When God Thinks Of The Church, Christ

Introduction

When Ernie was making the announcement about the Olympics, I all of a sudden thought about how appropriate it would be. Allah, the sound of music, to have all the children line up and blow the whistle and each of them be introduced, starting with Liesel so that Fraule and Maria would know them all. Oh well, just a thought. Welcome to all of our visitors. Glad you’re here with us today. I’ve been preaching for nearly 28 years now. And this morning is a preaching first. My shortest introduction ever.

As I begin with this question, when you think about the church of Christ, what comes to mind? I love thy kingdom, Lord. We sang of the church of God.

What did you think of? And I want to talk to you this morning about when God thinks of the church of Christ and whether our thinking matches his.

1. He Thinks of Saved Individuals

Observation that I would make is that when God thinks of the church of Christ, he thinks of saved individuals. In Matthew chapter 28, verses 18 through 20, in Jesus, some of his concluding words to his closest disciples, he says to them, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Verse 19. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And then this, and this will introduce our lesson for tonight, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Hold the thought of verse 20. And now go back to verse 19. When God thinks of the church of Christ, he thinks of those and only those who have been baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Those who have come into a relationship with him, a relationship with God. They have been immersed unto him, unto God. And coinciding with that is the passage in Acts 20 and verse 28. If you’ll flip over there, as Paul was speaking to the elders of the church at Ephesus, and he tells them this in Acts 20 and verse 28 be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. So they are to guard the flock. The Holy Spirit has made them overseers of this flock. And then he says, To shepherd the church of God. The church of God and the church of Christ are the same thing. Shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood.

Jesus’ blood purchased the souls of individuals, those who have been baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. One more text. In Colossians chapter 2 and verse 6. As therefore you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. Having been firmly rooted and now being built up in him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed. And overflowing with gratitude. Well, who are these individuals who have received Christ? How did they receive him? In verse 12, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he has now made you aligned together with him, having forgiven us all of our transgressions.

Why is this important? Because when men often think of the church of Christ, they think of a denomination by that name. Which, if it exists, I am not a part of it. I don’t know that there is a denomination that exists of those who put the name Church of Christ on their building that’s organized like many of the denominations of our time are. But if there was such a denomination with such a name or title, I want to tell you that we, the Decker Prairie Church of Christ, we are not a part of that. They may think of a religious movement that has fragmented itself into dozens of different factions, perhaps even warring factions, each claiming to have the truth on dozens of difficult issues. Or perhaps they think of just one of the factions, one of the different groups or mentalities that says we are church of Christ.

Several years ago in the 1990s, Mac Lynn put out a comprehensive directory for churches of Christ, and it was his intention to include everyone that claimed to be a church of Christ in the United States that he could, I guess, find information on. But what he ended up doing is giving each one a designation about some core beliefs that distinguish them from other churches of Christ. And I don’t know if the Decker Prairie Church was in there. I don’t have a copy of that anymore, but if we were, beside our names would have been the letters in I. He would describe us as a non institutional in contrast to other churches of Christ who would support human institutions from their treasury. And those churches would be considered mainstream, comprising, according to him, four out of every five churches that claim to be churches of Christ.

Or perhaps they think, as one person said to our brother Thad very recently, that we worship in a church that is Florida College approved. When Thad called me to tell me this, I just, I laughed. A Florida college approved church, which comprises, according to the number he was given, 14%. Right? 14% of churches of Christ. And my thought about that, even though I went to Florida College and owe a great debt to that institution and learned so greatly while I was there, and it led me on my journey as a preacher of the gospel because of what I learned and the experiences that I had there. And while I love that institution still, my daughter, my sister, who sometimes has to be my daughter, my sister, who teaches at the college, that’s great.

I love Florida College, but whether they approve of us or not is irrelevant. And as far as I know, they don’t have their own directory of churches of approved churches. And even if they did, when God thinks of the church of Christ, he thinks of saved individuals. Everyone who might claim to be his church, well, that doesn’t necessarily make them right before God. Even in a church of individuals who have been baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, only a few who had not soiled their garments were in Sardis. The rest of them had soiled garments and needed to repent. Or God was going to judge them.

2. That Number Is Unknown to Men

The number of saved individuals, God does. Now, as far as I’m concerned, the larger the number is, the better. Those that God can consistently reconcile with his holiness and justice and his expectations, and who in keeping with his word live for him. As big as that number is, I want it to be as big as God wants it to be. And to include all those that God wants to include. And as far as that number goes, the point, number two, that number is unknown to men. Can you imagine how difficult it would be to try to determine throughout the whole world how many that number included? But here’s the comforting thought.

That the Lord knows those that are his.

Chapter 3. And so whoever the Lord knows that are his, and he knows them all. Let them, he says, abstain from wickedness, which goes along with being that church of God that we sang about in the song before the lesson. Man’s judgment of this is often flawed due to ignorance and erroneous thought. Man’s judgment also is limited by what he knows. God knows hearts. In 2 Chronicles chapter 16 and verse 9, we’re told that the eyes of the Lord search to and fro throughout the earth to strongly support. And this really goes with tonight’s lesson, too. So hold, even though it’s not in the lesson, hold that thought. The eyes of the Lord search to and fro throughout the earth to strongly support those whose hearts are completely his.

They are the church that belongs to Christ. They are the church of the living God. They are saved individuals. This number is unknown to men. And men tend to judge this on the basis, oh, he or she is such a kind and sweet and caring person, compassionate. Oh, that’s so Christ like. And it is. But being Christ-like is more than that. It’s more than just adopting a few of the qualities of Christianity or of New Testament teaching. And fundamentally to everything, this group of people, the saved, are those who first and foremost submit themselves to the will of God. When Jesus was addressing this in the Sermon on the Mount, he said, not everyone that says unto me, Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

You see, we want to judge this sometimes on the basis of, well, he claims to love Christ. She claims to love Christ. He’s very kind, just a wonderful person when compared to many other people, perhaps. Wonderful person. But at the basis of all of this is more than kindness. It’s more than compassion. Yes, it’s that. But it’s a submission to the will of God. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, Matthew 4 and verse 4, and involves genuine attempts to sow to the Spirit. He that sows to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Galatians chapter 6 and verse 7.

3. Those Who Have Obedient Hearts

It is being filled with the Spirit, Ephesians 5 and verse 18. It is bringing myself under the dominion of the Holy Spirit through this instruction of the New Testament. If anyone, 1 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 3, if anyone loves God, oh, not by the definition, oh, I really have such warm feelings and affections for God. No, loving God by his definition. If anyone loves God, he is known by him. And so we need to think about the church the way God does. That’s the point of this sermon. And if I accomplish that, then this lesson will have been a success. When God thinks about the church, he thinks about saved individuals. He thinks about a number of people that are unknown to men, but number three, those who have obedient hearts, who seek to remove all that is imperfect and not consistent with being in his likeness.

Becoming more like him is the goal of every person who is a member of the church of Christ. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5, as Paul comes to the very essence of this message, this second letter to the Corinthians. Jared and I were talking about this not long ago at my home one night. Young people are over, and I really need to teach 2 Corinthians here. I haven’t done it yet, but this is the very essence of this letter to the Corinthians when he says in verse 20, therefore we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were entreating through us, we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Some in Corinth have been influenced by false teachers. They are now rejecting the Apostle Paul, and thus he has to send out this message to them to be reconciled. And he says, Look, God has a plan for his people, and that is that we might become the righteousness of God in him. That goes back to that idea of submitting ourselves completely to the will of God and modeling in our lives the example of Jesus. If you go back to 2 Corinthians 3 and verse 18, this is the church when he says, but we all, we all who? The people who belong to Christ, we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord the Spirit.

And that’s where we tie in all of these thoughts that we are familiar with, like from Philippians chapter 3. I press toward the mark for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Passages like James chapter 1, all that remains of wickedness, he says, remove all that remains of wickedness and receive the word implanted, which is able to save our souls. And then goes on talking about being doers of the word and not merely hearers who delude themselves. Or he says in 1 Peter 2 and verse 9, You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. When God thinks of the church of Christ, that’s what he’s thinking of. His royal priesthood, his holy nation, a people for his own possession, who proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light.

One more text here. John chapter 17. Very encouraging to me. It’s helpful in your study of the Gospel of John to realize that most of this message, starting with chapter 11 and the resurrection of Lazarus, has to do with the very last few days of Jesus’ life. Most of the gospel of John deals with the very end of Jesus’ ministry. And in John 13 through 17, we have the very last supper that he had with the disciples and others who were present with them there. And he praised this prayer in John 17 and verse 6, and he says this about his disciples. He says, I manifested thy name to the men whom thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were. And thou gavest them to me.

And they have kept thy word. What’s remarkable about Jesus’ prayer for the disciples is that they’re all about to go out into the garden and run for their lives. And that would not be the last of their mistakes. They were not yet perfect. They had a lot to learn. There would be more missteps along the way. But Jesus knows the hearts of these men. Obviously, he is not including Judas in this list. But he said, Thou gavest them to me out of the world, and thine they were. And that’s what we’re called to be, as the church that belongs to Jesus Christ. Obedient hearts, dedicated and committed. Or as John would say in 1 John, as he is, so also are we in the world. And while our imperfection is troubling at times and discouraging, we do not quit.

4. An Indivisible Body

We keep fighting the good fight. We do not excuse failure nor treat it as insignificant, but neither do we allow it to control us or cause us to quit. And number four, when God thinks of the church of Christ, he thinks of an indivisible body composed of members of varying degrees of spiritual growth, as we studied this morning briefly at the end of class, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When I use the term indivisible, why did I think of the Pledge of Allegiance? That’s about the only time we use the term indivisible. But this nation is nothing like the indivisible nature of Christ’s body. You know, a lot of times when people think of churches, they think of divisions.

And certainly divisions have racked local churches, but the Lord’s body is indivisible. You can’t divide the Lord’s church. Local churches can divide. You can have churches like Sardis, where only a few have not soiled their garments. And if that continues, ultimately a risk develops.

And ultimately, he’s going to make a presentation of his church in Ephesians 5, the church that he loves. In Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 25. Husbands love your wives. How so? Modeled after the love that Christ has for his church, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her. And this goes back to Matthew 28 again, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present to himself. The church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she should be holy and blameless. And that’s why this church grows up into all aspects unto him who is the head, even Christ, in Ephesians chapter 4, speaking the truth in love.

5. He Thinks of His Son, Their Only Savior

He says in that text in Ephesians chapter 4, until we all attain the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man to the measure of the stature of the fullness which belongs to Christ. Again, this body is composed of only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. That’s what God thinks of when he thinks of the church. And that’s why I love the chorus of the song of 433, because I think it makes us think this if we pay attention to the words. But he thinks of one more thing. He thinks of his son, Jesus the Christ, and him as their only Savior. We live in a time where we are alarmed by the proliferation of mosques, Hindu temples, Hindu worship.

In the United States of America. Could I have ever imagined that? I had heard of Hinduism when I was a kid, but I never imagined that we would see such in our times. Practice practitioners of Zen.

All of those change nothing. Jesus Christ is the same. Yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 8. No other Savior exists among men. Any attempt at salvation or a glorious future beyond this world or after this life, all of that is futile and empty and going nowhere without Jesus Christ. There is no other name under heaven. No other given among men by which we must be saved. Then the name of Jesus. Jesus Christ the Nazarene. Acts chapter 4, verses 10 and 12. And then in Titus chapter 2, I love this text in this regard. The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, he says in verse 11. And that grace instructs us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires, fitting with our other points, to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age.

Look at this. Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing, and we talked about that in our Bible class, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus. And as we shall study next week, or actually in two weeks, in the conclusion of our study of the tiny epistle of Jude, as he concludes with these words about how God is able to keep us from stumbling and to make us stand in the presence of his glory blameless and with great joy, he says in verse 25, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen. Wow. He is the only Savior.

Conclusion

He is the great God to whom belongs. Glory, majesty, dominion and authority before all time and now and forever. You practice a religion that doesn’t involve Jesus Christ as the Savior and Redeemer of men and ultimate judge. Your religion’s going nowhere. It’s all about Him. And so when God thinks of His church, He thinks of the one and only Savior of the church, of the body, Jesus Christ. And our message ought always to be close to the truth. That He lives. And that’s why I’ve asked Dave to leave this as our invitation song. He lives. And I know He lives. Because if we are his church, he lives within our hearts. And that’s his invitation. To come unto him and find rest. To have him live in us.

Christ in you is the hope of glory. So we ask you to come not to embrace some creed of the Decker Prairie Church of Christ. Our message is his message, his New Testament message. Our invitation is for you to come to know him through this message. And to belong to him by God’s accounting, not the accounting of men. And if you make the decision to serve the risen Savior, you indeed will be blessed. And we want that blessing for you. Come now as we stand inside.