In The Master's Service

WILL THE LOCAL CHURCH SURVIVE?

Elder Wayne Crocker

The Lord will find faith on the earth when He returns. The New Testament Church will be alive and well somewhere in this old sinful world without a doubt. But will it be in my community? Will it be where my membership now is? 

A further question is, does it all depend upon the Lord's sovereign work as to whether or not the church will remain where I'm a member? 

On September 6, 2008, the little church where our membership is and where I try to pastor was 100 years old. It was good to reflect back upon the sacrifices and upon the faithfulness of many who had gone before us at this location. We realized it was certainly by God's grace and mercy that Hopewell Primitive Baptist Church is still in existence at West Blocton, Alabama. The Lord has taken care of it. But it is also correct to acknowledge that without someone being faithful to the cause of Christ, the church would have ceased to exist at this location. 

What about the future? Should we take the fatalistic view that if the Lord wants a church in a place, can we rest assured that it will continue to be there? That may sound good at first thought. We know the Lord has all power and it is most certainly within His power to keep a church anywhere He pleases. 

However, the truth of the matter is that it doesn't please Him to keep His church among an unrepentant people. Where are those seven churches of Asia today? They have been gone for centuries. 

Perhaps one of the strongest churches ever to exist was at Ephesus. It was established under the ministry of the apostle Paul. He labored diligently among them for quite a long period, teaching them publicly and from house to house and "kept back nothing that was profitable unto" them (Acts 20:20). 

After being imprisoned in Rome, Paul wrote what is now called the book of Ephesians to this church, clearly laying out again the great principles of salvation by grace and how Christians were to conduct themselves. It is doubtful that any church could have had a better foundation than the one at Ephesus. Yet within a few decades this strong church was in danger of having the candlestick removed. 

When Jesus told John to write to this church, it still had some strengths. It seems it was strong in doctrine and quite zealous and faithful in carrying out the works of the church. But still they were in danger!— Jesus told them, "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love." (Rev. 2:4). They were told to "repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent" (Rev. 2:5). 

I believe the church had lost its fervent spirit of love for Christ and one another. They were still going through the motions, but were no longer on fire as they once were. Perhaps their compassion for the afflicted and poor was not like it once was. They were probably not praying and seeking close fellowship with the Lord as before. 

Could we now be or might we be in the future in the same condition as Ephesus? We would do well to constantly examine ourselves. Ephesus may have repented at the time and continued as a true church. But at some point, it lapsed into an unrepentant condition and ceased to be the Lord's church. We could do the same. 

The church of the Laodiceans was in a lukewarm condition. As a result they were in great danger of having the candlestick removed from them. Sadly, they thought they were doing great. But Jesus was sorely displeased with their attitude and conduct. He would rather they be either cold or hot, instead of lukewarm: 

"So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased in goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou maysest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and the shame of thy nackedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see" (Rev. 3:16-18). The Lord still loved this church, but He was not going to tolerate their self-centered, prideful attitude. "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent" (Rev. 3:19). 

The Lord is continuing to walk among the candlesticks. We need to examine ourselves and compare the way we are walking and how we are instructed in the New Testament to walk. This is true in the matter of the church body and individual members of the church. 

It is only by God's mercy, grace and longsuffering, that we are given space to repent. But, whether or not an individual local church survives is conditional upon the obedience of the Lord's children in the church and in the community of the church.

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