Many people look for a church that suits their needs. If it meets on their schedule, plays worship music they enjoy, has the right programming for their children, and has a preacher who keeps them awake, it’s a fit! But God has so much more in store for us than comfort and convenience. He wants us to be the Christians the Church needs. As the bride of Christ, we are to be radiant, pure, and faithful to the Lord Jesus, the living Word of God.
In 2005, before Pastor Adrian Rogers retired from the pulpit, he preached a series of messages to his congregation to prepare his church for the future. The biblical messages he gave his church apply to all believers—those who by faith alone, through grace alone, have placed their hope in Christ alone and belong to the Church universal.
Pastor Rogers’ messages centered on unity among believers, standing strong in opposition to the enemy (Satan), the power of the Holy Spirit to change lives, steadfastness in prayer, true worship, faithfulness to God’s Word, caring for others, and the kingdom authority given to believers in Jesus Christ.
We must shift our thinking from self-centered—this particular church suits me—to God-centered. The Church is not a Sunday clubhouse for believers; it is a battle station for God’s kingdom.
Let’s look at God’s plan and purpose for the Church.
A biblically unified local church is a wonderful thing. Because this unity comes from the Spirit, we do not produce it; we merely preserve it.
Ephesians 4 tells us that we, as Christians, are to be, “...endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:2-3).
We preserve this sacred unity by recognizing that the ground of our unity is doctrinal and spiritual. It means we are in agreement on the basic truths of Scripture.
If you think of your local church as a battleship, preparing its soldiers to go out and win souls for Christ—for this is the commission Jesus gave us in Matthew 28:18-20—you must recognize that soldiers are orderly in their preparation and unified in their mission before they are deployed.
Ephesians 4:4-6 tells us the seven pillars of truth that hold us up and bind us together as believers in the mission Christ Jesus has given us. This is true of both the local church and the Church universal.
These truths together form the Truth on which we stand.
Paul reminds us:
“He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:22-23).
As we stand on the seven pillars of church unity, we are ready to battle the enemy.
For more about the unity of the Church, and why that unity embraces diversity and demands maturity, read the article, “A Church of Unity as the Body of Christ.”
Any time an individual or a local church initiates service in God’s name for His glory, the enemy will bring opposition. We must remain steadfast
Our enemy is methodical; he will attack us spiritually in the same vulnerable areas time after time. But we have the armor of God and we have the Holy Spirit as our ally.
Paul tells us what to expect and how to counter the enemy.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—(Ephesians 6:10-18).
To gain from Paul’s advice, we must first recognize that there is a kingdom of darkness that is in opposition to the things of Christ. If we are not careful, we are prone to discount this supernatural enemy, but Satan is both real and present. His presence may be something we recognize immediately, or it may be something he is artful in hiding, especially in a society that ignores the supernatural.
We must be equally sure that Jesus has already won the war. Our job is to stand firm in the particular skirmish in which we are engaged.
Isaiah 54:17 says, “‘No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,’ says the Lord.”
How do we prevail? We use the armor Paul describes—the Early Church would have understood each piece:
Christians: don’t be afraid of the enemy’s attacks. Commit to doing good work—a child of God is always building and battling at the same time.
To learn how Nehemiah battled the enemy as he led his countrymen to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, read the article, “A Church Steadfast and Rooted in Christ.”
Jesus told us in John 14:18, “I will not leave you as orphans.” Not only did He promise the Holy Spirit, but He also promised to return and take us to be with Him. With these assurances, we can operate in the strength of the Holy Spirit with our eyes toward the Second Coming of the King of kings and the Lord of lords and eternal life with Him.
A Spirit-filled Church does not just organize and process members—it empowers and equips believers to be transformed by Scripture.
Jesus said
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father” (John 14:12).
This is an exciting program because it reveals that, as a Church, we are not only to do the works of Jesus but also to exceed the works of Jesus. We won’t walk on water, but we will multiply the kingdom by leading people to Jesus.
Adrian Rogers says, “Bringing a soul to Jesus Christ is greater than raising a man from the dead.” There is no substitute for evangelism; the Church is Spirit-filled to enable fruitful evangelism.
As we do the work of the Lord, we possess an explicit promise: God will answer our prayers. Prayer is not preliminary to our work; it is the work. To do the greater works that Jesus commands us to do, we must labor in prayer. This requires the right people praying, with the right power, for the right purpose.
Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit so that we can pray in the right way, move in the right direction, and operate with the Spirit’s exceeding power.
Adrian Rogers says, “The Holy Spirit is Christ in the Christian.” In the Holy Spirit, we have a Great Comforter who empowers and strengthens us. We are never left to do these greater works alone; He is with us and within us.
For more about God’s purpose in giving the Church His Spirit, read the article, “A Church Filled with The Holy Spirit and God’s Power.”
There is no substitute for prayer and a church is only as useful as her prayer life. The devil cannot keep God from answering our prayers, so he tries to keep us from asking. But our Lord has commanded us to pray.
Adrian Rogers says, “The greatest problem that you have in your life is not unanswered prayer; the greatest problem is unoffered prayer.”
Jesus said,
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).
These are the words of Jesus—an undeniable, impeccable promise to a praying church.
God already knows our needs before we ask. We pray, not to impress or inform Him, but to invite Him into our circumstances. God wants us to abide in Him, and prayer teaches us to depend on Him. Therefore, we must express our desires to God, seek and expect His direction, and be persistent. We keep asking, we keep knocking until God answers our prayer or redirects our prayer with the wisdom only He possesses.
The Church is called to pray—individually, corporately, and above all, fervently. Is there something in your heart and mind that you’ve been afraid to pray for? Freely ask God, seek Him, and continue knocking. He is faithful to answer, whether directly, differently, or delayed.
For more on God’s purpose in prayer for the Church, read the article, “A Church Devoted to the Power of Prayer.”
We were created to worship God; it is life’s greatest privilege and supreme duty to worship Him. It is the act of worship, and coming together in local bodies of the worshipping Church, that transforms our lives from monotonous to momentous.
Jesus told us what true worship is:
“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24).
Worship is not about the music or emotion. True worship is knowing God, enjoying God, and praising Him for who He is. In the process, we are transformed.
Adrian Rogers says, “We don’t have to have enthusiastic heresy or lifeless orthodoxy. …It’ll be a great day in any church when you stop enduring religion and start enjoying true worship.”
Worship is a response of gratitude to all that God has revealed Himself to be through Jesus Christ.
In a worshiping church, Jesus is magnified because believers are becoming more and more like Him as they worship.
We become like what we worship! Think about a little child who wants to grow up to be a fireman, a gymnast, or a pilot. That child has probably had an encounter with someone who is a hero in a particular field. Soon that child is pretending to play firehouse, cartwheeling across the living room, or steering a clubhouse as an “airplane.”
While that is an elementary example, think about an adult who gives his or her life to the company—all the hours, all the drive, all the self-identification is in the company. We call that a company man or woman. That person’s total worship of career pushes out the person’s humanity. We cannot put our worship of God in a small cubicle that is 1/7th of our person; a Sunday-only Christian does not become more Christ-like.
What do you worship? Adrian Rogers says “Anything you love more, fear more, serve more, or value more than God is your idol.” You cannot put anything ahead of God and still bring true worship to Him. This means your job, your possessions, your fears, even your love for your spouse or your children, must take a second seat to Christ Jesus.
This is why it’s important to know exactly who we are worshipping. Adrian Rogers says, “Your worship will never rise higher than your knowledge of God.”
The ultimate privilege is to love God and worship Him in spirit and truth—to do what we were created for! Such worship actualizes us as human beings in a way secular plans and programs can never approach.
Today, love Him passionately with all your heart, selflessly with all of your soul, and thoughtfully with your mind. And make sure you and your family are in a local church that promotes true worship.
For more about worship, read the article, “A Church that Worships in Spirit and Truth.”
God created a church to be unified, to be steadfast, to be Spirit-filled, to pray, and to worship so that Man can finally fulfill the purpose for which we were created.
God made men and women to have dominion, victory, and mastery. That is the plan of God! Once we understand this, we can come together as a conquering Church and take back what was lost by Adam and was restored by Jesus Christ, the Second Adam.
In short, God gave dominion on Earth to Adam (read Genesis 1:26). Satan, who lost the battle for supremacy in Heaven, hoped to win the battle on Earth. He came to the Garden of Eden as a serpent and tempted Adam and Eve to sin; therefore, they turned dominion over to him and became his slaves.
But the dominion legally lost by Adam was righteously regained by Jesus Christ!
It was lost by a man, and it was legally restored by a man:
“For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:21-22).
Satan tried to tempt Jesus to sin as he had tempted Adam (Luke 4), but Jesus used His armor. He defeated Him by the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. At Calvary, when Jesus died and was buried, the devil believed he had won. But three days later, Jesus walked out of the grave and brought back the dominion that had been lost.
Jesus gave that dominion to His Church. That is the purpose of the Church.
Read again what Paul said:
“And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:22-23).
When God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, He raised us up as well. The devil wants to keep us in the dark so that we never see the incredible power we’ve been given. But when we finally recognize it, all Heaven will break loose.
Adrian Rogers says, “The same weapons that belonged to Adam in the Garden of Eden were the weapons that Jesus Christ used in the wilderness.” Spend some time in Scripture, dwell on the Word of God, exercising your dominion, rightfully restored by Jesus Christ.
For more about the Church’s kingdom authority, read the article, “A Victorious Church that Proclaims the Lord Jesus Christ."
