Part 7 (2/2)
Isaiah said of Christ, ”He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastis.e.m.e.nt of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). We are urged to follow the example set by Christ (Philippians 2:5-11) in His humility and suffering for a great purpose. ”In every age Christ's sufferings attract to Him the hearts of men; for they prove the boundless extent of His love, His absolute unselfishness, and His loyalty to truth and principle even unto death. Thus they have power with men.” In following Christ, and placing Him in a right light before men, Christians must have a devotion to Him which will endure and stand steadfast through suffering. It is often only through the sacrifice of self that the best things in life are attained. ”If so be we suffer with Him that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:17,18).
THE JOY OF SERVICE
Jesus is represented as doing His work through love (John 3:16), and for the joy that was set before Him (Hebrews 12:2).
The Search for Happiness.--How can I be happy? This is the great question with mult.i.tudes of people. Men seek joy with the same eagerness that they dig for gold. Yet this world is a sad one, full of care, sickness, anxiety and sorrow. Many are the railers at fate and circ.u.mstances which keep them from realizing the object of their search.
The failure to find happiness arises in large part from going wrongly about it. Men seek happiness through relaxation and the lowering of the moral standards. Men ask, why should we obey this or that law of G.o.d, man or our moral nature, if it bars the way to our enjoyment?
”Let us eat and drink for to-morrow we die”; and eating and drinking they go out into a wild and barren land of sorrow. Again men seek happiness through the abundance of things; as if a human soul, born in the image of G.o.d, could be satisfied with mere things.
The Conditions of Christian Happiness.--Christ, as the Great Pattern of life, showed that true happiness must be attained through the mastery of the situation, the victory over temptation (Matthew 4:1-11), and the hardest and most adverse circ.u.mstances of life (Hebrews 12:3; Philippians 2:8-10; 2:1,2; Matthew 16:21-27). There is no greater joy than that of the victors in a hard fought battle. Heaven is for conquerors (Revelation 15:2,3; 17:14). It is the man who has gone down into the tumult and uproar of the arena of life and fought and conquered in some good cause who tastes the supreme cup of happiness. The master words of the Christ were, ”fight,” ”watch,”
”pray”; here is the entrance to the Utopia so long sought by men. The man who has no control over his appet.i.tes, pa.s.sions and temper, and who cannot endure hardness in a service in which he is interested, can never know what genuine joy is. Read the roll call of the heroes in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews.
1. A great object in view. There can be no greater object than to serve Christ in all the relations of life (Matthew 6:33; 10:38; 8:22; 16:24; 19:21).
2. Harmony with the will of G.o.d (Matthew 6:10).
3. Endurance. Paul exhorts Timothy, ”Thou therefore my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:1-3). It was this quality of endurance in service which Jesus sought to set before His followers in the strongest light (Matthew 10:22; 24:13).
Here then are the elements of the greatest human happiness and a divine joy. It is only as the human heart is thus prepared for the reception of the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit that He can be received in His glory, which He desires to impart to men and to bring them into joyous fellows.h.i.+p with the Father and the Son.
QUESTIONS
What is the call to service? What is the object of the call? Where shall men serve the Christ? How shall men serve the Christ in the heart, home, community, abroad? What can be said of the urgency of the call to service? What is the pattern of service? What can be said of personal work, training others for service, teaching, works of mercy and love, suffering? What is the joy of service? What can be said of the search for happiness? What are the conditions of Christian happiness in service?
STUDY IX
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Scriptures references: 1 Corinthians 3:11; 3:6-9; Colossians 1:18; Acts 2:47; Ephesians 5:23-27; Matthew 16:16,18; 18:17; Acts 5:11,12; 13:1,2; 14:23; 16:5; 1 Corinthians 11:18-34; 12:28-31; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2:14; 1 Timothy 3:15; Hebrews 12:22,23; Revelation 1:4,11,20; 2:7,11; 22:16; 22:12-15,17.
THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH
What is the Christian Church?--One of the best definitions is as follows: ”The church consists of all who acknowledge the Divine Lord, Jesus Christ, the blessed Saviour of mankind, who give credit to His gospel, and who hold His sacraments, the seals of eternal life, in honour.” Another definition is: ”The church is a holy kingdom established by G.o.d on earth, of which Christ is the invisible King.”
There are some organizations calling themselves Christian churches which have subst.i.tuted certain philosophical doctrines in place of the principles of Jesus Christ, but it is a fact of history that in proportion as the Divine Lords.h.i.+p of Christ has been exalted the greater has been the growth of the church. The church has been able to meet the needs of the people as He has been lifted up (John 12:32) that men might turn to Him for light and life (John 1:4; 8:12; 12:46; Matthew 11:27-30).
The Head of the Church is Jesus Christ. When Simon Peter made the declaration, ”Thou art the Christ the Son of the living G.o.d,” Jesus said unto him, ”Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven. And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church” (Matthew 16:16-18; Ephesians 2:20). ”The question is, What is this rock? The Romanists say, 'It is Peter'; but Christ did not so say. His statement was, 'Thou art Petros and on this petra I will build My church.' The words are cognate but not identical; the former is masculine and the latter feminine; petra is a rock; Petros is a stone hewn out of the rock.” When Christ uttered these words He was on His way to Jerusalem where He was to be crucified. In the face of the cross, the Master was preparing His disciples for a great trial and the time when, in bodily presence, He should depart from the earth. It was necessary that He should now speak plainly in regard to Himself and His mission.
Paul, in writing to the Colossians, said of Christ, ”And He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence”
(Colossians 1:18; compare Ephesians 1:22,23).
However Christian churches may differ from each other in form of government and in other matters they are united in the great essential doctrine of the Heads.h.i.+p of Christ, this is their strong bond of union.
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