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When we find ourselves wondering how to proceed,
it usually helps to know where we’re going.
Keeping our future destination in view helps us to get our bearing in
the present. As we can see from the
verse above, the future of the Church is to be Glorious. And the Lord Jesus
Christ has committed Himself to this outcome.
Jesus said "I will build My Church," and He
intends for His Ekklesia (the Greek word for "church," an "assembly, gathering or
congregation" of believers) to be spotless, holy and blameless. And since He is the unblemished and spotless
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, He alone is qualified to sanctify,
cleanse, nurture and cherish the Church into all of her glory.
Unfortunately, man tends to look at the current
condition of the Church and decides he must do something to improve upon
it. For example, he might observe a need
for change in certain church members (this usually does not include
himself). Or he might observe a need for
the stimulation of greater commitment and activity in the church (this
definitely does not include himself!). Or
maybe he observes a need for the assimilation of new growth in the church.
Whatever perceived dysfunction or deficiency might
be observed, man next decides that the church needs a "big shot in the arm"
with some kind of change agent that will artificially jump-start these "needed
changes." Typically this is how focus
groups are formulated, programs are propagated, activities are accelerated, seminars
are multiplied, budgets are amplified, worship services are electrified . . .
you get the idea.
But the scene in heaven is vastly different from
the frenzy below. Jesus is not sitting
at the right hand of the Father frantically trying to come up with another
sure-fire gimmick that will hold folk’s attention at least 24 hours longer than
the last one did. He is not worried that
His Ekklesia might just slip through His grasp if He doesn’t keep feeding dollars
into the resource-guzzling enterprise that so often gets called the church. The truth is that much of what man calls "the
church" is not The Church that Jesus is building. Rather it is a religious conglomeration of
man's ideas conjured up by man's wisdom, implemented by man's strength and
fueled by man's resources.
Jesus, however, is building His Church with the
unalterable reality that the gates of Hell will not overpower it! The reverberating words "I will build My church" will never fall to the ground, and they
will never return void to the mouth from which they originated. "Unless
the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain" is still as true
today as when it first was uttered.
Jesus Christ still is the One and only Choice
Stone, the Precious Cornerstone "in whom
the whole building . . . is growing into a holy temple in the Lord." He has made us "living stones," building us
up into a spiritual house; "a chosen
race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession." He still walks among the "seven golden
lampstands" (representing the local churches) and He still holds the "seven
stars" in His right hand (representing the messengers/ministers of the
churches).
Jesus is still on the Throne, sanctifying His
Church, "having cleansed her by the
washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in
all her glory." Now, honestly, who
can improve on that?!?
In Jesus our King,
Pastor Scott
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