Topic: C)
THE CHURCH
No 1
(Its origin and First Mentioned)
The Church of Jesus Christ was first
mentioned in Matthew 16:18 when Jesus said to Peter: "That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church;
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." The "rock"
that Jesus mentioned is the words that He had just said: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God"
(vs16). Jesus Christ is the corner stone
and the head of His Church; we are the members.
No 2
(The Metaphors)
In the New Testament, there are seven metaphors used to describe
the Church. Three of these are also used
in the Old Testament to refer to
No 3
(Unity of the Body)
The human body is an absolute marvel; the masterpiece of our
loving heavenly Father and its main carateristic is that none of its members
can function alone. If a surgeon says, "my hand is so gifted, I willcut it off
and send it to
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians
The Body of Christ (the Church) is one; let me ask you a
question: Is the Church one? No
way!! So God made a mistake or
what? God made no mistake whatsoever; He
knew exactly what the Church would do and that there would be disputes amongst
its members.
Jesus said in Matthew
There are disputes?
There is strife? There are divisions? No problem, God will build His Church in
spite of the non-functioning members.
One day, the true believers will be in heaven with Him for eternity!!
Praise the Lord!!
No 4
(Diversity of the Body)
In our last study on the Church, we saw that the Lord used the
allegory of the human body to compare it to the Church. We said that without unity, the human body
would die; so as would the Church (it wouldn't die, but it would be crippled). Let us now look at the diversity of the
Body.
We all know the familiar passage in 1 Corinthians
No 5
(Harmony of the Body)
In our studies on the Church, we have seen how unity and
diversity are caracteristics of the Body of Christ. Unity in that all believers are one with
Christ and diversity in that the members have varying gifts.
Harmony is when these gifts and gifted people work together to
build up and edify the Church for the glory of God. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians
In other words, a pretty face in nice but an ugly liver is
essential. The concept of harmony in the Body of Christ cannot happen without
humility and respect of other members.
The Body of Christ has unity, diversity and harmony; not in any specific
denomination or organization but in the Body as a whole with Christ as the
Head.
In future studies we will see, in detail the gifts of the body,
the gifted members of the body, the witness of the body and many others.
No 6
(The witness of the Body)
In our studies of the Church, the body of Christ we have seen
that all true believers are in the body and, in the area of Christian witness,
this is also applicable. The Lord calls
on all believers to be His witnesses to the unsaved world and to tell the story
of Jesus (Matthew 28 :19, 20). In a
court room when a witness takes the stand, he or she is generally asked the
following questions : what did you see or what did you
hear?. In other words, to be witness, a
person must have had experienced first-hand knowledge of the situation. The same applies to Christian witness. Anyone who says they are Christian, must have
experienced Jesus Christ personally to be a witness. The Bible says in John
15 :26, 27 that individual Christian witness is through the Spirit; of
Jesus Christ; from the Father; and to the world. So you say, wow! All this witnessing going on and where are we
in all this? Where does the Spirit
abide? In us! Therefore, Christian witness is by individual
believers and by the entire Body to the world.
The Bible text that best helps us understand this concept of
witness is in John
No 7
(Its gifted men)
When the Lord gave the 11 Apostles the
commission to « go and teach all
nations » in Matthew 28 :19, He knew very well that as a group on
that day on the top of a mountain in Galilee, that they were totally incapable
of performing the task that He was asking them to do. They also knew that, so what were they to
do? Start forming evangelism
committees? Putting people in a
door-to-door ministry? No!! They went together and prayed because the
Lord said : « But ye shall
receive power from the Holy Ghost » (Acts 1 :8). When the Holy Spirit descended upon the
Apostles on the day of Pentecost, they received gifts and were thus able to
boldly and unequivocally preach the Gospel.
They became gifted men and
eloquent preachers without any formal theological training; except for Paul who
studied at the feet of Gameliel.
The Body of Christ today, has
these gifted men that do the Lord’s work just as they did in the early Church.
These men are used by Christ to perform duties that are required to build His
Church. But who are these men?
They are described in Ephesians
No 8
(Gifts of the Body – an overview)
The Lord has given gifts to His Body (the Church) to continue
the work that He started to do when He was on the earth. God has designed a way
to continue Jesus Christ’s work by bestowing spiritual gifts on each and every
member of Christ’s Spiritual Body so that everyone has a specific function. All these gifts were perfected in Christ; He
had them all and the Holy Spirit is the bestower of these gifts. This is
confirmed in 1 Corinthians
No 9
(Permanent gifts of the Body)
As we have already seen, the Holy Spirit
bestows gifts on believers; these gifts must be brought forth or put into
practice if the Body of Christ is to be built up. “For
the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of
the body of Christ” (Eph
Here is the list of the permanent
edifying gifts :
q
PROPHESY (telling forth) This is preaching the
word as in a sermon and it is not be confused with the office of a prophet (Eph
4 :11). This gift is generally
bestowed on preachers but this does not necessarily mean that it has to be in
front of a crowd; it could be preaching to one person or a group of 5000 and
anything in between.
q
TEACHING
This is when a person takes a Bible text and exposes it to a group of
persons or to one person. The idea here
is to sit down and study Scripture.
James 3 :1 says that teachers :“shall receive the greater condemnation”.
q
FAITH
This gift could very well be called the gift of prayer. George Mueller had the gift of faith and each
believer has faith because : “Without
faith it is impossible to please Him” (Heb 11 :6)
q
WISDOM
This is the application of spiritual truth to real life situations. A person does not necessarily have to be old
to be wise; wisdom comes from applying the Bible to our lives.
q
KNOWLEDGE
This is academic facts such as research and it is not according to one’s
IQ. Spiritual truth is found by
meditation and by study of Scripture.
q
DISCERNING OF SPIRITS This is the ability to uncover evil spirits
in individuals. There are good examples
of this in Mark 8 :33 – Jesus rebukes Satan in Peter and, later on, Peter
does the same in Acts 5 :3, 8 – Ananias & Sapphira. A person can discern evil spirits; I
personally know of two people who have this gift.
q
SHOWING MERCY This is simply doing acts of loving kindness to others. Giving a glass of cold water to a thirsty
traveller is like as if it was given to Jesus. Matt 25 :40 – “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the
least of these, ye have done unto Me”.
q
EXHORTATION This is when someone sits alongside someone
else giving encouragement and words of comfort and counselling. A good definition of exhortation is to
stimulate the faith of others.
q
GIVING
This a material ministry : food, clothing, etc because “God loveth a cheerful giver” 2 Cor
9 :7, 8.
q
RULING This has to do with administration and authority. 1 Timothy 5 : 17 says“Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour,
especially they who labour in the word and doctrine”.
q
MINISTRY OR HELPS This is a service or helping ministry. Deacons are called to perform this ministry;
this does not stop someone who wants to help but does not have the title of
deacon. Everyone can help.
In each gift, there are those who have
the specific gift and there is a sense in which all believers have each gift,
but to varying degrees. Scripture
passages for the gifts are: Romans 12: 6 – 9;
1 Corinthians 12 :8 - 10 and Ephesians 4.
No 10
(The temporary sign gifts)
q
MIRACLES In the Bible there are four periods
of miracles and, in each case, it was always to confirm God’s Word and it was
always directed towards unbelievers.
These periods were during the lives of : a) Moses; b) Elijah/Elisha; c)
Jesus; d) Paul (the early
Church). Miracles still go on today –
God can perform miracles, He is a God of miracles but they are not because a
person has the gift of miracles; this gift ceased after the early church.
q
HEALING
Today, this gift has also ceased.
Healing still goes on today; we hear of it everywhere but it is in
response to the prayer of faith and not someone’s gift. If the gift of healing still exists today,
why aren’t those who have it in hospitals, healing the sick? James, the brother of Jesus says in his
epistle in chapter 5 : 14 “Is any sick
among you? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him
anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord”.
q
TONGUES AND INTERPRETATION OF TONGUES Again, these gifts have ceased for the same
reasons as miracles. In the Bible, all
instances of tongues are all known national languages and it was always to
confirm the Word to unbelievers. There
are four main occurrences of tongues in the book of Acts and each time, it was
to open a new area or region to the Word of God. They are : 1) Acts 2 : 6 - 13
right after the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles in Jerusalem. 2) Acts 8 : 15 in Samaria
although tongues are not specifically mentioned here, the Samaritans needed to
have the same experience as the Jews in Jerusalem. 3) Acts 10 : 46 in Caesarea to
Cornelius, another new area for the Gospel and Peter, after coming from there
said to his fellow Jews : “Forasmuch
then as God gave them the like as He did unto us, who believed unto the Lord
Jesus Christ…then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life”
(Acts 11 : 17, 18). 4) Acts
19 : 6 The last occurrence of tongues is in Ephesus when Paul spoke to Old
Testament believers who had been baptized by John but hadn’t realised that
Christ had come. Paul laid his hands on
them and “the Holy Spirit came on them and they spake with tongues and
prophesied”. Tongues were never
ever intended for believers, and Paul had to straighten out the Corinthians
because they had perverted that gift.
In 1 Corinthians 14 : 22, the Bible says : “Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to
them that believe, but to them that believe not”. Today we see and hear of people with the gift
of tongues; they are in error and have misapplied Scripture sometimes because
of ignorance but also because of a craving for emotional arousing. All through Church history, tongues are never
mentioned and what we hear about in certain churches today began in Van Nuys,
Cal on April 3 1960 at St Mark’s Episcopalian Church. One day, someone published a pamphlet
entitled “Ten Easy Steps to Speaking in Tongues”. In it, the author says that a good way to
begin speaking in tongues is to simulate baby talk and repeating the words “ba,
ba, ba”. That’s very interesting,
because Paul said to the Corinthians in 1 Cor 13 : 11 the
following : “When I was a child, I
spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I
became a man, I put away childish things”
No 11
(Its “raison d’être”)
Believers, in their role as members of
the Body of Christ, have a task to perform vis à vis the unsaved of the
world. Jesus Christ gave the commandment
in Matthew 28 : 19, 20 that we all know so well : “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost; Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:
and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen”. In commanding us to go and teach the world,
Jesus’ intention was to bring mankind back into the relationship that God had
originally made with him; this is the ministry that Jesus gave to all
believers. I am referring to the ministry
of reconciliation. The
dictionary defines the word reconciliation as : “to make friends again or
bringing together again in friendship”.
It’s as if we are to re-establish the communion that God had with man
(Adam & Eve) that was so horribly severed by sin. The Bible text on
reconciliation is so clear that it requires no explanation. This text is in 2 Corinthians 5 : 18 to 21 - “
And all things are of God, who hath
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of
reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto
himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us
the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though
God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to
God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him. May
this text be our raison d’être.
No 12
(Its members and leaders)
God deigns to use imperfect, sinful beings such as us to build
His glorious church. Can you imagine an
absolute perfect and holy being such as our heavenly Father working with us?
Well, that’s exactly what He wants to do and Jesus said just before ascending
to heaven: “lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the world”
(Matt 28 : 20b); isn’t that great? As
members and leaders of the Church, we have responsibilities, are accountable to
one another and God trusts us implicitly.
We have already discussed how the Holy Spirit bestows gifts on us to
minister to the other members of the Body and we have also looked at the “one
anothers” of the Bible. It’s as if God
has let us complete choice in the matters of running His Church and one would
think that He is taking a big chance in doing that. He knows exactly what He is doing because no
matter how badly we do our job, He builds His church in spite of man and his
imperfections : “…the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt
16: 18b). From a human stand point, we
look at the Church today and all we can see is strife, arguing and division but
God sees us differently; He sees us through Jesus and He sees us as
perfect. The other day, someone asked me
the following question : “I wonder if the Church is ready to go to heaven?”;
without hesitating, I answered yes!!
Why? Because we are perfect; if
we are in the Church and I don’t mean the buildings but the Spiritual Church,
we are perfect. To put it simply, if we
are saved, we are His children and will be with Him for eternity. We are either in the Church or we’re not;
there’s no other place to be. “…and
there was no place for them” (Rev 20 :11b)
No 13
(Local church/Spiritual church)
The World Book dictionary defines church
as a building for public Christian worship or religious services. The Bible defines church as people who have
been saved by the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. The word church appears 116 times in the
Bible and it always refers to people, never buildings. This difference seems relatively easy to make
– one is a building and the other is people, but through the centuries, it has
become increasingly difficult to make the distinction. People ask: “Which church is the right
one?”; rightfully so! There are
literally hundreds if not thousands of different “churches”. There is the United Church, the Presbyterian
Church, the Methodist church, the Catholic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) just to name a few. That’s not counting the many different kinds
of Baptist churches. For many people,
the Catholic Church is the only real Christian church in the world and the Pope
is the head. As true born-again
Christians we can easily make the difference but for the rest of the world, it
is confusing. Jesus said: “That they
all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be
one in Us” (John 17:21). I ask you,
if Jesus wants us to be one, who could possibly want us to be divided?….. When Jesus spoke to Peter about how the
people perceived Him, Jesus said the following monumental statement: “And I
say unto thee, that thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18). Jesus knows exactly who is in His Church and
who isn’t. That’s reassuring, isn’t it?
No 14
(The Seven Churches in Revelation)
The Apostle John was banished to the
isle of Patmos because of his testimony of Jesus Christ and heard a voice that
he had not heard for some time. He
heard these words spoken by Jesus: “I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the
last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven
churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos,
and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea”
(Rev 1:11). These seven churches
were real churches at the time and were located in what is modern-day
Turkey. Jesus had something to say to
all of them and as you read the text in Revelation 2 and 3, He commended some
and condemned others. Although the
messages were actually for these 7 churches in Asia Minor at the time, they also
represent the types of churches that have existed through the centuries – the
messages can apply to churches of all ages.
Ephesus – the loveless church; Smyrna – the persecuted
church; Pergamos – the compromising church; Thyatira – the
corrupt church; Sardis – the dead church; Philadelphia – the
faithful church; Laodicea – the lukewarm church.
No 15
(Recognizing a Good Church)
You’re on vacation far from home and you
want to find a good church. So you take
the local phonebook (like I have done) and see which church is best suitable
for you. If you find one that fits your
criteria, fine but if not, you’re only there for one time so make the best of
it. It is a totally different story when
you are looking for a church in your area that you wish to attend on a
permanent basis. How can you recognize a
good church? Before starting, let me say
that you will never find a perfect church but if you do, it will become
imperfect because your of your presence there (a joke). A good church must have strong beliefs and
sound teaching in the following areas:
1) Bibliology – The church must believe that the
Bible is the inspired Word of God and that it is infallible and without
contradiction.
2) Theology – The church must preach about who and
how God is. It must preach not only about His love, His mercy and His grace but
also about His holiness, His justice and His power.
3) Christology – The church must believe in the
humanity and the deity of the person of Jesus Christ; it must also believe in
the virgin birth.
4) Soteriology – The church must have a correct understanding
about salvation in that it is by grace through faith in Christ alone.
The church must have strong emphasis on evangelism and missions.
5) Pneumatology – the church must correctly view The
Holy Spirit. In some churches the main concern is the Holy Spirit and nothing
else counts; whereas in other churches, He is the “neglected one”. The
role of the Holy Spirit is vital to the health of the church. Indwelt believers
will care for one another and will exercise brotherly love to all.
6) Ecclesiology – A good church must be correct in its
understanding of itself in that it will preach about the invisible church
(Christ’s body and spouse) and the local church (where we sit to hear the Word
of God).
7) Eschatology – Over the years, I have come to
realize that not everyone in the evangelical church agree on end times; this
must never become occasions for division and strife. The most monumental event
in world history was the birth of Jesus Christ at His first coming. The Second Coming of Christ will be an event
that will be welcomed by some and feared by others.
One last note on how to recognize a good
church is that it will not only preach about heaven but will also warn
unbelievers about the fires of hell.
Jesus was the one who spoke mostly about hell. “And I say unto you my friends, Be not
afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can
do. But I will forewarn you whom ye
shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell;
yea, I say unto you, Fear him” (Luke 12 : 4, 5).
No 16
(The Ordinances of the Church)
The Lord Jesus Christ gave two
ordinances to His Church: The Lord’s Table and Baptism by immersion. In both cases, they are symbolical of a
higher spiritual commitment in the heart of the believer.
The Lord’s Table was instituted by Jesus Christ during a Jewish celebration of the
Passover just hours before He was to be crucified. The Bible says in Matt 26: 26-28 “And as they were eating, Jesus took
bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said,
Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it
to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament,
which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” It is of the utmost importance that we attend
every communion service for two very good reasons. The communion service reminds us of our
sinfulness and it also reminds us of what price Jesus had to pay to redeem us
from eternal damnation. Have you ever had a communion service at home? Try it sometimes; it helps to keep us alert
to sin in our homes.
Baptism was not a new
concept for the people living in Jesus’ day because Judaism also has a baptism
ritual for new proselytes. So Imagine
the Jews’ reaction when John the Baptist said “… I indeed baptize you with
water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not
worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:” (Luke 3:16).
After hearing that, the Jews undoubtedly said to themselves “why
should we be baptized, aren’t we are already God’s children?” As we know, Baptism is a public declaration
of what has already been a reality in our hearts which is why Jesus gave the
grand commission to His Disciples in Matthew 28:19, 20 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:
and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Along
with Baptism is a practical application of God’s Word to our lives – “…teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:”
No 17
(Discipline in the Church)
Church discipline is not well understood
and not well received because it means applying God’s Word to a situation where
someone has disobeyed God’s law and correction is necessary. The Bible says in Matthew 18, “15
Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault
between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy
brother. 16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with
thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word
may be established. 17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it
unto the church: but if he neglects to hear the church, let him be unto thee as
an heathen man and a publican.” The
Bible gives a clear mandate on how to treat this difficult matter and Jesus
Christ gave His Church the power to apply it.
There are three potent reasons why Church discipline is necessary: 1) It
is essential for the glory of God and the honour of His name “9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the
praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous
light:” 1 Peter 2:9. Church
discipline is first and foremost to preserve God’s name. 2) It
benefits the individual “4 In
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my
spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 To deliver such a one unto Satan for the
destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the
Lord Jesus.” 1 Cor 5:4, 5. If someone is excluded from the assembly of
believers, this could produce in him or her the desired effect that is,
repentance of bad behaviour. 3) It is exercised to keep the Church pure “Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth
the whole lump?” 1 Cor 5:6b. Unfortunately if sin tolerated in the Church,
it is contagious and must be purged. In
Proverbs 28:13, the Bible says “He that covereth his sins shall not
prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” This
applies to the individual – if we were to deal with our own sin by obeying
God’s Word as we should, church discipline would be unnecessary.
No 18
(Jesus’ attributes
demonstrated in the Church)
When Jesus Christ
was on earth in His role as the son of a carpenter, He showed all manner of
what was good. The Bible says that “….Jesus increased in wisdom and stature,
and in favour with God and man.” (Luke 2:52). Not only was He pleasing to His Father but He
undoubtedly showed much compassion and gained the favour of man. He was the epitome of kindness, meekness,
purity of heart, mercy and many, many other attributes that would be
characteristic of the Son of God; He was also absolutely sinless. He accomplished His earthly ministry during
the last three years of His life and became what His Father wanted Him to be:
the Saviour of mankind. He was and still
is the example of what God wants us
to be as His Church and His body. We
have seen the gifts of the body in other studies and Jesus had them all. Could He preach? Did He show mercy? Was He able to discern sinful behaviour? Did He show faith? Was He wise?
Could He exhort? All these
attributes were perfected in Him and you know what? He wants us to reflect these same attributes
in our lives as members of His Body.
Oh, we will never be as perfect as He was and we will never be sinless
as He was but can certainly do our best to meet the very high standard that was
set by Him. The Lord gave us our
marching orders in the Sermon on the Mount.
It provides, in detail, how the Lord wants us to behave and what we
should do during our ministry on
earth. We are His Body, He is our Head
and the Holy Spirit works through us to accomplish what we are supposed to do
as members of His body. The Bible sums
it all up in two verses of Scripture: “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” (Romans 12:18) and
“By this shall all men know that
ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:35).
No 19
(Does the Church Fulfill Israel’s
Program?)
Many volumes have been written in answer
to this question because there are two very distinct possible answers and
students of Scripture have had to choose between them. They are:
1) God’s program for Israel is fulfilled in the Church. The Old Testament is
reinterpreted by the New Testament and the prophesies for Israel in the Old
Testament must not be taken literally but applied to the Church. God made
specific promises to Abraham in Genesis 12: 1-3
“1 Now the LORD said to Abram, Go
forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you; 2 And
I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing; 3 And I
will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in
you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” Abraham’s descendants include Jews,
Christians and Moslems; therefore, there is no distinction between Israel and
the Church; both are recipients of God’s salvation by grace. Prophesies for an earthly kingdom must not be
taken literally; the kingdom is in heaven.
2) God has two different programs – one for Israel and one for the
Church The Church is not mentioned
in the Old Testament (a mystery – Ephesians 5:42) and it is not a nation but
rather an open fellowship of people who believe that Jesus is the Messiah. A
sharp distinction must be made between the descendants of Abraham in general
and the descendants of Isaac (Jacob – Jews and Esau – gentiles). The Church was created to be the channel of
God’s grace since Israel failed miserably to do this. However, God has not
forgotten His people and will bring them back to the land one day. Romans 11: 25, 26 says “25 or
I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye
should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to
Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. 26 And
so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion
the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:”
The LORD knows His agenda – may we be
faithful in proclaiming His name to the lost, including the Jews.
No 20
(Ephesus, Smyrna)
In Revelation 2 & 3, Jesus Christ
gave the Apostle John messages to deliver to seven churches that were in Asia
Minor at the time; today, this area is modern Turkey. Sir William Ramsay, the great archaeologist,
discovered that these churches were in a circular postal route. To some
churches, the Lord had commendations and to others He had condemnations. These churches amazingly portray the various
stages of Church history from John’s day to the rapture. The dominant characteristic of each church
parallels the dominant characteristic of each successive Church period. However, they also reflect the fact that
churches in all ages have experienced these same characteristics at one time or
another.
Ephesus “To the angel of the
church in Ephesus write….I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience,
and how thou canst not bear them which are evil…. that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans,
which I also hate….Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.” (Rev 2:1,6,4). The dominant characteristic of this church is
very familiar “You have forsaken your
first love.” It is compared to the Apostolic
Age of the Church from 30 – 100 AD.
This church was doctrinally solid but it had forgotten about Jesus
Christ, every Christian’s “first love”
and they risked losing their “lamp stand”
(ch 2:5) if they did not repent. When a church loses its lamp stand, it loses
its effectiveness to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost; this has
happened to churches all through the ages.
Smyrna “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: I know your afflictions and your poverty ….do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer….. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I
will give you the crown of life.” (ch 2: 8, 9, 10b). This church is in comparison to the Persecuted
Church Age from 100 – 313 AD. In
modern-day Christianity, there are churches in the Third World that are
persecuted to a much greater level than others say for instance, in North
America; persecution is not unknown to churches of all the ages. We will look at the others in later studies.
No 21
(Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardis)
Pergamos. In Revelation 2:12 -17 we read what the Lord
said “I know thy works, and where thou
dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and
hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful
martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine
of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.”
Note the phrase “where thou
dwellest”; they were in a bad neighborhood.
The ruins of ancient Pergamos indicate that there were several temples
to pagan gods such as: Zeus, Athena, and Dionysus. Also this city was the capital of the Asian
part of the Roman Empire. It has been
dubbed the compromising church and it
is compared to the period of the Christian Church when Constantine was emperor
in Rome (306 to 337 AD).
Thyatira. In Revelation 2: 18-29; the Lord said about
this church “I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy
patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first. Notwithstanding I have a few things against
thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a
prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to
eat things sacrificed unto idols”
Its ruins tell us that this city was a centre of well-rganized trade and
commerce; we all know wherever there is commerce and trade, corruption is not
far. It bears the unenviable name of
the corrupt church and is compared to
the period of the Christian Church during the papal apostasy.
Sardis. In Revelation 3:1 – 6, we read “And
unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath
the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast
a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be
watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I
have not found thy works perfect before God.” Only a few of the members of this church were
commended for purity “Thou hast a few
names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk
with me in white: for they are worthy.”
In general terms, extreme formalism characterized this church and
spiritual death was imminent. For that
very reason, it is called the dying
church and is compared to the period of the Christian Church during the
Middle Ages when the Bible went underground.
No 22
(Foolish questions)
“Avoid foolish questions” Titus 3:9a.
These words, although penned a long time ago still are relevant in our
modern age. Our days are few, and are
far better spent in doing good deeds, than in disputing over matters which are,
at best, of minor importance. Down through the centuries, some Christians did a
world of mischief by their incessant discussion of subjects of no practical
importance; and the Church of Jesus Christ suffered much from petty wars over
obscure points and unimportant questions.
I know of a church once who had a needless discussion about the blood of
Jesus Christ on the cross. Some said
that there was no way that the precious blood of the Saviour fell on the
ground, in the mud; the others, of course said the opposite. The membership of the church split because of
an issue that had no significance whatsoever.
After everything has been said that can be said, neither party is any
the wiser, and therefore the discussion no more promotes knowledge than love,
and it is foolish to persue such matters. Questions upon points wherein
Scripture is silent; upon mysteries which belong to God alone; upon prophecies
of doubtful interpretation; and upon mere modes of observing human ceremonials,
are all foolish, and wise men avoid them. Our task is to neither ask nor answer
foolish questions, but to avoid them altogether; and if we observe the Apostle
Paul’s words just before the above verse “This
is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that
those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These
things are good and profitable to men.” (Titus 3:8), we shall find
ourselves far too much occupied with profitable ministry and worthy activities
for our loving heavenly Father.
There are, however, some questions which
are very important and which we must not avoid but fairly and honestly ask
ourselves, such as : Do I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? Am I renewed in the
spirit of my mind? Am I walking not after the flesh, but after the Spirit? Am I
growing in grace? Does my conversation adorn the doctrine of God my Saviour? Am
I looking for the coming of the Lord, and watching as a servant should do who
expects his master? What more can I do for Jesus? Such questions as these
urgently demand our attention; and if we have been at all losing our time with
useless discussions, let us now turn our abilities to a service so much more
profitable. May we be peace-makers, and endeavour to lead others both by our
precept and example so as to “avoid
foolish questions.”
No 23
(Laodicea, Philadelphia)
As a refresher, we have seen the
following churches so far: Ephesus“The Apostolic Church”; Smyrna “The Persecuted Church”; Permagos
“The Bad Neighbourhood Church”; Thyatira “The Corrupt Church”; Sardis
“The Dying Church”. Of course, all these designations are not in
the Bible; they simply correspond to the Spiritual Church of the Lord over the
centuries. We now come to the last two: “The
Missionary Church”, Philadelphia
and the “The Apostate Church”, Laodicea.
Philadelphia The Bible says: “I know thy works: behold, I have set before
thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and
hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.” Rev 3:8. There is an actual church in Philadelphia
today that bears the name “The Church of
the Open Door”. The ruins of this
city tell us that it was built at the junction of three ancient countries and
was intended to be a centre for spreading the Greek language and culture;
another interesting point is that there were many earthquakes that occurred in
that city. So, it could be said that as
an ancient city that was built to spread a culture that was shakeable, the
church in that city was built to extend another kingdom that was
unshakable. “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and
maker is God.” Heb 11:10).
Laodicea “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have
need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and
poor, and blind, and naked:” Rev
3:17. What can you say to a rich church
that is spiritually poor? Its history
tells about how it survived earthquakes and was able to rebuild itself without
the help of Rome at the time; this maybe acceptable under worldly standards but
under heavenly standards, this church did not meet the mark. Many commentators have said over the
centuries that the members of this church were not Christians; they were
unfaithful but were not faithless. The
text indicates that they were members of the body of Christ; they were carnal
members but members nonetheless. In the
context of the Spiritual Church, both these churches correspond to the same
period; the one we are now in. Philadelphia began with the Reformation and
Laodicea began during modern times We
need not look very far to see both types of churches in our present age. Thank God that He knows which is the true
Church, because at a horizontal vantage point, it is impossible to differentiate.
No 24
(Is the Church Ready To Be Raptured?)
Some would say without hesitating, no it
is not ready, just look at the shape
it’s in! There’s a little group over
here and a larger group over there; some dislike this group but love the other
group and it goes on and on. But do
know what? If you are a mature believer
and trust in the sovereignty of God, your answer should be a firm yes, the Church is ready. Oh, it is not ready because of what its
members have accomplished or that there is a revival in such and such a
place. It is ready because God is in
control and He alone knows who is in
the Church and when the Church will
ready to be raptured!
Jesus said “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:37. He also said: “And I
say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my
church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18. The Lord is in control and although there may
be differences of opinion of what will transpire after the rapture of the
Church, one thing remains absolutely certain:
“I go to prepare a place for
you. And if I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come again, and
receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:3
AMEN???
No 25
(The Candlestick)
When the Lord was on the earth He said, “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I
am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but
shall have the light of life.” John
8:12. But now that Jesus is at the right
hand of God and we are in the world,
aren’t we supposed to be His body? So if
we are His body, we are now the light
of the world. “Ye are the light of the
world” Matt 5:14a. We are the light
of the world as individuals and collectively as members of His body.
When Jesus gave instructions to the
Apostle John in Revelation 2 and 3 to the 7 churches in Asia, He mentioned the
following concerning the church in Ephesus
“Nevertheless I have somewhat against
thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence
thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto
thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou
repent.” Rev 2:4, 5. Somehow this church had been so tied up in
its churchianity, that it had forgotten its raison d’être – its first love or, in other words, spreading
the Gospel. In lay man’s terms, the
definition of “having a candlestick
removed” is that a church that no longer spreads the Gospel, Jesus simply
does not use it any more for His precious work.
Our churches are the Saviour’s golden
candelabra and if we are to be lights in this dark world, we must have much
holy oil. Let us pray for ourselves,
our ministers and our churches that we may never lack oil for the light. Truth, holiness, joy, peace, knowledge and
love are all beams of the sacred light but we cannot give them forth unless in
private we receive oil from the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the source of our oil and the more space we allow Him
in our lives, the more oil we will make available to those who are in our
entourage. In other words, it is our
duty to be the light of the world in bringing the Gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ to those who desperately need it; they may not know that they
desperately need it, but nonetheless, they need
it.
No 26
(Revival)
Most Christians will agree that the
Church is in need of a revival because we see so many signs of coldness and
lethargy in our churches. Revival is a
special season of refreshing when many believers simultaneously experience a
deep conviction of sin brought on by the Holy Spirit. The Bible has no formula for a revival and
even though there have been great spiritual awakenings from time to time, they
have not come in fulfilment of any promise in Scripture; in fact the word
revival is not even in the New Testament.
However, revivals are a historical
reality but they are not a Biblical certainty.
In other words, there is no special formula or procedure which, if
adhered to, will produce or guarantee a revival. Revivals are divinely appointed and may occur
at the time of His own choosing; granted they may come in response to the
faithful prayers of the saints, but the Lord cannot be forced to send revival by
anything that we might do.
I believe that revival begins in our own
hearts if we are willing to make an honest confession of sin by letting the
Holy Spirit accomplish His work in us “If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9). The meaning of the word revival implies
that someone is sleeping and needs to be awakened; the person is not dead, just
asleep. In Revelation 2:4, we saw that the
church in Ephesus had forgotten its first
love; it needed to be revived.
God, in His sovereignty, may send a
revival to our church, to our community or even to the whole country; praise
the Lord. But if He doesn’t, may we be
certain that as individuals, we have carried out His will for our lives by
obeying His Word. Rather that waiting
for some spectacular moving of the Holy Spirit upon the Church at large, may we
be right with God right now!!
No 27
(God sees it as Perfect)
“….perfect in
Christ Jesus.” (Col 1:28)
We feel, in our own soul, that perfection is not in us. Every tear which comes from our eye speaks
imperfection and every harsh word which proceeds from our lips murmurs
imperfection. We have too frequently
had a view of our own heart to dream of a moment of any perfection in
ourselves. But amidst this sad
consciousness of imperfection, there is comfort for us because we are “perfect in Christ Jesus.” In God’s sight, we are complete in Him and
we are accepted in His flock. But there
is a second perfection, yet to be realized, which is sure to all true believers. Isn’t wonderful to look forward to the time
when every stain of sin shall be removed from us, and we will be presented
faultless before the throne without spot or wrinkle or any such thing? The Church of Christ will then be so pure
that not even the Omniscient eye of God will see a spot or blemish in her; so
holy and so glorious will she be.
Then shall we know and feel the happiness of this vast but short
sentence, “Complete in Christ.” Not till then shall we fully comprehend the
heights and depths of the salvation we have in Jesus Christ. Our hearts leap for joy at the very thought
of it!! Oh, how wonderful it will be “For
this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on
immortality. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor 15: 53,57)
No 28
(A Definition)
Secular world views of the Biblical Church go from one extreme
to another and the true definition is quite misunderstood. The majority of people in the world think it
is the Roman Catholic church with the pope as its head. May I say that this
church, which I prefer to call an institution, is probably the furthest cry from
the true definition of the Biblical Church – they are so close and yet so far
away. We, as true Christians, know that
the Church, the Body of Christ is made of people who were bought at the price
of Christ’s life on the cross and who will be joined one day with Him in
heaven.
Here is a definition of the true Christian Church that was
written a long time ago by a second century secular Greek philosopher names
Aristides.
“They abstain
from all impurity, in the hope of the recompense that is to come in another
world. As for their servants or handmaids or children, they persuade them to
become Christians by the love they have for them; and when they have become so,
they call them without distinction, brothers
They do not worship strange gods and they walk in all humility and
kindness; falsehood is not found among them and they love one another. When they see a stranger, they bring him to
their homes and rejoice over him as over a true brother; for they do not call
brothers those who are after the flesh; but those who are in the Spirit and in
God.
And if there
is among them a man who is poor and needy and if they have not the abundance of
accessories, they fast two or three days that they may supply the needy with
the necessary food.
They observe
scrupulously the commandment of their Messiah; they live honestly and soberly
as the Lord their God commanded them.
Every morning and all hours on account of the goodness of God toward
them, they praise and laud Him and over their food and their drink, they render
Him thanks.
And if any
righteous person of their numbers passes away from this world, they rejoice and
give thanks to God and they follow his body as if he were moving from one place
to another. And when a child is born
unto them, they praise God and if again it chances to die in its infancy, they
praise God mightily as for one who has passed through the world without sins.”
(Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 1 Page 346)
This description was given by someone who observed Christians
and wasn’t saved. He noticed that they
cared for each other; this is how Jesus wants the Church to be “34 A
new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you,
that ye also love one another. 35 By
this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to
another.” John 13:34,35
No 29
(Israel and the Church)
“And so all
Israel shall be saved.” (Romans 11:26)
Moses sang at the Red Sea, it was his joy to know that all the
children of Israel were safe. Not a drop of water fell from that wall until the
last of God’s Israel had safely reached the other side of the sea. That done,
immediately the sea went back into its proper place again, but not till then.
Part of that song was, “Thou in thy mercy
hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed.” (Exod 15:3) In the end times, when the elect “shall sing the song of Moses, the servant
of God and of the Lamb” (Rev 15:3), it shall be the boast of Jesus, “Of all whom thou hast given me, I have lost
none.” (John 18:9). In heaven, there shall be no vacant thrones.
For all the chosen race will meet around the throne, will thank
Him for His grace, and make His glories known. As many as God has chosen, as
many as Christ has redeemed, as many as the Spirit has called, as many as
believe in Jesus, will safely cross the sea. We are not all safely landed yet
because part of the host has crossed the flood and part is crossing now.
The forefront of the army has already reached the shore. We are
marching through the depths and we are at this day following our Leader into
the heart of the sea. Let us be of good cheer – the rear-guard shall soon be
where the vanguard already is. The last
of the chosen ones shall soon have crossed the sea and then shall be heard the
song of triumph, when all are secure. Not one will be absent; not one of His
chosen family will be cast away otherwise it would make an everlasting discord
in the family of the redeemed and as Jesus said “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out.”
(John 6:37).