72a) Cultivating Inter-Church Relationships #1

Introduction to Inter-Church Communion

0:03 Now we come this morning, brethren, to consider another aspect of the work of oversight and shepherding and governing as this task relates to the corporate life of the people of God. As we've been working our way through this category of pastoral responsibility, we've examined the task of oversight as it relates to the church in its worship, in its seasons of corporate prayer, and last week with respect to its corrective or radical discipline. And all of these categories have a primary reference to the internal life of the people of God. Today, as we move on to begin to consider the work of oversight of the church with respect to those dimensions of biblical duty and privilege that touch upon its external relations, we'll take up in today's lectures the inter-church communion concerning which we ought to have some fundamental biblical perspectives and then, God willing, next week, the church and its task of evangelism. And so, inter-church communion is the fellowship of the saints reaching out to other fellowships of the saints and in the task of evangelism, the church reaching out to the non-saints, reaching out to bring the gospel.

1:27 To those who are yet in ignorance and in sin. Now, the subject matter for our lectures today is directives for cultivating inter-church communion. And as you will see in your notes, I am concerned that we, first of all, identify what we do and do not mean by the terminology inter-church communion. I do not mean that we are going to discuss the moot question of open, closed, or semi-open or semi-restricted or semi-open communion with reference to the Supper of Remembrance.

2:03 That has been a minefield and a veritable battlefield of theological discussion over the centuries, but it's not my concern to enter into that battlefield this morning. Although some of the principles will have a bearing on this moot point, the question of open or closed communion is not the issue we are addressing. The question of open or closed communion is not the issue we are addressing. The question of open or closed communion is not the issue we are addressing.

2:26 What I mean is that we are to discuss together what the Bible has to say concerning how independent, autonomous churches relate to one another under the Lordship of Christ and in the fellowship of truth and of the Holy Spirit. And just as we dare not leave the internal life of the church to whims, to chants, to patterns established by ecclesiastical traditions, to patterns established by ecclesiastical traditions, to patterns established by ecclesiastical traditions, but we need to think through the issue biblically, so with reference to how we relate as a church to other churches must not be left to our whims, to our quote, instincts, or to patterns that we may have inherited in our particular ecclesiastical associations. So the question that we're going to be wrestling with today is how does the church local relate to other local churches and to the church universal? Now in taking up the subject, I acknowledge a deep sense of frustration. There is a vastness of biblical materials, there is a complexity of issues, and there is obviously a pattern of failure in the history of the church.

3:48 However, we must not let the difficulties of the subject scare us away from it when it is clearly a biblical duty to pursue it. As such, there is no law that allows us to pursue the issue and to seek to have our thinking and our practice rooted in the Word of God. And so we begin, large letter A, with the foundational biblical presuppositions. And everything that I will seek to lay before you from the scriptures this morning is based upon these two foundational biblical presuppositions.

Foundational Presupposition 1: The One Body of Christ, Universal

4:21 First of all, a conviction concerning the existence of the one body of Christ, universal now you're aware from your study of historical theology that there's some who reject any notion of the church universal they have a concept of the church that states and this is rather simplistic but it's the essence of it the church only exists in terms of the church specific and local its concrete specific expression in a given geographical area the independence of each church under the lordship of christ and that is the church and no other expression of the church exists however when we look at the text that i've listed to try to say that the significance of those texts is exhausted by whatever application or expression of them may be present in the church is really to truncate the language of those texts and without attempting any kind of a detailed expression exegesis, I do want to at least survey those texts by reading them in your hearing. In Ephesians 1 verses 22 and 23, a passage in which the apostle is praying that the Ephesians will be given

5:40 spiritual illumination to grasp the reality of the power that was manifested in Christ when he was raised from the dead, seated at the right hand of God. Verse 22, and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. Now for someone to say that the significance of that text is exhausted by the specific concrete manifestation of the church, in the congregation of God at Ephesus, is surely to attempt to do something with the passage that is unnatural. And here in this passage we are given a picture of Christ head over all things with reference to the church described as his body, the fullness of him that fills all in all. And whatever expression of this is realized in the church local, surely the vision of the apostle in this statement, of the exaltation of Christ, breaks over the boundaries of what the church is in its identity as the church local. And in a similar passage in Colossians 1, there is that same expansiveness of perspective. On the supremacy of Christ, the theme of this section, Paul writes, and he is the

7:09 head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in him should all the fullness dwell. He is the head of the body, the church. And again, while each church local must recognize in Christ its only legitimate and ultimate head, source of government, life, power, and protection, surely what is envisioned here in the exaltation and supremacy of Christ breaks beyond the bounds of the church.

7:47 And in Ephesians 4, in verse 4, we have another statement that it appears to me is pressing the issue beyond the plain sense of the text to try to limit it to the church local. Wherefore, I'm sorry, Ephesians 4, in verse 4, there is one body and one spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling. And in Ephesians 4, in verse 4, there is one body and one spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your What God has done that constitutes the basis of our unity, he asserts there is one body. And you see the embarrassment is if we say, well, that one body is a specific church local. There is one body. It doesn't say you are one manifestation of the body, or you are one body among many. There is one body, as surely as there is but one spirit. And therefore, to conceive of the one body,

8:48 in a biblical sense, we must go beyond the manifestation of the church local. And then in 1 Corinthians 12, in verse 13, we have a similar emphasis, where the apostle, in dealing with the subject of spiritual gifts, and the fact that there are diversities of gifts, and as in the human constitution, the human body, there is one integrated organism, but with many members, for in one spirit, we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greek, whether bond or free, and were all made to drink of one spirit. And again, though this has obvious applications and implications for the identity and function of the church local, to limit it to the church local is to undermine the emphasis of these other passages. And then in Hebrews 12, in verse 23, where the writer to the Hebrews is enumerated, he says, the many things to which we come, when in faith we come to Christ, the mediator of the new covenant, contrasting the things to which God's old covenant people came at the foot of Sinai, we are told that we are come to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, who are

10:10 enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. We are come. To that whole company identified as the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven. And again, one would be hard-pressed to carry the conscience of any thoughtful person that this can be limited by some specific manifestation of the church local.

10:39 And then in the well-known words of John 17, 20, and 21, where our Lord, in his high priestly prayer, is praying, only for those to whom he has revealed his saving grace, but anticipating the ongoing work of drawing people into the saving knowledge of himself, he prays, neither for these only do I pray, but for them also that believe on me through their word that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they may be in us, that the world may believe that you did send me. So, that as our Lord envisions the propagation of the gospel through these for whom he prays as present with him, his prayer is that they may be one, and certainly there is a dimension of unity that goes beyond the expression of that unity in the church local. And then in Acts 9, in verse 31, one of the few references where the word church, in terms of describing company, uses that word in the singular, obviously encompassing more than one church local and individual.

Foundational Presupposition 2: Independence and Interdependence of Local Churches

11:58 In Acts 9, in verse 31, telling some of the results that came as a consequence of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, so the church, not the churches, so the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, had peace, being edified, and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, was multiplied. Now, granted, this is one of the few references, but it is a reference. And the Spirit of God is saying that those churches local and specific in that area, in a real sense, can be called the church. That is the larger expression of the company of God's redeemed. So, when I speak to you in these lectures today, on directives for the cultivation of inter-church communion, I'm speaking out of this foundational biblical presupposition of a conviction concerning the existence of the one body of Christ, the church universal. But then, secondly, I'm speaking from the perspective of a conviction concerning the independence and interdependence of each local expression of the body of Christ. That is, surely, as we must have a conviction that the church is bigger than the church local,

13:26 we must also have a conviction that each church is independent under the Lordship of Christ, and yet interdependent with other such autonomous, independent churches. And here I've listed several texts which underscore particularly the independence, although there are overtones of interdependence. In 1 Corinthians 12, in verse 27, where some over-emphasize or emphasize beyond what I would call the dominant emphasis of Scripture, church in terms of something beyond the church local, and they harp on the concepts of the body of Christ in its broader expressions, find themselves uncomfortable with a text such as 1 Corinthians 12, 27, where Paul says, after opening up all of this imagery and analogy and drawing out arguments from the body concepts, he says, now you are the body of Christ. You there at Corinth constitute the body of Christ. Now, landmarkers will take that and say, see, the church local is the body of Christ, none other exists. Well, it's not either or.

14:44 Within this very chapter, both emphases are found. But we must not undermine, in any way, this rich biblical concept that the church at Corinth is called the body of Christ and members each in his part. And then, of course, the Matthew 18, 15 to 20 passage, which we were in a considerable amount of time last week, our Lord, in giving this directive concerning the church as it deals with its own internal life, to ensure that it, will be a company not only of professed saints, but professed saints walking in a saintly way. When he envisions a process by which the church will purge itself of those who negate their profession by their conduct, when he says that when the church acts, in verse 17, he is to be unto you as Gentile and publican, he then goes on to make the clear statement that, that the action of the church, in this specific instance, in its exercise of discipline, when it acts according to the mind and will of Christ, does that which is ratified in heaven,

16:05 and that to the church gathered, Christ pledges his presence, and he envisions no higher judicatory. That church, in submission to Christ, and acting by the word of Christ, exercises the keys deposited in its hands by the sovereign will of Christ, and woe be unto anyone that says Christ was not wise enough to put the keys there.

16:32 We must put them somewhere else. He has put them there. And so when we come to wrestle with this matter of inter-church communion, we must not, out of expediency, and out of an apparent better way, do anything in the fostering of that communion that takes the keys out of the place, where Christ has put them. And the Matthew 18 passage is clear on this matter of the independence of each local expression of the body of Christ.

17:02 And then in these texts, in Acts 9.31, which we've looked at, we compare that, or contrast it, with Acts 16.5. Here, Luke can describe in the Acts 9 passage the church in that generic sense, beyond the specific church local, yet in the 16th, 16th chapter of Acts, when describing how it was that Mark, sorry, that Timothy becomes Paul's companion, we read in Acts 16 and verse 5,

17:37 so the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in numbers daily. And here you don't have the singular, generic use of ecclesia, but the churches, so that Luke has no problem, in his mind of saying, yes, the church in Judea and Samaria was strengthened, walking in peace and in the fear of God. But here, the same author says, so the churches were strengthened in the faith, underlining the reality of their independence, and yet, and yet, something of their interdependence, because there was a condition that was now prevailing among the church as, and was shared by those churches. And then Romans 16, 4 and 16, a similar emphasis, Romans 16 and verse 4, speaking of Priscilla and Aquila, his fellow workers, who for my life, laid down their own necks, unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Now, how easy it would have been for Paul to say, the Gentiles, the Gentile church, generic, for all the congregations, but he's careful, under the direction of the Spirit, to say,

19:02 also all the churches of the Gentiles. And likewise, in verse 16, greet one another with a holy kiss, all the churches of Christ salute you. Now, how easy it would have been for this man with his expansive view of the one body to say, the church of Christ salutes you. But he doesn't.

19:27 He says, the church ends. And he could think of this and that and the other church where he had been and with whom he had communicated, who had apparently said to him, Paul, when you write to the Roman church, when you communicate, convey our warmest Christian greeting. So he thinks of those churches in their identity as independent, and yet, there was an interdependence. He became opposed, a pool of the good wishes of the various churches.

19:57 You didn't have Paul saying, some of the churches who are not jealous and envious of your position of influence and a heightened position that I hope to give you as I've been brought on you by my way to Spain and the base of my operations is shifted from Antioch to Rome. No, he could say, there was a beautiful communion of goodwill to the church. So there was a pool of goodwill of goodwill to the church. There was a pool of goodwill expressed by independent churches, but by churches sharing in a communion of goodwill and of awareness of where the apostle was and where he was going and what he was doing.

20:37 For him to be able to say, all the churches of Christ salute you, it not only underscores the independence of each local church, but this interdependence and this communion. And it's just tucked away in that simple little statement. But I think the minute you have it highlighted, you see, how obvious that is. And then in 1 Corinthians 7, 17, when he's taking up the tacky problems of marriage and singleness and who should put away a wife and who should marry and who should not, etc.

21:09 In chapter 7 and verse 17, only as the Lord has distributed to each man as God has called each, so let him walk. Now, what will he do to buttress that exhortation? He brings this forward as a buttressing argument and so ordain I in all the churches. If you Corinthians embrace my directives, you then enter into a fellowship of commonality of walk and of experience on this naughty question that I've just laid before you.

21:46 He assumes that that will be of concern to them. They don't want to be the odd man out. They don't want to be out of sight. They don't want to step with the other churches.

21:57 And though it is the other churches, specific individual churches wherever I go, yet there is this communion of commonality of experience and response to the apostolic directive. And then Revelation 1 in verse 4, a passage that has been recently highlighted for us in our studies in those seven letters to the seven churches in the adult class. John, his writing to the churches under the direction of Christ, John to the seven churches that are in Asia. It doesn't say John to the church in Asia and then go from the generic to the specific, but it's John to the seven churches that are in Asia. But very interestingly, all seven letters went to all seven churches. So the church at Ephesus knew what the Lord thought about a church at Pergamos. And the Pergamonians Pergamonians, knew what the Ephesians had to do to get their act together.

22:59 So that in the very way that the letter is framed and sent, the independence, but interdependence and communion is highlighted in the very structure of the book. Well, enough then for some of that sampling. You get more of this in your ecclesiology in greater detail and more careful exegetical work. But I felt it vital to, as it were, lay bare these foundations of biblical presuppositions with which I'm working in trying to handle these materials.

Introductory Qualification 1: Unique Apostolic Authority

23:31 Now then we come, letter B, to some important introductory qualifications in handling the relevant materials of the New Testament. I trust we will never take second place to any in our conviction of the sufficiency as well as the authority of Holy Scripture for all things that pertain to life and to godliness. That we will have what some have called a simplistic biblicism. Now we don't want to have something that could legitimately be called a simplistic biblicism.

24:06 But if people mean by that that every question raised, your first and reflexive response is what does the Bible say? May God baptize us with that kind of simplistic biblicism. As one man said, the trouble with some of you people is you're always looking for a text to which a friend of mine responded and said, well yes, and I always feel much more comfortable when I've got a clear text marking out my path. My word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my pathway.

24:33 And I trust none of us has a simplistic, naive biblicism. We don't look for the word Trinity in our Strong's Concordance and say if we don't find it, we ain't going to believe in the doctrine of the Trinity. No, we don't have a simplistic biblicism. But at the same time, we do believe that Scripture is the sufficient rule of faith and of practice.

24:55 And believing that, then, when we come to the materials of the Word of God with this question, how, by what means, in what manner, ought I, as an overseer in Christ's flock, to seek to direct the thinking, the prayers, and the actions of the people of God under my charge with respect to how they relate to other assemblies of God's people? What are the parameters of inter-church communion? And it is of concern to us to answer that question from the Word of God. But in so doing, we must identify some introductory qualifications in handling the relevant materials of the New Testament. And the first is this. The apostles had a unique authority and function in nurturing inter-church communion in their day. They not only had a function, but they had a unique function.

25:54 And whatever they had left us in terms of the patterns of their practice that we ought to emulate, we must never attempt to emulate without this clear understanding that they had a unique place in this matter that we can never have individually, nor can we arrogate to ourselves collectively. Their unique place has gone to their graves with them, and whatever is abiding of that authority is embodied in the Scripture not in the apostolic office. Now, let's look at some of the texts which underscore this principle. In Acts 15 and verse 2, 4, 6, 22, and 23, the Spirit of God has clearly underscored that whatever the so-called Jerusalem Council was, the apostles had a unique, dominant, and non-repeatable place in that gathering of those at Jerusalem, so when Paul and Barnabas, verse 2, had no small dissension in questioning with them, the brethren appointed that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. And just as surely as we're going to find the word church, that the church was involved in this,

27:20 the elders, there is a dominant emphasis on the place of the apostles in this question. In this whole affair. Verse 4, And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church and of the apostles and the elders. And again, in verse 6, And the apostles and the elders were gathered together.

27:47 And then, when the conclusion is made and a letter is to be sent out with the servants of God, verse 23, And they wrote thus by them, And the apostles and the elders, brethren, unto the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greeting, etc. So the apostles in their unique place are certainly dominant in the activities of this council at Jerusalem. In 1 Timothy 1, in verse 3, we see that an apostle could impose leadership upon the churches. In 1 Timothy 1, in verse 3, there's no record that the church at Ephesus called a congregational meeting and extended a call to Timothy. As I exhorted you to tarry at Ephesus when I was going into Macedonia, that you might charge certain men not to teach a different doctrine. And then of all the directions he gives to Timothy, I will that this be done and this be done. I'm writing you to give you behavior in the house of God and these are the things you're to speak and exhort.

29:00 Let no man despise your youth. If anyone would ask Timothy, who in the world called you to this task? He'd say, I was appointed to it by an apostle. Now that puts him in a unique position.

29:11 And we've got to recognize that in wrestling with the biblical data. Similarly, in Titus 1, in verse 5, Titus was not called to serve in the church at Crete by the suffrage of the people. We read, for this cause I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that were lacking and appoint elders in every city as I gave you charge. Very simple.

29:36 Paul says, as an apostle, I'm unashamed, Titus, to say you're there in Crete because I told you that's where you ought to go. None of us has that kind of authority. 1 Corinthians 7, 17, we've already looked at that text. Paul says, I ordain in all the churches.

29:51 He had a right not only to nurture inter-church communion but to determine the individual policy of those churches. He was an apostle and the church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, the whole organization and implementation of this benevolence offering for the impoverished saints at Jerusalem. Paul assumes that he has apostolic authority to engineer and organize all of this.

30:20 Now when it comes to bringing along others to share in this, there was some suffrage, it says. Certain brethren were chosen to be chosen to be chosen by the churches to serve and to help in this ministry. But in the engineering of that inter-church commitment to help the poor saints, there was an apostle who took the lead with divinely conferred authority. So when we try to extrapolate principles of inter-church communion with reference to benevolences, we've got to remember there's a factor in there that we cannot now reproduce.

30:56 And any attempt to handle the data, when we're not able to do so, without recognizing that, is going to end up skewed. 2 Corinthians 11, 28, where Paul is speaking of the things that he bears, overtones of what we heard in the previous hour when Paul brags, he brags on his sufferings, on his privations, on his opposition, on the various perils. But then he said, in addition to all of this, verse 28 of 2 Corinthians 11, besides those things that are without, there is that which presses upon me daily, anxiety. The very thing he forbids in Philippians 4, be anxious for nothing.

31:37 Same root Greek word. He says, I have anxiety. Deep, disturbing solicitude for all the churches. And why do you have it, Paul?

31:46 Because that's laid upon me as an apostle.

31:50 I have a responsibility for all the churches, and no little part of that was fostering inter-church communion. A communion, a communion, of response to the poor saints there in Judea. A communion of concern in the progress of the gospel as we see it come out in the book of Philippians. But as an apostle, he had a unique responsibility in that area.

32:14 In 1 Corinthians 1, in verse 10,

32:18 1 Corinthians 1, in verse 10, I beseech you, brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all, here's a church that Paul, found it. He hears there are certain problems. He can unilaterally, without being invited in, he can attack the problem as an apostle, and even let them know somebody snitched on you. And I'm unashamed to tell you who it was.

32:45 The household of Chloe told me that you've got this problem. And I am now beseeching you in the name, in the authority of my master, the Lord Jesus, to deal with this thing. And then, of course, the text I already alluded to, Ephesians 2.20, that church of which Christ is the head and life is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone.

33:14 And here I've noted the thought of Owen, volume 16, pages 184 and 185, and I'll just quote two sample paragraphs where Owen recognized this principle in dealing with the subject of the communion of churches. Listen to Owen's perceptive insight. If a thousand pretenses should be made of supplying churches' defects after the decease of the apostles by any other order, way, or means besides this of the equal communion of churches among themselves, they will all be found destitute of any countenance from the Scripture, primitive antiquity, the nature, use, and end of churches, yes, of Christian religion itself. You see what he's saying? You want to foster the communion of the churches? You no longer have apostles and you're going to be wiser and say in the place of apostles we'll set up man-made structures?

34:15 He says you are not only opposing Scripture, primitive antiquity, the nature, use, and end of churches, but of the Christian religion itself. Yet the pretense hereof is the sole foundation of all that is in the church. It is the sole foundation of all that is in the church. It is the sole foundation of all that is in the church.

34:30 It is the sole foundation of all that disposal of churches into several stories of subordination with an authority and jurisdiction over one another which now prevails in the world. Rome, of course, being the classic manifestation of that, but the Erastianism of the Church of England and other communions that claim to stand under the lordship of Christ and yet impose this hierarchy of authority among the churches. But there is no place for such a manifestation until it be proved either that our Lord Jesus Christ has not appointed the mutual communion of churches among themselves by their own consent or that it is not sufficient for the preservation of the union and furtherance of the edification of the church Catholic whereunto it is designed. Herein, then, we acknowledge lies the great difference which we have with others about the state of the church in this world. We do believe that the mutuality and the mutual communion of particular churches among themselves in an equality of power and order, though not of gifts and usefulness, is the only way appointed by our Lord Jesus Christ after the death of the apostles for the attaining of the general end of all particular churches, which is the edification of the church Catholic in faith, love, and peace. Other ways and means have been found out in the world for this end,

35:59 which is the edification of the church Catholic which we must speak unto immediately. Wherefore, it behooves us to use some diligence in considering the causes, nature, and use of this communion of churches. You see, Owen went right to the heart of the issue and said, we must recognize in dealing with the biblical data that the apostles had a unique place and now that they are gone, we must see what has God left us to work with without trying to construct a man-made substitute for the apostles. That's the point that Owen made.

Introductory Qualification 2: Complications from 2,000 Years of Church History

36:30 That's the point that Owen makes and I think makes it very powerful. So, as we try to handle the data of the New Testament, we must keep this qualification before us. The apostles had a unique authority and function in nurturing inter-church communion. Secondly, we've got to remember that nearly 2,000 years of church history have greatly complicated the problems connected with nurturing inter-church communion in our day.

37:00 Were there problems in the church in the church in the apostolic age? Yes. The very fact that God blessed some churches with more than one apostle and more than one eminent servant of Christ, that created a problem. I've listed 1 Corinthians 1, 11 through 13.

37:13 Paul says, there are divisions among you. Now, one says, I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, I of Cephas, I of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you?

37:23 Were you baptized into the name of Paul? There was a problem when you had living apostles. All right? Romans 4, 14, 1 to 15, 8.

37:33 Paul gives, by the guidance of the Spirit, this whole block of material in this marvelous epistle opening up God's way of righteousness in the person and work of Christ and by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And what lies at the heart of Romans 14, 1 to 15, 8? It's trying to engineer within the local church itself, not even talking about inter-communion of other churches, integrating those with different churches differing religious and cultural backgrounds so that they reflect the unity that is theirs in Christ as part of the new humanity. Likewise, 1 Corinthians chapters 8 through 10.

38:13 Then you had doctrinal aberrations right while apostles were living and Paul could say in Galatians 1, 8 and 9, though I myself should come back or an angel out of heaven and preach any other gospel than that which you received, let him be accursed. 3 John 9 and 10, this character diatrophies while John is still alive, this man who is disrupting the church and unilaterally chucking people out and acting in an arrogant way. Well, there were problems in the church local. There were problems as these things spilled over into inter-church communion.

38:48 Now, add to that what has happened in 2,000 years of church history. The cultural and religious diversity has greatly proliferated. Doctrinal aberrations have been both repeated. Ancient heresies dressed in new clothing and then personalities where in that limited geographical and numerical limitation you might have one diatrophies, you may now have a dozen.

39:17 And our situation is complicated because in 2,000 years there are ecclesiastical traditions, there are man-made structures, there are, there are, there are battles ancient and present that have been fought over various things that divide the people of God so that any approach that does not reckon upon the reality that we live at this point in the history of redemption and takes into account those things which God in His sovereignty has allowed to mark the path from the apostolic age to this day, any approach that doesn't take that into account is indeed simplistic. And it's going to err in some very crucial ways. Beware of anyone that relegates all these matters to a thing of indifference. Well, let's just say the name of Jesus and have a togetherness orgy. And let's all speak in tongues or raise our hands and say praise you Jesus and just forget 2,000 years of church history.

40:22 There are some that take that attitude.

40:25 If you've ever heard David Duplessy's thesis on what God is doing in the modern charismatic world, he says that in the Reformation a wall went up comprised of doctrine that split the visible church and 400 years has not dismantled the wall. God is now giving people an experience in the Holy Spirit that connects them above the wall.

40:49 So if you can say and somebody else jabbers and you all say we got the baptism, the wall is gone. 400 years of church history are immersed in this sea of gushy, lovey, togetherness orgy. And he's no fool. David Duplessy is a brilliant man.

Introductory Qualification 3 & 4: Expansion and Technology

41:09 And people buy into that thesis. We find similar things even now with certain men's movements that have much to commend them but it's grievous when the issue of doctrinal understanding and confessional issues are just swept to one side. We have got to labor with our biblical duty of inter-church communion but we don't labor with that biblical duty as though we're not as though we are ignorant of or indifferent to 2,000 years of church history that have greatly complicated the prophets. And thirdly, the introductory qualification number three, the vast expansion of the church both numerically and geographically and culturally has complicated this task of nurturing inter-church communion. The apostolic period was the period of Roman rule. Roman roads, the Greek language, you had a pocket of synagogue life in almost every major population center in the Roman Empire. We don't have that now because our Lord is building the church and gathering out from all the nations.

42:19 Ta ethne. Make disciples of all the nations. The problem of inter-church communion has been complicated as the problems were difficult then with people from Jewish and pagan backgrounds, some more influenced by Romans and Romans thought, some by Greek thought, some by pagan philosophy, even more so because of the vastness of the church. But our Lord was not ignorant of that expansion in his prayer in John 17, 20, I pray for those who shall believe on me through their word.

42:52 And he saw them in all of the cultural diversity, in all of the diversity of background and the crosswinds of pagan thought that will influence those that are brought out of darkness into light. And therefore we must not despair while we realistically stare into the eye of these problems. And then fourthly, I've listed this fourth introductory concern that we must keep in mind. The advances in technology have greatly increased our available tools for nurturing and I've added this since the last time I went through these lectures.

43:30 This was part of the change in the notes for today among many others. Nurturing and hindering inter-church communion in our day. We have the telephone, we have fast means of travel, we have newspapers, periodicals, we have email, and the internet, and fax machines, and tape recorders, all of which can be wonderfully sublimated and brought into the service of nurturing inter-church communion. But alas, they can be brought to the surface of fracturing that communion and hindering that communion.

44:04 Somebody gets irritated with a brother and he can slander him around the world in a half an hour.

44:13 That's right. He can get on the phone and churn out at least, at least in Paul's day, someone had to sit down and write a letter and wait for weeks to get delivered. I mean, you couldn't holler loud enough to get your disaffection to Paul at Ephesus spread over to Philippi. That would take some time and some real effort.

44:35 And now, with a few clicks of the finger and a few adjustments and clicks on the mouse and a few hitting of buttons on the telephone, running something through a fax machine, and we've got to recognize that God's called us to serve Him and to implement these biblical norms in a context in which, on the one hand, He has put marvelous means at our disposal to be used for the nurturing of inter-church communion, but also to recognize that the devil, who is never, never indifferent to this matter, will seek to take those very means and bend them to his own service. He is ambitious to fracture and to divide the people of God as surely as our Lord is desirous to see them nurturing inter-church communion. Well, having looked at our foundational presuppositions and then these four principles that must be kept in mind as we wrestle with the biblical materials, let's look at the following. Let's take our break here and then we'll plunge into letter C, some major biblical data concerning our duty to cultivate inter-church communion and then the practical perspectives and guidelines with respect to that duty. Well, let's take...