ADDRESS IX
THE CHURCH OF GOD
PORTION OF SCRIPTURE—Ephesians v. 22-33.
"Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for it." [Footnote: Eph. v. 25.] Two precious truths shine out in these words. He loved, He gave. He not only gave Himself for the Church when He died on the Cross, but He is still sanctifying and cleansing it, and by and by when He comes again "He will present it unto Himself a glorious Church." [Footnote: Eph. v. 27.]
So we have the history of the Church in the past, in the present, and in the future. We look back to the past and we see Christ giving Himself, that is, laying down His life on the Cross; but we must also look far, far back into the past Eternity to find out another precious truth. (Perhaps you have never thought about it.) It is, that the Church was in God's thoughts from the very beginning! The Son of God was in the bosom of the Father "in the beginning"; and it was then—before the world was created, that God chose us in Him and gave us to Him. [Footnote: Eph. i. 4.] Now we see why "Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it."
What is the Church? The word "Church" means "called out," so the Church embraces all who have been "called out" during the present age to form the "Body of Christ." In the Old Testament we find that the Jews were God's chosen people, [Footnote: Exod. vi. 7.] so they had all the privileges, but in later times, the Jews rejected the Gospel of the grace of God, and then God graciously visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people to be called by His Name. [Footnote: Acts xv. 14.]
When did this special "calling out" begin? Nearly 1900 years ago on the Day of Pentecost, and it has been going on ever since, and when the number of "the called-out ones" has been completed, then "The Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." [Footnote: I Thess. iv. 16, 17.]
Each of those three words, "chosen," "called out," and "caught up," leads us on to something more. We were chosen in Him to be holy; [Footnote: Eph. i. 4.] we are called out to be the Body of Christ now, and by and by we shall be caught up to meet the Bridegroom and to be with Him for ever. If you are a child of God, you can say with holy wonder, "God has done all this for me."
The Church was formed out of a little company of 120 men and women who were gathered together praying in the Upper Room at Jerusalem. [Footnote: Acts i. 14, 15.] Suddenly they heard a wonderful sound and saw a heavenly vision, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost; and before the day was over that little company increased to the number of 3,000 souls. How many does it number now? No one knows, but it is a "multitude which no man can number." [Footnote: Rev. vii. 9.] Some are already in glory, some are still on earth, but it matters not where they are, they belong to the "whole family" of God "in heaven and in earth." [Footnote: Eph. iii. 15.]
On the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out, His special work was to create a new thing—it was then that the Church of God was formed into one Body by the Holy Spirit, "For, as the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ." [Footnote: I Cor. xii. 12, 27.] "Now ye are the Body of Christ and members in particular," that is, individually, for every saved soul is a member.
The Church is a living body united to Jesus Christ, for He is the living Head of the Body. He needs His Church just as much as His Church needs Him. It is the Holy Spirit who unites us to the risen and glorified Christ Who is the Head, and then He unites us to one another in Him. It is a living union, because we pass through death into the resurrection life of Christ, for by "One Spirit we are all baptized into One Body, and we have all been made to drink into that One Spirit." [Footnote: I Cor. xii. 13.] The Holy Ghost sustains the life of the Church. In Him we live and move and have our being. As the bird lives in the air, as the flower lives in the sunshine, so we live in the Spirit, and when we drink in His fulness there is growth and fruitfulness.
Have we ever felt this need of drinking into that One Spirit? Everything connected with the true Church of Christ must be spiritual, it is this which is being lost sight of in the present day, and it is the reason why there is so little power and so few conversions.
Have you ever tried to understand why the Church is called "the Body of Christ"? Think first about your own body. It is the only part of your real self that can be seen. I cannot see your heart or your thoughts, but I know what your thoughts are by your words, and what you feel by the look of joy or sorrow in your face, and by the way you go about.
It is by your body that your real personality is made known to others; what you really are would never be seen unless your body made it known. In the same way the Church is the Body in order to make Christ known in the world. He is hidden from our view, He is unseen, but He manifests Himself and shines out through us, and He sends us to carry His messages and to do His Will.
This was the earnest desire of the Apostle Paul when he said that he was willing that the old self should be taken away so that "the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body." [Footnote: 2 Cor. iv. 10, 11.]
This is what the Church is here on earth for, to make the unseen Christ known. Just as every drop of water reflects the light, so every member of the Church, however weak and small, can reflect His love.
Is His compassion for sinners beaming in your eye? Is His purity seen in your daily life? Do you judge things from His standpoint?
I remember when some one was telling me why she loved a Christian worker whom we both knew, she added, "I love her for what I see of Christ in her."
Think of Christ exalted in Heaven far above all things, and remember He is there not for Himself, but for you. "He is Head over all things to His Body, the Church." [Footnote: Eph. i. 22, 23.]
It is wonderful to think of this union with Christ, that we are His Body and He is the Head; but there is another wonder quite as great, it is that He is the Bridegroom and the Church is the Bride. When we speak of the Church as the Body of Christ, it is a living union, life is the one thought brought out; when we speak of Christ as the Bridegroom it is love which is the chief point. It brings out the affection, tenderness and nearness of the Bridegroom. "So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies, He that loveth His wife loveth Himself." [Footnote: Eph. v. 28-30.]
We have nothing so wonderful in the Old Testament. Think of the depths out of which we have come, and the heights to which we are raised. "He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill to set them among princes and to make them inherit the throne of glory." [Footnote: 1 Sam. ii. 8.] Think of the sinner lifted out of all his bondage and ruin to be the Bride of the Lamb! There is nothing higher that God can give than this. This will be our glorious position by and by when the Bridegroom comes to take us to our Heavenly Home, for His parting words were, "I will come again and receive you unto Myself." [Footnote: St. John xiv. 3.]
There will be three great surprises on the day that He comes again. These surprises have been kept secret, but on that day the glorious secrets will all be made known.
The first surprise will be when we shall see all the saints who have died in Christ called back from the unseen world and clothed with their new, glorified bodies. What a joyful meeting it will be.
The next surprise will be that we who are still living on earth when Christ comes will be changed, we shall not die, we shall escape from the hand of death. "It is appointed unto men once to die," but "Christ was once offered to bear the sin of many," [Footnote: Heb. ix. 27, 28.] and when He comes the saints who are living will be changed "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." [Footnote: 1 Cor. xv. 52.] You know how long it takes for you to shut your eye and open it—it will not take longer than that for the change to be made. Three great changes will take place—our bodies will be changed, no more sin, or pain, or weariness; our minds will be changed. "We shall know" then what we cannot know now, we shall see all as God sees it, we shall know the love of Christ and we shall love Him as He deserves to be loved, and best of all "we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is."
The third surprise will be that our circumstances will also be changed; we shall be no longer on the earth, for as soon as the great change takes place we shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. He will then look into our life work, and He will say to His faithful ones who have been true-hearted and loyal: "Well done, good and faithful servant." [Footnote: St. Matt. xxv. 21.] Then the heavens will resound with the Hallelujah chorus, "Let us be glad and rejoice and give honour to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come and His wife hath made herself ready." [Footnote: Rev. xix. 7.]
But the glory will be only then beginning, it will be "glory upon glory." Remember there are two stages in Christ's Coming; He will come for His saints, and then He will come down to earth with His saints. As it is written: "Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints." [Footnote: Jude 14.] "When Christ, who is our Life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." [Footnote: Col. iii. 4.] We shall come with Him when He comes to reign on the earth.
But there is something still grander than the glorious position of having a place with Him on His throne. We look on and on into the Eternity that is coming (and it is a wonderful outlook) and what do we find? It is that we are wanted for the ages to come to show forth, and to be living personal illustrations "of the riches of God's grace." It is not only that we shall be saved and glorified, but that God will use us personally to show forth all His love. The grace of God is the love which flowed down to us in our great need, when we were dead in sins, slaves to sin and Satan and deserving nothing but God's wrath.
It is we ourselves who are wanted for the ages to come for "the praise of His glory." The expression "the riches of God's grace" [Footnote: Eph. i. 7.] meets our personal need, but there is something else that will shine forth, it is called "the glory of God's grace." [Footnote: Eph. i. 6.] All that God prepares for us is worthy of His greatness and power. The inheritance which He has in store and the beautiful Home above will be worthy of God Himself, all that is in it and around it surpassing everything that we can imagine in its glory and beauty will be worthy of God Himself. It is only as our eyes are spiritually enlightened that we can get a glimpse of "the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints." [Footnote: Eph. i. 18.]
The words of this old hymn describe what it will be like—
"I go on my way rejoicing,
Though weary the wilderness road—
I go on my way rejoicing
In hope of the glory of God.
"Then no more in the earthen vessel
The treasure of God shall be,
But in full and unclouded beauty,
O Lord, wilt Thou shine through me.
"All, all in Thy new creation
The glory of God shall see;
And the lamp for that light eternal
The Bride of the Lamb shall be.
"A golden lamp in the heavens,
That all may see and adore
The Lamb who was slain and who liveth,
Who liveth for evermore.
"So I go on my way rejoicing
That the heavens and earth shall see
His grace, and His glory and beauty,
In the depth of His love to me."
Our mission throughout eternity is to make known the love and wisdom of God that He may not only be all, but in all. He is in us now, but we want Him to be in all, and it will be through us that God will let the whole universe be so filled with the glorious knowledge of His love and wisdom that these words will at last be fulfilled—"God … all and in all." [Footnote: I Cor. xv. 28.]
We are passing through wars and convulsions and revolutions hitherto unknown, but a glorious future is awaiting us, and one thing is certain, that nothing can "separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." [Footnote: Rom. viii. 39.] That is our security.
It is also certain that it is not in the power of the devil to destroy the Church of God, for we are wanted in the ages to come. It is the Church which is to be the glory of Christ to all Eternity.
We are also wanted now in a very special way. Men's hearts are failing them for fear, they need strong, calm, prayerful helpers in this time of perplexity. Who can speak a word of cheer and encouragement? Who can point them to the Rock of Ages which cannot be moved? Who can inspire them with faith and hope? Only the one who has himself made God his Refuge. It is in times of trouble that the worldly man turns for help and sympathy to the believer. It is through us that God would work out His purpose of grace and love to the world.
A young man who had met with a bitter disappointment went to an aged Christian and poured out his trouble. After hearing his sad story, his friend said in a calm, tender voice, "God knows all about it, there is no such thing as chance in the world." "What is there then?" asked the young man eagerly. "There is love, Eternal love," was the answer.
The reason why the believer is kept in perfect peace is because he looks beyond all the tumult of battle, the bitter strife and terrible bloodshed to the time when God will gather together all things in Christ, for He is to be Head over all.
LOVE, ETERNAL LOVE.
Never for a moment shall that love cease to bless us and shield us. Whatever may happen to our bodies nothing can touch the eternal life within.
Do you feel anxious to know whether you will have a share in the glory? I will tell you how you may know. You remember Christian had a roll given him by Evangelist which he was to give in at the Celestial Gate. When you first come to Jesus as a poor sinner the Holy Spirit gives you four precious words written as it were in a roll for you to hide in your heart until the moment when Jesus comes and you are caught up to meet Him in the air. Take your Bible and you will find there four precious words which God has written for you to rest upon, and which will never fail you.
1. REDEEMED. [Footnote: Pet. i. 18, 19] "Bought with a price," and the price was the life-blood of God's dear Son, so we belong to the Church of Christ which He has "purchased with His own blood." [Footnote: Acts xx. 28]
2. SEALED. [Footnote: Eph. i. 13] The Seal is God's mark upon us showing to men and angels and devils that we are His "purchased possession"; that we belong to Him, spirit, soul and body absolutely, and for ever, for God's solid foundation stands unmoved, bearing this inscription, "The Lord knoweth them that are His." [Footnote: 2 Tim. ii. 19]
A Christian doctor who had been in the Crimean War and in China, was very particular when going on a journey to have all his luggage "labelled and ready." In his last illness he turned to a friend and said with a smile, "I am labelled and ready"! and then he gave this beautiful testimony: "There is only one thing that makes me quite ready and quite sure of Heaven, it is that my sins are forgiven by trusting in the Blood of Jesus. Nothing that we can do can save us, it is what He did. He alone can give us peace with God."
3. KEPT. [Footnote: 1 Pet. i. 5] A young Christian told a friend that he was afraid as to whether he would be able to live the life. The friend looked at him, and said, with a ringing voice of assurance, "He is able to keep you from falling." [Footnote: Jude 24] He then saw that he was no longer in his own keeping, but in God's keeping, and that the keeping would be up to the last moment, and be so complete that he would be handed over without the smallest defect to stand in "the presence of His glory with exceeding joy."
4. GLORIFIED. [Footnote: Rom. viii. 30] This is the last and grandest of the four precious words which God has given to strengthen our hearts, and it is the crown of all. What shall we say? No words can express what it will be, it will surpass our highest expectations. But we know that it will be fulness of life, fulness of joy, fulness of love, and all our deepest longings satisfied, all our highest hopes fulfilled, and it will be for ever and for ever!
Let us hold fast God's sure word of promise, "The Lord will give grace and glory." [Footnote: Ps. lxxxiv. 11] Let us lift up our hearts in praise and thanksgiving to Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, UNTO HIM IS THE GLORY IN THE CHURCH, THROUGHOUT ALL AGES, TO ALL ETERNITY, WORLD WITHOUT END. AMEN. [Footnote: Eph. iii. 20, 21]