A Visible Church in a Dying World
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Introduction
Introduction
Some of you may have heard the story of the little preschool girl working hard on a picture in her Sunday School class. Seeing her focus, her teacher asked what she was making. “I’m drawing God,” she told him. Gently, the teacher said, “Sweetheart, no one knows what God looks like.” “I know that!,” the girl replied, “but they will in a minute.”
We can laugh at that, but I can imagine a different young girl, lying in a stable, blood on the ground and straw in her hair. There was no room for her in the inn - no one recognized the One who had come to save the world. No one knew what God looked like - but they would in a minute.
Consider Paul’s words in Colossians 1:15:
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
We know what God is like because He graciously imprinted Himself into our world. The invisible needed to be made visible so that we could know our Maker.
Or John’s in John 1:18:
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
Every time that someone saw God in the Old Testament, they were not seeing the Father, but the Son. Every time God wanted to reveal who He was, it was Jesus, making the invisible visible. God knew that we, made of flesh, needed Someone physical that we could see, so “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
John brings this idea up in his gospel over and over again. Let me provide you with a few examples. In John 1:39-46, when Jesus was calling the first men who would become His apostles, they asked Him where He was staying. Jesus gave them an invitation which went far beyond a visit to a home:
He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.
Come and see. Don’t just listen to Me, Andrew - come and see. Come see how I live. Come see who I am. Andrew then went and found his brother Peter and invited him to come to see Jesus for himself.
A few verses later we find a similar pattern. Jesus calls Philip to follow him, and Philip seeks out Nathaniel. Read with me in verses 45-46.
Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.
Philip does not try and argue Nathaniel down. He simply tells him to come and see for himself. The proof of who Jesus is will be stronger than any argument. Liberals who might argue that Jesus was not truly sinless foolishly ignore the evidence of the men who lived with Him, ate with Him, and travelled with Him for three years. They saw.
When Jesus speaks to the woman at the well in John 4, she says
Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
Time prevents me from giving every example, but one more should suffice. The importance of a visible Jesus was not just important to His Jewish followers or to a woman of Samaria. Pure Gentiles came too, interestingly to Philip, the same one who had invited Nathaniel to come and see:
And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast:
The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.
Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus.
Was it important to have a visible Jesus? John certainly thought so, when under the inspiration of the Spirit of God He wrote those words over and over again. Even when he began the letter of 1 John, he wrote:
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
The one from the beginning - the eternal God - John saw with his eyes. He beheld His glory. To borrow Peter’s words (2 Peter 1:16), they were eyewitnesses of His majesty!
Our faith is not rooted in an idea. We are not saved by believing the right facts. We stand firm on a Person, who walked on the earth just as we do, yet without sin. We do not believe in some abstract idea of rebirth and resurrection, but in a stone tomb that was literally, physically, visibly empty. When they saw nothing early that Sunday morning, they saw everything.
But the in this dying world, we cannot go and set our eyes on Jesus. He lives, but has ascended up to His Father. Every eye will see Him, but not yet. So what fills that need today?
You already know that the topic I was assigned is “A Visible Church in a Dying World,” so it should come as no surprise to hear me read 1 Corinthians 12:27
Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
Friends, the Bible is clear. God did not leave this world without a visible, local, tangible witness. It is our responsibility to show the world what God is like, as Jesus’s body. Our neighbors do not know what love looks like. They do not know what forgiveness looks like. They do not know what provoking one another to good works instead of to sin looks like. They do not know what true, God-honoring worship looks like. But they can “come and see.” They don’t know what Jesus looks like, but if we do our job well, they will in a minute.
This morning, it is my honor to discuss three ways that local churches are visible in a dying world. We must make God visible to one another, to the world, and even to the powers and principalities.
Visible to One Another
Visible to One Another
It might seem strange to begin with how we make Christ visible to one another, but this is perhaps the area where Satan’s attack is hottest today. How many people are there who think that a TV program, a radio show, or a livestream is a substitute for assembling with the saints? Our friends in other denominations who do not understand the importance of a visible, local, tangible church might be excused for this kind of silliness. But how often our practice is beneath our theology!
Visible in Our Worship
Visible in Our Worship
Some might look at the idea of a visible church and think of its excesses. The church obsessed with counting nickles and noses that mistakes visible success for God’s blessing. The church with a million dollars in stained glass and twenty cents in doctrine. But this is silly. Just because a tree with no roots is useless does not mean we should seek a tree with no branches. The church is the invisible God made visible. Visible worship is an expression of the invisible truth. Consider Ephesians 5:18-21
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
I cannot see the Holy Spirit in you, although if you do not have the Spirit of God you are not His child (Romans 8:9). But being filled with the Spirit has visible evidence: speaking, singing, thanking, and submitting. These are the kinds of things you experience when we are assembled together. I am especially interested in verse 19: speaking to yourselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.
Sometimes I hear people say that they sing for an audience of One - and I understand what they mean. We are worshippers, not performers. But Paul, under the inspiration of God, tells us that we are speaking to one another when we sing! The words are plural When we sing (whatever song we sing before I begin), we are proclaiming that to one another! Hold the profession fast without wavering, brothers and sisters, as we remind one another of the great truths of God’s Word. It is not just a conversation between God and Justin - it is a congregation of saints singing to one another with their mouths, while they sing to the Lord in their hearts.
Where is that on your couch, watching other people worship? Where is that on the sidelines of a football game?
God speaks to us in His Word, but He also speaks to us through one another. When His Spirit fills us, we will gather together to worship and encourage one another through that worship.
That is part of the burden of Hebrews 10:23-25 as well. Look around on the Lord’s Day at your church family and consider one another to provoke one another to good works. Don’t neglect that visible, local, tangible assembly.
If that is true in good times, how much more is it true in the bad! We are visible to one another in our worship, but we are also visible to one another in our comfort.
Visible in Our Comfort
Visible in Our Comfort
God comforts us, but He often does it through other people. Consider Paul’s words
Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus;
He was comforted by seeing his friend. Which is exactly the way it was meant to be (Philippians 2:28, 1 Thessalonians 3:9-10).
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
Do you see that? God comforts us with the presence of one another, so that we can comfort one another. These visible churches are the shining hope of glory in the midst of the painful death throes of our world. We need comfort - comfort when we sin, comfort when others sin against us, comfort when it seems that the world has gone off the rails.
How many times have you been in the midst of some trial and had a brother or sister lay their hand on their shoulder and pray with you? Or had someone show up after a death or a sickness with a casserole in hand? That is the love of God made visible through one of His local churches in a dying world.
There is glory in the great things of life - but perhaps we see God more clearly in the little things. The everyday, ordinary life of the New Testament church. That glory is seen particularly in the two pictorial ordinances that the Lord gave us: baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
Visible in the Ordinances
Visible in the Ordinances
We’ll address this quickly because it is probably clear, but too important to skip over.
Visible in Baptism
Visible in Baptism
Romans 6:3-5 gives us the significance of believers’ baptism by immersion
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
We are buried in the water like Christ was buried - in the likeness, similitude, shape, image. In our baptism, our brothers and sisters see a picture of His death, His burial and His resurrection, and of our death to sin, the burial of the old man, and the resurrection to a new kind of life. Every time someone is baptized, it is a visible reminder of the invisible truths of God’s glorious rescue of humanity. One baptism (Ephesians 4:5), not a door for the rich and a door for the poor or one entrance for Jews and another for Gentiles, but the same public profession of the same plan of salvation, repeated over and over again.
But we are each Scripturally baptized only once. He gave us another picture to partake of over and over again.
Visible in the Lord’s Supper
Visible in the Lord’s Supper
After Paul’s discussion of the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11, he explains an important part of what we are doing in verse 26
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.
Each time we take the Lord’s Supper as a local church, the pure, unleavened bread and the unadulterated blood of the grape paint a picture to let us see the death of our Lord. This is the occasion where the whole church preaches together through the image. It is not just a picture for an individual, of course, but the whole church showing the truth to one another. Earlier, Paul made this point in 1 Corinthians 10:16-17
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?
For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.
The united church together, offered as the perfect complement to the Lamb that was slain. The next time you take the Lord’s Supper, look around and remember what every other member of your church family is telling you. The Son of God died for you. He shed His blood for you. He brought us together. And He is risen and coming again! In this dying world, our visible churches proclaim the Jesus who died and yet lives.
Of course, the ordinances are not only proclaimed to the members of the church. They are just one of many ways that the institution of the church is made visible to a dying world.
Visible to a Dying World
Visible to a Dying World
If fellow believers need a picture of Jesus, how much more does the world around us? You have probably heard it said, “You are the only Bible some people will ever read.” We must be a light - shining our good works to the darkness all around us.
Visible in Good Works
Visible in Good Works
Jesus told His disciples this in the Sermon on the Mount itself.
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
We are light! Light that should reflect God’s glory so clearly that even those who do not know Him must rejoice in our works. They glorify the Father in Heaven because they see His churches on Earth! What a responsibility!
When we do not walk as children of light (Ephesians 5:8), we rob God of the worship He is due from the world. We rob the world of the lighthouse that He has provided for the world. And we rob ourselves of the rewards for fulfilling our commission of reaching the world.
Even when they do not confess Christ, our good works will be recognized when Christ returns. 1 Peter 2:11-12 .
The Lord’s churches are visible through their good works, and the influence of those good works.
Visible in Influence
Visible in Influence
A British pastor once said, “Wherever the Apostle Paul went, there was revival or riot. Wherever I go, they serve tea.” Too often, churches are just another dot in the social landscape. People go through the motions, having a form of godliness but denying its power (2 Timothy 3:5). They float around invisibly, victims of a weak ecclesiology who do not see the power and responsibility God has given us. How different from the New Testament!
And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;
Down the road in Ephesus, they were worried that if the Ephesian church were not stopped the idol factories would go out of business.
Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands:
So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.
How many liquor stores and pornographic websites fear being shut down by the influence of our churches? How many sports leagues have had to cancel Sunday and Wednesday games because no one will abandon the house of God for idols? Brothers and sisters, the Lord’s arm is not shortened that is cannot save! If we obeyed Him, the world would see!
Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? When I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: Their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.
Only a visible church can do that. Only saints together, showing God’s power in their own life and the lives of those around them.
Perhaps you are thinking, “we can’t do anything about that, the world has to get worse and worse.” Yes, but why will that be? It seems plain to me that it is because the churches grow cold.
But it is a vicious cycle. The salt loses its savor, and then, according to Matthew 24:12, because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold. That is why there is one very specific good work that shows God to the world perhaps more clearly than any other - our unity.
Visible in Unity
Visible in Unity
In His high priestly prayer, Jesus prayed not only for that first church He had built, but for those yet to come. Listen carefully to what He asks for:
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
He prays that we would be united, dropped into the intimacy of the trinity, so that the world will believe that Jesus is the Son of God, sent from the Father to be the Savior.
It does not take much to bring people together around things in common. If you want to get a group of people who like the same music, the same food, or the same games, you can do so. But when people who are nothing alike are brought together to live together, serve together, and worship together - with nothing in common except Jesus - the world sits up and takes notice.
Again, this is not something you get when you call every coffee between friends “church” (as if that is gathering “in His name”). Friends have lunch. I’ve been to concerts where people say things like, “We had church.” No, you may have enjoyed the same kind of music. You may have even worshipped. But you were gathered by common likes. It is not something you get when people just like you meet for Bible study. Another book club doesn’t really impress people either. But when the old barriers are torn down - there is proof that God is a reconciling God.
Why would anyone believe that God can reconcile human sinners to an infinite holy God? Because they have seen Him reconcile young and old, rich and poor, black and white. When we are one in our congregations, the world will believe that the Father sent the Son. Our unity is His love made visible to a dying world without love. John 13:35
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
But the world is not the only audience for this marvellous display. Even the angelic powers and principalities look on.
Visible to the Powers and Principalities
Visible to the Powers and Principalities
In Ephesians 2, Paul describes the nature of the church as a building assembled together as the dwelling place of God, made of Jews and Gentiles alike - those who are far and those who are near, stitched together (Ephesians 2:17-21).
Visible in Our Diversity
Visible in Our Diversity
In 3:8-12, he picks up our theme:
Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
The wisdom of God is proclaimed to the powers and principalities by the church. Not merely by what she says, but by what she is seen to be. Jews and Gentiles, young and old, rich and poor, stitched together - it shows that Christ’s power is real and active. It shows that God is a reconciling God, whose plan has been in action from the very beginning. And it makes Satan tremble. Because it is the proof that the same Jesus who brings us together as His body - the God of peace - will crush the Serpent under our feet (Romans 16:20).
In the very next verse, he writes
Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
Paul says, “do not be discouraged by my imprisonment”! He, a Jew, is languishing in prison for Gentiles, who he once would have refused to share a table with. His suffering on their behalf is their glory. Glory is greatness made visible. His suffering for them is the glory of God made visible in their lives! Visible to one another, yes, as proof of God’s love. Visible to the world, yes, as proof of their love to one another. But visible even to the powers and principalities in heavenly places, our real enemy (Ephesians 6:12).
Our Pentecostal friends like to talk to the Devil in their prayers, rebuking him. But Michael the archangel would not bring a “railing accusation” against the Devil himself (Jude 9). Do you want to condemn the enemy? Don’t shout at him. Go to church! Show him and his demons the manifold wisdom of God in changing the world through visible, local, tangible fellowships of believers.
Visible in Our Cooperation
Visible in Our Cooperation
We are in a spiritual war, and need one another. Later in Ephesians, Paul makes this explicit:
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
There are many important points to be made about the armor of God, but one part of the armor is particularly relevant to our discussion today.
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Remember that Paul models the metaphor of the Armor of God on Roman soldiers. Let me read to you from Polybius, a Roman historian who was born about 200 years before Jesus, describing the way that they used their shields:
Histories
The capture of Heracleum was effected in a very peculiar manner. The city wall at one part and for a short distance was low. The Romans attacked with three picked maniples: and the first made a protection for their heads by locking their shields together over them so closely, that they presented the appearance of a sloping tiled roof
The shield of faith is not a shield to be worn alone. It is a solid wall, with me holding you up, and you holding me up. An unbreakable door before the enemy of your souls. The Devil prowls about like a roaring lion, but the lion seeks out the lone prey. When we stand together our diversity shows the Devil that our God is a reconciling God and our unity proclaims that our faith is a solid wall, impenetrable before His people.
When our shields are locked together and my arm is tired, your shield of faith holds mine up. When yours is tired, mine holds yours. Together, we are a united wall that the arrows of the Devil cannot penetrate. His fiery darts are quenched in the power of God.
After millennia of siege, it is a miracle - truly - that we remain. But that is the final way I want to share today that the church must be visible in a dying world. We are visible in God’s faithfulness.
Visible in God’s Faithfulness
Visible in God’s Faithfulness
Our assurance that the Lord will always have true churches is not based on wishful thinking, but on the Word of God. Our shield of faith is not an abstraction, it is the faith in a promise. One last Scripture to turn to in your Bibles. Matthew 16, where Jesus asked the core of His first church: who do you say that I am?
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
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.
And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
2000 years later and the gates of Hell have not prevailed. Death has taken many - even the Lord Himself, but it could not hold Him. I have been to more funerals of good men than I have to ordinations, but death and hell cannot defeat the Lord’s church. Kings and pagans have tried, and have failed. Sin within, from Ananias and Sapphira to the latest scandals, have stained but not spoiled. Sin without has discouraged the saints and squeezed them, but God has kept His Word.
Satan, foolish with pride, still tries to destroy. But our continued existence as local churches continues to make God’s faithfulness visible. A visible church in a dying world.
Conclusion
Conclusion
As we prepare to close, I want to give you one final encouragement. We began today by considering how Jesus was visible to the people of His day, and when we see our own weakness and the struggles of our churches, we might wish that we could be there. But let me remind you that Jesus Himself said that this is better. Look in John 16:7-11.
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Of sin, because they believe not on me;
Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
Through His churches, the Spirit convicts the world. Through His churches, the world is convicted of their sin because they do not believe on Him. Of righteousness because He ascends and He is vindicated as the sinless Son of God - yet they still see the righteousness of His people. Of judgment because the perfect justice of God is made manifest in the judgment of Satan - and the very existence of our churches proves His days are numbered. So rise up, saints of God - it is time to shine by His might and for His glory.
This past week, I saw the power of a visible church first hand. Our church gets a list of new movers to our community, and a couple of our ladies get together on the first Saturday of the month to bake cookies for them. On Sunday, I put them out, sorted by neighborhood, and our members deliver a few on their way home. That week, I take the ones that were left and deliver as many as I can.
On Tuesday, I was trying to deliver a few bags before I needed to go to my son’s baseball practice. I kept looking at the clock, wondering if I had time to keep going. But I pulled up to one house and saw a man sitting outside. As I walked up to him and told him that our church baked cookies for new members of our community, he collapsed to the ground in sobs.
He had already loaded the gun to kill himself. He was sitting outside, waiting on it to get dark so no one would see, praying for God to send him a sign if there was any other way.
The small act of kindness that AMBC performed showed him that God heard his prayers and answered them. It showed the members of our church that their labor is not in vain in the Lord. It showed the powers and principalities that the Lord God omnipotent reigns, and that all of the lies from the pits of hell that lead a man to hopeless despair are burned up by the truth. That man is alive today because he saw Jesus in a bag of sugar cookies. The dough cost about a dollar. Two ladies spent three or four hours baking them and bagging them. And they broke the power of sin and darkness by the light of Christ. He tasted and saw that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8).
A lost and dying world does not know what a loving, gracious, holy, and righteous God looks like. But if our churches do their jobs - they will in a minute.
Let’s pray.