Aspects Of The Church - Its Turmoil, Conflict, Struggle And Endurance – Part 1. (Part 9 In The Series) Series

ASPECTS OF THE CHURCH - ITS TURMOIL, CONFLICT, STRUGGLE AND ENDURANCE – PART 1. PART 9 IN THE SERIES

We are going to look at some of the matters that are of concern for the Church and its problems and its conflict in the world.

[1]. FIRST CONSIDERATION - HERESIES AND FALSE TEACHERS

I think one of the most appropriate hymns ever written about the Church is this one, but I am going to choose only three stanzas from the six at this stage –

The church's one foundation

Is Jesus Christ, her Lord;

She is His new creation,

By water and the word.

From heav'n He came and sought her

To be His holy Bride;

With His own blood He bought her,

And for her life He died.

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THOUGH WITH A SCORNFUL WONDER,

MEN SEE HER SORE OPPRESSED,

BY SCHISMS RENT ASUNDER,

BY HERESIES DISTRESSED,

Yet saints their watch are keeping,

Their cry goes up, "How long?"

And soon the night of weeping

Shall be the morn of song!

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'MID TOIL AND TRIBULATION,

AND TUMULT OF HER WAR,

She waits the consummation

Of peace forevermore;

Till with the vision glorious

Her longing eyes are blest,

And the great church victorious

Shall be the church at rest.

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The parts that are capitalised above are applicable to the message today. Christ's BODY, the UNIVERSAL CHURCH, is a beautiful unity but at the same time is a shredded mess on earth. Why do we have that apparent contradiction? This is what this message is about.

The unity of the Body in the bonds of peace is the fact of the Church, but we speak here of the Body precious to Christ its Head, not of all the empty formalism and profession that goes under the name “Christianity”. {{Ephesians 4:3-4 “being diligent to preserve THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling”}}

HERESIES AND FALSE TEACHERS

Because we have all been baptised by one Spirit into one Body then the unifying work of the Holy Spirit is so necessary. I share equal membership of THE Church with those already in heaven and all those born again through the incorruptible seed still on earth. That is the true Body of Christ, precious, ransomed and guarded by the Spirit.

HOWEVER, that is not what the world sees. It sees a mess; claims of paedophilia ; greed of “word of faith” preachers; a continuing fracturing of claimants to the name CHRISTIAN; hypocrisy from some quarters and infighting. “By schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed.” I love Church History and have many good and fairly detailed books on that subject. Once you get past the early apostolic years then you hit the wall with severe problems, heresies, and some “absolutely disgraceful behaviour” all in the name of Christ. It is shameful.

{{Matthew 13:36-40 Then He left the multitudes and went into the house and His disciples came to Him saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” He answered and said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one, AND THE ENEMY WHO SOWED THEM IS THE DEVIL, and the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Therefore just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age.”}}

That parable is the warning to the disciples that as soon as the good seed of the gospel is sown, the enemy will come in with destructive force to overthrow the pure word of God. In the early church the good seed was sown but in came the divisions – “I am of Paul; I am of Apollos; I am of Christ”; and at the same time, along came Gnosticism and other evil heresies that magnified themselves over time - doctrinal and theological; purity became adulterated and after several centuries grew up into a fully adulterated and corrupt church on earth.

That is what the world sees and will continue to see until the end of the Church age, even to the end of THE age which is the Second Coming. Second Peter and Jude in particular are devoted to the false teachers who are like maggots in the church eating away at the flesh. There are so many false teachers around and it is not wrong of us to discern that state of affairs and we are meant to do so. We are to examine the word of God to see that all these things are correct and legitimate.