1449. The Church, a Functionized Organism

The Church, a Functionized Organism

"Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them" (Act_13:2).

The Church is not a cold, formal organism, inoperative, and gone into winter quarters. The Church is called to be a busy, active, serving organism, making its message heard and its mission felt to the uttermost parts of the earth.

1. The Church in its functioning manifests the living Christ. As we see it, the most gracious and indisputable testimony of the Church to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the fact that the Church lives, and that it functions from a living Head.

If Christ were dead, and in the tomb, the Church could be no more than an organization.

If the Church is what we claim,–an organism, functioning from on high–then the resurrection of Jesus Christ is assured.

Every great religion under the sun, with the exception of Christianity, has survived the death of its founder.

Confucius is dead, but Confucianism lives.

Buddha is dead, but Buddhism lives.

Mohammet is dead, but Mohammedanism lives.

Mary Baker Eddy is dead, but Christian Science lives.

The Church was not born until Christ was dead. The Church was not born until Christ had died, and been raised from the dead. The Church was not born until the risen Christ had breathed upon them and said: "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." The Church was not born until the ascended Christ had poured forth the Holy Ghost.

The Church has been increased, as sinners have been born anew, added unto the living Lord, and baptized in one Spirit into one body.

The inspiration of Peter, of James, and of John was the risen, living Christ.

The inspiration of Paul was the living Christ. The inspiration of every saint, to-day, who preaches Christ and teaches Christ, is the manifest presence and power of the living Christ.

Take away the risen Christ from the Church, and you leave it a cold, dead organization.

Take away the risen Christ and you rob the Church of its love and joy and peace.

Take away the living Christ, and you take from the Church its passion for preaching to sinners, and its purpose in the perfecting of saints.

The fact that the Church is a functionized organism establishes the fact that Christ is a living and glorious reality.

2. The Church in its functioning is to reach to the uttermost part of the earth. The Church can never fold its hands and say its work is done, until it has carried the Gospel message to the last man upon the earth.

The one great throbbing impulse of the Church is to preach the Gospel in the regions beyond. It is to tell Christ where Christ has never been known.

To this work the Holy Ghost Who indwells the Church, has given Himself. It is He Who is leading the Church in the world-wide proclamation of the Gospel of grace and glory.

In the olden days, the Holy Ghost said to Philip, "Go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert."

In the olden days, the Holy Ghost said, concerning Saul of Tarsus, "He is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel."

In the olden days, the Holy Ghost said to Peter: "Go with them, nothing doubting."

Our hearts are stirred as we consider the way the Holy Spirit directed the movements of saints in the early Church.

When certain disciples tarried too long at Antioch, the Holy Spirit gave orders: "Separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them."

When Paul, with his heart burdened for the lost, would have gone into Asia, he was forbidden by the Holy Ghost. When he attempted to go to Bithynia, the Spirit of Jesus suffered him not. Why? Because the Spirit was leading toward Europe. There was a man of Macedonia saying:

"Come over into Macedonia, and help us."

If the Church of to-day will listen to the voice of God, the Spirit, if it will function in touch with its living Head, it will find that the Spirit will still direct its steps and send forth its missionaries to the world's remotest bounds.

Thank God, the Church may still be led of God.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR