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A Comparison of the False and the True Church | John Calvin · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking. Today we're opening up a topic
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that is, let's just say it's absolutely central for any
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believer looking for assurance. The question is this, how do we
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actually know where the true lawful assembly of Christ is
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located? And that's a question our source
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material for this deep dive is set up to answer directly.
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It's all about establishing a clear, objective rule for
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identifying the church. It forces us to look past all
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the externals, you know, the tradition, the grand claims, and
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to focus on one abiding mark, a mark that, as the sources argue,
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can't be faked. And that distinction is really
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the core of what we're looking at today, isn't it?
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The difference between that one true mark and just outward
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appearances. Our mission here is to give you,
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the listener, the tools to discern a lawful congregation,
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especially when you're faced with these claims of, say,
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historical lineage or antiquity that are so often used to demand
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your obedience. Right.
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And the sources frame the central tension right at the
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beginning. What's more valid?
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Is it this boast of a long standing tradition, you know, an
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unbroken physical succession of leaders?
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Or is it adherence to a specific teaching, to a specific voice?
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We have to start there with the voice, because everything else
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really flows from that single point.
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OK, let's do that. Let's unpack this central
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identifying feature. What is the fundamental, the,
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the unmistakable sign of Christ's followers according to
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our material? It's completely unambiguous in
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the text. The one distinguishing mark is
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that they hear his voice. That's it.
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That's a non negotiable trait. It defines the true lever, and
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by extension it defines the true assembly.
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That is such a different way to frame the authority of the
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church. It's not based on a Ledger or a
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historical document or a building, but on auditory
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recognition. It speaks to a very immediate, a
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very personal relationship between the shepherd and the
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sheep. That's the word personal.
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The Lord has secured his own people with this specific
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characteristic, and the sources go right to John's Gospel to
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establish this. This isn't a suggestion, it's
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presented as a statement of fact.
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Christ himself says everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.
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That's from his trial. It's how he defines citizenship
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in the Kingdom of Truth. And then it gets even deeper,
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doesn't it? It's not just recognition, it's
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also obedience. My sheep hear my voice, and I
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know them, and they follow me. So hearing and following,
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they're completely tied together.
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The very existence of the Church is defined by this act of
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listening. It's the ultimate relationship
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marker. The assembly is made-up of those
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who've been given the spiritual ability to hear the shepherd
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when he speaks. And this defining relationship
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has an immediate a negative side to it, a corollary which is just
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as necessary for identification. Right, the corollary of flight.
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I think that's a great way to put it.
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The true sheep don't just recognize their own shepherd,
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they actively flee from the stranger.
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They don't just listen to the right voice, they pointedly
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refuse to listen to a voice they don't know.
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Yes, that's pulling from John chapter 10, where it says the
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sheep flee from him, from the stranger, because they do not
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recognize the stranger's voice. This becomes the test for
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separation. It's the test for purity.
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Where that sound doctrine is absent, where the voice is
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foreign, the true believer has to withdraw.
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And the sources are firm that wherever this sign is genuinely
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present, the church must be there.
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But on the flip side, where this hearing is gone, the spiritual
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reality of the church just vanishes.
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It says nothing remains. It can give the true meaning of
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the church. So an assembly might keep its
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name, it's building its structure, but it's lost the
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actual soul of the Church. Correct.
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And to make sure this doesn't become some subjective feeling,
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the material immediately anchors this voice to something
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objective. It's anchored to the Word of
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God. Hearing Christ's voice is not a
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mystical inner feeling. It's hearing and responding to
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the specific words of God that we find in Scripture.
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That grounds the whole concept, doesn't it?
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Because if we were just dealing with internal feelings, anyone
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could claim to be the true church.
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But Christ himself makes that connection to an external
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standard. He who is of God hears the words
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of God. The reason why you do not hear
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them is that you are not of God. So the ability to hear the words
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of God as they are written is the mark of being of God.
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And that link is absolute. The Church is Christ's Kingdom,
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and our sources insist He reigns only by the scepter of His Word.
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So it has to follow that the Lord recognizes no assembly as
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His save or His Word is heard and scrupulously observed.
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If that defining mark, the hearing and obeying the Word is
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overturned or suppressed, the texts say the spiritual reality
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of the Church has ceased. You just can't separate Christ
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from His Word. Which really makes this an issue
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of sovereignty. Then.
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If Christ's authority is exercised through His Word, then
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any group that minimizes it or changes it or ignores it, they
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are actively denying Christ's sovereignty over them, no matter
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what title they use for themselves.
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That is the necessary conclusion.
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The whole definition of the Church based on this one abiding
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mark boils down to a very simple structure.
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It's the assembly of those who hear and obey the Word.
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Any other structure that claims to be the church has to be
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tested against that role. If the voice is silent, or if
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the voice of a stranger is being platformed instead, then that
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assembly has forfeited its claim.
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OK, so if the shepherd's voice is the mark that defines the
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people, let's shift to the structure that supports them,
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the idea of the chief cornerstone, and the specific
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doctrine that holds the entire building up.
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Right. We're moving from that personal
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relationship to the corporate structure and the sources.
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Use Paul's metaphor from Ephesians.
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The church is built upon the teaching of the apostles and
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prophets. That's the foundation.
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It's what gives the whole building its stability and its
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definition. It is a doctrinal foundation.
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And Christ isn't just a part of it.
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He's the chief cornerstone. The sources then get very
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specific about the doctrine that this whole structure rests on.
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It's the teaching that bids believers to entrust their
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salvation to Christ alone. That's the saving doctrine, the
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article on which the Church stands or falls.
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And that specific teaching, salvation resting on Christo's
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merits alone, is presented as the sole element that can
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sustain in the building. The analysis of what happens if
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it's removed is well, it's stark.
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If that specific teaching is removed or diluted or replaced,
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if salvation is suddenly dependent on human merit or
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ceremonies or traditions, the entire structure must tumble
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down. It's the central sum that
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provides the life support for the whole assembly.
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This really brings into focus why the true church is
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designated the pillar and foundation of truth.
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If that pillar is cracked, if lying and falsehood creep in
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about how we are justified, the sources are unequivocal.
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They say no church can exist. It's an absolute correlation.
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Doctrinal purity on salvation equals existence.
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Any corruption on this point is an existential threat.
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And it connects right back to the Shepherd's voice.
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If the voice you're hearing is teaching something other than
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salvation through faith in Christ alone, then by definition
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it's a stranger's voice. And any structure built on that
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stranger's teaching can't possibly be the church that
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Christ built. This architectural metaphor also
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helps us understand church unity.
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I mean, how could all these scattered assemblies maintain
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any kind of coherence? The material brings in Cyprian,
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who said the source of all conquered, the unity of the
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whole church, comes from Christ's episcopate alone, from
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his headship. So unity isn't geographic or
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administrative. It flows from the head.
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Cyprian use these really vivid, easy to grasp analogies to show
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why this connection to the head is so vital.
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Think about the rays of the sun. There are millions of them.
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They spread all over the earth, but every single one draws its
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light and its existence from one sun.
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They form one single light. Or the image of a giant tree.
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It's got countless branches going every which way, but every
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single one stems from that one strong central trunk which is
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grounded in one root system. If you cut the branch off from
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the trunk, it just Withers and dies.
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The branch can't boast about having life just because it was
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once part of the tree. And the last one is the streams
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of water. They might flow into different
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rivers, cover huge distances, but they all started from one
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single spring. That spring, that source, That's
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Christ's headship. It's his saving doctrine.
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The point of all those analogies is just inescapable, isn't it?
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The vitality of the assembly, it's light, it's life, it's
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water, is completely centralized in the head.
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And this is where heresies and schisms come from.
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Cyprian argued that these disruptions happen when men
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failed to return to that source, to Christ's headship and the
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heavenly Master's teaching. They start mistaking the stream
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for the source, or they think the branch is the root.
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That brings up a really fine theological point that the
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sources make sure to clarify, something often attributed to
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Augustine the difference between heresy and schism.
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If unity is built on the unity of faith, then one problem has
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to come before the other. Exactly.
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Heretics are the ones who corrupt the sincerity of the
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faith. They deny or twist that sound
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doctrine. The whole structure rests on.
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Schismatics are the ones who break the bond of fellowship.
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They rupture brotherly love. But, and this is the key point,
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the sources argue that brotherly love depends entirely upon the
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unity of faith. If the faith is corrupt, love
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can't function properly and you actually have to separate to
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preserve the truth. So what you're saying is you
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can't be charged with schism for separating from a body that has
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already committed heresy? The separation is just the
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logical outcome of the doctrinal corruption that was already
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there. The schism was really started by
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the ones who removed the foundational teaching, causing
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the whole building to fall. It turns the whole accusation on
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its head. Those who separate from
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corruption are the ones preserving the true unity, which
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is faith in Christ alone. They're refusing to submit to a
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false unity that's built on corrupted doctrine and just
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outward appearances that. Really sets the stage for the
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next part of the argument. The foundation must be sound
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doctrine. So now we have to turn to the
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other side, the external arguments that assemblies use to
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claim they're legitimate, no matter how badly they've
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polluted that doctrine. This is what the source is
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called, the vanity of external claims.
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Yes, we're looking now at the standard claims used by
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assemblies like the Roman Church, which our sources
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analyzed pretty closely. They tend to lean on three main
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pillars to assert their authority, antiquity, unbroken
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succession of leaders, and outward appearances.
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You know, fancy temples, elaborate ceremonies.
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Let's tackle the biggest one first, the one that was
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historically so powerful, unbroken succession.
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The claim that there's a line of bishops going from the apostles
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right down to the present day. That seems like it would be a
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very compelling argument, like historical proof that they're
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the original church. And this is where the sources
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offer a very sharp, very necessary critique.
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That physical succession is declared to be utterly vain,
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completely worthless, unless the descendants in that line also
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conserve, safe and uncorrupted the truth of Christ and abide in
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it. The lineage of the person means
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nothing if the teaching has been corrupted.
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So it's most absurd, as the material states, to put the
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succession in persons alone and exclude the teaching.
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It's about conserving the truth. If the truth gets lost, the line
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is broken, even if the names on the list continue without any
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gaps. Just think about it with a
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different analogy. If a king inherits the throne,
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but the first thing he does is burn the constitution and start
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oppressing his people, does he still have the legitimate
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authority of the ground? The sources would argue no,
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because the authority of the office is tied to upholding the
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established law, not just to the bloodline.
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And the sources use a powerful historical example to really
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drive this point home. The assembly under Caiaphas, the
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one that condemned Christ. That wicked assembly had a
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perfect, unbroken physical succession all the way back to
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Aaron, the very first high priest established by God.
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Exactly. The fact that the High
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Priesthood continued through Aaron's lineage meant nothing
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because they had degenerated from their origin.
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By the time you get to Caiaphas, they had rejected the very
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Messiah their entire system was supposed to point to, so they
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were deprived of all honor. They didn't deserve the name
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church, even though they were the ones holding the physical
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keys to the temple and all the administrative authority.
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The office was externally intact, but spiritually it was
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vacant. That analogy is just perfect.
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It shows the office isn't preserved just by one person
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following another. It has to include an
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uninterrupted handing down to the doctrine.
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And This is why we need to look at how the early Church Fathers
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properly use this argument of succession.
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This is a really crucial clarification in the material.
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It explains that when early figures like Irenaeus or
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Tertullian or Augustine appeal to succession, they only did it
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when it was uncontroversial that no change in doctrine had
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happened from the apostles time down to their own day.
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So they weren't using it as some kind of inherited right to
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authority, no matter what they taught.
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They were using it as a guardrail against new errors.
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If someone popped up in the 3rd century with a brand new idea,
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the church fathers could point back and say, hold on, show us
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where this doctrine was taught by the men who came right after
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the apostles. You can't, so this must be a new
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error. It was historical proof of
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doctrinal continuity, not just a list of names.
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The moment the teaching changes, the succession breaks.
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Even if the list of names continues.
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Once the doctrine of salvation is altered, once the voice of
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the shepherd is replaced by the stranger's voice, that
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succession loses all legitimate weight.
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So the big take away here is that succession is ministerial.
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It's tied to faithful teaching. It's not hereditary, tied to a
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personal lineage. Absolutely.
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Now, what about the second external claim, the reliance on
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outward appearances? This is the boasting about
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magnificent temples, elaborate ceremonies, the physical
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splendor of the whole operation. The sources draw a Direct Line
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from this. To the Jews who are so severely
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rebuked by the prophet Jeremiah, this kind of boasting is
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ancient. The Roman assembly boasts of its
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physical structures and its rituals, and it mirrors the Jews
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who kept proclaiming this is the Temple of the Lord, the temple
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of the Lord, which Jeremiah condemned as lying words.
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The lesson is very direct. God is not bound to physical
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places or to certain persons or to external rights.
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He doesn't just automatically stay among people who only have
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the title or the appearance of a church.
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The sources argue that the glory of the church, it's true
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splendor, is spiritual. It resides in its pure doctrine
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and practice. That makes perfect sense,
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because if Christ reigns by his word alone, than to imagine his
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Kingdom existing apart from his scepter, his most holy word, is
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to rely entirely on those lying words.
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You're basically imagining a Kingdom where the king doesn't
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actually rule. And that takes us to the final
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critique of this externalism, the argument of antiquity and
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outward profession, which the sources dismantle using the Old
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Testament figure of Ishmael. Ah yes, this analogy from Paul's
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letter to the Galatians. It's so effective for taking
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aboard the argument that just being first or oldest somehow
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grants you authority. It really shows the
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insufficiency of a historical pedigree.
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Ishmael had the clear outward profession.
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He received circumcision, the mark of the covenant.
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He had antiquity, he was the first born son of Abraham, and
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yet because he was not the son of the promise, he was still
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repudiated. He was ultimately cast out,
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considered a slave, despite having all the external
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privileges of birthright and ritual.
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And the implication of that is just staggering for this debate.
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Assemblies that rely only on their outward profession, like
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baptism, are just using the title Christian are categorized
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as bastards in the source material, even if they boast of
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being children of God by descent.
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True authority, then, doesn't rest on being the first born.
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It rests on being born of the pure and lawful seed of
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doctrine. Doctrine, the spiritual reality
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of the Word, always Trump's all the external, historical or
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ritual claims. At the end of the day, those
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external claims are vain because they don't have the necessary
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spiritual life that comes from the Shepherd's voice.
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OK, so if the false church's claims are vain because they
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lack this necessary doctrine, we have to move on to the severity
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of that corruption, doctrinal ruin?
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What? The source is called the mortal
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death of the church. When that foundation is removed,
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what is the actual consequence? The consequence is nothing less
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than spiritual death, and the sources use some extremely
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vivid, almost a visceral language to describe it.
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This isn't just a slight illness or a temporary slump.
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It's like into a fatal physical injury.
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The church's life is ended, just as a man's life is ended when
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his throat is pierced or his heart mortally wounded.
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That level of intensity means we really have to understand what
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counts as a mortal wound to the church.
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The material lays out three fatal causes that signal a
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complete end of life. The first one, and the most
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obvious, is when falsehood breaks into the citadel of
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religion. Since the true church is defined
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as the pillar of truth, if that main fortress is overrun by
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error, especially error about salvation, it's whole reason for
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being just collapses. The second is the destruction of
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that central structure. The sum of necessary doctrine is
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overturned, as we've already established.
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This is centrally about the teaching, that we must entrust
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our salvation to Christ alone, apart from any human works or
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merit. If that core teaching is buried
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and driven out, the forces are clear.
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The building of the church must fall down.
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And the third fatal cause has to do with the means of grace, the
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things intended to nourish the Church.
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The use of the sacraments is destroyed.
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And this happens not when there's some slight disagreement
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over how to administer them, but when errors are introduced that
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abolish or throw down the lawful institution of the author.
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So when the means of grace are corrupted so badly that they no
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longer represent what the author set up, they stop sustaining
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life. They become, in fact,
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instruments of death. And the spiritual death is tied
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directly to the destruction of the ministry itself.
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And here the sources use one of their most powerful anatomical
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metaphors. They define the ministry of the
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Word as the Church's chief sinew.
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Indeed, it's very soul. OK, we need to pause on that
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sinew metaphor. A sinew connects muscle to bone.
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It provides the tension and direction for all movement.
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So if the sinew is the word, what happens when it's severed?
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If the ministry of the Word, which is the way the Shepherd's
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voice is regularly and systematically heard, is
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destroyed, the whole body loses its cohesion, its movement, its
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spiritual life. When that pure light is
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extinguished or choked out by a perverse government compounded
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of lies, the Church just becomes a corpse, no matter how good it
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looks on the outside. And when that chief sinew is
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destroyed, the result is horrific.
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The public assemblies stop being places of worship and
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instruction. They become, in the language of
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the sources, schools of idolatry and ungodliness, and are even
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labeled a wicked conspiracy against God.
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And we see this play out in the corruption of the sacraments.
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The sources point to a specific and crucial corruption of the
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Lord's Supper. They argue that the foulest
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sacrilege has been introduced in place of the Lord's Supper.
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They're referring, obviously, to the Mass, which they argue
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overturned Christ's lawful institution by bringing in the
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idea of a perpetually repeated sacrifice and demanding that
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worship adoration be given to the physical elements
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themselves. Exactly when their chief bond of
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communion, which should point to the one finished sacrifice of
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Christ, is turned into something that actually denies the
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sufficiency of that sacrifice by making it dependent on a priest
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or claiming it's a perpetual propitiation for the living and
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the dead, it is abominated as the greatest sacrilege.
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When the law institution of the author is destroyed like that,
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it's a fatal injury. It seals the death of the
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assembly's lawful form. The implications of this are
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just so severe. If the assembly has died because
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it's heart, the necessary doctrine, and its soul, the word
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ministry, have been mortally wounded, this has to lead to the
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critical and often very contentious topic of justified
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separation. How can believers withdraw
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without being guilty of schism? The material tackles that charge
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of schism head on. It argues that separation is not
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only justified, it's required. It's required because the
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corrupted assemblies could in no way bear the pure profession of
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truth. To continue in communion would
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require deadly participation in misdeeds, idolatry and
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ungodliness. The necessity here is
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theological purity if a body demands that you participate in
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what you know to be spiritual poison.
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Then separating is an act of preserving life, not an act of
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causing division. And this necessity is defended
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by drawing a comparison to the Old Testament prophets.
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They routinely had to depart from assemblies that had become
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nothing but a wicked conspiracy against God.
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Just think of the Kingdom of Israel under Jeroboam.
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Jeroboam Sin was setting up counterfeit worship, the golden
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calves, and that contaminated the entire Kingdom and replaced
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true worship. The Godly's were forced to flee
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Samaria and depart from those assemblies that no longer
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followed God's word. They weren't the schismatics,
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Jeroboam was. The contamination requires a
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physical and spiritual withdrawal.
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Believers must not follow headlong if the communion
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degenerates into profane and corrupted rights.
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The communion of the church was set up by God to hold believers
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in the fear of God and obedience to truth, not to trap them in
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idolatry and false teaching. On top of that, the material
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also argues that the corrupted church often expelled those who
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wanted a pure profession of truth anyway, So the charge of
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schism is hollow when the proponents of true doctrine were
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already cast out. Just like Christ told his
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apostles they'd be cast out of the synagogue's they're
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withdrawing from a body that already severed them.
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But this severity, this declaration of mortal death and
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the necessary separation, it has to be balanced by God's ongoing
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faithfulness. The sources are very careful to
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acknowledge a subtle but vital point.
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Even in the midst of this destruction, vestiges of the
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Church remain in the assemblies under the Roman Pontiff, even
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while they classify him as the leader of a wicked and
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abominable Kingdom. Now that requires some serious
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theological nuance. How can vestiges of the true
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church remain in a body that's been declared mortally wounded
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and is led by the Antichrist? This is a crucial distinction.
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The Church didn't die to the very foundations.
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These remnants exist not because of the assembly's integrity, but
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because of God's own Providence and his constant goodness.
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The covenant itself rests on God's strength and his promises,
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not on human faithfulness or the sanctity of a corrupted group.
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And the primary, undeniable mark of that survival is the mark of
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baptism. Why is baptism held up as a
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vestige? Because the Lord maintained
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baptism there as a witness to God's covenant, the ceremony
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itself was consecrated by God's own mouth and its validity.
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The promise attached to it retains its force despite the
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impiety of the men administering it or the corruption around it.
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The sources compare this to circumcision among the Jews,
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which kept its force even when it was being profaned by unclean
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hands during times of deep apostasy.
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So even if the assembly has destroyed the ministry of the
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Word and corrupted the Supper, the physical sign of entrance
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into the covenant baptism still testifies to God's historical
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goodness and His promise, not to the current health of that
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institution. Absolutely.
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Other vestiges are compared to the foundations and ruins of a
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pulled down building. God's Providence did not allow
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his church to be destroyed. To the very foundations by
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Antichrist. The name of Christ is still
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invoked. The gospel is still quoted, even
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if it's then immediately twisted.
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This confirms the God's Providence wonderfully preserves
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a remnant of His people, however woefully dispersed and scattered
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they might be inside those assemblies, even if those
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assemblies are otherwise condemned.
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But, and this is the key clarification, these remnants,
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whether it's baptism or the scattered Saints or the ruins of
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truth, they do not grant the corrupted body the lawful form
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of the Church. The Roman congregations retain
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certain elements of God's grace, but they lack the lawful
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constitution needed to claim the title of the true church.
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They're like a foundation without a roof or or a corpse
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that still has some lingering warmth.
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The vestiges exist because their effectiveness can't be destroyed
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by the devil's schemes or human depravity.
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They testify to God's unbreakable covenant, but the
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body itself has lost his vital signs, the ministry of the Word
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and the doctrine of salvation in Christ alone, and so it lacks
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the structure and soul of the true assembly.
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Right. The existence of a preserved
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remnant ensures that God's covenant never fails, but it
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does not mean you have to stay in union with a body that is
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actively destroying the truth. The separation is therefore
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necessary to join a body that possesses the Word and
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sacraments in their rightful, uncorrupted form.
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That brings us to our conclusion then, having to find the true
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church by the sound of its voice and the integrity of its
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foundation, and having rejected all the empty boasts of external
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glory. To sum up the whole
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investigation, the perpetual token for distinguishing the
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true Church is finding where the ministry of the Word and
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sacraments remain whole and uncorrupted.
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This requires an agreement and sound doctrine, a unity of faith
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which has to come before and establish the conditions for any
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real brotherly love. So the key contrast remains
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completely clear. The true Church is defined by
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hearing Christ's voice, the Word which acts as its chief sinew
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and its soul, guiding its life and its movement.
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The false Church is defined by boasting in outward forms,
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succession, temples, ceremonies, all while destroying the
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singular doctrine of salvation in Christ alone, which results
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in mortal spiritual death and makes separation necessary.
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So if the true church's life is compared to a body that depends
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on its chief sinew, the ministry of the Word for all its movement
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and sustenance, then you have to always consider where that sinew
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is most actively supporting life.
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Where is the Word not only present, but where is it acting
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as the true soul of the gathering?
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Where is it providing life and direction and defining all other
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practice? What specific evidence can you
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point to in your own assembly that shows the word is not only
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there, but is acting as the true soul of the gathering?
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That's a question worth carrying with you as you reflect on what
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we've talked about today. Thank you for joining us for
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this deep dive into reformed thinking.
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Until next time.