May 5, 2024: Sunday School

Order of Service

• Sunday School Lesson

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Sermon Title: The Church as Pilgrim and Ambassador

Scripture: Luke 7:18-23

I. Who Establishes the Church

A. Christ alone builds his church, as declared in Matthew 16:18

1. Peter's confession — "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God" — is the foundation upon which the church is built
2. The church is uniquely Christ's in a way that no other institution (family, state) is

B. Christ's ongoing relationship to the church

1. He is the head of the church — Ephesians 1
2. He is the Chief Cornerstone — Ephesians 2, drawing on the rejected stone of the Psalms
3. No other institution — not the family, not the state — shares this intimate relationship with Christ

II. Who Comprises the Church

A. The invisible church

1. Defined by the Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 25: the whole number of the elect, gathered under Christ as head, across all time and space
2. One people gathered to Christ, spanning all true congregations worldwide

B. The visible church

1. All those who profess the true religion, together with their children, receiving covenant privileges
2. A mixed community — not all in the visible church are members of the invisible church, but every member of the invisible church is a member of the visible church
3. Privileges of the visible church: sitting under the preached and read Word, receiving the sacraments, hearing the gospel repeatedly

C. The church is a professing and a gathered people

1. Described in 1 Peter 2:9-10 as a chosen race, royal priesthood, holy nation, and people for God's own possession
2. Called to proclaim the excellencies of God — both in worship and outward witness
3. Peter also names the church sojourners and exiles — a pilgrim people

III. What Distinguishes the Church

A. John the Baptist's question in Luke 7:18-23 reveals a common misconception about the Messiah's kingdom

1. John expected a conquering, nation-restoring Messiah — a theocratic, earthly kingdom overthrowing Rome
2. Jesus redirects John's attention to his actual works: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised, the poor hear good news
3. These works are signs of the spiritual kingdom — opening blind eyes to the gospel, transforming hearts

B. God reorders his covenant people across redemptive history

1. From a family (Abraham), to a theocratic nation (Israel), to a universal pilgrim people — the church
2. The church transcends nations, lands, and ethnicities — a Catholic, universal people under Christ
3. The church salts families and the state with the gospel, but is distinct from both

C. The church is distinguished by its tools and its calling

1. The church is given the Word; the state is given the sword — different tools for different callings
2. The work of the church is ministerial and declarative — serving and proclaiming
3. Edmund Clowney: the church must not wield the sword; the sword cannot bring in the kingdom or kingdom salvation (referencing John 18 and Jesus' words to Pilate that his kingdom is not of this world)

D. The church as pilgrim ambassador — Clowney's principles for Christians under earthly authority

1. Christians are called to submission and subjection to earthly authorities — to render to Caesar what is Caesar's
2. Christian character in relation to the state: gentleness, humility, peaceableness, prayer for leaders, willingness to suffer hardship and even injustice
3. Submission need not be blind — when the state commands what God forbids or forbids what God commands, we must obey God rather than men (Acts 5)
4. Christians may criticize and speak against injustice — as Jesus called Herod a fox, as John the Baptist rebuked Herod, as Paul remonstrated against illegal procedure — but always with meekness and respect for office
5. Paul's example: he apologized for calling the high priest a whitewashed wall, recognizing the respect due to the office (Acts 23)