The 4 Pillars: The Great Commission

As we begin the new year, I would like us to revisit what the Bible says about the Church. If you were here when I arrived, and stayed with us, then this series will sound somewhat familiar. The reason is we have touched on the call of the local church a few times before, though today we are going to begin a fresh, and a bit more systematic look. The first time we talked about the local church, we looked at it from the perspective of love. The second time was from the perspective of God’s Glory. (See the sermon archive for those series, “The Most Important Thing” & “For the Glory of God”.)

The common elements within those sermons and this one is what I will label “The 4 Pillars”. Though you will not find these ‘pillars’ as I am presenting them in the New Testament, what hopefully will become apparent is they permeate throughout the Scriptures—Old and New. These are categories for understanding the function of the local church. Of course, since they permeate the Bible, they are not new. These are the same functions that have been given by God, studied, and practiced for the last 2000 years. The following series is simply a new presentation in order for us to adapt them to our new surroundings and new time. To that, here is the illustration I will be referring to as means of studying the mission of the church.

The 4 Pillars are: Worship, Fellowship, Doctrine, and Mission. These grow out of the Church’s Mission and Vision as given by Christ—the Great Commission. Notice the bottom is the foundation Christ established Himself, and the top, the reason for the church, is to glorify God. The pillars are the means by which we give God glory. Each of these is necessary for the building up of the church, and if one becomes overly prominent, or neglected, the whole building gets off-kilter. Now, we will survey many verses in the coming weeks, but the Lord has given us a singular passage that incapsulates the entire illustration. And that passage is what we will turn to today to begin our series.

Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The Great Commission was given directly to the Apostles who passed on this mission to each successive generation, and until its fulfillment, it is the mission and vision of the Church. We are called to be disciples who make disciples, and so our vision as a church is:

Glorify God by making disciples who make disciples.

And from that vision, we have the mission:

Make disciples who make disciples.

Now, some churches will fancy these up a bit, or simplify them further, but essentially, every Bible-believing church is going to have something to this effect. Now, the next question is, How? How do we accomplish this vision and mission? The fuller answer will come in a few weeks when we discuss the ‘Mission’ pillar, but for now I’d like to demonstrate how all four pillars are found in the Great Commission. I have called them pillars for the sake of illustration, but they all are intertwined with the Mission of God Who uses the Church to fulfill this mission.

We will continue each of these in depth in the coming weeks, but today let’s review them in light of the Great Commission.

Worship — “All authority has been given to Me”

Notice, the foundation of the Church is the accomplished work of Christ. It is only because of Christ and through Christ that we exist, therefore all that we do is built on the work He has already accomplished. In fact, typically when a local church, or a whole denomination, finds itself in dire straits, it is because they have wandered from the foundation of Christ.

Ephesians 2:19-22
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Christ is our cornerstone and determines the length, width, and breadth of His Church. Each of us are being fitted together within the Temple, His Church. And because of Christ’s prominence, it is absolutely fitting that our worship reflects that Truth. Thus,

Worship is a reflection of who God is and what God has done.

There will always be a measure of subjectivity in worship because we all have our worship preferences based on what we know about God. For some Christians, God remains absolutely transcendent and on High, so that their worship is what has been called “High Church”. The services are heavily structured, based on the liturgical calendar, and the music and decorations are almost other-worldly in their style. On the opposite end of the spectrum are those Christians who view God as ever-present, right here with us, and so their worship is typically “Low Church”, an informal style that can change a bit each week. And of course, there are many variations in between the two. Now, the Bible does not give us standards in terms of style, but it does give us standards in terms of substance. And the verse we just read, along with the Great Commission gives us that standard.

From Eph 2:22 we read that we are being built into a dwelling place of God. Our worship should reflect the reality that God is with us—which is why many opt for a more casual experience that emphasizes the present reality of God’s in dwelling Spirit. And from Matthew 28:18 we read that all authority has been given to Christ. He is the King of Kings who sits on High. God is still the transcendent Being worshiped by the High Church tradition.

True worship acknowledges both the absolute authority of Christ on His throne and His love and grace to indwell believers through the Holy Spirit.

If our worship ever fails to acknowledge the supremacy and sovereignty of Christ, then it fails to be true worship. Likewise, if our worship fails to draw believers and nonbelievers into the presence of our King who loves and saves us, it fails to be true worship.

Mission — “Go and Make Disciples”

Next we have the only actual action verb in the passage. ‘Baptizing’ and ‘teaching’ are verbal descriptions for ‘Make’. To make a disciple is to baptize and teach them as well. A disciple is not complete until they are baptized and learn to observe all that Christ has taught. The Christian faith is an ever-growing faith. The new believer comes as they are and begins a new life of transformation.

The Great Commission is the next step in the Redemption of Mankind. This world was lost to sin and death in the Garden, and ever since, God has been working His plan to redeem humanity and reconcile us back to Him. He called Abraham out of paganism and into covenant with Him. Then, He called Abraham’s descendants out of Egypt establishing a new nation. That nation was given the promise of a Messiah who would fulfill God’s promise to Abraham to bless all nations. Christ came 2000 years ago fulfilling the promise of a Messiah. He laid His life down for our sins, and now whosoever believes in the Name of Jesus Christ will be saved. And upon salvation, we inherit the ministry of reconciliation. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians 5.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

The mission of the church is directly tied to our salvation. Because we have been reconciled to God, we can point others toward reconciliation as well. Likewise, notice Paul calls us ‘ambassadors for Christ’. God makes His appeal toward the lost through us. The message of hope, restoration, and salvation has been entrusted to God’s people as God’s ambassadors. The Church is God’s hands, feet, and voice in this foreign territory we call ‘Earth’.

Our mission to make disciples comes from God’s mission to reconcile the lost to Himself.

Fellowship — “Baptizing them”

Under the umbrella of making disciples, we have the call to baptize them. A proper understanding of baptism is absolutely essential to understand the operations of the local church. Baptism is reserved for those who have made a conscious decision to follow Christ—thus we affirm what is call ‘believer’s baptism’ or ‘credobaptism’. When the new believer is baptized, they join in the fellowship of all Christians, and specifically in baptist churches, they join the fellowship of the local church.

At Chilhowee Baptist, as well as other baptist churches, church membership is reserved for those who have been baptized as a new believer. Now, if someone was baptized at a different church, as long as it was by immersion and upon confession of their faith, then we take the new member by what is called ‘transfer of letter’. Basically, the church sends us a letter stating the person was a member there, and the church acknowledges they were baptized as a believer. What is important is that the new member is a regenerated, born-again believer.

True fellowship can only occur between regenerated, born-again, baptized believers.

This is not to say that nonbelievers, or unbaptized believers cannot have anything in common with us. It is simply an affirmation of what Scripture teaches. Turn to 2 Corinthians 6.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial?Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”

Believers and unbelievers are on two different wavelengths and two different paths. These are two groups of people sitting at opposite ends of life. The rhetorical questions which follow the command, "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers", point to this separation. "Righteousness" and "Lawlessness" are opposites just as light and darkness. The next set of opposites 'Christ' and 'Belial' may sound a bit odd to modern ears, but 'Belial' is simply a transliteration of the Hebrew word which means "worthlessness, unprofitableness, wickedness." Paul is using it as a title, just like 'Christ' is the transliteration of the Greek Messianic title for Jesus. Paul's point is threefold here:

First, believers and unbelievers are opposite types--just as light and dark, righteousness and lawlessness.

Second, believers and unbelievers have different leaders--Christ and wickedness.

Third, believers and unbelievers have different relationships with God.

Those last verses are a compilation of various Old Testament texts that Paul cites to drive home his last point. God promised the Jewish people that in the new covenant, when the Messiah appeared, He would make His dwelling with His people, and so God's people should come out of the wicked lands to be a holy people, just as Israel was called out the nations to be a holy nation.

The Church is called to be a holy people unto God. We come out of our old, sinful living conditions and enter the presence of God.

The reason church membership is reserved for born-again believers is because it is only born-again believers who can claim God's promise of salvation.

How can an unbeliever sing praises, share testimony, and celebrate with believers about the goodness of God when they have not experienced that goodness for themselves?

Doctrine — “Teaching them to observe”

The last pillar is 'doctrine' and this word points to what Christ told us to do with new disciples, teach them to observe all that He commanded. The Christian life is a life of growth. We begin as new babies in Christ who know only of the new, eternal life they have received. Theologians call this step 'justification'--it is the moment when the sinner has been transformed from death to life and their sins have been forgiven.

We baptize the new believer to signify their step of faith and new life. We then teach them to observe what Christ taught as a part of what theologians call 'sanctification'. Just as a new baby has much to learn about this world, the new Christian has much to learn about his new life. But it is not just head knowledge. The new believer is learning to walk, talk, and live as a disciple of Christ.

All the time kids pick up habits and words from other families, and most of the time, parents have to retrain their child the way the family should live. There have been several conversations with my boys about picking up bad habits from school friends. I'm sure many of us have heard, and said, the same thing I've told them--"That may be how other families do things, but you're my kid." Each family has a standard they set for their kids. Personally, I set mine high for my kids, because I want them to do and be better than I was.

It is the same for God's family. There are many options in this world, but God has set His standard which is succinctly stated (restated) in Scripture. I am partial to how Peter states it in 1 Peter 1.

1 Peter 1:14-16
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

The point of learning doctrine is not to impress your family with Bible trivia, or have other church members look on you with envy. The point in learning doctrine is to be more holy. In fact, one of my favorite quotes is one that I failed to write down who said it: "Sound theology is only one that points towards obedience to Christ." Ask 10 theologians how to interpret any given piece of Scripture, and you will receive about 20 responses. But, of those 20, the way to know which is correct is to simply ask, "Which of these draws me closer to obedience in Christ?", or put another way, "Which of these calls me to be holy?"

We can know true doctrine by discerning God's holiness.

The more we understand the holiness of God, the more we will be able to root out false teachings. Second, we know the knowledge of true doctrine has taken hold of our lives when we find ourselves actually living more holy. Just as James says,

James 1:22
Be doers of the word, and hot hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Do not be deceived by your head knowledge, but turn your heart to God and live out what you know.

We know we have truly learned true doctrine when our lives match true holiness.

In the Power of Jesus’ Name — “And behold, I am with you always”

Having set the foundation on the work of Christ and raised the four pillars of worship, mission, fellowship, and doctrine, we can cap the house with "To the glory of God". And it is all to His glory, and for His glory, and why is that?

Look back at what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 6:

For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”

It is to His glory because He made us.

It is to His glory because He dwells with us.

It is to His glory because we are His people.

It is to His glory because He is our Father, and we are His sons and daughters.

Jesus promised us that He would be with us to the very end of the age. Through Christ God is transforming us and this world. Today, if you have not joined in the mission of God, be transformed by the work of Christ. Have fellowship with your Creator and His people, and learn what it means to be holy, set apart for God in eternity.

Chilhowee BaptistJanuary 12, 2021