John 2:18-22 - The Temple of Jesus' Body

John 2:18-22

18 The Jews then said to Him, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” 21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body. 22 So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

Message: The Temple of Jesus' Body

Time: John most likely wrote between A.D. 85 and 90. John's purpose in writing was, "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31)."

What the Lord is Saying: As I continue to progress through these readings, it is interesting and worth noting the focus John is making on these texts and what He is sharing about Jesus. Again, he begins John 1 with going back and seeing Jesus before He was Jesus on this earth the way we know Him but with God at creation, creating and even testifying Him as God. Also as the Light, One, Son of God, Lamb of God, King of Israel. John was his forerunner, preparing the Way. And as He came disciples began to follow and then He shows people He is Savior and He is different from anything that have seen before. God is with Him but He is distinct. 

And now John explains the response from the Jews at this day who want to see a sign of His authority. I suppose just asking the money changers and people selling in the temple was not enough. He let them know that they were not part of His father's business, so the Jews ask for a sign. Jesus responds instead with his next message about His body and that in 3 days it will be raised. But the Jews misunderstand and hear "temple" and think it is the literal man-made, bricks and mortar temple that took 46 years to build. (In fact, even during Jesus' days the temple was still being built and would not be completed till after his death and resurrection.) 

But Jesus was equating the temple with Him. He is the temple. He is the one to be worshipped. Another remarkable statement as the temple is likened to our body as well. But right now, looking at Jesus as the temple. The temple was the place to meet God, offer sacrifices, do the work of God. The old covenant tabernacle began then King Solomon supervised the building of the temple in Jerusalem with the temple similar to the design of the tabernacle. And so these Jews knew that changing the temple was significant. Jesus had shaken things up by cleansing the temple of those selling goods. And so Jesus as the temple (explained by John; spoken by Jesus, but clarified by John) meant that no more temples were needed. RC Sproul stated, "Christ is the temple, and all men are commanded to come to Him in order to worship and serve the one true God." 

Jesus speaks of 3 days. The number 3 is significant in scripture and as I study these passages I need to remember the significance of the number 3 and look for other examples of it. 

Summary: The final temple is Jesus, His body, that will bear our atonement for sin, once for all and then He will rise in 3 days. 

Promise: From Tabletalk, "The only temple we should be looking forward to is the temple that is Christ’s body, which we will see in the new heaven and earth. The temple pointed to Christ and it is fulfilled in Christ and His church, so let us love Christ and His people."

Prayer: Heavenly Father, as I read your Words I can't help but have this sense of urgency for others to have the understanding of who You are and what you have said about You. Lord, I believe this is true and if it is, it changes lives. So change lives Lord and show me how I need to be involved. Thank you for this passage and for speaking the way You did and giving us clarity and understanding for who You are. Help me to speak these truths to others and show the clarity of Who you are. And will always be and who I am in Christ. 

Luke 22:14-20 - The Lord's Supper Commanded

Luke 22:14-20 - 14 When the hour had come, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. 15 And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; 18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood."

Message: The Lord's Supper Commanded

Time: The Gospel according to Luke was probably the last Synoptic Gospel to be written, thus penned around 60 AD. The words salvation are in Luke, though not in Matthew and Mark. Luke, a gentile physician, wrote more than any other NT writer, writing primarily of redemptive history.

What the Lord is Saying: The other sacrament that the Reformers ask us to practice is the Lord's Supper. In this passage - Luke 22 - Jesus builds a bridge between the Passover and the Lord's Supper much in the same way that Paul showed a bridge between circumcision and baptism. Thus, part of understanding the Lord's Supper is understanding the Passover, which most Jews of that day understood, but I admit I need reminders and so I will look a this meaning further in future lessons. 

Verse 15 of the text today mentions that Jesus earnestly desired to have this Passover meal with his disciples. To me it conveys much of the mission of Jesus and that was to have a relationship with people and to impart to them the truth of Gospel, desiring for all people to be saved. Jesus is on a journey that he knows and that others will understand soon enough. He has mentioned his death several times prior and before he dies he has a great desire to spend this time with his disciples. Perhaps in a way it also communicates the importance of this gathering. We are to be a people that gather's together in community often and Jesus understands this and wants this for Him and for us. Jesus is on a mission to preach the Gospel but also to show people the Love of God. He wants to be with us. 

For Jesus, in these passages, are remarks that this is His Last Supper. The Kingdom of God is coming. This again being the salvation of God's people. His sacrifice on the cross. It is coming. He speaks of the signs of His sacrifice, His body, and His blood - bread and drink.

As with baptism, with the Lord's Supper. there seems to be more there than meets the eye. Meaning, what we see happening and what we are practicing seems to have a bigger meeting than simply having water over us or taking bread and wine. A connection is taking place between us and Jesus. Water cleanses us. Jesus cleanses us. Bread and wine nourish us. Jesus will provide for us his love and sacrifice. In baptism there is a union with Christ. In the Lord's Supper there is also a union but also an important remembrance of his body and blood sacrifice. 

Summary: The Lord's Supper has significance in light of the Passover. We are united with Christ and remember His Body and Blood Sacrifice. 

Promise: As we partake of the Lord's Supper, we should think on what the elements represent and ask the Lord to make us grateful for saving us. 

Prayer: God, you instituted these observances because of Your great love for us, for me. Too often Lord I gloss over them or do them without much thought. Yet, Lord, there is deep significance in their practice and so help me Lord to take them more seriously and help me to be more grateful in remembering the great sacrifice you made for me. I love Your truth, but I admit at times I don't celebrate it like I know I should. I thank You for the relationship You want with Me and I want that with others and to continue to rediscover You. Give meaning to me as I study these words in the coming days about this sacrament. 

Ephesians 4:15-16 - Receiving and Giving God's Love

Ephesians 4:15-16 - Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Message: Receiving and Giving God's Love

Time: Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians sometime in AD 60–61, around the same time he wrote Colossians and Philemon. Ephesians deals with topics at the core of being a Christian - faith and practice, no matter the situation.

What the Lord is Saying:

As I continue to spend this time reading and studying the Church - the Body of Christ - I am challenged that whether to attend church or not is not an option in our lives. There is a visible church (what we see) and an invisible church (the true church that only God can see). I often and others often choose visible church participation based upon feelings and likes and emotion. But in order to be a child of God and grow up in all aspects of Him - then communing with the saints is required. And this community is not simply ‘shooting the breeze’ or catching up on life but it is communion or fellowship of each part of the body that is growing and building itself up in love.

But this communion is not for the purpose of ‘self only’ growing but so that the entire church - invisible church - grows.

Again I feel like I am trained so often in selfish thinking - pleasing myself. Even as I think about using my spiritual gift i think it is often about me and yet I am to approach it with the idea that I am a part of the body which has a goal not of self growing or growing one self, but ‘body-growth.’ In verse 16 it says, ‘…when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” Thus the title of this lesson. Receiving and Giving. I studied previously about receiving God's love, last time, looking at those verses about sharing in the sufferings of Christ, in the saving message that we have received - that is the foundation of our involvement at Church. And so this passage says we exercise our gifts so that the Body grows.

It is a change in focus really. Once I am in church, attending, it is about the entire church, not simply myself only. Obviously I do want to glorify God in what I do and say. But God doesn't need anything. He wants me to have salvation, yes, but once I have it, I am to serve. I am to exercise gifts so that the Body grows.

And so in this lesson is the emphasis upon Love being the greatest virtue. I Corinthians 13:13 says, "But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." Paul is speaking of using our spiritual gifts in I Corinthians 12, 13, and 14. And his central message is the way we accomplish this is out of love. I can work and do but it must be because of love. Love is the backbone of all that I do. 13:3 says, "If I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing." Chapter 14, verse 1 says, "Pursue Love." He later says in verse 26 that all of this is for the purpose of edification. Again, the focus of all of this is not on self and pleasing self, but on others and so we receive God's love. 

Summary: We come together because of His sufferings, but once we are together, we are to be about exercising our gifts to build up and grow one another, and it is done with love. 

Promise: If we are not looking for ways to love and serve other believers, meeting their needs as we are able, we are not fulfilling God's purpose for the church. 

Prayer: O God, what a wretched one I am. I am trained so often in this world to focus on me, to focus on self. Even as I spoke last night, I'm feeling depressed and not finding joy in my days and what I do. Yet God, even in those thoughts is the idea of self and pleasing self. Yet, you remind me through this lesson and these words that once in Christ, I am to exercise gifts, giving love, in order to edify and grow up the Body of Christ. This is my calling. I thank you for the online ministry of GMO, for being involved in the past at church greeting people, for evangelism, meeting with Scott, but it is not over for me. I must keep on going. I must keep on serving. I must. This is where life resides. I've received your love and now I must give it. O God, break this cycle where I think self must be pleased. And instead keep me focused on others and giving to others and doing this in the form of love.

Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am now working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation. The month of August is about the Body of the Lord - the Church recovered in the Reformation; July was the right use of God's Law; June was justification by faith alone; May, Christ Alone; April, salvation by grace alone; March, the sovereign providence of God; February, the doctrine of revelation, Scripture; January, the doctrine of God. 

Christ's Body

The Body of Christ - The Church is the Body of Christ and Christ loves the church. We are to imitate Christ and see that the Church is how Christ carries out His purposes in the world. The Head of the Church - Christ is Head of the church and he only has final authority and gives life to the church. Life is found only in Jesus Christ our Lord. - The Church We Can See - Belonging to a church is not optional, for anyone. We are meant to live in a community with other believers, to hear the Word of God preached, and to grow. The Church We Cannot See - What we see is the Visible church, the invisible church only God knows because He is omniscient and that is the Church we cannot see. 

Truths about the Church from the Apostles Creed

Church Unity - The church is bigger than our local assembly; there are core beliefs among the invisible church. One People Throughout History - God has only one people; throughout the world there are people that share doctrines and truths despite their being differences in where we attend or belong. God's Holy People - By being in Christ, though we still have a fallen nature, God has set us apart as holy, as his saints. True Catholocity - God's people includes men and women from every tribe and every tongue that hold to the biblical gospel. The Apostilic Church - we are fellow citizens with all people from all tribes and tongues throughout history, united by being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets teaching, thus apostolic, with Christ Jesus being our cornerstone.

What the Church Does and Believes

Preaching Christ and His Commandments - A church needs to be committed to faithfully preaching the Word of God. Administering Sacraments - Sacraments (The Lord's Supper and Baptism especially) need to be part of a church existing, but they also need to be rightly administered. The Discipline of the Church - We need to be a people that encourage repentance to keep the church pure and set apart.

Church Leadership Offices

Prophets and Apostles - There is a foundation of how the church begins and that foundation is the apostles and prophets. Evangelists, Shepherds, and Teachers - Only mention of pastors in the New Testament. 

Purpose of the Church

Our Arena for Growth - It is being at church, present, that we are to be equipped, build one another up, in order to grow in maturity. Communion in Gifts and Graces - As believers joining in Christ’s sufferings we have community, exercising our spiritual gifts, in order to build up the Body of Christ in Love.

I Corinthians 12 - Communion in Gifts and Graces

1 Corinthians 12 - 'God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. (24b-26)'

Message: Communion in Gifts and Graces

Time: Not the first, but 2nd letter to Corinthians, but the first to survive and to be considered authoritative. Written in AD 55, it was penned after Paul had reports of quarreling in this church he had previously visited. Paul covers a number of subjects, but all focus on the Christian's life in the church. 

What the Lord is Saying: 

Historically, after the Reformation period, men and women sought to carry out and define further the doctrine from this period. One way was making doctrinal statements such as the Westminster Confession of Faith. It was published in 1647 and drawn up by the Westminster Assembly, a 121 person group of theologians appointed to restructure the church of England. Division of church government was on the rise at the time and this was an attempt to better align themselves with the Church of Scotland. In addition, during the Protestant Reformation at the beginning of the 16th century, the church of England had separated themselves from the Catholic Church, though it was still thought (by Puritans) that they remained very influenced by Catholicism. 

Chapter 26 of the Westminster Confession of Faith is the Communion of the Saints. One of the purposes of the church is expressed in section 1:

All saints that are united to Jesus Christ their head, by his Spirit and by faith, have fellowship with him in his graces, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory:(a) and being united to one another in love, they have communion in each other’s gifts and graces,(b) and are obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as do conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man.(c)

In reading this I see a lot to unpack. First, this community begins with who we are in Christ. Our first community is with Jesus Christ. But our fellowship with Him is different as it is with him in his graces - sufferings - death - resurrection - and glory. Interesting. I've never thought of it like this or maybe had it explained like this. 

John 1:16 - For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

Romans 6:5-6 - For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

Ephesians 2:5-6 - even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

Ephesians 3:16-19 - that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Philippians 3:10 - that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.

2 Timothy 2:12 - if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us;

I John 1:3 - that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Wow. Those are some great verses and now it begins to make more sense. We have all received grace...united with him in death, in resurrection...old self crucified...alive by grace, raised and seated...we comprehend with all the saints to know the love of Christ...be filled...share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death...endure, reign with him...fellowship with the Father and with His Son. 

I know these things, but this idea that I am united with him, having fellowship with him in these things he did. These things he provided for me. I'm just thinking about this and meditating on this. 

Just as we are united with Him, we are united to one another. Everything God did for us was out of love for us. And we can have this same love for one another. The way he loves can be the way I love. And then I or we can have communion with each other in each other's gifts and graces. 

I Corinthians 3:21-23 - So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

I Corinthians 12:7 - To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

Ephesians 4:15-16 - Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Colossians 2:19 - and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

This second part hones in on the idea first of our unity. Even in our working together it is God that grows us. He is the one that makes the body grow. It is the Spirit manifestation in us that makes this possible. Each day I am to submit and surrender to Him and Lord, may your Spirit be filled in me. 

And the final part makes it clear that being united in Him and then united in each other makes our work an obligation. 

Romans 1:11-12 - For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.

Romans 1:14 - I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

Galatians 6:10 - So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

I Thessalonians 5:11 - Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

I Thessalonians 5:14 - And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.

I John 3:16-18 - By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Again, here are the truths from God's word. I am under obligation...to do good to everyone...to encourage one another and build one another up. I need to do good to everyone. That's intense. Everyone. Do good. But it should happen also. It should because of our unity in Christ, and because the Spirit is in us. 

In this vein and from the passage today found in I Corinthians is the encouragement that all of us working within the Body, within the Church, both locally and worldwide serve a function. No one part of the body is more important than another and every part is important. Our church has been celebrating service of late and those who have served and one such person that has been brought to the forefront is a man that has arrived at church to make coffee. It is a wonderful point of recognition. He has been doing it for 30 years and his wife and him will now take some time away to travel. Gifts have been purchased for him and he has been celebrated even through a video in church. It is a great thing and it goes to show that we are all valued in our serving. VBS ended as well with a great celebration of those that volunteered. This is how the church works and should live. We don't need recognition but it is nice when it occurs. It reminds us that we are all in this together. 

Summary: We are to do good to everyone, but especially those that we call our fellow believers. We are to exercise our spiritual gifts with one another. We are united with Christ in how he has provided for us for all eternity, and this brings us together also as followers of Christ, giving us the ability then to work effectively as members of the Body. 

Promise: We must use the gifts God has given us. We serve one another with the use of our gifts to make the church healthy and able to ward off the infections of impurity, false doctrine and an unloving spirit. 

Prayer: It is such a great joy Lord to read and study your Word. Thank you for bringing people together and the writing of the Westminster Confession 400 years ago. You still use that for me today to help me understand better your words. Thank you for the clarity of Your Word and the joy it brings. Lord, help us to continue to work as Your Body and continue to support those that are in need. I pray that Your Gospel will continue to be preached. Raise up people to continue to get out of their comfort zones and serve those that need to hear. Be glorified in what we do and say. 

Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am now working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation. The month of August is about the Body of the Lord - the Church recovered in the Reformation; July was the right use of God's Law; June was justification by faith alone; May, Christ Alone; April, salvation by grace alone; March, the sovereign providence of God; February, the doctrine of revelation, Scripture; January, the doctrine of God. 

Christ's Body

The Body of Christ - The Church is the Body of Christ and Christ loves the church. We are to imitate Christ and see that the Church is how Christ carries out His purposes in the world. The Head of the Church - Christ is Head of the church and he only has final authority and gives life to the church. Life is found only in Jesus Christ our Lord. - The Church We Can See - Belonging to a church is not optional, for anyone. We are meant to live in a community with other believers, to hear the Word of God preached, and to grow. The Church We Cannot See - What we see is the Visible church, the invisible church only God knows because He is omniscient and that is the Church we cannot see. 

Truths about the Church from the Apostles Creed

Church Unity - The church is bigger than our local assembly; there are core beliefs among the invisible church. One People Throughout History - God has only one people; throughout the world there are people that share doctrines and truths despite their being differences in where we attend or belong. God's Holy People - By being in Christ, though we still have a fallen nature, God has set us apart as holy, as his saints. True Catholocity - God's people includes men and women from every tribe and every tongue that hold to the biblical gospel. The Apostilic Church - we are fellow citizens with all people from all tribes and tongues throughout history, united by being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets teaching, thus apostolic, with Christ Jesus being our cornerstone.

What the Church Does and Believes

Preaching Christ and His Commandments - A church needs to be committed to faithfully preaching the Word of God. Administering Sacraments - Sacraments (The Lord's Supper and Baptism especially) need to be part of a church existing, but they also need to be rightly administered. The Discipline of the Church - We need to be a people that encourage repentance to keep the church pure and set apart.

Church Leadership Offices

Prophets and Apostles - There is a foundation of how the church begins and that foundation is the apostles and prophets. Evangelists, Shepherds, and Teachers - Only mention of pastors in the New Testament. 

Purpose of the Church

Our Arena for Growth - It is being at church, present, that we are to be equipped, build one another up, in order to grow in maturity. 

I John 2:19b - The Church We Cannot See

I John 2:19b - But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 

Message: The Church We Cannot See

Time: The author of this book never was identified but contemporaries have attributed it to John and its dating is estimated to be 90 AD. John focused on three issues: the zeal of the believers, standing firm against false teachers, and reassuring the Christians that they have eternal life. 

What the Lord is Saying:

Once again, the reason for these studies is from the context of celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation in 2017 and to look back at key doctrines from that time period. Justification by faith alone and the final authority of the Scriptures stand out, but the doctrine of the church and basically the reinvention of church and what it really means also stands out. As I looked previously at Joseph Benson's commentary of I John 2:19 I finish it out here:

but they went out — They were permitted to apostatize outwardly; that it (they) might become plain (be made manifest) — See 1 Corinthians 11:19. (This was made manifest by their going out;) that they were not all of us — Sound members of our body, really believing the same truths which we believe, and partaking of the same grace which we partake of.

One of the interesting points that I saw in the previous lesson is the church is really meant to be a place for all people for they can witness the work of the Spirit in people's lives, hopefully see the proper view of authority and hear the preaching of God's word - in hopes that they will be saved. Clearly the preaching of God's words is even recognized today by atheists as sound teaching. Many agree that it is good thinking for living out our lives today. But in this process there are people among us that are not saved or will move away from the truth of the Word. And this last section of I John 2:19b speaks of this. 

The idea of "they went out" explains to me the issue that we are seeing now and how people are being labeled now as deconstructing their faith. For example, Joshua Harris is one that comes to mind recently. A writer and pastor who is now saying it is not true. I think from these verses we can read that they were not really of us. In other words, their apostasy now shows that they were not really Christians. And yet this is expected and even part of God's plan. 

Perhaps we experience this expectation often that everyone within the church walls is saved and all following together. We think this and Benson's commentary states "that they were not all of us" meaning there are people of us practicing the same things and partaking of the same grace and yet not really of us.  Another great text Benson mentions earlier is I Corinthians 11:19 and I went back and looked at verse 18-21. The text speaks of disorders at the Lord's Supper. 

18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. 19 For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you. 20 Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, 21 for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk.

What a compelling statement -- For there must also be factions among you. - We need differences. Differences show who the true believers are. Very interesting statement. And so God remains sovereign. A tough statement is "God saves" and yet God does not save everyone. He saves people in the church through the preaching of the Word but He does not save everyone. John 3:16 records those famous lasting words "For God so loved the world" but God does not save or call everyone to be His children. Just as he saves within the church walls, he also saves outside of the church walls. But the means in which he saves outside the walls has basically been provided by those inside of it. Tabletalk records:

...consider the businesswoman who finds a Bible in her hotel room while she is traveling, reads it, and comes to faith in Christ. Even in this instance, the visible church has played a role. Prophets and Apostles, members of the visible church, wrote the Scriptures under divine inspiration. Other members of the visible church translated the original text, paid for the printing, and placed the Bible in her hotel room. So, the visible church is involved even when people are saved outside of her walls.

There is a comparison of visible church and invisible church in the reading from Tabletalk. The idea is the visible church are the one's that we can see and those may include true believers and not. But true believers are members of the invisible church where only God can see the hearts of the people in the pews and whether they are really saved. Granted we try to set up systems to hopefully have people serving and doing the work of the church body that are saved, but there is no guarantee this is so. As always we look to God for He is the one that is omniscient and sees all and knows all. Only Him.  

Summary: In the church, we see true believers and those who are practicing but do not have true piety. Only God knows who is part of the invisible church for he only knows the hearts of the people. 

Promise: Those who refuse to join the visible church should have no assurance that they are part of the invisible church. If we love Christ, we will join the visible manifestation of His body in the visible church. 

Prayer: O Lord, what an exciting reading today. How exciting always it is to read your Word and understand that Your word speaks clearly about all that I see going on today. I had questions about those that have stated they have fallen away and deny Christ now, but your word is true in that in your sovereign will this happens and we can even call this your providence. You help me see and understand who are the true believers. You also let me know that those who have been with us are people that we can still learn from. So the music artist that now does not align with you, well his written music still ministers to me and this is fine and good. You are the author of all church whether people align with you ultimately or not. But we still need to be a part of the church body and we still need to belong to the Visible Church. Thank you for confirming these truths to me and helping me see the completeness always of the Word of God. You are to be praised and glorified always. 

Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am now working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation. The month of August is about the Body of the Lord - the Church recovered in the Reformation; July was the right use of God's Law; June was justification by faith alone; May about solus Christus - Christ Alone; April, salvation by grace alone; March, the sovereign providence of God; February, the doctrine of revelation, Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve; January, the doctrine of God.  

The Body of Christ - The Church is the Body of Christ and Christ loves the church. We are to imitate Christ and see that the Church is how Christ carries out His purposes in the world. The Head of the Church - Christ is Head of the church and he only has final authority and gives life to the church. Life is found only in Jesus Christ our Lord. - The Church We Can See - Belonging to a church is not optional, for anyone. We are meant to live in a community with other believers, to hear the Word of God preached, and to grow.

Ephesians 5:25-33 - The Body of Christ

Ephesians 5:25-33 - Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.

Message: The Body of Christ

Time: At the end of his second missionary journey and 2 years into his third, Paul ministered at Ephesus. Many came to Christ during His time though Paul was not popular among the pagans. Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians sometime in AD 60–61, around the same time he wrote Colossians and Philemon, as he sent all three letters by the hand of Tychicus, accompanied by Onesimus. It was during this time that Paul sat in Rome undergoing his first Roman imprisonment, making Ephesians one of the four epistles commonly known as the Prison Epistles. The others are Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon.

What the Lord is Saying:

Ecclesiology is the study of the doctrine of the church. As I now consider a study of the church and what is to be emphasized and practiced among church members, I think back to what church life looked like before the Reformation. My perception is that churchgoers showed up and listened to a sermon according to the church calendar. Attendees did not have a Bible for the Bible had not yet been translated into their language. Only the priests had the Bible. I recall several years ago speaking to a couple at the mall that mentioned they did not read their Bible, that only the priest read the Bible. 

By 1525, Luther had finished translating the New Testament into German and by 1534, the entire Bible. Translations had occurred prior to this, but this was the first one from the original Greek and Hebrew. The King James Version into English came about in 1611. 

[I've spent the past couple of days trying to find a little more information about church services prior to the Reformation and I haven't found much. I did read about the start of expository preaching by Huldrych Zwingli, an ordained catholic priest and pastor in Switzerland, who died in 1531 at the age of 47 from injuries in a war between Catholics and Protestants. He was an educated man thanks to the success of his father, a farmer and chief magistrate. He attended University of Vienna. He was interested in Erasmus and his thoughts and after Erasmus published the Greek New Testament in 1516 he became more of a student of the scriptures and copied by hand the entire Erasmus New Testament. He ended up with a different pastorate and in 1519 he started doing readings and observations through the Gospel of Matthew and continued this in his services through the New Testament. This was a departure from the Catholic Mass and preaching according to the calendar prevalent in the Catholic Church (not quite sure what this means). Zwingli questioned the practice of abstaining from meat during lent. In 1524, he published his 67 Theses in which he rejected many medieval beliefs, such as forced fasting, clerical celibacy, purgatory, the Mass, and priestly mediation and also the use of images in the church; and he married Anna Reinhard, a widow. In 1525, the break from Rome continued, as Scripture was read and preached in the language of the people, the entire congregation received bread and wine for communion, not just the clergy. No more focus on Mary and the saints, and prayers for the dead stopped. All this happened before Luther.]

What is clear is the moment the New Testament and Scripture got into the hand of people and they saw it in their own language, something changed. And chief among this was seeing scripture for what it was and starting to wonder why there were so many practices that were really non-scripture or not found in scripture. And so beginning in the early 1500s, many left the Catholic structure to what we now have as also a Protestant structure. The church hasn't been diminished any, as many have suggested, but rather upheld. 

This passage from Ephesians 5 echoes this sentiment by showing a parallel between a man's love for his flesh, nourishing it and cherishing it, in order to show him the love that the man needs to have for his wife. But Paul also says this is the type of love relationship Christ has with the church. There is this idea of leave and cleave with the man and woman, and perhaps it is the same with the church, leaving the ways of the world and cleaving to Christ through the church. The focus of this passage is really about a man and his relationship to his wife, but there is a strong message about the church. Another application is we live and do things in this world by use of our bodies and so Christ works his ways through the church, His body. 

Thus, the church is the body of Christ and Christ loves the church. As imitators of Christ (I Cor 11:1 - Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.) we are to love the church then also.  

Summary - Christ is the body of Christ and Christ loves the church like the man his own flesh or body. So we are imitate Christ in loving the church and seeing that the church is how God carries out his purposes in the world. 

Promise: We need to pay special heed to the elders, pastors, and leaders of the church. They have been placed in their positions for our good. 

Prayer: O God, I've struggled over the years with leadership in the church and often thinking I have a better way. At our last church I was bothered that the church leaders I did not feel were guided by scripture. But I find myself wondering at times even in this new church or struggling at times. Lord, help me to submit to your body, the church, in all that it does and continue to support it. Thank you for the churches you have shown me and pastors in other parts of the world that need support as well to carry out your mission. Keep me sensitive to those needs. Thank you for your love for the church and showing me this. 

Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am now working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation. The month of August is about the Body of the Lord - the Church recovered in the Reformation; July was the right use of God's Law; June was justification by faith alone; May about solus Christus - Christ Alone; April, salvation by grace alone; March, the sovereign providence of God; February, the doctrine of revelation, Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve; January, the doctrine of God. 

Romans 12:3-5 - The Sober Judgment of the Members

Romans 12:3-5 - ³ For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. ⁴ For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, ⁵ so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

Message: Our response to being transformed: A sound mind

Time: Written in AD 57 from Greece, to the Christians, both Gentile and Jewish in Rome.

What the Lord is Saying: 

Don't think more highly of oneself
Because of grace, and because I have a renewed mind, I am to realize that my condition in Christ is not due to my own special doing. Grace is a gift. Ephesians 2:8 says, "it is by grace you have been saved." Now here in Romans 12:3 is a similar message, "for through the grace given to me." Therefore, I need to be very careful not to think of myself, and my position in Christ, as something that I have earned or even deserve. Paul previously spoke out against the Jewish people. Paul spoke against the Jews declaration that it was their heritage or their lineage or their circumcision or their handling of the Scriptures, that then gave them some sort of special exemption before God. That because of these things anything God prescribed they did not necessarily have to adhere to. Yes, they were God's chosen people but this did not mean that they did not have to submit and surrender to Him. 

This is a very difficult practice in life. I think it is very difficult for the Christian to see himself as higher than others either in the faith or out of the faith. As Christians, we are called to live in the world and yet not be of the world. The world sees this and sees how we separate ourselves from the world and therefore, they think we are making ourselves out to be better than anything in the world. 

I think this is such a hard line to draw. Take the issue of homosexuality. The Christian, evangelical church has clearly put forth that homosexuality is a sin. Much has been made of this because the focus of homosexual activists is to conform people to the view that homosexuality is not only okay, but people are born like this. And therefore, any message that is contrary to this is viewed as narrow. And then when the Christian states disagreement in this, they are said to be judging these people. And there is also the feeling that the Christian sees there way as superior. And then suddenly the Christian looks at themselves as more highly positioned than those that don't agree with their ways. 

With the issue of homosexuality there are huge problems on both sides of the fence.  

I was speaking to my atheist friend recently and thought that my focus and position before him should be expressed that I don't believe I am any better than him. I need to believe and think that I don't think of myself as being any better than him. Sure, I might think I am better off for eternity, but I can't for a moment let it seep in that I think I am more of a person than he is.  

A measure of faith
Now this is interesting because I wonder if we do think that faith is something we bring to the table with God. That I am saved by my faith through the grace of God. And therefore, God is somehow waiting for me to have faith in him. I think that is an application of this verse. God has allotted to each a measure of faith. He provides us with the faith that we need. He allows the temptation, but also provides the way out. He is the hand of providence in our life. In no way does he only have a certain amount of faith and I get one piece, but rather faith is allotted or given to me. 

But, also faith has been given, now what will I do with it? And what stands out about me is the influence of faith on my minds. I am so quick to judge myself by the tangible things I have. I often thing, "Wow, I am glad God has placed me here rather than there." Is that because I feel blessed here and I wouldn't feel blessed if he had placed me in a hut in Africa with no running water, toilet, or refrigerator? Therefore, is my faith really in God or is it more in the creature comforts that I find all around me. Do I really have a faith in things? 

So faith has been measured to me, but what have I done with it? How is that I really live by faith? 

Members of the Body of Christ
Paul takes this message of being no better than anyone else and presents the Body of Christ. And i should see that what he is saying is no one person in the Body is better or more of a significant part than another member. I believe I have sometimes placed certain people like a lead pastor or elder above others in the church, but the body, whether it be a nursery worker, a person maintaining the church, a greeter, a teacher, all carry some level within the Body of Christ.  In addition, "we are members one of another" and so there is a connection between all of us and what we are doing in the Body. 

Sometimes I think the church really struggles with this as it differentiates between the work of paid staff and non-paid staff. Paid staff becomes the leaders that direct the flock and the non-paid staff become the support. There is just a danger in having ourselves look no different from the world where the ones getting made are making the decisions for the ones not getting paid. 

As in many areas of scripture, we need to "be careful." We must be careful in how we apply this scripture, making sure the application is not just a mirror of the application in our worldly professions. 

Promise: There are no disctinctions when it comes to our signifcance in the church and before God (Galatians 3:27-29) - Tabletalk, September 10, 2014