The Biblical Importance of Oversight

Introduction to the Biblical Categories of the Task and the Importance of Corporate Oversight

0:02 Brethren, if you'll just glance at your abstract, you'll see now what we propose to do in the 35 minutes remaining to us, the 37 minutes in this second class this morning, and that is to move down to unit number two, the biblical categories of the task. Unit one, we've covered a biblical description of the task in its essence and in its disposition, and unit two takes up the biblical categories of the task, and you'll notice that David left some space there, because basically the biblical categories of the task in a comprehensive outline would break down into two departments. The first is those duties pertaining to the corporate life and activity of the church, and then secondly, those duties pertaining to the individuality, the individual necessities of the people of God. Well, because we're going to be dealing with that second category of the task in our intercession on pastoral counseling, the outline is completely filled up with that first category of the task, namely the duties pertaining to the corporate life and activity of the church.

1:24 So you'll notice in your abstract, Roman numeral one, directives for ordering the corporate worship of God, corporate prayer meetings, corporate ministry, corporate discipline, etc. So that will give you an idea why the outline appears as it does. And what I want to do in the time that remains this morning is simply by way of introduction, so under unit two, the biblical categories of the task, you may want to list it beside those two categories, and then above Roman numeral one, just put introduction. And that's all you're getting.

2:01 This morning is an introduction, and the introduction will be an attempt to show the crucial importance of this subject. How important is this subject of wrestling with the duties pertaining to the corporate life and activity of the church? And as I attempt to show the importance of the subject, I have two categories for the materials. In the time that remains.

2:34 Number one, we're going to look at the central or pivotal passage in the New Testament which demonstrates the crucial importance of the corporate life of the people of God. So we're going to look at the central or pivotal passage, and then very briefly, some supportive passages and perspectives. So God willing, when we come next week to take up the matter of directives, directives for ordering the corporate worship of God, and then go on to corporate prayer meetings, you will have undergirding all of these specific categories of concern the pressure of having felt the importance of the subject from the pivotal passage and then from some supportive passages. Well, first of all then, in this introductory material, the importance of this subject is seen from the fact that it is a subject of worship. And from the crucial passage, which is 1 Timothy 3, verses 14 and 15. I'm personally convinced at my present level of light and understanding that there is no passage in all of the New Testament which more powerfully and comprehensively underscores

The Pivotal Passage: 1 Timothy 3:14-15 and its Circumstances

3:54 the importance of corporate oversight than 1 Timothy 3, 14 and 15. Okay. I read now these two verses. These things write I unto you, hoping to come unto you shortly.

4:10 But if I tarry long, that you may know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of the truth. Now, as we think our way through this passage, note first of all the circumstances out of which the Apostle, he says, these things write I unto you. And the these things in all likelihood refers specifically to the issues addressed in chapter 2, verse 1, through chapter 3 and verse 13. And those matters obviously pertain to public worship, public teaching, and the question, corporate leadership of the people of God. Those are the three major subjects dealt with when he says, I will first of all, in chapter 2, verse 1, and takes up the subject of corporate prayer, and then says in verse 8, I desire therefore, and he takes up the matter of the specific roles of men and women with reference to public teaching and leadership. And then in chapter 3, verses, 1 to 13, he focuses upon the corporate leadership of the church

5:40 in terms of the offices of elder and deacon. So that these things obviously bring us right into the heart of our subject matter. Now, he writes from a perspective of a sanctified desire. These things I write hoping to come unto you shortly, the apostle had more sense than to designate his sanctified desires a matter of direct revelation or of decretive purpose.

6:20 And to that I say, go thou and do likewise. Some men never make a distinction between their sanctified desires and direct revelation and insight into God's decretive purposes. All of them. All of their sanctified desires, they assume, must be the will of God and therefore will come to pass as a commentary upon God's decrees.

6:45 But even the great apostle, in most matters of guidance, had no such revelation. He had holy desires, he had rational plans, he had a strategy, and in conjunction with those commodities, he says, I hope to come unto you shortly. But then with that sanctified desire, there is a realistic qualification of the desire. But, if I tarry long, he recognizes that his desire may not be fulfilled.

7:23 There may be factors in his present circumstances or in the providence of God that make his carrying a lengthy one.

7:36 Now then, in the light of that, the issues that are uppermost in his heart that he himself would address were he to come shortly, knowing that he may yet tarry long, he says, I now write about these things in order to secure their immediate attention and implementation. And what was the principal issue of concern? He tells us. If I tarry long, that you may know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God.

The Principal Issue of Concern: Behavior in God's House

8:17 Now, I know there's a textual and a translational problem. We could render it how to conduct oneself or how you ought to behave yourself, but there is no material difference since it is not Timothy's behavior as a private Christian which forms the focus. Rather, it is his conduct with reference to his place and function in the churches. And what is the precise concern?

8:47 It is the necessity. We have that particle of necessity, day, oughtness. It is the necessity of a distinct kind of behavior in the corporate life of the people of God. So his principal issue of concern is that Timothy, not be ignorant of the specifics of corporate life in the church, and that he not be negligent in implementing these directives.

The Undergirding Conviction: The Church's Identity as God's House

9:21 So we've seen the circumstances out of which he writes, the principal issue of his concern as he writes. Now notice, thirdly, the undergirding conviction which gave birth to this concern. Why is he so concerned that he won't allow a little amount of time to pass before he articulates the behavior befitting in God's house? Well, it's because of Paul's understanding and conviction regarding the identity of the church in its corporate life and his understanding of the unique function of the church in its corporate life.

10:08 It is what he believes about... The specific identity of the church in its corporate life that gives birth to this concern about behavior in the church.

10:20 It's what he believes about the unique function of the church in its corporate life that gives birth to that same concern. Well then, what was his understanding of the specific identity of the church in its corporate life? Well, it's designated by two pregnant descriptive phrases. It is called the house of God.

10:44 It is called the church of the living God. It is the house of God. And here we have a genitive of possession. It is God's house.

10:57 Timothy, I write with a passionate concern for behavior in the church because it's not my house. And Timothy, it's not your house. It is God's house. That is, the place of the divine indwelling.

11:19 And here we have, of course, the parallel passages, 1 Corinthians 3.16, 2 Corinthians 6.16, Ephesians 2.22.

11:33 And if you want a rich biblical theological study, start with Genesis 28.17. When Jacob awakes that morning, after that morning, when Jacob awakes that morning, he has a marvelous vision of the angels ascending and descending upon a ladder that reached into heaven. And he says, this is none other than the house of God.

11:55 This is the gate of heaven. And the concept of the house of God as the place of God's special dwelling then unfolds beautifully into the tabernacle, into the temple, and then prophetically with respect to the church and all of those marvelous promises and the prophets of people flowing up into the house of God from all the nations. And then all of that embodied in our Lord Jesus when he says, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. This state he, of his own resurrection.

12:30 It's a marvelous study, the concept of the house of God. Well, Paul was the biblical theologian par excellence. And I believe that there is poured into that terminology, that rich understanding, of the fact that it's God's house, not only the genitive of possession, but the designation of its unique identity as the place of God's special dwelling. So it is God's house.

13:01 Then you have the particle hatis, and here I quote the significance of it from Fairbairn's commentary on the pastoral epistles, which, by the way, if you can come across this, is excellent. And on page 154 he says, God's house which indeed is the church of the living God.

13:25 The latter clause, exegetical of the former, that is, giving an amplified explanation, defining more exactly what is meant by God's house. The indefinite relative hatis is in such a connection stronger than the simple relative being indefinite. employed to introduce an especial attribute belonging to the nature of an object, its real and peculiar property, or differentia, that which, in other words, sets it apart from other things. The house of God, namely, that which is, or which indeed is, the church of the living God. Now this points to the fact that the indwelling exists in conjunction with the called-out assembly, the ekklesia. And this assembly is comprised of the kleitos, the called of God, the God who in contrast with the dead idols of the heathen temples at Ephesus is the one true and living God. Now again, when we take the concept of the living God and trace it out from Scripture, we encounter such words as these.

14:53 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of what? Of the living God. When you take all the concepts of deity and add to them livingness, then it becomes an awesome thing. And it was Paul's understanding of the church and its identity that caused him to be passionately concerned about its behavior because it was God's house, the ekklesia of the one true and living God.

15:28 To Paul, the church was not just a convenient arrangement in order to get people together with some degree of regularity to accomplish certain broad biblical goals. That's the concept most of us have of the church. We're not going to be able to do that. We're not going to be able to do that.

15:46 We're not going to be able to do that. We're not going to be able to do that. We're not going to be able to do that. We're not going to be able to do that.

15:46 For years, alas, to our shame, it was true. But rather, he viewed the church in all of the realism of a working pastor-apostle or apostle-pastor who had no starry-eyed view of the church in its present state, who knew what it was to have his hands dirtied in dealing with the matters of discipline and heresy and irregularity and all of the rest. This is the Paul who writes, the letter to the Corinthians. This is the Paul who knows what it is to be rejected by the very people who are his spiritual children.

16:25 Yet, with all that realism, it doesn't affect his estimation of the identity of the church. It is still God's house. It is the assembly of the living God. Now, you see, if we share Paul's view concerning the church in its identity and in its activity, in its corporate life, as God's house, church of the living God, then we cannot be indifferent to the matters of our responsibilities in terms of overseeing the corporate life of God's people.

Application of the Church's Identity: Indifference is Culpable

17:10 Carnal manipulation, carnal indifference, carnal slavish adherence, to man-made traditions, all of these things will vaporize before a conviction of the identity of the church.

17:27 And I trust, brethren, if there's, we might say, four or five, if there are four or five areas of truth that really grip you while you're here through all of the theological disciplines and by your involvement in the life of this church is that you will have well-grounded, visceral convictions about the identity of the church as God's house, the ecclesia of the living God. Then and only then will you be ready to pay the price connected with effective pastoral oversight as it touches the corporate life of God's people. But then Paul also understood not only this specific identity of the church in its corporate life, but its unique function. And he says two things about its function.

The Undergirding Conviction: The Church's Function as Pillar and Ground of Truth

18:16 The two-fold function has reference to a common denominator and to the function of God. And he says, and he says, and he says, and he says, and that common denominator is the truth. Look at the language of the text.

18:26 Which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. So the two things it is, it is with reference to the truth. Now in the context, the truth is all of revealed religion. But since Christ is the lodestone and the focal point of that revealed religion, it has peculiar references to him in the reality, significance, and uniqueness of his person and work.

19:01 That's why verse 16 begins with a chi. And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness.

19:13 And there you have what commentators in exegetes debate may be an incipient kind of confessional statement, a hymn, but whatever the truth may be about the precise nature of what these things were in the early church, one thing is clear, they focus upon the uniqueness of the person and work of Jesus Christ. And therefore, we must understand that the church in its function is that uniquely, divinely established organism and institution in which the truth is centered not merely in its proclamation but in its total life and it's Paul's passion that behavior in the house of God not militate against revealed truth but rather flesh out that truth and be the living embodiment of it. Therefore, he says its two-fold function is the pillar and the basement or the foundation.

20:26 Now, pillar, what is the pillar, the stoulos? Well, some say Paul is thinking of the ancient buildings in which the pillar was the support which held up the roof. But others say no. Pillars in ancient temples had more of an ornate or decorative effect and there are some indications of that in a passage like Revelation 3.12.

20:56 I will make him a pillar in the house of God but when you read stoulos in Galatians 2.9 you read of pillars of the church and obviously they were not ornamental. They were men with peculiar places of responsibility. So you can carry on the stoulos debate on your own.

21:16 I won't try to sort it out. Whether it's support or ornamental I leave to you to make a mature judgment when you're competent to do so. Then share your wealth of learning with the rest of us. Then he says basement or foundation that which holds the pillars and everything that rests upon them.

Refuting Romish Notions and Affirming the Church's Role with Truth

21:37 And that much is clear from the use of this Greek word. The church in its function is pillar either holding the roof or ornamental upon which the truth as it were is inscribed but it is also its basement or its foundation. That which holds the pillars in their structural or ornamental function and everything that rests upon them. Now we do not have here any Romish notion that the church is the mother of the scriptures.

22:12 Nothing could be more foreign to the teaching of the apostle. He says in Ephesians 2.20 that the church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets Christ Jesus himself the chief cornerstone. So don't ever let a Roman Catholic use this passage to try to prove their view that the church is the mother of the scripture and the mother can tell the kid what he ought to look like and who he is and all the rest.

22:39 Fairbairn has an excellent comment on this on page 156 in this same exposition. They should be and they are while steadfast to their profession that is the church's 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. There has been a disinclination in certain quarters to acquiesce in this mode of interpretation because of the supposed tendency to play into the hands of the church of Rome. It is no doubt one of the passages on which Rome seeks to ground her claim to universal homage as the one church of Christ. But it's no more suitable to her purposes than is Matthew 16.18 Only by arbitrary distinctions and vain assumptions can either the one passage or the other be made to favor the pretensions of Rome. Here in particular where the church is set forth as the pillar and basement of the truth it is a test we have to deal with as well as a claim to consider.

23:49 For the truth is not of the church's making but of God's revealing. She has it not as of her own but from above and has it not to alter or modify it at her own will but to keep it as a sacred treasure for the glory of God and the good of men. And if she should anyhow corrupt or lose hold of this truth she so far ceases to be the house of God for she does now that part to the devil's lie which ought to have been done exclusively for the sure word of God. Nor is it too much to suppose such a thing possible with a considerable portion of the truth of the professing church.

24:31 It was so we know and then he goes on to say what happened in the Jews in their failing to be a light to the truth that God had deposited and then the time mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 3 where people will be given up to believe a lie and he then flays and lays to rest the Romish use of the passage. But I do believe his execution and his esegetical perspectives are accurate that the church in its function is to be a basement whereon the truth may securely rest and a pillar to bear it aloft either structurally or ornamentally that all may see it. So this figure of speech sets forth the reality of the function of the church as the one divinely ordained instrument that is to set forth propagate and communicate the truth to the world. And here I commend for your careful consideration Calvin's commentary in the newer translation on pages 231 and 232. I don't have time to read it to you but I think those two pages are the most helpful

Warfield's Perspective: God's Ordering of the Church is Necessary

26:00 analysis analysis of this imagery and also a devastating expose of Rome's illegitimate use of this passage. Now it is in conjunction with Paul's understanding of the function of the church that he writes Timothy if I tarry long I want men to know how they ought to behave themselves. And in another very helpful exposition of this passage found in Warfield's Faith in Life on pages 375 to 378 Warfield says again some of the most perceptive and needed things in our hour with respect to the tremendous place given to the church. His position compressed in a nutshell is simply this the function of the church as guardian of the truth that glorious truth which is the gospel is so high and important that it cannot be left to accident or human caprice how this church should be organized and its work ordered. Accordingly he the inspired apostle and apostle of Jesus Christ

27:27 has prescribed in great detail touching both organization and order how it is necessary that men should conduct themselves in the household of God. Which is nothing other than the church of the living God the pillar and ground of the truth. In other words it is God's church not man's and God has created and now sustains it for a function and he has not neglected to order it for the best performance of that function. If its function is pillar and ground of truth and these things are written that men may know how they ought to behave themselves then God knows best how the ends of truth can be served in his church in all of its details and therefore he has given us this along with other portions of his word to guide our thinking. Listen to Warfield as he concludes his passionate preaching on this point. Surely you can trust God to know how it is best to organize his church so that it may perform its functions in the world and surely you must assert that his ordering of the church which is his is necessary if not for the essence of the church certainly for the well being

Culpability of Laziness and the Importance of Quality Building

28:56 of the church and I commend that sermon on this text the mystery of godliness by Warfield in faith and life. Well brethren you see why I say I believe this text above all others is the most important and crucial text in setting forth the importance of this matter of our work as overseers in conjunction with the corporate life of the church. It's because of the church's identity in the purpose and will of God and because of the church's function in the will and purpose of God that we are to be concerned for its well being and let me say by application do you see how culpable then is laziness in examining these issues from the word of God how culpable is the fear of men an unthinking conformity to tradition misguided zeal or succumbing to the paralyzing influence of laziness and loneliness two of the greatest enemies of serious churchmanship especially in church planting endeavors are weariness I'm not sorry I didn't mean laziness weariness

30:25 and loneliness you feel so alone and you're pulling against all the prevailing tide and the man two towns over came into the area the same time you did and he's got three hundred people in his three ring circus and he's got that's maintaining enough of the gospel that you couldn't say it's not a church but it's a church full of irregularities and here you are seeking to build meticulously and carefully according to the divine blueprint and you've got your handful of twenty-five and you feel something of the weariness of plodding on and the loneliness never forget it's God's church worthy of you spending your lifetime if you only lay two bricks in it make sure you lay them according to God's blueprint because those two bricks will appear as gold silver and precious stone in the day of Christ Paul said let a man take heed how he built for the day shall declare every man's work not of what quantity it is but what quality it's not going to be quantitative analysis in the last day it's going to be qualitative don't ever forget that don't ever forget it now does that mean we're against

Supportive Passages and Perspectives for Corporate Oversight

31:54 growth and development no no but what we're saying is never growth and development at the expense of the quality mandated by the word of God and I have found no passage that has been more formative from the first days of even beginning to think of giving my life to a church planting endeavor than has this passage first series of sermons ever brought on the doctrine of the church this passage formed the framework and I've had no reason to regret it come back to it again and again and again and then in the closing moments let me give you several supportive passages and perspectives remember our concern is to introduce this whole matter of the task of oversight of the corporate life of the church and to underscore its importance and I've said the importance is seen in its most strategic passage 1st Timothy 3 14 and 15 now secondly and briefly several supportive passages and perspectives number one don't ever forget the content the thrust and the spirit of revelation 2 and 3 I've already alluded to this earlier whenever you're tempted

33:24 to be indifferent to anything pertaining to the church in life or doctrine remember at that point you become unlike your Lord in his present glorified state he walks amidst the land stands with eyes as a flame of fire scrutinizing his churches be like him be like him secondly the focus of concern in the book of Acts how can anyone read the book of Acts and ever think that he can be indifferent to corporate church life the first description of the success of the gospel comes into sharp focus at the end of chapter 2 in terms of the description not of how many decisions were made not of even how many conversions and hopeful changed lives there were it all comes to focus in terms of the description of a thriving healthy church and there were added unto them in that day three thousand souls and these all continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine fellowship in the breaking of bread and the prayers and as we read through the book of Acts we find that emphasis again and again Paul with his passion to take the gospel to the Gentiles is always the church planter and always the one who in the language of 2nd Corinthians 12 said

34:53 besides all these things that which comes upon me daily anxiety for all the churches above all these other things anxiety for all the churches let us go back in every place where we preached and see how the brethren are doing and they come and they exhort them with purpose of heart to cleave unto the Lord they ordain elders in every city and then the concern goes on and out of that concern come the epistles of the New Testament how anyone how anyone can claim to be in touch with the Bible and say well the Bible really isn't too concerned about being fastidious about corporate church life and order and organization and government and structure and the dynamics we just got to get the gospel out to as many as possible and get them gathered in groups that at least can limp along that must be our passion brethren that is not the mentality of the book of Acts and of the entire New Testament and that anticipates my third supportive line of evidence the climate and historical context of the epistles they are for the most part epistles seeking to correct irregularities in existing corporate church life that's the negative or they are epistles seeking to strengthen

36:22 and to direct the corporate life of the churches I'll never forget the first time it dawned on me that the epistles were not written primarily for a man to have something rich for his personal devotions and I was a Christian a long long time before it dawned on me because I was told when I got saved now the most important thing is memorize some scripture and I was given thankfully the old navigator's topical memory system and I'm glad for that and I was told you've got to start having your devotions and I just thought well all those rich epistles and the rest in the New Testament that was given so that people could have some substance for personal devotions and I was a Christian several decades before it dawned on me that those epistles did not come primarily for people's personal devotions they came as letters to be read in churches to correct irregularities to correct false doctrine to give guidance to church life they are written to churches you say well that's obvious yes I know it's obvious but I missed it for a long time and the reason there is that passionate church centeredness in the whole climate of the New Testament is that according to Ephesians 310 that

37:51 now unto principalities and powers in the heavenly places might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God and the church is God's great theater and display case of his manifold glory and if it is then we must be high churchmen in the truest biblical sense throughout all the days of our ministry well it's one o'clock and I said I'd make conscience about stopping on time I hope that's whet your appetite because we're going to get into the nitty gritty of the corporate life of God's people we're going to try to exegete relevant passages and then descend to very practical counsels and none of it is theoretical brethren for you who are new among us I would just remind you of that and you'll hear it ad nauseum but hopefully when I'm dead and gone it's the ad