1993 Issue 10 - He Shall Glorify Me: Doctrine of the Holy Spirit in the Westminster Standards Part 7 - Counsel of Chalcedon

8/12/2019 1993 Issue 10 - He Shall Glorify Me: Doctrine of the Holy Spirit in the Westminster Standards Part 7 - Counsel of C

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THE HOLY

SPIRIT

ND CHURCH DISCIPLINE

As noted earlier, church discipline

is one of the marks of a true church. It

is the duty of Chlist's bride to purify

herself from anything that would

profune the Blidegroom. Private and

public admonition, toward those who

persist

in

sin, is a necessary function

(Mt. lS:15-20; 1

Cor.

5:1-13). The

Westminster Confession

XXXIV,4)

avers that the Holy Spirit

is

that member

of the Trinity (economically speaking)

by whom, the

church

will

be

... purified.

Such discipline (church

censures), says

the

Confession (XXX,3), is

necessary for: the

reclaiming

and

gaining of

offending bretheren; for the

deterring of others from the

like offences; for purging out

of that leaven which might

infect the whole lump; for

vindicating the honour of

Christ, and the holy

profession of he gospel; and

for

preventing the wrath of

God, which might justly

fall

upon the

church,

i

they should suffer His

covenant

and

the seals thereof, to be

profuned by notorious and obstinate

offenders.

Church discipline is to occur by

means of the keys of the Kingdom

Mt. 16: 17-19; 1S:15-20). The keys,

according to the Westminster divines

(XXX,2,4), are committed to the

officers of the church, and consist of

the Word ofGod, and church censures

canied out in obedience

to

the Word.

Biblical discipline

is

to proceed

by

admonition, suspension from the

sacrament of the Lord's Supper for a

season, and by excommunication from

the church, according

to

the nature of

the crime, and demerit of the person.

Matthew IS: 15-20, is the biblical

locus classicus on the subject. Here we

learn that

when church

officers

faithfully carry out their task of

discipline vv. 15-lS), Jesus Chlist is

with them; He is in the midst of them

(vv.19,20).AndthewaythatChrist is

with His church at such times is through

His Sphit.

This

is

what Christ told HisdiSCiples

in John 14-16. He would not leave

them alone as they can'ied out their

ministerial functions (14:

18);

Hewould

send the parakletos to dwell with them

and in them (14: 16,17); thus, it would

be best for them i He went away

A STUDY OF THE PERSON AND WORK

OF THE HOLY

SPIRIT

B SED

ON THE

WESTMINSTER

ST ND RDS

(16:7). Jesus is continually with His

church through the person of His Spirit

Mt. 28:20). The S

phit

functions

as

the

emthly, indwelling advocate, whereas

Christ is now the heavenly advocate 1

In.2:1).

Interestingly, the name parakletos,

given to the Holy Spirit by

Chlist,

literally means one called alongSide.

It was the title given to lIial lawyers

(advocates) in antiqUity. Perhaps there

is reference to the Spirit's role in church

censures in the name.

THE HOLY

SPIRIT AND

ESCH TOLOGY

According to Pieter Potgieter, the

course

of

history between the

resurrection and the second coming of

Chlist is a course of inevitable viCtory

for His Kingdom. In this process the

Holy Spirit is fully involved. The

outpouring of the Sphit on the day of

Pentecost is nothing less than the

indisputable sign

of

his

velY

victOlY in

the world. (Potgieter, p. 3).

Section four of chapter

XXXIV

of

the Confession closes by stating thatby

the minisny of the Holy Spirit, the

church will

be preserved,

increased ..

and

at last made perfectly

holy

in

the presence of God. We have

studied the final part

of

his teaching in

chapter three. There we saw that each

and

evelY

Christian (individually and

corporately) will be preserved

throughout eternity; they

will

be

glorified. The

indwelling Parac1ete is the

seal and earnest which

assures this (Eph. 1:13,14;2

Cor. 1:22).

But the Confession also

speaks of the Spirit's role in

preserving and giving

increase to Christ's church.

The Spirit is the church

bnilder, according to the

apostle Paul (Eph. 2:22). He

is the other advocate, sent

by

Christ, to continue His

earthlyminisnyOn.14:16-lS,26; 16:7-

15; Acts 1:1,2). Thus, He assures us

that even

in

the worst

of

times, there

shall always be a church on earth to

worship God according to will. The

Westminster

Confession of

Faith

XXV,5.

The Spirit will preserve Christ's

church.

Not only this, the Spirit

is

also the

one who assures Christ's church that

the gates of hades shall not prevail

against it (Mt. 16:1S). We can expect

times 0 f great gospel prospelity in the

New Covenant era, prior to the second

advent of Jesus Chlist. The Great

Commission will be fulfilled; the

nations will be discipled (Mt. 2S: lS-

20). Chlist, in the person of His Holy

Spirit, will be with His church always

to assure her victOlY (v. 20). The

Puritans, who

were

strongly

December 1993 l

TH

COUNSEL o ChaIcedon ;.

11


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Posnnillennial

in

their eschatology,

often referred to this time as the latter

day glory of the saints. For more on

this see lain H. Murray, The

Puritan

Hope.

In explaining what Christ meant

when He enjoined the church to pray

Thy Kingdom come (Mt.

6:10),

the

larger Catechism (Q 191) states:

In the second petition, (which is,

'Thy Kingdom come'), acknowledging

ourselves and all

mankind

to

be

by

nature under the dominion of sin and

Satan, we pray, that the

11:9).

Joseph

c.

Morecraft, III,Studies

on

the

Church ofJesus Christ pp. 90, 87.

The book of Acts should then be

somewhat paradigmatic as to what we

should

expea

to see

in

the whole ofthe

New Testamentera.]. Gresham Machen

agrees. He writes:

The triumphes

of

the gospel,

however, were not confined to the age

of the apostles. The apostolic age was

prophetic of the Christian centuries.

There were

many

days

of

darkness;

but

the church always emerged again

16:5;

17:4,12; 18:8; 19:10,26; 21:20;

28:30). Regardless of the obstacles

and trials the church faced ... Nothing

could stop its expansion.

2) Geographical growth 0:8; 5:16;

9:31; 13:46,49;

17:2ff;

18:5ff;19:8ff;

28:17-31).

According to Acts

1:8,

the

gospel is to spread from Jerusalem,

through allJudea and Samaria, until it

reaches 'the remotestpart of he earth'.

3) Heterogeneous growth

(2:9-

11,16-21; 6:7; 8:9-12,26-40; 9:39,43;

10:1; 13:7; 16:14,27; 17:4,12,34;

kingdom

of sin and Satan

may

be

destroyed,

the

gospel

propagated

throughout the world, the

Jews called, the fullness of

the Gentilesbrought in; the

church furnished

with

all

gospel-officers and

ordinances,

purged

from

corruption,

countenanced

and maintained

by

the civil

magistrate:

that the

ordinances of Christ may

be purely dispensed,

and

The fact that no one person

has all

of

the

gifts of

the

Spirit

reveals

to

u the

need

for

the

unity of the church, the

fellowship of

the

body, for the

full

spiritual development of

the

individual and

the

corporate community.

18:3,8; 21:5). The

early

church

was comprised of

people

from every

race,

people, nation, and walk of

life.

There were

men,

women, priests, tanners,

converted

magicians,

centurions, philosophers,

proconsuls, and so forth.

4) Qualitative growth

(2:37-47; 4:31-35; 9:31;

16:5; etc.). Numerical

growth alone is not the goal

of evangelism and

world

miSSion. It is numerical

growth coupled with spiritualade

effectual t

the

converting of those that are yet

in

their

sIns,

and

the confirming, comforting,

andbuildingup of hose thatarealready

converted:

that

Christ would rule

in

our hearts here, and hasten the time of

His second coming, and our reigning

with

Him forever: and that

He

would

be

pleased

so

to exercise the Kingdom

of His power

in

all the world, as may

best conduce to these ends.

Joseph Morecraft, maintains that

the

book ofActs is abookwhich reveals

. the power of the Holy Spirit. God

personally

builds

His

church

by His

Spirit. Further, the purpose of the

book of Acts is to show the triumphant

progress of Christianity, to show the

ever expanding nfluence of he gospel

as it breaks through all bartiers

religious, ethniC, and national-until

'the knowledge of the Lord covers the

earth as the waters cover the sea' (Is.

triumphant. So it will

be

today. God

has

not

deserted His people;

He

will

attest His truth with the power of His

Spirit;

there

is no room

for

discouragement. One thing, however,

should

to

be remembered; thevictories

of the church are victories, not of

brilliant preachers, not of human

wisdom or human goodness,

but

of he

cross of Christ. Under that banner all

true conquests move. J. Gresham

Machen,

The

New

Testament: An

Introduction to its Literature

and History

p.310.

Morecraftcitesfour particularways

in which we see the HolySpiritbringing

about church growth

in

the book of

Acts: Morecraft, pp.

88-9l.

1 Numerical growth (2:41,47; 4:4;

5:14; 6:1,7; 8:6,12;9:31,35,42; 10:44;

11:21,24,26; 12:24; 13:49; 14:1,21;

12 THE COUNSEL

of

Chalcedon December,

1993

growth. The focal point for Luke

in

his

understandingofchurchgrowthislarge

numbers of believers who are being

built

up in

Christian maturity of life

and thought. ..Churchgrowthinvolves

a growth in quantity

and

in quality.

Implications

At the

end

ofchapterone we studied

some of he implications of he doctrine

of the person of the Holy Spirit. Now,

at the end of chapters two through

four, we shall look at some of the

implications

of

His work: Millard

J.

Erickson, Christian

Theology

pp.

882,883.

1 The entirety of salvation, along

with the gifts and graces given to

Christians, are bestowals

of

grace from

God

the Spirit, not human

CONT. ON PG.

6


3/3

with paganism

in

the raw are the

cheapest of cheap shots. But then

again, unfounded prtggishness has al-

ways been

at

a discount behind the

tenured walls

of our

honored institu-

tions of higher learning. )

Their violent acts must be seen

in

the light of the realities they faced. It

was literally a life and death situation

(for them as well as for the benighted

people of Mexico). Ifthey failed, not

only

would

they die, but (and what

wasjustas important

to

these men) the

people who

had

been deceived by the

old Dragon would pertsh. Descola

remarks, the violent acts of the Con-

quistadors. . . . though sometimes

performed 'in the name of' religion,

were never 'under the pretence

of

religion. (Eidsmoe, op. cit., p. 162)

That is

t

say, though they might, at

times, have gone too far, the conquis-

tadors were never insincere. They had

legal warrant (from the Pope) and they

were on a crusade, not t defeat the

Mohamedans but to convert the hea-

then. Their religion was not a pretext

but a banner. (Ibid., p. 163)

To the hypocrttes of our age who

know nothing

but

pretense, this seems

impossible. And the fact that most

scoff

at

this view of he conquistadores

says far more about the bankruptcy of

our times

than it

does about the sins of

those

in

the past.

I

CRAMP1ON CaNT.

ROM

PAGE 12

accomplishment. Thus, the gifts and

graces are to

be

used for His glory.

2) Because

it

is the Spirtt who

empowers every believer

in

Chrtstian

life

and service, personal inadequacies

should not deter or discourage us.

3) Since the gifts are sovereignly

dispensed by

the Spirtt to the church,

possession or lack of a particular gift

should be no cause for prtde or regret.

4) The fact that no one person has

all of the gifts of the Spirtt reveals t us

the need for the unity of the church,

the fellowship of the body, etc., forthe

full spiritual development of the

individual

and the corporate

cOIJlmunity.

5 The fact that we can come to the

Spirtt in prayer encourages us to pray

for His sanctifying work

in

us, both

individually and corporately. Prayer

for guidance, a greater understanding

ofHis inspired Word, the advancement

of His Kingdom, etc., should be a part

of our daily walk with God.

Come gracious Spirit, heavenly dove,

With light and comfort from above;

Be

Thou our guardian, Thou our guide;

O'er every thought and step preside.

The light of truth to us display,

And make us know and choose Thy way;

Plant holy fear in every heart,

That we from God may ne'er depart.

Lead us to holiness, the road

Which we must take to dwell with God;

Lead us to Christ, the living way,

Nor let u from is presence stray.

(Simon Browne)

6

THE COUNSEL of

Chalcedon

December,

993

Documents

1993 Issue 10 - He Shall Glorify Me: Doctrine of the Holy Spirit in the Westminster Standards Part 7 - Counsel of Chalcedon