ECCLESIOLOGY
The Study of
the Doctrine of the Church
(Three Sessions)
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Session Twenty-Four: JESUS, THE GLORIOUS CHURCH
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PURPOSE
OF SESSION
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To
come to know Jesus as the only source of glory in the church.
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EMPHASIS
OF SESSION
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The
glorious church exists in its glory because the only thing that can be
seen by the eyes of man is the manifestation of the glory of God,
Jesus Christ, in the true church--in the connections between people.
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Introduction
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Through
the pages of the Old Testament, the prophets spoke of a reoccurring
theme.
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The people had
violated the Sanctuary of God.
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Because they had
turned from the ways of their God, an enemy would destroy their
temple, their cities, and their nation.
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The people of God
would be carried off into captivity.
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Yet, their God would
not leave them in despair.
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He would restore their
kingdom.
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The
prophet Hosea also told of the destruction of Israel and the promised
restoration.
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He said in the days
that Israel would be restored, "the number of the children
of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be
measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the
place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there
it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living
God" (1:10).
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He continued with the
promise of God to Israel: "I will have mercy upon her that
had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my
people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my
God" (2:23).
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It
is these words that Peter uses when he talks of the New Testament
believers:
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"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 marvelous light:
Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of
God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained
mercy" (1 Peter 2:9-10).
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Paul
plainly called those who believed that Jesus was the Christ the restored
Israel of God.
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He said, "For in
Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor
uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk
according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon
the Israel of God" (Gal. 6:15-16).
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When he used the term
"Christ," he was recognizing Jesus as the long awaited
Messiah.
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This Jew of Jews,
Pharisee of Pharisees had come to know that the believers in
Christ were the fulfillment of the promised restoration of the
kingdom of God.
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It
is to the people of the kingdom of God that James addressed his
letter:
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"James, a servant
of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which
are scattered abroad, greeting."
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He saw the followers
of the Lord Jesus Christ as the continence, or more accurately,
the fulfillment of the kingdom of God concealed in the Old
Testament.
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The physical nation of
Israel of the old economy was the type and the shadow of the
spiritual kingdom of God in the New Testament.
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Although the followers
of Jesus were physical people, living in a physical world, this
natural world was not their home because they were not of this
world.
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They were earthly
people, living in, by, and through the heavenly realm--the
kingdom of God.
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The
truth of this simple opening statement, "to the twelve tribes which
are scattered abroad," contains the underlying essence of the
entire Epistle of James.
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It is the basis of the
first twelve verses which concludes with believers experiencing
"the crown of life"--the glory of the kingdom of
God.
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The heart of the
letter of James is concerned with the lack of the basic
manifestation of Jesus in the lives of people who said they
believed--although they were kingdom saints, they were living as
if they were not experiencing the glory of God.
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The Epistle of James
then closes with admonitions for true believers to help those
who were struggling in experiencing the kingdom of God because
they had become too earthly minded.
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Something
that seemed to be simple to the early believers has become clouded in
much of the visible church today.
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For example, in the
earliest writings of Christianity (James, 1 Thessalonians, and
Galatians), there is no structure of polity stressed by those
early writers.
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Their epistles were
evidently written before the tentacles of organized religion
began to make inroads into the simple gathering of
believers.
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They were concerned
with the affairs of everyday living--experiencing the kingdom of
God--as opposed to the intricacies of a structured system with
all of its injustice.
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The
essence of Paul’s entire letter to the Galatians centered around an
issue that some wanted to make a physical sign or commitment a
requirement for Christian fellowship.
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Paul immediately saw
that any ritual required by the visible church is only a means
to separate and divide the people into those who are,
from those who are not.
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His answer was a
simple, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither
bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all
one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye
Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Gal.
3:28-29).
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The
Promise had come.
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When Jesus was a
child, he was brought to the temple to fulfill the customs of
the law.
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A certain man in
Jerusalem, named Simeon, as Luke recorded, was "waiting for
the consolation of Israel."
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The Holy Spirit was
upon him and had revealed to him that he would not see death
before he had seen "the Lord’s Christ" (Luke
2:25-27).
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On a certain day, he
was led by the Holy Spirit to the temple.
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When the parents of
the child Jesus came into the temple, Simeon took him up in his
arms, Blessed God, and said, "Lord, now lettest thou thy
servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes
have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the
face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the
glory of thy people Israel" (Luke 2:28-32).
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The
glorious church exists in its glory because the only thing that can be
seen by the eyes of man is the manifestation of the glory of God’s
people--Jesus Christ.
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The kingdom of God,
the realm of the true church, as Jesus said, "cometh not
with observation."
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It is "within
you" (Luke 17:20,21).
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You cannot see
it.
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You can only see the
manifestation of its presence by the manifestation of Jesus
among the people.
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No Jesus, no glory --
no glory, no church.
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Jesus
is the glorious church.
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Listen
to CD 24
(Approximately Forty-Five Minutes of Exposition
on the Words of Jesus Found in Matthew 6:1-34)
|
Order
Basic Bible Beliefs Part Two
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| Return
to Basic Bible Beliefs |
Session Twenty-Five: JESUS, THE TRIUMPHANT CHURCH
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PURPOSE
OF SESSION
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To
come to know what Jesus meant when He said, "the gates of hell
shall not prevail against [the church]."
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EMPHASIS
OF SESSION
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The
church triumphant is triumphant because the good news of the gospel of
Jesus Christ simply declares that the heavenly Father has sent His Son
into the life of the believer to baptize him with the Holy Spirit--to
conquer his mind.
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Introduction
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When
Jesus asked His disciples, "Whom do men say that I the Son of man
am?"
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The disciples
responded with "Some say that thou art John the Baptist:
some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the
prophets."
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Jesus then said back
to them, "But whom say ye that I am?
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Peter
spoke up as he often did and answered, "Thou art the Christ, the
Son of the living God."
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Jesus in turn told
Peter, "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and
blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in
heaven."
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Then, Jesus made this
remarkable statement, "And I say also unto thee, That thou
art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church [a calling
out, i.e. (concretely) an assembly]; and the gates [a gate, i.e.
the leaf of a folding entrance] of hell [properly, unseen, i.e.
"Hades"] shall not prevail against it" (Matt.
16:13-18).
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The picture is not
"Hades" attacking the church as portrayed by many in
the visible church today.
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Rather, Jesus is
stating, that which makes up the church, cannot be stopped by
any gate of "Hades."
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The gospel of Jesus
Christ can penetrate all darkness and bring light and healing to
all those who are in darkness.
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All
of the early followers of Jesus, including Jesus Himself,
believed in the forces of darkness.
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They believed there
was satanic action in the world of their day.
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They knew the powerful
potential for destruction that the adversary possessed in
the lives of the people.
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They continually
warned of the ever present temptation that could beset every
person.
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They, however, were
not mythological in their belief.
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They did not make
"satan" into something he was not.
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They
knew that the enemy of their souls would never come from without.
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The temptation to
corruption that would destroy them would always come from within
their own thinking.
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They knew the mind not
controlled by the Holy Spirit was the adversary that brought
death and destruction to the soul of man.
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Jesus
believed there was satanic power.
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He knew exactly where
this satanic power had its seat of authority.
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When He told his
followers that he would be killed (Matt. 16:13-28), Peter
responded with "not so Lord, be it far from
thee."
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Jesus then said to
Peter, "Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou art an offence
unto me."
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Peter’s
expression, "Not so Lord," placed him in an
adversarial role to the outworking of the will of God in
the life of Jesus.
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Jesus told him that
his problem began when he had exercised his mind and come up
with a faulty conclusion:
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"For thou
savourest [translated from a word meaning, "to exercise the
mind"] not the things that be of God, but those that be of
man."
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Peter’s own
imaginations had brought him to an erroneous belief .
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This faulty thinking
put Peter in opposition to what Jesus said was going to
occur.
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Peter was an adversary
to the purpose of God in the life of Jesus.
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Peter
would eventually come to understand this basic struggle of man.
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He would come to know
it would be for the control of his mind.
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He would later write,
"Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober . .
." (1 Pet. 1:13).
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Do not attempt to
experience life in the thinking of the mind.
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Do not become
entangled by the intoxicating fantasy of your own
imaginations.
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Be sober. |
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Let your mind be
sustained by the power of the Holy Spirit.
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Peter
added. "Be sober, be vigilant because your adversary . . ." (1
Pet. 5:8) seeks to intoxicate you to destroy your soul.
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In other words, once
the mind begins to escalate its worrisome thoughts of a current
problem, the soul becomes intoxicated with its own created
anxiety.
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The mind runs out of
control and "sleep won’t come the whole night
through."
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Instead of living in
the peace and rest of a sound mind controlled by the Holy
Spirit, the soul is being devoured by the runaway imaginations
of its own mind.
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Paul
also knew of the destructiveness of the mind.
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Standing among some
people that were steeped in religious activities, he said,
". . . I perceive that in all things ye are too
superstitious" (Acts 17:22).
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Their zeal to be
religious had led them into meaningless beliefs and practices
that carried no godly significance.
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They were more in line
with occult practices than the ways of God.
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He would later
admonish another group of highly religious people:
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"Casting down
imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against
the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought
to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5).
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It is only the
thinking of man’s mind that can create within the mind
something that can be exalted above the knowledge of God.
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The mind can create
its own world of fantasy.
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Although
vain imaginations have no validity other than to the mind which created
them, they can become very powerful.
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The degree to
which the fantasy is believed to be true is the degree of power
and bondage that the deluded person binds himself to his
fantasy.
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These vain
imaginations stand in the life of that person as the adversary
to the ways of God.
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As Paul also stated,
"the carnal [fleshly] mind is enmity,
["hostility," derived from its root word, "an
adversary"] against God: for it is not subject to the law
of God, neither indeed can be" (Rom. 8:7).
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Satanic
activity, the forces of the spirit of man, always comes from the inner
working of the mind of man.
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As Paul warned the
Philippians, "For many walk, of whom I have told you often,
and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the
cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their
belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly
things" (3:18,19).
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The glory of man (the
intellectual power of the mind under the control of the Holy
Spirit) becomes the shame of man when the carnal mind takes man
down and away from God with each imagination.
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In
a world created by his fantasies and imaginations (imaginations that
sometimes can become more powerful than the mind that created them) man
believes that he can control his life by living in his
fantasies.
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God still rules every
action of the universe, but in the make believe world of his
mind, man thinks he controls the happenings of his life.
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His own imagination is
the great adversary to the ways of God in his life.
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The
church triumphant is triumphant because the good news of the gospel of
Jesus Christ simply declares that the heavenly Father has sent His Son
into the life of the believer to baptize him with the Holy Spirit--to
conquer his mind.
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God "will keep
him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on him."
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The mind, conquered by
the Holy Spirit, is sustained as man walks through the valley of
the shadow of death and fears no evil.
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"He that dwelleth
in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the
shadow of the Almighty."
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He "shall not be
afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by
day: Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for
the destruction that wasteth at noonday."
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Every
believer can live the triumphant life.
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The LORD has become
their refuge, even the Most High, their habitation.
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Surely goodness and
mercy shall follow them all the days of their lives.
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They shall dwell in
the house of the LORD for ever.
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Jesus
is the church triumphant.
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Listen
to CD 25
(Approximately Forty-Five Minutes of Exposition
on the Words of Jesus Found in Luke 10:1-10,17-20)
|
Order
Basic Bible Beliefs Part Two
|
| Return
to Basic Bible Beliefs |
Session Twenty-Six: JESUS, THE GOVERNING CHURCH
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PURPOSE
OF SESSION
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To come to know that only
Jesus is the Master and all believers are on the same level as all
brethren in the Lord.
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EMPHASIS
OF SESSION
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From the mouths of prophets
and of angels come the ringing challenge that the government of the
people of God rest solely on the shoulders of Jesus.
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Introduction
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An
angel came down from God into the little town of Nazareth and spoke to a
young woman named Mary.
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He said to her,
"Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with
thee: blessed art thou among women."
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She, as any woman
would, "was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind
what manner of salutation this should be."
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The angel then spoke
words of comfort: "Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found
favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb,
and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall
be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the
Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And
he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his
kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1:26-33).
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The angel proclaimed
that Jesus was to receive the throne of David, reign over the
house of Jacob, and see no end to His kingdom.
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Many
years before the birth of Jesus in one of the great prophecies
concerning His coming, the prophet Isaiah spoke these words:
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For unto us a child is
born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon
his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller,
The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of
the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,
upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and
to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth
even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
(Isa 9:6,7)
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The government of His
kingdom would be upon Him.
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The increase of His
kingdom would see no end.
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He would ensure its
peace and prosperity.
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He would establish the
decrees and the righteousness within His kingdom.
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He would be the essence
of its reign and its rule.
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The zeal of the LORD
of hosts would make it all come to pass.
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When
the wise men came to Bethlehem saying, "Where is he that is born
King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to
worship him."
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Herod the earthly king
of the Jews was troubled, as were the rest of the city of
Jerusalem.
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He demanded of the
chief priests and the scribes where this King of the Jews would
be born.
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They answered Herod
and said, "In Bethlehem of Judaea" and quoted Micah,
the prophet: "And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art
not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall
come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel" (Matt.
2:1-6).
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From
the mouths of prophets and angels came the ringing challenge that the
government of the people of God would rest solely on the
shoulders of Jesus.
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As Jesus Himself said,
"be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even
Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father
upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even
Christ" (Matt. 23:8-10).
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Jesus Christ
rules His kingdom.
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This
is the great hope of the kingdom of God.
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The government of the
kingdom is perfect in righteousness and in justice.
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In the kingdom of God,
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor
free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in
Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:28).
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The
government of the kingdom of God is in direct opposition to the
government of the world.
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When the mother of
James and John came to Jesus requesting that her sons be given
positions of authority and honor in His kingdom, Jesus promptly
informed her and her sons that they did not understand the
government of the kingdom of God (Matt. 20:20-27).
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For even Jesus did not
bring about the reign and the rule of His kingdom.
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The prophet had said
that His kingdom would come to pass by the zeal of the LORD of
host.
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Jesus simply said,
"to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to
give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of
my Father."
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Secondly, the rest of
the apostles were "moved with indignation against the two
brethren,"and they had a faulty concept of the privilege of
kingdom rule.
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Jesus told them that
the kingdoms of the world are ruled by princes that exercise
authority to control and to subjugate the people.
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He added that the
rulers of the world take full privilege of being the one who is
in charge.
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He quickly added,
"But it should not be so among you."
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Jesus
declared the mystery of kingdom living.
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He said,
"whosoever will be great among you, let him be your
minister [an attendant, i.e. a waiter (at table or in other
menial duties)]. And whosoever will be chief among you, let him
be your servant [a slave; frequently, therefore in a qualified
sense of subjection or subserviency]: Even as the Son of man
came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his
life a ransom [something to loose with, i.e. a redemption price]
for many."
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Waiter of menial
duties, slave of subserviency, and setting people free by taking
on their debt, probably was not what the mother of James and
John had in mind for her sons.
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It
is how the government of the kingdom of God increases and sees no
end.
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Jesus said the kingdom
of God had come.
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He proclaimed
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath
anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to
heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives,
and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them
that are bruised" (Luke 4:18).
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The beggarly have
their needs met; those in bondage are delivered; those who are
lost find their way; those who have been crushed are set free;
the brokenhearted are healed.
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This is all
because Jesus flows through people who become waiters of menial
duties, slaves of subserviency, and taking on the debts of
others to set them free.
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There is blessed
peace, joy, and righteousness in the kingdom of God because
Jesus is the governing church.
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Listen
to CD 26
(Approximately Forty-Five Minutes of Exposition on the
Words of Jesus Found in Matthew 26:17-30; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34)
|
Order
Basic Bible Beliefs Part Two
|
| Return
to Basic Bible Beliefs |
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