The Church, The Master's Masterpiece

I enjoy visiting Art Galleries and Museums,  and on a particular rainy day a few weeks ago, I decided to visit Liverpool for the day and go to both the Walker Art Gallery and the World Museum , both are a part of the National Museums Liverpool.

Since I was about 11 after reading about it in the Reader’s Digest Magazine, I’ve always wanted to see Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa which is located in Lourve Art Gallery in Paris,   I have never had that opportunity,  I know that we can download a copy or even buy a Poster or a Postcard of this world  famous picture, but they are not the original.

On my recent trip to the Walker Art Gallery,  I was admiring their fine collection of pictures including some absolute masterpieces,   I entered one of the galleries,  and my eye was caught by this amazing picture just after the door way,  I thought surely it can’t be,  directly in front of me,  was the Mona Lisa,   I asked one of the guides and he explained to me, it was an earlier version of Leonardo’s classic and most familiar and well known pictures,  and that it wasn’t on display very often because the Lourve would be unhappy,  someone else said that seeing the Lourve’s Mona Lisa meant long queues and high security, but here on public display was an earlier version of this masterpiece.  There were many other excellent pictures there but my attention was just on this one picture.   I spent most of my time just looking and admiring the Mona Lisa,  I even texted a close friend to let her know.

I’ve been a Christian for just over 30 years now, I was very, very young when I surrendered my life, my will, my desire and very being to something that was beyond my own existence, my Saviour, my Redeemer and my Lord Jesus who died an agonizing death on the cross not just for my sins but the entire sin of mankind, and he rose again, he was and is God’s substitute for us. and  as a boy of 11 and since then I have come to love, respect and desire the Church, which is far larger than our denominational grouping and history.  I’ve read the Bible cover to cover  many times ,read countless Christian books,  some of which I’ve agreed with ,   some I have disagreed with,  and some of which have challenged, blessed, encouraged me and made me think. 

We, the Church are the visible representation of God’s Kingdom Rule and Reign here on Earth, we are his messengers of hope, love and compassion, salvation & restoration, the people we see every day are the people for whom Jesus died on the Cross for, we are the ones who are to bring hope and healing to our communities.





I have found myself being part of the Pentecostal/Restoration/New Church streams of the Evangelical branch of the Church for the last 30 years,  and have had a strong grounding in theology/doctrine and practice for those 30 years,   I have had many ups, downs, peaks and troughs,  but my love for His Church is still there,  like many I have had disappointments, scars and hurts, times when I’ve been confused and disappointed,  times I have given up and considered giving up, yet despite this I love my Saviour and His Church.

My background is in the Pentecostal movement,  although for most of the last 20 plus years I’ve been part of the Restoration movement,  my understanding and acceptance of the theology of the church or ecclesiology is based upon and grounded in my Pentecostal up bringing, which in recent days I have re-discovered that  although I have been influenced by many fine Christian writers  such as Neil Cole,  Martin Robinson and others,  my theology isn’t some sort of spiritual or Christian pick and mix , I have studied and prayed through scripture and waited on the Lord and have listened to many fine Christians leaders and others over time, and some have challenged me more than others.  

The church has faced many challenges and opportunities throughout it’s history and today we believers in the early 21^st century, face many of the same challenges and opportunities that our brothers and sisters who came before us have faced, yet we face many different challenges and opportunities that are unique to this moment in time, i.e the challenge of homosexuality, which the Bible calls a sin, if the Bible says it's a sin, it's a sin. Are homosexuals wired that way from birth or become wired that way later in life through circumstances etc, my personal understanding is that we can choose either to a life of sin or to  a life of justification and ongoing sanctification,  I strongly believe that you can’t be a Christian and live a sinful life  by living as an  homosexual, if a Christian decides to live a homosexual lifestyle  he or she is crucifying the Lord again. Hebrews 6:4-6

Hebrews 6 New Living Translation (NLT)

6 So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds[a] and placing our faith in God. 2 You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.

4 For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come— 6 and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.

7 When the ground soaks up the falling rain and bears a good crop for the farmer, it has God’s blessing. 8 But if a field bears thorns and thistles, it is useless. The farmer will soon condemn that field and burn it.

9 Dear friends, even though we are talking this way, we really don’t believe it applies to you. We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation. 10 For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers,[b] as you still do. 11 Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. 12 Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance.

I believe that we the church need to face head on, both the many challenges and opportunities that this current age has, have and will give us,  in the United Kingdom we face different challenges that our brothers and sisters in for example  the USA, such as the Scottish Independence Question,  my personal perspective is that Scotland would be making a major mistake by leaving the UK, in the USA how does the Church face up to the recent deaths and subsequent violence in regards to the Black Lives matter campaign.

Despite whatever some people tell us or act,  the Church, ( I don’t mean our particular denominational grouping) is here until our Lord returns, to bring his victorious army with Him to Heaven, not to rescue a defeated army that are holding on and out, until He returns,  instead of holding our lentil fields let us advance

C T Studd

Too long have we been waiting for one another to begin! The time of waiting is past! The hour of God has struck! War is declared! In God's Holy Name let us arise and build! 'The God of Heaven, He will fight for us', as we for Him. We will not build on the sand, but on the bedrock of the sayings of Christ, and the gates and minions of hell shall not prevail against us. Should such men as we fear? Before the world, aye, before the sleepy, lukewarm, faithless, namby-pamby Christian world, we will dare to trust our God, we will venture our all for Him, we will live and we will die for Him, and we will do it with His joy unspeakable singing aloud in our hearts. We will a thousand times sooner die trusting only our God, than live trusting in man. And when we come to this position the battle is already won, and the end of the glorious campaign in sight. We will have the real Holiness of God, not the sickly stuff of talk and dainty words and pretty thoughts; we will have a Masculine Holiness, one of daring faith and works for Jesus Christ.

  

2 Samuel 23:11 New Living Translation

11 Next in rank was Shammah son of Agee from Harar. One time the Philistines gathered at Lehi and attacked the Israelites in a field full of lentils. The Israelite army fled, 12 but Shammah[e] held his ground in the middle of the field and beat back the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory.

I’ve been listening to a great series of teaching video’s called Cappuccino Communication that John Glass,  The former General Superintendent of the Elim Pentecostal Church has published online,  in the most recent series I have watched and listened to,  John has spoken on the yoke from Matthew 11:28-30

Matthew 11:28-30 The Voice.

²⁸ Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Put My yoke upon your shoulders—it might appear heavy at first, but it is perfectly fitted to your curves. Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. When you are yoked to Me, your weary souls will find rest. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.

I don’t know who else finds this,  but when the Lord wants us to learn something, well at least with me, he keeps bringing my attention to the same passage of scripture,  I’ve found this to be true this week and at other times of my life.  Many of us in the church are weary because of situations and circumstances sometimes in the Church and at other times outside the Church, let us focus once more on our Lord and Saviour Jesus,  and became involved in, interested in and committed to once again to His Church.

I believe that are two key areas,  we need to look at today in the Church,  and these are Discipleship and Doctrine(Teaching) we need to see a resurgence of  Ephesians 4:11 ministries within the Church,  in some parts of the Church we have emphasised the ministries of the Apostle and of the Prophet and have in some ways neglected the equally important ministries of the Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher,  in some ways we have put the Apostles and Prophets on  a pedestal , thinking of  the Ephesians 4:11 ministries is  some sort of hierarchy ( which I believe is incorrect) all Ephesians 4 :11 ministries have a different function, ministry and calling  but are all equal, yet  the Apostle is the first among equals.

Matthew 28:18-20 NASB Discipleship

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Acts 2:42- 47 NASB Doctrine

42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and [ao]to prayer.

43 [ap]Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and [aq]signs were taking place through the apostles. 44 And all those who had believed [ar]were together and had all things in common; 45 and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. 46 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread [as]from house to house, they were taking their [at]meals together with gladness and [au]sincerity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding [av]to their number day by day those who were being saved

Ephesians 4:11- 16 NASB Leadership

11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the [d]saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the [e]knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature [f]which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 [g]As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness [h]in deceitful scheming; 15 but [i]speaking the truth in love, [j]we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together [k]by what every joint supplies, according to the [l]proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

In conclusion

We the Church are the Master’s Masterpiece,  some translations say His Workmanship,   For many years, I have wanted to see Leonardo’s Mona Lisa,  I could have waited another 30 plus years, and hopefully seen it after joining a massive queue, I could have glanced the Mona Lisa, behind a glass pane for a few brief seconds,  before being rushed through by a French security guard, yet because I saw the Liverpool Mona Lisa,  I spend over an hour admiring that wonderful  picture ,  and wanted to share with everyone I meet or spoke to, that day,  we need to be re-captured by our Lord’s Vision, Desire and Plan for His Church, and let that re-inflame our hearts again.

Jesus Christ as Saviour, Baptiser with the Holy Spirit, Healer, and Soon-coming King.

Ephesians 2:8-10 New Living Translation

8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Ephesians 3:10-11 New Living Translation

10 God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Every Blessing in Him

Because of His Mercy, Grace and Love

For the sake of His Church and His Kingdom

Blair Humphreys

Southport,  Merseyside