He said, I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
He who did, who canaches them here today. If you ask a handful of church leaders why people love being in their congregations, you'd probably hear answers like great music, friendly people, an enjoyable atmosphere. And it's fair to say those are the main selling points for many churches today. If you hear the changes in church leaders' Alfres Valdes in France, enough to project a Go Smith church church, inspired by the church and better the Church community to have bills to pass all over the place, your decision is a technological shift in their existing community. The reasons their leaders think you'll love to attend each week'sastery take such a beheading effect.
You probably doubt enjoy good music and appreciate encouraging people, who doesn't? But, are those the main reasons to love a local church. Frankly, the Bible gives other reasons, better reasons to love being part of a local church. John MacArthur looks at those reasons today on grace to you in a message he calls, Why I Love the Church.
And now with a lesson, here's John. JOHN MACARTHUR I love the church. I confess to that I am an inveterate and incurable lover of the church. It thrills me beyond anything and everything to serve the church. It is the supreme joy of my life to labor for the church, to spend my years on behalf of the church.
I wouldn't trade for anything. And there are some reasons why that is true and I will share a few of those with you and we'll look at some texts who undergird them. First of all, I love the church because the church is being built by the Lord Himself, the immutable, sovereign, faithful, omnipotent Lord of heaven whose Word can't return void but always accomplishes what He says, whose purpose always comes to pass, whose will is always fulfilled ultimately, whose plan is invincible and unshakable, has spoken about building the church in no less than extremely triumphant words. In Matthew chapter 16 and verse 18, He said, I will build My church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. He who knows His sheep, whose names He wrote down before the foundation of the world, He will build His church. The gates of Hades, simply a Jewish expression for death. If Hades is the place of the dead, then the gate to Hades is what ushers you into that, just a simple picture of death.
The most powerful weapon of Satan is the gates of Hades. We are reminded in Hebrews chapter 2 that he holds the power of death and by it keeps men in bondage all their lifetime. But even the power of death cannot prevent the Lord from building the church. It is the strongest weapon that Satan wields under the sovereignty of God and it cannot touch the church. The church will be built. It is His church.
I will build My church. I want to go a little deeper into that and have you turn to Titus chapter 1, if you will, in your Bibles. Titus chapter 1, as Paul opens up this marvelous epistle, he says, Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ.
And he identifies himself in those two ways. First of all, he is a slave of God and the very character of that slavery or the specific task that he bears as a slave is to be an apostle on behalf of Jesus Christ. He is God's slave given the duty of being a messenger for Christ. With regard to that, he says this, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness in the hope of eternal life which God who cannot lie promised, and the original language says, before time began. Now these two verses outline for us the nature of all really biblical ministry. Paul, as a servant of God and a messenger of Jesus Christ, was set really to accomplish three things. First, a ministry of salvation, a ministry of evangelism, which he speaks of in these words for the faith of those chosen of God. He had the task of preaching the gospel so that the elect in hearing the gospel would believe. He was preaching the gospel for the faith of those chosen of God. He had an evangelistic aspect to his ministry to bring about the understanding of the gospel in order that when faith would come as a gift from God, sinners chosen by God might be justified. Secondly, he says, there was not only a salvation emphasis or an evangelism emphasis, but a sanctification and an edification emphasis which he describes as the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness. In addition to bringing the gospel to the elect so they might believe, he wanted to bring the saved to the fullness of the knowledge of the truth so that they might become godly. He was then committed to evangelism and edification.
And then the third aspect of his ministry would be consolation in the hope of eternal life. He was bringing to people the hope of glorification which becomes for the pilgrim through this world the great source of consolation. And so his ministry focused on justification, sanctification, and glorification. He preached that word of the gospel which mixed with faith produces justification. He preached that word of truth which mixed with obedience produced sanctification. He preached that great hope of eternal life and glory which mixed with hope produces consolation. In other words, that's really God's redemptive purpose, to save, sanctify, glorify, to take us all the way from being chosen by Him in eternity past to being glorified. Through salvation, sanctification to glorification, that is the great unfolding comprehensive redemptive purpose of God.
Now having said that, the main thing I want you to notice is the end of verse 2. He says, which God, this whole plan, this whole redemptive saving, sanctifying, glorifying plan which God who cannot lie promised before time began. What this tells us is that in eternity past, before there was ever created anything that is created, before time began, God determined to begin and to finish His redemptive plan.
People were chosen, their names were written down that they might be brought to faith, to godliness, and to glory. God promised this before time began. Now the question that struck me as I read that is to whom did God make the promise? There weren't any people around and the best understanding of the creation of angels would place their creation sometime near the creation of the rest of the universe. And so if we are behind creation, pre-creation, to whom did God make this promise?
That's a very compelling question. To whom did God make this pledge, this covenant? Turn to 2 Timothy chapter 1 and we find there a very helpful insight. Verse 8 ends with the word God. God becomes the antecedent to verse 9. God who has saved us, 2 Timothy 1-9, God who has saved us and called us with a holy calling not according to our works but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus. And here's the exact same phrase in the Greek, before time began. This whole promise, this whole pledge, this whole covenant, this whole purpose of redemption, salvation, holy calling, this whole gracious saving enterprise was granted by the Father to the Son before time began. And what that tells us is this, that the promise that the Father made, the promise that God made, He made to the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is a staggering reality, absolutely staggering. In the Trinity, in the mystery of the Trinity, there is an ineffable love, an indescribable and inexplicable love that those members of the Trinity share. Jesus alludes to it in His high priestly prayer when He asks the Father to love His own the way He loves Him and asks that they might share in the mutual love between the Son and the Father. That love must find its expression.
You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. And the Father, in a demonstration of this indescribable, supernatural, perfect love, expressed to the Son a desire to manifest that love in a very unique way. This is certainly where you have the origination of what Hebrews 1320 calls the eternal covenant, where the Father makes a pledge to the Son because of His love for Him. And what is that pledge? He promises to the Son that He will give to Him a redeemed humanity, justified, sanctified and glorified, that in fact He will bring that humanity to glory, to dwell in the very place where they dwell before time began, a timeless place, an uncreated place, the very realm of God. That's the promise.
And why? Because the Father loves the Son so greatly, He wants to grant this redeemed humanity to Him as an expression of His love. With that thought in mind, turn to John chapter 6, and this becomes even more profound. In John chapter 6 and verse 37, Jesus identifies for us right here the crucial heart of His ministry. John 6 37, Jesus says, all that the Father gives Me shall come to Me. Beloved, there in that one statement is the invincibility of the church. All that the Father gives to Me will come to Me. Every individual ever redeemed, every individual ever granted the gift of faith, every individual ever forgiven and justified before God by grace is a gift from the Father to the Son, everyone. It isn't that you were bouncing down the street one day and got smart enough to get yourself saved.
It isn't that you considered all your options and picked the best one by your human ingenuity. Rather, every individual who ever comes to faith is a love gift from the Father to the Son, a part of a redeemed humanity who is given to the Son for a very express purpose. And what is that purpose?
Well, that's easy. All you have to do is move into the book of Revelation and look into heaven and see what people are doing there. What are the glorified saints doing? Worshipping the Lamb and glorifying the Lamb and praising the Lamb and serving the Lamb. And that is the fullness of God's purpose. God in eternity past before creation determined that He would give to the Son a redeemed humanity who ultimately would be brought into the uncreated glory where the Trinity dwells for the express purpose of glorifying and praising and honoring and worshiping the Son forever and ever and ever and serving Him.
That was the Father's expression of love, the most wonderful way that He could do it. Oh, He created the angels. They too worshiped the Son.
But this is unique because this is a redeemed humanity and their purpose is to glorify the Son forever. And so He says in verse 37, all that the Father gives Me shall come to Me and obviously the one who comes to Me I will certainly not...what?...cast out. I mean, is He going to turn down a love gift from the Father? Is He going to say no to one whom the Father gives Him?
No. In verse 38, He says, I have come down from heaven not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent Me. Now in this covenant, the Son had a part to play. It wasn't just the Father. The Father said, I want to give you this redeemed humanity as an expression of My love and I'll bring them all the way to perfection, all the way to glory and they'll spend forever and ever and ever and ever glorifying and praising Your name.
There's just one thing I need you to do and that is to go into the world, become one of them, pay the penalty for their sins. And when Jesus says in verse 38, I've come down from heaven not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent Me, He does not mean that He's against this, that it's not His will. He's unwillingly or reluctantly submitting. All He means is I'm coming to fulfill a plan that the Father has devised.
He doesn't mean here on Thursday I'm to do this and next Tuesday I'm to do this and next Friday. He's simply saying, I've come down to do the one thing necessary and that is provide the atoning sacrifice that this humanity might be redeemed. And you know as well as I that that atonement of Jesus Christ stretched all the way back to cover all the sins of all who believed before He died as well as all who believe after He died. And then in verse 39, and this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me, I lose...what?
The Father says to Him, don't lose any of them. And Jesus says, I won't. And I will raise Him up on the last day for this is the will of My Father that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life and I Myself will raise Him up on the last day. You want to know something? All the saints are ultimately going to be glorified not because God said so only but because Jesus will make it so.
That's the plan. Down to verse 44, no one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws Him and I'll raise Him up on the last day. Every individual who's ever come to faith is a love gift from the Father to the Son.
We're caught up in something so monumental, so vast, so transcendent. It is almost as if my salvation and your salvation is somewhat incidental, that the real issue here is not to get us to heaven but to express love from the Father to the Son. We're just the gift. When I want to show my love to someone, I might give them a gift. I might give my wife a gift. I might give my children a gift, my friends. They don't love the gift. They might enjoy the gift, but what matters to them is the love of the giver. Isn't that it?
And that's exactly this. We're somewhat like the gift. I mean, the whole issue is not us. The issue is this Trinitarian love relationship in which we are privileged to participate. Now the Father isn't done with just that.
There's something more to be said. Romans 8, 29 and 30, someone told me a long time ago and I guess it's sort of axiomatic that the supreme compliment, the supreme form of flattery is imitation. And we know that today when somebody has a hero, they imitate them. And in verse 29, I want you to notice this, for whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his Son.
This is incredible. The Father determined before time began in His foreknowledge and predestination that He would bring together a redeemed humanity. He would save them, sanctify them, glorify them and bring them to heaven so that forever and ever and ever they could say, worthy is the Lamb, worthy is the Lamb, worthy is the Lamb and praise the Son forever and ever and serve the Son forever and ever.
And there's one more component, they would be made like the Son. As much as it is possible for redeemed humanity to be like incarnate deity, we will be like Jesus Christ. So that, verse 29, He might be the prototokos among many brethren.
The prototokos meaning not the first one born in chronology, but the premier one. So that He might be the supreme one over a whole brotherhood of those who are like Him. And we know that's what John said, when we shall see Him, we shall be what?
Like Him. The Apostle Paul said, I press toward the mark for the prize of the upward call. What is the prize of the upward call?
When you're called up, it's pretty simple to understand, when you get called up, what's the prize? Christ's likeness. Christ's likeness is the prize.
Paul is saying, I press toward the goal right now, which is the prize later on. In other words, if the prize for my life when I'm called up is to be like Christ, that's the goal right now too. If that's the purpose for which God redeemed me, to make me into the image of His Son, then that should be my goal right now. And that's why Paul says, for example, to the Galatians, I am in travail until Christ is fully formed in you. That's why he says, for to me to live is Christ. That's why he says that I may know Him. The one thing in his life that he pursued was Christ's likeness because that was the reason God saved him.
That was the whole point. In fact, he says in Philippians chapter 3 that I pursue that for which God pursued me. And why did God pursue him? To make him like his Son. So what is the goal of his life?
To become like his Son. That's the goal in eternity. That becomes the goal in time. The goal is to make an elect and redeemed humanity like Jesus Christ. And God will bring it to pass. You know, it's like the guy said to me who was commenting about Christianity triumphing. He said simply, I read the book and in the end we all win. It's true. The church is invincible.
It's absolutely invincible. The purposes of God cannot be thwarted. There's a kind of a conclusion to this, just to condense it a little bit. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15, 1 Corinthians 15.
Let's go clear to the end and see. The Lord is going to bring, we'll go to verse 24 for a moment. When the Son has done everything, verse 24, 1 Corinthians 15, then comes the end when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father. In the end, the Lord's going to say, okay, I raised them all up. I provided salvation.
I provided the Spirit for sanctification and I raised them all up. Here they are, Father. I give them to you. He's going to deliver them all to the Father. And the Father is going to, at that point, give them to the Son as a love gift.
They're yours. They're going to praise you forever and ever. Go to verse 27. Here you come to the very end. He has put all things in subjection under His feet. When He says all things are put in subjection, it is evident that He is accepted who put all things in subjection to Him. That is God's not going to be in subjection to Christ. And when all things are subjected to Christ, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him that God may be all in all. You say, what in the world is that saying?
It's saying this. When the Son brings the whole redeemed humanity to glory and the Father gives them all to the Son as a love gift, the Son will turn around and give it all, including Himself, back to the Father. This is a mind-boggling thing. This is what we're all caught up in, folks, an immense, transcendent, incomprehensible expression of love within the Trinity of which we are the gifts exchanged. I love the church because the Lord is building it Himself.
It's His. And it's enough for me, frankly, to just be a part of it. Small church, big church, medium-sized church, happy church, sad church, it's just enough to be a part of it.
I feel like Paul in 2 Corinthians 2, you know, where he was so sad in that letter. But he says, God always causes us to triumph in Christ. It's enough to march in the triumph, he says. It's enough to be in the parade, folks. I mean, it's enough to wear the uniform. That's all. I don't care.
And frankly, the end is already determined. I'm just privileged to be marching with the troops, it's enough. That's Grace to You with John MacArthur. John serves as chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary. And the title of today's lesson, Why I Love the Church. Well, John, after today's lesson, I can't think of a better topic for our conversation than church membership. You believe it's a biblical idea, the church you pastor practices it, but a lot of professing Christians don't. You hear people argue that church membership isn't in the Bible, and so we don't have to, and in fact, we shouldn't worry about it today. So how do you answer that argument?
Well, I think there are a number of ways to answer it. First of all, on the day of Pentecost, when the church began, the record of the Book of Acts is that 3,000 people were basically joined to the church. The church started with 3,000 people. They identified themselves, confessed Christ, and they were baptized that first day. Somebody was counting. Somebody was identifying these people. A few chapters later in the Book of Acts, another 5,000 men are added to the church, and it says they are added to the church. The number of people was known, the people were known, they were personally baptized, individually baptized.
So this is not just a bunch of people showing up somewhere at an event. These are people who professed Christ. These are people who were baptized by the apostles and whoever else needed to be a part of that to get through 3,000, 5,000.
They were known people. We also know in the New Testament that when believers traveled from place to place, they went with letters from their own church commending them to the church if there was a church in another city. They were commended as members in good standing so that that church could embrace them. And I think another thing is when you read, for example, in the 13th chapter of Hebrews, that we are to respond and follow the example of those who are over us in the Lord. And the same thing is said in 1 Thessalonians 5 in different words. We have people who are over us in the Lord. If you understand that a pastor is a shepherd of a flock, that he knows his flock, he knows his sheep. If you understand that a pastor is also a bishop or an overseer, he has the responsibility to oversee the life and growth and service of the people in his care. You understand that all of this speaks to the issue of knowing your flock, knowing your sheep and identifying these people. They have professed Christ, they have been baptized, they have been added to the church, they're under the watchful care of pastors and elders and overseers who watch for their souls. And then you add what it says in Hebrews 13, that they have to give an account to God for how they care for your soul. So respond to them in such a way so they can do it with joy and not with grief. You really understand that this is committing myself to the care of men who before the Lord are responsible for my life.
That's essentially what it means to be a member of the church, and it's clearly a biblical concept, a biblical reality. Along this line, let me let our listeners know about a free booklet titled Your Local Church and Why It Matters. Free of charge, just let us know you want one, we'll send it to you.
Yes, this booklet is absolutely free. To get this resource, Your Local Church and Why It Matters, just call or go to our website. Contact us today. The toll-free number here is 800-554-7223, and that number is easy to remember as 800-55-GRACE. You can also go to our website, gty.org.
That's our website, gty.org. Your Local Church and Why It Matters looks at how God designed the church and the role that it's supposed to have in your life. The booklet also answers questions like, what is the mission of the church? How can I serve my church? And how do I increase my love for the church? This is a great resource for a new believer or for someone who might not understand what the body of Christ does and how he or she is a part of it. Again, to get a copy of Your Local Church and Why It Matters, call 800-55-GRACE or go to gty.org.
Now for John MacArthur, I'm Phil Johnson. Thanks for making Grace To You part of your day, and make sure you're here for our next broadcast. John's going to look at God's love for the church and how that love should change the way we live. John's continuing his lesson, Why I Love The Church. Tune in for another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth, one verse at a time, on Grace To You.
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