MARKS OF A VIBRANTCHURCH We have already seen the four marks which Reformed churches generally use togauge the faithfulness and fidelity of a church or denomination to Christ.These are: (1) True preaching of the Word of God; (2) Right administration ofthe sacraments; (3) Faithful exercise of church discipline; and (4) Biblicalworship. While these marks are essential to any church that names the Name of Christ, wemust recognise that a true church is not necessarily a vibrant churchaccording to the New Testament standards. A vibrant church must necessarily bea true church, but a true church, though it ought to be, needs not be a vibrantchurch. What is a vibrant church according to the Scripture? I believe the answer can be found in Acts 2:37–47. Thispassage describes the response of the people to Peter’s inaugural sermon in thewake of the Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit. If there is any churchwhich may be used as a model of vibrancy, it must be the church described inthese few verses. What are the marks of this church that make it worthy of ouremulation? Let me list six of them: 1. An Emphasis on TruePreaching From Acts 2:14–36, Luke records for us the Apostle Peter’s inaugural sermon.Three things stand out very distinctly in this sermon: (1) it is eminentlybiblical for it is essentially an exposition of three Old Testament passages,namely Joel 2, Psalm 16 and Psalm 110; (2) it is eminently Christ-centred, forthe whole sermon is about Christ; (3) it is distinctly evangelistic. This is the kind of sermon that we must pay especial attention to. It must beexpository and must point the congregation to Christ. If this sermon was thecatalyst to the formation of the truly vibrant church of Acts2, then such sermons ought to be the hallmark of a vibrant church. We are, ofcourse, not saying that all our sermons must have the same theme and emphasis,but a church that majors only in negative themes of attacking errors in herpreaching programme, for example, may appear militant and strong but cannotexpect to be growing healthily and vibrantly in the Lord. Naturally, the responsibility to ensure this emphasis must fall largely on theshoulders of your pastor. But let us remember that the delivery of the sermonought not to be the end of it, but the beginning of it. It would, indeed, bethe end if it falls on the wayside, but otherwise, it should yield fruit “somean hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” (Mt 13:23). Such was the case in the church of Acts 2. We read: [37] Now when they heard this, they were pricked in theirheart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren,what shall we do? [39] Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptisedevery one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and yeshall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Notice that the people were not intellectually stimulatedor captivated by Peter’s eloquence. Rather they were pricked in the heart. Theyfelt that the words of Peter were like sharp arrows aimed at their hearts, andas he completed each sentence, these arrows found their target in their heartswith pain that they could not contain. As the sermon was preached, they werebrought into the presence of the thrice holy God and became painfully aware oftheir sin against the Holy One, and how they deserve eternal damnation, and sothey cried out: “What must we do?” I do not know how you respond to the sermons you hear week after week. To befair, sometimes the fault may lie with the preacher in failing to bring out theWord clearly and urgently. But when the words preached have been aimed at someparticular sins that you know you have been trifling with, what have been yourresponses? Oh friend, if indictments of sin do not prick your heart at all, thenit must be that your heart has calcified and hardened. And if you remain inthat condition without repentance, you will prove yourself to be an apostate atthe very end. Do you sense a growing hardness in your heart, dear friend? May Iexhort you to cry out to the Lord and weep before Him till your heart be brokenand melted that you may once again hear the Master’s voice and heed itlovingly. A vibrant local church begins not with elaborate programs and building funds,and a self-satisfied, confident and proud people, but with a people whosehearts have been touched by the glory and holiness of God that each memberrealises that he is nothing, has nothing and can do nothing without Christ. 2. An Emphasis onDoctrine Peter’s sermon sparked a revival among the people, and three thousand soulswere saved and added to the church by baptism that very day. We read this inverses 40–41. But what concerns us now is the following verse, which describeswhat the church was like in those early days: And they continuedstedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine… (Acts 2:42a). The people had heard the Gospel, they were soundly converted, but they were notcomplacent. They continued stedfastly in the Apostles’ doctrine or teaching.They devoted themselves to learning from the Apostles. Apparently the Apostlesdid not only preach evangelistic or gospel-invitation messages, but spent timeto instruct the new believers. There are many churches today that try tode-emphasise doctrine: “doctrine divides, love unites,” and doctrines are hardstuff only for the Bible students, why do we want to emphasise on doctrine?Well, according to the Scriptures, we must emphasise on doctrine. The author of Hebrews, rebuking his readers for their apathetic attitudetowards doctrine, admonished them: “For when for the time ye ought to beteachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principlesof the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not ofstrong meat” (Heb 5:12). What the author intimates here is that there is no excuse for us, who have beenChristians for a while, not to make progress in doctrine. And yes, did not Judeexhort us to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered untothe saints” (Jude 3)? How do you earnestly contend for the faith unless youknow your theology? And just in case anyone should think that this verse mustrefer to the ministers and leaders of the church, let us realise that Judeaddresses his letter to “them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preservedin Jesus Christ, and called” (Jude 1), which must certainly mean everybeliever. So yes, there is a scriptural injunction to study beyond the ABC’s ofthe faith. In this regards, may I urge you to read and study the Confession of our church,namely, the Westminster Confession of Faith. This confession,written from 1642 to 1649, is, I believe, still the most sublime and accuratedistillation of Christian truth available. Let us therefore be acquainted withit. Many in Presbyterian churches today are neither Presbyterian nor Reformedand, worst still, they miss out on a great opportunity for sound instruction indoctrine by failing to study the Confession. Such will pay lip-service to theConfession, but their practice of Christianity testifies of their ignorance andneglect of the means of grace the Lord has placed at their disposal. Do read and study our Confessions and Catechisms. Make use of commentaries,such as Robert Shaw’s for the Confession and Thomas Vincent’s for the ShorterCatechism, and Thomas Ridgeley for the Larger Catechism. In fact, may I urgeyou also to memorise the Shorter Catechism so that a system of doctrine may beretained in your mind, as false doctrines more and more are flooding the Church of God. This, by the way, is a biblicalinstruction, for this is what Paul means when he exhorts Timothy to “Hold fastthe form of sound words” (2 Tim 1:13). The word translated “form” refers to aschema, outline or summary. So Paul is exhorting Timothy to retain an outlinesystem of doctrine in his mind. The Catechism was designed for this verypurpose. 3. An Emphasis on Worshipand Sacraments [41] Then they that gladly received hisword were baptised…. [42] And they continuedstedfastly… in breaking of bread, and in prayers. [46] Andthey, continuing daily with one accord in the temple…. The Protestant church recognises only two sacraments, and it is interestingthat both of these should be mentioned in these two verses. Breaking of breadin verse 42 refers to the Lord’s Supper, unlike in verse 46 where it probablyrefers to fellowship meals. Since sacraments and prayers are part of worship, and since it is probable thatthe Christians met in the courts of the temple for corporate worship, we mayrightly say that the vibrant church must have an emphasis on worship. Yet avibrant worship does not mean that we may admit any human innovations which arenot permitted in the Word of God. Thus the WSC 50 says, “TheSecond Commandment requireth the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire,all such religious worship and ordinances as God hath appointed in His Word”(Deut 32:46; Mt 28:20; Acts 2:42). We must never impose our human understanding of worship on the Scripture. Godis sovereign and holy; He has the absolute right to determine how His creaturesshould worship Him. We must not imagine that worship is vibrant only if it islively according to cultural and traditional norms. Worship with upliftingcontemporary songs augmented with choreographed dances may appear to some to befull of vibrancy, but such worship would, I believe, be will-worship anddispleasing to God. Even in human life, when we seek to honour someone, we willattempt to do something that the person is pleased with, not what we imagine tobe fitting for such an occasion of celebration. But strangely, in the area ofworship, this principle is frequently ignored. Our worship must, rather, be vibrant, whole-hearted, and in spirit as well asin truth. The author of Hebrews, paraphrasing or expounding Deuteronomy 4:23–24,in which Moses enjoined the keeping of the Second Commandment said: Wherefore we receiving a kingdomwhich cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve [i.e.,“worship,” Greek: latreuô] God acceptably with reverence and godlyfear: For our God is a consuming fire (Heb 12:28–29). In other words, our worship must be acceptable to God, and it must be attendedwith reverence and godly fear. Though we ought to enjoy worship, we must nevergauge a worship service by the enjoyment we derived from it, but by whether itis according to God’s prescription and so redound unto His glory.
|
    |