The Visible Church

What is a visible church? Not every church that calls itself a Christian church is a visible church. A visible church is a church where the word of God is preached. What percentage of churches are visible churches where the word is preached? Perhaps two percent of all churches.

So the visible church is not every church that says it is a church. But a visible church is where there is a pious and learned pastor who preaches the word, and nothing but the word.

In the local visible church of God, where the true gospel is preached and lived out, every member will not be a true believer. The parable of the four soils reveals this difficult truth.

Bad Heart Christians

The first three soils represent people who have no saving faith in Jesus Christ. First are the bad heart Christians. These first soil Christians have no interest in the gospel. Therefore, they refuse to study the gospel, they do not repent of their sins, and they do not believe in Jesus Christ. Instead, they serve the devil all their lives, although the devil comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. They hear the gospel, but do not value it. They reject the claim of Jesus as Savior and Lord. They live to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a little time. Then they die and go to hell to endure the wrath of God forever, as the rich man of Luke 16 did.

These people believe true Christians live miserable lives. True Christians have no fun, they say. These people are thoroughly deceived by the devil. The truth is, true Christians live the most happy lives. The psalmist tells us that a true believer “is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers” (Ps. 1:3). And in Psalm 16 we read, “In your presence there is fullness of joy, and on your right hand, pleasures forevermore” (Ps. 16:11).

Compared with the joy of the Lord, the pleasures of this world can be described as garbage, filth. And true believers can rejoice even in the midst of suffering. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, and peace. Life in the kingdom of God is described to us as righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. So the psalmist says elsewhere, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Ps. 73:25–26).

The devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy. He does this through the pleasures of sin. So he deceives people, and they do not see what is going to happen to those who serve him. But Jesus gives us an eternal life of unending joy.

Stony Heart Christians

The second soil Christians can be called stony heart Christians. They have a little topsoil, but underneath there is solid rock. These second soil Christians believe and confess Christ, yet they fail to understand the gospel. They will not deny themselves, take up the cross, and follow Jesus. They refuse to take the yoke of Jesus and learn from him, learn the word of God. They want to be taken care of, as we take care of infants. We diaper the infant, the infant makes a mess, and then we clean it up. There are people who like to be infants all their lives. They say, “Take care of me.”

Such people only want to be taken care of. They revolt against maturity, against growing up and assuming responsibility. They are allergic to sufferings and persecutions. They want to enjoy soft lives. And their parents are only happy to acknowledge them and pump all kinds of money into them.

Second soil Christians want Jesus to give them health, wealth, power, and fame. They hate the Scriptures about suffering. But the Bible is full of promises that we will suffer. Paul writes, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Rom. 5:3–4).

God has a purpose for our hardships and sufferings. He ordains these things for our maturity. He doesn’t want his people to remain infants. So Paul also says,

Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. (2 Cor. 11:23–27)

In Hebrews 11 we read, “[Believers] were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground” (Heb. 11:35b–38). May God help us to grow out of diapers and stop making a stink in the church.

Jesus himself told his disciples, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matt. 5:11-12). And ,Paul writes, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12). It is guaranteed. Elsewhere Jesus said, “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time, many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other” (Matt. 24:9–10).

The faith of the second soil Christians is temporary faith. It may last, at the most, one to three years; then they fall away, denying Jesus and cursing Jesus, and cursing the pastor. Like the first soil, they are spiritually barren. They are unfruitful, like the fig tree with only leaves. They are useless for the cause of Christ. They stink and produce nothing.

Thorny Heart Christians

The third soil Christians, or the thorny heart Christians, also only have temporary faith, not persevering, saving faith. Their temporary, superficial faith may last even up to twenty-five years. They are like the soil where thorns grow and flourish. These thorns of worldliness choke and kill these silly worldly Christians.

As worldly Christians, thorny heart Christians worry about everything all the time. It is because they do not trust in Jesus to help them. Jesus said the following to the true believers:

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matt. 6:25–34)

The third soil people want to be like the rich man in this world, and like Lazarus in heaven (Luke 16). They really trust only in money. Jesus said about such people, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:19–21).

Thorny heart Christians do not realize that money deceives. Even Jesus speaks about the deceitfulness of riches. Money cannot save us from eternal death (Ps. 49), and money is uncertain. It is here today, gone tomorrow. Furthermore, money can make people arrogant and godless. Paul says, ‘The love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Tim. 6:10).

Jesus said, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20), which is the greatest blessing. Then he said, “Woe to you who are rich” (Luke 6:24). I said that there are about 1826 billionaires worldwide in 2015 (Forbes magazine list). Prove to me that at least one is a Christian who loves Jesus Christ from the heart.

“But woe unto you who are rich.” Thorny Christians are seekers of pleasure. They always desire other things, that is, things other than Jesus and other than the gospel. They hate Jesus and the gospel, but they want other things, like the latest iPhones and watches and cars. But many people live for this stuff, and they have money to acquire things that give them pleasure. They desire other things—other than Jesus Christ, other than the gospel.

They follow Jesus only to make a lot of money to buy things that give them a lot of pleasure. Such worldliness will kill them in due time, and they will fall away. This occurs in the history of every visible church in the world.

They fall away, like Korah, Achan, Saul, Judas, Ananias, and Demas, concerning whom we are told by Paul, “He abandoned me, having loved this present world.” Desire for other things. This present world is under the control of the evil one. Paul says in Galatians 1:4, “this present evil age.”

All these—Korah, Achan, Saul, Judas, Ananias, Demas and others—fell in love with this present evil age, which is under the control of the devil, who is the god of this age. (PGM) Their lives are driven by lust. So we read in 2 Peter, “They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood!” (2 Pet. 2:13–14).

John writes, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:15-17).

Like Achan, they see, they lust, they take, and they are destroyed. The first three soil people are psuchikoi (fleshly), not pneumatikoi(spiritual). They are not born again. They are not Holy Spirit-controlled. They appear to be genuine Christians, but they are not, although they are in the visible church. But in a little while, they shall fall away.

Let us consider some passages from the book of Hebrews about such people: “See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God” (Heb. 3:12); “So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief” (Heb. 3:19).

We also read,

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their [eternal] loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned [speaking about hell]. (Heb. 6:4–8)

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace [the Holy Spirit who gives grace]? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Heb. 10:26–31)

If you have been baptized in a Bible-believing church and are thinking about falling away, take warning: You are finished, you are done with. Thorny heart Christians forsake Christ to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a moment. That is their purpose. Everyone who falls away is falling away to sin and to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.

Good Heart Christians

Good heart Christians alone persevere to the end. Remember the acronym TULIP? What does TULIP mean? It starts with “T” for total depravity. That is the first doctrine. Look at what the Turks did to the Armenians in 1915: they killed 1.5 million people. It was genocide. Man is totally depraved to kill other human beings.

TULIP stands for total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance to the end. The good heart Christians never fall away. They have a good heart, a noble heart, a new heart given by God himself.

Good heart Christians are born again. They exercise genuine repentance and saving faith all of life. They hear the word, treasure the word, and they produce fruit, more fruit, and much fruit, for God’s glory and for their everlasting blessing. They are by faith vitally united to Christ. They are led by the Spirit and the word. They are vitally connected to Christ and to his holy church. They don’t live an independent life of floating.

Good heart Christians are not seeking money or fame, but Christ, who is their life. And they suffer for Christ, even martyrdom. They are citizens of heaven. They are even now seated with Christ in heavenly places. Their eyes are fixed on Jesus Christ crucified, risen, and reigning.

To our Christ belongs all authority in heaven and on earth. This Lord is their shepherd, and they absolutely lack nothing. They will persevere in faith to the very end. Jesus said, “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Matt. 10:21–22). And listen to what Paul said at the end of his life: “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure [my death]. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:6–8).

Friends, I urge you to make your calling and election sure, as Peter exhorted us right before his crucifixion (2 Pet. 1:10). And Paul also told us, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith,” whether you have saving faith. “Test yourselves” (2 Cor. 13:5). Jesus said, “Many are invited, but few are chosen” (Matt. 22:14). Many are invited for the great feast, but few are chosen.

In Revelation 19 we read about a great feast to which the good heart people are invited: “Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: ‘Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.’ (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)” (Rev. 19:6–8).

Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate. Small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life.” There is a broad way that leads to destruction. Then we are told, “and few shall find the narrow gate and the narrow road that leads to eternal life” (see Matt. 7:13–14).

Friends, let us test ourselves to see whether we have fruit. Jesus said, “By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them” (Matt. 7:16–20). And Jesus asked, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46). We must test ourselves.

Jesus is the gate, Jesus is the road, and Jesus is Lord. He said that only one thing is needful. Mary chose that good part, and it would not be taken away from her (Luke 10:42). That is the gospel. This is eternal life, and it will not be taken away from us. In that sense, we can say that once we are truly saved, we are saved forever.

Apply to your own life this test that Jesus gave: It is the test of obedience. Jesus tested Abraham with this test: “Take your son, your only son, the son whom you love, Isaac. Take him and burn him up in worship for a pleasing aroma for me.” Abraham did so. It was a serious test. God spared Isaac. But he did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, for our salvation.

Test yourself. Can you say with Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). I love God. I love Jesus Christ. And I know you do because he died for you, and we live for him. I beseech you by the mercies of God that you offer your bodies a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God. He died that we may live. So whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, do it all for the glory of God, who loved us and gave himself for us. Amen.