PILLARS OF A GLORIOUS CHURCH

"The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John." (Revelation 1:1 NIV)

Every church, no matter the denomination or doctrine, must look so much the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the head and the church is his body. The two parts must be identical in nature and behaviour.  

Nature wise, the church is created in the image of Christ, but behaviour wise, the church must learn to live like Christ. Just as a newborn baby, fully possessing the genetic and systemic abilities of a human being, must learn to behave as a human being, so the Christian, created in the image of Christ, must learn to behave like Christ. 

We ought to place much emphasis on the revelation of Jesus Christ in the book of Revelations. This is because, in the book, the glorified Christ reveals himself to the church in his full glory as Lord, so that we would see what his glory looks like, and eventually, make manifest the same glory in the world, for he died for a glorious church. A glorious church is a church that manifests the glory of Christ as the Lord and Saviour of the body. 

Below are the pillars of a glorious church gathered from the revelation of Jesus Christ to the seven churches:

1. Preeminence of Jesus

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands." (Rev 2:1 NIV)

In his foremost epistle—the epistle to the church in Ephesus—the Lord introduces himself as the Preeminent One. This means that he takes the foremost place in the church. He is the head of the body, and so, all officers in the church including the forerunner of the church, are in his hands. He holds all the stars in his hands, and walks in the midst of all the churches. He does not have a representative but rather, a steward who renders account to him. A church leader is a steward of the Lord. Therefore, a glorious church reveres Jesus Christ as the Preeminent One and honours him as the head of the body. 

2. Authority of Jesus 

“To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again." (Rev 2:8 NIV)

In his epistle to the second church—the church in Smyrna—the Lord introduces himself as the Almighty; the First and the Last (also the beginning and the end), the one who died and came to life again. The Lord is the Almighty, but not you the forerunner or senior pastor. The Lord is the One who died and came to life again, not you the main leader. You must honour his authority over you the same way every other Christian does. We all take direction and guidance from the One who is Almighty, who died and came to life again. Therefore, a glorious church honours Jesus Christ as the highest authority in the church and submits to him. 

3. Supremacy of his words

“To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword." (Rev 2:12 NIV)

In his epistle to the third church—the church in Pergamum, the Lord introduces himself as the One who has the sharp, double-edged sword. This means that he rules supreme by his words. The word of God is the highest authority for faith, doctrine and practice in the church. The leader of the church is an interpreter and enforcer of his words. His words are the revelations for the guidance of his people, and they must be treated as supreme. Therefore, a glorious church holds the supremacy of the words of the Lord. 

4. Christology 

“To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze." (Rev 2:18 NIV)

The Lord introduces himself as the glorious Son of God in his epistle to the fourth church—the church in Thyatira. Not only is he the Son of God, but also, his eyes are like blazing fire and his feet are like burnished bronze. John saw him and fell at his feet as a dead person. The New Testament reveals Jesus as both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36). By Lord [kurios], he is hereby revealed as God Almighty who is worthy of worship, and by Christ [mashiach], he is revealed as the Anointed One who is to usher humanity into the Kingdom of God, bringing salvation to humankind. A church that does not acknowledge Jesus as both Lord and Christ is not a glorious church. 

5. Pneumatology

“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead." (Rev 3:1 NIV).

To the fifth church—the church in Sardis, the Lord introduces himself as the One who holds the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. He glorifies Christ in the church, in the world and in the heavenly realm. He is the One who unites every Christian to Christ. Without him, there is no union with Christ, and without him, there is no family of God on earth. The Holy Spirit is the generator of the church. Without him, you can of your own self do nothing. A church that acknowledges the personhood, presence and ministry of the Holy Spirit in the believer is a glorious church. 

6. Holiness, truth, power

 “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open." (Rev 3:7 NIV)

Here is the Lord's epistle to the sixth church—the church in Philadelphia. The Lord introduces himself as the One who is holy and true, and holds the key of David. 

To the Lord, holiness, truth and power underpin a glorious church. God is holy, and so his children are holy and must live holily. Holiness entails purity of the spirit, soul and body. The worst form of pollution to your spirit is carnality; to the soul, it is ungodly music and pornography; and to the body, it is sexual immorality. Holiness also means total separation and devotion to the purposes of God. A church that doubles as state political power is not a glorious church. 

Truth means veracity, authenticity or the quality of being genuine. Falsehood is never to be associated with the body of Christ, because the body reveals the glory of the head. The Lord is genuine, authentic and veracious. His word is true and so you can always take him at his word. A church that wallows in falsehood and spreads heresy is not a glorious church.

Power means influence. The Lord has endowed the church with so much power to have influence upon the world. The church has power to drive positive changes in the world. Therefore with much power the church must expand the Kingdom of God across the globe, thus, overcoming evil. A church that denies the power of God is not a glorious church. 

7. Faithful and true witness of Lord

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation." (Rev 3:14 NIV)

The Lord introduces himself as the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation to the seventh and last church—the church in Laodicea. 

Jesus is the Amen, that is, the unchangeable truth. He gives affirmation to the Father, in that when you see him, you have seen the Father. In his earthly ministry he witnessed to the Father but not to himself. In this sense, he is the faithful and true witness as he did not glorify himself but the Father. He rules God's creation. He is the heir of all things in the universe and does not need, yet as a human being he led a modest life so that we will live a more prosperous life on earth. He exchanged his abundant life for our destitute life, thereby making us worthy and wealthy by his grace. 

The Lord does not want us to be bragging about our riches, drawing people's attention to ourselves as though we became wealthy by our own wisdom and might. This amounts to self-glorification. What do you have that you did not receive from the Lord? If you did receive your riches from the Lord, why must you brag about your riches? Rather than glorify ourselves, we must glorify the Lord so as to be faithful and true witnesses of the Lord. 

Avarice is rendering too many churches unprecedently lukewarm; they are losing the energy, the fire and the heat of the Spirit that they had at the beginning for reaching masses with the glorious gospel. They are now concentrating on the prosperity gospel due to the quest to be wealthy megachurches. Greed will make you lukewarm; neither on fire nor completely shut down. This spiritual state makes you totally unuseful to God. A church that is lukewarm is not a glorious church. 

From the foregoing, we have seen that a glorious church is identical to Jesus Christ in nature and behaviour. Therefore, we may discern a glorious church by their reverence for the preeminence of Jesus Christ; their submission to Jesus Christ; their honour for the supremacy of the words of Jesus Christ; their acknowledgement of the deity, divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ; their acknowledgement of the person and ministry of the Holy Spirit; their holiness, veracity and power; and their energy for witnessing to Jesus Christ, thus, glorifying him in the world. 

#Truth Haven