Christ's Love for His Bride—the Church

Topical (expositional) Sermons for a few weeks at least, then Haggai.

I want us to look at the Church.

Acts 20:28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

A Witness to the World

Our testimony to the world regarding our relationship with JC & one another is found in…

John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

We’re supposed to love each other like Jesus loves us.

We’re called to help one another remain devoted to God.

God’s Prescription for the Church

God has given us a wonderful program for this to happen in a biblical way…

Ephesians 4:11-12 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

This is the engine of the Church of the Lord JC (fuel=JC)

“It is sad, but, I believe that today in America church members have become too dependent on pastors to do the work of ministry and less dependent on Jesus to enable them to do the work of ministry.”

Practical Application for the Success & Unity of the Church

As Christians, we have to guard ourselves from individualism…

We cannot fall into the trap of thinking that the church looks best when it reflects us (individually)…

The church will always look best when it reflects Christ.

“I believe that in too many churches Christianity has become more about who gets to decide what happens within the walls of the church RATHER than being equipped each week to do ministry in your life outside the walls of the church.”

Christ has called us to use our giftedness to serve the church…

So, members who are using their giftedness to serve the church where they are gifted…

They should serve with gladness.

Now, this morning, I want to lay some ground work for the next few weeks by answering some important foundational questions…

How important is the church to the Lord?

Acts 20:28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

So, the church is instituted by Christ and it took His life to make the church possible…

And, all throughout the Bible we see God gathering a people to be marked out from the rest of the world…

To bear the name of the Lord.

To be recognized by the world as belonging to God...

Because they belonged to a specific group of people who all belonged to the Lord.

And, in the NT that people group has been narrowed down to be only those who confess Christ...

And back that profession of faith up...with holy living.

The Church is Blood Bought

The church is the blood bought people of the Lord...

Who acknowledge their belonging to the Lord by publicly joining a local church.

And that church is publicly known as belonging to the Lord…

And, that belonging is expressed by adherence to God’s Word and obedience to God’s Word.

And, the church is so important that Jesus was willing to lay down His life in order to enable the Church to exist.

That’s one proof that Christ loves the Church and that the Church is important to the Lord.

Jesus Is the Builder of the Church

Matthew 16:15-19 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Jesus is going to build His church with people who make the same profession as Peter…

That Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

The foundation of the Church is the person and work of Jesus Christ…

And the church is built by adding people that confess the truth of JC.

Jesus Has Given the Church Authority on Earth

Matthew 18:15-20 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

A Major Function of a Biblical Church

The Church is to affirm the Confession of a Person being in Christ.

A saved person is to find a church that is biblically pursuing to obey the Great Commission (more next week) by...

Affirming/Defending Biblical Truth

Teaching Biblical Truth

Pursuing holiness and helps one another in that pursuit

Positively through Affirmation & Baptism

Negatively (positively) through Church Discipline

There’s no such thing as a perfect church.

But, there is such a thing as a biblical churches.

You find a biblical church.

You let them know that you’re a Christian.

They hear your testimony. (gospel, faith, holiness)

They affirm your profession of faith by permitting your joining the Church.

You obey the Lord by practicing your giftedness as a benefit to you, the church, and honoring the Lord.

This is a biblical picture of Church Membership.

So, someone who is in Christ is to use the blessing and gift that God has given in the Church His bride...

To affirm, and assure them of their profession of faith...

And by the church allowing them to practice their giftedness...

And receive their giftedness as a blessing in ministry within the body...

And, outside the body of Christ.

So, Church membership is meant to be a reciprocal blessing between the Church and the individual member.

Both, by functioning the way God has designed honor Him...

By placing a biblical importance on being publicly known as a member of the Bride of Christ.

God does not condone individualistic Christianity.

Christianity is not intended to be a solo act.

Leaving all discernment, maturity, and giftedness to the individual.

It is to be a life lived out in community.

And, here in this passage...

Matthew 18:15-20 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

Jesus is speaking about the church…v.17

He’s speaking of a person that has confessed Jesus in the same manner that Peter did in Matthew 16…

He’s saying that when there is unrepentant sin in a Christian’s life…

And the proper steps have been taken…(slow process)

It is the church’s responsibility to remove their confirmation of this person being a true believer…

Remove them from the membership and treat them like an unbeliever…

What does that look like? Evangelize them.

It doesn’t mean that we can be mean, gossip about them, slander them, stop loving them...

It means our interaction with them changes to evangelistic efforts.

What are the Keys to the Kingdom?

In v.18 Jesus uses the same language He did with Peter in Matthew 16…

When He was speaking about the keys to the Kingdom…

What does it mean for the church to have the keys to the Kingdom?

It doesn’t mean we’re given perfect insight.

It doesn’t mean were are infallible.

It doesn’t mean that we can do no wrong.

What it does mean is that we can understand God’s Word.

We can know through Scripture what salvation looks like…

What true faith looks like…

And, what false false faith looks like.

We can make judgments based on God’s Word.

So, the church has the ability, through the understanding of God’s Word, to affirm someone’s profession of faith…

And, we have the ability to recognize the possibility of a false profession and remove our affirmation of that same profession of faith.

And, then Jesus concludes with 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.

That doesn’t mean two or three people gather in a grocery aisle…and they have the keys to the Kingdom.

In the context Jesus is speaking about the church…

And a church has to start with something, right?

And, we’re going to look at churches starting in a moment…

So, Jesus believes the Church is so important that He’s vested them with authority…In faith and practice.

And, this is exactly what we see as we go through the Book of Acts…

If you read the Book of Acts carefully you’ll see that it is actually a book telling how the Holy Spirit uses people to build the Church.

It’s a book of Christ building His Church just the way He said He would…

And if you jump forward to the Book of Revelation…

You’ll see Jesus’ continued care for His church by His observing/correcting, and interacting with the churches in Revelation 2-3.

And, then you move forward to the end of times and we get a glimpse of the new heaven and the new earth…

And, what do we see?

Revelation 7:9-10 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

This is the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to build His church in Matthew 16:18…

This is the fulfillment of the Great Commission in Matthew 28…

Listen, the Bride of Christ is more than Conquerors in JC…

We already have the victory in JC…

This is what we’re headed for…

This is what the church on earth is intended to look like…

And, we will experience it in its fulness in heaven.

This is the team that you want to be on…

A team that is already declared with power and authority to have won the fight…

All you need to do to get on this team is repent of your sins…

And believe upon the Lord JC.

Closing Prayer