Christ is the Head of the Church

(Go To Meeting)

Tom Fannin—December 16, 2023

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Well hello everyone. It's really nice to be back with you on another session, the Go To Meeting. Today we're going to be talking about Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ being the Head of the Church.

I'd like to start the message by asking some questions.

• Do we remember that Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, giving glory and praise and honor to Him?
• Are we seeing the Churches of God, all the churches of different Churches of God recognizing Jesus Christ as the head?
• Is Jesus Christ the Head of us personally? He certainly needs to be!

As we ask these questions and we go through the message, we'll maybe spend some time thinking about what's been asked here?

• Are we seeing this? Because Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church!

So, let's review the Scriptures that talk about the authority and the power that's been given to Jesus Christ and His name.

Philippians 2:6: "Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself, and was made in the likeness of men, and took the form of a servant; and being found in the manner of man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (vs 6-8).

So we understand what transpired there that the Lord God of the Old Testament became Jesus Christ and emptied Himself:

• to be our personal Savior
• to be the only begotten Son of God

So much was done there for Christ to be able to be the Head of the Church.

Verse 9: "Therefore, God has also highly exalted Him and bestowed upon Him a name, which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow took the form of a servant, of beings in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father" (vs 9-11).

So, God bestowed this upon Him. God gave him a name above every name! As we read. every knee should bow!

We know that God put everything in subjection to Christ, and this is brought out by Paul:

1-Corinthians 15:23: "But each in his own order: Christ the Firstfruit; then those who are Christ's at His coming. Afterwards the end comes, when He shall have delivered up the Kingdom to Him Who is God and Father, when He shall have put an end to all rule and all authority and power. For it is ordained that He reign until He has put all enemies under His feet" (vs 23-25). We know this is brought out in Psa. 110!

Verse 26: "The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when it is said that all things have been put in subjection, it is clearly evident that it does not include Him Who put all things in subjection under Him. But when He has put all things in subjection to Him, then shall the Son Himself also be subject to Him Who put all things in subjection to Him, so that God may be all in all" (vs 26-28).

God the Father has done this. He has put everything in subjection to Jesus Christ. Then we know as it says here, Jesus Christ is subject to God the Father.

John 14:6—Christ talks about Himself: "…'I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.'"

No one can come to the Father except through Him. We know we're reconciled to God the Father through Christ and that through the very blood of Jesus Christ, we're redeemed.

So, God has set it this way for Christ to be the Head of His Church. It's His Church! The Church is only built on Jesus Christ. We'll read about that in a little bit about that foundation. But the Church is only built on Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ knows who are His.

Matthew 16:13: "Now, after coming into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus questioned His disciples, saying, 'Whom do men declare Me, the Son of man, to be?' And they said, 'Some say John the Baptist; and others Elijah; and others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.' He said to them, 'But you, whom do you declare Me to be?' Then Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' And Jesus answered and said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but My Father, Who is in heaven'" (vs 13-17).

The same things can be said of us, those of us in the Church that God's placed His Spirit within. We have much revealed to us from God and Jesus Christ through the spirit.

Verse 18: "And I say also to you that you are Peter; but upon this Rock I will build My Church, and the gates of the grave shall not prevail against it."

So, the Church—we'll just talk about for a moment here—the Greek word there is 'Ecclesia.' It is the ones God calls, the called out ones! They belong to Christ. That's what the Church is. A lot of people struggle with that, because different church organizations recognize themselves as the Church.

But the Church is just people all over the world down through time whom God has called. They've repented and accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior.

They belong to Christ with the receiving of the Holy Spirit. That's the Church down through time. As we'll read in a moment, we really don't know who is part of the Body of Christ all around this world whom God has called and whom He's working with.

But the Church is the called out ones and it's Jesus Christ's Church. This is brought out a little bit more in:

John 10:14: "I am the good Shepherd, and I know those who are Mine, and am known of those who are Mine."

Christ knows who belong to Him and those that belong to Christ know Christ. Know that He's the Head.

Verse 15: "Just as the Father knows Me, I also know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring those also, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd" (vs 15-16). So, it's clear here:

• who the flock is
• who they belong to
• who Jesus Christ is to the flock

The flock is His and He has others! Down through time, we don't know all the ones God has called and worked with and even at this time around the world.

We don't know, but they're all Christ's. They all belong to Him. It's His flock and there's one Shepherd.

So do we see the Churches of God recognizing Christ as the Head? Well, Christ gave all those in the Body instructions and things that they should be doing. I want to review one of those back in Matt. 28. This was instruction that Jesus gave to the apostles, and that these instructions carry on down through time to us today for all the Churches.

Matthew 28:16: "Now the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain, which Jesus had appointed for them to meet Him. And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me'" (vs 16-18).

Again, pointing out the authority has been given to Him.

Verse 19: "Therefore, go and make disciples in all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even until the completion of the age.' Amen" (vs 19-20).

This message and what Christ told them to do is has carried down through time through the Body of Christ to go out and:

• to teach the commandments
• to teach God and Jesus Christ
• to baptize

That is the Church's responsibility. All the churches of God should be working together. Certainly not against each other, but working together to accomplish this. This is allowing Jesus Christ to be the Head of the Church.

Luke 24:44: "And He said to them, 'These are the words that I spoke to you when I was yet with you, that all the things which were written concerning Me in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.' Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, 'According as it is written, it was necessary for the Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day. And in His name, repentance and remission of sins should be preached to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem'" (vs 44-47).

• that is the commission
• that is part of the responsibility of the Body of Christ to do this
• Paul preached Christ
• Paul preached the power of God

Paul didn't preach himself!

1-Corinthians 2:1: "And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with superiority of speech or wisdom, in proclaiming the testimony of God to you. For I decided not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (vs 1-2). How powerful of a message is that?

Christ is the head. That's the foundation we're built upon. So, yes, the preaching of Jesus Christ and Him crucified is key.

Verse 3: "And I was in weakness and in fear and in much trembling when I was with you; and my message and my preaching was not in persuasive words of humanwisdom…" (vs 3-4).

That's not what we should be hearing from the Body of Christ, the preaching of human wisdom being persuasive in that way.

"…rather, it was in demonstration of the Spirit and of power; so that your faith might not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Now we speak wisdom among the spiritually mature; however, it is not the wisdom of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nothing. Rather, we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom that God foreordained before the ages unto our glory" (vs 4-7). This is what Paul preached:

• he preached Christ
• he preached the power of God
• he preached this wisdom
• he preached this understanding and mystery that we can understand

Well, at times we see things within the Churches of God, the Body of Christ, that Christ isn't the Head of. And yes, there are a lot of things that go on that we know Christ isn't the Head of that.

One thing the churches need is to be sound minded! That comes from Christ.

Romans 12:1: "I exhort you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, Holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service. Do not conform yourselves to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind in order that you may prove what is well-pleasing and good, and the perfect will of God" (vs 1-2).

That's what we're all striving to do, build the mind of Christ to transform our mind, to get our mind away from the past and the worldly things.

• to have our mind transformed again
• to have a mind like God and like Jesus Christ.
• to be doing things we know that please God

All of us in the Church!

Paul goes on to say, v 3: "For I say through the grace that was given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think with sound-mindedness, as God has divided to each one a measure of faith."

None of us are to think more highly of ourselves to be high-minded. It shouldn't be that way within the Churches?

Verse 4: "For even as we have many members in one body, but all members do not have the same function; likewise, we, being many, are one body in Christ, and each one members of one another" (vs 4-5).

How clear is that? We're all of the Body of Christ, all the called out ones! But again, the point I'm bringing out here is that none of us, especially some of the Churches of God, should think of ourselves more highly than anyone else! But sometimes we don't see that.

If we're all the same Body, why would one group or one person think more highly of themselves than others when we're considering Jesus Christ as the Head?

I want to talk a little bit about wisdom. We should be seeing wisdom in the Churches of God, the Body of Christ.

James 3:13: "Who is wise and understanding among you?…."

I think we all agree, within the Body of Christ we should see wisdom!  We should see understanding!

• we know who God and Jesus Christ are
• we fear Them
• we love Them
• we study Their Word
• we try to keep Their Laws

Wisdom and understanding come from this! We should see this within the Body of Christ!

"…Let him demonstrate his works through good conduct in the meekness of wisdom" (v 13). There should be seen as a demonstration there!

Verse 14: "But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not boast and lie against the Truth."

These are within the hearts of people. Sound wisdom understanding doesn't go with this.

Verse 15: "This wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, sensual and demonic; because where bitter envying and selfish ambition are, there is dissension and every evil thing" (vs 15-16).

So that's a problem! That's a problem we've seen within the Body of Christ; what we're talking about here. It indicates that there's not the proper wisdom and understanding within the Body of Christ!

It is also an indication that Christ isn't the Head there, because IF Christ was the Head, these things wouldn't be.

Verse 17: "But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and without hypocrisy." That's what Christ is the Head of within the Church!

Verse 18: "Now, the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace."

So, again, we look for these things within the Body of Christ or sound minded as is in wisdom and understanding.

And we talked about peace there as we finished out James. But it says in:

1-Corinthians 14:33: "For God is not the author of confusion…"

God's not behind any type of confusion, and neither is Jesus Christ. But what is God the author of?

 …but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints" (v 33).

If God's there and Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, there should be peace!  Not confusion of any sort.

Who are we of? I hope everyone would answer 'we're of God and Christ! We're with them!' Paul talks about this because some didn't have that mind among the Corinthians.

1-Corinthians 3:1: "And, I, brethren, was not able to speak to you as to those who are spiritual, but as to those who are carnal—even as to babes in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, and not meat; for you were not yet able to receive spiritual meat; and neither are you able now, for you are still carnal…. [that's the problem] …For since envy and contention and divisions are among you, are you not carnal?…." (vs 1-3) We just read about that!

• What happens?
• What's behind this?
• When there's strife, envy, jealousies, contentions, and all these type of things, what's behind that?
• What's not the wisdom from above? Physical things involved!

"…And are you not walking according to human ways?" (v 3)—not the spiritual ways!

Verse 4: "When someone says, 'I am of Paul,' and another one says, 'I am of Apollos,' are you not carnal?"

Don't we sometimes hear that same thing today? Who are of….?

Verse 5: "Who then is Paul? And who is Apollos? They are but ministers through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to each one."

So yes, Paul and Apollos were teaching, but the teaching they gave they received from Christ, and by hearing they should believe upon God and Jesus Christ.

Verse 6: "I planted and Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. Therefore, neither is he who plants anything, nor he who waters; for it is God Who gives the increase" (vs 6-7). It's God and Jesus Christ behind all this!

Verse 8: "Now, he who plants and he who waters are one, but each shall receive his own reward according to his own labor."

Paul and Apollos weren't against each other or working in opposite directions. They were one, working together.

Verse 9: "For we are God's fellow workers; and you are God's husbandry, even God's building."

That's what the Church is. We're God's! We're His building!

Verse 10: "As a wise architect, according to the grace of God that was given to me, I have laid the foundation, and another is building upon it. But let each one take heed how he builds upon it. For no one is able to lay any other foundation besides that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ" (vs 10-11). That's it! That is the only foundation!

Anything built upon any other foundation except for the foundation of Jesus Christ will fall. We have to remember who we are of. Paul brings out here because the Corinthians had their minds on the physical, on human ways, and their minds were on men and who they were of.

They couldn't be taught the spiritual meat that they needed. Paul called them 'carnal still.' He had to give them milk because mentally, spiritually, they were not where they needed to be. We need to be aware of this ourselves.

I want to talk a little bit about the responsibility of church leaders, ministers and elders. A lot of times they cause some of these problems that we're referring to here. So, we need to consider that with all ministers and elders and spiritual leaders within the Body of Christ. We need to consider that Christ is the Head and be faithful to that!

One thing we see sometimes is people being worried about who's the greatest, who's in charge? Let's see what was written in:

Matthew 20:20: "Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Him with her sons, worshiping Him and asking a certain thing from Him. And He said to her, 'What do you desire?' She said to Him, 'Grant that these my two sons may sit one at Your right hand and one at Your left hand in Your Kingdom'" (vs 20-21).

One thing we will give credit to, the mother of James and John, at least she recognized who Christ was. That He would be a King in His Kingdom. She recognized that and she wanted her sons there to be able to sit with Him.

Verse 22: "But Jesus answered and said, 'You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?' They said to Him, 'We are able.' And He said to them, 'You shall indeed drink of My cup, and shall be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit at My right hand and at My left hand is not Mine to give, but shall be given to those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.' And after hearing this, the ten were indignant against the two brothers" (vs 22-24).

Verse 25: "But Jesus called them to Him and said, 'You know that the rulers of the nations exercise lordship over them, and the great ones exercise authority over them. However, it shall not be this way among you; but whoever would become great among you, let him be your servant, and whoever would be first among you, let him be your slave'" (vs 25-27).

This is the attitude that Christ expected out of the apostles. Once He considered leaders for the people in this, it should be the same attitude we see within the leadership in the Churches today being servants to the people, not concerned about who's the greatest.

And we're going to read here another problem that we have seen, at least I've seen in my time within the Church. I'm sure this has gone on down through time.

Matthew 23:1: "Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying, 'The scribes and the Pharisees have sat down on Moses' seat as judges; therefore, every judgment that they tell you to observe, observe and do. But do not do according to their works; for they say and do not'" (vs 1-3).

So has the leadership within the Churches set the example and things they say and preach? Is that what they do?

Verse 4: "For they bind heavy burdens and hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of men; but they will not move them with one of their own fingers. And they do all their works to be seen by men. They make broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their garments; and they love the first place at the suppers, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called by men 'Rabbi, Rabbi.' But you are not to be called Rabbi; for one is your Master, the Christ, and all of you are brethren. Also, do not call anyone on the earth your Father; for one is your Father, Who is in heaven. Neither be called Master; for one is your Master, the Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant" (vs 4-11).

This is how it should be within the leadership within the Churches of God. Yet, we've seen examples where they enjoy the chief seats, they enjoy the praise and being called 'Mr.' All the different things that go with that that we see with the with the scribes and the Pharisees, it shouldn't be that way. Christ says for all brethren that Christ is the Head.

Jer. 23 brings out some more things here regarding this because the Church leadership should not have this attitude.

Jeremiah 23:16: "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you vain; they speak a vision from their own heart, not out of the mouth of the LORD.'"

If the prophets aren't teaching the words of God, the teachers aren't teaching the words of God and the Truth of God, we don't listen to them!

As it says here, they can make us vain by the things we hear. Have we seen vanity within the Church? People being puffed up because they're hearing prophecy or hearing teaching teachings of things that come from within the hearts of men and not from God's Word.

Well, we know of one Church that tells their membership that they should not have any fellowship or anything to do with any of the other people within the Churches of God. Christ isn't the head of that!  That's making people vain. That's exactly what's being brought out here. They make people vain by teaching them! Shouldn't be! We need to be aware of that!

Verse 27: "They scheme to cause My people to forget My name by their dreams, which they tell, each one to his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten My name for Baal. The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream. And he who has My Word, let him speak My Word faithfully….'" (vs 27-28).

That is the key for all the leaders in the Churches of God to speak God's Word and speak it faithfully.

Verse 29: "'Is not My Word like a fire?' says the LORD, 'and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets who steal My words each one from his neighbor. Behold, I am against the prophets who use their tongues and say, "He says," when I did not say'" (vs 29-31).

When we listen and hear what's being taught, we better make sure that it matches up with God's Word! That it's Christ we're hearing, and not some other message.

Verse 32: "'Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams and tell them, and cause My people to go astray by their lies and by their wantonness. Yet, I did not send them nor command them; therefore, they shall not profit this people at all,' says the LORD." So again, something we have to be mindful of!

We'll read just some Scriptures about what the leadership within the Churches should be doing! In the order they should keep things in, and the importance of it before Christ. We'll see what Paul told the elders:

Acts 20:28: "Take heed, therefore, to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to feed the Church of God, which He purchased with His own blood."

Boy, when you meditate on that; what Christ had to do to purchase the Church!

• How important is that?
• That leaders within the Churches are faithful?

To Christ, to feed the flock, and to take care of the flock because it's His, and not lead them in any other way!

1-Peter 5:1: "The elders who are among you I exhort, even as a fellow elder…. [an elder to write it] …and an eyewitness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker of the glory that is about to be revealed: Feed the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight not by compulsion, but willingly; not in fondness of dishonest gain, but with an eager attitude;: not as exercising lordship over your possessions; but by being examples to the flock of God" (vs 1-3).

We can't ever forget that the called out ones are the flock of God. They're God's people. The leadership should be examples to them for Christ—all the Body of Christ—and should not be boasting. It should not be commending itself. Paul talks about this and warns: Don't be like this! Sometimes within the Body of Christ, you hear a lot of boasting and the commending of self.

2-Corinthians 10:12—Paul says: "But we dare not join ranks with or compare ourselves with those who are commending themselves; for those who measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves with themselves, have no understanding."

He calls it out right there. Do we see this at times? We do!

Verse 13: "Now we will not boast of things beyond our measure, but according to the measure of the rule that God has distributed to us, which extends even to you. For we are not stretching beyond our measure, as if we did not extend to you (for we also came to you with the Gospel of Christ). We are not boasting in things beyond our measure, such as other men's labors; but we have hope that when your faith is increased, we will be abundantly enriched by you according to our rule of faith, in order to preach the Gospel to the regions beyond you, and not to boast in things made ready in another man's territory" (vs 13-16).

Verse 17: "But the one who is boasting, let him boast in the Lord. For the one who is approved is not the one who commends himself, but the one whom the Lord commends" (vs 17-18).

We should be boasting in God and in Christ in the works They're doing through the Church!

• we don't commend ourselves
• we don't compare ourselves with each other

At times you hear this within the Churches of God, the boasting. Even the boasting for some to say:

• we have the Truth
• we're the only ones preaching the Gospel to the world
• we're the only Church that's growing and adding membership

This isn't wisdom! That's boasting itself! Christ isn't the Head of that!

1-Cor. 4—I want to bring out something here that Paul writes about, and just make a statement before we read this that:

• God is the Judge
• God knows what's going on
• none of these things are hidden from God

1-Corinthians 4:1: "So then, let every man regard us as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God."

Paul—concerning himself—and Apollos and all the ones that help lead God's people.

Verse 2: "Beyond that, it is required of stewards that one be found faithful…. [faithful to Christ] …But to me it is an insignificant matter that I am judged by you, or by man's standard; and neither do I judge myself" (vs 2-3).

Paul was trying to judge himself by God's standard, by God's Word. He was trying to be faithful to God and Christ and his teaching and the commission given to him to preach to the Gentiles.

Verse 4: "Now, I am not conscious of anything against myself, yet, I am not justified by this; for the One Who is judging me is the Lord."

Sometimes maybe we think that there's nothing that we know of ourselves that we need to repent of or change. But again, God is the One Who judges these things within us, and through His Spirit helps us to see things that we can repent of and change. God is the Judge!

Verse 5: "Therefore, do not judge anything before the time; wait until the Lord comes, Who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the motives of all hearts; and then shall each one receive praise from God." We have to remember this!

Within the Churches past, and even present, we know there are a lot of things that have gone on that were not right. Some of these things were horrific that have gone on in the Church. But we have to remember, God knows what has gone on!

God knows the hearts of men and women, and in time, this is all going to be revealed. So we have to trust in God to be the judge and all these things we've witnessed and been through and some of the things I know we just shake our heads at and ask why? How can this be? God knows! He'll take care of these things.

Our part as the called out ones is just to remain faithful to God. And as we're bringing out in this message, to remember that Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church and to be faithful to Him!

Verse 6: "Now these things, brethren, I have applied to Apollos and myself for your sakes; that in us you may learn not to think of men beyond what is written, so that no one among you is puffed up on behalf of one of us against the other."

So, we don't think of men beyond what we should think of them. We should think of them as servants of God and not to become puffed up in any other thing. Some of the Churches of God have become puffed up and put men in positions and an authority that they're not to be in. The people in God's Churches should not do that and should not have done.

• Is Christ the Head of us?

or

• Have we made somebody else the head of us?

Verse 7: "For what makes you superior to others? And what do you have that you did not receive?…."

That's what all the Churches of God need to remember everything that's been given to us, we've received from God shouldn't be any boasting. We've covered that.

"…But if you also received it, why are you boasting as if you did not receive it?" (v 7).

So, yes, we all—all the Churches—what we've been given, we received!

As I said earlier, as a question when we started the message, we need to make sure Jesus Christ is the Head of us individually! Hopefully we're doing that and we're not putting anything between us and God and Christ.

Philippians 2:1: "Now then, if there be any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any deep inner affections and compassions, fulfill my joy that you be of the same mind, having the same love, being joined together in soul, minding the one thing" (vs 1-2).

All of God's people, the Church, we all should be minding the one thing, and the one thing is that our calling is fulfilled. That we're all in the Kingdom of God, His first bridge together.

Verse 3: "Let nothing be done through contention or vainglory, but in humility, each esteeming the others above himself. Let each one look not only after his own things, but let each one also consider the things of others" (vs 3-4).

Verse 5: "Let this mind be in you… [let it be in you; let it that mind be in all of us] …which was also in Christ Jesus."

This is allowing Christ to be the Head of us, letting His mind and what we've read about here being in us.

God's people need to be able to recognize when any of the Body of Christ is not recognizing Jesus as the Head and doing things that are contrary to Christ. We all need to be able to recognize that. But if we have Christ as the Head of us, and we are doing these things, we will see that.

I want to make another point, too. It says back in 1-John, that  'truly our fellowship is with God and Jesus Christ.'  Then we have fellowship with one another. But I want to bring something out here that sometimes gets overlooked:

Matthew 18:20: "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there, I am in the midst of them."

A lot of times you'll hear brethren talk about this and they'll talk about 'where two or three are gathered. Christ is there with them.' But one thing I want to point out here is don't forget what it says here. It says, 'are gathered in My name.'

What does it mean to be gathered in Christ's name? That's an entire message in itself! But I'll leave that to all of us to meditate on and consider Christ's name, the name given to Him by God to be gathered in His name!

What should be there? Because He says if we're gathered in His name, He is there with us. So, think about that, what that is and how important that is for Christ to be with us.

Ephesians 5:23: "For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the Head of the Church; and He is the Savior of the Body."

• only Jesus Christ can save us
• He is our personal Savior
• no other way can we achieve eternal life except through Christ

Verse 24: "For even as the Church is subject to Christ, in the same way also let wives be subject to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your own wives, in the same way that Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it" (vs 24-25).

It's how much He loves the Church, loves us, that He was willing to give His life and lay it down for us.

Verse 26: "So that He might sanctify it, having cleansed it with the washing of the water by the Word; that He might present it to Himself as the glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it might be Holy and without blame" (vs 26-27).

That's what Christ is doing with us, working with us, cleaning us up through the 'washing of the water by the Word, through His Word' and through the Spirit. Making us ready for our Bride to be in the Kingdom and rule and reign with him.

Verse 30: "For we are members of His body—of His flesh and of His bones. For this reason shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife; and the two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery; but I am speaking in respect to Christ and the Church. Nevertheless, let each one of you love his wife even as himself; and let each wife see that she reverence her husband" (vs 30-33).

So, brethren, this is a mystery to a lot of people in the world, but to us in the Church that have been called, and we look to Jesus Christ as our elder Brother, and Jesus Christ as the Head of the Church, it's not a mystery to us.

It's been revealed to us through the Holy Spirit! It's been revealed to us what Christ is doing through each one of us that He has called His flock!

Down through time, and right now today with all those around the world whom God's called, that Christ is leading and that is the Head of. That's part of the mystery being talked about here, that we understand and we know as being a part of the Body of Christ!

Let's all of us rejoice that we have this understanding and we understand this mystery, and that we know that Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church.

Scriptural References:

• Philippians 2:6-11
• 1 Corinthians 15:23-28
• John 14:6
• Matthew 16:13-18
• John 10:14-16
• Matthew 28:16-20
• Luke 24:44-47
• 1 Corinthians 2:1-7
• Romans 12:1-5
• James 3:13-18
• 1 Corinthians 14:33
• 1 Corinthians 3:1-11
• Matthew 20:20-27
• Matthew 23:1-11
• Jeremiah 23:16, 27-32
• Acts 20:28
• 1 Peter 5:1-3
• 2 Corinthians 10:12-18
• 1 Corinthians 4:1-7
• Philippians 2:1-5
• Matthew 18:20
• Ephesians 5:23-27, 30-33

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Psalm 110
• 1 John

TF:bo
Transcribed: 1/3/24

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