The Power of "Especially"

The Ordained Men, Means, and Method, by Brad Isbell

The wonderful Preface to the Presbyterian Church in America’s Book of Church Order is an overlooked masterpiece of piety and practice—an especially helpful resource:

Christ, as King, has given to His Church officers, oracles and ordinances; and especially has He ordained therein His system of doctrine, government, discipline and worship, all of which are either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary inference may be deduced therefrom; and to which things He commands that nothing be added, and that from them naught be taken away.
- Section I, The King and Head of the Church

These words provide remarkable encouragement for both church members and officers, and they place a considerable responsibility on those ordained men who lead and care for the church. In this foundational paragraph, we learn that the ascended Christ (Eph. 4:8), the reigning king, has provided the church with the men, the means, and the method for accomplishing her mission.

• The men are (for the first-century church) “the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists,” and (for the church since) those who hold the continuing office of elder—“the shepherds and teachers.”¹ (Eph. 4:11)

• The means² are given by the Holy Spirit through the “the apostles (and) the prophets”—the oracles of God which are the inspired Holy Scriptures, the authoritative Word objectively existing, perfect and eternal.

• The method is the employment of the ordinances—the divinely-ordained delivery system of grace and truth, including “the reading, but especially the preaching, of the Word”³ and the administration of the sacraments. It is worth noting that these are uniquely of the church and occur primarily (and best) in the church’s public worship on the Lord’s Day.

This is encouraging for church members because it means all necessary provision has been made for their souls in the ministrations of the church. It is good news, as 19th-century presbyterian Stuart Robinson understood when he titled his great book “The Church of God as an Essential Element of the Gospel.”

By Barabbas1312 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75091082

This is good news for church officers, too, who are not left to their own devices, creativity, or whims in ordering and caring for the church. Christ has “ordained..his system of doctrine, government, discipline and worship.” All of these good things (and how to use them) are “either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary inference may be deduced therefrom.” From the means the men learn the method; from the oracles the officers learn the ordinances. The method and the means sweetly agree. Indeed they are inseparable, as medium and message almost always are.

Of course, church members have responsibilities, which include regularly availing themselves of the ministry of word and sacrament and submitting themselves to the discipline of the church. Much greater are the responsibilities of the church officers who are subject to the command “that nothing be added, and…naught be taken away” from the “system of doctrine, government, discipline and worship” set forth in the scriptures. Look how closely the word and the church’s work and structure are associated! Maybe Robinson’s book title was not an overstatement after all. And notice what a strong statement this is, echoing Rev. 22:19. Do PCA elders really believe the scriptures are this clear concerning our “system of doctrine, government, discipline and worship”?

This little paragraph from the BCO preface has huge practical implications of contemporary relevance for PCA church sessions.

• If the men, the means, and the method are so closely connected it would seem that the men ought to lead worship in all its biblical parts. Gifted men ought to deliver the Lord’s gifts in the God-ordained way.

• If the means (the Word) is essential and if its blessings come to the people primarily through the public worship services of the church (especially the preaching) then sufficient time ought to be devoted to these services. The most efficient way to deliver more of the Word to the people is by having more (rather than less) corporate worship. This implies the wisdom of having more than one service of 60 to 90 minutes during one portion of the Lord’s Day. Morning and evening services⁴ in particular have the additional (but not accidental) virtue of helping God’s people devote the whole day to “holy resting” which is to engage in “public and private exercises of God’s worship.” (Larger Catechism 117)

• If there is a proper, scripture-ordained method of worshiping then we might expect greater uniformity of worship among churches that are connected by a common order and confession than is now seen. Shoring up the Directory for Worship by giving all of it constitutional status could strengthen doxological unity in the PCA.

• And finally, if even the government of the church is divinely ordained and discernible from the scripture the doctrines of office and ordination ought to be uniform, appreciated, and agreed upon. Recent developments may lead to greater faithfulness regarding office and officers.⁵

These things matter because God’s people matter. The church is the divinely ordained feeding hall, nursery, and hospital for the people of God. To live, grow, and be healed the people of Christ’s church must use the means God provides, applied in the way he prescribes through the ministrations of his ordained servants. Then God’s people will grow in grace and sanctification, ministering to each other⁶ and the world by means of (and according to) the truth.

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. - John 17:17

1. The PCA has two offices, elder (of which there are two classes, ruling and teaching) and deacon. The ministry of the deacons is encompassed by “His system of…government…expressly set down in Scripture.”

2. I am using means differently than the commonly used “ordinary means of grace” which is more or less synonymous with the ordinances: word, prayer, sacraments and is reflective of Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A 88.

3. Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A 89

4. At some point, basic math comes into play. Is the church not better served by 104 sermons than by 52?

5. The PCA General Assembly ratified and amendment to the BCO in June which would restrict ecclesial titles to ordained men.

6. Christian fellowship and the communion of the saints is of utmost importance, but these things follow fellowship in the word and worship.