In August 1942, Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached a series of five messages to his London congregation geared to helping the church deal with the present firestorm from Germany. England had been in the grip of war for nearly three years. Now he felt it necessary to shore up the church's faith to enable them to withstand in the face of such persistent opposition. His text was 1 Corinthians 16:13-14, "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love" (ESV). In his application, Lloyd-Jones drew a parallel between the first-century church and the present day.
The problem with the church at Corinth was that it had ceased to believe truly in the doctrine of the nature of the Christian church. If I understand the times in which we live aright, I would suggest that that is our fundamental trouble today. We have lost the sense of corporate church life. We are interested in religion. . . . But I wonder to what extent we really believe that we are members of the body of Christ, not a loose association of people who are interested in religious things, but really members of that mystical body of Christ through which He acts upon earth? Do we realize that we have been bought with a price, that we are not our own?
Further on he says,
Have we further realized that opposed to us is a mighty adversary; that all the powers of Satan and evil and hell are arrayed against us? . . . Have we realized that the ultimate object of the enemy is not simply to destroy us, but is, above all, to frustrate the schemes and plans of God?
After pointing out the many ways the church today fights over miniscule things, he adds:
While the church is thus divided, and is quarrelling and arguing, the world is in the welter of a great war and the people in this and other lands are departing further and further from a knowledge of God. What are we to do about it? Here is the order of the day. "Wake up," says the apostle. "Rouse yourselves." And having done so, "stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. Let all your things be done in love."
Should we not all learn from this war-time preacher that the church has a peculiar and powerful presence in this world as long as we ARE the church? The very gates of hell cannot prevail against her. Let us trust our Lord to keep her, and show that trust by proclaiming the Gospel of truth. We are to always be salt and light in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among whom we shine as lights in the world (Phil. 2:15).
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