Just to catch a glimpse of this majestic design and display is to cause one to say with awe, “We are not able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20 Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen” [Ephesians 3:18-21]. That is our birthright. That is our heritage.

Notice, then, first of all, that the church knows the love of Christ. That is not only a love that was demonstrated on the cross. It was. But Christ did not stop loving His people when He died. Think about the Truth that God loves you right now, and He loves His church.

I have lived a lifetime knowing the love of my father and mother. When I was a youngster, I learned that my father and mother loved me. And I knew until the day of my father’s death that, wherever I was and whatever I got into, if I needed him, all I had to do was tell him, “Dad, I need you to come,” and he would come. If he couldn’t get a ride, he would have set out walking. That’s love.

My mother would come if I called her. She loves me. My wife and my children love me. I’ve never doubted that, and I love them. But above all of the love of father and mother, and wife and children, there’s the love of Christ. I’ll never understand ALL of what that love is about. I often tell my wife, “I appreciate how much you love me. I don’t understand it,” and I don’t. I see very little in me that would entitle me to be loved by such a wonderful woman. But I am, and I rejoice in it.

I have nothing that would oblige the Lord Jesus Christ to love me for my merit. But, I rejoice in that love. And the church is loved of God. There’s never been a burden, there’s never been a heartache, there’s never been a trial in your life as a Christian, or you life as the church, when Jesus did not love you.

Secondly, the church knows the closest of bond with Christ. There is a tie that binds us with Christ. Years ago, Brother Gus Nichols told this story about a little boy:

He was out in a cloudy day, and he was standing in an open field with a string, and he was yanking that thing. And somebody said, “Little boy, what are you doing?!”

“Well,” he said, “I’m flying a kite.”

And the man said, “I don’t see a kite up there. Where is it?”

“Well,” he said, “it’s up there.”

The man asked, “How do you know?”

He said, “You take ahold of this and you’ll feel it pull!”

Now, the application was: You take HOLD of the BOND that unites Christ and the church, and you’ll feel it PULL! You’ll feel it pull in the depth of your soul, because you know that by virtue of the grace of God and obedience to Christ, your heart and life has been JOINED in service to our Lord! THAT’S the BOND!

Then, the church is committed to faithfulness to Christ. A woman, or a man, who is not willing to be absolutely faithful to the husband, or wife, as long as they live is not even close to being married, because marriage has to do with total, complete fidelity and unity in love and respect. So it is with the church. Can you imagine a church that is not willing to be faithful to God…that is willing to substitute for the Gospel the doctrines and commandments of men? Can you imagine a church that is not willing to worship God in spirit and in Truth? Can you imagine a church that will trade the Truth of God in any way for the wisdom, the practice and the doctrines of men? What has happened is that such a church is declaring itself unfaithful as the bride of Christ. Shame on THAT church!! Shame on those who allow it to occur! And God Himself will hold that church responsible for prostituting the love that once was pure and true! But, they violated it and would not come back to what is right!

That touches me with sadness. There was a time when I was made angry by that. I watched men prostitute the church in the name of progress, and I got pretty upset about that. I finally said, “This is not right. It’s not right for me to be mad at these people. It’s not right for me to be angry at them, because I want them to know I care about them. I’m concerned about them. Yes, I will refute. Yes, I will admonish. Yes, I will refute the false doctrine, but in a love that wishes the person, or the church, to come back to what is right.” And, it’s not easy to get over that. It’s not fun to get over that. But we cannot be all that the Lord wants us to be until we remove ill-will and anger and bitterness because of what somebody has done to us individually, or collectively. The sad part is not the wrong done to us; the sad part is the wrong done in violating the bond between Christ and the church.