As we began to address last week, we know from the clear prophecy of Scripture that the end of this age will be the hardest time the world has ever known. At the same time, we also know that it will be the most glorious for those who serve the Lord. For those who abide in the Lord, who have built their lives on His kingdom, there should be no fear of things to come. In fact, the hard times are birth pangs which will ultimately result in the birth of the kingdom of God on the earth. The "mother," through which the birth will come, will be the church.
The church is the "Jerusalem above," or the spiritual Jerusalem, who Paul said "is our mother" (see Galatians 4:26). The church will go through the great changes that the world is about to go through and will enter into the life and power of the age to come in many ways as a precursor of the coming of the kingdom. For this reason, the church is the main thing that God is doing on the earth today. If we want to serve Him, we will begin to do it in and through the church.
Idealism or Revelation
Human idealism is one of the greatest enemies of revelation. Many have an idealistic view of what the church and church life should be like, but the path to true church life is to live a life of sacrifice. Mature and maturing Christians do not go to a church for what they can get, but for what they can give. They do not go to just be edified, but to edify others. Even if it is to just pray for the worship, the teaching and preaching, or other ministries, it is to support and help. The Holy Spirit is the Helper, and those who are really living by the Spirit are always seeking to help, which begins in the church.
Right now the church is often perceived as a boring, calcified, overly rigid institution, even to many Christians. However, even now, the church is the most vibrant, alive, interesting, and powerful entity on the planet, when viewed as a whole. It has been this way since the Holy Spirit was first poured out on The Day of Pentecost recorded in the Book of Acts. Taken as a whole, there has been nothing else like the church in all of history, and there will not be anything like it again. Nothing on earth has done so much good and has had such a positive influence on the world. Certainly it has also had its problems and made its mistakes, just like all individual Christians have, but overall, if viewed as a whole, and with its whole history, there has not been anything like the church.
Even so, at best it is but a fraction of what it is called to be. When it starts to enter into the fullness of what its calling is, the church itself will become the marvel of the nations, and then, almost across the spectrum of society, the leader of the nations. It will not have to be elected to any office to do this, but will do so from the shear power of its truth. The following verses are some of the most clear and specific on this:
"For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you."
"And nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising."
"Lift up your eyes round about, and see; they all gather together, they come to you. Your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will be carried in the arms."
"Then you will see and be radiant, and your heart will thrill and rejoice; because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, the wealth of the nations will come to you" (Isaiah 60:1-5).
Before the nations come to the church, we need to have something to come to. Right now even most Christians are not a part of a local church, so how are we going to attract the nations? This will change and the church already is making huge strides in some regions of the world to becoming all that it is called to be. However, for the most part, in Europe and North America, the great shift and acceleration of church life has not yet begun except in a few isolated places.
If you are asking why it has not begun in your location, it could be because the Lord is waiting for you. Not just you, of course, but He may well be waiting for His people in your area to get over their wounds and disappointments and resolve to use them to mature and become what they are called to be. Do any of us measure up to what we should be? If not, maybe we should show some grace to the church, too. The Lord will not wait forever, but we are in a time when He is calling all of His people to find their place in His body and get there. Soon, if we are not there, we will not make it through what is coming.
If there simply is not a congregation in your region where you and/or your family fit—move. If you are seeking first the kingdom, you will put finding your place in the Lord's body a top priority, far above jobs, professions, geography, or any other reason for living in a place. If we will seek first His kingdom, He promises to add everything else that we need to us. If we do not seek His kingdom first, we may have everything else, but the most important elements of our life will be missing, and the time is not far off when this will be revealed to be the tragedy that it really is.
All individual churches or congregations will go through struggles and problems, which are meant to test the members as much as to mature the whole church. There are not many individual congregations that we can say are now the most vibrant, living, powerful entities in their communities, but there are some, and the number is increasing. The number will continue to increase until they are brilliant and powerful witnesses for the kingdom everywhere you go on the earth.
I repeat, with the utmost earnestness, if we are going to be involved in the purposes of the Lord for our time, we must find our place in His body. Again, if there is no place in the church that you fit in your locality—move! If we are living a life that "seeks first the kingdom," (see Matthew 6:33 NKJV), then we will seek our place in His kingdom first.
His body, the church, is about to go through a metamorphosis, changing from being a worm who crawls along the ground to the beautiful butterfly she is called to be. However, if you are waiting for her to change before joining her, and you do not go through the cocoon experience with her, you will not fit in. We need the pressures, frustrations, disappointments, and sometimes boredom, as well as the joy of deepening and true fellowship which can only be found in church life, to mature us so that we can be the messengers of the kingdom we are called to be.
There is a limit to our spiritual maturity without this. You can grow in knowledge, and even personal devotion, but there is a dynamic that is only found in true church life, which is required for us to grow in the fruit of the Spirit, as well as true spiritual authority. We see this in the Lord's declaration in John 15:1-7:
"Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit."
"You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you."
"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me."
"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing."
"If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."
"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you."
It is not possible to be rightly joined to the Head without also being joined to His body. It is as we come to abide in Him that we bear fruit, and when we do this we can get to the place where we can even ask whatever we wish and it will be done for us. Why? Because those who have gone through the discipline and humbling which is required to take their place in His body would not ask amiss, but would only ask that which is in fact His will.
Of course, there are Christians who are in the will of God even though they may be far from any vital thriving church. However, these are rare, are on special assignments, and have grace for this. It is my opinion that 99 percent of all who claim this are in fact deceived about it, of which their lack of fruitfulness is proof. Consider the text above. Bearing fruit is so important that He promises to cut off every branch that does not bear fruit, and we cannot bear fruit except by abiding in the Vine. If we are abiding in Him, we will also be joined to all of the other branches in a vital, real relationship.
The church is going to be transformed into the most vital, interesting, compelling, and powerful society on the earth. It is crucial that all Christians find their place in His body and begin to function in that place as they are called. It will be hard, and it is supposed to be hard at times, but nothing of significance will be too easy or will happen too fast. Find you place in the body, now!
For the next few weeks, we are going to focus on how the kingdom is coming to the church, and then through the church. None of us will want to miss this. We will all have to humble ourselves to be a part, and become the forgiving, loving, Christians we are called to be. There really is no other alternative, and there will be nothing more ultimately fulfilling and wonderful. The greatest society ever on the earth is being built and will start coming together, forming a bridge into the age to come.
