The Government of the Church (2)

1. The Ruler of the Church
2. The Rule of the Church
3. The Retrievlal of Reformed Government

……We still need our subordinate standards (our confessions) though so let me give you 5 reasons why they are needed:

1. They unite our beliefs and mean we are all singing from the same hymn sheet.

2. They testify against error as the errors that these confessions deal with are regurgitated in each and every generation. The heresies that we face and are dealing with today are the heresies of the past.

3. They test dubious interpretations, opinions and practices.

4. They teach fundamental truths concerning the character and being of God.

It’s very easy for us today. If I ask you what you believe about the being of God you would say He’s one God in 3 persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All 3 are co-equal. Now you’d all subscribe to that and can say it off pat but these doctrines were all hammered out on the anvil of debate, discussion and study in the Early Church during the first 3 centuries of the Church while we’ve had it handed to us on a plate.

5. They form a bond of united practice amongst us.

But the supreme judge is always Scripture.

Let me say if I may that the way to learn to Scripture is to come through the confessions. Because these confessions have been neglected by so many Christians today, we have many that open their Bibles and read verses and they don’t have a clue what they mean or where they fit in and they get nowhere with their reading. We need to come to the Bible with a good knowledge of and a commitment to these confessions or otherwise you are starting from scratch!...