Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.—I Corinthians 15:58
GET THE HELL OUT OF THE CHURCH
The implication of our subject is that there is Hell in the Church, and I don’t think this can be disputed. Hell is real, the Devil is real, and both can be found in the Church. This shouldn’t surprise to anyone who’s been in the Church for any length of time. Hell has been in competition with the Church from the very beginning. When Jesus founded the Church at Caesarea Philippi, He did so mindful of Hell. I heard Him say, “Upon this Rock [the confession that Jesus is the Christ] I will build My Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.” Jesus assures us that Hell will not prevail against the Church, but don’t miss the fact that He makes it clear that Hell will strive with the Church. Inherent in the promise of victory is the reality of struggle. And the Church has been struggling with Hell for a long time.
The Church has a purpose—to give praise and glory to our Heavenly Father. Unless we glorify God, unless we are challenged in our minds and hearts with the Word of God, unless we possess the mind of Christ, then everything else we do is useless. But Satan doesn’t want us to glorify God. And so he brings Hell into the Church and tries to divert our attention to other things. Hell causes us to be more concerned with performance than with praise; Hell causes us to get excited more about positions than about ministry; Hell takes our eyes off of Christ and diverts our attention in more self-serving directions. The Church struggles with Hell.
Then, a second purpose of the Church is to be an agent of God. We don’t represent ourselves; we represent Jesus Christ. When people see us they ought to see Christ in us. This is both a great honor and a tremendous responsibility. But Satan doesn’t want us to represent Jesus. And so he brings Hell into the Church. A sad reality is that much of the skepticism and ridicule that’s directed toward the Church today is because we haven’t been good ambassadors of Christ. Hell causes us to fight with each other and leaves the enemy free to have his way with the world. There’s an expression that says, “The world is going to Hell in hand-basket.” Well, if that’s true, then it’s because the Church lets it happen. When drug deals can go down right outside the Church, when prostitutes can stand in the shadow of the Church steeple and conduct their business, and all we do inside the Church is argue about financial reports; when we treat the Church more like a social club than like an agency of salvation, then Hell is in the Church, and Hell is struggling with the Church.
Then, a third purpose of the Church is to be active in the affairs of men. The Church is alive; the Church is the body of Christ. The Church has eyes that must see; the Church has ears that must hear; the Church has a voice that must be heard; the Church has hands that must work; the Church has feet that must move; the Church has a heart that must feel. If the Church is going to minister to hurting people, then it must be what God called it to be, and God called the Church to be alive.
But Satan wants the Church to be dead; Satan wants the Church to be silent. And so he brings Hell into the Church, and Hell works hard to keep us from working. Hell gets into folk and causes them to talk only about what we can’t do. “We can’t come together to minister to man’s physical and spiritual needs; we can’t help folks who can’t help themselves.” Satan keeps Hell up in the Church to try to keep the Church quiet. But Hell must not prevail against the Church. We must make it our goal to get the Hell out of the Church so that we can do the work of the Church.
Well, somebody may be asking, “How did Hell get into the Church in the first place?” And the answer is simple: Hell is in the Church because Hell is in us. If Hell is in the Church, it’s here because we allowed Hell to have a place in our hearts. The Church isn’t a building, but the Church is people who have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ. We are the Church. And so if there’s Hell in the Church, that means that there’s Hell in us. If Satan is running loose in the Church, it’s because Satan is running rampant in us. That doesn’t mean that you’re not saved; but it does mean that you need to check yourself from time to time. Peter was saved, but Hell got into Peter, and Hell caused a saved Peter to try to keep the Gospel to himself. Paul was saved, but Hell got into Paul, and Hell caused a saved Paul to break fellowship with Barnabas. James and John were saved, but Hell got into those boys, and Hell caused a saved James and John to demand something from Jesus that didn’t belong to them. I’m not challenging the status of your salvation. But I stopped by to let you know that even if you’re saved, if you’re not careful, Hell will get into you; Hell will get all over you; Hell will cause you do things that you shouldn’t do; Hell will cause you to say things that you shouldn’t say; Hell will cause you to be a stumbling block in God’s program. And if you find yourself struggling with Hell, then you ought to want to get the Hell out of the Church.
Our text today comes from Paul’s 1st recorded letter to the Church at Corinth. Paul had a great love for this Church. And because he loved them, he was genuinely concerned about their problems. And Paul determines that their problem was that there was Hell in the Church. Paul says that the Church had been gifted with the grace of God; they had been enriched in every way through Christ; Paul said that they weren’t lacking in any spiritual gift. But Hell was in the Church, for, “Though I wanted to give you meat, I’ve been forced to feed you with milk like little babies, because you aren’t ready for meat.”
Church, one reason why we need to get the Hell out of the Church is because Hell will stunt spiritual growth; Hell will keep us spiritual babies. Spiritual maturity is necessary for a strong Church. And Satan doesn’t want us to be strong, so he tries to keep us on milk and never get to any meat.
One way the Devil keeps us on milk is to cause us to get caught up in sensationalism. Whenever the Church at Corinth gathered, all they did was speak in tongues. Everyone in the Church spoke in tongues. And while it was sensational, Paul says it was only milk; no one was being edified; no one was being helped; no one was being strengthened, even though everyone was having a good time.
Church, there’s nothing wrong with a sensational and exciting religion, but there ought to be more to your religion than sensationalism; there ought to be more to your religion than just excitement. You need to put some meat on your plate sometime; you need to be edified; you need to seek some instruction and understanding. Milk can make you feel good, but if you have meat, then long after the feeling is gone, you will still be able to stand strong.
Then, Paul says that there was Hell in the Church because they couldn’t stop quarreling amongst themselves. Some of the people had come to the Church by Paul, some had come by Peter, and some had come by Apollos. And once they got into the Church, instead of working together, they argued about which Preacher they should follow.
Church, that’s how you know when Hell is here. We spend too much time arguing about little things, and we don’t spend enough time talking about reaching lost people with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. I pray for a Church that has as much of an appetite for evangelism as it does for gossip; I pray for a Church that has as great an appetite for Christian education as it does for mess. When Hell gets in us, we want to change the Church and make it something other than what God called it to be. But we must get the Hell out of the Church; we must concern ourselves with being what God called us to be; we must stop arguing amongst ourselves about molehills and start climbing the mountains that stand in our way.
Paul says that the Church at Corinth was a good Church, but that it was suffering from a case of too much Hell in the Church. And as Paul nears the close of this epistle, he urges the Corinthians to get the hell out of the Church. I hear him say, “Stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord.”
First, to get the Hell out of the Church, Paul says that we must be consistent. “Stand firm” means that we are to be regular in the practice of our religion. One of the things I love about Jesus is that Jesus was always the same. It didn’t matter who He was with, He was always the same. It didn’t matter what people had to say about Him, He was always the same. And if we’re going to get Hell out of the Church, then we must have a consistent religion. We have to stop saying one thing and then doing something else; we have to stop being so quick to give up when trouble comes, but we have to stand under all conditions. We ought to have a reputation that tells people we are consistent followers of Jesus Christ.
Then, not only must we be consistent, but if we’re to get the Hell out of the Church, then we must show some stability. Paul says, “Let nothing move you.” Church, a lot of us have a problem because we’re not stable. There’s a difference between consistency and stability. Consistency talks about being regular; consistency talks about being faithful; consistency talks about being dependable. But stability refers to how you react when conditions try your faithfulness; stability refers to how you respond when conditions challenge your dependability. The only reason why Paul would talk about being unmovable is because he knew that Hell will try to make you move. Hell will test your commitment; Hell will try to break you down. But you can be unmovable, you can be stable if you’re grounded in the right foundation. I don’t know about you, but I can say, like the hymn writer, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness ...On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.” Stand on the Rock, and He will sustain you; stand on the Rock, and He will encourage you; stand on the Rock, and He will move the Hell out of your way.
And finally, Paul says that if we are to get the Hell out of the Church, then we must press on. Paul says we must always give ourselves to the work of the Lord. We must be about the Father’s business. If you go back to that day at Caesarea Philippi when Jesus established the Church, He told His disciples, “I’ve given you the keys to the kingdom of heaven; I’m putting this work in your hands; I’m charging you to finish what I have started. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. You don’t have time to waste, there is work to do.”
Church, we don’t have time for Hell; there is work to do. Lost people need to be found; hurting people need to be healed; tired people need to have their strength renewed; sad people need some joy in their hearts; lonely people need to be comforted. We don’t have time for Hell; there’s work to do.
And there is a promise for those who will work to get the Hell out of the Church: “Your labor is not in vain.” If you are stand firm, if you don’t let adversity move you, if you always give yourself to the work of the Lord, if you fight to keep the Hell out of the Church, then your labor is not in vain. Folk won’t always understand, you may be talked about sometime, you may have to cry sometime, but your labor will not in vain.
We need to keep the Hell out of the Church. We need keep negative conversation out of the Church; we need to keep bad attitudes out of the Church; we need to keep selfish rivalries out of the Church; we need to stop finding reasons why we can’t do and work a little harder to do what God called us to do; we need to love each other a little more; we need to let the Light of Jesus Christ shine in our lives; we need to be steadfast and unmovable; we need to abound in the work of the Lord; knowing that our labor is not in vain.
