The Marks of the Church

Introduction

This is a victory Psalm. It begins, in verses 1-3, by proclaiming the greatness of the Lord as he is enthroned in his holy mountain, Mt. Zion. He goes on to proclaim the beauty of the dwelling place of God and the joy this dwelling place bring and the security of this dwelling place. And it is God himself that makes the city so beautiful and secure, his presence that makes it the joy of the whole earth. Next, in verses 4-8, we are told in general terms the reason for this expression of joy, namely that the city of God had been under assault from the enemy. And it did not take much more than their looking upon the city to dismay them. They were quickly defeated and destroyed not long after arriving at the gates of the city. And, again, the psalmist wants the reader and singer to understand that it was the presence of God that brought victory, the very presence of God in the city that makes her so secure. And because of the greatness of God and his holy city on his holy mountain, the psalmist, in verses 9-11, sets for us an example of the way to respond to the presence of God, namely by meditation upon the Lord's unfailing love within the temple. And in expressing this thought the writer gives us a sense of the relief he and others must have felt at the defeat of the enemy by the Lord, the sense of joy that overwhelmed them because of God's judgment of the enemies of Zion. God is with his people in the holy city and that makes his people secure and joyful as he fights for them.

Now all of this brings us to our text. The word picture here is of a victorious people taking a tour of the city and seeing how solid the whole city remains, especially taking note of the towers, citadels/safe-shelters and ramparts/extra supporting walls. This is a picture of people touring a fortress and growing in confidence as they see how they are kept safe. And in fact the reason these keep them safe is next reflected on in verse 14. God himself makes these towers, ramparts and citadels secure. Apart from him they would afford no protection at all. But with him present, they are instruments of protection, places where the people of God are kept safe.

The city in view is Jerusalem, the place where the temple of God was and therefore the place of God's special presence. And during most of Israel's history as a nation, it was the presence of God that kept the city safe from would be conquerors. But once his presence was withdrawn the city fell.

Jerusalem, as the place of God's special presence, has been replaced by the church of Jesus Christ. No one city is given this privilege anymore. Wherever two or more are gathered in Christ's name, there he is in the midst of them. God is with his people in the church, as we have seen. And thus the description in our text is one that may be applied to the church as it is now the visible manifestation of Mt. Zion. Hebrews 12:22ff describes the church in its glory now. We in this local body called Calvary Orthodox Presbyterian Church are part of Mt. Zion, the church universal. And what I want us to do over the next several weeks is follow the counsel of the psalmist and walk about Mt. Zion, the church, and see her towers, consider her ramparts, view her citadels. I want us to see what the church looks like in the Bible, how she is kept secure and holy. Above all else we must see it is Christ himself who keeps her secure by his presence. But our God uses means to that end and we will now begin to see what means he uses. We begin today by identifying the marks of the church.

Let me make this all very practical, if I can. Suppose you were to move to Montana and, as is likely, there were no Orthodox Presbyterian Church, or even anything like a Reformed Church within 100 miles, but there were churches there. How would you go about choosing what church to attend with your family? What we will do today is identify what must exist in order to legitimately call a local body a church of Jesus Christ. We will "consider well" that which identifies Mt. Zion. And if you see these marks, and there are three of them, then you may safely attend and worship in that body, even if it is not exactly all you would like it to be. Sure, you would like a Reformed Church, but if you cannot have that, what do you look for? You look for the marks of the church.

• The first mark of the church is the preaching and hearing of the Word of God (Acts 2:42)
• This was fundamental to the early church--The members of the first church in Jerusalem devoted themselves to four things and the first was the preaching and hearing of the Word of God from the lips of the apostles. It was apostolic doctrine/teaching that was the most important thing to them. And when Paul left Timothy his list of instructions to remember after he was gone, in 1 Timothy 4:2 he tells him to Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. When I was installed into this position of pastor here in Middletown, this was the three point sermon based on this text: point 1-- preach the word, point 2-- preach the word, point 3-- preach the word. It is through the foolishness of preaching that God saves sinners. And as one recent preacher once put it, God had but one Son and he made him a preacher. And so there must be preaching if there is to be a church: preaching of the gospel to the lost so that they will be made disciples and preaching of the gospel to the saved so that they may mature as disciples. Matt 28:19--"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," The Preaching of the Word of God-- it is the main reason for the existence of the church-- 1 Tim 3:15b-- the pillar and foundation of the truth.
• And in the preaching of the Word it is Christ that must be central--Look in 1 Timothy 3:15b-16 again. Do you see how after naming the church as the pillar and foundation of the truth Paul breaks into a hymn like expression? Christ himself tells us that he is at the heart of the Scriptures, They speak of me... he says. It is the doctrine of Christ aiming at profession of faith in Christ and the establishment of the true religion of Christ that must be central to all preaching. No preaching is true preaching that does not at least lead to Christ as the root and foundation of faith and life (Col 2:6,7).
• But then preaching is not sufficient; there must also be hearing of the Word of God-- And the words the Bible uses to mean hearing in Hebrew and Greek imply obedience to the Word (James 1:22-25). Everyone, people in the pews, officers, pastor, all must hear and obey the Word of God. For faith without works is dead and where there is no true hearing of the Word of God issuing forth in faith there is really no church. How could there be? Christ dwells in the midst of his people, not as a silent witness but as a speaking sovereign, ruling us by his Word. And so there must be hearing as well as preaching of the Word of God for there to be a church.
• But a word of Caution is to be regarded at this point-- While every body that professes to be a church must aim at perfect conformity to the Word of God, that does not mean an imperfect congregation is not a church. Witness two such churches in 1 Cor 1:2 (along with 1:11; 3:3; 5:1; 6:7; 9:16f) and Galatians 1:2 (with all of that church's problems). A church is still a church even if it is less than perfect.

• The second mark of the church is The Sacraments observed according to Christ's institution (Acts 2:42)
• Notice again that the early church was devoted to this among its top four commitments-- The breaking of bread here would be a reference, not to fellowship meals (we find that in vs 46b) but to the Lord's Supper. And we may assume that Baptism was also a part of the early church, based on vs 41.
• Christ has given us two sacraments--Baptism (cf. Great Commission read earlier from Matt 28:19) and the Lord's Supper (Lk 23:19f; 1 Cor 11:23ff). A sacrament is a sign and seal of the Covenant of Grace that God has made with his people, with baptism being the sign and seal of God's ownership and the Lord's Supper of his redemption through Christ. When we partake of these sacraments we are obeying Christ's own command as to how we are to maintain the grace of salvation he has given us.
• The sacraments are to be observed according to Christ's institution--We are to observe them as Christ has told us to: Adults and their children are to be baptized and we are to remember Christ and partake of his body and blood by faith in the Lord's Supper. Also required is the explanation of the meaning of these sacraments when administered and observed by the Word of God. Without the Word, by which faith comes, all you have is water, bread and a cup . Now you see why one old writer says that the sacraments are preaching by means of tangible signs or tutors to lead us to greater faith. And this is what makes the observance of the sacraments according to Christ's institution a mark of the church. The Word of God explains the gospel and the sacraments apply the gospel.

• Finally, the third mark of the church is Discipline Biblically and Faithfully Administered (Matt 18:15ff)
• Calvin places this under the sacraments rather than making it a separate category--That is legitimate because the two are tied together in the case of the Lord's Supper and adult baptisms.
• There must be both biblical AND faithful administration of discipline--It is important that it be biblical, for Christ has a manner in which he wants it done, as is clear from Matt 18:15ff. But then it must be faithfully administered, by which I mean consistently and at all times when needed, and without favoritism-- no one is exempt regardless of who they are or what position they hold in the church.
• How to do it--Christ and Paul are crystal clear. But it really begins with personal discipline or self-control (Gal 5:23a). You hear the Word and obey it. You examine yourself in preparation for the Lord's Supper, really repent and believe before being baptized as an adult. Then there is the interaction between two brethren in Christ Gal 6:1. You see a brother or sister in need of correction and you don't wait for someone else, like the pastor or an elder, to do the correcting. You do it, with prayer and care, out of love (look at the context of Matthew 18). And then there is the familiar process of Matthew 18:15ff. In company with the preaching and hearing of the Word of God and the observance of the sacraments according to Christ's institution, discipline is a natural accompanying mark of the church.

• And you need all three marks of the church
• All three are taught and commanded in the Bible--Therefore all three should and must be present for there to be a legitimate local representation of the church. Christ demands all three and therefore all three must be there or there is no church. The lack of one or more is not imperfection, it is rebellion, it is sin.
• Therefore these are the three marks to look for when looking for a church to attend--If they are there in any degree then you should do two things:
• Faithfully join that church and attend that church's worship services, and be an active member of it. Don't just show up for church once or twice on Sunday. Take part in its work to obey Christ in the Great Commission.
• If you see a problem in the way these marks are being practiced, do not leave, do not gossip, do not get angry. Instead pray and work with the elders, in full conference with and communication with, the elders. And here I want to quote John Calvin at length:

  Let the following two points, then, stand firm. First, he who voluntarily deserts the outward communion of the church (where the Word of God is preached and the sacraments are administered) is without excuse. Secondly, neither the vices of the few nor the vices of the many in any way prevent us from duly professing our faith there in ceremonies ordained by God. For a godly conscience is not wounded by the unworthiness of another, whether pastor or layman; nor are the sacraments less pure and salutary for a holy and upright man because they are handled by unclean persons.

  The church will never be perfect in this world so don't expect it to be perfect! Rather, labor side by side with everyone else to help the church make progress toward perfection. And do that with patience.

• Which brings us to our local body of Christ--We too must labor to conform our congregation to these four marks of the church. I call upon my brother elders to make this the standard by which we measure our spiritual health-- the preaching and hearing of the Word of God, the observance of the Sacraments according to Christ's institution and the biblical and faithful administration of discipline. And I call upon each one of the rest of you to observe these marks of the church and work with us in leadership positions to make changes where they may need to be made. Never give up or run away. Patiently work toward perfection.

Conclusion

Thus Zion is known, by these three marks of the church, and why? Because they are the means Christ our Savior, the king of Zion, uses in his three offices to extend his kingdom-- as prophet he speaks to us by the Word faithfully preached and we submit to him as we hear obediently. As priest he ministers life and pardon by the Sacraments that are observed as he told us to observe them. And as king he chastises us by discipline biblically and faithfully administered. Thus is Zion known, thus will you know if you have found a true church of Christ, and thus may we in this place be ever and always known to be a church in Middletown.

If you are not a member of this church but love and trust Jesus, I urge you to become a member here if indeed you find we fill out these marks faithfully, however imperfectly. And if you are not one who loves and believes in Jesus I urge you to consider that the Lord of the Church gave his life to save sinners like you. Understand that you are welcome to have your sins forgiven by him, by faith in his name. Let us pray.

Rev. Arthur J. Fox, Pastor
10 Spruce Street
Middletown, PA 17057
(717) 944-5835