What is the church?

Hear [O Jerusalem] the word of the Lord, you rulers or judges of [another] Sodom! Give ear to the law and the teaching of our God, you people of [another] Gomorrah!

To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me [unless they are the offering of the heart]? says the Lord. I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts [without obedience]; and I do not delight in the blood of bulls or of lambs or of he-goats [without righteousness].

When you come to appear before Me, who requires of you that your [unholy feet] trample My courts?

Bring no more offerings of vanity (emptiness, falsity, vainglory, and futility); [your hollow offering of] incense is an abomination to Me; the New Moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot endure—[it is] iniquity and profanation, even the solemn meeting.

Your New Moon festivals and your [hypocritical] appointed feasts My soul hates. They are an oppressive burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them.

And when you spread forth your hands [in prayer, imploring help], I will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood!”      Isaiah 1:10-15  AMP

There is Hope in our Lord Jesus.

God is tired of people playing church instead of being the Church.

What is the church? 

Is it the four walls that surround us?

No, we who are Christians are the Church.

1 Peter 2:4-5, “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”

If you profess to be a Christian, you are the Church.  You may be the only Jesus others may see.  You are leaving as a representative of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Why is it so important for us to be a good representative of Jesus?  

When we as Christians see other people professing one thing and living something different, they are living a lie.  When the lost see us doing the same thing, professing this and living that, then they just see the lie. They see the lie, because they don’t see the truth of the only true satisfaction is in a relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. They see the lie and do not believe there is any reason to get saved.  They see themselves as being just as good as the person claiming to be saved, so why do they need to get saved.  We need to lead by example.

We say we love Him with our mouth; but in our actions we don’t reflect it.

James 2:14-20, “ What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, Depart in peace, be warmed and filled; but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body; what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, you have faith and I have works: show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe
that there is one God; you do well: Even the demons believe, and tremble. But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?”

So how are you?  Are you dead?  Are you living in compromise?  It’s not that works save you, but rather you are saved to do works.

Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

You may ask what are some of the ways that people are playing church?

We play church by our lack of concern for reaching the lost.

We will go to church and we will sing a song or two and put some money in the plate when it goes by and try to stay awoke during the sermon, but to ask someone to join us. Forget it. We are comfortable in our own little world and we really don’t want to cause others to feel uncomfortable by inviting them to church.

We play church when our prayers do not include others who need the Lord, when they pray it’s all about them, Lord give me this, and pray for my loved ones, me, me, and more me. Our prayers should always include the lost.

We play church in our attendance. We will go to church most of the time, when it is convenient or if we feel like it.

Hebrews 10:25, “ Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some; but exhorting one another, and so much the more, as you see the day approaching.”

 

Exhorting means to come along side and inspiring another with the truth. You start getting a bunch people coming together and others will come if for nothing else to see what’s going on.

I don’t think we would have room in our churches if everyone who claimed to be a member of a certain church they attended as claimed in the obituaries.  Did you ever notice that 99% of all people listed in the obituaries were a member of some church?  

Your name written in some obituary stating that you attend some church will not get you into heaven; only your name written in the Lambs book of Life will get you into heaven.

So how can we be the church?  How can we live Godly lives in a corrupt world?