by A.W. Tozer
So precious is the Church in the eyes of God that it is scarcely possible it should ever become too precious in the eyes of men. "I love Thy Church, O God," should be next after "I love Thee, O Lord."
The Church is the temple in which the Spirit of Christ dwells, the body of which Christ is the Head, the medium through which He works for the reclamation of mankind. Individual members of the Church working in harmony with each other are the lips and hands and feet of the inliving Christ. The Church is the true Shekinah, the visible habitation of the invisible God, the Bride of Christ, destined to share forever the love of His heart and the privileges of His throne.
It is, of course, not possible at this time to have the whole together again "all with one accord in one place." Some of her members have gone to join the Church of the Firstborn in heaven and now mingle with the spirits of just men made perfect. And they who still remain on earth form a company too vast ever to assemble in one building. The gathering of the whole Church in one place must wait the consummation. Only the city four-square will provide sufficient room for such a joyous assembly.
While the whole Church cannot come together on earth, God has ordered it so that the same thing can be realized on a limited scale by the gathering together of small groups of believers in the fellowship of worship and prayer. Any assembly of true Christians is a church. "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with of them" (Matthew 18:20). The name and the Presence are indispensable to a local church. A group of saved persons, however small, who meet in Christ's name and recognize His Presence, form a true cell in His body and enjoy the full power and authority of Christ Himself.
Because this is true the whole Christian psychology should be tuned to Christ and the Church. Every worshiper should keep before him the thought of Christ and His Church. However humble the external circumstances, if Christ is present the place is a holy temple and every believer a priest before the altar. Each single cell is an organic part of the larger body and is joined to the whole and to the Lord who indwells it by the life of the inliving Spirit.
A sense of the unity of the Church should dictate our attitude toward it and shape the polity of the local assembly. Constant emphasis should be laid upon the fact that the local church is one indivisible organization and that there can be no independent "brotherhood" or "youth church" or "children's church" operating apart from the life and order of the whole. Departments within the church may seem to be necessary and may actually make for smoother functioning, especially where the church is a large one; but when any department begins to think of itself as a thing apart, unrelated to the local body, it becomes a cancer on the church's life and leads to its final destruction.
A multitude of religious organizations has grown up in recent times, most of them dedicated to one specific spiritual task. Among these we may list Bible societies, Bible schools and various business and professional groups bearing the name Christian. Undoubtedly many of these are good and useful agents through which the Church may work, but they must never be allowed to substitute for the Church. They are handmaids only; they can never take the place of the true mistress.
When all has been said, it is still true that the most perfect expression of God's will on earth will be found in the local church, whose members meet at stated times and places to worship the Lord and commune with each other and then go out to serve their generation after the manner laid down in the Scriptures.
( Article taken from The Price of Neglect, Chapter 17 )
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