EVANGELIST HERMAN E. WESLEY III
The Church That Was Built By Christ
Matthew 16:13-18; Psalm 127:1
PRELIMINARIES
I think it necessary that when we come together for functions such as this that we spend time sharing lessons that will have a meaningful impact on our ministries and on our service. These types of gatherings should be opportunities for us to refresh, or strengthen ourselves and to gain insight in areas where we can become more effective and more successful in our presentations of the spirit and the purpose of the Christ. To this end, our goal tonight is to share a message that will be challenging, reflective and instructional as we all seek to better equip ourselves for meaningful Ministry in our separate and distinct locales. The subject given to me tonight comes from Matthew 16, vs. 13-18, and the 127th division of Psalms, verse one.
THE CHURCH THAT WAS BUILT BY CHRIST
INTRODUCTION
It is indeed a fact that Christ built the church. That is undeniable in its biblical and spiritual premise. However, when considering this subject in a contemporary prism, I feel it necessary to make a comparison through an illustration of modern homebuilding. It is not uncommon, in our vernacular, to state that we are building a house, when in actuality we may have designed the structure, we may have determined and approved the specifications...we may have even decided the color of the carpet and the type of wallpaper for various rooms throughout the house, but in all honesty, we say we are building a house, but we have actually contracted the labor and the finalization of the project to somebody else. It becomes their responsibility to adhere to our specifications, if it is indeed our house. There is a great amount of responsibility placed on the contractor to do the job right. In light of this illustration, I think it necessary to talk about the church built by Christ, contrasting it to what we may have today, to see if the two mesh together when it comes to the faithful execution of Christ’s blueprint.
Psalm 127:1
Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it:
except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
The “a” section of this verse is our first focus, however, being true to the text and its context, it is talking about the home. Hence, we are making a secondary application with this timeless truth. Whether it is the home-or the church-if Christ is not the builder, you’re wasting your time!
Now, first of all, I think we need to spend some time...
I. UNDERSTANDING THE AUTHORITY OF THE BUILDER.
A. Because He is the owner, it is His right to set the specifications.
The church belongs to Christ, because He purchased it with His own blood
(Acts 20:28). Since He has ownership, it is altogether fitting and proper that Christ and Christ alone set forth the specifications for His Church. This is why we don’t submit to manuals and man-made doctrine books and human creeds. He determines, in the church He built, how we come to receive redemption, the terms of entrance, the methodology of worship, the reception of the Holy Spirit.
B. Because He is the Chief Architect, it is His right to determine the
plans and the purposes associated with His Church.
He sets forth the plans for salvation, for restoration, for forgiveness, for growth, for leadership, for evangelism, for development. You may ask, where does He set forth these plans, but the answer comes back, “He sets them forth in His Word!”
2 Tim. 3:16
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: [17] That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
C. Because He is the Primary Resident, it is His right, and expectation, to be welcome in His own house.
We fully understand, the audience here tonight, that the word “church” has at least two modern connotations. One connotation addresses the people of God, the called out, the greek “ekklesia”. The people who have been grafted into the family of God, and, through obedience in faith and baptism, have made a free-will decision to be governed by God’s Word, filled with God’s presence, and moved by God’s mandate.
The second modern connotation addresses bricks and mortar, steeples and pews, pulpits and stained glass, as it were. In my own humble estimation, having been associated with the church of our Lord for 47 years, and having been a Gospel preacher for 31 years, having been up and having been down, I would suggest that while we have become experts at erecting physical structures to the glory of God, somewhere down the line, the quality of the spiritual structure has been compromised.
In Ephesians 5 there is a beautiful illustration of the church being comparable to a bride, the bride of Christ, but somewhere between Ephesians 5 and Revelation 3:20 something has gone drastically wrong! In Ephesians 5, the Bible speaks to the fact that Christ loves the church, and gave Himself for the church...but in Revelation 3:20 we hear the builder of the church making this statement:
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Are you hearing what I am saying?
Christ is pictured standing outside of the church, knocking on the door, trying to get in! You may not like what I am about to say, but something has put Christ on the outside of the church that He built, and if we want Him to be welcome in His own house, in His own church, we need to spend some time reflecting on what may be driving Him away, because...
-we are not His Church solely because we do not use mechanical
instruments of music;
-we are not His Church solely because we commune on the first day of every week;
-we are not His Church solely because we don’t call our preachers
“reverend” and we believe in the necessity and the efficacy of baptism by immersion, and the marquis out front states that we are the church of Christ.
Jesus declares in John 8:31...
...to those Jews which believed on him, “If ...(“If” is the qualifier...it is conditional) ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;”
Brothers and sisters, Preachers and members, elders and deacons, friends and visitors...It is the “continued abidance” in the word of Christ that identifies us as the church built by Christ! Please pardon me, but I’m going to switch gears tonight, and I’m gonna put on my building inspector clothes!
II. UNDERSTANDING THE IMPORTANCE OF GETTING IT RIGHT.
If we are going to be co-laborers with Christ in the building of His Church, if we’re going to partner with Him, as is intimated in I Corinthians 3:5-9, we need to get it right!
1 Cor. 3:5-9
Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? [6] I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. [7] So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. [8] Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. [9] For we are labourers (subcontractors) together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
A. There are some areas where we are very much in Compliance,
areas where we get it right.
-When it comes to our method of interpreting Scripture,
I believe that for the most part, we get it right!
-When it comes to the understanding of the oneness of the church,
it’s singular nature and universal appeal, I believe we get right!
-When it comes to rightly dividing the word of truth, having a clear
understanding of the proper application of Old Testament and New Testament teachings, where they stop, where they start, and even where they synergize, or come together, I believe we get it right!
However, those things, and I am not seeking to diminish their importance, because they are fundamental to His Church having the proper foundation to grow, but these things are surface, and yes, the surface, or the box, the framework, the “bricks and mortar” must be right in order to build successfully, but before I quit tonight, we need to spend some time on the inside of this church that Christ built.
I am keenly aware and squarely on board with Jude when he says we must “contend for the faith”, “fight” for the faith, but that contending for the faith should not just be limited to “doctrinal” faith, but equally so for “practical” faith! You see...
B. There are some areas where there are serious Code Violations,
areas where we get it wrong.
Now, I’m not trying to be negative...I’m like the FOX NEWSCHANNEL, “FAIR AND BALANCED”, but in anything in life, there is some good and bad, ups and downs, highs and lows. Paul must have been a building inspector when he wrote:
1 Tim. 4:1
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Tim. 4:1-4
I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. [3] For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; [4] And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
1 Cor. 4:17-21
For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church. [18] Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you. [19] But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power. [20] For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. [21] What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?
-Upon close inspection, one might get the impression that there is a problem with the insulation in the church, because every now and then it gets a little cold in the church!
-Not only that, but possibly, we might want to check the framework, because there are times when it would appear that there are no good support mechanisms in the church!
-Then, now don’t get mad at me, I just have on my building inspector clothes tonight, but sometimes it seems as though there may be some problems with the wiring, because the electricity is kind of “on and off”...the light is not shining consistently and brightly!’
-We also might need to run a check on the ventilation system, because there are questions as to whether our windows are open towards heaven, and if we’re really in a position to have blessings poured out on us.
There are issues confronting the modern church that we skirt around, or we don’t deal directly with, but its really time to look squarely in the mirror, and deal with some things honestly.
I just left the National Lectureship in Jackson, Mississippi. The median attendance was about 1,600. The median age had to be 55. Most of the messages were centered around the foundational and fundamental truth of the oneness of the church, but really, think about it. People who attend the National Lectureship, paying $160.00 for registration, $130.00 a night for a room, transportation, and giving up their vacation time are not the people we have to convince of the oneness of the Church! We are losing an entire generation of people, and it’s almost as if we don’t even recognize it. Fresh ideas have been thwarted by those in the church with great influence who don’t realize that to a large measure they are tying the hands of a new generation of preachers who have to adapt methods of outreach and evangelism to be effective in this age. While time will not permit me to address the multiple areas where we need to make adjustments, I do want to point out a few:
The Praise Team. I have no desire to institute the concept of the “Praise Team” into the corporate worship of the NorthPointe Church. I wish I had three or four good songleaders! However, one of the misnomers about this concept is that a few people have been selected to praise God for everyone else. That is patently untrue. In general, what I have witnessed is three or four songleaders who stand before the audience on a Sunday morning, and lead the devotional service. Everyone sings! They just lead! (Truthfully, there are probably no congregations where EVERYONE sings!). I have searched and searched and I can find no biblical prohibition or biblical admonition to have four, three, two or even ONE songleader. This practice violates absolutely nothing when we hold it up to the scriptural directives we find in Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16.
Now here’s the problem. When we use blanket condemnation of practices that are not specifically defined we create a hostile environment for those who are seeking to be more creative in their approach to worship, especially since our typical approach is based more on tradition than specific command, ie. two songs, scripture, song, prayer, etc., we dangerously poison the minds of those in our audiences who then go home and seek to challenge a practice that is not in violation of Scripture.
“Well”, the argument goes, “you can’t find that in the scripture!” That is absolutely correct. Just like you can’t find “Homecomings, Minister’s Anniversary, supporting Christian Colleges, lectureships, Men’s Day, Women’s Day, Youth Day...’ Am I knocking these things? Absolutely not, because while they may not be specified in the “letter” of the Law, they are in accordance with the “spirit” of the Law! Many years ago, our forebears, J.S. Winston, G.P. Holt, R.N. Hogan, Levi Kennedy, G.E. Steward, detected a need for the uniformity of speech and the enhancement of our fellowship, and they crafted vehicles like the National Lectureship. Just as God was able to use them, and I believe God did, to do some things outside of what was then “traditional” to move the church forward, God still works today! He still uses men today, and I believe He still gives a vision of where we can be, and how we can effectively get there. We must deal honestly with one another.
Another area is in Christian Education. I am so thankful for the foresight that our elders have had to create opportunities for us to learn more, dig deeper, gain greater understanding, but in our current climate, if preachers reach any conclusions not reached by brothers Keeble and Bowser they are considered heretical. We actually celebrate the fact that brother Keeble had limited formal education, yet men who he and brother Bowser helped, by providing a greater opportunity for education, cannot grow beyond them. This is fundamentally unsound and relatively incomprehensible! Metaphorically, We spend too much time and energy confronting the man carrying the bed on the Sabbath, without celebrating his ability to carry the bed! Our belief in Christ and the teachings of the New Testament should not be stifled because we don’t want to move past our traditions. What is sound will remain, what is not sound should be and must be discarded!
III. BRINGING IT “UP TO CODE!”
A. Finally, there is some good news.
Even when the building inspector checks out the building, and there remains some work to be done, it’s not immediately condemned. It may get “red-tagged”, meaning before occupancy can take place, there must be some corrections made and some adjustments put in place.
B. We should never fear introspection, because when we fail to critically look at ourselves we usher in irrelevance.
Sad to say, in a lot of cities the church has become irrelevant.
Irrelevant ministries. Irrelevant programs. Irrelevant gatherings...Paul said of one congregation... “When you come together, it’s not for good.” What a sad epitaph that has preceded the death of many congregations. Getting lost in methods and traditions. Holding on to the past, with a blind eye to the present and a deaf ear to the future. Irrelevant and ineffective! Not because of any failure on Christ’s part, but because of failure on the part of the contractor. We need to let Christ build His Church!
Many churches have slipped away into irrelevancy. Where is the church of Christ in Laodecia? Gone! Smyrna? Gone! Thyatira? Gone! While it is certainly understood that the church will stand forever, that is no guarantee that local congregations will stand forever! Yes, we are baptized into His Church, but let’s not forget that we are also baptized into Him. Our loyalty to Christ and the principles set forth in the New Testament must be greater than our loyalty to any single congregation and it’s traditions!
Matthew 16:13-18
“When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? [14] And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. [15] He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? [16] And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. [17] And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. [18] And I say also unto thee,That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Jesus said, “I have come to seek and to save that which was lost!”
When Christ builds the church...
It reaches out to people of all backgrounds, black and white; rich and poor;
learned and unlearned;
it searches for the lost and the forgotten, in the shelters and in the streets;
in the cul-de-sacs and on the boulevard;
When Christ builds the church...
There are no strivings to see who’s in charge...
the challenge is to see who’s
leading the charge...in serving, in giving, in sharing, in caring;
When Christ builds the church...
His presence is felt in the nursing homes and halfway houses;
in the hospital and in the schools;
When Christ builds the church...
Drug addicts can become Sunday School teachers;
alcoholics can become praise leaders;
streetwalkers can become benevolence workers;
pimps can become deacons;
liars can become preachers;
thieves can become elders...
I know some of you are shaking your heads, and that’s because I’m not talking about the church you built...I’m talking about the church built by Christ!
He changed a womanizer!
He changed an embezzler!
He changed a prostitute!
He changed a defiler!
He changed a murderer and a co-conspirator, determined to destroy
His church and everyone associated with it!
You say--”Where’s that in the Bible?” I didn’t say it was in the Bible, but I’ll bet you my last dollar it’s in this room!
1 Cor. 6:9-11
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
abusers of themselves with mankind, [10] Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. [11] And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
This change came from Christ through the Spirit in the Church!
CONCLUSION
Stick to His plan, stay the course with His directives, and you’ll find yourself surrounded by people who love the Lord, because they know that the Lord loved them! They know they had nothing to offer the Lord, but thanks be to God, He gladly took on all of our liabilities, and we gained all of His assets! How many of you, when you sing the song, Amazing Grace, think that it’s talking about someone else, other than you! Amazing Grace, How Sweet The Sound, That Saved A Wretch Like Me! Stop forgetting where you came from! In The Church He built, We’re restored, We’re renewed, We’re rekindled, We’re reenergized, Lord, Revive Us Again! Help us, Holy Spirit, to...
-Go where Christ would go.
-Touch who Christ would touch.
-Love who Christ would love!
-Let His Light illuminate His Church!
-Let His Compassion frame up His Church!
-Let His Warmth insulate His Church!
-Let His Glory Fill His Church! When Christ said “upon this rock I will build my church” He was acknowledging that the foundational and fundamental building block of His Church must be the acknowledgment of Him as the Christ!
Beyond the brick and mortar;
Beyond the steeple and stained glass;
Beyond the carpet and padded pews,
People want to see Christ!
It’s the church He built when they see Christ here!
When they feel Christ’s presence!
When they experience Christ’s healing!
When they glimpse Christ’s glance!
When they warm to Christ’s touch!
When they understand Christ’s teachings!
When they grasp Christ’s love!
When they taste Christ’s goodness!
When they rest in Christ’s grace!
When they accept Christ’s salvation!
When they receive Christ’s Spirit!
Now, if all of this sounds foreign to you...maybe you should ask yourself, Am I in the church built by Christ...or am I in a church built by someone else? One of the surest ways to ensure that the owner will not reside in the house is to not build it according to his specifications. It is no longer His house...it’s your house! Listen to Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21:
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, [15] Of
whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, [16] That he would grant
you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his
Spirit in the inner man; [17] That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, [18] May be able to comprehend with all
saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; [19] And to know
the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the
fulness of God. [20] Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
[21] Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages,
world without end. Amen.
Let us be witnesses--in Jerusalem, Judea--Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth!
Our aim is not to be “The Church That Was Built By Christ.”
When we say that, it almost sounds like it’s a done deal. It’s not. It’s ongoing. It’s perpetual. Christ Built, Christ is Building, and Christ will continually Build His Church.
Let’s aim to be “The Church That IS Built By Christ.”
