Mentoring Men for the Master

WHEN IS THE CHURCH THE REAL CHURCH – The Real Body of Christ?

WHEN IS THE CHURCH THE REAL CHURCH – The Real Body of Christ?

Free Music – Share Audio – 03/22/14 The Seventh I

Until Jesus returns to reclaim this world for Himself, Christ created the Church to be His Stand-In.  People try to imagine Christ in their own minds, but the only sure way to actually see Christ is by seeing His Body, the church.  To create the church Jesus has undergone three great acts of Humiliation:

  1. The Incarnation, in which He poured Himself into the confines of a human body.
  2. The Crucifixion when He suffered the Humiliation of a public execution, and
  3. He Created the Church, through which He has entrusted His reputation to ordinary people like you and me.

Three Questions Arise Concerning the Church, the Body of Christ:

  1. When is the Church the Real Body of Christ?
    1. When Jesus is Lord (controller). (1 Peter 3:15)
    2. When the Holy Spirit is the Teacher. (John 14:26)
    3. When each member is “born again” and becomes an indispensable part of the body. (1 Peter 2:5-9)
    4. When each member does not operate as an individual, but considers himself as “members one of another (Ephesians 4:26; 1 Cor. 12).  A kinship closer than blood kin.
    5. When each member is obeying 1 Peter 4:10 by sharing his gifts to encourage other members (Heb. 10:24-25).
    6. When each member is identified with a local church and serving the Lord and others in the body.
    7. When the church obeys the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-39) and the Great Commission. (Matthew 28:19).
  2.  When is the Church not the Church, the Real Body of Christ?
    1. When the Church is not controlled by Christ or taught by the Holy Spirit.
    2. When the unity of the church is disrupted by factions, or cliques, (families), etc.
    3. When the members are afflicted with Consumerism- when they come to be served, not to serve.
    4. When members operate as individuals and not as part of the whole.
    5. When members pursue Preferences rather than Principles and believes his standards should be everyone else’s.
    6. When members are afflicted with “Me-Ism” rather than the glory of Jesus Christ.
    7. When the Great Commission and the Great Commandment are ignored or unknown.
  3.  What Can I as an Individual Do to see that the Church is the Church, the Real  Body of Christ?  Please examine the marks of the true body of Christ.  Do these describe you?  Please examine the marks of a fleshly body of Christ.  Do these describe you?
  4.  Do You Need the Church to Conform to the Image of Christ?  (Ephes. 4:15ff) If not, explain why?  If yes, are you taking advantage of it?

 

Questions and Answers:

  1. What are the only two institutions God established whereby the world would see the reality of Jesus?
  2. Briefly describe the “Real Church, the Body of Christ.”
  3. Briefly describe a so-called Church which is not the body of Christ.
  4. Why is it so important that the Church be the Real Body of Christ?
  5. If the Church is, what impression does that give the world of Christ?
  6. If the Church is not, what impression does that give the world of Christ or Christianity?
  7. Does Jesus abandon local churches who have serious failures? (Rev. 2-3).
  8. Does God ever advise that a church be closed (Mal. 1:10)
  9. Can you be a full-professing, baptized member of a local church and not be a part of the true church?
  10. What are the results of the church not being the true body of Christ?
  11. Are people saved because the church is the real body of Christ?
  12. Are people lost because the church is not the real body?
  13. As some visitors entered the First Baptist Church of Durham, they asked some deacons at the entrance, “Do you belong to this church?”  To which they replied, “Not only do we belong, but the church belongs to us.”  Your response?
  14. “I’m as good or better than my friends who go to church.”  Your response?
  15. “I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.”  Your response.
  16. “There is no such thing as a solitary Christian in the New Testament.” (Acts 2:42)  (John Wesley).  Your response.
  17. Can one become a well-balanced  spiritually mature person  without being a part of the body of Christ? (Ephes. 4:15)
  18. What about persons who run from church to church?  Are they true members of the body of Christ in your opinion?
  19. Were you ever  guilty of this?
  20. Do you know of individuals who left the church because they pursued their preferences rather than principle?
  21. Is there a time when an individual should move his membership?
  22. Should you just get up and leave because there are tensions in the church?
  23. If you find a perfect church, don’t join it.  Why?
  24. What criteria should you have in choosing a church?  (See 10 Absolute Life Changers of Men, pp. 101-103).
  25. Be sure to read chapter 7, pp. 97-106 in 10 Absolute Life Changers of Men which gives specific details on ones responsibility in a local church.