The Bride of Christ

If you are to ask an average Pastor or a Bible teacher in any Local Church this question: "Who is the Bride of Christ"? the answer you are likely to get is: "The Church is the Bride of Christ". In my opinion this is a very careless and presumptuous anwer. The truth is only a part of the Church is the Bride of Christ. Only the part of the Church that fulfills Christ's conditions will be the Bride of Christ!

There is a contemporary Christian teaching that it is the Lord desires that the Local Churches in every nation to grow in quantity and quality. But according to the New Testament Scripture this is not the Lord's primary concern. His primary concern is to prepare a Bride for Himself! Quantity is of secondary importance because only the remnant of Christians will ultimately be saved (refer to my earlier message "The Remnant of God's People").

Let us search out the Scripture concerning the qualitites that Christ looks for concerning His Bride.

1. Paul wrote to the believers in the Church in Ephesus concerning the preparation of the Bride:
"Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5:25, 26, NKJV, emphasis added).

2. Solomon painted a vivid picture of Israel as God's betrothed Bride. Prophetically, it is a picture of the true Church as the Bride of Christ:

"Who is she who looks forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, awesome as an army with banners" (Song of Solomon 6:10, NKJV, emphasis added)?

3. John heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven (Revelation 19:10) saying:

"Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints" (Revelation 19:7, 8, NKJV, emphasis added).

From the above three passages of Scripture (two describe the Church on earth and the other describes the Church in heaven) we observe the following:

1. The purpose of Christ's atoning death for the Church and for each individual Christian is to prepare a Bride for Himself.
2. Christ Himself prepares the Bride. The Bride is a glorious Church - a holy Church, without spot, wrinkle or blemish. Only those Christians who have gone through a process of cleansing and sanctifying will be in the condition necessary for their final presentation to Christ as His Bride.
3. God's Word is the means of sanctifying and cleansing. The operation of God's Word in the life of individual Christian is compared to the washing of pure water. Man's ideas and principles, no matter how convincing and seemingly Biblical, no matter how much research work has been done, can never substitute the purification effect of God's Word.
4. The Bride is fair as the moon. The unique function of the moon is to reflect the sun. Similarly, the function of the Church is to reflect the Sun of Righteousness, our Lord Jesus Christ (Malachi 4:2).
5. The Bride is "as awesome as an army with banners". The banner speaks of victory. The Bride is not called just to win a battle or two but to proclaim the total victory of the War that her Bridegroom has already won on the Cross. The Bride is responsible to demonstrate and administer the victory that Jesus had already won. The Bride is called to be the Army of God and to get involved in doing God's will - in Spiritual Warfare! In other words the Bride of Christ is a prayerful Church.
6. After the process of sanctification and cleansing the Bride is ready to be presented to Christ. She "makes herself ready" by putting on her wedding apparel which is made of fine linen, clean and bright.
7. The righteous acts of the Christians become the "fine linen" (clothing material) for the Wedding garment. The Bride herself has to produce the material out of which her bridal garment will be made. The material is "bought" by her righteous acts.

Those Who are Christ"s

As we have seen Christ is coming for His prepared Bride who fulfills the above conditions. Nevertherless only Christ Himself knows who are His:

"Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: 'The Lord knows those who are His,' and, 'Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity'" (2 Timothy 2:19, emphasis added).

Only the Lord Himself knows exactly those who belong to Him. In outward conduct, however, all such believers have one feature in common - They "depart from iniquity". Those who lack this outward seal are not among those whom the Lord acknowledges as His. Those who do not belong to Him will not be His Bride!

Paul gave a further mark by which such people are distinguished:

"And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:24, 25, emphasis added).

Professing Christians who lead careless, carnal, self-indulgent lives following the ways of the world will not be numbered among those who are His!

A way to avoid this problem is to walk in the Spirit because Paul said earlier, "Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16).

Christians' Righteous Acts

The New Testament reveals that there are two forms of righteousness - imputed righteousness and outwork righteousness.

Imputed Righteousness

"Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness" (Romans 4:3).

"Now it was not written for His (Abraham's) sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead" (Romans 4:23, 24, emphasis added).

We received imputed righteousness when we are born again. God reckoned Christ's righteousness to us because He was made sin with our sinfulness that we might be made righteous with His righteousness.

Outwork Righteousness

Imputed righteousness is for the purpose of preparing the Christian to walk the Christian walk in holiness and righteousness. It is the beginning of the sanctification process. We have to move from imputed righteousness to outwork righteousness. "The righteous acts of the saints" (Rev. 19:8) are not imputed righteousness but outwork righteousness - the righteous acts we have to perform in order to provide the linen material for our bridal clothing.

John said, "He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous" (1 John 3:7).

John said later, "All unrighteousness is sin" (1 John 5:17).

It is therefore obvious that what is required of the Bride is to practice righteousness because Christ is righteous. An unrighteous person and the righteous Christ cannot be unequally yoked together!

Someone had said, at the moment, in God's eyes, we might have just enough material to make a bikini which is not a suitable attire for a wedding banquet! Something has to happen radically before we can say the Bride has made herself ready.

The right attitude toward the Bridegroom

The real problem of the Church is that we do not have the right attitude toward Christ. We are actually lack reverence and respect for the Bridegroom!

As I shared before in an earlier message we have the spirit of Esau who was a type of carnality. We are more concerned on the things of the flesh than the things of the Spirit. We are living as though there is nothing beyond the present world - living without consciousness of eternity.

As the psalmist said we must ask the Lord to "teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12). Let us make the short time we have left in this world count for eternity!

Failing to submit to the Lordship of Christ

It is beyond the scope of this short message to consider more than one area of wrongdoing the Church is committing. One important area that comes to my mind will become clear if we ask ourselves the following questions:

Is Cod's choice our choice? Is the way we do things in the Local Church based entirely on God's choice? In other words, do we always submit and subject to the Lordship of Christ? Do we always get the Lord involved in the things that we desire to do and seek his will in prayers, intercessions and supplication?

Paul said, "And He (God) put all things under His (Christ's) feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all" (Ephesians 1:22, 23, emphasis added).

Notice that God did not put the Church under Christ's feet. He put all things (programs, activities and ministries) related to the function of the Church under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In other words, Jesus is the Head of the Church. Therefore, we must submit to the Lordship of Christ in all things related the the ministries of the Church - both Local and Universal.

Paul said, "Wives, submit to your own husband, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let wives be to their own husbands in everything" (Eph. 5:22 - 24).

In my opinion, by and large, Jesus at the present time is not effectively the Head of the Church. The Church is not subject to Jesus. It makes its own decisions, own plans and treats Jesus as a kind of "rubber stamp" to put His Name on most man-made projects and activities!

A parallel truth is a majority of Christian wives do not subject to their husbands at the present time. On the contrary, it is the wife who becomes the head of husband in many Christian homes! Their family relationship is not right. I do not believe the Church is more subject to Jesus than the wives in the Church subject to their own husbands. In other words, if you want to measure how much the Local Church subjects to Jesus just take a look at the Christian couples. Husbands and wives can be a prophetic message to the world! This I believe is how Jesus relates to His Church and the Church relates to Jesus.

Unless we are totally submitted and subject to the Lordship of Christ we are far from ready to be the Bride of Christ!

The Spirit and the Bride

At the end of the Book of Revelation John recorded:

"And the Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let him who hears say, 'Come!' And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely" (Rev. 22:17).

The Bride can only says "come" when the Spirit says first. It is God, the Holy Spirit's choice and decision when the Bridegroom is coming to take His bride. The Bride simply echos what the Spirit says. The Spirit and the Bride cannot say "come" before she makes herself ready.

Are we ready?

The Outworking of God's Choice

As we have discussed in my previous message that God made his Choice for Jacob over Esau before they were born (Romans 9:10 – 13). His chose Jacob because He loved Israel:

“I have loved you,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’ “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” says the Lord. “Yet Jacob I have loved; but Esau I have hated, and laid waste his mountains and his heritage for the jackals of the wilderness” (Malachi 1:2, 3, NKJV, emphasis added).

Notice that God has strong feelings (of the soul realm) – He talks about love and hate; for and against!

Moses said, “The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves you, …”(Deuteronomy 7:7, 8).

The Bible never attempts to explain the love of God because His love is not explainable. He loves His people because He loves His people and out of this love He chose them!

God’s principle of election (God’s Choice) also applies to the Church and individual Christian/believer. According to Romans 8:28, 29 God works out the course of our lives we would take.

In Ephesians Paul said the same thing:

“… just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, …” (Eph. 1:4, 5).

Why God loved Jacob and hated Esau?

The question is what did God see in Jacob that caused Him to choose him and reject Esau?

God loved Jacob

I believe the one thing that Jacob had going for him was that he appreciated what God had to offer – His blessing. God foreknew Jacob and saw in him that here is somebody who would do anything to get what He had to offer. God had to deal with Jacob for years because he went all together the wrong way of getting it!

Genesis 32:22 – 32 relates how Jacob wrestled with God in order to get His blessings:

“And He said, ‘Let Me go, for the day breaks.’ But he said, ‘I will not let You go unless You bless me!’” (Gen. 32:26, NKJV).

God hated Esau

The writer of Hebrews said, “… lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears” (Hebrews 12:16, 17, emphasis added).

Notice that Esau was classified as a fornicator even though nothing was written about him ever committed fornication. His sin of corruption was as the sin of a fornicator. He was also being described as a “profane person” which means being earthly and sensual.

In other words, Esau was a carnal person. He was a man with a type of carnality – being more concerned with things of time than things of eternity; the things of the flesh than of the Spirit. Carnality is living as though there is nothing beyond the present world; living without conscious of eternity!

Esau’s attitude was exactly the opposite of what caused God to love Jacob. He had not appreciated what God had to offer. He had his birthright but he despised it and exchanged it with a bowl of soup. God hates carnality and therefore He hated Esau.

The Outworking of God’s Choice in the Old Testament

Here are a few examples to show how God endorsed His choice:

1. Bringing back the Ark

1 Chronicles 13 relates the story of how David and his people brought back the Ark from Kirjath Jearim. They carried the Ark on a cart driven by Uzza and Ahio (V. 7). David played music before God with all his might with singing (V. 8). When Uzza put out his hands to steady the Ark the Lord struck him dead.

David realized his mistake and said, “No one may carry the ark of God but the Levites, for the Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of God and to minister before Him forever” (1 Chronicles 15:2, NKJV, emphasis added).

The above shows the significance of God’s choice. The Church can learn a lesson from this. If we disobey God and are not in harmony with His choice even our praise and worship would not do a thing to please God!

2. Building of the Temple

It was God’s choice for David’s son Solomon to build the Temple. In fact God made His choice before Solomon was born (1 Chronicles 22:7 – 10).

The Word of the Lord came to David:

“Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies all around. His name shall be Solomon, for I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days. He shall build a house for My name, and he shall be My son, an I will be his Father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever” (1 Chron. 22:9, 10, NKJV, emphasis added).

Notice that God even chose the name of David’s son before he was born.

The Outworking of God’s Choice in the New Testament

1. To bear fruit for God

Jesus said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you” (John 15:16).

Jesus did not say He chose us for salvation. He chose us to bear fruit after He had saved us. If we do not bear fruit every thing that we do will merely be religious effort.

A few verses back Jesus taught His disciples how to bear fruit for God:

“Every branch in Me that does no bear fruit He (God) takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me” (John 15:2, 4, NKJV, emphasis added).

We bear fruit for God by abiding in Jesus. This means we live by faith and our entire day to day living entirely dependant on Jesus. We follow His doctrine and be hearers and doers of His Word.

2. Another apostle to replace Judas

Two men, Barsabas and Matthias were qualified to take the place of Judas. The apostles prayed and said, “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place” (Acts 1:24, 25, emphasis added).

The next verse says, “And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles” (Acts 1:26).

3. The conversion of Saul

Saul lost his sight after he met the Lord at Damascus Road. The Lord commanded Ananias to lay hand on Saul to recover his sight and to baptize him.

The Lord said to Ananias, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer fro My name’s sake” (Acts 9:15, 16, emphasis added).

4. The sending out of Barnabas and Saul

Barnabas and Saul were chosen and sent out by the Holy Spirit when prophets and teacher gathered and prayed in the Church of Antioch:

“As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them’” (Acts 13:2).

Conclusion

Volunteers have no place in the Kingdom of God. God does not ask for volunteers. He alone chooses whoever He wants to use!

The Remnant of God's People

All through Scripture God revealed that only the remnant of His people (Israel and the Church) – His divine election will be saved. Both Israel and the Church depend on God’s divine election. More simply stated they depend on “God’s sovereign choice”.

Israel and the Church are two different people of God

Israel is never used in the New Testament as a synonym for the Church.

Paul said, “Israel has not obtained what if seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded” (Romans 11:7, NKJV, emphasis added).

The word “elect” comes from the Greek word “Ekloge” which means “divine selection” or “divinly chosen”. It is obvious that Israel is used here to describe those who have not believed in Jesus the Messiah, and are therefore not part of the Church.

God’s plan for Israel and Gentile Christians is made clear by Paul:

“For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentile has come in. And so all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:25, 26, emphasis added).

Paul set unbelieving Israelites in contrast with Gentiles who have become believers. The “blinded” Israelites are not identified with Gentile Christians; they are distinguished from them. Only when the full number (chosen by God) of the Gentile become believers then the “all” (all who are not blinded or the remnant) Israel will become believers.

Israel and the Church are the products of God’s Choice

The principle of divine election applies both to Israel and the Church. Both Israel and the Church are the products of God’s choice or God’s election. God has no alternative principle. The truth is, He never endorses or blesses any decision or program which He Himself has not initiated.

Israel is God’s choice

In Romans 9:10 – 18 Paul clearly said that God declared His choice even before the birth of the twins Jacob and Esau:

“It was said to her, ‘The older shall serve the younger’. As it is written, ‘Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated’” (Romans 9:12, 13).

Before the brothers were born, without reference to anything they had done, God declared His choice. The older serving the younger – in contrary to the accepted cultural rules of the day. Clearly God’s choice was not based on Jacob’s character or good deeds, since he had not even been born yet. Any goodness that subsequently came out of Jacob’s life was the fruit of God’s choice. Therefore God’s dealings with Israel are the expression of His sovereign decision, not made on the basis of works.

The Church is God’s choice

A careful study of the New Testament Scripture reveals that the same principle of God’s choice applies to Gentile Christians. The principle of divine election (choice) is unfolded by a number of New Testament Scriptures:

Jesus spoke to His disciples, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, ….” (John 15:16).

The above implies that only those whom Jesus has chosen will bear fruit. Others are just exercising religious effects.

His disciples had not become followers of Jesus because they made the right choice. It was not they, but Jesus, who made the choice.

Paul said, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Romans 8:29, 30).

The above passage contains a succession of verbs in the past tense: foreknew, predestined, called, justified, glorified. The whole process had its origin in God’s foreknowledge. From eternity He foreknew each one of us. On the basis of this He predestined us; He planned the course that our lives should take. Unfortunately many contemporary Christians do not understand the divine, eternal origin of our salvation.

We are Christians not because we chose God but because He chose us. In much contemporary teaching, we are left with the feeling that salvation depends entirely on our making the right decision, when actually this is secondary. Salvation depends on the decision God has already made. It is true that we have to make a decision to accept Christ; but any decision we make is merely a response to the decision which God has already made. Furthermore, He made that decision before He created the world.

The Remnant of Israel

In Romans 9 Paul revealed that those Israelites whom God has actually chosen for Himself will be only a remnant out of all Israel:

Paul quoted a prophecy from Isaiah 10:22 concerning Israel:

“Though the number of children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved” (Romans 9:27, NKJV).

In Romans 11 Paul said, “Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace” (Romans 11:5, emphasis added).

The remnant of Israel is brought about by God’s grace alone; it is not something that Israel could earn!

Zephaniah, an Old Testament prophet, prophesized the promise of the restoration of the remnant of Israel:

“I (God) will leave in your midst a meek and humble people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness and speak no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth ….” (Zephaniah 3:12, 13, NKJV, emphasis added).

God is looking for a meek and humble people who will trust in the Lord – a people who is righteous, honest and without deceit.

I believe God is aiming to produce the same type of people for His Church.

God’s remnant according to prophet Zechariah will be refined through fire:

“That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall be left in it: I (God) will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’; and each one will say ‘The Lord is my God’” (Zechariah 13:8, 9).

God’s ultimate purpose is to produce the remnant (one-third of all Israel) of His choice! Even though it involves refining and testing by fire, God will not cease until His purpose is accomplished.

The Remnant of the Church

The question we need to ask is, “Will the Church that is saved also be a remnant”?

Let us refer to several Scriptures which indicate that not all the Church will be saved.

1. Luke’s description of the Narrow Way

Jesus addressed the question: “Lord, are there few who are saved?”

Jesus said, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from, depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity’” (Luke 13:24 – 27, NKJV, emphasis added).

The “gate” of salvation is narrow. It speaks of paying the high cost of total obedience and never to compromise the truth of God’s Word!

Paul wrote to Timothy regarding the seal of God for those who are His:

“Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity’” (2 Tim 2:19, emphasis added).

2. Matthew’s description of the Narrow Way

At the close of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave a similar warning:

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:13, 14; 21 – 23, emphasis added).

From the above two passages of Scripture we made our observation:

1. Only few believers are likely to choose to enter by the narrow gate. But only the narrow gate and the narrow way will lead to life.

2. Only believers who do the will of God the Father will be qualified to enter the Kingdom of heaven.

3. Jesus does not know any believer who merely says, “Lord, Lord” or even uses His name to prophecy, to cast out demons or to work wonders! He considers such person as worker of inequity or lawlessness!

Notice that in the above two passages of Scripture there is one phrase that occurs three times: “I do not know you”. This means that even though these “miracle workers” had been busy serving the Lord, they had never been on the list of God’s elect. Apparently God had looked below their public ministry into their personal lives! In their innermost character God had discerned something described as “lawlessness”. This expressed itself in attitudes such as pride, arrogance, self-seeking, covetousness and personal ambition. For such, He had no place reserved in heaven.

God is looking for the nature of the Lamb, manifested in meekness and purity and holiness for those who serve him in public ministry. There is one unvarying requirement of God that runs through the whole Bible:

“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14, emphasis added).

Mega-Churches That Are Merely Storehouses

An evangelist from a third world country was having a time of fellowship with the senior Pastor of a chain of Mega-Churches from a Western country. Before they parted company, the evangelist made the following statement: “Your Local Churches are only storehouses, storing people for hell”. It was without doubt that the senior Pastor was very much offended. This incident happened more than 12 years ago.

To some people this might appear a shocking statement, but somehow I have reasons to believe that the evangelist was actually speaking the truth. In fact he had made a prophetic statement. With the present New Age movement Local Mega-Churches are mushrooming all over the world! These Mega-Churches not only have large worship sanctuaries they have ultra modern convention centers as well.

How to build a Mega-Church

If it is your “goal and vision” to build a Local Mega-Church then all you need is money and some imagination and creativity. Here are the steps:

1. Spend plenty of money to rebuild your present Church building and equip it with all the facilities (including facilities for youths and young kids) of a country club. Money spent will be recovered very quickly. People who wish to be members of any country club need to pay costly entrance fees and monthly subscription. They are usually wealthy people. But if they can get to enjoy all these facilities for free in a Church, there is no reason why they should not quit going to the country club. Furthermore, they receive all the blessings that a Church offer.

2. Send out faithful and persuasive Church members to invite people to join your Church. Remember not to ask about people’s religious background – whether they are Christians or not or whether they are members of any other Local Churches or not. Be extremely friendly and do their best to build a good personal relationship with new comers. Give them an impression that your Church is indeed an interfaith religious institution. Do not offend anybody. To lead new comers to say the “Sinner’s Prayer” is not advisable. This might frighten them away. Get them water baptized quickly. Make sure you do not mention “repentance” but encouraged them to treasure their new life in Christ. Whether they believe you or not and whether they need to confess their sins or not are not important issues. The important thing is to ensure them of their salvation – tell them they are now saved by the act of water baptism. Tell them all of them will go to heaven because they are now the Bride of Christ.

3. When the new comers begin to enjoy the fellowship of your Church slowly but firmly persuade them to give tithes. Put some fear in them. Show them the Old Testament Scripture about robbing God (Malachi 3:8). Preach a few sermons on the topic of tithing. If they are slow to take heed tell them their business might fail if they refuse to tithe properly and regularly. Tell them God might punish them and inflict them and their family members with incurable diseases if they continue to rob God.

4. Never preach repentance or end-time prophecies. Avoid teaching “hell” and the new birth. Instead, tell them they are wonderful, they are good people and God loves them as they are. Tell them their spiritual Church family is more important than their physical home family so than people come from broken families will not be offended. Show them genuine Christian love. You must ensure every sermon preached from the pulpit is an “itching ears” sermon or the sermon they love to hear.

5. Get them involved in a Church growth/development campaign. Statistics are made available by organizations specializing in studying the growth pattern of thousands of Churches all over the world with various cultures and customs. This is a good way to understand the behavioral pattern of the Universal Church. From these statistics a principle of growth is derived. Using this principle the Local Church will be able to discover the areas of strength and weakness. Spend time and energy on the weak areas and try to achieve a balance. The ultimate goal is to increase the numerical growth rate. It must be good if you believe Mega-Church means a “mega” number of Christians.

The Biblical New Testament Local Church

The “Church” is an “assembly of people” called out from the present world order to serve Jesus Christ and to be prepared by Him to become the collective instrument of the government which He will establish in the next age. The fact that Church people are Christian people called out from the world order means you can never let the world come into the Church to defile the Church.

The apostle Paul described the Church as “His (Christ’s) body” (read Ephesians 1:22, 23). Seen in this light, the Church is not an organization (much less a social club) but an organism. Each member of this body is directly related by personal faith to Christ, as its Head, and through Him to all the other members.

Here are some of my observations concerning the true Church of Jesus Christ:

1. Over the centuries, the true concept of the New Testament Body of Christ has been corrupted and distorted. The Church as it is known today bears little or no resemblance to the original model established in the New Testament beginning from the Book of Acts.

2. Many of those who consider themselves as members of today’s Local Church have no living, personal relationship with Christ, and are often at enmity with other professing Christians. Only a small minority of those who are currently called Christians are members of the Church which is described in the New Testament.

3. Members of Christ’s Body must remember what Paul said: “Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.’” (2 Tim. 2:19, NKJV, emphasis added). In other words, the true Church has two distinguishing characteristics:

a. God, and God alone, knows all those who are truly His.

b. Everyone who claims to be member of His Church is required to demonstrate it by a life of practical righteousness and holiness.

4. You have probably heard this: “Going to Church does not make you a Christian just like going to a garage does not make you a car.” Only born again believers can be true Christians and therefore you cannot invite non-Christians and non-water-baptized people to be members of the Local Church. By careful study of the Book of Acts you will realize that every believer was born again and water baptized before they joined the Local Church. According to the Scripture unbelievers have the “spirit (unclean) who now works in the sons of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2). The Church being the temple of God is holy and it must not be defiled by any unclean spirit (1 Cor. 3:16).

5. The Church does not save and the act of water baptism does not save (please read my earlier Posting – “Understanding Water Baptism”). Therefore by going to Church does not make a person a Christian. Similarly by ministering the act of water baptism does not make a person a Christian. A person must repent and believe before he is qualified to be water baptized (Acts 2:38).

6. God ordained three structures to be built for His glory by His people - The Tabernacle of David, The Temple of Solomon and the Church of Jesus Christ. All three are related; but the first two are physical structures and the Church is a spiritual Structure. All three are built by divine pattern with divine provision and for a divine purpose. David got the pattern for the Temple of Solomon by the Spirit of God (1 Chronicles 28:12). Similar the spiritual pattern for the Church of Jesus Christ is given by the Spirit of God. Men are not called to build any Church, whether a mega-Church or a small Church without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit!

The New Testament Salvation

The whole process of the New Testament salvation consists of justification, regeneration, sanctification and glorification in this order. It is beyond the scope of this message to consider salvation as a continuous process. We shall consider salvation in its most basic meaning – the “initiation” act of entering a life of faith in Christ.

Basically, salvation means the translation of a person from the kingdom of Satan to the Kingdom of God. Therefore, being “saved” means being “salvaged from sins” rather than being “saved from hell” even though the latter is the result of the former.

Jesus is called the Messiah because He would save the people from their sin:

The angel of the Lord said to Joseph, “And she (Mary) will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

The New Testament makes it plain that the experience of salvation comes to each soul only as a result of personal response to the gospel.

Paul explained that salvation comes to a person through believing with the heart and confessing with the mouth the truth of the gospel:

“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9, 10).

The born again experience that Jesus spoke about in John 3:3 is further made clear by the apostle John:

“He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in Hin name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:11 – 13, NKJV, emphasis added).

In other words, the active response to the gospel is personally receiving Christ. The result of this response of faith is becoming a child of God, or “being born of God”. Each person must make his own response; no person can make the response required from another person. Each person will be either saved or lose solely by his own response.

Entrance into the God’s Kingdom

Let me summarize the basic facts of the Gospel and the response which each person is required to make:

1. Christ was delivered by God the Father to the punishment of death on account of our sins.

2. Christ was buried.

3. God raised Him from the dead on the third day.

4. Righteousness is received from God through believing these facts.

If you are one of those who are afraid of offending an unbeliever by telling him that he needs to confess his sin, look at it the Scriptural way:

Paul said, “Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death” (2 Cor. 7:9, 10, NKJV, emphasis added).

Conclusion

If you are truly convinced what the Scripture says about the Church, salvation and the born-again experience surely you will also be convinced that the way of building Mega-Churches is entirely of man’s idea without Scriptural basis and is an abomination to the Lord!

Secular Government Authority

I believe this is a very delicate subject to handle. There are divergent views among Christians. I am talking about the command of God for Christians to submit themselves to secular government authority, whether the government is good or bad, righteous or unrighteous.

Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome:

“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake” (Romans 13:1 – 5, NKJV).

There is a parallel passage of Scripture written by Peter:

“Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men – as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king” (1 Peter 2:13 – 17).

Notice that both Paul and Peter were ministering the Gospel during the Roman Empire. Jesus, as well as both Paul and Peter were executed under the Roman Empire. Therefore whatever they said they had to live it out.

Out of the above passages, we may select three statements that are particularly significant:

1. There is no authority but by the act of God.

2. They are God’s agents working for your good.

3. They are God’s agents for punishment.

The apostles addressed these words specifically to Christians. They stated that government is established by an act of God. How that government will affect Christians depends upon the attitude and conduct of the Christians.

If Christians are walking in obedience to the will of God, then the government and its officers “are God’s agents working for their good”. But if Christians are disobedient and not walking in the path of God’s will, then the government and its officers become “God’s agents of punishment”. In other words, Christians get the kind of government they deserved.

All authority is in the Hand of Jesus

After the resurrection of Jesus He came and spoke to His disciples:

“All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18).

Concerning Jesus Paul said, “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power” (Col. 2:9, 10, emphasis added).

Being the Head of all principality and power Jesus has all authority.

Government Authority and our prayer

Every earthly government has the authority to rule because God had appointed and given them the authority. We are not talking about the person (righteous or unrighteous) who occupies the seat of the office of certain government, but about the actual office itself. Both Paul and Peter said behind the office of the Government authority is God’s authority. Our relationship, as Christians, to the office ultimately depicts our relationship with God.

Because not all Governments are necessarily good Paul instructed Timothy to have the Local Church which he called God’s house (1 Tim. 3:14, 15) to pray for a good Government (1 Tim 2:1 – 4). We may sum up this passage of Scripture in a series of logical steps:

1. The first ministry of the Local Church in regular fellowship is prayer.

2. The first specific topic for prayer is the government.

3. We are to pray for good government.

4. God desires all men to have the truth of the Gospel preached to them.

5. Good government facilitates the preaching of the Gospel, while bad government hinders it.

6. Therefore, good government is the will of God.

The need to subject to bad Government authority

A question arises – What happens when an ungodly, wicked man or a persecutor is occupying a position of high authority in the Government? Let us consider two appropriate examples:

Jesus and Pilate

Jesus gave us a good pattern to follow, because He encountered the above problem!

Pilate confronted Jesus who claimed to be the King of the Jew. Jesus answered him:

“My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jew; but now My kingdom is not from here” (John 18:36).

Jesus revealed a very important basis spiritual principle – The Kingdom of God is never established by carnal weapons. It is not that we should not use carnal weapons. But, the Kingdom of God is not established by fighting.

All Christians are citizens of two Kingdoms – We are citizens of the Kingdom of God and also the citizens of our own country. As citizens of our own country it may be our responsibility to fight. But we are not establishing the Kingdom of God by our fighting.

The Lord said to Zerubbabel, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit” (Zech. 4:6).

In other words, there is only one power in the Kingdom of God – The Spirit of God.

Pilate told Jesus that he had the power to crucify Him. But Jesus answered him:

“You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin” (John 19:11).

Here is another remarkable statement made by Jesus. Jesus pointed out that Pilate had a lesser sin than the Jewish High Priest who delivered Jesus to him. The High Priest had no authority at all to do that. But, Pilate even though wicked, had the authority. Jesus showed that he had tremendous respect for secular authority – even for the authority used unjustly against Him! He did not resist Pilate.

Peter and other apostles and the High Priest

Peter and other apostles were put on trial by the Jewish High Priest. He said to them:

“Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name?” (Acts 5:28, emphasis added).

What a remarkable statement – The High Priest said “this name” instead of “Jesus’ Name”!
But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

The apostles had a specific mandate, a command of Jesus Christ to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15). The apostles were merely obeying Jesus even thought the High Priest told them not to do. In a way, they were saying they could not stop preaching Jesus – “You can do what you like with us but we would not obey you”. Notice that they did not stage a revolution, stage marches nor hold protests, but just simply submitted to unjust treatment!

What did they do while submitting to the unjust authority? They sang, they preached, and they testified. By their submission they opened the way for God to help them – God vindicated them!
Christians and conscience

Let us refer back to Romans 13:5, “Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience sake”.

The question is, “What if the ruler (the one in authority) demands that I do something which I cannot do with a clear conscience"? The answer is, “I refuse to do it”. But, you submit by saying that “I would not do that, but you can do what you like with me”. You disobey the authority but you would not give up your submission.

Peter said, “And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed” (1 Peter 3:13, 14).

Concerning the faithful followers of Christ, John said:

“And they overcame him (the accuser of our brethren) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death” (Revelation 12:11, NKJV, emphasis added).

In other words, for them it is more important to do the will of God than to stay alive!