How valuable is the church?

Jesus says the church has great value (Matt

13:44-46).

I love the church.

Why?

The church of

Christ is precious.

Passing The church is precious because of

If the church is not precious, Jesus died for her in

vain. “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in

which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for

the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood”

(Acts 20:28).

Eph 5:25-27.

We were redeemed with “the precious blood of Christ, like

that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Pet 1:19).

Prayer The church is precious because of

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who

will believe in me through their word, that they may

all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in

you, that they also may be in us, so that the world

may believe that you have sent me” (Jn 17:20-21). Jesus prayed for the church knowing his death was near.

He did pray for himself (Matt 26:36-46).

Yet, in his anguish, he prayed for the church!

Production

The church is precious because of

Many churches were founded by men.

Yet, I am a member of a church founded by

Jesus.

“On this rock I will build my church, and the gates

of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18).

1 Cor 3:10-11.

Jesus is the cornerstone of the church (Eph 2:20).

Palace The church is precious because of

The very idea of a temple to the ancients was that

the temple housed a deity.

“The Philistines took the ark of God and brought it

into the house of Dagon and set it up beside

Dagon” (1 Sam 5:2).

Notice two things:

The Philistines carried the ark “into the house of

Dagon.”

The Philistines put the ark “beside Dagon.”

Our God once dwelt in physical buildings.

“Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell

in their midst” (Ex 25:8).

1 Ki 8:10-11.

God now dwells in the church. “The God who made the world and everything in it, being

Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made

by man” (Acts 17:24).

God now dwells in the church of his Son.

“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that

God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s

temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy,

and you are that temple” (1 Cor 3:16-17).

The church is the “household” of God (1 Tim 3:14-15).

Perception

The church is precious because of

God’s wisdom is perceived in the church.

“Through the church the manifold wisdom of God

might now be made known to the rulers and

authorities in the heavenly places” (Eph 3:10).

Not perceived on earth, but God’s wisdom is still

perceived.

Planning The church is precious because of

Jesus did not establish the church on a whim; he did so as

part of God’s plan. “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom

that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another

people” (Dan 2:44).

“We impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed

before the ages for our glory” (1 Cor 2:7).

The church “was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized

in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph 3:11).

God “saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our

works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in

Christ Jesus before the ages began” (2 Tim 1:9).

Perfection

The church is precious because of

The holy city in Rev 21 is the church. Rev 21:1-4:

The holy city comes down from heaven.

The city is prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

This city is also the dwelling place of God.

Rev 21:9-27:

Bride of the Lamb.

John sees the city from a high mountain. The church is the “mountain of the LORD” (Is 2:1-4).

The foundations of the wall had the names of the twelve

apostles (v 14).

Placement

The church is precious because of

God places you in the church when you are baptized. “The Lord added to their number day by day those who

were being saved” (Acts 2:47).

“In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body -- Jews or

Greeks, slaves or free -- and all were made to drink of one

Spirit” (1 Cor 12:13).

The Samaritans “believed Philip as he preached good

news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus

Christ, they were baptized, both men and women” (Acts

8:12).

We find community in the church.

“Exhort one another every day, as long as it is

called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened

by the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb 3:13).

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law

of Christ” (Gal 6:2).

Have you been

baptized into the

church?

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