Definition of the Church.
| Teachings |
Definition of the Church.
Main references: Matt 16:13-19, Ephesians 4
The Church is being formed into the beautiful bride of Christ. This is not a physical beauty, but an inner beauty, characterised by humility, patience and love. Look at these verses:
"Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast." Mark 2
"I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband." Rev 21
"The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let those who hear say, "Come!" Let those who are thirsty come; and let all who wish take the free gift of the water of life." Rev 22
"Church" means "called out ones". Called out of what? The Israelites were called out of Egypt. We are called out of the world. What are we called out for? The children of Israel were called out to worship God. So are we.
"Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' Ex19
The Israelites didn't have an easier time when they left Egypt. On the contrary, they complained often: "Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!" (Ex 14) ""Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!" Num 21. Jesus called eleven of His twelve disciples to certain death. Many Christians today suffer persecution, and others are deprived of what those in the world can have. But in return we have eternal life, a genuine loving family, the church, and the presence of the Holy spirit with us always.
So the church is a family of people chosen by God to love and worship Him. In the New Testament we are also given a new commandment; to love one another as Christ loved us - in other words to lay down our lives for one another, or if that is not plain enough English, to become each other's servants, preferring one another! (See Philippians 2)
The difference between the church and the world
It is not a matter of rules but of heart. Jesus criticised the Pharisees who showed outward differences but were "full of dead man's bones" on the inside.
Differences in heart attitude and motivation:
The world The church
Live for self Live for Jesus and His church "and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for
themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again".
Proud Humble
Serve self Deny self
Try to be No1 Try to be a servant
Desire to show off Desire to elevate one another; to strive for unity.
All who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God are part of His church. This means in practice that we believe in all he says, does and predicts for the future. We believe in the whole Bible, because Jesus Himself did. This is the definition of a true Christian. All who believe this are part of the church and we need to "make every effort" to become one with them, as He commands us to.
I am convinced that before Jesus returns, the last great trick of Satan will be exposed - that is his cruel attempt to divide the church. The true church will rise up in our house, on our street, in our area, in our city, in our country, in our continent and in the world.
Satan's deceit has been to get Christians to be suspicious of fellow believers who live near to them. When we knocked on every door on our street and invited all the neighbours to a prayer breakfast, the result was that those who came were "one in heart and mind" (Acts 4). Since then, every time we meet, the same ones who came at first are fully committed, and are beginning to reach out to the rest of the street.
It starts with your house. We need to work at unity in our house first; this is the real foundation of unity in the church. "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." Eph 4. This is an effort - if we are serious about it, we need to pray together, read together and have a vision for our neighbourhood together.
It then moves on to your neighbourhood. We have a duty to strive for unity with all true believers in our neighbourhood. Start by praying that the Lord will lead you to a fellow believer who lives nearby. then pray with them for your area. Pray that you may gather together all the Christians who live nearby, and with them reach out to every household. This may take time; that's no problem with God. One street, the first year, two the next, four the next, etc is all it takes for the whole world to be covered in less than 30 years. Then everyone will clearly know the gospel, and the Lord will return.
The key is not to hurry, but to do things well. If you are obedient to reach out in the area God has given you, and encourage others to do the same, the world will be won.
In conclusion, an obedient church makes a beautiful bride, and is also a very powerful one, able to see the whole world reached for Jesus. God willing, this year, 2009, we will see the streatprayer initiative God has given us extended to several more streets in Oxford. We pray that we will serve Him well in this, and see much fruit in the coming years. Amen.