The Value of the Church When Jesus stood before Pilate, He was asked the question, "Art thou the king of the Jews?", (John 18:33). In reply to that question Jesus said, "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world," (John 18:37). Jesus also told Pilate that His kingdom was "not of this world". Jesus' kingdom was not a tangible kingdom that could be observed in a physical sense. The Israelites tried to force an earthly kingdom onto Jesus and He departed from them, (John 6:15). Satan tried to give Jesus all the physical kingdoms of the world in exchange for His worship but He refused them, (Luke 4:5-7). Jesus' kingdom would be a spiritual kingdom, unable to be seen with fleshly eyes, being found neither here nor there physically, but would be within man, (Luke 17:20-21). It would be established within the lifetimes of those living at the time of the cross, (Mark 9:1), and would be an everlasting kingdom, (2 Peter 1:11), never to be overthrown. When Peter first declared that he knew Jesus was the Son of God, Jesus announced that He would build His church on that confession, and the gates of Hades, meaning the chains of death, could not prevail against it, (Matthew 16:18-19). The very first time Jesus ever mentioned His church, He mentioned the kingdom right along with it. The church which was established in the lifetime of the 1st century disciples, fit every description of the coming kingdom of God perfectly, and was said to endure through all ages without end, (Ephesians 3:21). The Hebrew writer taught in chapter 12 and verse 28, "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear". They were receiving the kingdom in their lifetimes. Paul wrote in Colossians 1:12-13, "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us [past tense], into the kingdom of his dear Son". Before anybody can be translated into a kingdom, there first has to be one. John wrote in Revelation 1:9, "I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ". John cannot write by inspiration that he is in the kingdom of Jesus Christ unless he really is in the kingdom of Jesus Christ. In order for John to be in the kingdom, there has to be one. The reason we are going through this is to establish that the kingdom of Christ is the spiritual body of the saved. It is made up of those individuals who willingly seek the kingdom of God and do those things by faith which identify them as a Christian. The Kingdom of God, or of Christ, sometimes referred to as the kingdom of Heaven, in scripture is the church. Established in the first century by Jesus Christ. The word church comes from the Greek word, "Ekklesia" which simply means "called out". It is used to describe a people, not a thing. The word church actually came about many centuries after Christ lived on earth. A more accurate translation of the word "Ekklesia" into English would be "the assembly". The assembly or the "called out" of Christ is the body of Christ. We simply call it a church. This body of the saved is the spiritual kingdom of souls over which Jesus rules as the head. The promised kingdom written of in Isaiah 9:7, and Daniel 2:44 is the church of Christ. How valuable is the church of our Lord? To answer that, one must consider what it cost to purchase it. In our lives, we all work to get things. I remember Dylan came to me one time wanting a new 22 caliber rifle. He had one all picked out that I didn't like. I got on the internet and showed him a Henry lever action 22. Pretty pricey little rifle. Well, he wanted it. And he wanted it bad. I worked out a deal with Dylan where I would buy him the rifle and he would work the cost of it out around the farm. I took off down a fencerow with a chainsaw one day and when I was done, there was half a mile of brush and trees cut out of that fence laying in a long strip. Dylan was to drag every bit of that brush out and away from the fence and pile it so that I could come along with a big brush hog and grind all of it up in splinters. Dylan worked for that Henry lever action 22. And he got it. And if you know what's good for you, you better not mess with it. Why does that 22 mean so my to Dylan? Because he had to make a sacrifice to get it. We all make sacrifices to get things. Houses, cars, food to feed kids, clothes, the comfort of heating, lighting and air conditioning in our homes. We work for these things. When we obtain these things, they are valuable to us. A house is very expensive and it is very hard to replace. And because of the sacrifice we have to make for these things, they become very valuable to us. The more they cost us, the more valuable they are. Of all the material things on earth, is there one possession that is worth more than your life? Have you ever desired a possession so badly that you would give your own life, or the life your only child, in order to purchase it? Jesus placed a value on a single human soul, greater than all the combined material possessions of earth, (Mark 8:36). He refused all earthly kingdoms, yet gave His own life to possess the church, (Ephesians 5:25). One must then ask, what is the church worth to Jesus? The church was worth Jesus coming to earth in the flesh and dying for. The church was worth enough to God that He allowed His Son to be put to death for it. The church is the body of the saved, so it can be said that the church was valuable enough to Jesus that He sacrificed His life in order to purchase it. If the cost of something is any reflection of its value, then what is the church of our Lord worth? The church of our Lord is unique; one of a kind. Jesus only died for one church, He only bought one, He built only one, heads only one and He is the savior of only that one, (Ephesians 5:23). Those who create their own church in His name and offer their own worship demonstrate their lack of reverence for the original. They don't seek first the real Kingdom of God, but rather create their own with no regard whatsoever for the one Jesus died for. They place no value whatsoever on God's masterpiece, choosing to elevate their own work above His. But what about the ones that are close? Aren't they good enough? It's easy to spot a counterfeit with glaring imperfections, but what about the really good fakes? A counterfeit dollar bill, no matter how close it may resemble the original is still worthless. The best counterfeits are the deadliest because they are the hardest to spot. We must shun the counterfeits and have no part with them for in the end they will all be rooted up, (Matthew 15:13). It is not possible for the faithful Christian to offer acceptable worship to God in fellowship with a manmade body. There can be no fellowship with unrighteousness, there can be no communion between light and darkness, (2 Corinthians 6:14). We cannot participate in unacceptable worship and expect God's approval. Those who accept and approve of doctrinal error are partakers of the evil, (2 John 10-11). In order to be able to recognize the true church of our Lord, we need to be familiar with its identifying characteristics. We read of only one church in the New Testament. Jesus built it and possesses it Himself, (Matthew 16:18); He died for it, paying its purchase price with His own life blood, (Acts 20:28). He is the head of His church, which is His body, (Ephesians 1:22-23). The church is described as His bride, (Romans 7:4), and should boldly identify itself as His church by wearing a Biblical name that identifies itself as being His, (Romans 16:16). The church is subject, or obedient, to Christ in all things, (Ephesians 5:24). The church is the spiritual kingdom of God. Faithful Christians look to Jesus as the perfect example to live by, are under subjection to His authority, diligently seeking His will and striving to obey Him in all things. Salvation is given to the obedient servants of Christ, (Hebrews 5:9). What's the church of
our Lord worth? What is it's value? Shouldn't we place as much
value on the church as Jesus does? Shouldn't it be as important to us
as it is to Him? Should we accept manmade substitutes? Or should
we demand the real, thing? What if Dylan gave me that rifle he
sacrificed so much for and I traded it for another one? Would Dylan be
happy about that? What if Dylan came to see what I had done with his
rifle only to discover that I had rejected it and got myself another one?
What if Jesus, who died to provide us with the kingdom of Christ, found that
we had rejected His church only to replace it with another? How do you
suppose He would react to that? We don't have to guess as to what His
reaction would be. He tells us in Matthew 15:13 What should the church be worth to us? It is our sole means of reconciliation with God. Our sins are forgiven only through Christ and in order to be the recipient of this blessing, we must be in the body of Christ. All spiritual blessings are in Christ, (Ephesians 1:3). Faithful Christians are the members of the body of Christ, (1 Corinthians 12:27). The church is not a building or a place. It is spiritual in nature and is made up of all the faithful of all ages. The church Jesus died for is the collective sum of all the faithful who ever lived. Just like the Israelites were of the house of Jacob, (Isaiah 48:1), faithful Christians are of the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth, (1 Timothy 3:15). He died for us and the church is priceless to Him. "Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish, (Ephesians 5:25-27). The church of our Lord is priceless to Him. Likewise the church should be priceless to us because if we are not a part of it, we have no hope. It is vitally important that we seek out the one church that Jesus died for, and be a part of that one. For there is salvation in no other.
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