SERMON NOTES

The Awe of the All

Fathers and brothers, the humbling circumstances
of addressing this body is intensified by the fact that
I .chosen as a text and point of emphasis that
which Is part and parcel of your reason for existence
as an ecclesiastical body. It may appear foolish on
my part to attempt to speak on that which is so
obvious . withiri . a. l3-efonned and Bible-believing
fellowship. Yet ttls JUSt here that the modern church
so fails--even conservative churches who start out
well. The.r:efore, I this task more by way
of exhortation than expositlon.
My text for exposition and application is the first half
of verse 20 of Matthew 28: "Teaching them to
observe all that I commanded you. II I want to focus
on the "A WE" of the
11
ALL.
11
The awe of that all is
s.adly missing D; much of Christendom today. From
hberal ecumemcal movements to fundamentalists
stressing experience over doctrine, zeal for the
whole counsel of God is either criticized or ignored.
t? assert as the .truth God that All Scripture
ts Itlsprred; All Scnpture ts profitable, and All
Scripture is commended and commanded by Jesus
as our basis for teaching and unity. The
awesomeness of this "all" matters.
There was an agent who said to a writer client: "I
have some good news for you, and some bad
news." "Give me the good ne_ws first," asked the
writer. "Paramount loved script--absolutely ate
it ' "That's the writer "what
Page 4 August-September, 1990 The Counsel of Chalcedon
is the bad news?" "Paramount is my cocker
spaniel."
The good news for many in the church world is that
they have been faithful followers of their church's
doctrine and its requirements. The bad news is--it is
the wrong church! And it is not funny, and it does
matter which church and which faith and which
doctrine.
First of all I want to briefly set forth my text in its
context. Second, we will survey just a few New
Testament examples. Third, we will see the
pragmatic alternative of our day.
Tbe Text and the Great Commission
The text is the third part of our Lord's Great
Cc;nnmission. I will pulling out just the
thrrd level of the Commission, at least in part,
becau.se most preachers never get beyond the first
level. they wrongly assume that if they
have emphasized the frrst level, they were obedient
Before on the te?'t need to briefly touch
all parts of this Commtsston from our Lord. In
18. of 28, hl:lving met with His
dtsctples JUSt pnor to the Ascension, we read: "And
Jesus up and spoke to them, saying, 'All
authonty has been given to Me in heaven and on
earth."' In this preface to His command Jesus
a sweeping claim implying power ' and a
,,n Acts 1:8 .before ascending Jesus
prOJll1Ses: You shall recetve power when the Holy
Spirit has come upon you."
As the Second Person of the blessed Trinity, Jesus
has authority both to command His church and to
accomplish via the Holy Spirit what He commands.
In that light He commands His disciples (Matt.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
all that I commanded you, and lo, I am
With even to the end of the
'
_.
"I have the authority," says Jesus. "You go; you
disciple the nations in My power." Here is the
Magna Charta of world evangelism and missions.
Take the Gospel, the essentials of the Christian faith,
and by God's grace people and nations are
converted.
But Jesus does not stop there. Though nine out of
ten missionaries and almost as many pastors stop
there, Jesus does not stop there. Jesus also
commands Trinitarian baptism. Unless we establish
churches and administer the sacraments, we are
disobedient to the Lord.
I am weary of parachurch ministries and missions
that boast of their commitment to the Great
Commission but have little or no interest in or
intention of establishing churches with proper
sacraments. And I am just now coming to my text--
verse 20, which is part three of the Great
Commission.
With no less authority and no lessened obligation
Christ commands His disciples: "Teach them to
observe ALL that I commanded you." Even where
the Gospel is proclaimed and there is a church with
the sacraments, still this level of the Commission is
rarely taken seriously. The Greek is panta. It means
all. ALL, all things, everything--however you
translate it , it never means some.
I feel rather silly belaboring the point, but the reality
is that it is largely ignored. I rejoice that evangelicals
today can stand together on many points and give a
united voice on certain fundamentals. But you can
be a card-carrying fundamentalist and deny the Lord
by refusing obedience to the Great Commission.
We may and we ought to stand with other
fundamentalists--true evangelicals-:-for the Scrip-
tures, for the family, for religious freedom. We are
to stand shoulder to shoulder in opposition to
abortion, sexual immorality, and an idolatrous state.
But Jesus, the Head of the Church, teaches and
commands us to teach many other things besides the
fundamentals. And we will not achieve our common
denominator goals if we are unfaithful on the whole
counsel of God.
We do not just go into the world, be it Atlanta,
Akron, Africa or Asia, but we go on the terms of the
King of Kings. God's work done in God's way! Is
it any wonder that the church is so impotent today, if
she follows not her King?
We are under orders. As individuals, as a church,
as elders, as a presbytery--we are under orders.
Those orders are not vague guidelines which we
may use as we please. The orders are specific:
"Teach them to observe ALL that I commanded
You."
New Testament Examples
Let Jl1e move now, in the second place, to some
New Testament examples. This will not be
exhaustive, but I trust it will not be be disputed
either. First, we could cite Jesus Himself. We
know from our text what He said at the end of His
earthly ministry, but notice how He begins. While.
being tempted, the Savior affirmed that we are to live
by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of
God. Here He is but echoing the law of
Deuteronomy.
"Paul, intellectual Pharisee
Roman citizen, ... would
proclaim a truncated Gospel
shame for what the world
think."
and
not
out . of
would
Early in His teaching, in the Sermon on the Mount,
Jesus does not shrink the obligation, but He presses
it to the fullest. "Do not think that I came to abolish
the Law ... Until heaven and earth pass away not the
smallest letter or stroke shall pass away ... Whoever
then annuls one of the least of these
commandments... shall be called least... Unless .
your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and
Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of
heaven" (Matt. 5: 17-20). All that Jesus did and
taught reflects His comprehensive statement in John
10-- "Scripture cannot be broken."
Next we would notice how the Apostles in general
share this teaching. After Pentecost. when the
number of believers increased to over 3000, we read
that they devoted themselves to the Apostles'
teaching. And what was the Apostles' teaching?
"All Scripture, given by inspiration," including the
things Jesus, as promised, broug)lt to their
remembrance, the "a11 truth" into which Jesus
promised to lead them.
And then I must single out the great Apostle Paul, ..
who added his own testimony to the centrality of
teaching all things Christ commanded. For one
thing I think of Romans 1: 16. It is not as explicit.
perhaps. but surely we see this implied. "For I am
not ashamed of the Gospel." Paul, intellectual
Pharisee and Roman citizen; had many worldly
reasons to be ashamed of the Gospel. But its
wisdom and power was revealed to Him, and he
The Counsel of Chalcedon August-September, 1990 Page 5
./'
would not proclaim a truncated Gospel out of shame
for what the world would think.
But the. classic testimony is in Acts 20. Paul is in a
hurry to get to Jerusalem, and from Miletus he sent
for the elders of Ephesus so he could. consult with
them en route to Jerusalem. And through that
iilarvelous account of his ministry and faithfulness,
with his warnings against false teachers, two verses
jump forth that are a banner to any minister of
the Gospel "Therefore I testify to you this day, that
I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I did not
shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of
. God" (Acts 20:26:-27). Thus does the Apostle
exemplify obedience to the Great Commission.
. . Tbe Pragmatic Alt.emative
My third point is to move from what is
and what ought to bt?, and note the pragmatic
alternative so frequently set forth today in opposition
to the principle of the Lord's Commission. In place
of the awesome obligation of the Lord's command to
teach obedience in "all things," the temptation
promoted even within the church is to put
pragmatism over against principle.
Let me digress for sake of illustration with a rather
silly story about an incident when I was returning
from the mission field in Ehtiopia quite a few years
ago. One of several tourist spots I included on my
return trip was Venice, Italy and in the providence of
God it coincided with a visit there of a .dear friend,
the retiring president of what was till then, the
Pittsburg-Xenia Theological Seminary, pr. Addison
Leitch. I spent several hours with the Leitch family
seeing some of the sights.
St. Mark's Square is the focal point of Venice. An
enormous plaza surrounded by classic architecture, it
is a gathering place for tourists and locals alike.
Around this vast open square are several outdoor
restaurants with small orchestras entertaining their
customers. One evening we were enjoying the
sights and sounds of the square. We noticed that on
one side a restaurapt was packed with people, eating
artd listening to the otchestra. On the other side wa:s
a similar establishment, orchestra playing, but with
almost no customers.
Observing this inequity, Dr. Leitch, always one to
insert a little humor into a situation, suggested we do
our part to help out this empty restaurant. The six of
us spread out to three tables, ordered soft drinks,
and began applauding loud and long for the
orchestra. Within a matter of minutes, a large
number of people began to flil up the tables,
applauding with us as though it was the greatest
Page 6 August-September, 1990 The Counsel or Chalcedon
show on the square. By the time we finished our
drinks and departed, business was booming, and
the restaurant across the square was almost emptied.
What happened, I assume, was crowd psychology.
We seem to be having fun. long a few more
pop in to see what is They assume the
band is good because we are excited; so they join the
applause, and the next thing you know a whole
crowd is coming in because they don't want to miss
the excitement. The music may have been much
better across the square, but that did not matter.
What mattered was the perceived success of the
orchestra on our side. It would not have mattered if
one side had the best professional orchestra in all
Italy and the other side had just a fair group of
amateur musicians. What mattered was success.
Not quality, but success.
When McDonald's became a big success, along
came the imitators: Burger King, Burger Chef,
Wendy's, Hamburger Station. Whether burgers,
chicken, or churches, what matters is success and
imitation. That is what drives comtemporary
society: success-the "bottom line." What are the
profits? Is it working? The "bottom line" has
become more important than the principles.
Such pragmatic, success-oriented approaches are
becoming standard operating procedures in many
Christian churches and organizations. Some time
ago I was met at an airport by a pastor whose front
seat was littered with a church growth manual and
related tapes and papers. As he spoke of it, I think
he was more excited about it than the Gospel itself.
He now had the key to success.
The Great Commission is a command with an
implied victory. The promise of victory, however,
is an ever-present temptation for missiologists
(foreign or domestic) to play God, finding better and
more effective ways to build Christ's Church. God
says: "Do it this way." Jesus says: "Do ALL of this
way; do not neglect MY way." And then man
comes and .says: '.'That's not working fast enough;
I've got a betteridea" . . .
Rex Humbard stressed entertainment and healing in
Akron to build his huge Cathedral of Tomorrow and
his infamous unfinished tower. Well, "Edifice
Rex," as I like to call him, did not count the cost
of the tower, and much of his Akron empire has
crumbled. But we do like the edifice; we are easily
tempted by exotic building programs.
Think of the many grand church buildings you
passed in order to get here. How do those super
churches get their thousands, their huge buildings,
and their parking lot full of buses? How do those
TV preachers get bigger and bigger though they
often have little to say? I am not saying they are all
devoid of Christianity
7
but did you ever wonder why
all the appeals which come in the mail seem to be .
following the same gimmicks? Think McDonald's--
success! I'll buy into the franchise
7
and my success
is guaranteed.
We had a parachurch giant at our General Assembly
last year tell us we use their
movie, and use 1t w1th therr method of operation, he
could GUARANTEE the PCA an enormous number
of new churches in a few time. I do not
remember the number used, but it was more than the
Mission to North America Committee ever dreamed
ot And many
7
I fear, wanted it so.
Get the right marketing franchise; make
telemarketing calls, and be sure the cross of Christ 1s
not an offense or a stumbling block. "You adul-
teresses," says James, "do you not know that friend-
ship with the world is hostility toward God? There-
fore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world
makes himself an enemy of God" (James 4:4).
In January of 1989 I had the privilege of.lect?ring
and preaching for four weeks in Korea, to
mission candidates preparing to go to other nat10ns.
That was a heady experience. What promise that
situation held for the kingdom of Jesus Christ!
But more than once I was tom between two
conflicting emotions. There was joy and excitement
that a mission-receiving nation is becoming a major
mission-sending nation. Yet at times, my heart was
broken as I listened to those who were products of a
hundred years of faithfulness on the part of Korean
Christians, pleading with the American church to
come and teach them the pragmatic methodologies of
the church growth movement.
I did not sense in any way a conscious rebellion
against the Lord. Yet lurking there just under the
surface was a preference for a franchised religion
with guaranteed success, rather than obedience to
"all things whatsoever Christ has commanded."
They were not unresponsive to my repeated pleas to
follow the path of obedience which had by God's
grace resulted in their conversion. But the
temptation is so great, especially in a country that
has seen grand supcesses, to choose success over
faithfulness.
The third level of Christ's Commission is a muted, if
not silent, factor in world Christianity today. It is
not a popular message, because it does not fit the
franchised formulas for success.
In 1983 the Word of Life Press and Asia Theological
Association published a timely . book, Korean
Church Growth Explosion. Chapter 22, "Some
Dangers of Rapid. Growth," by Rev . . Son
Bong-Ho is most timely and certamly not hrmted to
the Korean situation. Dr. Son is concerned with the
negative aspects of "the excessive zeal to increase
church membership at any cost." Numbers come to
express reality and determine "good'' churches.
What especially caught my attention was his
delightful designation of all this as "Neo-
Pythagoreanism." Pythagoreans, you may recall,
flourished a few centuries before Christ, and the
distinguishing characteristic of their philosphy was
to equate reality with numbers. Numbers thus had a
mystical and even religious significance. Son
writes:
The Neo-Pythagoreanism
1
as I call the
worship of numbers in society, has been
recently reinforced by the introduction of the
theological psuedo science called church
growth which is developed and propagated by
the Fuller Theological Seminary
School of World Mission in Pasadena ...
Church growth theology has done more harm
than good to Korean churches in general ...
The fact that Robert H. Schuller of the Crystal .
Cathedral ... is becoming a hero to many
Korean pastors suggests the degree of
preoccupation of Korean Christianity with
numbers. Numbers takes precedence the .
purity of church discipline and teachings,
Numbers are even used to represent the
quality of faith (pp. 335-336).
OPC pastor Dan Knox had a harsh but helpful
evaluation of the church growth movement in
Journey Magazine some time ago. In it he notes the
shift in evangelism, a reduction, "to 'outreach
events', complete with special music and guest
speakers (such as athletes and politicians), need
oriented seminars, camps, social activities, etc."
Even in conservative, Reformed denominations, the
home missions test is often not faithfulness, but a
self-supporting church within two years. The
pressure on the pastor is thus not obedience to the
"all things", but evangelism for survival. And that
changes evangelism!
The pressure touches worship
1
preaching, and eveQ.
faith itself. The New Testament missionaries had a
gospel so unattractive (pragmatists.
attractiveness) that it seriously endangered their
lives. Today's gospel often "entices many and saves
no one."
The Counsel of Chalcedon August-September, 1990 Page 7
Our text from the lips of the Lord Himself is that ,the
message is the method. If we neglect the
11
all" of
Christ's Great Commission, whatever method we
use is not God's method, because the message, is the
method. Any method without the message of the
whole counsel of God is found to be a house of
cards, a building of wood, hay and straw.
I am not saying that the obedient church will not or
ought not to be successful. Given Christ's authority
and command, we should expect the prayer, "Thy
kingdom come,'' to be dramatically answered. But
Neo:.. Pythagoreans conveniently forget God's wrath
upon David's census.
To summarize, we first see the clear and unequivocal
command of Matthew 28:20.
11
Go ... teaching them
to observe all that I commanded you." Second, we
find such to be the practice of Christ and the apostles
in the New Testament itself. Not friendship with the
world, but obedience to God. And third, we find
today's pragmatic alternative, with its charms of
success to tempt us to disobey the King of kings.
Your duty--our duty--is to be faithful to ALL the
Great Commission as well as to the "ALL" of that
Commission. Jesus says, "I have the authority; you
go." He is not commanding us to be successful. He
is commanding us to be faithful to the whole counsel
of God. And only in the fullness of such obedience
comes the promise: "Lo, I am with you always."
Application
I see in all this some pointed application to
Reformed, separatist churches. I grew up in the old-
line, liberal church ( at least it was on the road to
apostasy by the union of 1958). I only learned of
the separatist movement in the last two decades, and
of course I have become a part of it.
It is my understanding that separatist churches exist
because they would not compromise the Word of
God ("all" of Scripture). At least this was their
intention, and they felt it could be accomplished only
outside the existing churches. I do not want to
address that decision as such.
But all of us want to place the Word of God above
the word of man. We are not perfect, and we do not
agree on everything. But this heritage is precious to
all of us, a heritage of sola Scriptura --not part,
but all of it.
I once read an interesting article by J.G. Vos,
"Ashamed of the Tents of Shem?" In it he criticized
those who sang Psalms, but wanted to avoid their
distinctive features. He takes his text from Genesis
Page 8 August-September; 1990 The Counsel.of Chalcedon
9. "He shall enlarge Japheth, he will dwell in
the tents of Shem." "In the Hebrew idiom, to
dwell in the tents of someone means to be the
inheritor of that person's wealth and estate." Vos's
point is that many Americans and Europeans are
ashamed of their Jewish heritage (spiritually), a
consequence of which is avoiding the distinctive
features of the Psalms. My point is not to discuss
this thesis, but to borrow this image.
''Your duty--our to be faithful to
ALL the Great Commzsston as well as to the
''AU" of that Commission."
Let me mention the OPC as an example. A member
of the OPC is in a very real sense dwelling in the
tents of Machen, i.e., an inheritor of Machen's
wealth and estate. For. reasons hard to fathom,
unless it is the pragmatic alternative, many within the
OPC now seem to be "ashamed of the tents of
Machen." They are ashamed of the lack .of the
world's approval and of being the butt of comments
about nit-picking.
But it is precisely those distinctives that are part of
what Jesus commanded His disciples, and it is just
that which has made the OPC a blessing to many
both within and without her membership. Throwing
that away to gain success in the world's eyes, will
cause the OPC to become irrelevant in the
Kingdom's business.
When I affiliated with the PCA 15 years ago, it
seemed the place for me to"pitch my tent." I didnot
even know the names of Dabney and Thornwell.
But I quickly came to share the affection of the
Southern brethren for the faith and doctrine of these
men.
I had great hopes of what my church was to be, but I
have been very disappointed. If Dabney himself
were to appear at our assembly, to have the
opportunity to speak, to work on committees, and
get his views aired, I am sure he would be called a
narrow-minded, unloving, nit-picker who would
hinder the cause of Christ in the world (translation:
He world hurt our numerical growth). Delegates
would be jumping to the microphone to move the
previous question and closing debate faster than
ever. It grieves me to say it; I do not want to believe
it, but clearly the PCA (much of it) is ashamed of the
tents of Dabney and Thornwell.
The RPCUS (now RPCA) is, I guess, the new kid
on the block. You exist beca.use of the "awe of the
all." I wish we were all one to better reflect the unity
we do have. But I will tell you this, fathers and
brothers. It is the denominations that are faithful
which have exercised an influence on me and on
multitudes of others all out of proportion to their
size. But if, or when, they cease to be faithful to the
"all" of Christ's Commission, they become
irrelevant to the kingdom work.
If you are faithful, people will mock you and laugh
at you. And it will be some of the Presbyterian
brethren who will reserve some of their meanest
words for you. But the church at the end of the 20th
Century does not need another disobedient, broad
evangelical denomination! We need modem-day
Machens who will say with Luther: "Here I stand!"
We need elders in the trenches who will stand up
and be counted, obediently teaching all that Christ
commanded, even if it is contrary to the church
growth manual.
1 am a better Christian . and a better pastor, not
because of what you and those like you share with
all Christian churches, but because of what made
you become ashamed to dwell in the tents of your
theological ancestors. The unity for which Christ
prayed was specifically the kind of unity He enjoyed
with the Father, unity in doctrine, purpose, and
love.
In terms of the Great Commission and with an eye to
our specific text, do not neglect the Gospel; do not
neglect the sacraments and church planting, but
please do not forget to observe "all things" which
Christ commanded.
You will be deciding daily and weekly who is Lord?
Is it the world's applause? Is it popular opinion? Is
it numbers? Or is it Jesus Christ? You are deciding
between the whole counsel of God and the pragmatic
alternative.
Let us covenant to pray for each other, and I trust,
pray as well for the day when we may again (of for
the first time) be soldiers of the cross in the same
battalion. May your ministry in this nation and to
the world be a living example of the prophet
Micaiah's testimony: "As the Lord lives, what the
Lord says to me, that I will speak." (I Kings 22: 14)
Dr. Carl Bogue chats with Acrs Director Gene Mikell
at the 1990 Christian Vision of Victory Seminar. Q
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