For the Love of the Church

The apostle Paul wrote about the things that he had suffered in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28. I have to tell you, when I read the list of things he suffered for his faith, it makes my puny little complaints seem to evaporate. I have not suffered physically like he did. However, there is one part of this list that I can, at the very least, begin to understand. At the end of his list of trials, Paul said, “Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches” (2 Corinthians 11:28). If you love the church the way a Christian must love the church, you know what it is like to have concern for the church.

Christians must always have a concern for the bride of Christ, the church, the kingdom of God, the household of the living God, the temple of God. We understand that. However, there is a growing concern for the church today that she is being threatened from within. Jesus said that He would build His church and the gates of Hades would not overpower it (Matthew 16:18). That statement was and is true. Even if the enemy is able to infiltrate the hearts of Christians and lead them out of the grace of God so that they lose their souls forever, the church is not overcome because of the faithful who remain and the faithful who have already gone to their reward (Revelation 2:10). Still, anyone who pays attention to the growing dilemma in the church today cannot help but be concerned.

I want to offer a little encouragement here to those who are suffering through the attacks of the enemy on the church of our Lord. The first word of encouragement comes from one of you who put this in a way I had not thought of, but it truly encourages me. The church is His bride, not mine; our Lord Jesus Christ will take care of His bride. Remember that. Jesus is not blind nor is He just waiting patiently (and dispassionately) until the church (and each member of the church) decides what it is going to do. He is not going to let the faithful down. Second, remember those passages we noted a moment ago. “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matthew 16:18). “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10).

You and I, as members of Christ’s church, have a job to do. Our job is to remain faithful and to help our brothers and sisters remain faithful, among other things. When false teachers appear in our ranks (and the apostle Peter said they would, 2 Peter 2:1) we must oppose them. We will have that concern for the churches that Paul speaks about, but know this: we do not fight this battle alone! There is Someone fighting alongside us Who is more powerful than our enemy and if we remain faithfully at His side, we will not lose this battle!

Go back to that passage in 2 Peter. Verse 1 says: But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Did you catch that these false teachers come in among us and secretly introduce heresies? The do not do it openly. Many of those who are hearing false doctrine today think they are hearing “nothing unscriptural.” That is why it is so important to search the Scriptures daily to see if these things be so (Acts 17:11).

Notice how God is dealing with this problem. Peter wrote that these false teachers are bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Now, it may not seem very swift, but that is only because we are applying our own understanding of time to the problem. You may rest assured that God is in control and that destruction, when it comes, will be swift and decisive and, sadly for those who do not repent in time, eternal. In the verses that follow 2 Peter 2:1, Peter shows that God has always been in control and no one in history has been able to “get away with” the sinful lives they lead and the righteous who have been afflicted by such unrighteousness have been rescued. Peter said all of that to say that God …knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties (2 Peter 2:9, 10).

The “daily pressure of concern for all the churches” is going to continue if we remain faithful because we are going to care what happens to the bride of Christ. However, we can be encouraged to know that the Bridegroom is equally concerned about His bride and not just sitting idly by. In order to be faithful, every one of us must resist the enemy and fight against the attempts to defile the pure and holy and blameless bride (Ephesians 5:26, 27), but take courage. God is fighting with you and if you remain faithfully His, you will win! He loves you and so do I.

Donnie Bates