Radiant Church

Loving the Bride of Christ: (Part II)

RADIANT CHURCH

Ephesians 5:25-27 (NIV)  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ love the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

     There is a beautiful and specila relationship that exists between Christ and His church.  That is the marriage relationship.  Buring the Bible times, almost all marriages after securing the following:

     - Pre-arrangement of Parents - parents chose the spouse for their children.  Likewise our marriage to Christ was a product of the Father's eternal plan.

     - Payment of Dowry - the family of the groom presents money or property as a Mohar (dowry) to the bride and her family to purchase the bride.  In the same manner, Christ purchased His bride by sacrificing his very own life for her.

     After Jesus has gained His bride, He began His perfect work of making the bride beautiful not just for Himself but for the world to behold.  His obvious intention is:  He wants to make the bride as His instrument to bring salvation to many more people in the world.  The first church in Jerusalem reflected this truth:

Acts 2:44-47 (NIV)  All the believers were together and had everything in common.  Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.  Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.  They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.  And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

     The context of this passage was the inauguration of the church.  After the church was born, it was such a dynamic movement that people were drawn closer to God as a result.  don't miss those words - "enjoying the favor of all the people.  And the Lord added to their number..."  In other words, the life of the church was so attractive that people were drawn to Christ and were saved.

     Charles Finney, the great revivalist, once said, "Christians themselves are the greatest reason for accepting Christ.  But they are also the greatest excuse for rejecting Christ."  is it possible that many people are staying away from Christ because of what they see in the church?  Truly, we are either the greatest attraction, or the greatest distraction for Christ.

     This morning, I want to continue our series and speak about the radiant church.  Last Sunday, I said, the greatest passion of Christ is our transformation, but He needs our cooperation.  Clearly, Christ wants to see a glorious church, and we must work actively with Him so our church can be one.  What do we need to do in order to keep our church attractive or radiant before the world?  I believe we can think of many things, but allow me to highlight at least three:

I.  STAY IN THE FAITH:

     When we use the word faith, we often refer to either the confidence we have in God or the set of beliefs we have accepted.  For the sake of time, let  me just emphasize the last one.

     Right after the church was established in Acts 2, the very first activity of the church was the preaching of the Gospel by Peter to the multitudes who wondered why the 120 believers in the upper room were speaking in different tongues.  Beginning in verse 14 to 40, Peter carefully explained how Jesus was the Messiah promised from the Old Testament, and the one who died for the sins of the world.  He did not hesitate to challenge them for an appropriate response.  Here's the portion of the message:

Acts 2:36-38 (NIV)  "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this:  God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."  When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"  Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.  And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

     With a clear presentation of the Gospel, the people were convicted (v.37), and they responded accordingly:

Acts 2:41 (NIV)  Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

     Unfortunately, this kind of commitment to the Gospel is missing in many churches today.  There are people who think that in order for the church to be attractive to the world, they have to water down the Gospel, avoid talking about sin, or should not challenge people to commit their lives to God.

     I believe the church should not compromise.  The preaching of sound Gospel does not hinder the growth of the church.  If you go back to the preaching of Peter, his bold preaching resulted to 3,000 people being saved and being added to the church.  Evidently, the church had prioritized this activity tot he extent that the Sanhedrin would later comment.

Acts 5:27-28 (NIV)  Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest.  "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,"  he said.  "Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood."

     Can you imagine - the church had filled the town with their teachings?  That would probably be the best compliment any Christian church would get.  If our church would be known in the community, it would be nice to be know first and foremost through our message.

     Of course, the Bible explicitly warned concerning compromising the message in the last days:

2Timothy 4:2-4 (NIV)  Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction.  For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

     We don't have to change our message for the sake of pleasing the world.  God has called the church to be the truth bearer.  So many people are hungry for the truth, and they ought to find it through the church.

II.  STRENGTHEN THE FELLOWSHIP:

     Another area where the church should be known is in fellowship or relationship.  Jesus instructed the apostles concerning the importance of this:

John 13:34-35 (NIV)  "A new command I give you:  Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

     This commandment was not necessarily a new commandment, the idea of loving your neighbor was a principle that God has taught from the very beginning, but it was new in the depth of that love.  It was new because we have been commanded to love others as Christ loves.  This is the unconditional and sacrificial kind of love.

     Once again in Acts 2, we find the church displaying the reality of this within their context.  Sharing and caring were so real that the church established a strong testimony in the community.

Acts 2:44-47 (NIV)  All the believers were together and had everything in common.  Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.  Every day they continued to meed together in the temple courts.  Theya broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.  And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

     The fellowship among the believers became an avenue to attract other people to Jesus Christ.  You see, the Church is unlike anything else in the whole world, in that special relationships can be formed between those who have a common bond in the church.  You can have dozens of friends in the world, but no friendships or relationships can compare with those that you can develop within the church.

     You cannot find friends in the world that care about your soul, that will pray for you, that will desire you to be a better person, that will encourage you when you are down, will love you unconditionally, will forgive you when you mess up, and will care about where you spend eternity.  The fellowship that we can have within a church is a special thing that is unique to the church.

     Pastor Rick Warren in his book, Purpose Driven Life, mentioned about the giant Redwood trees in California that have really shallow roots, yet they remain stable even when hit by strong winds.  The reason is because the Redwood trees are connected together by their roots.  Since they are connected together at the roots, they are able to stand strong and withstand the storms and the wind.  As Christians when we are rooted together in Christ we are able to withstand a lot of difficulties.

     Let me encourage you to go out of your way to establish good relationships with other believers here in BCI.  Don't isolate yourselves.  Join a Care Group, because this is where sharing and caring can be stimulated.  I pray that we can all develop the kind of relationship that will encourage us to grow deeper in the Lord.  It might be imposiible to connect deeply with everyone in the church, but I hope you can find a support group.  Remember, God has called us not in isolation, but communion with other believers in Christ.

III.  STRIVE IN FAITHFULNESS:

     Last but not the least, the church can also known for its faithfulness.  I would like to highlight three areas of faithfulness:

     A.  Consistency:

     Many people have shunned Christian churches because of the impression that all are hypocrites.  I recognize that at times, people have placed an unreasonable expectation on believers.  Yet, we still have to stive to do our best.  We can never be sinless or perfect, yet we can develop and become a better testimony for Christ.  Do you know that the title Christian (Acts11:26) meaning little Christ, was given by the people who were not part of the church?  Apostle Peter gave this instruction to early believers:

1Peter 2:12 (NIV)  Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

     B.  Persistency and Resiliency:

     From the beginning the church had always been opposed, persecuted, and misunderstood.  However, through God's help the church had always prevailed.  God's people persisted in achieving the visions God had given then in the midst of all obstacles the devil had placed before them.  God laid His end goals for them:

Acts 1:8 (NIV)  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

     Clearly, God told them the Gospel must begin in Jerusalem, then Judea, Samaria, and finally in the world.  The church had some setbacks but was resilient.  Believers continued to pursue God's goals and had experienced His victory.  I believe we should have the same attitude.  Sometimes, we can experience some setbacks, but we should never give up.  We should be faithful in growing the kingdom of God not only here in New Jersey, but in the world.

     I hope and pray that all of us will work harder to establish a more radiant church.  Not because we want to promote our name, but to bring greater honor and glory to the Lord of our church, the Lord Jesus Christ.