, Managing Editor of "Christianity Today", asks in the introduction to a cover story about Mormonism (in Christianity Today: June 15, 1998). He goes on to tell about a visit with Uncle Otto, a Mormon relative who had converted several family members.
Topic: Church
Subtopic: True/False
Index: 726-761
Date: 1/1999.101
Title: How Can a False Religion Be So Successful?
Uncle Otto is a great guy. Two sons from his pre-Mormon marriage lived nearby, and with their pleasant wives and well-nurtured children they made perfect "Welcome to Mormonism" postcards. My uncle and his wife had adopted or birthed seven more children. Uncle Otto never pressured me about his faith but patiently answered my questions. When I was leaving he said, "Mick, as long as you continue searching for the truth, I think you will end up a Mormon."
A few years ago I visited the Mormon bookstore at Temple Square in Salt Lake City. What I found was eerily familiar. Every category we have in Christian bookstores had its counterpart here: ... archaeology; commentaries and apologetics; histories and biographies; fiction; and books on lifestyle evangelism.
On his recent flight to Salt Lake, our cover story's author sat next to a returning Mormon missionary. The author told him he was doing a story on Mormonism, and the missionary didn't get upset; instead, he shared his faith. The same thing happened when the head apostle of Mormonism was interviewed. And when our photographer took pictures in Temple Square, four different, pleasant, eager young people started conversations about "spiritual things" with him.
How do we know Mormonism is wrong and we are right? On what basis do we say this?
Before being involved in this cover story Maudlin thought it was easy to tell the true church from the false church. Maudlin thought that true churches were successful churches. Many people today buy into this attitude. True churches, they say, are those marked with growth statistics, vibrant publishing, dynamic para-church ministries, solid educational institutions, and healthy, evangelizing congregations. But every one of these marks have been duplicated or outdone by the false religion of Mormonism. It became obvious to him that to distinguish the true from the false church he needed to start looking for something other than success. He found out that being successful is NOT the same as being true!
If you remember, in previous articles the Confession of Faith tells us we have a duty to join the true church. With all the denominations and independent churches that exist in today's world, how can we tell which church is a true one and how can we tell which is a false one?
Both the Bible and the Confession of Faith disagree with the notion that all churches are pretty much the same. They do not buy the attitude that if you have been in one church you have been in all churches. Such an approach is irresponsible, dangerous, and unbiblical. Repeatedly, our Lord and His apostles warned believers against false shepherds who would lead the flock astray. Jude writes to the church about those who
(Jude 1:4) ... have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
I The Marks of the True Church
A How does one recognize the true church? In one of its best known sections, the Confession tells us to look for certain "marks." To find the true church one must look for landmarks, for sign-posts.
Topic: Church
Subtopic: True/False
Index: 726-761
Date: 1/1999.101
Title: Landmarks
When I made hospital calls in downtown Toronto I could always find my way by looking for the CN Tower, the tallest free-standing structure in the world. When Ruth and I went hiking or climbing in New Mexico we always kept our bearings by looking for Church Rock – a steeple-like rock that towers over the mesa.
When it comes to identifying the true church you look at three things: preaching, sacraments, and discipline.
B First, you look at preaching. What does a church preach about Christ? What does it believe about the Trinity? What does it say about salvation and grace? No true church preaches heresy on any of these subjects. A true "church engages in the pure preaching of the gospel." It preaches Christ crucified and resurrected. It affirms that He is very God and very man. It believes in one God Who reveals Himself in 3 persons. It says salvation is only by grace through faith.
The main concern of the Confession is this: is the Word of God still being proclaimed? Does the church put herself under the preaching of the Word?
Of course, the true church puts herself under all the Word, and not just parts that she likes. The true church avoids a one-sided approach. She doesn't dwell, for instance, only on sin but also preaches salvation and service. The true church, in other words, preaches and teaches the full counsel of God. In the 17th century the Puritans were preoccupied with sin, hell, and damnation. A Puritan has been described as someone desperately afraid that someone somewhere is having a good time. These people were so preoccupied with their sin and misery there was very little joy in their life. The full counsel of God, the joy of salvation and service, was not preached.
A true "church engages in the pure preaching of the gospel." Usually we think of preaching within the context of worship. And, it most certainly is correct to say the true church has the pure preaching of the gospel from its pulpit in Sunday worship services. However, we do pure preaching an injustice if that is all we say about it.
When we turn to the New Testament, we see there that pure preaching involves more than worship and is done by more than the minister. Listen to these texts:
(Mk 13:10) And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.
(Acts 8:4) Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
(Rom 15:20) It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation.
Pure preaching reaches the lost. Pure preaching is done in the market place and city square. Pure preaching is done by ordinary believers as they go about their everyday tasks.
What does this mean for a true church? A true church is one that preaches the gospel to the lost – not just the minister, but the members as well. A true church, in other words, engages in outreach, evangelism, mission. A true church is one that never gets used to the sound of millions of feet tramping to everlasting hell fire.
C To find a true church, the second thing you look at is sacraments. The Confession tells us that the true church "makes use of the pure administration of the sacraments as instituted by Christ." We understand this to mean that only believers and their children are to be baptized. And, that the Lord's Supper is to be guarded or fenced off so that only those church members in good and regular standing before the Lord can partake.
It seems that many of the Reformed faith question whether the table should be guarded. More than one member has asked me why our elders stand at the door to talk to visitors when we have the Lord's Supper. The "pure administration of the sacraments" means the true church must supervise or guard the Lord's Table so that not just anyone and everyone can participate. Paul tells us that the church and the individual are to discern the body lest they eat and drink in an unworthy manner and become guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord (1 Cor 11:27-29). The true church, in other words, rightly guards the table.
Some also wonder why nonmembers are not allowed to present their children for baptism, answer the baptismal questions, or hold the baby while it is being baptized. Baptism, as instituted by Christ, is only for believers and their children. This automatically excludes unbelievers and nonmembers.
D The third thing to look at is church discipline. The true church "practices church discipline for correcting faults." A true church does not tolerate sin or turn a blind eye to it, nor does she allow the unrepentant and unbelieving to remain within her. Scripture shows us over and over again that God is holy and insists that His church be holy even as He is. This means the evildoer is to be led to repentance and the unrepentant are to be kicked out.
Topic: Church
Subtopic: Excommunication from
Index: 752
Date:
Title:
Marian Guinn's soul was the issue, church leaders say, when elders of the Collinsville Church of Christ denounced her for adultery before the congregation and forbade 120 members to associate with her.
But privacy was the issue when Marian Guinn's lawsuit against the elders went to trial in state district court. She sought $1.3 million, alleging invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Ms. Guinn, 36, is a nurse and divorced mother of four children.
Her suit says that in October, 1981, three elders publicly denounced her for "the sin of fornication" and ordered church members to avoid her.
In depositions and pretrial hearings, Ms. Guinn has acknowledged her relationship with Pat Sharp, a former mayor of Collinsville.
"It doesn't matter if she was fornicating up and down the street," her lawyer, Thomas Frasier said. "It doesn't give the church the right to stick their noses in."
We know that Ms. Guinn's lawyer is wrong. The true church not only has the right but she must "stick her nose in" when members fall into sin.
E The true church, then, is recognized by the pure preaching of the gospel, the pure administration of the sacraments, and the practice of church discipline.
These three marks of the true church are intimately related to each other. Not one of them can exist without the other two. When church discipline is neglected the sacraments will be profaned by the unrepentant and unbelieving. When God's Word is not preached the sacraments are abused and discipline is not exercised.
Topic: Sin
Subtopic: Denounced
Index:
Date:
Title: Poison More Dangerous With Peppermint Label
The popular evangelist, Wilbur Chapman, told of a preacher friend who delivered a powerful sermon on the subject of sin. After the service, one of the church officers confronted the minister in his study and offered what he thought was some needed counsel. "Pastor," he said, "we don't want you to talk as openly as you do about man's guilt and corruption, because if our boys and girls hear you discussing that subject they will more easily become sinners. Call it a mistake, if you will, but do not speak so plainly about sin."
The pastor removed a small bottle from a shelf behind his desk. Showing it to the man, he said, "You see this label? It says 'Strychnine,' and underneath in bold, red letters is the word 'poison.' What you are asking me to do would be like changing this label. Suppose I write over it 'Essence of Peppermint.' Someone who doesn't know the danger might use it and become very ill. I have to warn against sin or people will fall into it!"
II The Marks of the False Church
A In contrast to the true church is the false church. The marks of the false church are a direct contradiction of what is found in the true church.
The first deals with its attitude to God's Word. The false church "assigns more authority to itself and its ordinances than to the Word of God; it does not want to subject itself to the yoke of Christ." Scripture is not the only or final authority in the false church. Other books, official teachings, and ex-cathedra statements all carry more weight than Scripture.
By this standard we would have to condemn many modern churches as being false: the Jehovah's Witnesses, Scientology, Mormons, Christian Science, to name only a few. The church the Belgic Confession has in mind here is the Roman Catholic Church; thank God she is slowly returning to Scripture but at the time of the Reformation she had a natural theology which was equal to and even above the Word of God.
B The second mark of the false church concerns its view of the sacraments: "it does not administer the sacraments as Christ commanded in His Word; it rather adds to them or subtracts from them as it pleases; it bases itself on men, more than on Jesus Christ."
Again, the church in mind is the Roman Catholic Church. At the time of the Reformation she believed that it was the sacraments themselves that gave salvation; five sacraments were added to the two instituted by Christ; and, non-clergy were not allowed to drink the wine.
C The third mark of the false church concerns its use of discipline. The false church "persecutes those who live holy lives according to the Word of God and who rebuke it for its faults, greed, and idolatry." The false church cannot tolerate any criticism. It allows no room for needed correction and admonition. Instead of disciplining wayward and unrepentant members, the false church disciplines those who try to correct and admonish it.
Again, the Belgic Confession of Faith is thinking of the Roman Catholic Church and its persecution of those, like Luther, who dared to challenge its direction.
Conclusion
In talking about the church, we use a word today that the Bible does not know and the Confession does not recognize. That word is "denomination." Strictly speaking, the true/false church distinction must be applied to individual congregations, NOT to denominations. So the most pressing question is NOT: Is the Christian Reformed Church the true church? Rather, the most pressing question is: Is the Trinity Christian Reformed Church the true church? Based upon what I have seen and heard since I have been here I would say, "Yes. Yes, Trinity Christian Reformed Church is a true church."
At the same time, I also have to say that we are not the only true church in this town.
There are many true churches, praise God, but there are no pure churches. There is no such thing as a perfect church. No church is completely successful in blamelessly following all three marks. Furthermore, all churches have sinners and hypocrites within them – people, that is, who need salvation.