Life Ministries

Satan’s Whispers – Part 3
John  17:20-26

    This morning we continue our series on Satan’s Whispers and how Satan tries to destroy, distort, discredit, and dilute, the effectiveness of God’s church. He will allow us to profess our faith all we want, while using whatever deceptive means possible to keep us from practicing our faith.

I want to give you four ways that God’s Word describes the church… And, three purposes or reasons that the church exists.
    First of all, the church is described as a “body”… Romans 12:4 says; “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others”. 1^st Corinthians 12:12-27 speaks also of the “body” as a unit made up of many parts that work together – “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it”. Ephesians 4:20 says that “we are all members of one body”… In Colossians 1:24 Paul says that he does what he does and suffers what he suffers in regard to Christ, “for the sake of His body, which is the church”…And, finally, in Ephesians 1:22 it tells us that the church is a “body with Christ as the head”.
    How can you tell if a body is healthy? We would say it is healthy when everything is doing or functioning the way it is supposed to. Or, you could say “Nothin’ hurts!” It’s when something in the body hurts that we know there is some-thing wrong. It is tragic and heartbreaking to see a person who is bound to a wheelchair or a hospital bed, unable to control the functions of the body… But, a church that seems to be disconnected or unresponsive to the head is every bit as tragic. What would you say then is Satan’s role? I would think that he will do whatever he can to get the church to function without listening to the head.
    Second, Eph. 2:10 tells us that the church is “God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”. We certainly are not saved by works…salvation comes only through Jesus Christ, God’s Son, but good works are a result of or the fruit of our salvation. In other words, God’s church is made up of those who have accepted the finished work of Christ on the Cross of Calvary…and God prepared – in advance – things that He wants the church to do while we are here… “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry”. The work of ministry is not about growing the individual church, but about reaching the community for Christ and growing the kingdom of God. What does Satan do? He lies to us and convinces us that just coming to church on Sunday is all you have to do. That way the work of ministry will never get done.
    Third, in Eph. 2:19-22 the church is pictured as God’s household; a building; a holy temple; a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit. The thing that makes a church a church is the presence of God. It’s the presence of God’s Holy Spirit convicting; helping; healing; leading; transforming; teaching; filling; and enabling us to do the work of the ministry. Satan however, will consistently try to get us to do “church” in our own power, in our own way. And get us to grieve the Holy Spirit and put His fire out.
   Fourth, the church is pictured in God’s Word as an army. Eph. 6 tells us to “put on the whole armor of God” because our fight is not “against flesh and blood” our fight is not against one another; it is against the “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”… The scripture lists seven things we need in order to stand against the attacks of the enemy. There are people in our churches today that only have three out of the seven… and some that only have one – the “helmet of salvation”… and we wonder why the church is not standing in our world today.  The ability to follow marching orders; to obey commands; and teamwork are what makes an army great… So, what is Satan’s role?
   Well, all of these things have a part to play in the three purposes of the church; the first of which is:
 “To reflect God’s righteousness and holiness”. Let’s be clear about this; God is not as concerned with what the church does…as much as He is concerned with what the church is…and, the church is to be a reflection of God to the world! So, what kind of reflection does the world see? Being must always precede doing….for what we are determines what we do.
    The church is to reflect God to the world like a mirror reflects our image when we look into it. When people look at the church they ought to see the moral and holy character of a loving God. Eph. 1:4 says “He chose us before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless in His sight”. Spiritual growth and Christ-likeness does not happen in a “one hour on Sunday” setting.
    The second purpose of the church is to “Bring glory to God”. All that we are and all that we do ought to bring glory to God. 1^st Peter 2:12 says “Live such good lives among the pagans that…they may see your good deeds and glorify God”. Everything in the church points toward God… All things ought to glorify God… It’s not about me...it’s all about Him!... From beginning to end.
    The third purpose of the church is to declare the “good news”…To make visible the invisible Christ. 1^st Peter 2:9 says “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you”. “You are” that “you might declare”… That’s our primary purpose in Christ…“that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known” – not only to the world – but, “to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places”. Not only is the world watching the church, angels as well as Satan and his fallen angels are watching the church…And, I wonder what they might think?
    The church cannot save the world…but it is called to point the way to and glorify the one who can!  It is Satan’s work to thwart the church from fulfilling any or all of these purposes – in any way, by any means he can.
    The church that is the “body of Christ” can be strong and healthy when all the members work together in love under one head which is Christ… The church can accomplish the works of ministry that God prepared in advance for it to do if it is prepared, trained or discipled, and spiritually healthy.   
    The church that is God’s household will come together to worship and reflect the presence and power of God giving Him the thanks and praise and glory He deserves. The church that is a part of the army of God will do all that it takes to make sure they have all the armor of God in place and are standing together in unity against a common enemy. The church will then be what Rick Warren describes as “Purpose Driven.”
    In other words, if the church is being the church, the people will reflect the image, character, and righteousness of God… All that the people say and do will bring glory to God… and, the Gospel of Jesus Christ will be lifted up and will draw others toward salvation.