THE CHURCH THAT JESUS IS INDWELLING

Matt. 18:20

Morning Meditation 5/15/16

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Some claim this is the simplest form of a New Testament Church. I do not believe that every time two are three get together for Bible study that it is a church. I do not believe that is what Jesus teaches in the New Testament. I do believe that Jesus is teaching that he is in the “midst” of the very smallest church. The word “midst” (mesos) means, “in the middle, amongst, in the midst.” The same word is used in Revelation 1:13 “And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.”

Lets talk about the Church that Jesus is indwelling. If Jesus in not in the Church where you attend, I feel sorry for you. I do not go to church just to say I’ve been to church. I go to fellowship with the Lord and get fed. If that doesn’t take place, I need to do something so that I am experiencing the presence of the Lord in my worship. I’ll save what to do for a future study.

Jesus indwells the Church of which he is the foundation. When Jesus said in Matthew 16:18: “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Jesus was pointing to himself when he said, “upon this rock.” The Bible is the best commentary on the Bible. Paul said in 1 Cor. 3:11: “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” If a church is not built on Jesus, he is not in her midst. It won’t take long to tell, if you listen, if a church is built on Jesus. When Paul said, “For other foundation can no man lay...” he did not mean that one could not build a false church on a wrong foundation. He meant that the foundation has already been laid and any other foundation is false. If you build on another foundation, you are building your own church. And I’ll assure you that Jesus will not be in attendance. Jesus indwells the church of which he is the foundation.

Jesus indwells the church of which he is the head. Paul said in Colossians 1:18: “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” You say, “This is talking about the body of which all the saved are a part.” My answer to you is that Jesus built the local church to be the place where that body finds expression on earth, where worship takes place, where christian growth takes place and where the mission of taking the gospel to the world is carried out. That local church must be patterned after the original model and he must be the head. The head of the local church is Jesus. He is walking in the midst of the seven churches of Asia. Note it is not the “church of Asia” as if he were talking about a universal body. It is to the “seven churches which are in Asia” (Rev. 1:11). Jesus is walking in the midst of these seven churches. He is the head. He says to the first of the seven churches mention, i.e., Ephesus: Rev. 2:1 says, “Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.” Then he proceeds as head to instruct the church through the pastor. The Lord is not the head of the church where the pastor does not get his guidance and instructions from the Lord. And I am not just talking about Scriptural correctness. Jesus is not the head of a lot of local churches where you could find nothing wrong with the doctrine that they teach. But you will find that the leadership of the church is not based on prayer and seeking what the Lord wants as to direction. The pastor, the deacons and the committees pray as a matter of form and the rest is of the conclusions to which they come is based on what they think is best for the church. Jesus is not just a “figure head.” He is the head and he indwells churches who take that seriously. My position when I was the pastor of a church was to seek Jesus constantly to discover the direction he wanted the church to go in, then lead the church in that direction.

He indwells the church where he receives the glory. Paul said in Ephesians 3:21: “Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” We come together to worship him. He must be the center. The church, and I’m not saying this is true in all cases, is a man honoring organization today. They give plaques and trophies and special recognition for heads of committees for the outstanding job they did in the building of the church building or family life center or whatever else you want to add to it. Have you every heard a pastor get up and say something like this?: “we are so thankful that our committee was able to prayerfully discover what Jesus wanted in this construction. They went through some times of crisis but they always called a prayer meeting and fasted when necessary and the Lord brought us through to victory through the humble submission of this committee. What you see in this (whatever it might be) is for the glory of God. It is his accomplishment. Let’s all bow and worship him in thanksgiving because of what he has done for us.” He indwells the church that glorifies him.

He indwells the church that evangelizes. Jesus gave his commission to the local church: Jesus said in Mark 16:15 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” No church has the right to exist who fails to be involved in world missions at home and abroad. The primary duty of the church is evangelism. One of the first events of the empowered first church was Peter’s message on Pentecost where 3000 people were saved and added to the church in Jerusalem. I used to hear people say, “our church just voted to get involved in missions.” I enjoy telling them you don’t vote to do missions if you are a true New Testament Church. That is like a man deciding to be a man. I’m not talking about a man deciding to be more manly. I’m talking about a man who was procreated a man deciding to be what he was born. That is stupid. Though some men have been trying to decide to be women (God help). The church was built for missions. You don’t vote to do what you came into existence to do. You may vote who you are going to support and where you are going to send your mission money. That’s ok. But you insult the Lord of the church when you take a vote to do what he has you under orders to do. Jesus indwells churches that are involved soul winning at home and missions abroad.

He indwells a church that brings converts to maturity. There are all kinds of stories today about women abandoning their new born babies. They sometimes leave them in the home totally unattended, in trash cans, in unattended cars or on someone’s door step. Sometimes these babies die from neglect. When this happens, the mother is tried for murder. I believe this is right. Don’t you? What about churches who leave the converts totally unattended and unfed? You can be sure there will be some charges to face at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Jesus indwells churches that bring the new converts to maturity.

May God bless you.

In Christ

Bro. White