In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia begins looking at the spiritual discipline of the church, explaining that the Bible provides four main reasons to discipline yourself for the church. In part 1, Pastor Dave considers the first main reason of the four:
1. The Church Is God’s Precious Mystery
1a. The Church Is God’s Family
1b. The Church Is Christ’s Body
1c. The Church Is Christ’s Bride
1d. The Church Is God’s Temple
Full Transcript:
Let’s pray as we prepare to hear from the Lord’s Word. Lord Jesus, it is all about You. You are our hope, our life, and salvation. And You are always with us. You promise never to leave us or forsake us, so that we can not only face the trials of life, but we can be obedient. Teach us how we can excel still more in our obedience with Your Word today. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Well, one of the TV shows I watched growing up was the Antiques Roadshow. I don’t know if you ever watched that. Created in England in 1979, the show has a simple design. A group of about 60 experts of historical objects travel around England and other parts of the world and invite people to bring antiquities to be evaluated as to their authenticity and value. Analysis of significant pieces gets televised so that viewers can experience along with the item bringers the amazement of discovering that what seemed like a regular old object is in fact a precious antique. Of course, not every object that’s brought to the evaluators ends up being very valuable, but many items featured on the show, they turn out to be worth several hundred or even several thousand dollars in terms of worth, and sometimes much more.
For example, in 2012, a school librarian brought in a small bronze sculpture that had been donated to her school by the 20th century British sculpturer Barbara Hepworth. The librarian had no idea what the sculpture was worth and confessed that it had been sitting on the head teacher’s desk as a paperweight. It turned out that little sculpture was worth $981,000. That’s an expensive paperweight. Or another example, also from 2012, a Texas man once brought to the Antiques Roadshow a painting of an early Mexican construction worker. The Texan had no idea where the painting had come from or who had done it. All he knew was that he liked it and was curious as to how valuable it was. Well, he actually had on his hands a 1904 painting by the celebrated Mexican painter Diego Rivera, whose works have been designated by the Mexican government as national monuments. So what was the painting worth? A million dollars. And its owner had no idea. Or still one more example. In 2018, two British officers brought in a pretty four-inch flower sculpture that had once been gifted to their regiment. The officers suspected that the piece was valuable, but they didn’t know how valuable. They confessed they sometimes simply stored the piece in a box under one of their beds. Well, the sculpture turned out to be a japonica flower made out of gold, pearls, jade, and rock crystals that had been fashioned in the early 20th century by Fabergé, the famous French jeweler, and it was worth, according to the Antiques Roadshow expert, $1.27 million.
Now, these are impressive stories from the Antiques Roadshow. But what is your immediate thought as you hear them? Is it, man, I wish I could discover that I unknowingly owned some valuable treasure? Or even, do I, in fact, have something like that? Something that I’ve been treating as common that is actually quite precious?
Well, if you’re a Christian this morning, I’d like to tell you that the answer to those questions is basically yes. There’s something that you have sitting right under your nose which you might not know is a priceless treasure. An expert Evaluator has assessed it as such, and you can trust His evaluation. Because who’s the Evaluator? It’s God himself. And what is the treasure? It’s the church. It’s the assembly of God’s redeemed people.
You may know that in these days it’s become more popular, even among Christians, to treat God’s church with neglect or even contempt. I’m really busy, so I just don’t have time for church or its various ministries. Or I’ve had a bad experience with church, so I don’t participate very much now. Or I love Jesus, but I don’t really love the church. Both our materialistic culture and our recent pandemic have encouraged us to offer excuses when it comes to the church, either not to attend or simply to maintain a bare minimum level of participation in the church.
But I submit that if we realize what the church really is and how precious it is to God, we would no longer give the church low priority, as we are often tempted to do, but high priority. And instead of asking, how little can I be involved in church and get away with it, we would ask, how much can I participate? How much more can I enjoy the amazing reality that is Christ’s church? Or to say it all another way, if you would only rediscover what the church really is in God’s eyes, then we would discipline ourselves to be a part of it.
And that’s what I want to talk to you about this morning. We’re resuming today our series on the disciplines of grace. Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 4:7, that we Christians must discipline ourselves like athletes training for competition when it comes to godliness. We must discipline ourselves for godliness. Such hard training includes devotion to certain fundamental activities, activities that promote spiritual growth. And these are called often the spiritual disciplines or the disciplines of grace. And we’ve looked at two of these disciplines already, these critical activities – the disciplines of the Bible and the discipline of prayer. But today, I wanted to start looking at a third discipline that is so critical for our spiritual life, our maturity, and yes, our joy. And that is the discipline of the church. If we are really pursuing godliness, love for God, enjoyment of God, Christ-likeness, we will not reach those goals without a real vital commitment to the church, to God’s church. And not just attending church, though that is important, but embracing and taking part in the church and in all that it is and does.
This is such an important topic that I want to look at it over multiple weeks. I’m going to take the next few weeks considering the totality of scripture when it comes to the discipline of the church. Today is disciplines of grace, the church, part one. Part one of this investigation. As with the disciplines of the Bible and of prayer, I’d like to approach this topic by first examining the why of the discipline of the church and then the how. Why should you discipline yourself to partake in church? Why should you suffer for, take risks for, and even give up other good things in your life for the church? Well, once again, and I don’t do this on purpose necessarily, I see the Bible’s teaching on the church supplying four main reasons for why we should pursue it. Four main reasons from the Bible to discipline yourself for the church. Just categories fit well that way. Actually, today we’re only going to look at the first reason because it’s so important. We’ll get to the others next time.
The first reason from the Bible that you should discipline yourself to be part of the church is because, number one, the church is God’s precious mystery. The church is God’s precious mystery. If you would, please take your Bibles and turn to the book of Colossians. Colossians chapter 1, and we’ll be looking at verses 24 to 29. If you’re using the Bible in the pew, it’s page 1178. We’re going to focus on just verse 27, but we’ll read the context. Colossians 1:24-29. Remember that the book of Colossians is Paul’s letter, one of Paul’s letters during his first imprisonment, and this one goes to the primarily Gentile church at Colossae. And Paul writes to remind them that because of their supreme and sufficient Savior and supreme and sufficient word they have received from Him, the Colossians should totally reject any teaching that claims to complete their Christianity, and they should instead live out holy, heaven-focused lives in the power of God. Now the section we’re going to read is a little aside from Paul regarding his own circumstances. Paul, as the primary preacher to the Gentiles, primary apostle to the Gentiles, and preacher of the good news of the salvation in Jesus Christ, he was the founder of many Gentile local churches and the one largely responsible for Gentiles being in the church at all, Gentile inclusion in the church. But this work of ministry among the Gentiles is what landed Paul in prison. But how did he regard all of that? What did he think about what he experienced? Well, let’s look at what Paul says. Colossians 1:24-29,
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.
Now we can’t examine everything that there is to see in this wonderful passage, but I do want you to notice a few key details with me. Here Paul declares that he rejoices in being able to suffer for Christ, and specifically for Christ’s church, even the believers at Colossae. In fact, there’s a certain reality that spurs Paul on to suffer and strive as he does. What is that motivating reality? Notice that Paul twice uses the word mystery in this passage. It’s the Greek musterion. This word doesn’t refer, as we might guess, to something that is unknown or impossible to understand. Paul actually uses this term throughout his letters to refer to something significant that was previously concealed and only known to God, but that has now been revealed in the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that’s pretty much what Paul says in verse 26.
But what is the previously unknown gospel reality that Paul has in mind here? The reality that so propels him to be spent for Christ and for Christ’s church? Paul identifies the reality for us in verse 27. Look back there at that verse. He says, To whom, referring to the saints, God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Now, did you catch that? Paul says the glorious mystery that is now being made known to the Gentiles through gospel preachers like Paul is Christ in you, the hope of glory. What does that mean? And why is that amazing?
Let’s break it down. First word there is Christ. What’s Christ? Well, that’s just the Greek word for Messiah. It means anointed One. Certainly the great mystery of the saving Messiah was not fully revealed until the coming of Jesus, and even then, not fully until after His death and resurrection were accomplished. Since the fall, man has known that he needs salvation from death, from sin, from God’s wrath. And the Old Testament revealed that God would provide this salvation in a saving Messiah. But how exactly was not totally clear. There were pieces, but it was hard to put together. The message that the apostles revealed, that they declared as given to them by Christ and as they experienced as eyewitnesses, the message about the Messiah, the final unveiling was almost too wonderful to be believed.
Who did the Messiah turn out to be? Yes, the Son of David, but also God Himself, the Son of God. God, in Christ, took on human flesh and lived perfectly among His people. He presented Himself to His people as King, knowing that they would reject Him. He endured a shameful death by crucifixion at their hands and at the hands of Gentiles. But through this death on the cross, the Messiah accomplished a momentous exchange. He suffered once for all God’s wrath due to sinners. All those who believe in Jesus, He took their sin and paid it off. And He gave to them His own perfect righteousness. Accounting to those who believe in Him His own record, so that they would be totally forgiven and pronounced righteous by God, justified. The Son of God died in the place of sinners as a substitutionary sacrifice and He rose from the dead three days later showing that a sacrifice was accepted. He then appeared to his disciples and then after 40 days ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of God until He should come back and establish His kingdom on the earth. Now all of that, even though it was foretold in different ways in the Old Testament, it was not known. It was only revealed by the coming of Christ and by the declaration of the apostles. That is a wonderful mystery. That is a great reality worth celebrating, worth proclaiming.
But that is not the whole of the mystery that Paul has in mind in verse 27. Because look at the next two words. In you, Paul says, or together, Christ in you. Now brethren, I would suggest that these three words together are some of the most beautiful in the Bible. Another incredible aspect of Jesus Christ’s salvation work is that as a result of His incarnation, His death and resurrection, He, the Son of God, God Himself, now dwells in His people. If you have repented and believed in Jesus Christ this morning, then Christ is in you. He dwells in you.
And such had never happened before in the history of mankind. God had, at certain times, dwelt with His people. He did that with Adam and Eve in the beginning. He did that with Israel, which was an incredible privilege. But it had all sorts of regulations and limitations because God is holy, His people are not. Then God dwelt with His people in a more special way in Jesus’ incarnation. I mean, that was even more glorious, more intimate. Mankind was able to see the grace and truth of God in a way that was much more understandable, much less threatening. But never had God permanently indwelt His people.
But this is what God began to do after Christ’s resurrection and ascension. Christ went to heaven and He sent His spirit, the Holy Spirit, to dwell in His people so that Christ is now in them. And as amazing as this is, Jesus said exactly that this is what would happen. He promised this to his disciples as a result of His mission. Just to give you a few examples, John 14:17. Jesus said, the Spirit of truth abides with you and will be in you. John 14:20. In that day, speaking about the day after his Christ’s resurrection, the time period,
In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
John 14:23,
If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
In Matthew 28:20,
Lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age.
Even though He’s in heaven, He’s with us because He’s in us. You see, through the gospel, through what Jesus accomplished in salvation, an incredible spiritual union has taken place. Christ, God, is now in His people and His people are now in Him, which is why you hear this again and again in the New Testament from the different writers. They repeatedly talk about Christians being in Christ or you’ve gained access to blessing and fellowship and life in Christ. This is the doctrine of union with Christ, and it’s an amazing doctrine. It’s a result of salvation. It’s even a mystery, something that no one really saw before was coming.
And notice something else from this little phrase in Colossians 1:27, the specific identity of the you. It says, Christ in you. Well, first note that the word you is plural in Greek. This is hard to tell in English sometimes, but it is plural. So it’s you all, basically, Christ in you all. So though there is an individual aspect and experience to Christ’s indwelling Spirit, each one of us has the Spirit in us, it’s actually a corporate reality that sets apart an entire group of people. They are the ones together in whom Christ, in whom the Spirit dwells.
Second, remember who Paul is talking to here. He’s talking to new believers at Colossae who are primarily what? Gentiles. Though it’s incredible that God would dwell with and even in believing Jews, it’s even more incredible that Christ, the Jewish Messiah, would dwell in Gentile believers without circumcision or without anything else to make those Gentiles Jewish first. The earliest Jewish believers could hardly accept this reality. They couldn’t believe it. Grand as it was, God had to patiently teach them about it. It was actually for this very truth about full Gentile salvation that Paul was seized by the Jews and imprisoned. They tried to kill him because he declared exactly that. Yet what a beautiful and glorious truth that all the people who believe in Jesus, regardless of ethnic or social background, they are full inheritors of salvation in Christ and they are indwelt together by the same Spirit of Christ.
Notice further what this truth about indwelling, what this fact of indwelling by Christ’s Spirit, notice to what it testifies in the last part of verse 27. It says, Christ in you, the hope of glory. Now remember when you see the word hope in the Bible connected to God, this doesn’t refer to an I hope so kind of situation where you desire something to happen but you don’t know if it will. No, the hope of the Bible is a confident hope. It’s an I know so situation. Having Christ’s spirit inside you should give you a confident expectation and hope. Hope of what? Of glory. Of seeing the goodness and splendor of God in glory after death and in His forever kingdom. Because Christ is in you now, you can know that you will soon see Him in glory. And not just you individually, but you along with all those who believe in Him. All indwelt believers will together live with God forever and enjoy eternal life with Him. It is a sure hope that is witnessed and guaranteed by Christ’s spirit.
So then, to sum up, Paul says here in Colossians that there is a precious now revealed mystery that spurs him on in all his suffering and labor of gospel ministry. It’s a truth about the real identity of a certain group of people. A people, a group of people made up of Jews and Gentiles who are all saved by Christ, indwelt by Christ, and destined to be with Christ forever in His glorious kingdom. Who is that group of people? Who has such a blessed and privileged identity? It’s the church. This is what the Bible reveals the church is.
So we could say what we’re seeing in Colossians 1:24-28 in this way. Because Paul realized what the church really is according to God, how special it is, how intimately it is connected to God, and even to Paul himself as saved by God, because of this precious mystery now revealed, Paul was glad to be part of the church and to have his life poured out on its behalf. He realized what the church was, so he loved to be part of it.
So brethren, what about you? Have you also understood the precious mystery that is the church? A mystery not previously known but now revealed and experienced by God’s people, even us here at Calvary Community Church. Do you realize what we are, what the church is, what the people around you are together with you? If so, has that understanding changed the way you live? Does it change the way you regard the other people in the church? Does it change your commitment to them? Has it caused you even to discipline yourself for the church and gladly be spent on its behalf?
Now perhaps you are thinking, Pastor Dave, I think I’m following what you’re saying, but it feels a little abstract. Is there any way you can illustrate these great theological realities in a way that’s more concrete? Well actually, yes, because this is precisely what the Bible does. Let’s face it, the spiritual reality of union with Christ and consequently the true nature of the church, it’s actually a little hard to grasp because there’s nothing else quite like the church in our experience in the world. It’s a unique entity. So the Bible uses a number of metaphors to help us get a more solid idea of what the church is and how we should treat it.
There are four primary metaphors of the precious mystery of the church in the Bible. There are others, but I think these are the main ones. They are a family, a body, a bride, and a temple. I’d like us to briefly look at each and see how they further clarify what the church is, how can we better understand the precious mystery of God’s church. These are sub points.
1A, first of all, the church is God’s family. The church is God’s family. Now this is maybe the metaphor we’re most familiar with, right? We can hardly even talk to somebody in church without invoking this metaphor. We see it all over the New Testament. When you see words like brethren or other words indicating close family members who are not actually close family members in the New Testament, it’s describing the relationship of believers that has come about by union with Christ. These familial terms are used to describe our relationship to one another and our relationship to God as well as to Christ specifically. These words do not simply indicate intimacy and affection, though they do that. They are references to an actual reality, an amazing truth about what the church is.
In Christ, we have become sons and daughters of God and brothers and sisters of Christ and close family to one another. This new spiritual family that you have in Christ, it actually takes precedent over your physical family as Jesus Himself demonstrates in Matthew 12:48-50. Now I’m going to go through a number of references in the latter part of this sermon a little bit more quickly. If you can turn there, great. Otherwise, you can just listen. I have most of them listed on the slides. But this first one, Matthew 12:48-50, this is once when Jesus was teaching and His mother and brothers, His physical mother and brothers, they came to restrain and collect Him because they thought to themselves He is out of His mind. He wasn’t, but they were thinking this. So when one reported this to Jesus saying, hey, your mother and brothers are outside, listen to what Jesus said in response, Matthew 12:48-50,
But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
And this was no mere rhetorical flourish from Jesus. Jesus declared the same thing to Mary Magdalene after Jesus had risen from the dead. In John 20:17, Jesus said this to Mary after revealing Himself to her,
Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”
Jesus further promised that the new spiritual family that we have in Him, it would be a comfort, a help, and a reward to those who are persecuted by their physical families for Jesus’ sake. In Mark 10:29-30, we hear Jesus say this,
Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.”
You see, in Christ, we have gained a new family, a bigger family, a more important family, and that family is the church. Now, by what process did we become part of God’s family? Is there any substance to these familial terms, or is this just things we like to say to each other? Well, actually, the Bible is kind of specific on this. On the one hand, the Bible says that we have been adopted in Christ. A few examples, 1 John 3:1, I’ll just paraphrase. 1 John 3:1, we read that earlier in the service, says that the Father bestowed His love on us by calling us or designating us children of God. That’s the language of adoption. Romans 8:14-17, says we have received a spirit of adoption through Christ. Just as by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, we have been declared righteous, legally justified before God, so in the same means we have been declared adopted, children of God, with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities that go with that. We really are the children of God by adoption, but it’s not just adoption.
The Bible also describes our being made part of God’s family as new birth. We were regenerated, made alive by God, given new spiritual DNA by God’s Spirit, and we read this earlier as well in the service. 1 John 3:9 says that God’s seed abides in His children so that they do not walk in sin anymore. And 1 John 3:24, along with Romans 8:14-17, they add that only those who have received and walked by God’s Spirit can truly be called sons and daughters of God. We have been born again by the Spirit, by the seed of God that has been placed in us. And just as we can often tell human parentage by a child’s look, and even sometimes how the child acts, so we can tell divine parentage by whether someone walks in holiness or walks in sin.
Now we’re just briefly considering this reality, but consider some implications of the church being the beloved and close family of God, the family of Christ. You have been adopted along with pretty much the rest of the family, but you’ve also been born again by the same heavenly Father and by the same Spirit. So how do you treat your new family members? They are Christ’s own brothers and sisters. They’ve been made your brothers and sisters. Do you treat them that way? Do you love them? Do you make time for them? Do you serve them like any good family member would? Or do you avoid them, neglect them, even hate them, who are children of God, the same as you?
Let us not forget that Jesus strongly identifies with His family members. Jesus goes so far to say that whatever you do or don’t do to the least of His brothers, to the least of His brethren, it is the same as what you have done or not done to Christ Himself. This is what he says in Matthew 25 verses 40 and 45. The identification, the union is that intimate in His family. So those who love and take care of Christ’s family, He says they will be rewarded even for the smallest act of kindness. But for those who mistreat or neglect Christ’s family, they will be held accountable for even the smallest action of unkindness or neglect. So this is the first metaphor. The church is God’s family.
A second metaphor to help us better understand the precious mystery of God’s churches is 1B, the church is Christ’s body. The church is Christ’s body. Now this is a similar metaphor to the one we just looked at, but it’s even more intimate. The Bible says that the various persons of the church, even our church, are like different body parts of Christ’s same body, He being the head. And if there’s an apostle who particularly loved this metaphor, it was the apostle Paul. He uses it a lot. And let me just give you a few examples. Listen to what the apostle Paul says about the church being Christ’s body. First, Romans, Romans 12:4-5,
For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
A second passage, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13. Paul again,
For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
One more passage. Ephesians 4:15-16. Paul says,
but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
From just those three passages you probably noticed some repeated truths, many similarities between Paul’s words. Each of these sections, each of these verses, they come in context in which Paul is emphasizing the needs for the different persons in the church to serve one another, serve using their unique giftings that they have from God. Just as different body parts work for the whole body, every cell, every organ, every muscle has a purpose to edify the body. In the same way, each Christian has a calling to use what he has from God to build up the whole church, to build up others in the church.
These passages also emphasize a central truth, and that is the idea of unity in diversity. A body is not made up of all the same part. People in the church are not all the same. They don’t have the same background. They don’t have the same giftings. But that’s a good thing. That’s actually necessary. The body needs different parts to supply its different needs. Unity in the church, and unity is key, the Bible commands us toward unity as a church. It comes not by absolute sameness, but by all the different parts working together in devotion to the one Head, Christ, and in communion with the one Spirit, the Holy Spirit.
These passages also stress the interconnectedness of believers in the body of Christ to one another. You can’t just go off on your own way because you’re part of a body whether you like it or not. What benefits one member of the body is going to benefit the whole body, but what hurts the body is going to hurt every member of the body. Therefore, for any of us to withdraw from or to neglect the church, that is an utterly foolish venture because who’s going to be hurt by that? The person who withdraws and the church who no longer receives that person’s gifting and ministry, that necessary ministry.
It’s counterproductive for the one who withdraws, but conversely, if one member diligently loves and serves the church, who benefits? Both the church benefits, but also the person who serves because he’s part of the church. Whatever benefits others in the church is going to benefit you too, and vice versa. This is how God designed his body. We are all connected.
But we’re not just connected to one another. These passages and others in the Bible, they emphasize the church is intimately connected to Christ. It is spiritually, intimately connected to Christ. From just these texts, it is impossible to say that you love Christ but you do not love His church. Because the church is Christ’s body. I mean, could you imagine? I’m sure this is impossible. Could you imagine a human spouse saying to another spouse with genuine sincerity, I love you, but I hate your body. No, that’s impossible because if you love a person truly, you will also love his body for his sake. I mean, it’s part of him after all. So in the same way, none of us can claim to love Christ if we neglect, if we resent, or if we even harm the church which is the body of Christ. Conversely, you show your love to Christ when you love and serve his body.
And you know who really got this truth? The guy who keeps talking about the church as the body of Christ, the Apostle Paul. I don’t know if you noticed, but back in Colossians 1:24, Paul says something kind of significant. Colossians 1:24, I’ll repeat it for you. Paul began that section by saying,
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake. And in my flesh, I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.
Now that’s kind of a weird verse. What does that mean? Well, Paul’s saying essentially, there are sufferings and persecutions that the devil and the wicked world were not able to inflict on Christ. He got away from them. He rose and he ascended. They wanted to inflict more pain on Christ, but they couldn’t. But they still have opportunity to go after Christ’s body and to those who administer to His body. So Paul says, Because I love Christ, I will gladly serve you, the church, and suffer the blows that come in such service so that I may serve Christ and suffer the blows that were meant for Him. That’s actually just embracing the same heart that Jesus Himself has. But do we have that heart? Are we willing to serve and suffer for Christ’s church gladly because we know that in the end we are serving and suffering for Christ Himself, the One who loved us and died for us and saved us. The body metaphor shows us that there’s such a connectedness between Christ and His church.
So we’ve seen a second metaphor to help us understand what the church is. The next metaphor of the church is very closely related to the one we just saw. 1C, the church is Christ’s bride. The church is Christ’s bride. There’s one primary passage for seeing this one. If you would, please turn to Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians 5:25-33. If you know your Bible well, this is teaching about how husbands are to treat their wives in marriage. As you’re turning there, Ephesians 5:25-33, that’s page 1173 in the Pew Bible. Note that in the Old Testament, God sometimes likened Israel to a wife, a cherished yet unfaithful bride. You can see that in Jeremiah 3, for instance, or Ezekiel 16, or Hosea 1 to 3. We also see the metaphor of bride in the end of the Bible. Revelation 21, the apostle John sees all of God’s redeemed people, all the saints throughout history made ready as a bride for the Lamb in New Jerusalem. So this marriage metaphor appears in other places, but there is a sense in which the marriage metaphor particularly applies to Christ and His church. And Paul explains that well in the passage we’re about to look at. Ephesians 5, 25 to 33,
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.
Now, of course, there’s some very valuable teaching about how husbands should conduct themselves in Christian marriage. We could also talk about how wives should conduct themselves, but we can’t get into that today. We’ve got to focus on what this is talking about, about Christ and the church, because if you notice, what is the basis for how a husband and wife ought to act in human marriage? It’s the relationship of Christ and the church. That’s the paradigm, and that’s not an inappropriate basis because notice, we see the word mystery again. Paul talks about a mystery in verse 32. What is the mystery here? What is the great truth that wasn’t revealed in the past but is now revealed through the gospel? Paul identifies it for us by quoting Genesis in that original passage about marriage. The truth is, the mysterious truth now revealed is that human marriage was always meant to point to the relationship of God and His people, and particularly Christ and the church.
Christ treated the church as his own bride. He takes her as His bride. He loved her. He gave up his life for her so that she would be saved, sanctified, beautified for Christ to enjoy forever. Just as in marriage, with two becoming one flesh, Christ loved the church, as Paul says, as His own body, and He still does. He still continues to nourish and cherish the church today, according to the present tense in this passage. The church was made spiritually one with Christ because of Christ’s work on the cross. She has become spiritually attached to Him. Her good has now become forever tied up with His so that when He loves her, He loves Himself. This becomes a paradigm for human marriage.
But for our purposes today, let’s consider some implications. Clearly, if Jesus loving His church was to love Himself, then for us to love His church, His bride, is to love Him because she’s attached to Him. The church is His bride by spiritual marriage. And to pull in some other scriptures, we Christians therefore dare not lead astray the bride of Christ and try to make her a member of a different union, whether by physical immorality or spiritual immorality, which Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 6 and James talks about in chapter 4 of his book. Our attitude would not be to take ourselves or to take others in the church as Christ’s bride away from Christ, but rather, as Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 11, we ought to be jealous for the church with a godly jealousy, intent to see her betrothed to Christ as a pure virgin and not led astray from simple devotion to Him. If the church is Christ’s bride, so precious to the Lord, she deserves our care, our devotion.
So we’ve looked at three main metaphors. Let’s look at the final one now. A final main metaphor for understanding the precious mystery of God’s church is 1D, the church is God’s temple. The church is God’s temple. Now there is much ado about God’s temple, God’s dwelling place, first via the tabernacle and then the actual temple in the Old Testament. There are various regulations about how these buildings were to be constructed, what offerings and worship should be conducted there, how the grounds and personnel were to be maintained, how to prevent any dishonor or defilement by uncleanness in God’s temple. But these rules regarding God’s dwelling place, they were from God, and they were necessary for God’s dwelling place on earth in a physical building, but they pointed to a greater reality. There’s a mystery in this as well, a mystery now revealed in the gospel that God’s people are the greater temple. God’s church is His greater dwelling place. And though, yes, in one sense, God dwells in each of us individually so that we can say, my individual body is the temple of the Lord, that’s biblical, 1 Corinthians 6:19, the greater emphasis in the New Testament is not that you individually are the temple, but that we corporately, as the church, are the temple of God. We together make up the temple of God.
And let me show you this from a few scriptures. First, 1 Peter 2:4-5. Peter writing here. He says,
And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
A second passage, Ephesians 2:19-22. Paul this time,
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
And then, some words from Jesus Himself in Revelations 3. Revelation 3:12, Jesus says, this is in His words to the church of Philadelphia,
He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.
We could go to other references besides these, but I think you get the point. You’re getting the picture, and it’s a very fascinating picture. God says the church is a living temple. It is built on Christ as the cornerstone, who sets everything, and then the apostles and prophets with a foundation. It’s then made up of various believers who are like different living stones and pillars, and together they serve as the seat of God’s presence and the place of acceptable worship, and they continue to grow into a holy building to God by the Spirit.
And the very members of this temple, the stones, if you will, they each have a role in continuing to build the temple, but they must be careful how they do so. Paul talks about this in 1 Corinthians 3, 1 Corinthians 3:9-17. It’s too long for us to read the whole thing together right now, but I’ll paraphrase a little. Paul talks about how he sought to build up God’s church and that others are doing it, but one must be careful because there are basically three options as to how you can build the temple of God, that is the church. First option, you can build according to God’s wisdom, which is foolishness to the world, but you can build with God’s wisdom, which is akin to building with precious stones and costly materials. If you do this, your work will last. It will survive testing by fire, and it will result in reward for you from God. That’s one option.
A second option is to build according to man’s wisdom, which is akin to building with cheap and flimsy materials. You will accomplish a work that doesn’t last, that doesn’t survive the testing by fire, and you yourself will be saved, but you will experience loss of reward. You’ll have nothing to show for your labor. That’s a second option.
And then there’s a third option. You can refuse to build at all and even work to destroy God’s temple. But that last option is a fearful option. I mean, the second option is not great, but the last one is even worse because Paul says, and this I will read to you, in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17,
Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.
Brethren, have you realized that you are, you together, we are the temple of God, a holy dwelling place for God? Have you considered how you are treating this temple? Yes, there’s the temple of your individual body, but even more importantly, the temple of the church. How are you treating it? It is God’s dwelling place. It is the holy site of all the things associated with God – life, worship, blessing. Do you love this temple? Do you love to worship in it, part of it, with it? Do you diligently maintain it? Do you build it up? Do you beautify it with the precious materials of God? Are you like those godly ones in the Old Testament who periodically would examine the temple and they’d say, oh, look, this needs all sorts of repairs. Oh, what’s all this rubbish here? And they would repair it. They would clean it. They’d spend the money. They’d take all the time. Are you like that? Those persons receive a commendation from God in the Old Testament.
Are you like those godly ones or are you like the other ones that we see in the Old Testament who don’t build up the temple. They allow it to fall continually into disrepair or they even pollute it. They strip parts of it away. They damage it. They try to destroy it. We can do that if we try and build on it with man’s materials or by continuing in unrepentant sin that even leads others to join us. The Church of God as the temple of God is a great opportunity. There’s a sure reward for those who treat God’s temple as God does, as a sacred and precious place. But there is loss, there’s chastening, and there is judgment for those who treat God’s temple with contempt.
So we’ve seen today the first main reason that we should discipline ourselves to be part of God’s church. The church is God’s precious mystery. It is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We’ve seen four main metaphors also that help to illustrate what this precious mystery of the church really is. The church is God’s family. The church is Christ’s body. The church is Christ’s bride. And the church is God’s temple. Each one of these metaphors emphasizes for us how valuable the church is in God’s eyes and how much God identifies with His church. Whatever you do or don’t do for the church is what you do or don’t do for Christ.
So brethren, let me ask you, do you love God? Do you love Christ? Are you so grateful to Him for your salvation in Him? If so, you should love His church. You should love His church. You should adore His church. You should strive to help and bless and build up His church for His sake, even with all her faults, even with all the labor and difficulty that comes with serving Christ’s church. Paul knew about that, and certainly the Lord Jesus did. It was worth it because the church is so intimately connected with God. If you love the Lord, you can show it by loving His church. It’s actually good for you because you’re connected to it regardless. You’ll be blessed yourself in the end in doing so.
We’ll explore more reasons from the Bible next time as for why we should discipline ourselves for the church, but I hope you already see just from this one point, this one main point, that God’s Church is precious. You don’t want to miss out on the opportunity to nourish and cherish the same way that Christ does.
You know, on the Antiques Roadshow, most items featured in the show are great finds. Some more valuable than others, but generally the antiques shown on the program prove to be more valuable than the owner expects. But occasionally, for educational purposes, the show features an object that is not valuable. They will show an item that is a fake, a forgery, a counterfeit, a knockoff. The owner of such an item comes to the evaluation with such hope and expectations. But then when the truth is revealed, he has to do his best to hide his dismay, his embarrassment, that what he thought was a treasure is not worth much at all. Brethren, may it never be that you devote your time and your life to something that really is not valuable in the end, especially when you have a priceless treasure sitting under your nose in the church the whole time.
Let’s close in prayer. Our Lord, I cannot help but feel that we’ve only scratched the surface to wrap our minds around what the church is, what we are. It is a labor because it’s too wonderful that we are joined to You, Jesus Christ, that we receive Your intimate care, that we are the dwelling place of Your Spirit. What is this? What is this great treasure that we have received and are a part of? And yet, God, the world with its false treasures are constantly pulling us away from church, saying, you don’t really need to be part of that. You don’t really need to devote yourself to that. Don’t be a freak. Don’t be strange and be so committed to church. Do other things. Oh, Lord Jesus, You gave up Your whole life for the church. It was that valuable to You. It was that beautiful and enjoyable to You, what You were going to make the church into. Lord Jesus, I pray that You would do the same thing for us. Give us such a Spirit so that we would see how valuable and how beautiful the church is before You, so that we are willing to suffer. We are willing to labor in joy for your church. It was for the joy set before You. You did everything that You accomplished for the church. Paul understood that, too. Help us understand. Forgive us, God, for where we have neglected Your church. Show us more, even specifically, how we can bless, how we can build up, how we can serve Your church. In Jesus’ name, amen.