53a) The Biblical Importance of Oversight

The point: Take seriously the whole issue of the task of an overseer with respect to ordering the corporate life of the people of God, resisting compromising counsel.

Martin recounts his journey from the Salvation Army (which he describes as having 'no ecclesiology' and a 'military-church hybrid') through various evangelical and denominational settings that lacked clear biblical ecclesiology. This personal history highlights his profound appreciation for 1 Timothy 3:14-15 when he discovered its explicit directives for church order during the founding of Trinity Church.

To rise in heaven and to go into heaven... in my judgment, no passage is more fundamental or comprehensive than is 1 Timothy 3, verses 14 and 15. I regard it as the epitomizing text on this issue. To use the Latin terminology, it is the locus classicus on this whole subject. I have a special affinity for this text because of its profound impact upon my own soul in the foundational days of the formation of Trinity Church. As many of you know, my background ecclesiologically was that of the Salvation Army. And if you know anything about the Salvation Army, you know that it has no ecclesiology. I...

2:54 - 3:44 Read in full sermon

The point: Discharge the pastoral office with faithfulness, diligence, and reverence, recognizing the greatness of the office and the dreadful retribution for harming the truth.

Martin quotes Fairbairn's commentary to explain how the church functions as a 'basement' and 'pillar' for truth, securely resting and bearing it aloft, while also refuting the Romish perversion of this text by emphasizing that the church does not create truth but preserves it.

both pillar and foundation of the truth. Now in what sense is the church the basement or foundation of the truth? Well, here, in the book of Ephesians, we see that the church is the foundation of the truth. I quote from Fairbairn's most perceptive remarks in his commentary on this passage from his book on the pastoral epistles. They should be, and they are, that is churches, while steadfast to their profession, a basement whereon the truth may securely rest amid all the fluctuations of the world, and a pillar to bear it aloft that all may know and consider it. Now there's been a disinclination...

31:49 - 32:56 Read in full sermon

The point: Discharge the pastoral office with faithfulness, diligence, and reverence, recognizing the greatness of the office and the dreadful retribution for harming the truth.

Martin quotes Calvin on the 'no ordinary dignity' ascribed to the church as 'pillar and ground of the truth,' using it to underscore the immense responsibility of pastors to faithfully discharge their office and the dreadful retribution for harming the truth through their fault.

And here I trust you will not find it tedious to listen to a rather lengthy quote from Calvin, who so often as an expositor has an unusual ability to go to the heart of the issue. It is no ordinary dignity that is ascribed to the church when it is called the pillar and ground of the truth. For what higher terms could be used to describe it? There is nothing.

35:08 - 35:30 Read in full sermon

The point: Maintain orthodoxy not only in what is confessed but also in what is practiced in the house of God, recognizing that there is a heterodoxy of ecclesiastical practice.

Martin quotes Warfield's 'Faith and Life' at length to counter the disposition that matters of public worship and church organization are of 'little importance.' Warfield argues that the church's function as guardian of the gospel truth necessitates precise divine ordering, not human caprice.

respect to matters of practical ecclesiology, behavior in the house of God. Now it's in conjunction and in connection with the function of the church, as well as its identity, that the apostle writes as he does to his son in the faith, Timothy, determined that he will feel something of the passion of the church. And he says, Timothy, you must think of the church as powerful imagery, of his own heart, with respect to behavior in the house of God. And I want to conclude before we come to our extended application of the text by reading again most perceptive words from the servant of God of anothe...

38:10 - 39:19 Read in full sermon

The point: Beware of tampering with or being indifferent to the divine organization and ordering of the church, lest its efficiency or power as the pillar and ground of truth be marred or destroyed.

Warfield's analogy of a typewriter is used to illustrate that just as a machine must be properly organized to produce its product (a manuscript), the church must be properly organized and administered to fulfill its function as the pillar and ground of truth.

The church is laid down in these epistles. Nay, this whole point of view is as irrational as it is unbiblical. One might as well say it makes no difference how a machine is put together, how, for example, a typewriter is disposed into its several parts, because, forsooth, the typewriter does not exist for itself, but for the manuscript that is produced by it, or rather through it. Of course, the church does not exist for itself. That is, for the beauty of its organization, the symmetry of its parts, and the beauty of its organization. The majesty of its services, it exists for its product, and...

42:36 - 43:30 Read in full sermon

The point: Challenge the notion of an 'evangelistic ministry' that neglects the comprehensive work of making disciples, baptizing, and teaching all things Christ commanded.

Paul's commitment to taking the gospel to major population centers, even planning to go to Spain, is used to show his tremendous evangelistic passion. This example then contrasts with the idea that he merely preached minimal truth and moved on, highlighting his concurrent concern for establishing well-ordered churches.

the summary statement of Acts chapter 14, with a divinely given commission to bear the name of Christ to the Gentiles, and with his evident passion that he would literally take the gospel to all of the major population centers of the existing Greco-Roman world. You remember he writes there in his epistle to the Romans that his next foray is going to be up to Spain. He said, I have no more place in these parts. I have no place in these parts. I have no place in these parts. I have no place in these parts.

46:43 - 47:13 Read in full sermon

The point: Challenge the notion of an 'evangelistic ministry' that neglects the comprehensive work of making disciples, baptizing, and teaching all things Christ commanded.

The analogy of a captain receiving bars without knowing what a captain does is used to illustrate the absurdity of appointing elders without imparting instructions on their functions and biblical standards, reinforcing the need for detailed church order.

When they had appointed for them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord on whom they believed. This much is clear, that he was concerned that there be biblical church order. Here the focus is upon responsible, competent, God-equipped leadership, and we know from the analogy of scripture, he would not establish the leadership without imparting to the leaders at least the broad outlines of what they were to do in that position of leadership. You don't give a man two bars and call him a captain and not tell him what captains do, and have him stand aro...

50:36 - 51:21 Read in full sermon

The point: Resist the temptation to laziness in examining issues of church order and behavior from the scriptures.

Jesus' encounter with the Sadducees in Matthew 22 is recounted to illustrate the temptation to laziness in examining the scriptures. Jesus' rebuke, 'You do err, not knowing the Scripture,' highlights culpable ignorance for not digging beyond surface meaning.

have something less than a passionate, meticulous desire or a desire to give meticulous obedience to the implications of 1 Timothy 3.15? Well, I've listed the major ones as I've seen them in my own heart and observed them in my brethren. And the first is the temptation to laziness in examining these issues from the scriptures. The temptation to laziness in examining these issues from the scriptures. You remember what our Lord said in Matthew chapter 22 when his enemies thought they had him on the horns of a logical dilemma. And they come up with this cockamamie story, as though they knew such ...

54:36 - 55:38 Read in full sermon