Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. The mindset of many is that a
local church is primarily an organization which is established
to maintain and perpetuate various religious traditions, which its
adherents believe to be a proper, and in many cases, quite exclusively
so. Thus, they establish a structure
which becomes vitally important to pass on from one generation
to the next, with the mistaken belief that it is this structure
which ensures its longevity, purity, and reason for existence. Now, when I speak of a structure,
I'm not specifically referring to a house or building made of
wood and stone. Yet it is amazing to see the
parallels of the concept of the establishing of such houses with
the notion of the supposed perpetuity of these ideas of a church's
long-term continuation. Since the natural man has a strong
attraction to religion, it is not odd that men would ultimately
become enamored of this structure and form and to begin to neglect
the importance of the substance which it may have originated
from. This is evidently what occurred in Sardis. If one had
visited the church at Sardis on its meeting days, they probably
were still doing the same things that they had done since its
origin. Everything was probably done decently and in order, and
if one was looking for tradition and form, they would be quite
satisfied with what they found. The woman at the well in Samaria
was typical of man's religious flesh. She was interested in
the proper place to worship. Yet the Lord overturned her religion
when he said, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall
neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the
Father. Ye worship ye know not what. We know what we worship,
for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now
is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to
worship him. God is a spirit, and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. There
are many churches which continue on for years devoid of this vital
ingredient. and sadly never even miss it
since they are quite content with the form and tradition which
hides their nakedness from their own eyes, even as Sardis, which
had a name that they were alive but were nonetheless dead. Some
churches even mistake activity and excitement for spiritual
life. The Lord Jesus Christ said that he would build his church
and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. I believe
he is doing so at the present time just as he has ever since
the day that he declared his intent. Multitudes of churches
have come and gone over the centuries. None of those mentioned in the
book of the Revelation are still around. It would seem quite apparent
that the church which Christ would establish is not one particular
organization, nor one which is faithfully adhered to any particular
form over time, but rather that one which he has caused to manifest
itself in various locations at particular times according to
his sovereign purpose. Everyone who is a member of a
church is not necessarily one of the elect, though it is the
elect who are called according to his purpose and it is for
the benefit of the elect that he establishes local churches.
The people of God are precious in his sight, and he will preserve
them according to his faithfulness. The Lord will keep his own and
will give them repentance and faith in his own time. Religious
men are happy with their religion, but the children of God are made
to be dissatisfied with the vanity of rote tradition and religiosity,
and equally fearful of that condition wherein every man does that which
is right in his own eyes, without regard to his brethren, who,
having seen, he is compelled to love and seek his benefit.
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man
to profit the whole. If a man say, I love God, and
hateth his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother
whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth
God love his brother also. Beloved Savior, faithful friend,
the joy of all thy blood-bought train, in mercy to our aid descend,
or else we worship thee in vain. In vain we meet to sing and pray,
if Christ as influence withhold. Our hearts remain as cold as
clay, till we the Lord by faith behold. Here manifest thyself
in peace, thy tender mercies here make known. O breathe on
us a gale of grace, and send the cheering blessing down. We
humbly for Thy coming wait, Seeking to know Thee as Thou art. We
bow as sinners at Thy feet, And bid Thee welcome to our heart.
Unite our hearts to Thee, dear Lamb, Thou safe to join us all
in one, To love and praise Thy gracious name, Until we meet
around Thy throne. If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.