Testimony (1 John 5:6-13)

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Testimony

Spencer Cary

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This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you. God is light. In Him, there is no darkness at all. This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God. So that you may know you have eternal life. Good morning. My name is Spencer. I am one of the pastors here. We are in 1 John chapter 5 verses 6 through 12.

We have two more weeks in 1 John and we have completed the book. So you can follow along with us on the screen. You can also put a blue Bible around you. It will be on page 593 near the back. If you don't have a Bible at home, please take that. That's our gift to you.

We want you to have a Bible that you can read. Something that Christians struggle with from time to time, though we're not always honest about it, is doubt. It's something that maybe we're not even honest with ourselves when we struggle with this. But we do. If you follow Jesus long enough, you're going to struggle with doubt. Like, as a pastor, even pastors struggle with doubt.

And I have to ask myself sometimes, like, do I really believe this? Like, I preach this. My life is built upon this. Do I actually believe this? And I want to give you a window in into a little bit of how I think about this and some of the reasoning that I go through. My logic is certainly not infallible.

But this is how I process it. There are actually two possible options in how I've observed and studied. There's two possible options for what is true and for what is reality. The first option is that everything is the result of crazy, cosmic, random chance. That life on Earth and everything that we know in existence is just crazy chance. That in the vast expanse of the universe, we have this galaxy.

And within this galaxy, we have this solar system. And within the solar system, we have the Earth. Earth. And it's, like, perfectly positioned in the solar system and perfectly tilted at a 23.5 degree tilt to be able to sustain life. And that everything that we see is just one in, I mean, people try to run odds on this, one in trillion, quadrillion, ridiculous amounts of chance. That everything we see just is.

There's no such thing as love. There's no such thing as purpose or meaning or beauty. All of that's invented. You have to be consistent here. Everything you see just is. And then you die.

And then there's nothingness. All right. That's one possible option. The other possible option for me is that Jesus is who he said he was. That Jesus is the one true God. That when I look at this world, that it's so obvious to me that it's designed.

There's so many things that had to fall into place to the big picture of where the Earth is positioned and how it's positioned all the way down to, like, the design of the human eyeball. There's so many things that show that this was designed. And if I believe that this was designed, I need to work with who actually made this. And when you look at the different faith systems and the different creator type claims, I find Christianity to be the most compelling. Like, I studied world religions in college. I actually studied world religions and visited the different countries where these are practiced.

I studied Islam and then studied that in the context of Morocco and visited there. I studied Hinduism and visited Hindu temples in India. I studied Buddhism and went to a Buddhist temple in Thailand. Did anyone who makes the claim that all these world religions are just claiming the same thing, they don't know what they're talking about. They haven't actually studied these. They're making distinctly different claims.

And Christianity, even more so, is making claims that are distinct from the others. We believe in an eminent God who actually came. But the one thing I must concede in my faith is that my faith is built upon a testimony. That my faith is built upon the testimony of the scriptures. The testimony of our God. The testimony of people who saw Jesus live this life on this earth.

Who saw him die a death on the cross. Who saw him rise from the grave and ascend to the right hand of God the Father. That his body will never be found. I must concede that my faith is built upon that testimony. What I want us to see this morning is that testimony actually, this testimony is powerful. And this testimony absolutely can lead us to belief.

Some of you are not a Christian. And maybe you're just figuring this out. Maybe you're just exploring this. Maybe you are working through doubts. And I want to let you know this is a safe place for that. To be able to work through doubts.

And I want you to clearly hear. I think God wants to meet you here in your doubt this morning. Some of you believe the gospel. You're a follower of Jesus. But you struggle with doubt.

And it maybe shows up in a lot of different forms. I want you to hear very clearly this morning. Built upon the testimony of God. That he wants to continue to win you over. To faith in Christ. The passage that we're going to be in this morning is going to speak about the power of testimony.

My hope is that we would listen. That wherever you are in this journey. That you would listen and by faith respond. So let me read the text and then we will walk through this together. Verse 6. It says, This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ.

Not by the water only. But by the water and the blood. And the spirit is the one who testifies. Because the spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify. The spirit and the water and the blood.

And these three agree. If you receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater. For this is the testimony of God that he is born concerning his son. Whoever believes in the son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar. Because he has not believed in the testimony that God has born concerning his son.

And this is the testimony. That God gave us eternal life. And this life is in his son. Whoever has the son has life. Whoever does not have the son of God does not have life. Let me pray for us.

And then we will walk through this together. Lord. I pray that you would open our hearts to the scriptures this morning. That for those who are struggling with doubt. That they would be able to listen. To your word.

To your calling. May you win each of us over. Amen. Okay. So we're going to walk through this.

And see his argument. And then I want to sit in the power. And the importance of testimony. So I'm going to go back a verse. To where Chet left off last week. In verse 5.

It says. Who is it that overcomes the world. Except the one who believes. That Jesus is the son of God. That as John is wrapping up his final arguments. In this book.

One of the things we've seen over and over again. Is that he wants us to know. What it means to believe. That Chet walked us through last week. This really this triangle. That he's hitting over and over again.

That over and over again. He's been teaching us. And telling us. That this evidence of faith in our lives. That we would love God. That we would love one another.

That we would obey the commandments. And he's teaching us over and over again. And now he's going to switch gears. And he's going to show. What this evidence testifies to. And in these seven verses in our passage.

It says testimony eight times. The word testimony in some form. Shows up eight times. Anytime that you study the scriptures. And you see a word repeated over. And over.

And over. And over. And over again. Highlight it. Right. Circle it.

Underline it. Make a mental note. The Lord is trying to teach you something in this. He's trying to show us something about testimony. Now. When you hear the word testimony.

I would argue that most of you. Probably your mind runs to. The courtroom. It's one of the most familiar. Uses of testimony that. That we have.

Is in the courtroom. Someone who is giving testimony on the witness stand. Right. There's enough crime TV. There's enough law and order. There's enough things that you're just familiar with.

Testimony is something that you give. I actually think that's probably a very helpful picture. For this passage. That type of testimony on the witness stand. Is actually probably a helpful image. For this.

I think John. What he's trying to convince us of. In belief. Is putting. He's going to try to convince us of belief. By putting three different witnesses.

On the stand. Three different witnesses. They're going to give testimony. To. Christ. And we're going to see each of these.

The first is the water. The second is the blood. And the third is. The spirit. And by verse eight. Where he's going to help us see.

All three of these are in agreement. But we're going to take them one on one. And put them on the stand. And see what each one has to. Add to this argument. To compel us over to faith in Christ.

So let's look at the first. Which is. The water. The water is the first. To take. The stand.

What does he mean. When he says. This is he who came by. Water. What is John getting at. Now.

Like other parts of John. First John. Like other parts of the scriptures. It's debatable what he means. When he says. The water.

And there's some Sundays. I think it's valuable. To take a few minutes. To get into the weeds. Of interpretation. To go a little bit deeper.

To list out all the options. And when I do that. I find it fairly exciting. And there's about 10 to 20 of you. That also find it exciting. But the rest of you.

Inwardly. Or audibly. Grown. It's like. Just. Tell us.

What. He means. And move on. Well guess what. Sunday's for you. I'm not going to get in the weeds.

I'm going to tell you. What. I think he means. When he uses water. In this passage. All right.

Here's the most compelling argument. I found in the commentaries. This week. John is referencing. Baptism. When he says water.

He's referencing. Baptism. I think this encompasses. First. The baptism of. Jesus.

That initiated his ministry. And then what followed. Was a ministry of. Baptism. That John was. Baptizing his disciples.

Then he becomes lesser. Jesus becomes greater. After his disciples. Continue baptizing. And that what's being referenced. In the water.

Is the beginning of Christ's ministry. And baptism. And the continuation of ministry. That he baptized. Which is pointing to. Really.

I would argue. The whole. Of Christ's ministry. And the message. That accompanied. Those.

Baptisms. Which we saw. In the gospel of Matthew. That we walked through. Last year. And the year before.

Which was over and over again. Repent. The kingdom of heaven. Is at hand. It's this message. Of this kingdom.

That he is coming to establish. That will have no end. And all the goodness. That is found. In this kingdom. It's this message.

Of repentance. That he preaches. Over and over again. To turn from this world. Turn from your sin. Turn to me.

I am better. It's the message of the kingdom. It's the. The whole ministry. Of where he. Healed the sick.

That he cared for the forgotten. The outcasts. The outsiders. Others. It's how he healed the sick. It's how he challenged.

The self-righteous. Religious establishment. Over and over. And over again. It's like all the things. That we love.

That make Jesus. Punk rock. And awesome. We love it. That's all of his ministry. I think it's bound up.

It's summarized. In this word. Water. Jesus came. By. Water.

That's the first. To take the stand. The second. Is the blood. The blood. He says in verse six.

This is he who came by water. And blood. Jesus Christ. Not by. The water only. But by the water.

And the blood. Now. If you've been with us. In first John. For a minute. He doesn't write.

Very. Clearly. Times. It's like. Wait. What?

And this is one of those times. Where he says something. It's like. Why couldn't you just said. He came by water. And blood.

Let's move on. To the spirit. But he says. No. Not by the water only. That should clue us in.

To ask some questions. What are you getting out there? What are you not saying. When. You're saying that. Like there was a.

There was a picture. That was circulated online. A few years ago. And it was a picture. Of a. Of a notice.

At the library. At someone's public library. And it said. It said. In light of recent events. There will be.

No Oreos. Allowed. In the library. And it's like. Really. Tell me more.

What are you not saying. I want to know what happened. Like I want to know. What kind of mess was made. With Oreos. In the library.

Like I. I get a little messy. With Oreos. What I like to do. Is like to take the cup of milk. And I like to just.

I don't dunk it. I let it. I just drop it. I let it bathe. All right.

I let it. I let it get. You don't want it to fall to the bottom. Because it falls to the bottom. It gets a little messy. You got to get your hand in the glass.

And sometimes it gets stuck. And then you pull it out. Sometimes milk. And Oreo guts go everywhere. It is worth it. But it gets a little messy.

I want to know what happened. At the library. Right. When you see that. It begs the question. What's happening here.

That's what's happening here. In first John. Okay. Not by water only. What are you talking about? And if you've been with us in first John.

As we've walked through it. This should make a little bit of sense. Because what we've seen over and over again. In first John. As he's making this argument. That Jesus was real.

That he was a real physical person. That from the very first verse. All the way into the end. There's this theme. That he's hitting at. Jesus actually physically came.

Because there was a false teaching. At the time. That swept through. These churches. That John was writing to. That taught the opposite.

That taught that Jesus only came in spirit form. That he didn't come in physical material form. And we believe that was the early seedbed. The early beginnings of Gnosticism. So he's just making a point here.

Not by water only. He did come physically. In blood. So that's part of what he's saying here. But also when you get to the blood.

This is the easiest part to interpret. Because the blood is talking about. The blood that he shed on the cross. That he shed real blood. For our real sins. On a real cross.

That this actually happened. So what's happening here a little bit. Is the water. The beginning of Christ's ministry. Bringing through the ministry of baptism. Up to the event.

Which is the pinnacle event of salvation. In the scriptures. The cross. And the empty tomb that follows. That as we saw in 1 John 2. 2.

It said. He is the propitiation for our sins. And not for ours only. But also for the sins of the whole world. The blood references this. That he teaches.

Over and over again. That we deserve wrath. That Jesus stands in our place. That blood was shed for us. That he made atonement for us. That he made it right for us.

By his blood. And not our own. He came by water. Not water only. He came by the real blood. That he shed for our real sins.

That should compel us into belief in Jesus. And then the third witness takes the stand. The spirit. He says. With the spirit. And the spirit.

Is the one who testifies. Because the spirit. Is. The truth. Now. It's capital S.

It's talking about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is. The truth. Now part of this picture. Undoubtedly goes back to when Jesus was baptized. When Jesus was baptized.

The heavens opened up. The Holy Spirit. Descends upon Jesus like a dove. This happened. And the people saw this. And this really marked.

This is the Christ. God the Father said. This is my son with whom I'm well pleased. This is the one who has come. Listen to him. That's part of the picture here.

Is the Holy Spirit. That descends upon Christ. At the beginning. But it's also a picture forward to. The Holy Spirit. That descends upon the people of God.

This is a picture. That looks forward to. Pentecost. When the fulfillment happens. Of God. And his temple.

God. And his people. The Holy Spirit. Descends upon the new temple of God. The people of God. The church of Jesus Christ.

And the Holy Spirit. Lives in his people. This spirit is the truth. And testifies. Over and over again. To us.

And through us. That he is the Christ. That he is God. Verse 7. For there are all. There are three that testify.

The spirit. And the water. And the blood. And these three agree. They're all three in agreement. When each one.

Takes the witness stand. They're all testifying. To the same. Truth. They're all in agreement. That this is.

The Christ. And then John. Goes on to say. In verse 9. If we receive. The testimony of men.

The testimony of God. Is. Is. Greater. For this is the testimony of God. That he is born concerning his son.

I think it's a general statement. That he's making to say. God's. Testimony. Is. Greater.

Than. Man's. If you are. Willing. To accept the testimony. Of mere men.

How foolish. Would we not. Would we be. To not. To accept the testimony. Of.

The God who created. All things. God's testimony. Is. Greater. And then he goes on.

To say. When you receive. This testimony. It comes. To live within you. Verse 10.

He says. Whoever believes. In the son of God. Has the testimony. In himself. Whoever does not believe.

God has made him a liar. Because he has not believed. In the testimony. That God is born. Concerning his son. When you believe in Jesus.

This is a picture. Of the Holy Spirit. The testimony. In you. The Holy Spirit. Comes.

Into your life. And makes you. New. This is the gift. That we are given. By faith.

The testimony. Comes to live. In us. If you believe in Jesus. You have this. Unbelievably.

Amazing. And powerful gift. Don't. In true. John form. You're a liar.

Which we've seen. Over and over again. In first. John. Is like. One of his.

Go to things. He's like. You believe this. Or you're a liar. Or you make God. To be a liar.

All right. As the young guns say. Cap. No cap. Which took me a minute. To figure out what they were saying.

But front run knows. What I'm talking about. Okay. Lie. No lie. Right.

That's the language he uses. Over and over. And over again. And he gets to verse 10. He says. Whoever believes.

In the son of God. No. Verse 11. And this is the testimony. That God gave us. Eternal.

Life. And this life. Is in his son. Whoever has the son. Has. Life.

Whoever does not have the son of God. Does not. Have. Life. That's how he finishes. This argument.

That if you believe this. You have eternal life. In Christ. If you believe this. You have this eternal life. That he offers.

If you don't. You don't have this. So John's closing argument. As he's finishing up. First John. Is.

Believe this. Believe this. John wants us to believe this. God wants us to. Believe this. So much so.

That three take the stand. The water. The blood. And the spirit. And the hope. Is that we would.

Believe. Now. That's the argument he's making. I want to look at four conclusions. That we can draw from this defense. That we can draw from this.

Argument. That deal with the power. Of testimony. The first is this. The testimony. Is of a real.

God. The testimony. Is of a real. God. Verse six. He says.

This is he who came by water and. Blood. Jesus Christ. Not by the water only. But by.

The water. And the blood. Y'all. This isn't just something. The early Christians. Needed to be convinced of.

That Jesus came in the flesh. We need this. Christians. We. Need. To believe this.

Because what happens is. Is that we start to. When life gets difficult. We start to believe. That God is so distant. He's so big.

He's so glorious. He's so powerful. He's so mighty. And all of that's true. That he can't possibly understand. What I'm going through.

He can't possibly understand. My circumstances. Like God. Don't you want to change. What I'm walking through right now. Like don't you understand.

How hard this is. How hard. Life. Is. And because of the water. And the blood.

He does. He does understand. How hard this life is. Because he came. Because he didn't stand distant. In the heavens.

Where. He could have rightly. Ruled and reigned from. He. Came. And he lived.

He took on flesh. And dwelt among us. And he lived a life. And he experienced loss. He knows what that's like. I mean the reason why you don't see his.

Earthly father Joseph. Pass. When he's a child. Is because he died. He knows what it's like to lose. He knows.

What it's like to endure loss. He knows what it's like to endure. Betrayal. Someone that he invested in for three years. Discipled. Loved.

Served. Sold him for 20 pieces of silver. He knows what it's like to be abandoned. It's abandoned by all but one of his disciples. He knows what it's like to endure temptation. For those of us who struggle in the.

Throes of temptation. Like I just. It's so hard. It's so hard. It's so hard. To continue.

To pursue what is good. It's so hard to endure this. He knows. What it's like to endure it. For we don't have a high priest. Who's unable to sympathize with our weaknesses.

But one who in every respect. Who is tempted and tried. And yet was without sin. Hebrews 4. He knows. What it's like.

To be human. Because he came. And when God feels distant. And he feels foreign. We need to remember. He is a real God that came.

We need to remember the eminence of Christ. Meaning that he descended in bodily form. That he knows what it's like. It's not just us that needs to know this. The world needs to know this. I mean.

He stands apart. He is not Allah. That stands distant. And demands submission. This isn't a system of Buddhism. That leads to nothingness.

This isn't any false projection. That our culture puts upon him. That he's vindictive. Or that he's cruel. Or he doesn't care. He does care.

Because he came. And the world needs to know that. That he needs to know that he came. That he was baptized. He spent three years ministering to the least of these. And that he laid down his life on the cross.

For us. And he rose to give us new life in him. That is a testimony y'all. And it speaks to a real God. The second conclusion we need to draw. Is that this testimony is true.

This testimony is true. Back in verse 6. And the spirit is the one who testifies. Because the spirit is the truth. Verse 7. For there are three that testify.

The spirit. And the water. And the blood. And these three agree. John makes this point. The three in agreement.

The spirit is the truth. They line up. This testimony is true. And that's so incredibly important. Because we live in a time. Where there's so many false testimonials out there.

There's so many false things that are put out there. And believed. I mean. Choose your adventure. I mean. There's.

I was listening to a short story. I was working in my bathroom. Remodeling. And I wanted to listen to a series of short stories. Because that's what I do for fun. And.

And I was listening to this short story that came up. Called The Egg. And it turns out this story is like one of the more critically acclaimed short stories. In the last two decades. And this story is about a guy who dies. And he immediately appears before God.

And he starts to have a conversation with God. And what he learns is. Is that he's about to be reincarnated. And he's going to return to the sixth century. And he's going to be back in time. Reincarnated in the form of a Chinese woman.

And what he learns is. Is that every human that has ever existed. Is the same consciousness. And that when she dies. He's going to reincarnate to something different. And get better and better and better.

Until the very end. He's become this God-like figure that he's talking to right now. And I listened to it. And I was like. This is the most baseless. Ungrounded.

Ridiculous. Argument. And I just. When I realized. That this is one of the more critically acclaimed short stories. That last draw their entire faith and reality.

From movies. And from novels. And as Christians. We have to winsomely. Boldly. And lovingly say.

That's not. True. That's not true. As this passage. Teaches. The testimony of God is greater.

For this. Is a testimony of God. That he has born. Concerning his son. That we say. Jesus is better than everything else.

We need to boldly. And winsomely. Argue that. That he is true. What he offers. Is better.

This testimony is true. That it's rooted in historical reality. They're not going to find his body. This is rooted in a historical reality. This is rooted. This is rooted in a supernatural reality.

The Holy Spirit at work within us. It's anchored in a living hope. And a real person. Who took on real flesh. Don't miss that. For a moment.

This testimony. Is true. The third thing we need to see. Is this testimony. Is in you. This testimony.

Is in you. Verse 10. Whoever believes in the son of God. Has. The testimony. In himself.

And as we said earlier. That's talking about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit. That. The testimony. In us.

Y'all. The implications for that. Are. Massive. It's huge. That the Holy Spirit.

Comes to dwell. In us. Comes to minister. Within us. Is. It's a similar language.

To. To Romans 8. And the argument. That Paul is making. In the middle of Romans 8. When he says.

In verse 14. For all. Who are led. By the spirit. Of God. Are.

Sons. Of God. That when you are led. By. The spirit. That when he.

Dwells. Within you. That. You're no longer. A slave. To this world.

As he argues. For you do not. Receive. The spirit. Of slavery. To fall back in fear.

You're no slavery. Slave to this world. A slave to your. Flesh. You've been. Freed.

And more than that. That you belong. To him. The spirit. Within us. Reminds us.

Of. This. By whom we cry. Abba. Father. 16.

The spirit himself. Bears. Witness. And the Greek word. For witness. Is the same Greek word.

We have in 1st John 4. Testimony. Same concept. Bears. Witness. Testifies.

With. Our. Spirit. That we are the children. Of God. That the Holy Spirit.

Lives. And reigns. Within us. And testifies. Within us. That we are the children.

Of God. That is. Huge. Because there are moments. In this life. Where we fail to believe that.

There are moments. In this life. I feel this. There are moments. Where I'm in the midst. Of doubt.

And I. I'll go back to. My reasoning. Right. That I believe. That the faith claims.

Of Christ. Are way more compelling. To the wide leaps. Of faith. That it takes. To have.

Nothing. I'll reason there. I'm like. No. This is. The most reasonable.

Argument. This compelling argument. The reason. In and of itself. Is not enough. It's not.

Always. Enough. And sometimes. I feel. This doubt. It's like.

A dark haze. Of hopelessness. That just. Lingers. In the midst. Of that.

Doubt. The spirit. Goes. To work. One of the more. Beautiful songs.

That I've. I've heard. In the last few years. Is this song. By ghost ship. We.

We sing. Some ghost ship songs. From time. To time. They had this song. That came out.

A couple years ago. Called. Belief. And I love. What the songwriter. Works to.

Because he's working. Through this doubt. He's working. Through this. This darkness. That he's.

Struggling through. And he. In the first verse. He says. Darkness. Haunts me.

Again. Today. So. Confused. Have I lost. The way.

If you're. There. And you're. There's God. If you're there. I can't see.

Your face. I don't know. I don't know. Sometimes. It's hard. To believe.

Help me. In my. Unbelief. And he's quoting. The father. Who brought a son.

Jesus. And said. Oh Lord. I believe. But help.

My. Unbelief. Like I feel. First. Like I. I feel that.

It's just so. Hard. To believe. Sometimes. That we. We feel this.

Doubt. That just. Hovers over us. Where we question. The. Goodness.

Of God. Or the. Existence. Of God. Or the. Faithfulness.

Of God. Or the. Love. Of God. Or the. Character.

Of God. We begin to. Question. Who. God. Is.

And this. Doubt. Just. Lingers. Over us. And it.

Leaves us. In this. Place. Of desperation. And it's. In those.

Moments. That the. Holy Spirit. Comes. Into his. People.

And begins. To do. His. Work. He begins. To minister.

Within us. And I love. How this. Him. In the midst. Of his.

Doubt. And has. Gone. To work. Because he. Finishes.

The song. By saying. There are. Only. A few. Things.

I. Know. I know. That he. Rose. Which.

Is a testimony. Of true. Events. He came. By the water. And the blood.

That he. Really. Did come. And. This. Really.

Did happen. I know. That he. Rose. I know. That he.

Loves. Me. So. I know. That he. Won't.

Let. Go. And. Those. Two. Statements.

I know. That he. Loves. Me. So. And.

He. Won't. Let. Go. You. Can.

Read. Those. But the. Holy. Spirit. Makes.

Us. Feel. Those. He. Makes. Us.

Feel. The. Love. Of. God. In.

A. Way. That he. Is. Close. That we.

Can. Feel. His. Presence. He. Makes.

Feel. That he. Holds. Us. That he. Won't.

Let us. Go. That is the ministry of the Holy Spirit at work within us. And the spirit wins us over and over and over again. And he testifies to our soul. To our spirit.

That you belong to me. That you are my child. That no one is going to snatch you out of my hand. That I love you. Because I love you. Because of my great love.

And I will carry you all the way to the finish. The people of God have the Holy Spirit at work within us. Testifying at work within us. And the last thing I want us to see. Is that the testimony grants us eternal life. That this testimony gives eternal life.

Verse 11. He says. This is the testimony. That God gave us eternal life. And this life is in his son. Whoever has the son has life.

Whoever does not have the son of God. Does not have life. And as Chet is going to pick up next week. In verse 13. He says. I write these things to you.

Who believe. In the name of the son of God. That you may know. That you have eternal life. The argument he is making over. And over.

And over again. In first jump. God. Gave us. Eternal life. In Christ.

The testimony of God. Is greater. For those of us. That trust. That he came by. The water.

That he lived. A life. He fulfilled. The law. Perfectly on our behalf. For those that believe.

That he came by. The blood. That his blood was shed for us. On the cross. That our sin. Is what puts him on the cross.

And his blood was shed for us. For those who believe. The Holy Spirit comes. And makes us. New creations. In Christ.

And testifies. To our spirit. We have. Eternal. Life. The three take the stand.

The water. The blood. And the spirit. And they're all in agreement. And they're all. Compelling us.

To believe. Some of you. Some of you have never. Surrendered to this Christ. Some of you have been around church. Your entire life.

Some of you are just checking it out. For the first time. But you've never. Surrendered to this Christ. And I want you so. Clearly to hear this morning.

Jesus. Wants you. This testimony shows. He. Wants you. That he.

Desires you. That he doesn't. That your past. Does not have to define you. That your life right now. Does not have to define you.

That faith in Jesus. Is putting all of our hope. And what he has done for us. That by grace. He saves us. That there's nothing that you bring to the table.

But your sin. And he wants you. He wants to take your sin. On the cross. He wants you. Believe this.

That God has you here this morning. That he desires you. That this testimony is good. It is pure. It is perfect. And it is for you.

Don't. Stop running. Stop running from God. He wants you. Believe this testimony. It is worth your life.

Some of you. Are Christians. And you got to be honest about the doubt. That you are facing. And John so clearly. Is teaching of this morning.

He's teaching us. Keep believing. Continue. To believe. Believe is not a one-time event. That happens.

It is a continual. You believe over. And over. And over. And over again. The testimony.

Is of a real. God. Who came. Who died for us. Who took on flesh. The testimony.

Is true. And the testimony. Is in you. And this morning. He so clearly. Wants you to know.

That is true. And that what is held out. In front of you. Christian. Is a testimony. That does not end.

That heads into. Eternity. We continue. To fight. To believe this. By the power.

Of the Holy Spirit. Matt's going to come up. And he's going to. Take that song. Belief. That I just.

Read through. And he's going to sing it. Over us. And as he does. I want. Us to listen.

Listen to the voice of God. That for those of you. That are here. That have never surrendered. To who this God is. That never fully believe.

In the testimony of Christ. My hope and prayer. Is that you would. Believe. That this song. Would be a confession.

And you confess. It for the first time. Maybe. Maybe you are a Christian. You've been struggling. For.

Years. You've been struggling. With doubt. Make this your prayer. Help me in my unbelief. Help me believe.

In what the water. And the blood. And the spirit. Testify to. Help me believe. In this Christ.

May this encourage. Your soul. Remind you. Of your savior. And remind you. How good this testimony is.

Let me pray. Father. We need you. We need you. In a world. That has.

Darkness. And doubt. In our lives. Where there is darkness. And doubt. May you cut through it.

And we see you so clearly. And so beautifully. Right now. For those who have never trusted in Christ. May they believe. Right now.

For those who have trusted in Christ. But are struggling. May you help them. To continue to believe this testimony. In Christ's name. Amen.

Three Essentials of the Christian Life (1 John 5:1-5)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

Three Essentials of a Christian Life

Chet Phillips

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Transcript

This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you. God is light. In Him, there is no darkness at all. This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God. So that you may know you have eternal life. Good morning. My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. We are in 1 John.

We are coming towards the end of this letter. And we've got just a couple more weeks of walking through this. And John is kind of summing up some of his ideas. But I want to begin this sermon by talking about Daniel. And not Daniel from the Bible, but Daniel LaRusso from the Karate Kid. Also very important.

Not quite as important as the other Daniel. In the Karate Kid, the original one. Some people also like to call that the good one. Mr. Miyagi is teaching Daniel karate. Karate.

Daniel actually really wants to be like a kid who's all about karate. And so he's teaching him karate. And what he does is he makes him paint his fence. And he makes him wash his cars. Karate. And I thought, man, I could teach somebody karate.

If that's all. Chores. Come do chores at my house. But that's what it seems like. And he's having him do wax on, wax off on these cars. And he has a specific way he wants him to do it.

And he's doing paint the fence. He does this specific stuff. And he makes him do it with both hands. And there's this scene. It's one of the best scenes in the movie. It's up there with the this scene.

It's one of the best scenes in the movie where Daniel just says, I'm done. All you've done is make me do chores. I'm done. And Mr. Miyagi says, show me the stuff I've been making you do. And he starts to do it.

And he goes, no, you're doing it wrong. Show me the way I showed you. And he starts making him do the stuff that he showed him how to do. That he made him do this repetitive motion over and over and over and over again. And then Mr. Miyagi starts throwing punches at him and just starts trying to assault him.

He's throwing punches and kicks. But because he had painted the fence, he knows how to block stuff. It's a little hard to believe, but this is what happens. And this is what he does. And there's this whole scene where he shows him that I was just teaching your muscles to do this thing over and over again. That's why I said it over and over and over again.

And we're in that scene in 1 John. Because I don't know if you've been reading John. He says the same thing over and over and over and over again. He has said it over and over and over and over. And we're getting to the scene where he's the part in John where he starts going. He's just saying it again.

But he's helping us see clearly. I've been saying this repeatedly. I've been connecting this this whole time. And this is what it looks like to be a Christian. These are the identifying markers of a Christian. And he's said it so many times that at this point, if someone tried to assault us with something that was against this, we should be able to karate kid that stuff.

We should be able to say, no, this is how it works. So that's where we are. We're going to read through this section together. And we're going to kind of paint a picture to help us see. He's saying it again. But we want to put some weight in this and put this in our heads clearly as he's kind of coming to his letter.

So let's pray. And then we'll be in 1 John chapter 5. God, I pray that you would help us this morning. That you would help us to hear from your word. That you would help remove distraction and our desire to wander and to think about other things. But that you would help anchor this reality in our souls.

And then, Lord, I pray that you would, through the power of your spirit, would make it true of this church. That this is what we look like as we abide in Christ. In Jesus' name, amen. 1 John chapter 5. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. So he's said this idea multiple times, but he's saying it again.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. So that we believe that Jesus, the man who walked on earth, lived and taught, was crucified on a cross. That he rose again. That he's the Christ. That he's the one that God had promised to bring salvation through. That he's the one who is fulfilling Christ.

Jesus is a name. Christ is a theological office. It's a role that he plays. That he is the Christ who has been the promised Messiah who was going to come and fix everything for us. That from the very beginning when God promises in the garden that there's going to be a son who's going to be born. And he's going to crush the head of the serpent.

That there's this promise throughout the Old Testament that this Christ is coming. This is who John is saying. Whoever believes that that's Jesus. That he's the one who's come to save. That he's the one who redeems. That he's the one who forgives sin.

Whoever believes that. Trusts in that. Hopes in that. Puts their faith in that. And I think we've got to just appreciate that word believe for a second. Because all we're doing is coming to a news that has been told to us.

That Jesus has done this. And if we believe it. If we say no that's true. I'm going to wrap around that. I'm going to hold on to that. I'm going to anchor in that.

He says whenever that happens. Then we've been born of God. Everyone who believes that Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. That this is one of the commentaries I have on this says. To believe is to be acted upon in a dynamic transformative way by God.

That God does this. So here's what he's saying. Is that we believe in Jesus. But then this happens. So Jesus brings us to the Father.

And so that if you have faith in Jesus. And we're going to kind of draw this whole picture out. Because this is the stuff he's been saying over and over again. But Jesus brings us to the Father. You don't have the Father without Jesus. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ.

Has been born of God. You've been made new. You've been born again. As he would say in. Jesus would say in John chapter 3. Not 1 John chapter 3.

But John chapter 3. That you are born again. That you are made new. That's this idea. That we belong to God if we believe in Jesus. Then he says this.

So verse 1. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ. Has been born of God. And everyone who loves the Father. Loves whoever has been born of him. So if you love the Father.

If you believe in Jesus. He brings you to the Father. You're born of God. And if you love the Father. Then you love everyone who's been born of him.

So that looks like this. You love the Father. You love the Father. They are connected. You can't disconnect that. This is how it works.

So if you say I love the Father. You love the brothers. That's not a new idea if you've been here. John has said that. Over and over again. Then he says this.

Verse 2. By this we know that we love the children of God. When we love God. So by this we know we love the children of God. When we love God. So it goes the other way too.

One of the ways that you love the children of God. Or the brothers. Brothers and sisters in Christ. Is that you love God. So it goes back the other way.

You can almost put arrows. But there's this channel of love. Running back and forth. That if you love the Father. You love the brothers. And then he's going to say.

If you love the brothers. You love the Father. And this is. This is the circle he's been running. He said this over and over and over again. Then he says this.

By this is verse 2. By this we know. That we love the children of God. So this marks us as loving the children of God. When we love God. And.

Obey his commands. So it looks like that. If you love. If you love the Father. You love the brothers. If you love the brothers.

Then you'll love the Father. And. You'll obey his commands. And this is how you know. That you love the brothers. This is how you know.

That you care about your church family. You obey God's commands. That's a little startling for us. I think sometimes. To think that obeying commands. Is something different.

But he's saying. No. This is one of the things. That marks. A love. For your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Is that you obey his commands. Verse 3. For this. This is the love of God. That we keep his commandments. So then it goes.

From commandments. Back up to the Father. John has said this. So many times. This is. This is his point.

This is his thesis. This is. He's landing the plane. And. This. I.

I've said it. I don't know how else to say it. I've said it forwards. I've said it backwards. I've said it positively. I've said it negatively.

I've accused you of being a liar. Multiple times. Which we're going to read those in a second. But this is what he says. You believe in Jesus. You get the Father.

You don't get the Father. If you don't have Jesus. If you have the Father. If you belong to the Father. Then you love the brothers.

If you love the brothers. Then you love the Father. If you love the brothers. You'll follow his commands. The way you know that you love the Father. Is that you follow his commands.

Yeah. Wax on. Wax off. He said it. Over and over. And over.

Again. There is a faith. Love of God. Marking. For believers. That if you're a believer.

Then you have faith in Jesus. And you love the Father. There is a relational. There is a relational. Love of church family. Marking.

For believers. And there is a moral. Ethical. Marking. For believers. My uncle.

Who's. Yorba. People group. From Abomasaw. He's one of the last. Generations born.

That they put tribal marks on. So he has tribal marks on his face. And it was meant to be. That you could look right at him. And you would know. Right where he was from.

And that is. What this is. For Christians. That we. Are to be. Marked by.

These three things. And you can't. Get rid of any of them. But I want to show you. That John has said this. Over and over again.

I'm just going to read. I want you to listen. I'm going to try to move. Fairly quickly. But I'm going to read.

Things that we've read. In chapter one. Chapter two. Chapter three. Chapter four. To just try to refresh.

In your head. He said this. This is his whole point. And just as I read it. Try to figure out. Okay.

Yeah. That's from there to there. That's from there to there. Because he's just running. This track. Back and forth.

Different ways. Chapter one. This is the message. That we heard from him. And proclaim to you. That God is light.

And in him. There's no darkness at all. So he's talking about the father. If we say. We have fellowship with him. While we walk in darkness.

Meaning that we. Sin. And are following sin. And not obeying his commands. We lie. And do not practice the truth.

But if we walk in the light. Meaning following him. And are walking in openness. He is. As he is in the light. We have fellowship.

And you would think he would say. We have fellowship with him. We have fellowship with one another. So he runs this way. And the blood of Jesus. His son.

Then he takes us back up there. Cleanses us from all sin. Chapter two. By this. We know that we have come to know him. So you know the father.

If we keep his commands. Keep his commandments. Whoever says. This is chapter two. Verse four. Whoever says.

I know him. But does not keep his commandments. Is a liar. The truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word.

In him. Truly the love of God. Is perfected. By this. We know that we are in him. Whoever says.

He abides in him. Ought to walk. In the same way that he walks. And he jumps down to verse nine. In chapter two. He says.

Whoever says. He's in the light. So I know the father. That's being in the light. And hates his brother. Is still in darkness.

Whoever loves his brother. Abides in the light. And that's his idea. Of walking in openness. And following the commands. And knowing God.

That's it. Being in the light. Verse 15. No. Not verse 15. 29.

If you know that he is righteous. You may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness. Has been born of God. So. If we know the father. Then we practice righteousness.

Chapter three. Everyone who. Thus hopes in him. Purifies himself. As he is pure. Again.

This following his commands. Verse four. For everyone who practice. Makes a practice of sinning. Also practices lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness.

You know that he appeared. In order to take away sins. In him there is no sin. No one who abides in him. Keeps on sinning. Then verse 10.

Whoever does not practice righteousness. Is not of God. So. You're not doing that. You don't belong to him. Nor.

Is the one who does not love. His brother. Verse 11. Chapter three. For this is the message we've heard from the beginning. That we should love one another.

Verse 23. This is the commandment. All right. So here's the commandment. And he's been talking about commandments. Is not sinning.

So it's a general idea of commandments. And then he specifically. Is going to highlight. One of the major parts of the commandment. And here's what he says. This is the commandment that we have from him.

That we believe in the son. Jesus Christ. And. Love one another. Just as he's commanded us. So he snuck the other two in the commands.

We can make this more complicated. He didn't hide them as subsections in that one. Chapter four. This is the summation of it. But he says this.

We love because he loved us. So. Us. Being loved by him. That he's done this first. He's brought us in.

He loves us. If anyone says I love God. And hates his brother. Is a liar. He who does not love his brother. Whom he has seen.

Cannot love. Whom he has not seen. And he says. This is the commandment. That we have from him. Whoever loves God.

Must also love his brother. I trimmed it up. There are more. Because it's the entire letter. This is what he says. This is what you look like.

If you belong to Jesus. This is what you look like. Jesus. Brings you to the father. The father makes you new. And now.

Your life is marked. By a love for God. A love for. The church. Your brothers. His children.

And obedience. And he specifically. Goes out of his way. And I read some of these. I'm going to read them again. To say.

If you try to remove. One of those. And say it's fine. I'm still a Christian. He says. Liar.

Like the scariest scene. In Princess Bride. Where that guy's talking. And then what's his head's dead. And then that crazy lady. Comes running out of the back.

Yelling. Liar. When you're a little kid. That's really the scariest scene. All kinds of things happen there. It's like.

Oh my goodness. That's what. That's what John does. Verse. Chapter 2. Verse 22.

Who. Who is the liar. But he who denies. That Jesus is the Christ. You try to take Jesus out. Liar.

2.4. Whoever says. I know him. But doesn't keep his commandments. Is a liar. In chapter 4.

Verse 20. If anyone says. I love God. And hates his brothers. Is a liar. He specifically covers all of them.

And says. You can't. You just can't take one of these out. Now. What. Will happen.

Mostly. Is that people. Will claim. The top one. And ignore the bottom ones. And for our purposes.

That's the thing. That's most helpful. Because. Most of us. Subtly. It's not going to sink.

Sneak in. That we're to not love Jesus. But we're to obey his commands. That. That exists. This idea.

That I can just be moral. And that's fine. Or that I can just be loving. And that's fine. But. For our purposes.

We're just going to kind of look at. Trying to claim the top. And for John's purposes. That's what he cared most about. Whoever says. They know the father.

Whoever says. They're in the light. Whoever says. They know the father. Like he's consistently saying. You're claiming this.

But you're trying to remove. One of these. But here's. Here's what you have. You'll have people say. That you don't need Jesus.

That he's not. You can. Every. Everybody. Every. All paths lead to God.

Everybody believes the same thing. So you believe in Jesus. That's fine. This other person believes in something else. But we're all going to end up in the same place.

We're all going to be in the same spot. Everything's fine. And John specifically says. No. That's. That's a lie.

That is not how it works. So if anybody tells you. Or if you're inclined to believe. Or you like the idea. That. Really what the Bible is just telling us.

Is just to love each other. And that if you really read the Bible. All you'll get out of it. Is it to love each other. And to. To just have a good relationship with God.

And with others. John says. That's a. That's a lie. That's not. That's not what this is saying.

You need to know Jesus. You need to believe in him. He's the one who. Who brings us. To the father. Now the southern version of this is.

Oh I'm a Christian. Oh I love me some Jesus. What church are you a part of? Well. Well. I don't really do that.

Follow that up. We don't ask this. We follow that up with. How's obedience going? Don't really do that either. I mean.

Unless you mean. The way I vote. America. It's like. Okay. Hold on.

We can't. We can't just. Separate. Like there's. We have to follow these things. Like.

You can't. It can't just be. I say I know Jesus. Because you will meet people that say. I'm a Christian. And those other things don't show up at all.

So let's just. Let's take one. Sometimes they show up a little bit. Sometimes they'll have one. But let's just pick on one for a second.

Let's just cut out brothers. And let's talk about what this looks like. This is the. Oh I love Jesus. Church messes me up. Church is just a bunch of hypocrites.

You know. I tried to be a part of church. It just made it worse. I found that a church. Was a hurdle. To me loving Jesus.

And I'm just better off without the church. Because all that stuff is just man made. Just practices. And stuff that just ends up. It just messes me up. And I want the authentic stuff.

I want the real stuff. I want just me and God. John says. That doesn't exist. You don't get the father without the family. That's not how it works.

See. If you love him. Then you love his people. But this shows up all the time. I read this article this week. It was by John Pavlovitz.

And it's. It's. The title of the article is. Relax Christian. You don't have to go to church. It says.

This Sunday. You may be snuggled in your bed. With your family and dog. Telling stories. And giggling away the morning. You may be jogging with your best friend.

Through the wooded paths. Just coming to life. In the early morning sun. You may be driving through the empty back roads. With the roof open. Blasting the 80's metal.

That reminds you. Of when you had hair. For the breeze to blow through. You might be having breakfast with friends. And giving thanks for life. And family in the day.

You might be in the garden. Your knees pressed to the damp soil. Smelling the leaves. Just popping up. Through the ground. These places are all sacred.

They are all waiting sanctuaries. For God to be seen. And heard. And experienced. They are common cathedrals. Fully saturated.

With the presence. Of the divine. Part of us really likes that idea. Because part of that. Is kind of true. There is nothing magical.

About this building. It doesn't have like a funnel. That makes our prayers work better. If we decided as a church. To meet in the evening. Or in the middle of the afternoon.

On a Saturday. Okay. There is some historical reasons. Why we get there on Sunday morning. There is some flow of life stuff. But.

The church is the people. But to argue. That you don't need that. He says later. It is good to have some community. I read this to Spencer earlier.

And he almost lost his mind. He started frothing at the mouth. He was so mad. And he was like. A group of friends. That you have brunch with.

Is in a church. So. If you kind of like this idea. And you want to get yelled at. Go talk to Spencer about it. But the truth is.

Some of this is evil. And unhelpful. To try to weasel in. And say you don't really need that. You can be a Christian. By yourself.

That's a tactic of the enemy. Because everything I think is a good idea. Is a good idea. When I'm by myself. I need some people around me. To go hold on.

That's not helpful. I need some people. Who I know are going to ask me some questions. If you've walked in church family long enough. And you've been around people. Who are going to ask you.

How things are going. You have learned. That that helps you not sin. And you've learned. That there are things. That you have chosen to obey.

Because you love your church family. You've actually begun. To live some of that out. Where it's like. No I actually am showing. That I love my church family.

By following this command. And so what happens is. There's this tendency. For us to say. Well we don't really need that. Now.

We're all here. Some of us were like. Wait. Can I just. Lay in bed. And giggle.

Or whatever he said. Is that. Where's this going. Now this is good for us. To belong to a group of people. But let me show you.

Where it gets sneaky. Where it can creep in. Where this idea. You might would have like a. Not as bright little X. It's penciled in.

You don't really need that. Let me show you how this. This shows up. You can show up on Sunday. And participate. Because you're trying to do the bottom right.

That you think that being here. Is just about your personal devotion. To the Lord. There's a way for us to do that. It shows up in some sneaky ways. You might would say.

I don't get there early. I like to just show up. And walk right in and sing. Because I don't want to talk to people. But that betrays a little bit of.

You think that talking to people. Is just for you. And not also for them. There's some people who show up. On Sunday mornings. That are a part of our church.

That need to be talked to. That need somebody to come by. And care about them. And if all we care about. Is how I'm interacting. With things that are happening here.

We can miss it. Some of you haven't committed to a group. Because you don't really need that. I'm doing okay. I feel fine. I don't feel like I'm missing anything.

I get that that's good for lonely people. I'm fine. I'm stable. I had. I had a person. That I was.

When we were talking about. Planting a church. And I told him. We were going to be group space. He said. Groups are great.

He said. But I have a question for you. He said. My dad. Teaches seminary level classes. What would you have for him?

Because he doesn't need to be a part of a group. And I was young. And in seminary. Now I'd say. Liar. He needs to belong to a group of people.

Where he can love them. They need him. And you'll find. That as he. Commits to loving a group of people. He also needs them.

That. A love for the Lord. Is not just mental. We. We hear this show up sometimes. In the way we talk about church.

Sometimes we'll talk about it. Like it's a gym. You should be a part of my church. The way we would talk about. You should be a part of my gym. Oh.

You should be a part of my gym. The fees are low. It's 24 hours. They have the best machines. The smoothie. They sell smoothies.

Some people are like. You should join my gym. Because we don't work out. And we eat pizza. And it's cheap. People have pitched that to me.

It's like. I can do that at my house. For cheaper. But we do that with church. You should come to my church. The music's the best.

Oh. You should come to my church. The preaching. You should come to my church. We renovate it. Now everybody knows where the bathrooms are.

We pick. Pick different things. To try to highlight for somebody. As if. The church is just the experience. And what I'm getting out of it.

And not. You belong to a group of people. And I'm not saying it's bad to like things. And some of you are like. I'm doing great. I don't like any of this stuff.

That's what I mean to say. It's not bad to like things. And to appreciate stuff. But if that's the way you think about it. There's a possibility. That you are just approaching it as.

What am I getting out of this? And this is just about personal devotion. And has nothing to do with me loving people. And you can't. You can't get rid of that one. This is actually.

One of the reasons why I appreciate some things. That I don't like. On Sundays. I'll give you some examples. On Sundays. I like.

And always enjoy. When I go to a church. And they cut off all the lights. And we sing in the dark. I like that. But I actually appreciate.

That we don't do that. Because part of the reason we're singing. Is because we're singing to each other. And we're being reminded. We all believe this. And this isn't just true for me.

And it's not just about my relationship to Jesus. It's about us. That's why we're told in the scriptures. To address each other in Psalms and hymns. And spiritual songs. Part of the reason we're singing.

Is not just singing to God. We're singing to each other. I don't like corporate readings. I think they're kind of awkward. I definitely hate leading them. I accidentally led one one time.

I wouldn't even plan on people reading them. It wasn't even underlined. But I had like cued everybody in. Read this with me. And it was just like. Oh my gosh.

I don't. I don't like them. But I appreciate them. Because we're collectively saying. We believe this together. And this isn't just true for me.

It's true for us. And it's true for all who belong to Jesus. And we belong to each other. And that's what we're practicing. When we get together with our community groups. So that when your group's doing something.

It's like. If you just only want to show up to your group. If you know they're studying stuff. You might have tricked yourself into thinking. It's just about your personal obedience. If you say.

Well I don't have to go to that. Because I don't like board games. Do you love your brothers and sisters? I don't have to go to that. I don't like. I don't like that show.

But do you enjoy. Like can you go serve. And love them. And connect with them. And pour into them. Right.

So we do that. And sometimes we miss. That we belong to people. Sometimes we talk about churches. If we belong to the philosophy. Or the type of music.

Or we belong to the type of preaching. Or whatever. And we miss that we actually belong to a group of people. That's why you should show up early. Talk to people. Sing songs you don't like.

Because that's part of us. Of loving one another. Well. Okay. Sometimes we remove commands. We just say.

We don't really need that part. And what we'll say. It's just about loving God. And loving people. And he says that. Right.

Like he says. To love God. Love people. That's all the commands. John even highlights those as really important ones. And so what we'll say is.

Really all God wants. Is for us to get along. For us to love people. For us to be kind. For us to be open. For us to be accepting.

And that when we add in all the rules. That's when people get bigoted. And angry. And prideful. That's when we get the mean old. Stereotypical church lady.

Excuse me. It's from the rules. And there's some truth in. That it's not about rules. Rules don't save us. And there is a way to be pharisaical about the commands.

There is a way to get this wrong. And to be bigoted. And angry. And hurtful. And think that the rules somehow save us. He's actually going to get there in just a little bit.

But he includes this. This is still here. So you can't just say. Well there's a bad version of that. So get rid of it.

You say there's a bad version of that. Well then what the heck is he talking about? What's the good version? What's this supposed to look like? Because you'll hear things like. Well it's not about the rules.

And rules just divide people. Or. One of my personal favorites. I prayed about it. And it just. I don't feel like it's wrong.

I prayed about it. And I just don't feel convicted. I know you're like reading a verse at me. But I prayed about it. And I feel fine. Which is really.

Verbally the claim. I know the father. He and I talked about it. I'm cool. I don't have to do that one. John says.

Liar. That's not how it works. And I know we get there sometimes. And I will tell you what I always tell people. You should be terrified. That you've so drifted from God.

That even when you're looking at a direct command. You don't feel anything. Repent. And repent quickly. Don't look at me and say. Hey my heart's cold and dead.

And I feel fine. It's like. Oh my. Oh Lord help us. But that's what we say.

I prayed about it. I don't feel. I don't feel like it's wrong. We'll also say. Well I know God just wants me to be happy. I know God just wants me to be happy.

I've been looking at this. And I just don't see. How I could be happy without it. And I know that God loves me. And he wants me to be happy. So I can have this thing.

God does want you to be happy. I used to yell. When we first planted this church. If you've been around a long time. I yelled at you. That God doesn't care about your happiness.

I'm nuancing that now. Because he really does. He just doesn't care about it the way you're defining it in that moment. God loves us so much. That he would die. For our delight.

In him. And he actually knows that you won't be happy. Outside of him. He's willing to go to greater lengths for your happiness than you are. And his commands fit in that category. They're for our good.

So there's some assumptions that come in. When you're going to obey the commands that the Lord gives you. One. We assume that he's good. That he loves us. That he's for our good.

The cross definitively proves that. John says that multiple times. This is how we know love. This is how we know that he loves us. That he died for us. But we're assuming he's good.

Because if you're going to obey his commands. You've got to start there. I've got to assume that he's good. And that he's for my good. Secondly. I've got to assume that he knows some stuff I don't.

Considering I can't create things by speaking. Or keep them together. I'm just going to go ahead and assume he probably knows some things I don't. And he's capable of doing things that I can't. There's some jokes about people who posted on Twitter. I finally got to perform a tracheotomy at 3,000 feet or whatever.

Like someone asked if there was a doctor. And I stood up and I was able to perform this. And they'll put being a doctor of philosophy. That was a wild ride. And it's this idea that you just claim you're a doctor and just go for it. And there's with any lack of information that you would actually need to do this well.

And so sometimes when I'm saying I just want to chase after this thing that he tells me no. What I'm saying is I think I have all the information I need. And that I'm now smarter than him. Or maybe he's smarter than me. But he's not for my good.

But Christ on the cross definitively proves that he is. So that we can just put his commands in the category of I have a three-year-old, a four-year-old. This is easier for me because he only wants to eat the four food groups. Waffles. French fries. Pizza.

And Swedish fish. Which at my house, and this is why I tripped up for a second, they're called poop fish. Because we use them to teach him to be potty trained. That's all he wants to eat. He'll say yes to any of those. I have a rule at my house, which is you can only eat waffles one time a day.

I'm a very strict parent. But there's a reality to it. His older brother would never choose to sleep. So this one is going to eat just junk all the time. His older brother, I mean, he could look ragged. And be like not able to talk without crying.

And be like, buddy, you need to go to bed. No. I'm fine. It's like, okay. We have rules. Because I'm smarter than them.

And I love them. Really. Eating Swedish fish for dinner might make you happy right now. That will ruin your life. It just will. That path does not lead to joy.

It does not. It leads to a lot of places. Joy is not one of them. And there are times where God steps in and all we can see is what would be on the plate right in front of us. And he says, I love you. And that path does not lead to joy.

And so to say, well, he wants me to be happy. So obviously this universal command can't apply to me is silly and short-sighted. So we obey. And that's why obeying displays our love for him. I love you and I trust you. And even though I don't understand why you're saying I can't have that or do that or why you're not letting this work out right now.

I'm in. And we obey in a way that helps us love his children. And I want you to see this. That's what John has said over and over again. And we can't get rid of any of those. We've got to keep all of them.

But I want to add something. Or he adds to it. So I want to read it and talk about it. What he says at the end of verse 3. So he says, this is verse 3.

For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not burdensome. That's what he says next. So we keep his commandments, but his commandments are not burdensome. Now he's going to define that for us. Because some of you are like, then I must be doing them wrong. Because I've got a few I really do not like.

And I have found quite, I would describe them as a burden to try to keep doing them. He's going to define this. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. So that for is very important. His commandments are not burdensome. For.

He's not changing the subject. He's defining what he's talking about. For. Everyone who has been born of God. Who's been born of God? We read this earlier.

Everybody who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. So. Everyone who believes in Jesus has been born of God. That's the same group here. For everyone who believes in Jesus or who has been born of God. Overcomes the world.

And this is the victory that has overcome the world. Our faith. Hold that for a second. Here's what he means by it's not burdensome. When he talks about the world. What he means is the stuff that would tempt us to sin.

Evil desires. Which tempt us to sin. He also means the enemy. He talks about the antichrist. He talks about the devil being sons of the devil. That we have an enemy that's.

Trying to destroy us and lead us to hell. And we have ourselves. That's trying to destroy us and lead us to hell. Like our own desires. Corresponding with the world. This is what we're trying to do.

And if it's you going toe to toe against that. Via obedience to win. You lose. If you've got to beat the world. Save yourself through obedience. You lose.

That's a burden. The reason his commands are not burdensome. Is they do not carry the weight of our salvation. They do not bear that burden. He does not mean they are not difficult. This is where Jesus can say.

Truly. Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden. And I will give you rest. For my burden is easy and my yoke is light. And he can truly say. That the path is narrow.

And the way is hard. And that those who find it are few. That there is some difficulty. To obedience. There is some hardship to obedience. There is some difficulty to following Jesus with our life.

But it does not bear the burden of our salvation. There is great freedom and hope in this. If you believe in Jesus. You overcome the world. And in a real way. Not like when Americans announced themselves world champs of things.

That we only. Only us competed in. But like in a real way. That you overcome the world. That you are not. Destroyed by sin.

And if you have made any real effort. To fight your sin. You know. There are moments when you think. Oh. I am going to be lost.

I am going to. I am going to. I don't. There is something wrong with me. And that is when he steps in and says. Do you love Jesus?

Do you believe in him? These commands are for your good. But they are not able to carry the weight of salvation. Jesus carries the weight of salvation. So then he goes on.

Verse 5. Who is it. That overcomes the world. Except the one that believes Jesus. Is the son of God. Do not read John.

And look at this triangle of identity. And go. I am going to do better. All I got to do is. I am going to go do better. Truth is.

We can get together on Sundays. We can yell. Go do better. And you will. A little bit. Ish.

For a while. You will have some more motivation. You will have some energy. You will have some. I don't know. Guilt.

Or pride. Or something that is driving you to. I am going to show my group. I will love better than any of them. Okay. You are mad at them.

To love. I don't. Good luck. But ultimately. That just adds to the burden. That I am going to go do better.

Just adds to the burden. This is an invitation. Into an identity. That has been accomplished. By faith in Jesus. And being born.

Again. By the power of God. So. Faith. Is what you need. You need faith in Jesus.

And then this is an identity. That is why John doesn't say. If you do not do these things. Get it together. He says. If you do not do these things.

If this. If your life is not marked by love for the brothers. And I am trying to help you see where they can creep in. And where we need to grow some. But he says.

If your life is not marked by this. Not marked by obedience. Not marked by the brothers. It is not. Do better. He says.

You are a liar. And what you need is Jesus. What you need is him at work in you. What you need is the empowerment of the spirit. Not. I am going to do these things better.

So if you are in here. And you are going. I believe in Jesus. Then what you ask. Is for his help. For him to empower you.

For you to grow in your love. Not. Watch me. Watch me do this. That is not the response. The response is faith.

And delight. In the fact. That through Jesus. We overcome. That you are not destroyed. By your sin.

So I don't know. If this is your first time. Being around. Or if you have been around for a while. I don't know where you are. But.

Don't leave with. I am going to do better. Leave with. I am going to love Jesus. And I trust him for salvation. And this was so encouraging for me.

As I worked on this. Because y'all. That is our church family. Sometimes kicking and screaming. That is our church family. Some of you have seen that in yourself.

And people in your group. Some of you. For real. You are obeying commands. That you hate. Some of you.

That is you being here this morning. You had to fight. Your children. And your wife. And yourself. To get here.

Or your husband. Or traffic. Or whatever. Not traffic. It is not busy on Sundays. But to get a group.

Sometimes. Yeah. And you are like. I don't know why I am here. I will tell you why you are here. You have placed your faith in Jesus.

And the Holy Spirit is changing you. That is why you are looking at some commands. And you are going. I don't like this. I still don't like this. This is one of the ones I said.

I would never be a Christian. Because. And I actually now believe that he is good. And so I am going to try to follow this. Some of you are like. I don't.

I hate people. But I love these people. And I hate that. But I love it. And it is so weird. It is like.

Yeah. It is the Holy Spirit. It is working you. Some of you. Every time. It is time to go be around people.

You are like. I do not want to do this. And then you show up. And there is something magical. It is not magical. It is Holy Spirit empowered.

And it is good. This is us. Because this is what Jesus does. Among a group of people. I am going to leave you with this. I found it.

So. It is an encouraging. I was reading. The Pilgrim's Progress. A children's version. So it is a big poem.

Of the Pilgrim's Progress. To my son. And we read through it. And we talk through it. And it is confusing as mess. So we get a lot of discussion about.

What the heck is he talking about. But then there is a guy named Evangelist. And he sings this. There is a guy named Christian. Who is trying to become a Christian. He has got a burden of sin on his back.

That he is trying to get rid of. Somebody told him. Just go follow the law. Go do. Go obey. And you will be fixed.

And then Evangelist sings this to him. He says. To run and work. The law demands. But gives us neither feet nor hands.

Far better news the gospel brings. It bids us fly. And gives us wings. Obedience. Loving others. They are in response to the work of the Holy Spirit in our heart.

Because we place faith in Jesus. He is calling us to fly. But he is going to give us the wings to do it. It is not the thing that saves us. It is not the thing that rescues us. Jesus does that.

But it is good. And it does work among his people. And where we see us drifting in a direction. We need to repent and run towards the joy that is offered to us in him. Matt and Kelly are going to come back up. We are going to sing.

Because we have a champion in Christ who has gone before us. And who has rescued and redeemed. And made the way for us. And we are going to delight in the fact that this is who we get to be as his people. And yeah. If there are some areas where you see.

I need to grow here. Then ask the Lord to help you. And if you don't have any of those markings. Then place your faith in Jesus. And let him go to work. Because he is our only hope.

In a moment we are going to take communion. Which is where we celebrate collectively. That Jesus Christ redeems sinners. That he has. The gospel has called us to fly and given us wings. That he has rescued us from our sin.

That he has given us hope. That he has given us a new heart. That we have been born again. And that we are not saved by our work but his. That is why we picture it. With the bread and the cup.

That we remember his body and his blood. Work that he accomplished for us. And so we come and we once again say. Lord I need the gospel. I don't need to be better. I don't need to be smarter.

I don't need to be stronger. I have a hero. I have a savior. I overcome the world through faith. I just need you. And I need you to cleanse me.

And I need your mercy. And I need your grace. And I need your empowerment. And I need the gospel. So if you are a believer.

We would invite you to come. After you have taken a moment to reflect. After you have taken a moment to maybe repent. To talk to the Lord. To adjust your heart as you go before him. But then come.

And celebrate that you are saved through his work. Not yours. That his commands are not burdensome. And that we get to be born again. Into the work that he has accomplished. Let's pray.

God we thank you for. The faith. That saves us. We thank you that we get to come. And trust in the work of Jesus. And that you then make us into a new people.

And Lord we pray that we would look like that. And that for those who have. One of those completely missing. And it does not Mark their life. Lord we pray that they would not say. Well I'm going to get it together.

But that they would come to Jesus. And be saved. To not try to carry the burden. Of their salvation. But to let him accomplish it for them on the cross.

May we grow. In our love for one another. May we grow. In our love for you. And may we grow. In our obedience.

Through the empowerment. Of the spirit. In Jesus name. Amen.

The Love of God for Others (1 John 4:19-21)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

The Love of God for Others

Chet Phillips

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Transcript

My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. Excited to be here this morning. We're in 1 John chapter 4. We're going to pick up right where we left off last week, and we'll spend most of our time in 19 through 21 today. But I do want us to go ahead.

We're going to look at verse 7. We read this last week. We're going to start there and read from verse 7 to verse 11 to kind of recap this idea that John's talking about in this letter about the love that God has for us and how we know love and abide in love. Because what we're going to look at today, what he says at the end of chapter 4, kind of anchors in this. And so we'll start there. Verse 7.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. So we read this last week, this idea that love comes from God. All the human love that we enjoy and partake in is downhill from the love of God. And so whoever knows God abides in love, lives in love. Whoever's been born of God knows God. Whoever loves, it says anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love.

So that we can't claim to know God and be unloving because God is love. In this, the love of God was made manifest among us that God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him. So the way we see and know the love of God is through the person and work of Christ. That he makes the love of God palpable, tangible, visible. And so that it's in Christ that the love of God is made manifest. And John's kind of said these ideas over and over again.

He's talked about the love of God over and over again. He talked about it in chapter 2. He talked about the love of God. And he talked about how we see the love of God in Christ who gave himself up for us so that we might give up our lives for the brothers. He keeps going here in verse 10. In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.

That's the atoning sacrifice for our sins so that we know the love of God in the work of the cross where he takes our sin on himself, is punished for our sin and offers us forgiveness. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. So that's what we looked at last week, and he keeps going, but let's pick up in verse 19. We love because he first loved us. I want us to read that so that we understand the love that he has for us is shown to us in the cross. It's a sacrificial love.

It's a love that gives up yourself for the sake of another. That's the love that we know that we have in Christ for us. That we love because he first loved us. If anyone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. John just calls it how he sees it, doesn't he? He's done this the whole, his whole book.

He'd be like, if you say this and you do that, lie. You will lie. That's what my dad would say to me growing up. You will lie. And that's what he says. You will lie.

You say you love God, but you hate your brother. You're a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. What he's saying is that your brother is in front of you. You see them. You see their needs.

They're actually on the same level with you in sinfulness and neediness. That you actually get to show your love to them in tangible ways. And if you say, no, I don't love them, but I do love God. He's saying you're actually, that's not how it works. That if you genuinely love God, then you will love your brother. And anyone who doesn't love their brother, but says they love God is a liar.

That's not, because that's not how it works. That it's in some ways harder to love God, to genuinely relate to God. And that if we do love God and relate to God, then we will love each other. Verse 21. And this commandment we have from him. Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

So John has said this over and over again. And now he's saying this is the commandment we have from him. That whoever loves God must also love his brother. You have to love your brothers that you have seen. Now, this is a beautiful theological reality for the church. That if you belong to Jesus, that every person in this room who's placed their faith in Christ, who's been redeemed by him, who's had him be the propitiation for their sins.

That every person gathered in the city and other rooms to proclaim Jesus. That every person around the globe, throughout all of history, who's placed their faith in Jesus, is our eternal brother or sister in Christ. That that word brothers in the Greek includes both male and female. That it's siblings. That's the way that word works. So that we belong to each other as family.

And that's a beautiful reality. That's why we talk about we want to be in community groups where we practice this reality. Where we try to walk out commands like this to love one another. We try to live in light of the fact that we belong to each other eternally. That there is no single solitary Christians. I always say that yes, you can be a Christian on an island.

But you aren't on an island. Which means that yeah, you can be a Christian with no one else around. But that's not your circumstance. So you actually have to have other people around. That you're meant to be in real relationships. Loving your brothers and sisters in Christ.

And I want to say that I'm so grateful to have been a part of this church. Where we try to live this out. Where it's not, we don't just get together on Sundays. Leave, see you next week. But we try to be in relationships with each other.

Try to commit to community groups where we're around one another. Try to make our community groups where we don't, aren't just meeting once a week with them. But trying to be around each other in life. And sometimes we get that going better. And sometimes not as well. But we're actively shooting for practicing this together.

This is something that we've taken seriously. That we're going to practice being in real relationships with each other. And it's one of the best things about our church. And it's quite possibly the most annoying thing about our church. That if you've been a part of our church for a while. The best thing that's been most helpful and most life giving.

And most joy filled for you. Is the relationships that you've built. Is you've committed to people. And the thing that you have been most frustrated with. Most annoyed by. Most often try to talk yourself into not being around.

Is because of the people that you've invested with. And built relationships with. That's what makes this so beautiful. And so good. And so helpful. And so what I want to do this morning.

I want us to look at this idea. And let's take seriously this command. To love one another. This is the seventh time. John in this letter. It's not a long letter.

I know we've made it seem like a long letter. With how slow we're going through it. You're thinking no this is a long letter y'all. It's not a long letter. This is the seventh time he's told us to love one another. It's the seventh time we've been commanded.

To love one another. To love the brothers. Love the brothers. Love the brothers. Love the brothers. It's the fourth time he's said it negatively.

Which is. If you don't you ain't. You don't love. You a liar. He's done that four times. Seven times he's said it in a positive direction.

Four times he's been aggressive with the. You don't get to be a part of things if you don't love people. Why? Well. My first answer to that. Is I think it's because it's important.

I think it's close to the heart of God that we love each other. I think it. It's as serious as he says it. Which is if we don't love the brothers. Then we don't know God.

So it matters that we're loving. But secondly. And encouragingly. I think it's because it's difficult. Isn't that encouraging to you? It's encouraging to me.

At times I think that you know the first. The early church just had it together. And everything just worked for them. And we're scrubs. And they were great. And the Holy Spirit was really working.

And they didn't have to try to. Like they just said no to sin. And when they saw their brother. They just bubbled up with love juices all inside. And how much they cared for each other. And it was just like.

I just came to our group. And I just looked at you. And I just love you so much. Seven times. The apostle John. It's the apostle who walked with Jesus.

Is going love one another. Love one another. It's a command y'all. Do it. And quit saying that you love God. And not loving each other.

He's repeatedly saying this. Because we need the correction. And the encouragement. And because this does not necessarily come naturally to us. Tim Keller in his book. King's Cross.

Where he's walking through Mark. I love one of the ways that he talks about this. He says that there are few people in your life. That are a genuine delight to love. That they're great. You enjoy them.

It's easy to love them. They enhance your life. He says that's wonderful. Love those people. Everyone else. It's going to be a trial to love.

It's going to be hard. It's going to take sacrifice. It's going to take difficulty. That loving people is difficult. And so I want us to look at this. We're going to put these verses together.

It's the beginning of 19. We're going to kind of hold this in our head. We love because he first loved us. And the reason I want that there. We're just taking out the negative statement in the middle. Where he says.

If you say you love. Then you don't. Then you're a liar. But I want us to have that there. Because as we talk about taking seriously the command to love one another. There's going to be a genuine temptation.

To try to anchor. Our ability to love people. In ourselves. Okay. I'm going to be loving. I'm going to do this.

And if we try to anchor this in ourselves. It will not work. We have to understand that the energy. The power to love is empowered by the Holy Spirit. Through the work of Christ. That we love because he first loved us.

That's got to be in your head as we talk through this. And then. That's the command we have for him. Whoever loves God. So secondarily.

First he loves us. Secondly we love him. That's the appropriate response to the love of God. Is that you see the love that he has for you. And you respond loving him. Because he's so wonderful.

Then. Whoever loves God. Must also love his brother. So third. Is that we love the brother. So.

There are. I want us. He said this a lot. We've talked about it a lot. We've talked about the theology of it. We've talked about the straightforward ideas of it.

And what I want to look at today. Is as we look at this. And hold in our minds. This idea. And take seriously this command. To love one another.

I just want to bring up four things. That I think. Make it difficult. Culturally. For us to love each other. That there are four kind of.

Currents. In culture. That we're used to. But that actually. Harm. They're enemies of.

Our ability to love each other. Things that we've gotten used to. That seem normal to us. As Americans. As Americans in 2022. But.

Ultimately though. Aren't in step. God. With the scriptures. And this. This happens to us.

I am. My wife and I. Have been married. For. I don't know. Just a year or two.

Something like that. And we went to go eat. Dinner. At my parents house. And when we got there. My dad said.

Hey I want to show you something. Come here. And he took us over to this. Like. Glass. Hutch.

Display case. Thing. That my mom has precious moments in. Precious moments. Are little big headed glass dolls. Uh.

My dad would give my mom. One every year. To celebrate. A precious moment. That had happened that year. So she has this little display case.

Of precious moments. He says. Come over here. I want to show you something. He says. Look at that.

And he points. And in this little display case. With light shining on it. Is a dead hummingbird. And he says. Look at it.

Isn't that cool? I found that. You don't usually get to see hummingbirds. Up close. And their wings flap so fast. You can't see them.

Look at how pretty their wings are. And I was like. Yeah. That's great. That's beautiful. You know.

Moved right on with our time there. We ate. We get in the car. We're riding home. And my wife goes. Oh my goodness.

I could barely even eat. While we were there. I said. Why? I said. What do you mean?

Why? Why? Because there's a dead hummingbird. Four feet from me. And I was like. And she goes.

That's weird. And it was at that moment. That it clicked. Oh yeah. No. That is kind of weird.

It's not weird to me. Because. That's not weird at all. To find a dead hummingbird. And put it in a glass case at our house. That was the.

The last in a long line. Of dead animals. My dad had excitedly shown me. But I had to have her next to me. To go. Do you see that this.

You see. You can see this right. Please tell me. You can see that this is a little bit. But. And that's what John's.

In some ways. I think if he were to sit next to us. In American culture. He. He'd have some things. Where he goes.

You see how that's going to make it hard. To love each other. Right. And so I'm just pulling out. This is just things that. I think.

We need to take. As we take the command. To love seriously. We need to be mindful of. There's some things. That we have gotten used to.

In culture. That are actually. Counter. To our ability. To follow. What he's telling us.

So. First one. Busyness. Busyness. Is an enemy. To your ability.

To love people. If you are. Moving at a frantic. Hectic. Pace. You cannot.

Feel loved by God. Spend time with him. Rest in the love that he has for you. And you do not have the time. To love other people. And we're busy.

It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Age group. Gender. Race. You talk to people.

How are things going? Good. Just been really busy. Things are fine. I'm just really busy. I've just got a lot going on.

That's the pace of life for us. That we are busy. And we have a lot going on. And we. You may be the type of person. Who tells yourself.

I won't be busy. Soon. And you've been telling yourself that. For years. And to borrow a phrase from John. You're a liar.

If you're more honest. You'd say. Well I'm busy now. But in a couple of weeks. I'll be busy also. But after that.

I'm going to be even more busy. But eventually. I'll die. That's the pace of life that we have. And if we have that pace of life. That's an enemy.

To our ability. To love one another. That if you are. Frantic. And hectic. It messes you up.

If we are hurried. I got some of these ideas. That I'm about to share with you. From a pastor named John Mark Comer. He wrote a book called. The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.

That would be helpful for. Everyone to read. But. There's this concept of hurry sickness. Which was. First brought around by a doctor.

Who was a cardiologist. In the 50's. He started connecting. Being hurried all the time. Being busy all the time. With heart disease.

He started realizing. That stress. Of always having things going on. Was causing problems. And so there's a book. Written by Rosemary Sword.

And Philip Zimbardo. They are time perspective therapists. So that's a thing. But they said this. They said. These are three ways to tell.

If you have. Hurry sickness. One. When you're. In a checkout line. You move from one checkout line.

To another. Because that one's moving faster. The second one they give you. Is that when you pull up to a light. You count how many cars. Are in each lane.

And you swap lanes. To be in a lane. That has fewer cars. The third one they give. Is that you multitask. To the point.

That you forget. What some of the tasks are. And when I heard this. My first thought was. Those are so normal. Why would you.

Why would I be in a line. At the grocery store. That was longer. What kind of an idiot. Does that. But that's the whole point.

Is that we are moving. So quickly. That this is so normal. For us. To be at such a. Breakneck pace.

We have no ability. To relate. To people. One of the ideas. He brought up. Which I had never considered.

Is he says. We do a thing. Called energy hoarding. Which is. We know. We're going to be.

So stressed out. That we won't give energy. To anybody. We have the time. Right now. But I know my week's so busy.

I just can't spend energy. On you. I. I just got to. Hold on to this. Because I know.

What's coming. In the next couple of days. Because we're so busy. It robs our ability. To love each other. I'm probably going to.

Pronounce this wrong. There was a. A man named. Kosuke. Koyama. Who wrote.

A series of essays. Called the three mile an hour. God. And he titled it that. Because. That's the speed.

At which you walk. Is three miles an hour. And he said. God walks. Slowly. Because he is love.

If he was not love. He would have gone much faster. Love has its speed. It is an inner speed. It is a spiritual speed. It is a different kind of speed.

Than a technological speed. It is slow. Yet it is the Lord. Over all other speeds. Since it is the speed. Of love.

And I just appreciate. The concept of. Jesus came and he walked. We're told to walk with God. We're told to. To wait on God.

We're told to be still. And know that he is. God. That there's this. Franticness. That we've all accepted.

That. Robs us of the ability. To be loved. And to love. And if we're going to take seriously. The commands.

To love one another. We're going to have to evaluate. What's in our schedule. And how fast we move. And we're going to have to figure out. How to walk a little bit.

And to not base. All of our value. Off of our productivity. Have you ever not been busy. And you felt like. There's something wrong with you.

That's. That's a cultural sickness. That's not a biblical concept. We're meant to have time. To love one another. Second one.

Self-care. Because. Of our chaotic. Frenetic. Pace. We have responded.

By needing to care for ourselves. And. That's kind of true. So. If you. Use this term.

The self-love. Self-care. And what you mean by it is. I need to exercise some. I need to eat. Healthy foods.

And the appropriate amount of foods. I need to sleep at night. I need to rest. Self-care. Okay. I mean.

If the idea that you have. Is like. When you're on an airplane. And they say. When the cabin pressure drops. And the bags drop down.

Put your mask on. Before you put on the little kid's mask. It's not because you love yourself more. It's because if you pass out. No one puts the kid's mask on. So.

If that's what you mean by self-care. Is that. I actually need to be a healthy person. Who's mindful of this. So that I can love.

Okay. Then. Then that's not what I'm addressing. What I am addressing. Is the. I have run at such a chaotic pace.

So anxiously flipped through my phone. So anxiously kept up with my calendar. That I now have no more energy for anyone. And what I have to do is cut ties with everyone. And just be a hermit for six months. I just can't.

I just got to care for myself. So I can't talk to you. If what you mean by self-care is. Relationships shouldn't be difficult. So if there is any difficulty in relationship.

Then I don't have to have that relationship. That sounds good to Americans. And it's very foreign to the scriptures. That if Jesus' approach was. If relationships are difficult. I don't have to have them.

We're not here. We're not singing to his glorious name. For redeeming sinners. There is no hope in propitiation. We don't even understand what love is. Because he shows us love.

And that he gave himself up for us. There's a book called boundaries. That I've recommended to people. It's been around for like 30 years. It's a good book. It is helpful for people who.

Don't have any boundaries. And don't understand how to say no to people. And how to set up kind of being a coherent. Separate entity from the people around them. It is a helpful book. But sometimes what happens is people read that book.

And they go I have boundaries now. I'm no longer friends with anyone. I'm just completely cutting everyone out of my life. And it's like yeah. That's a boundary. It's a bad one.

And the reality. To being a believer. And to loving others. Is that if you love people. They're inside your boundaries. For us to love people.

They're inside our boundaries. That's how it works. That there are some amounts of inherent difficulty. In loving others. And yes. There are some people who need to grow.

That are in your community group. And the first time they ask for help. You need to absolutely just help them. And the second time. Everything's an emergency with them. Well love is not.

I either give you everything you ask for. Or I cut you off. Love is. Hey. I actually am invested in helping you grow. So I'm here.

I can't help you. Bail you out every time this way. But I'm here. And we're going to help you become a more healthy person. That's. That's love.

And that's carrying out some boundaries. But this idea of. Love shouldn't be costly or difficult. Or. I'm exhausted. I'm just worn out.

This is too hard. That's a reality. To following Jesus. That there are times when we're exhausted. That we're pushed beyond what we can bear. And that we have to lean into him.

To feel the love that we need. To be able to move forward. And that he empowers that through his spirit. That there are times. That you're going to get hurt. If you think.

You know. I didn't realize this was going to be so painful. That's. That's. That's part of love. That if we're actually going to know people.

And care for people. That's part of love. And that brings us to our next one. Which is. Consumerism. Third enemy.

Of love. That culturally. We're just. So used to. We talk at. Give series.

Every year. We're raising money. We talk about consumerism. We're mostly having in mind. Just the spending money on things. We don't need.

That kind of. Our whole. Economic system. Is built around consumerism. That you. Buy more shoes.

Than you have feet. That general idea. And you buy shoes. Based off of the way they look. Not that they've worn holes in them. That kind of a thing.

So. It's consumerism. But it's a broader category. Which is a way to understand the world. In a materialistic way. And what I mean by that is.

The world. And this is all around us. It's not what we say we believe. But it's creeping in. It's infecting how we believe. It's that the world.

Is only what we can see. And feel. And taste. And experience. That there is nothing transcendent. There is nothing spiritual.

There is no eternity. This is what our culture. Beliefs. So that. You want to get rid of suffering. As fast as possible.

Because there is no purpose in suffering. Because there is nothing that happens after that. There is no eternal hope. There is nothing beyond. What we have right in front of us. So we should pursue pleasure.

We should get stuff. We should. This is the advice columns that will say. If you're not getting what you want out of your marriage. You're free to go. Because it's a belief that.

I'm only here for a limited amount of time. I got 60, 70, 80 years. And I better enjoy what I can enjoy. And I better not stay in a difficult relationship. And this has. Soaked into us.

Tim Keller says. That there's sometimes when it's raining so hard. That even if you're wearing a raincoat. And you're holding an umbrella. You're going to still get wet. This is one of those culturally.

Where it's raining so hard. That even as much as we try to defend ourselves against it. This still soaks into us. That we are consumers. One of the ways that I know this. Is that you could tell me you went to a new restaurant.

And I could pepper you with questions. And you'd be able to answer almost every single one of them. And you did not walk in there thinking. I'm going to write a Yelp review. I need to pay attention to everything. But you did.

You absorbed price to value ratio. How much food did you get? How did that compare to other places you've been to? If you would tell me this fried rice was good. But it's not as good as that fried rice at this other place.

And they were able to get things quickly. But the ambiance wasn't as good. Like you'd be able to tell me all kinds of information. About how much you enjoyed and appreciated your experience. The reality is you've done that this morning. That we everywhere we go.

We soak in how much am I enjoying this? How much do I appreciate this? This chair is comfortable. Didn't like that song. Did like that song. But they didn't like that part.

We just do this. The coffee is good. The coffee is bad. Coffee is too hot. Coffee is too burnt. I like this place because I like the coffee.

We constantly are taking in the information and processing it from a consumeristic viewpoint. Because we've been trained to do this. So what happens if you approach the church that way? Is you destroy your ability to follow this command. Because love is not about consumption. It's not about taking.

It's about giving. There's a real danger for us to read passages like this in John where he says, I command you to love and go, yes, I want to be a part of a church like that. Yes, I want to be a part of a place that loves. But somehow have flipped it in our head to not be a command about loving like I'm supposed to love, but to be a command about receiving love. I'm supposed to be in a loving place. Yes.

And if this place doesn't love me the way it's supposed to, I'm free to go. I've pastored long enough that I've sat down with multiple people who would say to me, we say we're a church family, we're a family, we need to be family, who would say to me, I just can't be a part of this group anymore because they're not being family. They just aren't family. And can't hear that that statement is the most unfamily statement ever. What is the qualification for family? Who your daddy is?

What are the other qualifications that have to be met? The bar for family to get in is so low. You're just in. Expectations are really high. But when someone says I'm going to leave because they're not being family, it's a consumeristic mindset of I'm not getting out of this what I want, so I'm free to go.

And if you want to be miserable and if you want to miss out on love, that's a good way to approach it. This is one of the reasons why we just place people in groups. We do a little bit of like what night can you meet? Where do you live? But then we just say get in this group.

And people are like, well, I want to go visit a couple of different groups. We really discourage that because it's like, well, that's putting you in sideways because you're going to somehow trick yourself into thinking you're looking for a group that meets your needs. And you'll set yourself up on the wrong foot to be miserable wherever you are. But if you show up with I'm supposed to give, I'm supposed to pour out, I'm here to love these people, you're going to love your group. Isn't that crazy? That if you just choose to love your group, you'll love your group?

See how that works? That there's a reality to a joy that's offered to us in this and that when we're looking for what we're getting out of it, we're robbing ourselves of it. It becomes transactional rather than sacrificial. And I don't know how we, and I'm including myself in this, how much we can talk about sacrificial love and appreciate the idea of sacrificial love and then balk every time I have to sacrifice to love. Yes, Jesus. Thank you so much.

Sacrifice, love. Yes. Hey, can you help me with this? Nah. Hey, I need to talk to you again. You too needy.

I can't be, you know, giving of myself. That might make me love you and then I would have something that Jesus offers to me. Like, I don't know how. We just, we roll out of it every time we get the opportunity. Last one. Freedom.

We have been sold that the route to happiness is freedom. And there are times in history and around the world where what people need is freedom. I'm a fan. I loved Braveheart. I'm good. Like, freedom is good.

But we have an unprecedented amount of freedom. And we're still told what we need is more freedom. I mean, off the charts amount of freedom. To go where we want to go. Do what we want to do. Wear what we want to wear.

Fit in, not fit in. You can pick the thing that you want to make you the weirdest person you can possibly be. There's 30 other people that will go do that with you. Like, it just, we have the amount of mobility that we have to pick a different Job, to move, to go on vacation, to choose. We have so much freedom. And what you're told over and over again is you just need a little more.

The reason you're unhappy in your marriage, you need a little more freedom. The reason you don't like your job is you need a little more freedom. You need a job that offers you a little bit more, a little bit more openness, a little bit. Well, guess what? You have to give up freedom to have a relationship. You have to.

Like, I couldn't have asked my wife when I proposed to her, I want to marry you. I love you. I want to spend my life with you, but I don't want you to infringe on my time. I want you to be there for me when I want you there for me, but then I want you out of my face when I don't want you there. Will you marry me? Like, if you're going to have the depth of joy that comes with having children, which it's not for everybody, and the Lord doesn't have that for everybody.

But if you're going to have that, oh, boy, you're going to sell some freedom. I remember looking at my wife when we had like a five-month-old and being like, I didn't realize how much I used to sit down. Why won't he let me sit down? Like, I don't feel like I've sat down. Like, what has happened here? But if you're like, I want the depth of relationship that comes with having a child.

I just don't want that to affect my time. Okay. You can have one or the other. And if we're going to have meaning and relationships, if we're going to have love, we've got to give up some freedom. I want to be a part of a place where people know me and I know them, where we serve each other, where we really love the way the church is meant to love. But I also want to be able to join an adult sports league and not be around my group for six months at a time.

Okay. You can have freedom or you can have a relationship. You can't have both. I want them to be there when I need them. I want to be able to show up and have everybody there. But I don't want to have to be like, I have to be there when they need me.

But it short circuits everything. You actually need to commit. If you are a Christian, you need to commit to a church. And if it's not here, you need to find another one, but you need to do it quick. You don't need to shop around because you'll convince yourself the way you're looking for is something that meets your needs and you will miss out on what he's commanded us to do. But you need to commit to a church.

If you want to commit to this church, you need to commit to a group. Because that's where we actually try to live this out. And by commit to a group, I don't mean just say I'm going to be in a group. I mean show up, be around, get to know the people, talk about yourself, be honest, listen, commit. And let me tell you what will happen. Love.

Empowered by the Spirit, life-giving love. And we will miss out on it if we don't do that. And some of you have been, I've been a Christian forever and I feel so dry and I feel so empty. I've been a Christian for however long. I've been a part of this church for however long. And by a part of this church, I don't know what you mean.

But if you haven't been pouring yourself out, Jesus says blessed. It's more blessed to give than to receive. That there's something that he does as we sacrifice and pour ourselves out where he fills us back up. And I want to help you see something. Some of you are like, no, I tried. I tried to love those people.

I tried to love those people and they just didn't reciprocate. That's not how this works. It says we love because he first loved us. That the power for our love comes from him. Whoever loves God must offer love his brother. It doesn't say whoever loves his brother will also be loved by his brothers.

That there's a personal freedom to the responsibility to love that isn't dependent on the response. And that actually sets us free and gives us the ability to love in a way that's so much better than if it's transactional. Well, I'm going to love them and we'll see. We'll see. I'll give it three months. I'm going to love them and then we'll see.

It's like, well, you're setting yourself up. That's not how it works. I'm going to love them because he loves me. And when I don't feel loved by them, I kind of expected that anyway. I'm going to go back to being loved by him and be empowered by him. And every time for some of us, we've had the opportunity to actually pour ourselves out and to have the power of the spirit to dump love in us and to channel love through us.

Every time we had that opportunity, we just moved out of the way. Because it was going to be too hard. I got a lot going on right now. I can't do that. And we've missed out on being filled with the empowerment of the spirit to know the love of God for us as we dig deep to pour it out for others. Because that's one of the best ways that we learn it is that as we love others, we get to see the love that he has for us.

We get to feel the love that he has for us. We get to know the love that he has for us. But for us to do that, for us to take this seriously, I do think, and there may be other ones. I'm sure there are. But I think you need to look at how busy you are.

I think you need to evaluate whether or not you're worried more about yourself than others. That if your love is based off of a self-love rather than a selfless love, I'll tell you that it's incompatible with what he's called us to. And if you're consuming, you're here to get what you can get, you miss out on what he's actually called us to. And if you want all your freedom, you won't have relationships. Those are things that were normal for us that we need to overcome, be mindful of, so that we might have what he has offered to us in our church family. And here's what's beautiful about this.

John needs to say it to us seven more times. The Lord's going to have to tell us over and over again this is how we're supposed to act. And he's going to have to empower it through his spirit for us to do this. And we're going to have to know the love that he has for us in order for us to be able to do this. And we don't love because we're loving. We love because we were first loved.

The empowerment for this is the gospel. And if you haven't trusted in Jesus and had him go to work in your heart, you will not be able to do this. And you will miss out on the real love that is eternal, that redeems, and that brings us home. Let's pray. God, I pray that we would be a people that love. That we would be, we would take seriously the command to love our brothers and sisters.

We're thankful that you have made us into a family and that we have hope in you. We thank you that you love us. And so the energy and the power and the ability to do this is not that we are loving people or that we're the good ones who can get it together. But that we are so loved by Christ who came to redeem sinners from self. That we get to live in that and be empowered by you to love one another. And may we pour ourselves out so that we might enjoy and delight in the love that you have for us.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Band's going to come back up and we're going to sing together.

Around the Throne

Around the Throne

Chet Phillips

Transcript

How are we doing this morning? My name's Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. We're finishing up. Today is the last week of our Home Sweet Home series where we've been looking at the church and how the church ought to organize, how the church ought to act in some ways, what makes for a healthy church. And so we're going to be in the book of Revelation today.

And in the book of Revelation, we're getting a picture. It's where we're going to be reading. And in a lot of the book of Revelation, we're getting a picture of future events. We're getting a picture of some things that haven't happened yet that are going to happen. And I got to thinking about it as we were going to study this passage today. I got to thinking about that this is real.

Like this is our actual future for the church. This is a real picture of what's going to happen in the future. And I just got to thinking about how that ought to affect us. And so you ever watch a movie where it shows a clip of the ending at the beginning of the movie? So it's like the heroes walking out of a building.

It's blowing up behind them. They're smoking a cigarette. And it's like they're scuffed up, but they're still like good looking. Like I don't know how they did it, but it's like something dramatic has happened, but they're okay. And then it'll be like, it'll just change. And they'll be at an office at their desk at their computer wearing glasses.

They weren't wearing glasses a second ago. Somehow over the past couple of weeks, whatever, their eyesight got better or the future weeks, whatever. And it says like two weeks earlier. And it's like, so, you know, what I just saw was a picture of the end. And now what I'm looking at is pre-adventure version of this, this person. And so I got to thinking about like, what if in life you had a moment?

I don't know how it worked. I don't know how you got to see this, but you got to see three weeks from now. This is you. You're smoking the cigarette. You're walking out of the exploding building. Like, what have you got to see that?

And you knew this is how this ends up. And then when this adventure starts, like when this thing happens, when you get called by the CIA, they pick you up in a limo. And they're like, we need you to quit working at your desk and to come on a secret mission. Like you would think, okay, I saw the end of this. Like I know, like, and I got to think about how that would make you act, like how that would make me act. So my first thought was that would make me excessively, aggressively lazy.

Because I would think, I don't, I don't really have to do anything. The building blows up. I still have my cigarette. We're going to be okay. Like I know how this ends. Like I would think it doesn't really matter how all this plays out because I know how the end, like that was my first thought.

And then I got to thinking about it. And I really got to thinking about it. And I think actually, knowing that that's how the story ended, it would have the exact opposite effect on me. I would do the craziest stuff I could come up with. Because I knew two weeks from now, I'm still standing. I got, I got a two week window where all of the action hero stuff works.

That's what I would think. So when the CIA said, we need you on a mission, I would have said, because I'd just be so absolutely confident. Usually I'd be freaking out, but I'm so absolutely confident because I know the end, I'd be like, you came to the right guy. Like I would try to do, I would go buy sunglasses and cigarettes. I don't smoke, but I'd have to smoke for the next two weeks because I've got to have a cigarette at the end of the explosion. Like the biggest, baddest dude would come walking out.

Like he, he would look like the Russian that Rocky had to fight in Rocky four. And I'd be like, I got this. And the reason was I saw my face. It wasn't smashed in. I was still walking. I don't know how this is going to go down, but I know I'm going to walk away from it.

I'd be like, don't, don't even worry about it. And I'd just walk out and I'd be like, I don't know what's going to happen, but it's going to be great. I might would start the fight just by kicking his shin. Cause I can. I might say something derogatory about his family members on my way over there because I can. Like I know how this is going to work out.

There would be times where I probably would have just been, everyone would be hiding and I'll be like, I'll handle this. And they'd be like, do you need a gun? And I'll be like, no, just to freak them out. Cause I don't need a gun. Cause I know how it ends up. Like I get to walk out of the exploding building.

Like this is what I got to thinking about. And I spent way too much time thinking about it. As you can tell, I got really excited. That's the picture we're getting today of the church. We're getting this picture of where we end up. We're getting this picture of the church walking out of the exploding building, uh, still intact.

We're getting this picture in the book of Revelation of where we're headed. And it is a real reality in the future for us. And I think we're going to go through the same process, which is at first we're going to think, oh, this will make me excessively aggressively lazy. But I think it's meant to have the opposite effect that God gave us this picture to have the exact opposite effect on our hearts and our souls. It's to help us see this is where it's going to end up. So you can have the bravery, the courage, the energy to, to accept the call that Jesus has placed on his church.

So let's go to Revelation five. Now, uh, there, if you've been around the church for a while and you hear we're going to be in the book of Revelation, maybe you've read the Bible. So maybe, you know, very little about the Bible, but there's a little bit of like, oh, Revelation, like this is about to get interesting. There's going to be a lot of crazy things. And in some ways there are, there are some things in the book of Revelation that are hard to understand. The book of Revelation is the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

So you've had people walk through the book of Revelation and they want to talk about all the crazy imagery and the pictures we were met with in the book. Uh, but it's, it's the, the point of the book is to reveal Christ to point to Jesus. And so, uh, what we have in the book of Revelation is John, the apostle. So who followed Jesus around, he's been exiled to the isle of Patmos. He's worshiping God and Jesus shows up and basically is like, I'm going to show you some things. And then John writes them down through the leadership of the Holy spirit.

John pins the book of Revelation. And I think, uh, it's very helpful for us that this was funneled through John, that John has shown these images. And he writes them down as best he can, because John's going to explain them to us in a way we can kind of understand. There are places in the book of Revelation where John says things like, uh, he said this and his voice sounded like a waterfall. And it's because John was doing his best to describe. It's like if a waterfall could talk, that's what it sounded like.

There's times where he's like explaining these pictures and he's just writing down as best he can. This is what it was like. And, and instead of having all the right words for it, I think he has all the words that God designed to be right for us to be able to understand. So there are some parts in this passage that we're going to read where it's like, what does that mean? I don't know. But we're going to apply a pastor named John Piper.

He has a rule that he calls the law of least meaning, which means when you come to a text in the scriptures, there are times where you're not going to understand completely what it's saying. But if you can understand something that it's saying, then that was worth understanding. Like that was good. And so what we're going to do is there's some stuff that's really crystal clear in this passage. And there's some stuff that's really confusing. We're going to kind of just go past the confusing parts because we want to see the part that's crystal clear.

And that's the part we're going to, we're going to take out of this. And so as we get to look at this picture of future us, I just, I'm going to pray that God would reveal himself to us in it and that he would use it to embolden us as a church and as his people. So let's pray real quick. God, we thank you for the images that we have in the book of Revelation. We thank you for you giving us this glimpse into your presence, into eternity, into the future of your people. We pray, God, that you would use it to equip us and embolden us today to accept the mission you've called us on.

We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. Revelation chapter 5 is on page 665 if your Bible looks like this. If you don't own a Bible, this is our gift to you. Take it home with you. Then I saw, so this is John, he's writing down this vision that he's seeing.

Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne, a scroll written within and on the back and sealed with seven seals. Okay. He's in heaven. He sees someone sitting on a throne. Kings sit on thrones. That's God.

So he sees God and in God's right hand, he's holding a scroll. It's rolled up parchment written all over it. So it's not just parchment that would be written in the middle part. It's written all over it and it's sealed with seven seals, meaning that this is a very important parchment. This is a very important scroll. We find out as we continue to read that this scroll contains the end of human history.

It contains how the earth plays out. It contains some of God's wrath and God's judgment on the earth as they begin to undo these seals. So what we see, we're met with this picture of God sitting on a throne, holding human history in his hand. That's what John is seeing and writes it down. Verse 2. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?

So this angel asks, who can ascend to the throne of God and take something from his hand? Who can come up here? Who has the audacity? Who has the worthiness? Who has the glory to walk up to the throne of God and remove something from his hand? Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?

And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look into it. And I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. This angel stands beside the throne of God where God holds human history in his hand. And he says, who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals? And there is dead silence. No one in heaven.

No one on earth. No one under the earth. No one. No one. No one. No one.

No one. No one. Worthy. And the silence is broken by the loud weeping of John, whose heart and soul have just been crushed. As he stands before the throne of God and realizes no one's worthy. No one can ascend to God.

No one. No one can open the scroll. No one has the glory or the weight or the value. No one. You just made a cameo in the story. I'm going to read it to you again.

No one. No one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look into it. I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or look into it. You're going to be in one of those three places when this call rings out in eternity. You're going to be in heaven, on earth, or under it. You didn't pipe up.

No one's worthy. That's all of human history. No one's worthy. That's every king, every astronaut, every scientist. That's every loving, gracious, wonderful person you've ever met. No one gets to say, I can walk up to the throne.

No one gets to say, I can walk up to the throne. No one gets to say, I can walk up to the throne. And in this moment, John's heart breaks. Because we have nothing to offer. Humanity has no ability to approach God. And it's crushing.

And John, I love that John says it this way. And I began to weep loudly. John didn't write. And tears began to roll down my face. John said, I was a blubbery, snotty mess by the throne of God. Because I had no worthiness.

And no one else did. I couldn't catch my breath. I was doing the... Like, I made a scene in heaven. An angel, a mighty angel spoke. There's dead silence.

And then I went... Like crying, embarrassing, sobbing in front of the throne of God. Because nobody can approach Him. And one of the elders said to me... These are some men, elders that are around the throne. Weep no more.

Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered so that He can open the scroll and its seven seals. That's reference to Old Testament prophecy. The lion of the tribe of Judah and the root of David are talking about the same person. And that's Jesus who came in the line of David the king. Who came out of the tribe of Judah. Who was the lion of the tribe of Judah.

And He has conquered. He is worthy to open the scroll. So an elder looks at John and says, you don't have to weep. You don't have to be heartbroken. You don't have to be crushed by this. I want you to hear that as declared to all of us who were found unworthy.

He says, you don't have to be crushed. There is someone who is worthy. There's someone who can go in our place to the throne. There's someone who can walk to God on our behalf. He doesn't just say, yeah, you should keep crying, but this guy is worthy. No, He says that His worthiness lets your weeping stop.

His worthiness unbreaks our heart. And between the throne and the four living creatures. Those are some big scary angels around God's throne. And among the elders, I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain. John's told to look at the lion of the tribe of Judah. And he says, I looked for a lion and I saw a lamb.

I looked for the one who's conquered. And I saw someone who looked like they had been conquered. I looked for the one that has the glory and the worthiness. And I see a lamb who's been crushed. I see a lamb who's been slain. Jesus Christ went to the cross so that our unworthiness, so that our weeping can stop.

Jesus was slain. And in His death on the cross became ultimately worthy to ascend to the throne of God. In His sacrifice for His people, He bought our worthiness and represents us to the King. That's our hope that we have this morning. I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And He went and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who was seated on the throne.

I want you to see that. God of the universe holds the human history in His hand. And Jesus Christ walks up as a lamb who was slain, as the root of David, as the lion of the tribe of Judah. And on humans' behalf, on all of heaven and all of earth and everything under the earth, He walks up and He takes history from God's hand. Because He's worthy. Because He was slain.

And when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals. For you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God, from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. They said, By your blood you have ransomed. We don't use that word ransomed as much as they did in their culture.

We still use it. It still means the same thing. Recently ISIS captured a journalist, and they asked for $132 million in ransom. Ransom is a price paid to retrieve a hostage, or to retrieve a slave. And they say, Jesus is worthy because by his blood he's ransomed a people for God. The church was held hostage to sin.

The church was in slavery to our enemy, was in slavery to our sin, and Jesus, by his blood, bought us. By his blood he ransomed a people for God. And it says he ransomed them from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. When Jesus walked to the throne, and he grabbed history out of the hand of God, because he was worthy, he was worthy through his sacrifice on the cross, and he was worthy on behalf of all the people he's ransomed. He was worthy on behalf of the church.

That's why John can stop weeping. That's why you don't have to be crushed by your sin and your unworthiness. Because we have one who ascends the throne on our behalf. Flip over a page. I want us to see the picture of what he's accomplished for us. I want us to get to see this clearly.

So I just, we're going to spend some time here, and I want us to clearly see. We're in chapter 7 on page 666. We're going to look at verses 9 and 10. So some more things begin to unfold in this moment in heaven. The seals begin to be opened. There begins to be wrath and judgment poured out on the earth.

It begins to be the unfolding, the unraveling of human history. And then John says this. Verse 9. That's a celebration of purity. None of those people wear those outside of Jesus' sacrifice. They get to enter heaven dressed in white because Jesus entered heaven dressed in blood.

Clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. And crying out with a loud voice, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. Salvation doesn't belong to good work. Salvation doesn't belong to our effort. Salvation belongs to God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. So we're wrapping up our series on what the church is, on who the church is.

We started the series by saying the church is the people made the people of God by Jesus. That's the church. The people throughout all time and history, all space, all geography, all nations, all borders. It's the people made the people of God by Jesus. And then we walked through and said, okay, what happens to a person when Jesus makes you one of his people? What happens to you when he becomes king?

We said, what does a church look like? How do we organize? What are some practices we ought to have? Like we walked through this and now we're finishing up. Last week we said that Jesus told the church, go make disciples of all nations. Go make disciples of all ethnicities.

It's ethne in the Greek. Go make disciples that aren't Jewish is what he was saying to them. That's one of the ways they would have heard it because he had been working and discipling Jewish men who had the Old Testament and understood these prophecies and these promises. And then he says, go make disciples that aren't Jewish. How many Jewish brothers and sisters do we have in this room right now? Thank you, Jesus.

That it wasn't to a certain type of people, that it wasn't to a certain type of language, that it was, that he fulfilled this promise that they listened to him and did what he said, which was to take the gospel to people who weren't Jewish. So I was, with this picture in mind of us getting to see what heaven looks like, I just want to point out a few things to us. I was hanging out with my cousin, Bumi. My grandparents were missionaries to Nigeria, West Africa. They adopted my uncle, Abel. He married my aunt, Abike.

I have three first-generation Nigerian-American cousins. My uncle's been in the family as long as my mom has. He is blood to me, even though not really. And I was hanging out with my cousin, Bumi. This is last year around 4th of July because he comes down a lot and helps us sell fireworks. That doesn't have anything to do other than that's why he was here.

I help run a firework store. So if y'all like to buy some fireworks, Aiken, South Carolina. I'm just kidding. So he was down helping us do that and he and I went. He loves local, good restaurants. I took him to Rivera's Food, which is a very good Mexican food place over here in West Columbia.

And I took him over there and we were eating. I was introducing him to some different things there that I really like there. While I was there, I ordered horchata, which is delicious. It is cinnamon rice milk. And I ordered one and I'm used to, like when you order like a milkshake, you get that one. So I'm sitting there, we're talking, hanging out.

The guy walks by with a pitcher and goes, more horchata? And like I just stared at him because fuses had blown in my brain because I did not realize I could just have them give me more. I drank like three giant glasses of horchata. Now, I'm going to advise you on something. Rice milk is different from milk milk. I found this out later in the day when I had like a sloshy bowling ball in my stomach.

I was like, I feel terrible. It was worth it. I can't move. I'm going to die. After we ate there, we went by, I was showing him another place I like, which is a Mexican bakery. And I won't try to say the word that's listed on the front, even though I really want to because I would butcher it and I might just say a different Spanish word.

But it's a Mexican bakery. They don't speak English. You have to, you just got to, you know, fumble through at the end. I walked in. I was looking stuff up on how to say things in Spanish and I was like, point at ones because, you know, they might have cream inside and I had to figure out how to say, con crema. And she'd say, you know, no, whatever.

And I'd say, okay, okay, like I want this one or whatever. So we order. I'm eating a churro. Then we walk over to the little, like Tienda place, like store there and got aloe drink. Did y'all know you can drink aloe? Like I only had ever rubbed it on my pasty skin after sun had assaulted me.

It's the only thing I'd ever used aloe for. I saw this thing and it was like aloe. It looked about the same. It was just a little more liquidy. And I thought, I'm not sure you can drink that. But you can.

It's apparently an edible thing. Maybe y'all knew that. I didn't know this. And so I was hanging out with my cousin and we were talking about stuff. And then it just dawned on me as I was eating this churro and drinking aloe drink, which again, should not have been chasing a gallon of horchata. But I went for it.

And I looked at him and I said, dude, my version of heaven has been really racist. And I didn't know it. Whenever I had pictured heaven, I had known that it would be this fulfillment of God's glory on earth. So I was just transferring a bunch of white things there. Like I know biscuits are in heaven. I know barbecue is in heaven.

Like I know they're there. I knew that. I was eating a churro. I had just drank horchata. I'm hanging out with my first generation Nigerian African-American cousin and I'm thinking, this stuff's there too. Horchata is there.

My aunt and uncle's achara is there. Like it's going to be there because look at this picture. John's looking in heaven and what does he see? A great multitude that no one could number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages standing before the throne and before the lamb clothed in white robes. we don't become some sort of generic human form in heaven. He sees tribes, ethnicities, languages and peoples before the throne. He sees everybody makes it.

That declaration that the angel's saying in Revelation 5 which is he's ransomed by his blood people from every tribe and language and nation. John turns around and in two chapters says, I saw them and they still came from that tribe and they still had that language and they still had that nation and they all gathered before the throne of God to praise his name because God is the God of all humanity and he made all the peoples and in every culture there's stuff that lines up with what God designed it to be in every culture there's stuff that is absolutely sinful and broken and there is no right culture before God because all of the cultures belong to him. And I had inadvertently made America some form of heaven. There will be some stuff from the U.S. there.

I mentioned a few biscuits is one of them. but it's going to be so much more miraculously beautiful than that. There's going to be so much more depth and richness than that and I know in my limited human version God had to meet me on my love language which was food particularly that day things made out of cinnamon to tell me that he had much more in store not only for then but for now. I want us to see something here and I want us to talk about this. I got on Joshua Project the International Mission Board has some different statistics but both of them kind of reveal the same thing. Joshua Project studies people groups so does the IMB International Mission Board.

To tell me that he had much more in store not only for then but for now. I want us to see something here and I want us to talk about this. I got on Joshua Project the International Mission Board has some different statistics but both of them kind of reveal the same thing. Joshua Project studies people groups so does the IMB International Mission Board. Joshua Project though we're going to just look at their statistics Joshua Project

Says that there are 16,510 people groups so this is languages this is locations 16,510 different types of people groups unreached people groups meaning people from them there's no significant amount of Jesus followers among them sometimes it means nobody as far as we know has even made it to them no Bible has been translated no gospel has been preached in their language they may have never

Even heard the name of Jesus 6,672 people groups no gospel no followers of Jesus that means about 40% of the people groups on earth no gospel no Bible no proclamation of the hope that we have they don't have an elder looking at them and saying weep no more just sin just brokenness no hope

Let me do it by population because you might would say as I would say hearing that statistic yeah but I'm sure a lot of those people groups are really small there's about 7.29 billion people on earth according to the Joshua Project population of unreached people is 3.07 billion that puts about 42%

Of the humans on the globe no gospel no Bible no Jesus no hope no weep no more now I want us to with crystal clear vision see that the angels said Jesus had ransomed from every tribe from every

People from every language from every nation people for his own possession Jesus has bought them and I want us to see with crystal clear vision that John says they make it John

Says I saw before the throne people from every tribe and every language and every nation praising Jesus we know the cross happened we know that Jesus has purchased by his blood worthiness on behalf of his

People and we know that there's this moment in time where an angel stands up and says who is worthy and Jesus with audacity walks to the throne of God and we get to weep no longer and there's a time when we stand before

The throne of God among our brothers and sisters proclaiming that Jesus owns salvation and that it belongs to the God who sits on the throne and we're placed in the middle with a call that says proclaim the gospel how does

God count people groups how does God count languages and tribes and nations is it the same way that Joshua Project does I doubt it Joshua Project and IMB don't even do it the same Jesus

Hasn't come back yet the job is not finished so we don't have to get caught up in that I don't care if they're off by a miraculously high number and it's only two billion people the job isn't

Finished we're still sent I want to push us here for a second and this may feel like I just want us to see something in heaven your family includes people that don't look like you in the eternity

As a Christian that you will spend before the throne of God your brothers and sisters aren't going to have the same skin tone same language same background same social economic standing right now

And if statistically in the US I think it's 90 ish percent nine out of ten of your friendships for everybody are same race generally same look the same as you same background

Same race I just want to push us here a little bit if that is the case for you that all of your relationships friendships look exactly like you do I'm not saying you're wrong it may have to do with the job

You work the neighborhood you're in I'm saying you might be wrong because it may have to do with the fact that that's easier because you think about things the same your backgrounds the same you talk about

Things the same it's an easier connection I know that within 10 10 minute drive of this building there's 70,000 people you got in your car anywhere you could drive in 10 minutes some of

You are like I drove 20 to get here yes there's a lot more people in that circle 10 minutes 56% of them are white 31% of them are black 8% of them are Hispanic 4% of them are Asian and Pacific

Islander but for some people that means you live in an apartment complex I know one family in our church family lives in an apartment complex that about one third of them are from India just in their apartment complex

I know of an apartment complex that we try to do stuff on a regular basis that's 50% Hispanic even though they make up only 8% of that 70,000 and God's told the church go to everybody

I'm not I'm not fussing at us I don't mean that at all I think in a lot of ways our church is very open to everybody I am saying that going to everybody will take more intentionality than going to the

People it's easiest to talk to and I am saying that this is what the church has been tasked with and I am saying that one

Day it's realized and we get to participate in that now we get to make our church look and feel as much like heaven as Jesus will allow us right now that's one of the reasons

We repent of sin it's one of the reasons we do all the things we do it's why we gather and sing to Jesus we've only read two bits of chapters they sang a lot already we get to gather

Around his throne and make much of Jesus and we get to as intentionally as we can be as a church family go out of our way to build relationships with everybody in your neighborhood at your office at your Job where you work

In your school in your classes we know the crosses happen we know this moment in history happened and rather than looking at that and going oh they all make it I don't have to do anything I think the more

We see this moment the more it has the opposite effect on us which is they all make it we get to go for it there are unreached people groups part of the reason they're unreached is because they're very hard to get to and when

You get to them they don't like you that's one of the reasons they're unreached if you can't if you just hop on a plane walk over there and they were like oh Americans we love you those people

Are reached the reason a lot of these Numbers are so high is that when you show up they kill you but here's the promise that's been given to the church we can keep going and they can keep killing us somebody's coming out we can keep going

They can keep killing us and at some point somebody from that tribe from that language from that people group will stand next to you by the throne and proclaim as loud and as violently as they can

Salvation belongs to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb we can keep going because we're going to make it you can right now go home pick a people group off of the Joshua

Project look at heaven and tell Jesus I'll go to them if you want me to and I'll die if you want me to because I know for a rock solid certainty that one day somebody

From that unreached people group will be there and they'll be my brother or my sister because you've bought them and I don't know if it'll have anything to do with me but I know you've called us and I

Know they'll be there and if I get to get that started I'll go some of you that's what you're supposed to do you're supposed to have us bring you up on stage and say we're going to

Lay hands on this sister we're going to lay hands on this brother and we're not telling you where they're going because you can't know where they're going because the people they're going to can't know they're coming and we're

Going to pray for them we're going to ask God to use them and if they get to come back praise Jesus and if we don't ever see them again praise Jesus because at no point was that not worth

It and at some point we'll stand before a throne and as loud and as violently as we can declare we'll say salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb

Some of you you're supposed to go plant a church in a place that still speaks English you're supposed to go with a team we're going to take you to our

Pastor training process you're going to go to Atlanta you're going to New York where Chris Romalia says there's unreached people groups in New York

We're going to bring you up on stage we're going to pray for you we're going to stand and say a lot of you need

To leave and go with them they're moving to Atlanta you need to move to Atlanta and go with them they're moving to San

Diego you need to go with them some of you need to stay because staying is your version of going because God has already

Sent you you live in an apartment complex with an unreached people group some of you are going to stay in apartment complex in

South Carolina even though you want to get a house because 96% of the people in apartment complexes in South Carolina are not a

Part of a church 96% of people in an apartment complex in South Carolina are not a part of a church and God has

Already sent you you live there because God said I want my church here because I want that person around my throne some of

You are in the class you're in because Jesus has blood bought people in that class and he has infiltrated that class with you

Some of you picked the major you picked you prayed about it and you were like I guess just this one I don't know

Randomly some of you that was the worst interview I ever had they at the end they said we'll call you if we've decided

We're going to consider you for the Job and I responded I'll call you for the consideration of the and then I just trailed off

Because that sentence didn't make any sense and I walked out and I'm crying in my car and you got the Job because God

Has blood bought people at that Job and he sent you I don't know where you're supposed to go I don't know to whom

You're supposed to go I know you're supposed to go and I know I know that wherever God sends you your destination is with

Every tribe and language and people and nation around a glorious throne staring at a glorious king and as loud as we can proclaim

It salvation belongs to our God and to the lamb there's cards in front of you and there are cards on the seat beside you if

You're in the front row I want you to grab one and I think there are enough pins to go around if not I

Want you to share it's very heavenly and I just want you to for a second I want you to if you're a Christian

I want you to prayerfully ask where and who I want you to sit and listen who has God put you around already who

Has God let you not quit thinking about who has he just brought to your mind right now you've never even heard of I

Want you to ask where and I want you to ask who and I want you to sit for a second I want you

To sit and listen I want you to write down what you think and if you think something and you think no that's crazy

I want you to write it down I'm going to pray for us as we do this God we know that your son has purchased a people

You've ransomed them from sin some of them are still held hostage we know God that you've bought people from every tribe and language

And nation God I pray that right now through your Holy Spirit you would lead Christians to write down names to write down places

To write down businesses to write down schools to write down friends to write down neighbors and neighborhoods to write down nations and peoples

That you might begin something today with one of your followers that there might be more followers of you I ask for you to

Speak I want you to take very seriously whatever the Lord led you to write down band's going to come back up here we're going to spend

Some time singing as we will one day do as brothers and sisters around the throne of our king and I pray for us

That God will forever keep us situated fully between the cross and the throne so that we'll never forget what matters I pray that he will sear in our

Minds this image of us as his people with his people before his throne so that we will forever have the courage and the boldness to have awkward conversations to fight

Through friendships that shouldn't have been friendships but we wouldn't go away to to go to places that no one in their right mind should go to carry a message that no one in their right mind can believe

Outside of the gracious power and presence of the king through his holy spirit redeeming and calling people to himself I pray that among our

Church there will be more church plants there will be more missionaries there will be those who are found worthy to bleed and sweat

And cry and die for the king I pray that there would be so many people who live their life as if a cross

To a throne to gather as many people as they possibly can to one day stand beside and with everything we have to declare

Salvation belongs to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb let's pray God I pray that you would give us courage

And boldness to accept your call that as we see what the end looks like we would be able to say yes to the

Mission now that you would use this church to take very seriously sin and the gospel that this would be a group of people

Who believe and know for a certainty that we have no worthiness outside of the lamb that you've ransomed us by your blood and

That you're going to bring all your people there we love you and we praise you in Jesus name amen

The Great Commission

The Great Commission

Chet Phillips

Transcript

How are we doing this morning? This side's doing pretty good. My name's Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. We've got two more weeks. This is the second to last week of our Home Sweet Home series.

We've been walking through and just asking, what is the church? How has God designed the church? What makes for a healthy church? How are we supposed to organize ourselves? What are we supposed to look like? Today is very important for us as we kind of talk through this.

If we kind of miss today, we miss a lot. Maybe even like the essence of what the church is supposed to be and to do. And so it's a big day for us as we kind of are wrapping up this series and trying to look at, okay, this is how we're supposed to organize. This is how we're supposed to be designed. These are things that go into us being a healthy church. And now we're kind of asking, like, what do we do?

Why does the church exist? And so we're kind of answering that question. But I want us to, we're going to kind of start big picture as we get into this this morning. And so God created the world. He designed it beautiful and made it glorious so that we even now can look and just be taken aback by how majestic there are, things are in the world. Like I've been watching this TV series called Africa on Netflix.

And it's just crazy. Like every, I'm just, there's this, they do such a good job of like sucking me in on, I watch two giraffes fight each other. And like by the end of it, I'm like, who's going to win? And like they just, like one giraffe knocked the other one over and it's this English guy. And he's like, will this be the end for the king of the giraffes? And it's like, I don't know what's going to happen to the king of giraffes.

And it's like, and there'll be times where they're just like panning over a flower that's in the middle of a jungle. And I'm just like, that's crazy looking or zooming in on ants or like it's, there's just God made this world beautiful and amazing. And he put humanity on it. And then because God put so much good into us and because he made us with intelligence and personhood, like we as humans could choose to respond to God appropriately, to worship him and to relate to him the way we were designed to, or we could choose to hold ourselves as supreme. I don't want to spoil it for you, but we chose the second one.

We chose all of us to believe that we are the most important, that our happiness and our joy and our life matters more than others. Like we chose to promote ourselves over worshiping God. And here's the thing, worshiping God is the only right way to relate to God. A buddy of mine recently was getting, he was getting mad at a friend of his because his friend was being disrespectful to his mom. To his own mom. And so my buddy said he got in his face and was like, don't talk to her like that.

That's your mama. Like that's your mama. You don't act like that towards your mama. Like his, his only argument was she's your mom. You can't talk to her like that. And I agreed with his argument.

His point was just because of who she is, just by the nature of y'all's relationship, she's to be treated a certain way. Period. The end. And that's our relationship to God. Just because God is God, just because God's the creator, we're actually designed to worship him. It's the only correct response for creatures to, to respond to their creator in worship, to hold him up as holy and honorable and to praise him.

And what we said was, no, we want to be supreme. So this is where selfishness and racism and all of our pride and envy and murder and war come from believing ourselves to be supreme. So God's got a massive problem. He created the world to be good. He put some creatures on it that were designed to relate appropriately to him. And he poured a lot of himself into them.

And they immediately turned around and said, no, we're going to be supreme. They started making much of themselves. And so now God really kind of has a choice. He can just be done with it. He can just start over or he can try to fix it. He can try to fix the problem.

This is what we're presented with right at the beginning of the Bible. Now you may be wanting to go, okay, time out real quick, real quick. Two questions. One, if God made people and they turned bad real quick, isn't that his fault? Like, shouldn't that be on him? Like, didn't he make them poorly?

My response to that is, first of all, I don't really know. It doesn't seem like it would be. But secondly, and this, I think, is a better response than my first one. I want to talk to you about goldfish. You ever had a pet goldfish? Let's say you own a pet goldfish.

Let's say your friend did. You go to his house and he says, I want to show you the most loving and righteous and good and glorious of all goldfish. Still be just kind of a goldfish, right? Like, if you have a goldfish that is pure evil and a goldfish that is pure goodness, can you tell the difference? Like, there's not going to make much of a difference. Now, let's move to hamsters.

You got a hamster that's like a great hamster and like a mean hamster. There's some difference there. Like, one of them is going to bite you. The other one might, I don't know, like watch TV with you. I don't know what hamsters do. A cat?

Hypothetically, let's say there was a good cat. I know. I know it's hard. It's hard to get your brains there. Work with me here. Hypothetically, there's a good cat.

Like, there's some difference between like an evil cat and a good cat. Like, there's some difference. A dog? More of a difference. An eight-year-old child. You ever met like a really cool, great eight-year-old?

Yeah. Okay. You met a terrible one? Uh-huh. Seen him at Walmart? Like, there's some difference there.

Like, a really bad child or a really good child, there's a bigger gap there. What about like a full-grown adult? Yeah, bigger gap. What if that adult's more intelligent or has more power, stronger, or has more money? Here's the thing. God poured so much good into us.

He put so much intelligence, so much ability for emotion, so much of himself into us that we actually have the ability to be very good. But when we turn that, it actually makes us far worse. See, it's God putting so much good into us that makes humanity capable of so much bad. So it's actually that God poured himself into us that we could turn that one way or the other. And so I don't think it's his fault. I think that he poured good things into us.

Now, you could say, well, couldn't he made it where we could never do anything bad? And it's like, yeah, but not with us still having some choice. And is goodness really goodness if you have no choice? I think it's because God put so much into us that there's so much potential for bad. The second thing you may say, okay, well, all right, all right, well, why can't he just forgive us? If these first humans rebelled against him, why couldn't he just say, well, no big deal?

I had a friend ask me that recently. He is a very tall, kind of aggressive guy I've been hanging out with. And so I asked him, I said, okay, if we're hanging out with you and your friends, and let's say I walk over to you and I slap you. When I asked him that, he went, like, leaned forward at me like, are you serious right now? Like, you slap me, are you serious? And it was like, I said, I didn't actually slap you, just hypothetically, calm down.

But what if I slap you? I was like, what are our options? Who's going to pay for you being slapped? He said, you are. I was like, okay, that's an option. I was like, you aggressively assault me for slapping you.

I could pay penance for me slapping you. What if you don't go with that option? What are your other options? Who pays? He's like, well, I do. He's like, yeah, you pay for being slapped.

You take the pain. You have no outlet for your aggression. Your friends think you're a punk or they make fun of you or there's some kind of shame going along with having me slap you. Like, immediately it made sense to him. Now, some of you maybe don't think about life in terms of being assaulted. Let's say I was at your house and I just accidentally knocked your TV over.

Let's say I maliciously knocked your TV over and broke it. You can make me pay for your TV. You can pay for your TV. Or you can have no TV. But once it's broken, there's no option of just forgiveness without somebody paying.

So once we slapped God in the face, once we broke his good creation, he can't just go, well, magic forgiveness, because there's actually an exchange that's happened. Someone has to pay. And so what I want to tell you the story of this morning as we get started is the story of how God said he was willing to pay. How he was willing to pay for our sin, our brokenness, our rebellion, how God was willing to step in and pay for it. The same as if you decided to take this lap and be okay with it or you decided to replace your television and not make me pay for it. God stepped in and said, okay, it's broken, but I'll fix it.

Here's what he did. He tells the first people who rebel, I'm going to make this right. Then he picks a guy named Abraham out of the middle of nowhere and says, I'm going to turn you into a family. And through your bloodline, you're going to show the world what it's like to run away from sin, what it's like to know me. You're going to show them who I am. So he picks Abraham and Abraham begins to have this family.

But here's what we see throughout the Old Testament. There was not going to be a bloodline that kept sin out. So Abraham's family, it's like your family, really messed up. Some of you have your families here with you. Just don't make eye contact. Keep straight ahead.

But Abraham's family had sin and problems and distress and brokenness. And so God then tells his family, he says, okay, I'm going to take and make you into, I'm going to give you my rules, my laws, my morals. And I'm going to make you into a kingdom of priests. I'm going to turn you into a whole group of people who worship me correctly. And you're going to show the world what it's like to worship me. And through you, they're going to come to know me.

But the problem was even in the priesthood, even in the morals, even in the law of the Old Testament, they couldn't do it. There wasn't going to be a moral set of standards that people could live up to that could keep sin out. So then he looks and says, all right, I'm going to give you a border. I'm going to give you a land. I'm going to make you into a kingdom. And through this kingdom, you're going to show the world what I'm like.

And through you, they're going to come to know me. But it turns out no amount of border patrol could keep sin out. And that kingdom doesn't last very long. And sin is consistently a terrible, rampant problem. And so God says, okay. And he comes in the form of Jesus, which was his plan all along.

He'd been taking people and making them into a group of people to proclaim to the world what he was like. And then he comes as Christ. Jesus steps out of eternity. The Son of God comes, lives perfectly on our behalf, and goes to the cross to pay for our sin. But Jesus does what we couldn't do, fulfills the law, lives the way he ought to have, doesn't rebel against God, puts God first, worships him, and then swaps places with us to pay for our sin.

You see, sin was the issue. Even in the family, even in the priesthood, even in the kingdom, sin was the problem. It kept coming in. And so Jesus pays for sin. And then he does what he's always done. He grabs a group of people, and he says, you're going to represent me to the world.

And through you, the world's going to come to know me. And that's the church. You see, that was God's plan all along. He kept grabbing people and saying, through you, I'm going to show the world what I'm like. Through you, the world's going to come to know me. But see, Jesus had to pay for sin, and then he takes the church and says, okay, sin has been dealt with, and now through you, I'm going to show the world what I'm like.

And that's the church. That's our mission. That's our goal, to be a group of people called by Jesus to show the world what he's like. So we're going to go to Matthew chapter 28. So all the stuff we've been talking about in this whole series, how we ought to look, how we ought to act, what we're supposed to do is for the purposes of this mission that we've been given, of God's plan to redeem and save the world, that God has decided and chosen to use people to represent him to the world.

That's his plan A, is to pay for sin through the cross and then take a group of people and say, you're going to represent me to the world. Let's pray, and then we'll start reading in Matthew chapter 28. God, we thank you for your grace. Thank you for your goodness. We pray, Lord, that you would equip us to be on your mission, that we would see it clearly in your word and that we would follow actively for your glory. We love you and praise you in Jesus' name.

Amen. Okay, so we're going to pick up in verse 16. So Jesus has died on the cross. He was buried and he rose again and he told his disciples, meet me at this specific place and he's going to tell them what he wants them to do. Now the 11 disciples, so that's all of the disciples except for Judas who betrayed Jesus.

So these are the guys who've been following Jesus around for the past three years, seeing him perform miracles, being taught by him, doing ministry with him. The 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. Just so you all know, those are really the two options. Jesus walked around telling people he was God. They watched him brutally murdered and then he came back alive and started talking to him.

And those are really your two options. There's not really much of a middle ground. Either you realize this is Jesus and he's alive and so you worship him as God, the guy who's conquered death, or you just kind of doubt the whole thing. We're here. This is us. Like we're either kind of doubting or we're worshipping.

Those are really our options. And I love that this is the 11 disciples. So they're worshipping, but some of them who've fallen around are going, I don't know because of how dead he was really, really recently. And I'm having a hard time with this. If they were just trying to make up a story to convince us, I don't think they would have included that. But they were like, no, we need to be real about the fact that some of us were really having a hard time with this.

So they worshiped in some doubt. Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. So Jesus calls his disciples together.

He calls this group together that's been with him. And he says, go, it's your mission to represent me to the world. He's doing what he's been doing this whole time. Grabbing a group of people and saying, you're going to be my representatives. Through you, the world's going to come to know me. Peter, one of Jesus's disciples who's here in this moment.

Later, he's writing a letter to some churches and he explains it this way. We're going to have it on the screen. But he understood exactly what Jesus was saying. So how y'all been? Things going good? Boom.

Stay focused, guys. But you are a chosen race. So who's that? That's Abraham. That's the family. You're a royal priesthood.

Who's that? That's the people that God called together and gave him the law. You're a holy nation, a people for his own possession. So what Peter's saying is, we're the fulfillment of this now. God's plan all along was to grab a people, to make a priesthood, to make a nation, and he's saying, this is what he's done with us, with the church. We're the same thing.

We're the group of people who are going to represent God to the world. A people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. That's the church. The people of God who've been forgiven.

Who he's not held our sin against us because Jesus paid for it on the cross. And now he's called us together to be on mission to represent him to the world. That's our task. That's what we're doing. That's why what you're a part of the church is to worship and glorify Jesus and see more people worship and glorify Jesus, to proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light. So we're just going to walk through and talk through this, what Jesus commands us to do, what he tells his disciples to do and how that applies to us and what that gets to look like and try to just understand what's going on here and what this looks like for us now.

That's our goal today. Some of you have been around the church for a while and you've heard this passage taught over and over and over and over again. Good. It's important. I heard Francis Chan put it this way one time and I thought it was very helpful. He's a pastor.

He said if he told his daughter, I need you to go upstairs and I need you to clean your room. She said, okay. And then later he went up to her room and it wasn't clean and he was like, what are you doing? And she's like, well, I've been thinking about what you said. I even memorized what you said. I can quote it back to you.

Go clean your room. He's like, yeah. She goes, I've written in my journal about what you said. I've even invited some of my friends over today and we're going to talk about what it would look like for me to clean my room. And he said she would have completely missed the whole point. She's supposed to just clean her room.

When I was in college, I had a guy I met with on a regular basis and at one point we had met, I don't know, for some weeks and he looked at me and said, hey man, I don't know if I want to keep doing this because every time we meet you tell me the same thing. I said, yeah, because you hadn't done it yet. I'm cool with us not meeting until you start doing this stuff. We're not moving to step two until step one's done. The reason we keep talking about this and I keep saying the same things is because you've never shown up. So our job, we're going to talk about this today, but our job is to do it.

To actually follow through with what he's commanded us to. All right, so let's see what he says. Some of you are new, you're new believers, you haven't been around the church too long. This may be new to you and that's great. This is why you're a Christian, because Jesus has used his church to do this. Jesus said to them, this is verse 18, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Okay, so this election cycle has been pretty crazy. Donald Trump doesn't have anything on that. He hadn't come close to saying anything like that. Could you imagine him starting one of his rallies like that? He plays a little music, he comes out. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

I'm huge. Like, could you imagine? Like, if this isn't true, this is like the most cocky statement you could possibly say. Jesus said he's in charge of everything. And he just rose from the grave, so I'm inclined to believe him. He says everything belongs to me.

All authority on heaven and earth, like all of it is mine. Go therefore. Bible study tip. If you see the word therefore, it's referring to something that's already come before it. So here it's pretty simple.

Why do we go? Because of all the authority given to him. Because all authority belongs to him. So go therefore, and make disciples of all nations. Okay. First thing we're supposed to do is go.

I think mostly that just means be intentional. Get up. Get after it. Make a plan. Go for it. It does mean go to the ends of the world.

Go to the people who don't know him. Go to the people who don't have a Bible translated in their language yet. Go to the people where you have to learn the language just to tell them about Jesus. But it also means go to work and go to class realizing that your job is to make disciples. Go to your neighborhood picnic. Throw a neighborhood picnic realizing that your job is to make disciples.

Have some intentionality behind what you're doing. Because we're all, as the church, called to this. Go therefore and make disciples. Okay. Now. You're a disciple.

Now. You're a disciple. Now. You're a disciple. Go make disciples. Immediately.

You're having like flashbacks. Because you know what he's talking about. So if you were in a math class. And the teacher got to the end and said. Would you come up? Called your name.

Told you to come stand in front of everybody. And said. Okay. Next semester. You're teaching this class. And then like handed you their stuff and walked out.

You would know how to teach math. Only because of what they had taught you. You would just reproduce what they did. So when he says go make disciples. He's talking to his disciples. So immediately they're going.

Okay. What did he just do? Like if you just. Somebody taught you how to run a forklift or a cash register. And then they said from now on you're going to train the new people. You're going to teach them what they just taught you.

So he says go make disciples. Well how did Jesus make disciples? Well. He called people out of normal life. Expected that he would be the most important thing to them from then on. Expected a lot out of them.

And built relationships with them. He was around them all the time. They walked around. If you read through the gospels. A lot of it is going to or from eating. Or to or from a party.

They hung out. They were around each other. In normal life. He had specific times where he taught them. He had specific times where he sent them off to do ministry. And then they kind of debrief it.

But he was around them. So when he says go make disciples. Yeah that means once a week at a coffee shop. It also means way more than that. Building relationships. Getting to know people in normal life.

Average everyday stuff. Intentional ministry. Like it. They immediately knew what he was talking about. Go and make disciples. Of all nations.

So the church is supposed to see people become followers of Jesus. And we're supposed to do this of all nations. Friends. When the gospel was first preached at Pentecost. Everybody heard it in their native language. Because God created everybody.

He speaks all languages fluently. In heaven. We're going to talk about this next week. John says he sees everyone from every language and tribe and people and nation. Do you know that when we get to heaven. You don't suddenly become less your ethnicity.

Because God designed them all. And they all belong to him. Muslims will be quick to tell you that God speaks Arabic. And if you want to hear the words of God. You've got to know and read Arabic. God speaks Arabic.

He also speaks Hebrew. And Spanish. And Yoruba. And English. All very very fluently. Because they all belong to him.

And there isn't one correct nationality or race that belongs to God. It's everybody from day one. Recently the United Methodists were getting together. And they're voting on some stuff. And there's been some increased kind of liberal tendencies in the church in the United States. And one of the things that we read.

That I read recently was that. One of the reasons that the United Methodists have stayed as conservative as they have. Is because 40% of the people that are a part of the United Methodists live in Africa. And Africa has been untouched by some of our cultural things going on in the United States. And I was so proud of our African brothers and sisters this past week showing up. And one of the things I read was they said.

I don't know why we're not reading the scriptures. And holding fast to them. And why we're allowing culture to affect us the way it is. And I was like thank you Jesus for being at work in the church in Africa. Even where you may need to be leading us to repent here in the United States. Like it's beautiful that the church does not just exist in one place.

But that it belongs to all of God's people all across all languages. All borders from the very beginning. And we're supposed to proclaim it to all nations. That's why a white church, a black church. They don't really exist. You can have a church that's primarily made up of white people.

A church that's primarily made up of black people. But the church is Jesus' church. And it's all nations all the time. Go make disciples of all nations. Baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to obey.

Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Okay. People should become Christians through the church. That's what baptizing them means. So teaching them to observe means training people how to follow Jesus.

Baptizing them means proclaiming the gospel and seeing them place faith in Jesus. The people who are baptized in scripture are the people who've placed faith in Jesus. So as a church, we should see people come to know Jesus. We should have baptisms all the time. Because that's a celebration of someone's place their faith in Jesus. So we should see people baptized.

And we should teach them. And I've noticed that some people kind of lean one way or the other. So it's either like I just proclaimed the gospel. And if they believe in Jesus, good. See you later. Best of luck to you.

And some people are like my job is just to teach people. And it's like no. The whole church is to do all of it. Christians don't really believe in this vague progressivism. People talk about like this person's a progressive or we're working towards progress. And it's just kind of this like vague all of the world just slowly moves towards betterness into the future.

Have you noticed this? Like in general, like our culture is like anything that happened in the past was probably pretty bad. Because we're all just riding the wave of progress. Okay. First of all, that doesn't motivate me to do anything. Because if I'm just going to progress naturally, leave me alone.

I'll get there when I get there. I'm on the wave of progress. Just because I'm a few waves back. Don't be judging me. Progress will get me there. Take it easy.

See Christians don't really believe that. We don't believe progress is a tide. That even though it looks like it's going backward and forward, it's slowly coming in or slowly going out. Christians believe in active, open rebellion and reformation. We believe that we are called to rebel against hell and sin openly and actively now. Led by Jesus who openly and actively rebelled against sin in the way of the world.

When he made sure that he was going to openly and actively rebel against that. To the point that he was hated so much that he went to the cross to pay for our sin and our debt. And we openly, actively rebel against sin by walking into our places of work. And walking into our neighborhoods. And walking into our schools. And proclaiming that people are sinners that need to repent.

And they need to know that Jesus died for their sin. That the gospel is real and is actually good news. That's what we're called to do. To actually tell people about Jesus. To actively, openly tell people about Jesus. We live currently in a society that says that all viewpoints are equally valid and true.

If you are a Christian, you do not believe that. Because it's nonsense. It's dumb. All positions aren't actively valid or true. You can have your position. I'm not mad at you.

But if I believe that... Let me... My wife and I. I have a jacket that is obviously gray. My wife for years has told me that it is green. We have never said, you know what?

You see green. And I see gray. And the jacket is gray to me and green to you. And that's both true. We've never done that. Do you know why?

Because that jacket actually exists and is an actual color. Gray. And I pray for my wife that her eyes will get better. But we have continually... And she tells me that I don't know how to see. But it's like we continually point back and say, no, it's one or the other.

I was reading a book recently. And the guy's preface to the book, he wrote it to a friend of his. And he said, to my dear friend, who I believe most everything you believe is ridiculous and bad. And he said, and this has been the basis of a very good friendship. And he said, there's something to a good manly disagreement that has been the basis of our friendship. And I hope it never goes away.

And honestly, we've lost some of that. We've lost the ability to say, this is true. This is where I stand. I'm not mad at you, but I do disagree. And we've been told, keep your opinions to yourself. Don't share your religion with anybody.

Don't... Look, nonsense. If you're a Christian, you believe that this epic story we just told a second ago, it's true that people are destined for hell, but have a Savior who's paid for their sin and their debt. And we're called to tell them. We're supposed to see people baptized. We're supposed to see people come to know Jesus.

And we're supposed to do that now. We're supposed to actively, openly rebel against hell now. One of the goals and missions of our community groups is to be people that represent God to the world and actively, openly rebel against sin, rebel against the evil that is in the world, and fight for good and fight for holiness and point people to Jesus. One of the things that I pray on a regular basis, for people that I know aren't Christians but I'm not around a lot, when I get around them, I'll pray, you know, God, use me, help me to have good conversations with them, whatever. One of the things I pray for them, especially if they live in another place, is I'll pray, God, use your church.

Make Christians move in as their neighbors. God, give that Christian the courage and the boldness to harass this person every time they see them. God, use your church. God, send them Christian co-workers who love them and won't quit talking to them and won't quit chasing after them and won't quit sharing the gospel. God, use your church. And you know what I hope?

I hope that there's a mama who's like 85. And I hope and pray that every day she gets on her face before Jesus, four states away, and she prays for my neighbors and she prays for me. I hope every day she lays on her face and says, Jesus, chase my son down. Jesus, chase my daughter down and use your church. And I hope God has placed me there specifically to use me for his glory and to answer that lady's prayers. I hope in your classroom there's someone sitting two seats in front of you whose mom and grandparents every day lay on their face before the throne of God and say, send your church.

Use your people to proclaim the gospel that my son and my daughter and my granddaughter might believe. You see, let me ask you a question. Your neighbor's been sharing the gospel with you? Your co-workers been sharing the gospel with you? Have your friends at school been sharing the gospel with you? Do you know why God put you there?

Because he's using his church to infiltrate this world because it's his plan to redeem the world. It's to grab a people and say, you're going to represent me to the world and I'm going to use you to proclaim this gospel. The gospel's already happened. Sin's already defeated. But people got to know, we as a church should see people baptized because we should be opening our mouths and telling people about Jesus, that they need to repent of sin, that they need to place their faith in Jesus, and that he's the only way to God.

That, as John says, that those who would believe in his name, he gave the right to be called children of God. We're not all children of God. Those who believe in Jesus are children of God. Everybody's created by God, but we're not all his children. And honestly, I hope this is offensive. And our culture says, well, that's offensive.

You shouldn't say that your viewpoint is better. It's like, I don't care. I believe it. And I hope it's offensive enough to lead people to repent. I hope it's shocking enough so that my neighbors will turn away from sin. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

Okay. I love that it says observe, and I love that he says that I commanded you. Do you know what you need to do to make disciples? Be a disciple. Teach them to observe all that I commanded you, which means bring them in with you. He said this to 11 guys.

They heard this individually, but they knew the mission wasn't individualistic because Jesus had them together all the time. They weren't supposed to each go out and conquer the world on their own. They were given a team. And he says, proclaim the gospel and then teach them to observe. Show them what it's like. Follow actively after me.

And he says, all that I've commanded you. What did he command them? Love God with all their heart. Love their neighbor as themselves. Love their enemies. Pray for those who persecute you.

Oh, love the... I just want to point this out to y'all. Jesus says to love your neighbor as yourself. Okay. To love your enemies. And to especially love the church.

Who's excluded? He tricked us. Love your neighbor and your enemy. Everybody else falls in the middle. And then he says, and also love the church more special. More double special love.

He's like, okay. Like we're called to show people what he's like through the way we love them, through the way we serve them. He also says, deny yourself. Take up your cross and follow me. That everything belongs to Jesus. I love how unequivocal his call is throughout the gospels.

People are like, hey, I'll follow you, but let me go do this. And he's like, no. And it's like, whoa. Take it easy. Apparently you think you're something really special. Yes.

I think I'm God. Very special. Like that's, that's really like throughout the Bible. He just shows up to people's workplace. He's like, hey. Two second notice.

Give it to your boss. Let's go. That's, we're supposed to follow him with everything. That our wallets, that our time, that our efforts, that our energy, that our jobs, that our relationships belong to Jesus. Period. That's what a disciple looks like.

Period. These guys had jobs. They had things. But Jesus says, no, follow me. Now, for some of us, going means go to your job. Jesus put you there on purpose.

Some of it, it means quit your job and go to another country. Learn another language. Live your life pursuing the glory and the fame of Jesus because currently you're just pursuing the glory and the fame of you. You see that the undercurrent of our rebellion against God was that we were supreme. That's why Jesus comes in and says, deny yourself. Because he's reversing that.

We're not supreme. He is. So, that we would be disciples who make disciples. That's the call. Jesus says, and behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. This is it.

It's all about Jesus. This is the call to the church. And guess what? It's worked. Plan A has worked. These 11 guys see the most rapid growth in any kind of organized belief system ever.

And it's traveled through Europe. And it's traveled through Asia. And it's taking names in China right now. And it's traveled through Africa and South America and the United States. And Jesus' church has continued to expand and to grow. And here's the thing.

We've gotten really comfortable. But this is our call. This is why we're Christians. This is what he's called us to do. He saved us to proclaim his excellencies and to make us into a group of people that would follow after him, making sure everybody else comes to know Jesus. If you're a Christian, you believe this story.

That our major problem is that we've removed God from his position, mostly placed ourself there, and that all of us are destined for an eternity, either set free from sin or absolutely completely engulfed in it, engulfed in the wrath and the havoc that sin wreaks on our souls. And God has saved you to proclaim his excellencies to your friends, to your family, to your coworkers, to your neighbors. And honestly, if they don't like it, if they don't like you, love them enough to not care. This is our call. This is what we're supposed to do. Two questions.

Are you a disciple? You following after Jesus? Does he own your time? Does he own your wallet? Does he own your life goals? Have you signed a blank sheet of paper and slid it across the table?

Said you fill it out? I'm yours? Question two. You making disciples? That's what we're called to do. When was the last time you told somebody about Jesus?

One of the things I think we think a lot of times is like, well, I'm not good enough. I don't know enough. I'm not far along enough. If you were going to help me go up a mountain and you were at the top of the mountain and just yelled instructions at me, I would get eaten by a bear and it would be your fault. Part of the best way to lead me up a mountain is to be two steps ahead of me so that you can see the bear first. And take off running.

Like that's one of the ways we make disciples is I just know a little bit more. Like I just, I'm just fumbling through this with you, but I'm trying to follow Jesus in normal life too. You know what I love about this call that Jesus gives? He starts it off with, all authority in heaven on earth has been given to me. Behold, I'm with you always to the end of the age. Jesus gives this call after the cross.

Every time I read this, I feel terrible. Every time I read the Great Commission, I'm like, I'm such a horrible person. I don't love people enough. I don't believe this enough. I don't trust God enough. I don't have enough faith.

Jesus gives us this after the cross where he's already paid for all of our weakness and all of our doubt and all of our rebellion and all of our lack of faith. And he calls us in his authority and in his presence to just be a part of his mission. You don't need to feel guilty. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ. You don't need to feel terrible or scared. Like all of his authority and all of his presence, you just get to go.

Well, that's the hope we have in Jesus. But that's the point of the church. It's one of the reasons we focus on groups so much because we think it's the best way to make disciples. If we come up with another one, we'll talk about groups. We'll talk about something else. If we realize our church isn't making disciples, if we go through stages where we're not baptizing believers, if we're not helping train up leaders, if we're not multiplying groups, I'll actively work to shut this down.

If we quit proclaiming the gospel, this is what we're called to do. This is our job. This is our goal. This is our hope. We believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, died in our place for our sins so that we don't have to be good. Do you know how good that news is?

Do you know how terrible we are? How little we deserve? And how much we take the little bit of piddly mess that we have and prance around with it in front of God and act like He owes us something? And Jesus took everything and paid for our sin to welcome us to Him, and we're free. And then He says, go share this. Go share this hope and this life and this joy and this, my glory and my holiness with everybody else because they're all running around trying to fix themselves.

They're all running around with no hope whatsoever trying to win a losing game. Do you know how good the gospel is to your soul? How freeing it is when you think about it, when you remember it, when you meditate on it? Why on earth would we not want to share that with our friends and our neighbors and our coworkers? If you believe the gospel is burdensome, you don't believe the gospel. Someone has told you something wrong.

I would love to talk to you afterwards and explain to you very clearly how ineffective you will be at saving yourself. I can say it now. Very unaffected. Ineffective. Unaffected isn't a word. Somebody help me out, y'all.

Band's going to come back up. We're going to sing. When we leave from Sundays, I think sometimes we say stuff like, you're dismissed. That's not really true. You're sent. You see, we exist as the church on mission.

That's our call. And I pray that we believe the gospel so much as a church family that we don't care if our culture thinks we're offensive because we believe that it's true. And I pray that we believe the gospel so much that Jesus so grabs our souls that we can't help but in his authority and with his presence help other people come to know Jesus. I want you to take a minute and think about the places God has placed you because you've been sent. You've been equipped by his Holy Spirit. You've been given the gospel information, the knowledge that you need and the faith and the hope of Jesus and you've been sent.

And I want you to think about the people around you who don't know Jesus. And if you're here today and you don't know Jesus, maybe you haven't picked this up yet. That's all we want for you. I want Jesus for you. I've had friends before at work and they're like, oh, you want me to become a Christian? It's like, yeah, that'd be great.

That's exactly what I want. That's kind of one of the reasons that I will harass you forever. That's what I want. I want you to become a Christian. I think it's great. We're unashamed of the fact that Jesus saves and that he redeems and that he makes us holy.

I stand before God, holy and blameless and above reproach, Colossians says. I didn't do that. I actively every day do things to undo that. But Jesus did it and it's done forever. And that's my hope and that's our hope and that we've been called, we've been commissioned. God's taken a group of people and he said, you're going to represent me to the world.

So let's do that. God, we pray that you would empower us for your mission, that you would use our groups for your glory, that people would come to know you. There would never be a significant amount of time before we have to rebuild that portable baptistry and baptize people in your name. And I pray that we would be active in calling people to observe everything that you've commanded, that we would be disciples and make disciples. That you would empower that in us, that we would accept the call that you gave to your original disciples as we continue in that line of people who've believed in your name, who've been called out of darkness and into your glorious light.

We would proclaim your excellencies as the people called to represent you on earth. God, I pray that you would help us to submit everything to you. Most of all, our own names, our own glory, our own fame, our own happiness, all the things that we seek to fill ourselves up, that we would know that hope and joy and fulfillment only come through you. God, I pray that you'd send us exactly where you want us to use your church to see more people come to know you. I pray that there's a large section of people in Columbia in heaven because this church exists. People in West Columbia that get to gather together and celebrate that you equipped and sent Mill City Church to be a part of this city, to see people come to know you.

We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.

May 22

Discipline

Discipline

Chet Phillips

Transcript

How are we doing this morning? My name's Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. My community group, the community group I'm part of, we, a couple weeks ago, were having a cookout. And so we were all hanging out, having a cookout. And we were grilling, and we had a fire pit, and we were just kind of celebrating that...

Oh, actually, we were celebrating a couple of people in our group got baptized. That's what we were celebrating. I was going to say we were celebrating that the weather was getting nicer, but that wasn't true at all. We were just enjoying the weather was getting nicer. We were celebrating that a couple of people in our group had gotten baptized, and so we were just cooking out and hanging out. And my wife came over to me.

I was standing at a table talking and just kind of eating and drinking. And she came over to me, and she goes, You're going to have to help me watch that boy. That boy is our son. He has a name, but I know who she was talking about. Because a lot of times when we go out places, I just walk off because I'm not great at this yet. And she tends to him, but he's about as big as she is now.

And he's a little over a year. But so she said that, and at that moment I was like, Okay, so I'm like, I've got to find him. And so she goes, You're going to have to help watch him. And I kind of look. And at this moment, I look behind her, and about 10 yards off, I think she just sat him down somewhere where he was safe, but then she walked away. And so he scanned the area and thought, What is the closest thing that could do me some serious physical harm?

Because that's how he goes through life. And he saw a fire pit and took off running as fast as he could towards it. And so I saw him. The fire pit was kind of down a hill, so he was going to get going as fast as he could go, and there was going to be no possible way he could stop. I saw him running towards the fire pit. It had a pretty good fire going in it.

And I took about two steps and realized there was absolutely no way I was going to make it there. And he was running about as quick as his little legs could take him towards a fire pit, and I was not going to make it. And Anna did not realize this was going on. So I took about two steps. It really felt like the ultimate dad challenge that she had just put me in. She was like, You watch him.

Best of luck. It's about to get serious. And so I see him running as fast as he can towards a fire pit. I can't get there in time. Maybe some other parents maybe know kind of that feeling. If you're maybe you don't have children or maybe you're a parent that kind of does that thing where you watch your children all the time, you know, one of those kind of parents.

Maybe you don't understand that feeling. Imagine someone swings a baseball bat at your face, and it takes four seconds to get there. But you just kind of have to watch it. Kind of like that's kind of this moment of just being like, This is going to be terrible, and I'm going to have to watch it. And we had a good run. I mean, he's a little over a year, so we did well so far.

But this is it. And it took about two steps, and I think some other people in our group noticed because they all help us watch Archer, which, thank you, Lord. And a lady named Edie, who also has a son who was born on the exact same day. Our group has three boys that were born. Two of them were born on the same day. One of them was born the day after.

And she has a son who was born on the exact same day. And she jumped up from where she was, and right as Archer was getting close to the fire pit, just scooped him up. And so he's looking back at the fire and crying and wondering why this lady is psychotic. And she hands him to me, and I was just like, Thank you very much. Like, it was just a moment of absolute relief. And I was so thankful for her and for her seeing that and jumping up and grabbing him before he ran headlong into absolute disaster.

Today, we are going to talk about church discipline. As we talk about what it looks like for us as Christians to be a healthy church, what it looks like for us together to follow Jesus together. We're talking about church discipline. And really what we're talking about, what church discipline is, is the process through which Christians address sin in each other. To pursue holiness and to avoid destruction. It's the process through which Christians address sin in each other.

To pursue holiness and avoid destruction. It is us as Christians, when one of us is running as fast as we possibly can, towards destruction. Towards pain and disaster. It's us as Christians being willing to do what Edie did, which was jump in and snatch each other up. Here's the reason why this is helpful for us to talk about. You're going to sin.

I'll let that sink in. No, that was heavy. You weren't ready for that. The question we have as a church is, how are we going to handle sin? How are we going to address sin? We're not going to not sin.

You are in a room full of messed up people and sinners. And the question for us is, how are we going to address it? How are we going to handle it? It feels a little bit like when I get to do premarital counseling with couples in our church. We talk about, basically, we're going to get together and talk about all the things y'all are going to fight about. And we're going to talk about how to fight.

So, honestly, in premarital counseling, I try to pick fights. I really do. Try to get a little bit annoyed with each other. Because here's the thing. You're going to fight. You get married your first year, you're going to think, why are we the only couple that yells at each other at 3 o'clock in the morning?

You're not. You are not the only couple that does that. You need to learn how to fight. And so, as Christians, for us, the question isn't, how are we going to be the perfect church? We're not going to be. How are we going to handle it when we aren't?

That's the question. What are we going to do when there's sin? What are we going to do when there's rebellion? What are we going to do when there's hurt feelings? What are we going to do when someone in your group has almost maliciously, aggressively begun to attack the group? What are you going to do when someone in your group just completely disappears?

What are you going to do when someone lies about you? What are you going to do when something turns up missing? Like, what are we going to do? How are we going to handle sin? That's massively important for us. It's vital for the health of a church.

And what we're going to talk about today I don't think is very popular. So I don't know. There may be a moment today where you think, this is so good. I don't think there's going to be one. I think mostly you're going to think, this all sounds terrible. I hope I never have to be involved in it.

And that is the hope. But surprise, you're going to be. So let's figure out how to do it well. Let's figure out how to love one another well, serve one another well, and be able to walk through this process well. Because we're a bunch of sinners who need grace and who need each other and who need Jesus at work on our behalf. So I'm going to pray.

And then we're going to hop in and try to figure out what it looks like for us to healthily, as we follow scripture, practice church discipline, which is how do we address sin in each other? God, we thank you for your word. We thank you that you save sinners. And we thank you that you then don't expect them to be perfect, but that we continue to have grace and we continue to have hope. We thank you that you give us to each other, that we belong to one another so that we might defend and protect one another. And we thank you, Lord, that in your word you give us wisdom and clarity on how we ought to approach one another in sin.

We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's go to Luke. We're going to move around a bit today. We've been doing this throughout this series. We've kind of bounced around as we try to ask questions of scripture.

A lot of times scripture doesn't just answer stuff in one place. And so we've got to kind of move around so we can get the full picture. I'm looking forward to when we get to walk verse by verse through some books again because of my attention abilities. I like being able to just stay in one place. But we don't get to do that today.

We're going to have to move around a little bit. So Luke chapter 7, if you have a blue and white Bible like this on the row, you'll be on page 569. Am I saying this wrong? Luke chapter 17. My bad, guys. You're on page 569.

We'll be in Luke chapter 17. Believe the screen. Sometimes I say things incorrectly. So Luke 17, 569. If you don't own a Bible, this is our gift to you. Take it with you.

Okay. And he said to his disciples. This is Jesus talking. Jesus is the he here. Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come. So you're going to be tempted.

There's going to be temptations for sin, but you don't want to be the person tempting people. Temptations of sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come. It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck. That's a giant heavy rock. That's a giant heavy rock. That's a giant heavy rock.

Were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea. That he should cause one of these little ones to sin. Little ones there being Christians. Followers of Jesus. And then he says this. Pay attention to yourselves.

So that is pay attention to your own life. Pay attention to your attitude, your current discipleship, you following Jesus. Pay attention to yourselves. And then he says if your brother sins. So that's also, that's not just you personally, but that's pay attention to the family.

Pay attention to your community group. Pay attention to the Christians around you. If your brother sins, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day and turns to you seven times saying, I repent, you must forgive him. One of the first questions I think we need to ask is what is the heart behind church discipline?

Like why would we do it? Why would I address sin in you? Why would you address sin in me? Why would we have those uncomfortable conversations? Like why? What's our motivation when we go into that?

Are we supposed to be the sin police? Am I supposed to sit around and be like, let me see. Is everybody minding their manners? Out of line. Like should I get excited when I see a sinner? Does that make me feel better?

Jesus, look at how terrible that person is. Obviously you love me more now. Like is that our attitude? No. Not at all. What he says here, and I love this because it translates so well for me.

Verse 3. Pay attention to yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him. I love that he says brother. We talk about this all the time that when Jesus saved us, John 1 says that those who believed in him, he gave the right to be children of God. So we've been adopted into the family.

God is our father. We're brothers and sisters together. And they're your brother. They're your sister. And so you would address sin in them. And that worked so well for me because this is how I've worked my entire life.

I have two brothers. If I saw someone, let's say I saw you doing something. Maybe we went to school together. Maybe I just knew you. And you were doing something dumb. Here's what I did.

This was my approach to you being sinful, to you being dumb. I would think, that's dumb. And then I would say, not to you, but to the person next to me, look at how dumb they are. That was the extent of how I addressed that. If you continually did stupid things around me that I didn't like. And by stupid, I mean by my own categories of what I gauge as dumb.

I did a lot of dumb things, but they seemed smart to me. If you were stupid of a certain brand that I did not appreciate, I just would quit being your friend. Easy enough. I don't have to hang out with idiots. I'm not saying I'm right. I'm just saying this is what I did.

So, you don't need to be taking notes on this part. Nobody's like, alright, no idiots. Like, don't do that. You know, you're sitting next to one, so you're hiding it. Sorry. The people who laugh the hardest.

Sorry. Okay. Anyway. It's your brother. Brother. So, this is the way I work with my brothers.

When they did something stupid, I went to them and I said, Hey, sit down. What you're doing is dumb. I disagree with you. You are wrong. You should not do this. I'm going to stay your brother, but you're wrong.

This should not be your approach to things. You should not have this attitude. You should not be chasing after this. This is a bad decision. And here's why. I felt some ownership over them.

I felt like if I had noticed them doing something that was bad for them, that was wrong, that I didn't think headed them in the correct direction, and then five years later, I hadn't said anything, but they had completely derailed. They had completely shipwrecked. I was going to own that because they belonged to me. I was going to own the fact that I saw this coming and did not tell them. And so when Jesus says, If you're brother, what he's saying is Christians belong to each other. You're going to own this.

You don't get to say, Oh, well, that was just that other person. I didn't want to get in their business. That's not an option for you because we've been made brothers and sisters in the same family. And that helps me tremendously because I really feel this. And it's culturally induced, but I feel this. Ah, that's not in my business.

I don't really want to. But when it was my brother, it was always my business. Because you're my brother. And so that's the beginning of our heart behind our approach to sin, is that we're family. So of course we would address sin.

Jump to Matthew chapter 18. So Jesus is saying something very similar in Matthew 18, but he's going to give it a much more full treatment. And so what we'll read will sound very similar to what we just read. He says, Pay attention to yourself. If your brother sins, rebuke him, which means address it. Talk to him.

Point it out. Matthew 18 should be on page 534. It's to the left of Luke. A little bit earlier. We're going to start in verse 7. And again, it's going to sound similar to what Jesus was just saying.

Woe to the world for temptations to sin. For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes. And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands and two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.

Okay, so Jesus just said some things I think we've got to talk about. Feels like it. Jesus just said there's two directions. There's two tendencies. And this lines up with what the rest of Scripture says. So have you ever thought, man, this world we live in is just so beautiful.

Like you listen to Louis Armstrong sing, What a Wonderful World. Whoa, whoa, whoa, yeah. That song, you know what I'm talking about? Your little eyes tear up because these little kids are going to learn things that I'll never know. And you're like, that's true. My grandma didn't know about the internet.

Like whatever. You know what I'm saying? Like you have those moments where you just see a picture of something or you went and visited the Grand Canyon and you're just like, oh my goodness. You hold a baby and you just think, what on earth kind of place do we live in that this exists here? You have those moments. You listen to a song or something.

Like you're riding down the road, you just see something. Like for different people, it's different things. But there's these moments where you're like, this place is magical. It's the best way to describe it. Have those? Okay.

You ever have those moments where you think this is the absolute most shipwrecked, terrible place ever? Like earth is just wrong. This is just like, I don't know how it got this crooked. I don't know how it got this bent. I don't know how it got this bad. And there's a lot of philosophies and belief systems out there that are going to say, no, the world's good.

And there's going to be a bunch that say, no, the world's bad. Christianity says, yes. And yes. It's better than you could imagine. It's better than you could think. It was created by a holy God who designed it to be enjoyable and amazing and glorious and to point back to him.

And humanity completely shipwrecked this. And sin has completely wrought havoc on earth. And there are so many heinous, terrible things that happen that you are going to, that just going to obliterate your soul when you see them and when you partake in them and when they happen to you. Christianity says, yes and yes, more than you could imagine, more than you could imagine. Because we have a world created by a good and holy God that he put humanity on that has free will and humanity has rebelled and each one of us is off. Our hearts are wrong.

We're twisted and broken and this world is shipwrecked. And God is working to bring it back to what it was meant to be. And what Jesus says is, there's a place that you'll enter called life. Those who enter into life. What he originally meant this to be. And there's also a trajectory which is a hell of fire.

You see what it is, is it's the world as God meant it, completely maxed out, carried out into infinity, carried out into eternity. Or the world as we've turned it, the twisted broken sinfulness, carried out to maximum, carried out into eternity, into infinity. Those are the two trajectories. Those are the two destinations. And the Bible is very clear. Everyone on earth is on one of those trajectories.

And everyone on earth will extend into eternity, pursuing and being filled with life and joy and hope, what God originally designed, or extending into eternity where there's destruction and pain and death and suffering and hell because it's the ultimate expression of our brokenness. So what Jesus says, because he sees eternity. You see, there was a moment where Archer, it's my son, all he could see was the beauty of a glowing fire. He doesn't know what it is, he's just running towards it. Seems nice. The reason I panicked and he didn't was because I saw and knew where he was headed.

I knew how that ended up. I knew how that worked out. So Jesus steps out of eternity onto earth and he says, let me explain something to you. There's life and there is an eternal hell. And you would rather cut your feet off and make it into life. You would rather pluck your eyes out and make it into life than to be fully functional, active, healthy, so that you can sprint headlong into a flame.

That's Jesus' point here. Now, I've heard this read before and people say, well, it's hyperbole. He doesn't really want you to pluck your eyes out. He doesn't really want you to cut your feet off. He's just trying to show us the seriousness. I'm not sure that's true.

I'm going to give a caveat here in a second. Let's keep moving. We're not pulling out hacksaws yet. We're saving that to the end when the music's playing. Just kidding. Keep going.

Here's what he says. For if your eye causes you to sin, this is verse 9, tear it out, throw it away. It's better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire. 10, see that you do not despise one of these little ones. Again, he's talking about Christians. He was given an example, so he brought a child there.

We read that at the beginning of chapter 18. But he's talking about Christians, followers of Jesus, the small ones that belong to him. And then he says something, we're about to read something that's confusing but does not have anything really to do with the point we're making today, so we don't have to spend a lot of time on it. But people don't really know what he meant here. There's a couple of different ones but we're not getting into it. So 10, see that you do not despise one of these little ones for I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.

If you're confused, that was confusing. 12, what do you think if a man has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the 99 on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, I truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the 99 that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. What Jesus just said is heart-poundingly glorious. Jesus said, there's a shepherd who has some sheep.

He's got 99 of them that are hanging around and acting like they got some sense. He's got one of them that gets lost. Doesn't he just leave the 99 and go get the one? Doesn't he just leave them there and go find the one? And the answer is yes, that's what shepherds do. They leave the 99 and they go get the one.

And he says, and once he gets the one, doesn't he celebrate? Isn't he more excited about the one he found than the one that just stayed? Yes. You see, Jesus says, there's a trajectory entering into life or entering into destruction. And Jesus says, if you're entering into destruction and your hand is causing you to sin or your foot is causing you to sin, cut it off. And we say, well, that's hyperbole.

Jesus went to a cross because of sin. Jesus was nailed to a cross because of sin. The Son of God left eternity to pay for our sin. Jesus does not believe that is hyperbole because when it came time for him to give up everything, he did. But the only reason why you don't have to cut your feet off is because Jesus' were nailed to a cross.

The only reason why I don't have to pluck my eyes out when they cause me to sin is that Jesus' eyes closed in death. The only reason you don't have to cut your hand off is because Jesus was pinned up and his heart exploded in his chest and he died of asphyxiation and he was laid in the tomb. The only reason why we don't have to crush sin in our bodies is because Jesus was crushed for our sin in his body because he believes this. If you're not sure whether or not Jesus believed in an eternal hell, look at him on the cross. He was chasing down the sheep that went astray when he went to the cross.

Here's the good news for you today. Everybody's on a trajectory either towards life or towards eternal destruction. But if you're headed towards eternal destruction, I want you to know that the shepherd has left the 99 and he's doing absolutely everything he can to chase you down. I want you to know that that shepherd left the 99 and swapped his life for the sheep. We need to know that so that we understand the heart, behind addressing sin in each other. You see, we've got to believe that we're family and we have to have a rock-solid belief in the gospel which says that we're all sinners bound, running headlong towards a real hell outside of the grace of Jesus on the cross that makes us into a family that loves one another, cares for one another, protects one another.

The heart behind church discipline is a rock-solid belief in the gospel that we're all sinners headed for a real hell outside of the grace of Jesus on the cross who makes us family that loves one another, cares for one another, and protects one another. That's the heart behind it. That's the reason why you address sin in someone else because you actually believe that what Jesus said is true, that there are two trajectories. that's why we risk conversations. That's why if someone in your group, let's say you've got a young lady in your group and she's following Jesus until she gets a boyfriend.

The reason why we're going to talk through this is because this happens. We have a lot of relationship idolatry in our culture where love conquers all and they're not talking about the verse from Corinthians but they're talking about if I love somebody everything works out and you can all shut up and if you stand in my way you're wrong and I get to do whatever I want. If you watch a romantic comedy or any kind of romantic movie the bad guy is the person who stands in the middle of this really jacked up relationship not the two people who are chasing after a really dumb relationship. Okay, I'll give you something to think about next time you watch one of those.

She gets a boyfriend, she's following Jesus, she gets a boyfriend and now she's following her boyfriend and her boyfriend is headed away from Jesus. Why would you have that conversation with her? Because you believe, you have a rock solid foundation that says she's your sister so you have some, she belongs to you, you have some ownership and she's on a trajectory either towards life or towards destruction and that's going to extend for eternity so you have an awkward conversation. Why when somebody offends you or hurts you or sins against you do you go talk to them rather than just writing them off because you believe that their soul matters more that they're on a trajectory?

Okay. If that's the heart behind it, if that's our motivation, what's the process? Like how do we actually do this? Does he lay that out for us? I'm glad you asked. Yes, he does.

Next verse, 15. If your brother sins against you, okay, so again, putting this inside the family relationship, this is Christian to Christian, this is those who belong to each other. If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. Go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. Between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. That means the gathered belonging group of Christians following Jesus. We would say, tell them to your community group and then we'll take it to the whole everybody, all the groups got to know. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector, which man, really drives that home because we use those terms and know what that's talking about. Let's explain that in a second.

Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them. That's taken out of context a lot. We're going to talk about that in a second too. Okay, so here's the outline.

Someone sins against you. You go talk to them by yourselves. They repent. They say, you're right. I did sin. I'm wrong.

I shouldn't have done that. You know what you say? Up top, we're good. I forgive you. We're good. Like that was the goal.

You wanted, like the repentance was, that's what you were aiming for, was them to acknowledge their sin. They don't repent. So let's take this scenario with the girlfriend thing. You, she's part of your community group. She's following Jesus. She gets a boyfriend.

She just starts kind of disappearing. So you call her up and say, hey, can we get coffee? Can we talk? She says, yeah. So you go sit down with her and you say, hey, this doesn't look good.

Like this isn't, this isn't a good trajectory for you. Like you were following Jesus and now you got a boyfriend and like, I'm, I'm pretty sure he's like leading you off. Like he's, he's taking you away from following Jesus. Doesn't seem like you're reading your Bible anymore. I think y'all are having sex. Like I think there's a lot of things going on here that aren't good for you as you try to follow Jesus.

Let's say she responds with, yeah, you're right. I didn't need to come back around. I'm sorry. I'm wrong. That's great. That was it.

That's all you had to do. That's, that's, if she, she repents, you want her back. But if she says, who are you to get in my business? We're not hurting anybody. You're just jealous. Okay.

Now you go talk to more people. This is why we say all the time. If you come tell me about a situation where this person did this against me, my immediate response should be, what did they say when you told them? Because I've got to assume we're on step two. I just got to assume, oh, you already told them and it went poorly. It's, it shouldn't be.

And maybe I'm wrong for this. It's my favorite when I say that to someone and they go, what was it? Oh, no, I hadn't, I didn't talk to them. It's like, oh, good. I especially like it if that person's there, I'll just go, hey. Hey.

Yo, Mike. Dave's mad at you. You got it, Dave. Take it from here. It's like, what the heck? I think this is the best.

Um, I tried to pick two random names so that there wouldn't be an actual Mike and an actual Dave that he walks up afterwards like, what the heck, Dave? So anyway, um, do you go tell somebody else? They come talk. If they won't listen to the two or three people, you go tell more people. It says, take it to the church. You go tell your whole group.

Hey, this is what's going on. We talked to them a couple of times. They're not listening. They're not repenting. They're not acknowledging this. Eventually you would bring it before the whole church and here's how this ends.

At some point they repent. That's option one. That's the one we're going for. Or at some point it says you treat them like a Gentile and a tax collector. Okay. First of all, that does not mean be mean to them.

Matthew, see that name at the top left corner of the Bible there? That guy was a tax collector. Okay. He wrote this down for us. What he means is you graciously pursue them as someone who doesn't know Jesus. You're going to assume that they are not a Christian.

You have to. And here's why. Christians repent. If you say you're a Christian and there's no pattern of repentance in your life, no you're not. Christians repent. Christians acknowledge sin.

That's how we got in. This is a group of people who said, I'm jacked up. You messed up? Yes. Ooh, this is me. Shh, shh.

He's talking to me. Yes. Jesus is not. That's how we get in. That's what, Jesus was not messed up so that we can be made righteous through him. But all of us are messed up.

So if you come tell me I've sinned, it's like, yes, probably. How? When? What did that do? We get to talk about it. Christians repent.

So if there's a pathway of non-repentance, at some point you have to go to your group and you say, I don't believe this person is a Christian and we have to start treating them like they're not a Christian. Which means, try to be around them. Try to love them. Try to point them to the gospel. Try to help them. But we're not holding them to the standards of Christians anymore because they're not a Christian.

They don't believe this. You would maybe need to tell them, hey, just wanted you to know I don't think you're a Christian. I love you. I'm going to keep loving you. But I don't want you thinking that you're following Jesus when you're not.

Because there's an actual trajectory towards life or towards destruction. And the worst thing we can do is in our community groups and in our church coddle and be really kind to a bunch of people headed to destruction and let them pretend that they're Christians and never have had a moment where we sat with them and said, hey, I don't think you get this. Okay. Okay. This ends in one of three ways. Oh, sorry.

Let me keep... He puts it on the church, not the leadership, on the gathered people of God. He says there's power in gathering. There's... Where two or more of y'all are gathered, I'm among you. So some of you think what the Holy Spirit tells me is more important than what He tells anybody else.

Jesus would say, nuh-uh. He speaks through the gathered church, through His people together. So if you're in your group and you're the only person who thinks what you think and your whole group that you've been with for a while and know loves Jesus and know they get together and study the Bible and have seen that they've had wisdom before and they're all looking at you and saying, hey, what you're doing is dumb and you think they just don't understand me? No. No, no. You should think, maybe I'm wrong.

I've had conversations with people before and they go, I don't want to talk to them. I know what they're going to say. It's like, good, don't talk to them. Go ahead and start doing it. I don't want to get with my group. I know what they're going to tell me.

Is it going to be something from the Bible? I love your group. I hope they show up at your house. Sorry. Anyway, that also does not mean we're two more gathered. There I am in the midst of them.

That doesn't mean when people say, so me and my buddy, we're a Christian. We can go get on a boat. That's our church. Okay, that has nothing to do with what he's talking about here. And I hope a few of your other buddies who are Christians come and talk to you alone. And if you listen, that'd be great.

But if they don't, I hope they bring more people. Okay. Let's go to 1 Corinthians because there's three ways this ends. Most of it ends with the first step, which was you go talk to them, they repent. You go talk to them, you point out their sin, they repent. Most of it does that.

Sometimes it ends with they will not repent and they are not a Christian and we just need to acknowledge that and keep loving them and keep wanting them around and keep chasing after them and keep inviting them to things and they're welcome to hang out with our group and they're welcome to be here on Sundays and they're welcome to do everything we do as a church. We just got to know they're not a Christian. That's option two. Option three is worse. It's the one we don't like as much. It's got the same goal and the same heart.

Okay. We in 1 Corinthians 5? We made it? This is Paul writing to a church. It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you and a kind that is not even tolerated among pagans. For a man has his father's wife and you are arrogant.

Ought you not rather to mourn? So what he says is, you've got people hanging out in your church that are actively pursuing this sin. Flagrantly, openly, actively pursuing this sin. And y'all's response was, look at how gracious we are. Look at how much we believe the gospel. Isn't this beautiful?

They're arrogant. And he says, no, you should be broken over this because Christians repent of sin. You should mourn if someone's actively, openly, flagrantly pursuing sin. You should mourn for them. You should hurt over this. Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

If that sounds harsh, it's because it is. Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

He's writing to Jewish believers and here's what he's saying. When they celebrated the Passover, they celebrated with unleavened bread because leaven for them when they were doing this feast represented sin. So if you had leavened bread, you were representing that it was sin. And so they would have unleavened bread to represent it was sinlessness, that the Passover lamb was sinless. It's talking about Jesus. And he says, you've been made unleavened, meaning you've been covered by Jesus.

So when we celebrate the Passover, we're covered by Jesus. We're celebrating what he's accomplished for us. We don't have any sin. That's what he's saying. But don't you know, a little leaven leavens the whole lump.

So here's why he says, put them out from among you. There's a sin of a certain type that is only going to cause harm to everybody else around. There's a sin of a certain nature. The Bible doesn't give us a list of these. We have to base it off of wisdom and what's going on in the particular case and the people and what's happening. That the best response for Christians is to say, you can't hang out with our group anymore.

You can't hang out with our church anymore until you repent. Thankfully, we haven't had to do that here. I've been a part of churches where that has had to happen or where they told somebody he was actively, aggressively, kind of predatorily approaching females. And so they told him, look, you can come to this gathering and that's it. Like, you can be here and you can be in this group. If we see you anywhere else, that's not okay.

When you show up, you have to tell a pastor you're here. When you leave, you have to tell a pastor you're leaving. If we see you outside of that window, that's not okay. Because they were protecting everybody else. They were going to be aggressive with this guy. And they said, if you show up to another gathering, not the one we told you you could be at, you're not going to be allowed to be around at all until there's repentance, until there's change.

Now, I don't want this to ever happen. This isn't the goal. The goal is repentance. But I'll tell you one thing. If you look and say, hold on a second. So the response was, this guy's a sinner.

Kick him out. That was the response. Put him out. Don't let him be around. When Archer was running towards that fire pit, if Edie had drop kicked him, I would have high-fived her. Like, if that was as close as she could get, it was just to do that.

I'd have been like, that was the most beautiful kick. You've got to teach me your form. Thank you. Thank you. What Paul's saying is, get rough with them if you have to. Don't let them pretend.

If someone is actively, openly, aggressively pursuing sin and will not repent, then do what you have to so that they can't go home and go, oh, no, people accept me. This is okay. This must be all right. If I get to be around. If everybody in the church looked at you and said, you cannot be here because you are actively, aggressively pursuing sin and this is not okay and you're going to harm people and we don't believe you're a Christian, until you decide to repent and change from this, you're not allowed to be around. And if we find out you've headed over to another church because there's a bunch of close ones, we're going to call them.

Hopefully, by God's grace, you would go home and go, I may need to think about this. But if we all just go, hey, buddy, there's a good chance you'll think it must be okay. Verse 6, your boasting is not good. Do you not know that little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump as you really are unleavened. Meaning Jesus has already taken away your sin.

For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven and the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. He gives clarification. Not at all. Meaning the sexually immoral of this world or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters since you would need to go out of the world.

So what he says is, when I said don't associate with sexually immoral, I didn't mean non-Christians. That's what he means by of this world. Because what he says is, you'd have to move. Off the planet. You would need to quit your job. Go to the top of Mount Everest and die.

That's how you could escape. But you'd be next to another little frozen sinner that got up there and died. Like that's, that's all, like that's his, so don't take this to mean, oh I can't have sinner friends. All your friends are sinners. Look to your left on the row. Look to your right on the row.

Next time you're hanging out with your community group, be like, hi sinner friends. That's who's there. But what he's saying is, people who are actively pursuing this and are a part of the church need to be addressed. It needs to be talked with, with them. It can't be okay for this to linger. But I am writing to you, not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother.

Christians, those who belong to Christ. If he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed or as an idolater or a reviler or a drunken or a swindler, not even to eat with such a one. So what he's saying is you address it with him, you talk to him about it, they repent. He's not negating what Jesus said. He's saying that if someone's actively pursuing this and won't repent, then at some point you have to say, hey, you can't be around. We're not going to keep acting like you're a Christian.

For what do I have to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God Judges the outside, purges the evil person from among you. Okay, meaning the Christian church should quit acting like the rest of the world should be Christians. Step one, quit judging the world outside. Point them to Jesus.

They're sinners. They need grace. Step one, quit acting like the rest of the world should be Christians. Step two, start acting like the Christians should be Christians. It's real easy to stand up and talk about all those bad people out there. Why don't you start talking to the bad people in your group?

Because I know them and that's uncomfortable. Yeah, it sure is. We got to start addressing sin in each other and start acting like, hey, if you're a Christian, this is what it looks like. Start calling each other towards holiness and away from destruction. When someone says, you can't judge me, 1 Corinthians 5, yes, I can. I am supposed to.

Paul says, aren't we supposed to judge the people inside the church? And by judge, it doesn't mean condescending, I'm better than you. What it means is, I'm a Christian, I see what you're doing and it's not lining up with what Jesus says. We need to talk about it. I can rightly see what you're doing and address it with them. So, the heart behind this is a rock solid belief in the gospel, a belief that we're all sinners bound for a real hell outside of the saving grace of Jesus through the cross that makes us into a family that loves, cares for, and protects one another.

That's the goal, the process we just talked through. That's the heart behind it, the process we just talked through. What's the goal? What's the aim? What's the point? Why are we doing this?

2 Corinthians. Go to the right, one book. Chapter 2. Why are we doing this? Verse 5. We're going to wait a second.

I want people to see this. Now, if anyone has caused pain, He has caused it not to me, but in some measure, not to put it too severely, to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough. So, that's the majority of the church. The people who belong to the church, the majority is enough. So, you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.

So, I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for the sake, for your sake, in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his designs. Most scholars believe this is referring to the same person from 1 Corinthians. He came back.

He came back. And Paul says, forgive him. Reaffirm your love for him. That's why you did that in the first place. Paul says, to put him out from among you. And then he says, when he comes back, he says, bring him back.

One of the reasons he said to put him out, and I don't know if we missed this, I don't remember reading this, but it said, turn him over to Satan so that he might, for the destruction of the flesh, so that he might be brought into life. That's the point. The goal is repentance. The goal is that they would return. The goal is that we would all remain a part of Jesus' family. The goal is that we would always stay in.

And this guy comes back. I hope that we never have to stand up at a family meeting and say, this person who was a part of our church family is no longer allowed around us. With tears in our eyes to say, we've talked to them, we've talked to them, we've talked to them, they haven't repented, and they're not going to be welcomed right now. Let's all pray for their soul. I hope to God we never have to do that. But if we do, I pray for the day we get to stand up and say they came back.

It worked. Jesus chased them down. They're here. They're repentant. Let's reaffirm our love for them.

Let's lay our hands on them. Pray for them. Let's all hug them. If they're not a hugger, they can get over it. They're back. We're going to have on screen Hebrews 3 as we wrap up.

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort. That means encourage a special gospel Bible encouragement. It means point each other to Jesus. Exhort one another every day as long as it is called today that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

Just leave that back half of that verse up there. He says, take care, be watchful, keep an eye on yourselves that there's not a deceitful, unbelieving heart that sin lies to you and leads you astray. I get excited and have been all week as we talk through this and here's why. I need this. I want this. One of the things we're excited about is we go to membership where we're going to do official kind of membership where we say this is what we believe as a church and our community groups are going to say this is what we're going for as a group is to give all of us the opportunity to say I'm in and what I mean by I'm in is if I ever try to get out I want you to chase me down because I need this because sin lies to me and I want right now while I'm in my right mind that I'm following Jesus I want to look at the rest of the people in my community group and say if I start running I want you to run faster than me and chase me down.

I want you to love me enough to grab me as I run headlong into destruction. I want you to believe the gospel enough to sit me down and say you're wrong here. You need to repent here. One of the ways that we know we're loved as Christians one of the ways we know we have brothers and sisters is when was the last time someone sat you down and told you you were wrong? That's one of the most loving things people can do. I know because that's what my wife does most of the time.

You're wrong here. You need to repent here. One of the ways that we know we're loved as Christians one of the ways we know we have brothers and sisters is when was the last time someone sat you down and told you you were wrong? That's one of the most loving things people can do. I know because that's what my wife does most of the time. That's how you know you're loved. Someone cares enough about you to risk your relationship

By telling you something you don't want to hear? So your group cares enough about you to call you up and say hey we haven't seen you in a while what's going on? They call you up and say we've got to get together let's talk hey you're not following you're not doing this right you're on a path you're on a trajectory and it's not towards Jesus it's not towards holiness it is not headed in the right way and let me explain something to you

If it's this relationship Jesus said cut your feet off I know he means break up if it's school if it's whatever that's leading you away from Jesus it's not worth it and I need somebody to sit me down and say that and you need somebody to sit you down and say that because you're not strong enough on your own you're not smart enough on your own and your heart lies to you

And the author of Hebrews says take care be watchful that this doesn't happen as long as it's today point each other towards Jesus as long as it's today chase one another down because the goal is that we'll be there at the end the goal is that all of us are there at the end Matt's going to come back up here we're going to sing here you see those commercials for traffic fatalities in South Carolina they're interviewing people and they're like

What's an acceptable number for traffic fatalities in the state of South Carolina people pick a number I don't know a hundred okay what's an acceptable number for traffic fatalities in your county four five what's an acceptable number for traffic fatalities in your family and immediately everybody goes zero and they go okay why don't we make that our goal for the state zero because it's always going to be somebody's family what's the acceptable

Number of Christians that we can lose along the way what's the acceptable number of the people in your group that can get their trajectory off and run headlong into destruction what's the acceptable number that we want to stand before Jesus and say yeah I didn't really want to get in their business it didn't feel like my place if that number's me if you're talking about me the acceptable number is zero I expect everyone

In my group to be like to the point of physical aggression with me dude this isn't okay you're confused you're lost your heart's lying to you you're chasing after stuff that's not going to fill you up you're believing lies because the goal is that we would all hold our confidence firm to the end that the gospel that we believe in now we would believe in on the day that everything melts away and we stand

Before our king because there is life to enter into and there is hell to enter into and they're eternal and that's the only thing that matters if you're not a Christian I want you to know that Jesus left the 99 he left heaven to chase after you that he loves you enough to die for you so that you don't have to pay the penalty of yourself and you can be saved and you can be taken up by Jesus and you can be made his and you can be brought

Into the family and if you're a Christian I want you to care about your brothers and sisters enough to talk to them I want us to have lives marked by repentance and I want us to love one another enough to address sin in each other Christians part of our church family we're about to celebrate communion that's where we take bread and we take grape juice and we remember that Jesus' body

Was broken for us so that yours didn't have to be that his blood was shed so that yours doesn't have to be that you can be set free if you have someone who sinned against you and you haven't talked to them you need to talk to them before you take communion I fully expect that people will get up and move around the room and we'll have some conversations where we pray

With one another where we address sin in each other where we say hey I've been noticing this I haven't brought it up to you you need to confess you need to repent we have lives marked by repentance you need to repent before you take communion if you're not a Christian you can repent of your sin and you can place your faith in Jesus that he paid your penalty so you don't have to be led to destruction

And you can take communion for the first time which is a celebration that Jesus went to the cross for you let's pray God I pray that we would be a church that has a rock solid belief in the gospel that you would not for one moment let us forget that there is an eternal life and that there is an eternal destruction and God that we would love one another

Enough to address sin I pray that we would be a church Lord that doesn't talk about people but that talks to people and God I pray that you would bless this church so that this process always works God I pray that through your Holy Spirit this would always work

That there would always somewhere down the line somewhere along the way there would be repentance there would be an acknowledgement of sin that people would turn back and that we would continue to love and forgive always that we would always forgive and reaffirm our love

For one another God we praise you we thank you in Jesus name mass going to continue to play when you feel ready go take communion if you need to talk to somebody get up go talk to them we're going to move around the room we're going

To repent of sin we're going to believe the gospel

Elders, Deacons, Members

Elders, Deacons, Members

Chet Phillips

Transcript

All right. How are we doing this morning? My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. We are in our Home Sweet Home series and we're talking about the church. And that's why that video is just a bunch of people, because the church is the people of God, the people rescued and saved and distinctly loved by Jesus.

And so we've just been spending some time walking through and saying, what should the church look like? How should the church act when it comes to leadership? What comes to mind? Like when you think of a leader, who do you think about? What do you think about what makes a leader a leader? Is it is it power?

Is that is that like the baseline thing that makes a leader a leader so they they can enforce whatever they say? So does that there was Stalin a leader because he could do what he wanted? Does that make Patton a leader just because he it has some power over military? Is the U.S. government, do they get to be leaders just because they can take you out and nobody would know? I mean, I don't want to be like a conspiracy theorist, you know, saying they can take you out. Nobody would know, but they can take you out.

Nobody would know. Like what what makes a leader a leader? Like, is it is it vision? Is it they can see a preferred future and they can articulate it? Well, is that JFK saying we're going to we're going to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade and bring him back safely? And I think I got that order, but he said something along those lines.

I wasn't there. But like, is that is it Martin Luther King Jr. And his I have a dream speech where he was able to articulate this is what this ought to look like. And he just has a vision for how this ought to be. And that's what makes him a leader. Is it is it authority?

Police officer, your bosses, are they just a leader because they have some authority over you? Is it influence that makes a leader a leader, that they have the ability to influence people, that they have the ability to to call more out of people? So maybe you had some coaches like this or a mentor, an uncle or even like a cousin that just kind of had influence over you and had the ability to to lead. Here's what I know about leadership. Culturally, we love and celebrate leadership. We try to define it a lot.

I think you can go to any bookstore and find racks of books about leadership and how to lead and the 10 things you need to do and the seven things you need to do and the 21 golden keys to it and the 15 magic nuggets of leadership. Like, I mean, you can go find any kind of book you want to find on leadership. We celebrate it. That's why there's been like seven Steve Jobs movies recently. There's another one coming out. Steve Jobs, The Untold Story.

Like there's just it's just we we know that we there's something special about leadership. We're also afraid of leaders and leadership. So we we have this celebration of it. And then we also have this kind of like reticence, this hesitancy. And I can prove that just by let's talk about Donald Trump for a minute. No, let's talk about Bernie Sanders.

We're going to talk about Bernie Sanders for a second. And the truth is, you can start talking about either one of those. You can start talking about Hillary and immediately you'll have some people who are just like, yes, if we could only have that person. Oh, my goodness, everything would be great. You have other people that as soon as you start talking about the other candidate, they get really terrified and they want to fight you. And they're like, they're going to ruin everything.

They're going to burn this down. It's going to be horrible. And it just depends on who you're having the conversation with, because the truth is we have some leadership is great. And at the exact same time, some. Oh, no, that would be terrible. And the reason why is this when leadership is good.

Like everything's actually like it's great. Good leadership is great. And when leadership is bad, it can be horrible. And so when it comes to us in our series, what we've been walking through, one of the things we're basically asking is what makes for a healthy church? What should a church look like? How should it be organized?

One of my goals, really, we have kind of a migratory church family in some ways. We've got college students that are here for a little while. And then they're going to be they always come tell me they're like, oh, I just got accepted to graduate school. And I'm like, in Columbia? And they're like, no, you know, like a like another city. And I'm like, have you thought about not going and just staying here?

Every every time this happens, Matt always comes to me. He's like, man, I don't know. I don't even know if they're supposed to. I think maybe they're supposed to stay here. And I have to ask Matt. I'm like, Matt, is there ever going to be one where you're like they're supposed to leave?

Like because it just seems like you like people and you always want them to stay. Kind of one of our goals in this series is that if you get your job transfers you or you move, that you would show up to a local church knowing what a local church ought to look like, that you would know how you ought to be the church in that city from the day your feet touches the feet. Your feet touch your touches the ground. I said it right. I just had to fix it. Feet touch the ground.

Boom. Boom. All right. That you would know what a church should look like and that we collectively would know what one looks like so that we could all be when we start drifting or start doing something stupid. Everyone here can go. I don't think that's what we're supposed to do.

And we could be like, good point. Thanks. And we could get back on track. Like that's one of our goals is for us to know what a church should look like. And so what we're going to look at today is that there should be leaders in the church. Leadership is good.

There's a lot of qualifications for it and kind of some guards around it because leadership can be bad. Dad. The Bible. And we're basically going to go through and just see what the Bible says. So one of the things that I appreciate church history and I appreciate I have some form of appreciation for denominations.

It's not a really great appreciation for denominations. I think they're good and they serve a purpose. But a lot of times when you get into discussions about how church is organized, you get into a lot of discussions about like, well, Methodists do this and Presbyterians do that and Baptists do this. And so here's our goal. Let's just see what the Bible says.

That's always been our goal in planning a church was to open this and say this we think falls in the bounds of what we're going for. Let's try to do that. What it basically says is that there are elders, deacons and members. And members is maybe not the way you're hearing that. And so we'll talk through that to maybe clarify that a little bit. But there are elders, deacons and members.

And we're going to walk through each of those and kind of quickly say what's the purpose and what are the characteristics and then how do we apply that here. So what's the purpose of this? What are the characteristics of that? And how do we apply that here? Hopefully it'll be helpful. So let's pray.

God, we pray that you would teach us from your word so that we might know what a healthy church looks like. We might understand what Christian leadership ought to look like. We have a good handle on what you have for us here and how we ought to organize as we try to be best suited for your mission in this city. We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. In a minute we'll go to Ephesians 4.

But first I want to show us a verse in Acts chapter 20 to get started. In the Bible there are Greek words where we get our words for elder, bishop and pastor. And so maybe you've heard all of those. They're all Greek words. They basically are all always talking about the same role, same position in the church. Just kind of different what they're doing or what they're supposed to do.

And so we're going to refer to it as elders because that kind of is the office. We also call them pastors around here. I'm trying to get bishops started because that just sounds cool, but it's probably not going to work. But it's in the Bible. All right.

So here's one of the questions we have to ask is why. Why is there leadership in the church? What is it designed for? And this is Paul talking to the Ephesian elders and he calls them together and he's basically going to lay something out for him. But he says this so clearly here.

I think it's helpful for us as we start our time this morning. He says, pay careful attention to yourselves. So he's talking to the elders of the churches in Ephesus. That's who he's called together here in Acts chapter 20. Pay careful attention to yourselves. So that would be talking to the leaders of the church, the pastors of the churches.

He's saying, watch your heart, watch your own actions and watch each other. Pay careful attention to yourselves. And to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Overseer there, that's the word we get, I believe, bishop from. So what he says is when he talks about the flock, he's talking about the church, people of God.

So the Bible calls Jesus the great shepherd. It also calls him the good shepherd because he lays his life down for his sheep. His sheep are all the Christians who've been invited in based off of his work. And we talked about it when we were walking through 1 Peter, but it's actually really nice to be a sheep. Because when anything bad happens, you just get to look to the shepherd. Sheep aren't supposed to be good at stuff.

Sheep aren't really good at stuff. My grandparents are missionaries in Nigeria. They don't even get out of the way of cars. Like they need a shepherd. And so we get to be sheep. We get to be flock of God.

And what he says here when he's talking to these people who he's saying, pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock. He says, in which, meaning you elders are sheep. You pastors are sheep. You're in it. Not over which, in. So leaders in the church are sheep first.

Should be followers of Jesus first. In which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God. Some versions are going to say to shepherd. That's the word we get pastor from. To care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. The reason there is leadership in the church is because Jesus loves the church.

Period. Period. The reason there are leaders in the church is because Jesus loves the church enough to purchase her with his own blood. And so he is designed to call through the Holy Spirit certain people to help shepherd, to help defend, because he loves the church. And he specifically multiple times in scripture says he's going to hold leaders in the church accountable for how they lead. Because he's specifically designed leaders to shepherd and care for his church.

One of the ways I know that God loves my son Archer is that he gave Archer parents. Like he specifically designed human babies are useless for a really, really long time. My dad asked me yesterday, he's like, is he talking yet? And it's like, no. And he doesn't even seem close. Like he's not even, he's not even barely accidentally saying words sometimes.

Like he's never been like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, piano, blah, blah, blah. Like it's never happened. He's bringing nothing to the table. God loves him. He gave him parents. One of the indications that God cares about his church is that he specifically designed for there to be some leadership.

I know that we've had some pushback. There's been really poorly handled leadership in the church with money. I mean, I've heard some stories that are pretty terrible. I heard of one pastor. They locked the doors and they said they were going to keep taking up offerings until they could buy his wife a car. And he'd say stuff like, it's not going to be some cheap car either.

It's going to be a good one. So if you'll, if you'll lock the doors real quick, I'm just kidding. There've been abuses. I've seen YouTube videos that just make me hurt inside as pastors have used the pulpit to bully people. And to, but so I know there's been some responses. And when I was going to plant a church, people would say, but yeah, like we're just, we're going to have a church, but there aren't going to be any leadership.

We're all going to just kind of be on the same level. We're all going to be just getting a circle. And it's like, no, no leadership's good. God bought the church with his blood and specifically has designed for some people to be held accountable for the leadership and the defense of the church. Okay. So Jesus loves the church.

Holy spirit has made some leaders in the church specifically for that purpose. But why, what are they supposed to do? And so we're going to go to Ephesians four. It'll be on page six 34. If you have a blue and white Bible, this is the primary responsibility of leaders in the church. And it doesn't say pastors here.

It just kind of covers giftings and leadership roles that are given to the church. And we're going to see what the primary role is. We're going to start in verse 11. And he gave, that's Jesus. So, and Jesus gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers. So he gave leadership, equipped these roles, these leaders to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.

Okay. Just want to show you this real quick. Saints are all the people who've believed in Jesus. Every time you see the word saint in scripture, your little heart should go aflutter. Because you're a sinner. And you've been made a saint by Jesus.

That's worth celebrating. That's exciting. But what it's saying is that these leadership roles, these positions were given to equip saints, to equip the church, to equip all those who follow Jesus for the work of ministry. So you're a saint. You get to go marching in for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. That's all Christians.

That's seeing more people come to know Jesus. That's equipping and helping other Christians, building up the body of Christ. Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of fullness of Christ. Leadership exists in the church to equip the church to do the work of ministry. So sometimes pastors have been called ministers.

Like we need to get a minister. Christians are ministers. All of us as Christians are supposed to do the work of ministry. Pastors, elders are supposed to equip. Which means that I'm a pastor here, which means I get to be Alfred and you get to be Batman. I heard someone explain it that way recently and I thought that's so helpful.

That's what it is. I'm Alfred. You get to be Batman. All the Christians get to be Batman. A team of Batmans running around. Like that's what it is.

Like you know how they say be yourself unless you can be Batman then be Batman? You get to be Batman. Like that's how that works. Leadership in the church exists to equip. To see more leaders equipped. More leaders raised up.

More people able to go share their faith. To go build relationships with their neighbors. I've seen churches before where the pastor would retire and then the church would kind of sit still for like two years waiting on a new pastor to come in. And it's like no. Like if that happens here we've failed. Because our job was to equip.

You should be ready. If I got hit by a bus. It better be a big bus. That's what I got to say. No I'm just. If I got.

We should just keep on moving next week. Somebody get up and say Chet has been hit by a bus. Open your Bibles to Paige. Like that would just be. And y'all be like yep. Let's do this.

Like because we're designed to equip. That's one of the reasons why if we have elders or pastors that we're training. We wouldn't pay somebody. Have an elder. Have anybody be an elder paid or not paid. To just do a task.

Because elders are supposed to equip. So primarily the church has been given elders to equip and to defend. Because Jesus loves the church. And he wants the church to be on mission. He wants the church to be equipped for the mission. So.

A couple of things. That we just need to know about what the Bible says about eldership. First of all. They're always plural. Unless it's talking about a specific leader. So we believe that every church should have multiple elders.

We think that's the healthiest way to go about it. Not one senior person and people underneath them. We believe it should be a group of multiple leaders. Multiple leaders. Sometimes we've had people say. Because we're planning a church.

Like doesn't that slow things down? Like y'all got to agree on everything? The answer to that is yes. It does slow things down. And yes. We do have to agree on everything.

But we believe that the Holy Spirit's in us. And can give us unity. So that we can get on the same page. And we think it's biblical. So if one of us absolutely disagrees.

And says there's no way we can do this. We probably should fight that out. And we do. Look. We believe if we don't yell at each other every once in a while. We must not care.

We care a lot. So okay. Real quick. I'm going to run through this list. Of just where the scripture says. Things that elders.

That pastors should do. Pray and study scripture. That's Acts 6. 4. Rule and lead in the church. That's 1 Timothy 5.17.

And Hebrews 13.17. Manage in the church. That's 1 Timothy 3.4.5. Care for God's people. That's 1 Peter 5.2-5. Live their lives as an example.

That's Hebrews 13.7. Rightly use the authority given to them. That's Acts 20.28. That's what we just read. Devote themselves to teaching and preaching the Bible correctly. Ephesians 4.11.

1 Timothy 3.2. 1 Timothy 4.11-16. 2 Timothy 3.16. 4-5. Says that one a lot. Because of how much weight is given to the scriptures.

Pray for the sick. That's James 5.13-15. Teach sound doctrine and refute false teaching. That's Titus 1.9. Work hard. 1 Thessalonians 5.12.

Rightly use money and power. 1 Peter 5.1-3. Protect the church from false teachers. Acts 20.17-31. That's the whole section. Equip the church.

Ephesians 4.11-16. 2 Timothy 2.1-2. Develop and appoint new leaders and elders. Titus 1.5. Acts 14.23. 1 Timothy 4.14.

And 5.22. God's given elders to the church. Leaders to the church. To defend and equip the church. That's the point. Now.

That's kind of the purpose. Are there qualifications? Are there characteristics? Go to 1 Timothy. And we'll spend the rest of our time in 1 Timothy. That's actually not true.

But I have the other stuff. We'll show it on screen. Because it's just going to be a couple other verses we'll reference. Spend most of the rest of the time in 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy chapter 3. It's on page 643.

If you have a blue and white Bible. That we put on the row. If your Bible just happens to be blue and white. I can't guarantee what page this will be on. The saying is trustworthy. If anyone aspires to the office of overseer.

He desires a noble task. Some of you should want to be an elder. And that's good. If you want to be an elder. We have a pastor training process. I'd love to talk to you about that.

Some of you are being called to be elders. You should be. Therefore. An overseer. So what we're reading through.

Is he's going to give. What pastors should look like. What elders should look like. Characteristics. Qualifications. Therefore.

An overseer. Must be above reproach. The husband of one wife. That phrase in Greek means a one woman man. So you don't have to be married.

But you can't be chasing women. Multiple. All the time. Women. Pornography is an issue. Like.

That. That. If it was. Had to be married. That would exclude Paul. And Jesus.

Timothy. That would be a problem. So you don't have to be married. If you are married. One wife. Husband of one wife.

Or one woman man. Sober minded. Self controlled. Respectable. Hospitable. Able to teach.

We're going to come back to that one. Not a drunkard. Not violent. But gentle. Not quarrelsome. Not a lover of money.

He must manage his own household well. With all dignity. Keeping his children submissive. For someone does not know how to manage his own household. How will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert.

Or he may become puffed up with conceit. And fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover. He must be well thought of by outsiders. So that he may not fall into disgrace.

Into a snare of the devil. The only thing in that list. That was a skill. Was the ability to teach. Everything else was character. That's why our pastor and training process.

First of all. We believe that as a local church. We're supposed to equip the saints. So that we should be having more pastors. And church planters. And missionaries come out of our church.

We believe if that doesn't happen. We're not doing this correctly. Our pastor and training process. Is long. And we move slowly. One of the things we say.

Is that we want to move more slowly. Than we want to move. Like we want that to take longer. Than we'd like for it to take. Because it's character qualifications. That's why it bothers me.

With all the float your resume out. And go talk to some people. And give them a DVD of your preaching. And then you can go be their pastor. Creeps me out. That's scary.

Because I interview really well. Firm handshake. A lot of eye contact. Repeat people's names. I could be crazy. Some of you know.

I kind of am. Like there's. There's character. That's why we take very long time. When we first. One of the things we see in the church.

In the New Testament. Is that churches are started. And then later they have elders. When we first started. Matt and I were working together. To start this church plan.

But we were just leading. In community groups. We were not elders. We started in. March of 2013. Was our first group.

It was eight people. Together in my house. We did not officially say. Hey we. We want to put ourselves forward. As elders.

Until January. The following year. Raz Bradley. Many of y'all know him. He's been. Officially.

In pastor and training. Since January. Of 2015. And he's still not a pastor. Because we're taking it slow. Trying to get to know him.

It's just character qualifications. And here's the truth. If he was freaking out. About having to be a pastor. That would scare us. If he came to us.

And said. All right guys. Y'all need to give me. It's like. No. If he.

If he can't handle. Not being some kind of title. Or something. That's scary. So we just get to keep walking.

And every once in a while. We go and say. Hey man. Let's talk about this. He's like. Man.

I'm not in any hurry. At some point. You might just have to say. No. You're going to have to be a pastor now. Quit putting this off.

And being lazy. Like we may have to have that conversation. But we just take it slow. Because it's character qualifications. Which have to take time to see. You got to see people in different situations.

To learn that they're. A little bit crazy. Like you got to go to lunch with somebody. And see them. Have a terrible waitress. And see how they handle it.

Because we got to find out about character. You got to be around their family. You got to be around their kids. Okay. We believe that elders should be. There should be multiple elders.

That it's based way more off of character. Than ability. That's why we see so many pastors flame out. In the U.S. Is because we love ability. People's abilities outpace their character.

And that's a problem. We believe it's good. Healthy. Designed to defend. And equip the church. Okay.

Deacons. That word is another cognate. Kind of like the word baptism. It just means servant. So when we see it in scripture.

And it says deacon. Or if you see the word servant. That's the same word. So sometimes we don't know. If they're talking about. Like an official title.

Servant. Or just. A descriptive word. Servant. But in the church.

We have elders. Deacons. And members. Deacons. We don't know much about. But keep reading.

Because he's going to give some qualifications for them. Deacons likewise. Must be dignified. Not double tongued. Not addicted to much wine. Not greedy for dishonest gain.

They must hold the mystery of the faith. With a clear conscience. Let them also be tested first. Then let them serve as deacons. If they prove themselves blameless. Okay.

Beginning in verse 11. I want to explain this. And how we think about it. Their wives likewise. Must be dignified. And he begins to give qualifications.

For as our text reads. Their wives. The word in Greek. For woman. And for wife. Is the exact same word.

So whenever it's translated wife. Or it's translated woman. It's based only off of context. This has been traditionally translated as wife. But could just as easily.

And it fits in the sentence. Just as easily to be translated as women also. It makes sense to me. And as we have prayed over this. And looked at it. That that is actually referring to female deacons.

Not the wives of male deacons. And the reason being. Elder is. Talked about much more in scripture. And is a higher office in the church. And it does not give any qualifications.

For the wives of elders. So it seems odd. To have qualifications. For the wives of deacons. Even though it mentions wives. And families of elders.

And not give qualifications. For their wives. So what we believe. Is that deacons. Are lead servant roles in the church. That can be male or female.

We believe that elders. Is a male only office. We also firmly believe. That doesn't have anything to do. With intelligence or ability. We believe it has something to do.

With creation. And God's specific call. And design for masculinity. And for femininity. And we do believe. That elders should be males.

But even personal experience. Would say that doesn't. Not at all. Because we think men are smarter or better. Some of them. Some of them not so much.

And there have been a lot of churches. That have been led by females. That I think have done. A really good Job. So if you say.

Well I know a woman pastor. Who's great. I don't doubt it. I do believe. That it was designed. For that to be a male only role.

Just like you may know. A single mother. Who's crushing it. But biblically. They're designed. For there to be a father.

There in the home. Doing what fathers are supposed to do. So we believe that. Men are supposed to lead. In the church. And the family.

And we don't believe. That negates all leadership roles. For females. Everywhere else. But we do believe.

That deacons can be male or female. Because it's a lead servant role. The word just means servant. Ministry leaders. I'll tell you how that kind of works. Here in a second.

So their wives likewise. Must be dignified. We would read that as women. Likewise must be dignified. Not slanderers. But sober minded.

Faithful in all things. Let deacons each be the husband. Of one wife. So again. Males be one woman men. Manage their children.

And their households well. For those who serve well as deacons. Gain a good standing. For themselves. And also great confidence. In the faith.

That is in Christ Jesus. There is not a whole lot of instruction given for deacons. And really. It's people who lead in the church by serving. And they can kind of do anything. God is smart enough to give a lot of wiggle room there.

So we believe we can have a deacon who runs all of our social media. That they lead by serving there. And if that was in here. That would be weird. Later. There is going to be a thing called the internet.

And it is going to be helpful for sharing the gospel. And deacons can do that. Like this just doesn't spell everything out. And that is fine. We believe that elders have a specific role that hasn't changed. Defend and equip.

And that deacons can kind of do anything. Our group leaders are deacons. Our kid city leaders are deacons. Some of our worship leaders are deacons. We just hold them to those standards. Talk about it.

But we don't use that term a lot. I know that if you have grown up in some churches. That may really mess with your head. We can discuss that later. If you have not grown up in church. This is what the Bible says.

So let's rock on. For us. And for the church. Currently we have two elders. We have one pastor in training. We want to have more elders here.

I'm an elder. Matt's an elder. We have deacons who are group leaders. We have leaders in training. Who are training to be deacons. That's being tested first.

And then if they prove blameless. To get to keep doing it. We have deacons that lead in other aspects of our church. The rest of all of us. Every single person in this room. Should be a member.

Should belong to this church. And so I'm going to talk a little bit about what we mean by the word member. And how we're going to apply that here. So you can stay here. Or you can go to 1 Corinthians. We're only going to read two kind of basic passages on this.

And I'll have that on the screen. 1 Corinthians chapter 12. To just explain a little bit about how the church ought to work. So the church is all the people who belong to Jesus. All of us should be Christians. Should be Batman at different times.

Equipped to serve and do ministry. There are things I do just because I'm a Christian. Not because I'm a pastor. Things we all do because we're Christians. And then we all should belong to one another. And so here's kind of what I want us to see.

One of the I think misconceptions that people have is that in the New Testament church. They really didn't have any kind of formal who was in and who was out. Didn't know who was a part of their church and who wasn't. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense. First of all throughout the New Testament. It says they added to their number.

It talks about putting people on rolls. I think we just assume because it was way back in the day. They didn't write stuff down. Talks about putting things on rolls. It talks about having a majority at one point when they do some church discipline. It talks about removing people from your number or removing people from your local congregation.

So it seems as if they knew who was in, who was around, who was a part of their church. And in their culture there was no benefit of being a part of a church unless you were a Christian. In our culture it's a little bit different. You want to run for office? You need to probably have been a part of a church. Some of that's changing which is good.

But culturally we're all kind of Christians around here even though people don't know what that word means. So here 1 Corinthians 12 verse 12. I just want to show us this. For just as the body is one. So physical body is what he's talking about.

And has many members. He's talking about all your body parts. And all the members of the body, though many, are one body. So it is with Christ. And then he goes into this long section about how that plays out. And we'll talk that through in just a second.

That applies to the whole earth-wide church. That we are one body in Christ. It specifically and particularly applies to our local church. So in hanging out with us this morning today is a missionary from Guatemala. His name is Mr. Rolando.

He's part of the body of Christ. Just getting to hang out with us today. He's a body of Christ with us in Guatemala. And I'm sorry if that made you uncomfortable. People might be looking for you now. So sorry about that.

He's part of the body of Christ. But in particular, Paul's writing this letter to a local church. And he's saying, you are one body together. And so here's what all of us ought to do. Every Christian everywhere ought to be a member. Just like you'd be a, your body is members of itself in a local church.

You should belong. It's the best way to put that. You should belong to a local church the same way that your hand belongs to your eye. Does that sound weird to say? That's what Paul says. He goes through this list and says, if a foot says, because I'm not a hand, I'm not a part of the body, that's not true.

If a hand says, because I'm not an eye, I'm not a part of the body, that's not true. And what he says is, no, everybody is a part of the body. Everybody belongs. And he ends it with this. Jump down to verse 27 and 26. 26 and 27 is how we'll read it because of how Numbers work.

If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together. You are a body of Christ and individually members of it.

You should have a group of people, if you are a Christian, that you belong to and that belong to you. All Christians should be a part of a body so that if one member suffers, you suffer. And if one is honored, you rejoice. That's how that's supposed to work. Now, does that take commitment? Yes.

Does that mean you have to actually know real humans? Yes. Do Americans like this? I don't think so. One more question. Do I care?

Not really. I don't like this sometimes. I think it's biblical. So I think it's good. I think it's something we ought to do. And here's what I've seen in churches that I think is a major problem.

We belong to a church as long as there's honoring and rejoicing. As soon as the suffering comes along, because of a bunch of local churches around here, we just go to another one. As soon as the difficulty comes along, we pack up and move. I don't know your specific situation. I don't know how that's played out in the past. But I know that in this passage, it says that we should belong to a group of people so that when they suffer, we suffer.

And so they are honored, we rejoice. You should belong to a group of people that when they hurt, you hurt with them. And that takes energy and that takes effort and that takes sweat and pain. But it's what we're supposed to do. So every Christian should be equipped and doing the works of ministry.

Every Christian should belong to a group of people. I don't know if that has to be here, but it should be somewhere if you're a Christian. So when Christians say, it's just me and Jesus, it's like you haven't been talking to him lately because he disagrees with you. You should be a part of a local group where you belong to a body where you suffer alongside of them. That also means that if the church suffers globally, we should suffer with them. But it does mean locally as well.

All right, Hebrews 13, 17. One more thing that I think applies to all of us as we are Christians. And again, kind of addressing this. First of all, the New Testament is written to the church. So we covered a good bit of ground on what the Bible says about elders because it says a good bit about elders in different places.

The rest of the New Testament, though, is written to the church. It's written to Christians and how Christians ought to organize and act and be. And so I'm just covering a few things as it comes to the organization of belonging to a local church as we talk through this. But really, the whole New Testament is written to members, to saints, to Christians. Hebrews 13, verse 17. Verse 17.

Verse 17. Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. A couple of quick observations from this. He starts off with obey your leaders. If you are a Christian, you should know who those are.

You should have leaders that belong to you. They're yours. That doesn't mean all Christian authors. It doesn't mean anybody you see on the TV that's holding a Bible. It means local leaders that you know. You should have local people that are your leaders, that you belong to and that belong to you.

That's healthy for a Christian. Okay, now he says some stuff though about them that I personally don't really like. I wish he had said it differently and I'll explain that in a second. Obey your leaders and submit to them. When I was not a pastor, I actually found that passage pretty nice. I thought it was pretty refreshing and I'll explain why.

When I was at Midtown Fellowship, I did a year-long residency in Midtown before we planted this church. Showed up. I thought I was going to pretty much disagree with most of what they did. Learned some things from them and then we would go plant. When I showed up, I thought everything they did was great for the most part. Like it was, they were trying to be the church and I loved it.

Love those guys. They're over in Columbia. If you get mad at us, go hop in with them. They're great. But you probably, never mind.

There's issues with what I just said, but whatever. If we get mad at you, we'll send you to them. After a while, I realized that there was nine pastors that they loved Jesus, that they loved his church, that they loved his word. And so what I decided was these are my leaders and I submit to them. And here's why. At some point, I was going to go to them and say, hey guys, I think I'm ready to plant.

Because they were doing training with me. I was going to say, hey, I think I'm ready to go. I think I'm ready. Matt and I are going to go. We're going to go start this church. And here's what I knew would happen if I hadn't predetermined in my brain that those were my leaders and I was submitting to them.

If they said, man, we think you're ready. We think you're ready. We co-sign on this. We think Jesus is at work here. We think you should go. My response would have been, man.

These guys love Jesus. And they're smart. And the gods at work in them. And they're great. And I trust them. And I submit to them.

And I follow them. And if they'd have looked at me and said, bro, you don't need to do this. You're not ready. This is a terrible idea. We're going to show up at y'all's first gatherings and tell people to go home. Don't do this.

My response would have been, what did these idiots know? They know nothing. I'm a genius. They are morons. I love Jesus. They do not.

I'm reading the Bibles correctly. They are not. Like, I would have had this immediate prideful response to them. But what I was able to do was beforehand just said, I trust these guys because I've seen Jesus at work in them. I've seen how they study the scriptures. I see how they care.

I see how there's a pattern of following Christ here. And I'm going to obey and submit to them. And what that set me free from my own sinful reaction. And it gave me the ability to win. If I stood before God and he said, hey, you were supposed to start this church here and you didn't, I would have said yes. But Hebrews 13, 17 says for me to obey my leaders.

And that's what I was doing. And then he would say, well done, Bible reader slash follower. And then he would go talk to them. That's how I think that would go down. Because I would just be saying, I was just trying to follow the Bible. I was trying to do what it said, which was I'm submitting to them.

Now I'm a pastor. And that verse is terrifying. Because he says, he gives a reason why you should follow your leadership. Obey your leaders, submit to them for they are keeping watch over your souls. As those who will have to give an account. I don't know what that's going to look like.

I don't know if we're going to go group by group. I don't know if we're going to go year by year, name by name. I know that I will stand before the king of the universe and give an account for souls. And I wish now that that verse was framed a little differently. This is one of the reasons why we have multiple pastors here. Because on that day, I want to have a group of men standing beside me that say, we studied together.

We worked together. We tried together. We tried to figure out who was there. Who was under our leadership that you'd given us to shepherd and to care for. And we worked really hard. This is why I want a group of men who will stand toe to toe with me and shout me down.

Raz Bradley, who's in our pastor and training process, went to work. Left work. Came to an office. We argued for two and a half hours about membership for our church and what that should look like. And then he went to a kickball game because he's trying to build relationships with people who love Jesus, to help people love Jesus. And I texted him when I got home and I said, thank you so much for caring enough to come argue with me after work.

And he responded any day. Matt Freeman worked all day, went to Glen Forest to do golf practice, and then came over there because he knew we'd been arguing for two hours and wanted to come help us resolve that. He didn't help, but he showed up. Christians, you should have a place where you get to be equipped, where you belong to a group of people who belong to you so that when they're honored, you're honored. And you have something to celebrate. And when they suffer, you get right in and suffer with them.

And you should have leaders that you follow and that you challenge and that you love enough that when you think they're wrong, you don't leave. You tell them. You say, hey, I'm reading the scriptures. I've been talking to the other people in our group. You're going to be held accountable for this. And I think you're wrong.

That you care about enough that they're your leaders so that you come to them and talk to them. That doesn't have to be here. I know what goes on here. I believe this is a good place for it to be. But it's got to be somewhere.

All of us need to be doing the work of ministry as Batman. We need to belong to a group of people. And we need to belong to some leaders. We would be confused and have done this poorly if we didn't make it to Jesus. Matthew 20. He is the example of leadership for us.

He shows us what leadership in the church ought to look like. This is one of my favorite passages because I think it's just so clear. Matthew 20. If you want to go there in your Bibles, it's page 535. We'll have it on the screen. I love this because James and John have their mom come ask Jesus a question.

Happy Mother's Day. You knew it was going to show up. No, you didn't. But it's here. James and John go to their mom. And they're like, Mom, will you ask Jesus something for us?

So their mom comes and asks Jesus if they can be sitting at his right and left hand in his glory. They don't really know what they're asking for. I don't think she really knows what she's asking for. But they ask because they thought he was going to be a king. And they wanted to be right and left hand men. And I hope, the Bible doesn't say this, but I hope that the rest of the disciples never let them live that down.

So they'd be like, where'd Jesus go? And Peter would look at them and be like, I don't know why you have your mom asking. I just hope that happens every day. Like it was brought up just once a day. Not to be annoying, but once a day to remind them you had to have your mom come talk to Jesus for you. But they come ask Jesus, can we be in charge over everybody, basically.

And they have their mom do it because they figure he'll yell at us, but he won't yell at you. This is what Jesus says in response to them. He calls them all together because the other ten were mad, which makes sense. And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles, that's the rest of the people around them, not the Jews, but the Gentiles, the non-Jews.

Lord it over them and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant. And whoever would be first among you must be your slave. Even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. The King of the universe left his throne to go to a cross.

To be a servant and a slave for his people. And that is the model for Christian leadership. One of the rules we have here is you don't get to lead anything unless you can take the trash out. If you can't help move chairs, if you can't do any Job at all, if you can't just do whatever anybody asks of you, you don't get to lead anything because you don't realize what Christian leadership is. It seems like you've risen up. You've actually gone further down.

You went from servant to slave and from slavery to death. There should only be a handful of elders in a local church because there should only be a handful of people who are serving in a way to equip and defend the church. And everybody else should be on mission as missionaries to their city and to their neighbors and to their co-workers. God has designed his church to do the work of the ministry, to do the work of reconciliation, to be on mission. And there should only be a handful of people that are working to serve and equip them and defend them. There should be a handful of deacons who are helping lead ministries and serve in those capacities because the whole church is supposed to be at work.

But all of us, all Christian leadership is service, slavery, and death because Jesus, the son of the living God, came and died on our behalf that we might be free and that we might have life and we might have hope. And any Christian leader who thinks, I'm rising up the ladder, I'm going to make a name for myself, I'm going to get some glory, has completely forgotten and lost what the gospel is about, which is that the king of glory became our shame and our guilt and was crushed on our behalf so that we could just have hope and life and joy and peace and be a family. The band is going to come back up. We're going to sing and make much of Jesus.

I would encourage you to find a church where you can belong, to a group of people that when they get a promotion, you feel like you got promoted. When something good happens in their life, you're excited. When they hurt, you hurt. When they lose sleep, you lose sleep. I'd encourage you to find a church where you can have leaders that you trust and submit to and follow. That you know, love and follow Jesus.

And I pray for our church that we would be filled with great Christians. Because Jesus says to be great among us is to be a servant and a slave to all. And I pray that this room is filled with great Christians. Who know that their role is to serve and to slave away on the behalf of others. Let's pray.

God, I pray that you'd help us to be a healthy church. A healthy group of your people on earth. That we would love one another. That we would be committed to one another. That we would belong to one another. As your people.

Help us to lead well by serving well. By being slaves to you and to one another. May we die to ourselves for your name and for your glory. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Bible

Bible

Chet Phillips

Transcript

Good morning. I feel like I have so much room up here. Just run back and forth. We are in the fifth week of our Home Sweet Home series where we're looking at the church and we're trying to understand who the church is, how the church ought to act, how the church ought to practice, how the church ought to, to what we ought to do, what we ought to look like. And so we spent some time talking about that we're the church because of what Jesus has accomplished for us, that the church are the people distinctly loved and saved by Jesus. And that when that happens, we begin to love and we begin to pursue certain things.

We begin to change. We're made different by His work in us. That the church then relates to one another as family, that we are made into a new people of God. And we've just kind of been walking through. And last week we spent some time saying that the church practices baptism and communion for specific purposes, that God's gifted the church with that. And today we're going to talk about something that's actually very important for us to understand, for us to study.

So today we will be, we'll spend most of our time, when we're in Scripture, in 2 Timothy 3. It's going to take us a minute to get there. So I just wanted you to know, if you're like me, and 10, 15 minutes into this thing, you're going, bro, if you don't open the Bible, I'm going to fight you. Like, we're going to get there. We're going to 2 Timothy 3. If you want to turn there, you can.

But it's going to be a minute before you get to read anything out of it, because we're going to be picking up there in a minute. But here's what we're talking about today. Every week, we get together and we say, grab your Bibles, go to such and such a place. I don't know, hypothetically, 2 Timothy 3. It's on page 646 in your Bible, if your Bible looks like this. We'll say something along the lines of, if your Bible doesn't look like this, best of luck to you.

But the assumption is, you're going to somewhere in your Bible. We're going to take some time, and we're going to read this, and we're going to talk about what it means and how it applies to us. For 45 minutes to an hour, we're going to open this up and talk about it. Honestly, the way we structure our sermons is we want them short enough to be bearable and long enough to matter. But we're taking the Bible, and we're going to study it.

When we sit down and do counseling as a church family, we're going to open this up. As Christians, we're going to open this, read it, and then make decisions based off of what it says. What we're going to do with our lives, what we're going to do with our relationships, how we're going to handle something that's currently facing us. We trust Scripture. We go to Scripture. And here's the question.

Can we? When you read Scripture, do you know that it can be trusted? Because in our culture, and currently there's a lot of arguments against that, against the trustworthiness of Scripture, against the truthfulness of Scripture. And so today, we're going to take a minute to just try to say and explain clearly that we believe that Scripture is trustworthy, sufficient, authoritative, and powerful. That we believe Scripture is trustworthy, sufficient, authoritative, and powerful. And that is the church believes that about this text.

I'm going to pray, and then we're going to begin talking about this this morning. God, we thank you for your word. We thank you for Scripture that you've blessed the church with, that we can trust, that we can lean into, that we can make decisions based off of, that we can believe. God, I pray that you'd help us to see clearly some real reasons for that this morning. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Some of y'all maybe have seen this meme. Maybe you haven't, but I'm just going to be on the screen. I'm going to read this quote. Maybe you've seen this on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, some of y'all on your MySpace page. Back when the Bible was written, then edited, then rewritten, then rewritten, then re-edited, then translated from dead languages, then re-translated, then edited, then re-written, then given to kings for them to take their favorite parts, then re-written, then re-re-written, then translated again, then given to the Pope for him to approve, then re-written, then edited again, then re-re-re-re-re-written.

Again, all based on stories that were told orally 30 to 90 years after they happened to people who didn't know how to write. So I guess what I'm saying is the Bible is literally the world's oldest game of telephone. That's a quote from David Cross in a stand-up routine that he did. Now I'm like you. I get a lot of my information from stand-up comments. Especially ones that's major role was playing a never-nude on Arrested Development.

And if you don't get that reference, probably not worth looking up. But it's not bad because he was never-nude. Alright, we're going to keep moving. If that's true, keep that up there for a second. If that's true, what we're doing right now is an utter waste of time. We should have all slept in.

It was raining. Some of you right now, even though you don't believe that, are like, I should have slept in. It's raining. It would have been wonderful. But if that's true, what are we doing?

Why would we study this? Why would we trust it? Why would we believe it? Why would we look at each other and say, no, you can't do that. Or you should make decisions based off of this. Or you should read this and pray about this and follow this.

Like, why would we do that if this is true? So here's what we're going to do for just a minute before we get into our passage that we're going to look at today in 2 Timothy because we've got to answer the question of when we're reading this, what are we reading? So before we get to 2 Timothy, we've got to do just a little bit of background information. And so we're going to do something that I don't think he messed with much. We're going to look at facts. All right, let's do that.

All right, so the first question is, how do we as humans, how do historians know history? How do we have the information that we have about things that we did not see happen? It's easier now. Well, my wife and I have been watching this documentary on the 60s and it's very interesting, but they're talking about that in the 60s is when people really started trusting and believing in their televisions. That there were, that was really the JFK assassination that people in America realized the best thing for me to do is to turn a television on. But it's easier now because people can show us pictures.

We're even starting to learn now that like even the pictures and the videos that you see aren't always exactly what they were portrayed to be. But how do we know things that nobody videoed? How do we know things that we can't see? How does history go about doing this? So here's what we want.

We want a document that was written down, that was well preserved. We want what they originally wrote. The best thing that we would want is actually, so if we're going to read what Plato said, we want the stuff that came off of his pen. We want the actual one that he wrote in his handwriting. That's known as an autograph. When it comes to the Bible, we don't have any autographs.

We don't have the stuff that came actually out of John's writing. We don't have the stuff that actually came out of Paul's handwriting. We don't have that. We don't have autographs on anything from this time period. So don't feel bad.

So if you don't have the original one, the original document, the thing that Matthew wrote down, what you want is one that was hand copied from that. That's called a manuscript. So you want someone who sat down with Matthew's document, hand copied it. Then we know that that gets passed out. Other people are going to hand copy from that one because they didn't have a printing press. So everything that was prior to the printing press is a manuscript.

If we can get them, then we want them to be dated, the copies that we have, the manuscripts that we have, as close to as possible as to when the first one was written. So, something about the Roman Empire. If we have a copy, a manuscript, of something that one of their historians wrote and we have it within 200 years, we have one copy within 200 years of when the first one was written, we got a pretty decent idea. This is probably fairly close to what was originally written, probably fairly well. I mean, nobody would take the time to write out a manuscript if they weren't trying to at least pass on what was originally written.

So we've got a pretty good idea. If we've got 12 of them, well now we can compare them to each other. We can say, all 12 say the same thing or six of them say this and six of them say that and then we can try to decide timeline on the documents that we have. If we have 100 of them, it makes it easier. When it comes to the New Testament, when it comes to the Old Testament, let's talk about the Old Testament in just a second. We'll spend more of our time on the New Testament.

Old Testament text was, let me go back one step further. When you were holding this, you're holding a book that is 66 books written by 40 authors over the time span of 1500 years in three continents and in three languages. Most of it written in Hebrew and Greek. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, the New Testament was written in Greek, certain sections were written in Aramaic. But it's 66 books written by 40 authors over the course of 1500 years that tells one really big cohesive story.

And it is written as a redemptive history of God and humanity. That's the point. The Old Testament, the canon of the Old Testament just means the set amount of books that were going to be in it was closed, meaning they weren't adding anything to it by the time of Jesus. It had actually been closed for a couple hundred years. They said, the Jewish people, this is what's in the Old Testament and that's it. We've got some history books, we've got some books explaining the Old Testament, but these are the ones that we believe were written by God.

These are our scriptures. We have about 14,000 copies of the Hebrew Old Testament. 14,000 manuscripts, handwritten manuscripts of the Hebrew Old Testament. They were all relatively not close to when they were originally written because they were written hundreds of years B.C. In 1947, they found a place called Qumram, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and they realized, oh, the Bible's written on this. I remember I had a professor in a seminary, really old guy, and this was pivotal for him and he said, I remember when they said they found the scrolls and I told myself, I don't care what they say, I'm still going to believe the Bible.

And it was just like, yeah, it's good, but what if they said completely like the opposite stuff, like we would have some problems here. So they said, oh, we realize that this has got the Old Testament on it and it's dated way earlier than the manuscripts we have. These are much older and so there was this excitement of like, we're going to figure out what the Bible actually says because we're going to realize that people went in and edited and rewritten and rewrote and translated and did all this stuff and you know what they came out and said? It says the same as the other ones. What y'all's Bible says is right in the Old Testament.

So let's just talk about the New Testament. We have 5,760 Greek copies of the New Testament. 5,760 Greek handwritten manuscripts that we can compare to one another. Some of them and they're not full copies, some of them parchments that just have a certain section date to within 30 to 50 years of the original document. Some of these manuscripts were copied down while the people who wrote the original were still alive. But we have 5,760 in Greek.

We have 10,000 Latin Vulgates which was the first translation from the Greek into Latin. We have 10,000 handwritten copies of the Latin Vulgate. We have 9,300 in other languages mostly Comptic and Syriac. So here's what we get to do. He said it's a game of telephone. You ever play the game of telephone?

You have professors say this. They say, we know that the Bible. Ever played telephone? One person is told a sentence and then he whispers it into the ear of this other person. This isn't my same professor. This is a different professor.

They talk similar for some reason. And he whispers it into the ear of this person and the ear of this person and the ear of this person. And by the time we get to the end the sentence is nowhere near what was originally whispered. And if it's like Mail-in-Many School it's because that kid made up a whole new sentence in the middle just for the heck of it. He wanted to make it seem like the teacher said something offensive about Billy. He gets to the end and says, I heard Billy's an idiot.

And it's like, oh, the teacher said you're an idiot. Sorry. But we're told this. The only way that makes sense is if when they translated the ESVs which is what we hold on Sundays some of you have different versions. It's the one in the row there. If they went back to the New King James and if the New King James had gone back to the King James and if the King James had gone to the Geneva Bible and the Geneva Bible had gone back to the Latin Vulgate and the Latin Vulgate had gone to the Greek.

But the problem is when they translated this they looked at 5,760 Greek copies. They went to the original. So if the telephone game was everyone has the teacher whisper the thing in their ear sure it's not a fun game. It's called let the teacher tell you a sentence game. That's what we've got. And we can compare the 5,760 Greek copies to the 10,000 Latin copies what we can do is we can compare them to each other and say does this Greek copy say the same thing as this Greek copy?

Does this Latin copy say the same thing as all these other Latin copies? Do these Compton copies say all the same things as the other Compton copies? Do the Syriac copies say all the same things as the Syriac copies? When you translate them into different languages do they say the same thing? We get to do that with the New Testament. Now just to help you see how this compares to other documents from this time period.

The second most well-attested document in antiquity is Homer's Iliad. Some of y'all read that in middle school high school Homer's Iliad. We have less than 1,800 copies. We have 5,760 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. We have less than 1,800 of Homer's Iliad. The closest one to when Homer first wrote that down is 2,000 years.

We're within 30 to 50 years. Julius Caesar's the Gallic Wars which is what we know about Caesar. We have 10 manuscripts. The earliest one is within 1,000 years. So when they stood up and told you stuff about Julius Caesar 10 manuscripts within 1,000 years.

And they didn't start by saying now we know that this was probably written and rewritten and re-edited and is probably pure nonsense at this point but you'll be tested on it. Julius Caesar. They didn't do that. They said this is what's true about Julius Caesar. Pliny the Younger. Y'all love that guy.

He wrote Natural History which is we learn stuff about Rome. We have about 200 manuscripts within 750 years. Thucydides history which we learn a lot about Greece from. We have eight manuscripts within about 1,300 years. Herodotus history we have about eight manuscripts. That's where we learn a lot about Persia, Egypt, and Greece.

Eight manuscripts within about 1,000 years. Everything we have from Plato seven manuscripts within 1,300 years. Everything we know about Socrates we got nothing that Socrates wrote. We've got the seven manuscripts that Plato wrote and he taught us some things about Socrates. Aristotle's Poetics we got less than 10 within 1,400 years. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales we got about 80 copies.

Greek New Testament we've got 5,760 just in Greek 10,000 in Latin 9,000 in Syriac and Compton. Okay. Oh, one more. I love this stat. Livy wrote 142 books on Roman history. We have about 35 of those that survived in the form of 20 manuscripts.

We're pretty sure one of those 20 only survived because the book of Hebrews was written on the back of it. So you're welcome, Livy. The Bible saved one of your books. And we believe the Bible saves. Okay, sorry. Jesus saves through the Bible.

Anyway. All in all, we have about 25,000 manuscripts. Handwritten copies. Now, obviously, these have to be just written with they just say all different things, right? Like the Syriac, the Comptic, the Latin, the Greek. They're all all over the place.

They are not. 94% is the exact same. If we all got a piece of paper and a pen and had to copy down, I don't know, the New Testament and we got within 94% in the same room at the same time, that's a win. Let's go get ice cream. You copied well. You took minimal bathroom breaks.

You stayed focused the whole time. 94% word for word exact same. At least 6%. Okay, now we got to talk. 3% of that 6% is just like obvious errors. Like it's nonsense.

It's a misspelled word. Sometimes like where it would be verse 12 and then it would be verse 13. It goes verse 12 and then it starts back up at verse 9 and goes back through. So we just know, okay, this guy got confused. He picked up a word. He was like, oh no, I started this verse.

He's like, I'm just going to finish it and just make it seem like this is twice as important. That leaves 3% that are some words in different orders. Sometimes it's a whole different section just put in a different place. We have some that your Bible will say this verse is in a different spot. What we're able to do with that 3% is we start comparing timeline and we say, oh, it looks like somebody added this verse to help explain this section about 600 years later but all the ones back here don't have it. So we know this is more close to what was originally written.

It comes down to about one half of 1% that we're really not sure. One half of 1%. 99.5% of the Bible we're pretty sure is exactly the words they wrote when we look at the Greek. And the other 0.5% has nothing to do with a major point of doctrine. It's not sections where it's like, oh, maybe Jesus didn't rise. No, it's in some sections where if they took it out we'd have the exact same thing we have. when you look at this New Testament, this Old Testament, what you are holding is an English translation from the Greek and Hebrew words that they wrote down.

That's important. When we talk about the Bible's trustworthy, we're really asking two questions. Are we reading what they wrote? Then we have to ask, is what they wrote true? So are we reading what they wrote?

Is what they wrote true? The second thing that comes in here though, the second pushback that you'll hear often is yeah, okay, so you may say that y'all have the most well-attested to document in antiquity, which you do. And nobody's really disputing that at this point, except for David Cross. A handful of other people. You can look it up yourself. Would love for you to.

Nobody's really disputing that this is the most well-attested to document in antiquity. But people do say, okay, yeah, yeah, but they got together a couple hundred years later and they all just picked the books they wanted. And there's a whole bunch of other books that say other things that they just left out because they didn't like them. They took the books that said Jesus was God, they kept those, they edited some of them, which we know they didn't because we've got the older manuscripts, but then they took ones that didn't say Jesus was God and they left those out because they were against them.

They didn't want people to have that. Heard this argument? There's books left out? Okay. Just like the Da Vinci Code, some of those different ones talk about this. The Jesus Seminar, which they called it the Jesus Seminar and then they got together and denied the divinity of Jesus so your seminar didn't go well.

Here's the thing. The answer to that question or that rebuttal to the they left a bunch of books out is nope. They didn't really leave out any actual contenders to anything. By the time they got together at the Council of Nicaea, which was a couple hundred years later, they basically were saying, hey, some random spurious books, some random made-up books are starting to show up. We need to go ahead and just say, clearly, these are the ones that the church has always had. If anything, there was some debate over some of the books that are in here.

The Bible would have been less, not more. There were a couple of books that were written a little bit later, like the book of Revelation was written in the 90s. The first, second, third John were written kind of late. So there was some discussion about whether or not third John should be in there. There was some discussion about whether or not Hebrews should be in there because they don't know who wrote it. But they basically said, which are the ones that say what we've always said, have apostolic authority, we can go back and know who wrote them, which are the ones the church has been using.

We've got, there was a guy who wrote the Acts of Paul and 3 Corinthians in the second century. They, they, basically, the third Corinthians showed up and the Acts of Paul showed up. It was like people were, were passing off bootleg copies of the Bible. Hey, third Corinthians has been hidden but I found it. This is the real deal right here. It's like, why are you darting back and forth?

Just hint, like what is this? Like they, they started just passing these out. It'd be kind of like, it's a hundred years later, it'd be kind of like, um, if I came out now and said, I've got the real declaration of independence. It was Herbie Hancock, John Hancock's brother wrote the whole thing. They don't want you to know about it because of the government. Y'all would say, oh, okay, good.

Let's say I was able to get on the news. You know what would happen? They'd do some research and then they'd say, no. So books started showing up, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Bartholomew, third Corinthians, Acts of Paul. They basically, they found out that a guy really liked Paul so he wrote the Acts of Paul in third Corinthians. He was a pastor and they de-pastored him.

There's a letter with Tertullian's writing to someone else and he's like, we figured out who wrote that. He doesn't get to be a pastor anymore. It's poor pastoring. So if I get up here and I'm like, hey, I got fourth Timothy. Let's do this.

Y'all should de-pastor me. Um, okay, how do we know this? Uh, one of the ways that we know which books of the Bible should be in the books of the Bible and one of the ways that we know that the Bible is what was originally written is we can read the letters of the early church leaders. They quote the Bible 36,000 times. By year 150 AD, the only book of the Bible that was not quoted as a book of the Bible, was not quoted as Scripture and given authority in one of those letters from early church leaders is 3 John. By 150 AD, every other book of the Bible has been quoted.

By 300 AD, there's 36,000 quotes from the Bible. We could almost recreate the New Testament without any of the manuscripts just by looking at the letters of the first Christians. They wrote commentaries on Scripture. When you hold this, you hold what was originally written and you hold what was always understood to be Scripture. Now, best kept document in antiquity. it's trustworthy that you're reading what they wrote, which is good. The other half is, is what they wrote true?

So what we know is that Matthew sat down and he wrote that Jesus walked on water, that Jesus fed 5,000 people, that Jesus had people, made blind people see that Jesus died and rose from the grave. We know he wrote that. The question is, did Jesus? Is what he wrote true? Now, we could, there's a few questions we have to ask when we're asking that question. One is, have we disproven this?

Can we obviously see that the Bible just has some really fake stuff in it? It's got 23,000, we've done about 23,000 archaeological digs, none of which have disproven the Bible. Somebody, there's a quote of an archaeologist, he said, one of the best ways to base an archaeological dig is to base it off of Scripture because Scripture has accurately told us where places are who was where, who was in charge when. We've done 23,000. The reason, if they had disproven the Bible, you would know. They found something, they come out every once in a while and like, we found Jesus' body.

You've seen this on the news? And then at the end of the show, it's like when they're looking for the giant squid or whatever. They're like, we're going to find the giant squid. You watch it for an hour and at the end, they're like, the giant squid has eluded us once again. And it's like, why did I watch this for an hour? You watch that show about we found Jesus' body.

They get to the end and they're like, probably not. Not really. It's not him. But thanks for watching our show. We can say it doesn't contradict itself. We can say that what it says, it continues to say the same thing.

It gives the same testimony throughout. Other than that, when it comes to the truthfulness of Scripture, we can't really prove it. we can say what Scripture believes about itself, what the authors thought, what Jesus thought. So let me tell you a little bit about what Jesus thinks just from passages in Scripture. Jesus says Scripture cannot be broken. He says that heaven and earth will pass away but not a dot will pass away from the law. He's talking about the Old Testament.

He attributed a Psalm of David to being written in the Holy Spirit. So Jesus says that that Psalm of David was written by the authority, the power of God. He referred to what Moses wrote as God said. So at one point when Jesus was quoting Moses, he said, well, God said because he believes that what was written in the Old Testament is the Word of God. Jesus trusts the Scriptures enough and the transmission of Scripture enough to in an argument with the Sadducees, he goes to verb tense. He says that God says he is the father of Abraham.

I am the father of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And he says he is. He am. Therefore, they're alive. He didn't say I was. So what he's saying is that he trusts the Scripture enough to even look at verb tense and say, no, that's reliable.

Then Jesus looks at his disciples and he says, when he's gone, the Spirit of Truth will come and guide you into all truth. And the apostles believed him. They believed that they were being led by the Holy Scripture to write more Scripture, which is words of God. So Peter, Paul, and the apostles believed three things about the Scriptures. One, that they were eyewitnesses, which is how we get testimony now. They believed they were eyewitnesses.

They wrote as eyewitnesses. John says he's writing as an eyewitness. Luke says he's writing an orderly account from eyewitnesses. Paul writes during the time of eyewitnesses, mentions names of eyewitnesses, said there's 500 people, some of whom have died, but there's a lot left. Peter says these aren't cleverly devised myths. This is eyewitness testimony.

They also wrote as apostles, which means sent ones or emissaries or delegates. It's like when I was a little kid and my dad would tell me something and I had to go outside and tell my brother, my older brother Logan. I had no authority over him as proven by all the many fights we got into. I was capable of punching him. I was not capable of punching him enough to where I won. So I didn't have authority over him.

He had authority over me. But I would come outside and I'd say, hey, daddy said you gotta go inside. And Logan never looked at me and said, you tell daddy to come out here and tell me his self. You know what Logan said? Okay. And he went on inside.

I didn't have authority. I was just speaking on behalf of daddy and daddy had authority. When the apostles write as apostles and they say, I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ, that's what they're doing. They're saying, God said, Jesus said, this is authoritative not through me but through Jesus. And they wrote as if they wrote authoritatively. They believed that.

Peter refers to Paul's writing as scripture meaning that he believes it has the weight and the authority of the Old Testament. Paul says, Paul at one point says, as it says in scripture and he gives two quotes. He quotes Deuteronomy and he quotes Luke. He gives a Greek verbatim quote of a part of Luke chapter 10. Paul says that you took my words as not from man but as they were the words of God. Paul believes he writes with the authority of God and he says at one point, he says, if anyone who says they're spiritual doesn't acknowledge what I write, then don't acknowledge them because they're not spiritual.

They're not following God because what I write comes from God. That's a pretty bold claim. They believed, they wrote as eyewitnesses, they believed, they wrote authoritatively scripture and they all believed what they wrote. I'm going to give you a quick rundown list of the authors of the New Testament and of all of the disciples of Jesus and how they were all brutally murdered for what they believed. James, the brother of John, was killed by the sword. That's what it says in Acts under Herod Agrippa.

Peter was crucified upside. A lot of this comes from church history, not from scripture, but what we're, has been passed down in letters and what we understand to be true about these guys after the time of scripture. Peter crucified upside down in Rome. Matthew is beheaded in Ethiopia. Mark dies in Egypt after horses drag him through the streets of Alexandria, which is a form of torture. Luke is hanged in Greece because of his preaching.

Andrew is crucified in Greece. Thomas is thrust through with spears, then tortured, then burned alive in India. Philip is tortured, then crucified in Phygeria. Nathanael, who's also called Bartholomew in scripture, is whipped, then crucified. James, Jesus' brother, who was the leader of the Jerusalem church, is thrown down from the top of the temple. He survives and then is beaten to death.

Simon the Zeal is crucified. Matthew, Matthias, the guy who replaced Judas, is stoned while hanging on a cross. Maybe he wouldn't shut up. I don't know. Paul is beheaded in Rome. John, the only disciple who was not martyred, is boiled alive in oil, does not die, and is exiled to Patmos, where he writes the book of Revelation.

The disciples believed they wrote as eyewitnesses, they believed they wrote authoritatively, and they believed what they wrote. Every single one of them believed that Jesus Christ was God, that they saw him after he had died, and that death no longer had a hold on them. And so when people came to him and said, you better shut up, and you better quit writing what you're writing, and you better quit preaching what you're preaching, and you better just deny what you're saying, they all said, kill me, it'll do nothing, because I believe in the God who rises from the dead. Now, all I have said is that we know we're reading what they wrote, and we know that the Bible says that it is from God.

But that is a circular argument. You can trust the Bible. Why? Because God wrote it. How do you know God wrote it? The Bible says.

Well, how can you believe the Bible? Because God wrote it. It just, it goes in a circle. The Bible's trustworthy because God wrote it, we know that God wrote it because the Bible says it, and we can trust the Bible because God wrote it and the Bible says it. You can have this discussion with people, it just would continue to be the same discussion. Be like, if I said, you can trust me because I don't lie.

And if I lied, you wouldn't be able to trust me, but I don't lie. I just told you that. And you can trust me when I say I don't lie because I don't lie. And you would say, you have said that way too many times and I'm never going to believe a word you say. Okay? Now, that logically, that God wrote the Bible and therefore it's trustworthy and we can trust that because it's written in the Bible, is a logical fallacy.

It's a circular argument. It makes logical sense though and here's why. If the Bible pointed to something else as authoritative, that thing would be more authoritative than the Bible. So if the Bible said you can trust that I'm written by God because that says I'm written by God, then we would say, okay, y'all are either equal or that thing has more authority than you. The reason why when you're talking to somebody, you say, I swear to God I didn't do it. Which you probably shouldn't say, but if you say that, the reason you say that, people say that, is because God has more authority than you do.

God in the Bible says I swear by myself because who else is he going to swear to? So when the Bible says I'm authoritative and you say, on what authority? And it says, mine. It's because it's not going to point to anything else as authoritative. The Bible is. Now, at this point, the third argument that I'm often faced with and that I have discussions with people about is that they say things like, yeah, okay, but we know the Bible isn't true though.

But we just know because of the stuff it says in it. I was watching a comedian the other day and he said, he's British, he said, do we have any Christians in the room? And some guy way in the back, there's this giant auditorium and there's a guy in the back, he's like, hey! And he's like, oh, you're a Christian, what's your name? And if I'm butchering this accent, I don't care, I'm going for it. And the guy says, his name was Paul or something, he goes, oh, Paul, welcome.

I've got a special offer just for you, Paul. Would you like to buy some magic beans? Because if there's one thing I know about you, Paul, it's your really gullible. And then he goes into this thing about the virgin birth and how if you were watching, what I can only, I don't understand, he's British, but I can only assume it's like their version of Jerry Springer. And the girl said that she was a virgin and that's why she was pregnant, that nobody would buy that. And so basically, the argument that we're faced with at some point when we get here is that someone just goes, yeah, but we know the Bible's not true because it says all these things in it that we know are not true.

That argument, though, is also a circular argument. If you came to me and said, my Uncle Ted said he saw a ghost in his attic. And I said to you, yeah, but you can't believe anything your Uncle Ted says. And you said, why? And I said, because your Uncle Ted said he saw a ghost in his attic. So you can't believe what he says because Uncle Ted says he sees ghosts.

That's all I'm doing is basing my argument off of my argument, which is the same thing people do when they come to Scripture. They say you can't believe it because it has miraculous things in it. And if I were to say, well, yeah, but there's a lot of testimony throughout human history of the miraculous happening. And they're responsible, yeah, but you can't believe that. Why? Because those people said that something miraculous happened.

And so all they're doing is it's a belief system that just says, I can't believe that miraculous things happened so I can never believe this book. And they'll say things like, but we all know. And what they mean by we all know is white Europeans for the past couple hundred years know. They don't mean human history and they don't mean the amount of people, like they're not including Asia and Africa and South America where there's a vast majority of humans on Earth that would say there's actually more to life than what we can see. There actually is something beyond just what we can touch and measure under a microscope.

I can't prove the Bible to you. I can show you that they believed what they wrote. As Christians, we know that what we're reading is what they wrote and we know that they believed it. At some point, you have to place faith in that what they actually wrote is true. And there is your personal experience, the testimony of others, and then at some point there's faith. But we do believe that if there is a God, it would be on Him to reveal Himself to us.

He'd have to show up. He'd have to give us something. We couldn't just find Him on our own. And we do believe that He has revealed Himself through Christ. Okay. I said we'd get there.

2 Timothy. So we believe the Bible is trustworthy in both senses, that what we're reading is what they wrote and that what they wrote is true. That's what Christians believe. I can show you verifiably that we're reading what they wrote. You're going to have to come to the conclusion on your own that what they wrote is true. But, assuming that, 2 Timothy, what they wrote is true.

That's what we believe. That's why we open this. That's why we study this. That's why we read this. We believe that the Bible is trustworthy. We believe the Bible is sufficient.

2 Timothy, chapter 3, starting in verse... 14. But as for you, he's writing to a pastor named Timothy. Continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. When he talks about the sacred writings, he's talking about the Old Testament. And he says something that Christians don't always know, which is that the Old Testament is sufficient for faith in Christ.

We're going to spend our whole summer walking through the Old Testament and talking about how it points us to Jesus. That was just a shameless plug. It's going to be fun. But he says that they're sufficient. You know that they're... which are able to make you wise for salvation through Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

He says that the Bible tells us what we need to know about salvation and gives us enough to be equipped for everything. We believe that the Bible is sufficient. That it has in it what we need. That it's profitable for rebuke, which means showing you where you're wrong. That we can definitively look at someone and say, no, you are wrong here. The Bible says the opposite of what you were doing.

For reproof, which just means correction. Just kind of getting lined back up for teaching, which means you're ignorant and you get to study it and you get to learn. For training in righteousness, that we might know how to live, that we'd be equipped for everything and wise for salvation. The Bible was primarily written as a redemptive history of God pursuing people. So, when we say the Bible is sufficient, we mean that it has everything we need to know. Not everything that you can know and not everything that is true.

So what I don't mean is this. if you started showing some symptoms of some sickness, I would pray for you. I would encourage you to pray. I would encourage your community group to pray. I would not hand you a Bible and say, study this and you'll find out what's wrong with you. I wouldn't because the point of the Bible isn't to be a medical textbook. I would say, you probably should go see a doctor because they know things about like, maybe what's wrong with you and maybe they'll take a needle and stick it in your arm and then you get all better.

We're going to pray for you and we're going to pray that they know what's wrong with you. But we're not going to do this in a medical textbook. Matt left for Cleveland last night. He and Katie and Emmy to drive all night long with an infant. So that was a good decision.

I did not hand him a Bible and say, use this to find your way to Cleveland. That's not why it was written. This would not be helpful to find your way to Cleveland. It would be helpful to find your way to God to understand the redemptive history of humanity. It's sufficient for what we need to know about God. When it talks about things, it speaks truly about them.

So the Bible, when it refers to the earth, calls it a circle. It says that God hung it out there in nothing, which is some sort of an old school reference to gravity. But it doesn't tell us whether or not Pluto is actually a planet or a ball of ice that's been tricking us for years. Because we have what we need to know about God and redemption and who He is and what He's accomplished. We don't have everything we want to know. That's why whenever somebody comes out and says, I need to tell you about the secrets of the blood moons.

That's a pretty good Hagee impersonation. Y'all don't know who I'm talking about, but man, that was on point. And I need you to know about the blood moons and what the blood moons testify. And I need you to look at this chart and it has a dragon and it has timelines and it has all these other things that I drew up in my basement. Like, my response to that is, that's cute. Bible doesn't say it.

Bible doesn't make a big point of that so it can't be a big point. Somebody's like, you need to know about the secrets of the Shemitah, which is another book that came out and it's like, no I don't. Because the Bible is aggressively plain and aggressively clear that we are sinners in need of a Savior and that God loves us enough to die on a cross for us to rescue us and to make us His and that the secrets and the answers belong to Him and that we get to belong to Him through Christ. That's the point of Scripture. That we get to trust Jesus. So when someone comes out and says, I did the secret Bible math.

No, you didn't. Because there ain't any. And if you're including verses and chapters, which is real cute, but those were added later, so nonsense. Sorry. That annoys me. It's sufficient.

It has what we need. We're going to go to this when we talk about things. We're going to open this up. We're going to study this. Secondly, we believe it's authoritative. Starting in chapter 4.

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead and by His appearing and by His kingdom preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, and do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry. We believe that the Bible is authoritative.

When we get together, when we study, what we're studying is scripture, not our opinions. When we get together, when there's an issue, when there's a problem we're facing, we open this up, we pray, we read, we try to find out what God says, we try to lean into scripture, we try to, when we get together for counseling, we're going to open this up and we're going to say this is what it says. This is what we get to know about scripture. This is what we know about Christ. He's given us authority authority. And this word is authoritative over all of us.

It is the highest authority. It is not the only authority. Which means that if I'm at some point correcting Archer, and I say, dude, you got to, I don't know if I was about to call him bro and dude, but I don't think I'll do that with my son. I'll say boy. How about that? I ain't got to practice this much yet.

I'll say boy. It's 9.15, I told you to go to bed. And if he says something really smart to me like, the Bible doesn't say I have to go to bed. I'm going to say the Bible says to do what your daddy says. And it also says if I spare the rod, I'll spoil the child. So why don't you go get in that bed?

And he'll say, good point daddy. Feats don't fail me now. So the Bible is the highest authority. It gives us other authorities like our parents, like church leaders, like governmental authorities. But all of them have to submit to scripture.

Church leaders have to submit to scripture. That we as a church should be reading this and studying this and if any of our leaders get off or begin to do something weird, we correct with scripture because scripture is the authority. My dad watches the preaching channel. I don't know what it's called. There's always like people with like thrones and globes in the background and all that kind of stuff. And he said he was watching a guy that he was an alright preacher.

He was just watching some, you know, he's drinking coffee in the morning and stuff. And he said he got to watching him one day and he realized the preacher would always start off by saying, turn to page 552. And he said sometimes he'd say things like, turn to chapter 3. We'll be in chapter 3 today by page 221. And he said he got to watching him at one point he was walking around with the book and he realized that the book had the preacher's face on it. That he wasn't preaching from the Bible, he was preaching from a book he wrote.

And that was what he took up on stage and that was what was in the pews and everybody would get his book out and would read it and he was just walking around with his own book and teaching out of it like it was authority. I'm going to tell y'all, I'm going to invite y'all. If I walk up here someday and I have a book with my face on it, I'm going to need you to assault me. And I'm going to need you to punch me in the face that is not on the book but that is on the top of my head because that is nonsense. And I need you going to take the Bible and begin to teach authoritatively out of that because that's the authority and we as Christians submit to it.

We believe that the Bible is trustworthy, we believe that it is sufficient, we believe that it is authoritative, and finally we believe that the Bible is powerful. Jump back up to where we started in chapter 3 verse 14. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings. These are sacred, they're holy, they belong to God. which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus, all scripture is breathed out by God. We believe that God at the very beginning of time and history spoke the world into existence and that he uses his word to accomplish his will and that throughout the history of the church the proclaimed word and the studied word and the written word have been capable of making people wise for salvation, have been powerful to lead to repentance, to see so clearly Jesus Christ on a cross dying for us to save us and that we can be changed through the word.

We believe that it's powerful, that it's capable of making us wise for salvation, it's capable of changing us, it's capable of leading us, that it's sufficient, powerful, authoritative, that we can trust it. And so we're going to get together every Sunday and we're going to open this up and we're going to talk about it. And every church everywhere is going to get together and open this up and study it and read it and go back to it and point to it and bend their own will to it and submit to it and follow it because it's sufficient, authoritative, and powerful and it's trustworthy. When you read this, you're reading what they wrote and what they wrote was true.

That's why we believe the Bible, why we follow it and in the pages of scripture we meet the ultimate Revelation of God which is Jesus Christ who loves us enough to die for us and to make us his. And if you're a Christian and you're not reading the Bible on a regular, normal, active part of your life, you're just missing out on all of the goodness that God has offered to you through his sacred writings that are capable of making you wise, capable of working in your life for your good, capable of leading you to repentance, capable of making you follow Jesus even in the face of opposition and death because of the truth found in these pages. we're going to pray and then we're going to sing together. God, I thank you for your word. Thank you for your word that is capable of leading us to salvation, your word that is capable of giving us hope, changing us.

God, we thank you for preserving it accurately for us, for giving us the document that is most well attested to in history. God, we thank you for that and I pray, Lord, that this would be a church that would trust your word, submit to your word, follow your word, and follow Jesus through it as your Holy Spirit works in us. We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.

Baptism and Communion

Baptism and Communion

Chet Phillips

Transcript

Good morning. My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. We're in our fourth week of our Home Sweet Home series where we're discussing the church. We're just taking some time to dive into what the Bible says about God's people, about his church that Jesus died for to make his. Much of scripture is about the church.

It's God's plan, his people that he's going to use to redeem as he saves through the cross, that he's going to use a people to spread that message, to see more people come to know him, that once you become a Christian, once you've placed faith in Jesus, your sins are covered by him, that you're a part of his church, and that he dearly loves the church, that he bought the church. And so as we've gotten into this and continued to study and try to decide exactly what we ought to grow in and begin to understand, we started realizing there's some things, some gifts given to the church, some guards, some defenses given to the church that we really needed to spend some time talking about together. And so if we don't understand the context, the reason why these gifts were given to the church, then there's a danger of us completely missing the point. And so for the next couple of weeks we're going to talk about, today we're going to spend some time talking about baptism and the Lord's Supper.

So baptism and communion, we're going to spend some time talking about the Bible. In the next couple of weeks we're going to talk about the Bible, we're going to talk about leadership, we're going to talk about church discipline. So baptism, communion, the Bible, church leadership, and church discipline that are all actually gifts given to the church for the good of the church, for the protection of the church, because Jesus loves the church. But if we don't understand the context, we kind of miss the whole point. So if I told you that my wife stood up and yelled, What are you, blind?

It'd be helpful to know context. If we're at a baseball game, that's fine. If she's talking to me about the outfit I've picked out for us to go on a date, suddenly context matters and my feelings are hurt. Not really, I'd just be like, what? But it matters.

So when you watch the beginning of a James Bond movie, I always loved how they would take him in, they would tell him, they would kind of brief him on who the enemy was, what was happening. There was this crazy bald guy with a cat, and he wants to take over the world this way. And it was like always really big things. It was never like, it was always massive global domination, global destruction plans. And they bring James Bond in, and then they would take him into this room, and they would show him all these like tools for this particular mission. This pin shoots a bullet.

Let me show you this Audi that I've put missiles in. It also cooks hot chocolate, and those buttons are next to each other. Do be careful out there, James. Like they would always bring him in and show him all these things, and then like, but that doesn't happen in romantic comedies. Like in romantic comedies where their friends are discussing like how to go on a date, and maybe they come up with this crazy plan of like, I'm going to talk in your ear, or this is what you need to know. So like in Sleepless in Seattle, when he's sitting with his friend, and he's talking to him about, I'm trying to get back in the game of dating, and I need you to coach me up.

It would be weird if he was like, well, I've got a pin that shoots a bullet. He'd be like, what? Why do I? And I've got a car that has missiles. It's like this, that's what, I don't understand dating anymore. Like I've been out of the game way too long.

If I need a pin that could shoot somebody, like what on earth? And there's a little bit of us that when we approach some of the gifts given to the church, if we don't understand the context, we're not going to treat them appropriately. We're honestly not going to appreciate them. So let me give us a little bit of context, the cosmic story that is found in scripture, so that we can understand that when Jesus gifts the church with something, the context in which he gives it. God designed the earth perfectly. It was designed for humanity to flourish, for there to be joy.

Like he gifted the earth with good things for man to discover and to create and for humanity to come together, male and female, and to create more life and to have dominion over the earth and enjoy it. And humanity rebelled against God through the leadership of Satan. That in the very beginning pages of scripture, Satan shows up and we find out that God has an enemy. And because God has an enemy and God loves humanity, humanity has an enemy. Sin enters the picture. God immediately promises that he's going to fix this.

He's going to redeem. And he's going to fix this brokenness. And what we're faced with throughout the rest of the Bible is that we are, humanity is, caught in a cosmic conflict. That there is an eternity. We were designed to live for eternity and that each of our souls will exist for eternity. Either united with God in heaven or separated from God in hell and that there is an eternal, an eternally urgent conflict for the souls of every human you've ever met.

And when God gifts the church, saves the church, comes as Christ to die for the church to make a people for himself and then he turns around and says, this is how you ought to act. This is how you ought to treat each other. This is important for you. This is important for you. He does that in the context of that conflict. If your grandparents or great-grandparents or your parents explained to you how life worked during World War II but did not explain to you that there was a world war going on, you might be a bit confused.

Because you'd need the context of the conflict to understand exactly why they lived the way they did, made the bombs and the planes that they did, rationed food the way they did, why so many males from the United States left and didn't return. If you didn't understand the conflict, you wouldn't understand. Christianity is not just a religion where we practice some ceremonies. It's a people redeemed by the blood of God to be made, to be saved, to be made into his people in the midst of this conflict. If a father hands his son a sword and says, wield this with courage and boldness and bring honor to our name, a tear rolls down his face and his son is eight and on his way to a picnic, that was highly inappropriate.

And a doctor should probably talk to that dad. If his son is 30 and on the way to a battle and his mom runs in or his dad runs in and says, I made you a bag of sandwiches, have fun. Equally not helpful. Maybe he'll eat a sandwich on the way there, but the sword would have been better. I fear that when it comes to things like, specifically today as we talk about baptism and the Lord's Supper, that we've begun to believe that the sword and the shield hanging over our mantle are there for decorative purposes. We've museumed them.

We've taken armor. We've taken weaponry. We've put it in a glass case and said, isn't it pretty? And when you read about it in Scripture, it was not designed to just be ceremonial. It was not designed to just be decorative. The way Paul talks about it as we're going to read today, the way Jesus commands it and gifts the church with it, it was designed for our good and for our defense against our cosmic enemy, which is sin and Satan.

The problem with us is that our culture, and because we're in our culture, us, don't understand the danger of sin. We don't understand the destructiveness of sin. We don't understand the eternal cosmic proportions of sin. So we think, ah, everybody's having sex. It's not that big a deal. We celebrate it.

Ah, a little bit of greed, a little bit of self-promotion, a little bit of, you know, like it's, you don't want to be too humble so people will run you over. You want to have some confidence and some self-respect, and we've dressed up sin and acted like it's a little bit okay. Or we'll act like, well, this sin's not that big a deal. When the Bible at no point ever Acts like sin is not a big deal, Jesus died for sin, and somehow we lose that. So today I want us to pull the sword and the shield from off the mantle and realize it wasn't built decoratively.

It was meant for something much more as we talk about baptism and the Lord's Supper. Let's pray, and then we'll jump in. God, we thank you that you actively went to war on behalf of your church against sin. That rather than destroying all of us who were your enemies, you were destroyed for us in a fight against sin. That you separated sin from sin. And God, we praise you.

We praise you that you made a way to destroy sin without destroying all sinners. And God, we praise you and thank you for the gifts that you've given to your church to defend her. The gifts that you've given to us to protect us from your enemy and our enemy. And God, I pray that as we study this today, we would grow in our appreciation and our valuation of specifically baptism and the Lord's Supper as we talk about it today. That we would quit treating it as a ceremony but actually interact with you in it. Proclaim the gospel through it and fight sin actively.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So what we've got to do in our time this morning is answer the question what is baptism? What is the Lord's Supper? And then physically, what actually is it? And then we'll talk about why.

How it helps us. Why it was gifted to us. Why God has blessed us with it. So baptism, we'll take baptism first and then we'll look at the Lord's Supper in a second. So we're going to be in Romans chapter 6.

We'll spend most of our time there as we answer the why question. But before we get there I just want to show us a few places in scripture, reference a few places in scripture and answer the what question of baptism. The first time where baptism is mentioned is John the Baptist comes baptizing in the wilderness. This is the beginning of Matthew, Mark, and Luke and John all talk about the baptism of John the Baptist. And John the Baptist baptizes which just means that word's a cognate rather than a translation. So a translation we take the word from Greek and we turn it into an English word.

A cognate because it began to have more meaning attached to it we just take the whole word. So baptism is a cognate which just means that's basically the word they used in Greek which is baptizo not a Greek scholar baptizo and we take that word and we just say baptism or baptize. The word meant in Greek originally submerge to dip or to sink. So there's actually Greek writing where a boat was sunk in a battle and the writing says it was baptized. So it wasn't like a ceremonial thing to save the soul of the boat.

The boat was in trouble and it sank. That's what it meant. And so we just have taken the word though as it's been Christianized and meaning more ceremonially but that's why we baptize one of the reasons why we baptize completely by submerging people fully in water. So we have that discussion on a regular basis with people. They'll be like okay I'm going to get baptized but are you like I got to get completely like dunked underwater? Yes.

One of my favorite ones and I mentioned a lot is the guy he said hold on a second you would baptize me he said yes he said as an adult yes by completely dunking me in water yes you just described baptism as we believe it we baptize adults by completely dunking them in water. The reason we baptize adults as we see in scripture is that it is for people who believe in the gospel. So John the Baptist comes baptizing a baptism of repentance the Jewish people at this time had Jewish ceremonial cleansing and you would clean yourself so you would step into a pool when you wanted to become Jewish and you would do a special washing ritual and that meant I'm getting rid of my sin and I'm going to be good. John the Baptist comes and says no you need to repent and I'm going to baptize you.

To baptize you. He was symbolizing that you couldn't do this on your own you're not going to be good enough you need to come acknowledge that you're a sinner and then receive grace and he says I'm baptizing with water but there's someone who's going to come who's going to baptize with the Holy Spirit. Jesus shows up and is baptized by John. John says you don't need

To get baptized I don't need to baptize you you need to baptize me John was acknowledging that Jesus didn't have any sin to repent of that he was in authority but Jesus says no we should do this to fulfill righteousness to point to the purposes of this so he's baptized and then Jesus his disciples baptized and then Jesus

Before he leaves after he's died dies on the cross is buried and rises again he tells his disciples this and this is Matthew 28 we'll have it on the screen Jesus came and said to them all authority in heaven on earth has been given to me go therefore and make disciples of all nations a disciple is someone who actively cognitively purposefully follows Jesus make disciples

He's talking to his disciples who've been following him so he says go do the same thing we've been doing we're going to talk more about this in a couple weeks baptizing them so he tells the church when someone is becoming a disciple baptize them that's why we as a church don't hold that any special person has to do baptizing we believe that Christians baptize when we have baptisms one of the things

We say to people is don't let this be the last time you step in this water prayerfully you're baptized today and then hopefully you get back in here with somebody else that you helped point to Jesus we believe that we're called to baptize baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit so that's what we say when we baptize we baptize you

In the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you so that is people who are going to follow Jesus are baptized we believe that believers are baptized as a public declaration of their faith in Jesus we see that modeled in the book of Acts where it says

Things like Peter says repent and be baptized it'll say when they believed they were baptized all of them believed and were baptized it is a I have chosen to follow Jesus my faith is in Jesus I believe the gospel and I want to be baptized so baptism is a public profession of faith where a person who believes in Jesus and is deciding to be a disciple

Is baptized by a Christian which means dunked in water completely as best we can every once in a while the top of the head gets away and sometimes you start coming back up you realize it's dry you go back we got to get the whole thing that's what we go for this is how we practice it here publicly to declare I believe the gospel okay why what's the purposes behind it Romans 1 so Jesus tells us to

We can stop there we're told to but then it could turn into just a ceremony then it could just turn into oh it's a thing we do you know we're Christians so like we try to be nice to each other Jesus says to love each other and then every once in a while we all get together and we dunk people in water we're Christians it could turn into just a ceremony but Paul's going to help us see some of the purpose behind it some of the life behind it some of the goal behind it

When Jesus told us to baptize so he's writing to the church and he says what shall we say then are we to continue in sin that grace may abound he's responding to something he just said which was however much sin you have Jesus has more grace so where sin abounds grace abounds all the more so then he answers a question in response to himself

If that's true shouldn't we sin to make Jesus his grace more amazing shouldn't I become a Christian and then say watch all the terrible things I can do isn't Jesus good his response no that's why some of you laughed that's kind of dumb don't do that but here's what he says here's the reasoning he gives behind this are we to continue in sin that grace may abound by no means

How can we who died to sin still live in it do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death if you have not been baptized I want you to listen as we go through this to help you understand what baptism is why we celebrate it why we celebrate it the way we do if you have been baptized I want you to remember your baptism because Paul in the midst of this

Discussion on sin says don't you know about your baptism don't you know what it accomplished don't you know what it was why you did it so if you have been baptized I just want you to take a minute as we walk through to remember your baptism and see the gift that God has given you in your baptism do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death

That's what we're celebrating at baptism that's why we take somebody and we completely dunk them in water what we're doing is we're symbolizing publicly that they are completely covered by Christ what he just said where sin abounds grace abounds all the more there's not a square inch of your sin that has not been covered by Jesus if you've placed your faith in Jesus there's not one thing that escaped

When you remember your baptism you remember that you were completely covered overwhelmed flooded by the grace of Jesus and then he says don't you know you were baptized into his death we always have this conversation with people when we go to do baptisms they're like is this ever like gone poorly and I guess what they're thinking is do people sometimes

Drown in baptisms like could I slip could I hit my head is there like a dangerous and my response usually is look that hasn't happened to us in years at least a couple like it's not that big a deal and then I'll go no I'm just kidding nothing bad ever happens in baptisms don't google it but there's this there's this this moment of like and there's supposed to be there's this moment

In your baptism where if you're completely covered by water you should you should realize if nothing changes I die I'm buried completely covered and this is the death of me if nothing changes baptism is a celebration of death our death swallowed up by Jesus'

Death our sin swallowed up by his grace so that when you're baptized you're baptized you're baptized into Christ and into his death don't you know you're baptized into Christ Jesus we're baptized into his death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father we too

Might walk in the newness of life if we didn't believe in the resurrection we would just get people together and drown them we wouldn't but that's kind of what Paul's saying he's saying just like Christ was raised you were raised so in this conversation

About sin he looks at the Christians and says remember your baptism don't you remember it you were buried in death with Christ your sin was overwhelmed by grace and just as Christ was raised you were raised that you might walk in newness

Of life five for if we have been united with him in a death like his we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his we know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin

Might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin for one who has died has been set free from sin baptism is a public rehearsal and proclamation of the gospel when you place your faith in

Jesus you're saying that when he died my sin died with him when he died I died with him and when he rose again I rose with him that my resurrection is certain through Jesus that's the faith that we place

In Jesus and that's what we celebrate at our baptism in baptism it's a proclamation of the gospel but Paul says to use it as a defense against sin that's what he's doing right here some of us

Feel like we can't help but sin sin controls us I would stop this it's just so hard I just wish I could quit

This I wish I could be free of this and Paul's response is verse seven for one who has died has been set free

From sin now if we have died with Christ we believe that we also live with him we know that Christ being raised from

The dead will never die again death no longer has dominion over him for the death he died he died to sin once for

All but the life he lives to lives to God so you must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus

And in 5 and 6 we read those again he says for if we have been united with him in a death like his

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that

We would no longer be enslaved to sin you don't have to be a slave to sin anymore Paul says remember your baptism you're

Dead to sin it has no claim over you anymore Jesus died to set you free from sin which means that sin no longer

Claims you when God looks at you he sees Jesus his grace abounding for you in the midst of your sin you're already free

And you can actually be free from sin as Jesus works in you some of you feel absolutely condemned and if you're a Christian

Paul would say look at he stayed in the grave way longer than you did you were symbolically remember that you died and you

Rose with him the other thing Paul says that we get to use baptism for is a defense against sin and it's a defense

Against quitting complete failure it helps us endure it helps us stand firm verse five for if we have been united with him in a death

Like his we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his your baptism is a moment where you publicly physically declaratively state

I'm in Christ and it's done publicly physically and you make a big deal out of it so that you remember I'm in Christ

I died with him I'll rise with him there's a story in first Samuel of David who's out in the pasture he's watching sheep

Samuel who's a prophet comes to his family and says that God sent him there to anoint one of David's dads one of his

Kids one of his sons is king he's going to be king so they bring in the oldest biggest son Samuel was like obviously

It's gotta be him he asked God and God says no his sons get like shorter and and each one he's like well it's

Gotta be this guy and no no no no no no finally get to the end and obviously they're just standing around awkwardly because

Samuel goes do you have any more sons and his dad goes um yep but he's not here and basically with kind of a like

So can't you just pick one of these like he's he's like nope you need to looking the Bible says he was attractive so

That's nice he's got that going for him Samuel the God tells Samuel he's he's the king anoint him Samuel pours oil pours oil

On his head and says you're going to be king you've been anointed king of Israel it's an amazing moment and then you know what happens nothing

David has an oily head and he goes back to watch sheep he's like I'm going to be king and his dad's like all right

King go king it up around the sheep because you're still short albeit handsome now get out of here eventually he gets called up to play music for

The king the actual king that king tries to kill him a couple of times but it says his music was good so I

Don't know he escapes a few times he eventually becomes a leader of an army but throughout the story as you read for Samuel the story

Unfolds there are these moments where you're like oh David's going to die oh he's never going to be king oh he's run out

Of the castle oh the other king's chasing him the other king's cornered him like there's these moments where he's you're reading the story

Of David and the whole time you're going how is he going to be king how is this even going to happen in these

Moments where you doubt it but then you remember no no no no no no no no God anointed him and said this was

Going to happen I don't know how it's going to happen I don't know when it's going to happen it's going to happen and

Paul says Christian in the midst of the absolute terror and confusion of life in the midst of sin seeming like it is your

Slave owner I want you to remember that if you've been united with him in a death like his you will certainly be united

With him in a resurrection like his he says Christian look back to your baptism we know the end of there but we know

You're going to get there that's what our baptism gets to be for us that we get to stand firm in the moments when

We have nothing else to stand firm on when our faith doesn't even seem good we get to say no there was a moment

Where I absolutely believed this there was a moment when I stood in front of people and I said I trust when I rose

Again and I know the promises for me that I have been told by the God the king of the universe that when he

Died I died with him and that I can be made alive again and that at some point I will be made into the

Image of Christ this is what is going to happen for me I have no clue how it's going to happen but I know

For a certainty that if I died with him I will rise with him and my hope is forever in Christ that's what your

Baptism gets to be it was a defense against sin that so often attacks and leads us astray your baptism gets to be in

Those moments when you have nothing else to stand on you get to say no I walked into the water and I been covered

By Jesus the way the water covered me his blood has covered me he took my sin on himself and I'm free that's the

Gift of baptism to the church that it's an open public declaration of I believe this and in the moments when sin comes we

Get to say no I'm dead to sin and in the moments when fear and doubt come we get to say no I know

The end don't hang it above the mantle it's a weapon of defense given to the church to keep us from having sin destroy us

Because God knows the destructive tricky nature of sin communion go to first Corinthians we got to ask the same questions of the Lord's

Supper first Corinthians 11 it's on page 622 and 623 we'll be looking at first question we've got to ask what is it physically

And then we'll ask the question of what are we actually celebrating what why do we celebrate it why has God gifted it to

Us Paul's writing to the Corinthian church let me give you a little background you can read it at some point I'd encourage you to at the beginning of chapter 11 basically

He's talking to the church who when they would gather together they would say we're participating in the Lord's supper but people would bring their own food some of them would be full some of them would get drunk some of them would

Have nothing and Paul says y'all are doing this incorrectly this is not the Lord's supper let me explain to you what the Lord's supper is what it is what you're supposed to do

And that's where we're picking up but in the following instructions verse 17 I do not commend you because when you come together it is not for better but for the worse wait nope yeah okay I'm right for in the first place when you come together as a

Church I hear that there were divisions among you and I believe it in part I didn't want to read this but we've started that's why I'm confused this is what I was just telling y'all about so we'll just read it and then you won't have to later for I believe it

In part for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized when you come together it is not the Lord's supper that you eat for in eating that's

Where we get the term the Lord's supper it comes from the Bible when you come together it's not the Lord's supper that you eat for in eating each one goes ahead

This is where I thought we were starting for I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread and when

He had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me in

The same way also he took the cup after supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood do this as often

As you drink it in remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup you proclaim the Lord's

Death until he comes what is the Lord's supper physically it is eating bread and drinking what Paul calls the cup what in one

Of the gospels Jesus refers to as the fruit of the vine so we believe the Bible doesn't tell us what type of bread is broken

To symbolize the broken body of Jesus that Jesus did this instituted this with his disciples the night before he was crucified that he

Broke bread said this is my body broken for you that he took a cup which is fruit of the vine so we believe

That can either be grape juice it can be wine it's a matter of conscience conscience and your context we don't squabble over that and

He said this is my blood poured out for you and a new covenant in my blood as often as you do this in

Remembrance of me Paul says some of you get full don't you have houses to eat in we don't believe this has to be

A complete meal we believe that it can be it seems like that in the book of Acts in chapter 2 that they got

Together and shared meals and they were breaking bread and drinking together we believe it is a part of a meal or it is

Set aside separately to celebrate this idea that Jesus' body was broken that his blood was shed we eat some bread we drink grape

Juice or wine and we remember the gospel that's what happens physically here's the point and Jesus also he says do this as do

This in remembrance of me he doesn't say how often we ought to we have recently begun doing this more often because we believe

It ought to be a normal rehearsal celebration of the gospel for us we used to do this very sporadically and we have changed repented

And said no we need to do this more often as a church but we don't think there's any specific rule we just know that when we

Do it this is the attitude we ought to have first it is a remembrance of Jesus again we've said this is a gift

Given to the church baptism is a once and for all reminder of the gospel that Jesus once and for all covered your sin

Communion or the Lord's supper is a continual reminder of our need for the gospel a continual reminder of our ability to drift into sin

Our ability to drift away from Jesus the Lord's supper is a continual reminder of the dangers of sin the deceitfulness of sin and

The beauty of the gospel but he says do this in remembrance of me you're not supposed to clear your mind you're supposed to

Remember a definitive specific time in history when Jesus was nailed to a cross when his body was broken and his blood was shed on your

Behalf first and foremost we actively focus our minds on Jesus as we take communion secondly it's a proclamation of the gospel because he says for as often

As you do this for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup this is verse 26 you proclaim the Lord's

Death until he comes we proclaim the gospel in this that this is for Christians who have placed their faith in Jesus to actively

Remind one another of this is what our hope is in this is what our faith is in that Jesus died for us that

His blood was shed for us that we actively proclaim the gospel it's also a participation in the gospel so he says this verse

27 Whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and

Blood of the Lord let a person examine himself then and so eat the bread and drink of the cup for anyone who eats

And drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself when we partake in the Lord's supper we are proclaiming that we

Believe the gospel which is I'm a sinner continually actively in need of a savior and Jesus his body was broken for me and

His blood was shed for me and this is the sacrifice for me that I might be made right with God when we do

This in a callous flippant manner we are proclaiming physically that we believe the gospel and acting on a heart level like we do not

When we have unrepentant sin that we are actively walking in actively running from God in but then we're going to gather with his

Church and say I believe that I'm a sinner in need of grace but actively not be repenting not being honest not being open

What he says is that you're actively stepping to the table and partaking in condemnation not grace because grace frees us up to be honest about

Our sin to repent to reconcile grace frees us up to be open with our failures and when we're hiding or when we're not we're

Not even paying attention to what we're doing but we're just partaking in communion partaking physically rehearsing that we believe the gospel while at the same

Time physically acting as if we do not spiritually and emotionally acting as if we do not so we participate in the gospel you're designed by

God's grace to actively practice a reminder of your need for the gospel and in that moment to reflect so that you don't drift most people do not

Violently leave Jesus most people do not violently leave the church most people make one exception after another believe one lie after another begin

To disregard one Christian friend after another and eventually find themselves far away from Jesus and far away from his people and it wasn't

An active run it was a slow walk and Jesus says actively partake of the gospel Paul says do this often and in that

Moment review reflect think through and say where am I believing lies where have I begun to run from Jesus where do I need the gospel

Actively now is the question we ask as we begin to take communion together now I want us to read this next section because it is confusing and

Every time I'm hanging out with a church and a pastor comes to a really confusing part of scripture I get excited because I

Think maybe he'll explain that and then I'll stop being confused and then they skip it because they are confused as well and I

Get really sad inside so let's all read this confusing section together that I do not have a clear explanation for but I do

Want to point something out to us is that fair doesn't matter we're reading it we'll start in verse 27 whoever therefore eats the

Bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and the blood of the Lord

Let a person examine himself then and so eat of the actually examined yourself prior to doing this and so he's talking about observed

Judged ourselves truly we would not be judged we would repent if you actually saw your sin and knew how dangerous it was you

Would just repent and God wouldn't pass a judgment on you we would not be judged but when we are judged by the Lord

We are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world I believe there what he is saying is that discipline

The judgment by the Lord and the discipline comes in verse 30 that is why many of you are weak and ill and some

Have died Paul is saying best understanding I have of this text that God's discipline towards his church is that in a flippant response to the

Gospel as they partook in the Lord's table without examining themselves with unrepentant sin with flagrant unrepentant sin that God in his grace disciplined

Them through being weak sick and dying now if my understanding of that text is correct I woefully underestimate the dangers of unrepentance and

Sin that's the only thing I can take away from that if God is good and in his grace disciplines because he says you'd be disciplined not

Condemned God does not condemn them his grace still covers them but because he loves them his grace is active in making them weak

Ill and dying it seems as if Paul just said that God in his grace and love for them some of them died I completely underestimate

Sin because that sounds way worse what he just said is God loves them enough to discipline them and this is how far God

Is willing to go in his discipline of his people to keep them from being condemned my brother and I when we were growing up

We lived in Tennessee and we had a little little bit of paved area in our driveway and the way our road it was

Kind of a neighborhood road but not really because people were pretty spread out so people drove quickly through this stretch of road and

You couldn't really see one way or the other too well so my older brother Logan was like five and I was like three and we

Would ride our bikes in our driveway out into the road loop around and come back sometimes we would just ride back and we

Were not allowed to play in the road so we didn't when he was around or if we knew he was watching and then

When we thought he wasn't watching we would play in the road and I mostly was just following the leadership of my older brother as

He played in the road so my dad would bring us in he would sit us down when he saw us in the road

My older brother Logan believed he could talk my dad out of this because my older brother at the age of five was vastly

More intelligent than my father and he understood this and wanted to articulate that to my dad my dad because of his density did

Not realize that this five year old was a genius and was unwilling to be swayed by his son's logical arguments which basically boiled

Down to no I'm looking we won't get hit by a car I'm paying attention my dad would respond you are five no you're

Not you're just not you can't pay attention all the time your mom and I don't play in the road because even though we're adults

We can't pay attention all the time he would have this discussion my brother would continue no no no hold a second now and

He would say the same thing my dad would get to the point where he would say nevertheless regardless of what you believe you have

Broken this rule you have played in the road when I told you not to and I'm going to spank you and if you

Say another word I'm going to add licks which my dad would lay us down pull our pants down and use a bell that's

How he did it and you got a certain number of licks depending on licks it's a southern word that means hit with a bell

Clarify we were going to get licks that's what we called them how many licks did you get three all right like we would do

That so he said I'm going to add licks and he go two three four and then finally Logan would go and I'd be

Sitting next to him looking at him as a three year old like you are a complete idiot we could have already gotten our

One lick and been back out on the road by now you made this take way longer and added to my dad eventually would just

Bring us inside like he would continue to spank us and eventually we weren't allowed to play outside anymore when I read this text what

I am struck with is that God sees sin so differently than I do he sees a lack of repentance in my heart so

Differently than I do my father knew what it looked like for a dog to get struck by a car my father knew what

Would happen to one of his children were he struck by a vehicle and my dad loved us too much to allow that to

Happen it would actually be my dad's wrath and punishment towards us to just say fine get hit by a car fine Logan live with the fact

That your younger brother who was three and was following you was struck by a car because you got out of way and he didn't

Fine live your entire life knowing that you killed your brother or that you severely handicapped him fine live your entire life in a

Wheelchair because you won't listen to me my dad loved us so he beat us because he loved us and when I read this

Text what I want to say is no God no you can't you can't some people died because they wouldn't they ate communion no

And we might would all come together and say that's crazy and I feel like I'm a three year old talking to a five year

Old and going our dad is abusive what is wrong with him and among the council of a three and a five year old

Certainly the road seems wonderful and certainly we've thought this through so when God steps in and it says when you partake in the

Gospel when you remind yourself actively guard against sin repent realize the heinousness and the danger of sin so much so that he would

Make people weak ill and die all I know is when I read that text I don't fully understand it but I know I

Don't think sin is as dangerous as God thinks sin is I know for a fact when I read that text that a good and holy

Father that loved me so much that Jesus would come to die for sin see sin in an eternal cataclysmic light that I don't see

It in because I'm much more okay with it floating around in my life than he is he's so unwilling for sin to be present

In my life that he died for it and if he's willing to take a Christian home prior to them completely drifting and being

Condemned praise God take him home because God sees eternally the Lord's Supper was given to us as a guard you see baptism and

The Lord's Supper stand at the door for us they stand at the door on the way in that Christians would place faith in

Jesus and be baptized that Christians would be Christians actually have belief in Jesus before taking the Lord's Supper and they stand at the

Guard on the way out as we begin to drift they protect us but you see God sees sin so much more dangerously than we

Do I was recently watching a documentary called dangerous animals or something and I didn't really like it because it was just a bunch

Of videos of animals eating each other and lions would come around this pack of water buffalo and their goal was to get a small confused

Weak or sick water buffalo alone so that the lions could eat it the only problem with their plan was the large full grown

Not weak or sick adult water buffalo and these lions would come around a little one and these giant water buffalo they got the

Flat like helmet heads with the hook horns like this would just I mean murk a lion which just means harm them with their

Head that's what murk means you can do it in football they throw a flag now and throw you out of the game but

Still fun to watch these big water buffalo I mean would just destroy some of these lions could kill a lion one on one

And you are going the lions are going to get him there they surrounded him and all sudden these water buffalo would come streaming

In and just I mean throwing lions in the air it was glorious and God set up baptism and the Lord's Supper as guards

For weak lost small Christians who've begun to believe the lies that sin tells and he said no let me give you some defenses let me give you some things to lean

Into in that moment the best thing that small water buffalo could do was just get behind a big one but once you got

Behind a big one that's all you had to do he says let me actively force you to remember the gospel because if you forget

It if you begin to disbelieve in it you're in trouble and God sees sin so and God loves this church and he gave

The church baptism and the Lord's supper he gave it the Bible he gave us each other through leadership and church discipline we're going to

Spend the rest of our couple weeks talking about that before we get into mission as we look at how much Jesus loves his

Church that he was willing to to defend he died for her and he protects her Matt the Christ a communion with the body

Of Christ because there's one bread we who are many are one body for we all partake of the one bread we are all

Participating in the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus as we partake in communion and today if you are a Christian I encourage

You to remember your baptism so that you can say no to sin so you can remember and know your outcome that you who

Were buried with him will also rise with him and as we take communion I want us to remember Jesus that his body was

Broken for us that his body was broken for you that you get to participate in the gospel as you place faith in Jesus

That when he died you died with him and that his body was broken that his blood was shed so this room is filled

With people who believe fully that the only thing that makes us okay is Jesus repent don't hide be real about your sin and

Your weakness where you've actively been running from Jesus grab somebody who's in your community group grab somebody you don't know and say I

Need to talk to you because I've been running I need to talk to you because I've been acting like how un-okay sin is

That God had to die I need to talk to you I need to be open about this Jesus I need to talk to

You you died for my sin that I could be free don't let me let it hang around don't let me think it's okay

Don't let me don't let me dishonor the cross by acting like sin is small because it's not small rebellion against a holy God

And it actively seeks to destroy us and remove us from his presence and to kill us for an eternity and as we get

To take in communion we get to celebrate that that doesn't have to be true for us that Jesus died for us but that

We get to repent to be honest about where we're broken because our hope is in Jesus not in our behavior so as we

Participate in the gospel I actively ask you to remember the cross and apply it to your heart and if you're not a Christian

Place your faith in Jesus that your sin would be covered publicly be baptized to proclaim that I believe this and I once and

For all physically want to remind myself that this is true for me and gather with our church and begin to take the Lord

Supper as you remind yourself that I need the gospel and that sin is destructive but our God is good because he was destroyed

So that I don't have to be God we pray that we would approach your table in a worthy manner that we would rightly

See the gravity of sin that we would understand that these gifts you gave us were given in the midst of a conflict that

We would hold on to them that we would cling to them we would use them God as you design them to fight sin

In our souls to draw us into you we wouldn't hang them on a mantel and ceremonialize them that we wouldn't just make them routine

Thing that we do but that God we would stand firm in them as we stand firm in you God I pray that through

Your Holy Spirit you would lead us to repent so that we can fully celebrate in what the gospel has purchased for us which

Is our hope and our joy and our redemption that none of us are good on our own but that you died so that we

Could be free free from sin and free from death and have hope and life in you in Jesus name we pray amen

Apr 24

We Love Each Other

We Love Each Other

Chet Phillips

Transcript

Good morning. My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. We're in our third week of our Home Sweet Home series, which is where we're just taking some time to ask, what is the church? Who is the church? And how is the church supposed to organize?

What is the church supposed to look like? How did the church become the church? Those kind of questions that I know have just been really weighing you down and burning on your mind. But really, it's massively important for us as a church and as the church to understand how we ought to be shaped, how we ought to organize, how we ought to think about ourselves. So what we've said so far is that the church became the church through Jesus, through his actions on our behalf, that it's not about what you do or who you are or how you act or your morals or following some rules or something.

It's about what Jesus has already accomplished through the cross. And then once he accomplished our salvation through the cross, through his death, his life, death, burial, resurrection, and our faith in him, then actually we begin to change. We begin to love Jesus. We begin to hate sin. We begin to love the Bible and love his church and love his mission. And so today we're going to spend a little more time looking practically at what it looks like for us to love each other, for us to love one another.

I thoroughly enjoy that show Shark Tank. It's a show with a bunch of sharks in a tank and they throw, it's actually these investors who are called the sharks in the show. People come in front of them and pitch ideas for businesses, pitch ideas for inventions, and then they decide whether or not they're going to invest. So they basically say, here's my idea, here's how much money I want. They negotiate, they haggle, and I just thoroughly enjoy it. My dad was an entrepreneur growing up and he invented different things periodically, mostly just stuff we use around the house.

And he started several different businesses and I got to work in some of his business. I have a business, I have a business degree. And so I just, the whole time I'm just soaking it up because it's negotiating and it's like, and it's also like these inventions and some of them are just terrible. I've got a few of those to share with you this morning. One guy brought on Throx, T-H-R-O-X, and that is socks sold in packs of three. Huh?

That was really it. He was like, what if when you bought socks, you got one extra one who wants to invest? Throw your money at me. Like that was his plan. And basically the point was, you're going to lose one anyway. Why not have an extra one already?

And so I don't think anybody invested in that. There was the hoodie pillow, which is a pillow with a hoodie on it for people who want to smother themselves and die in the middle of the night. Squeaky knees was an outfit for toddlers or little infants that basically put little squeaky toys on their knees so that when they crawled, they made squeaky noises constantly. I have a one-year-old and that's one thing I've thought on a regular basis is I wish he made more noise. If only he could be more aggressively in my face all the time. Like that's, that's what I want.

Pet paint, which is basically spray paint for your dog, which sounds great for other people's pets. My personal favorite, and I watched this one, I was going to take a second to explain is elephant chat. Elephant chat is a little wooden pedestal and a little clear like plexiglass box. And inside of it is a stuffed little, uh, elephant stuffed animal thing. And it is for, you have this sitting in your house all the time, the little elephant and the plexiglass thing. And then when you are mad at someone in your family, you're upset by something, you take the plexiglass off and now you got to deal with the elephant in the room.

This is the point of this so that you would come home from work and the elephant would be out of its cage and you'd be like, son of a God, like I hate that stupid elephant. I don't know. And then when you argue, uh, discuss, you are supposed to take the elephant and only the person holding the elephant can talk. And you pass the elephant back and forth. And this was the idea they pitched. And this only costs $60.

You could do this with a rock and a napkin. Like you could just put a rock on the table and when the napkin, like, but like, I don't know. That was the point. I don't think anybody invested in that either. Cause they were like, seriously. Um, but here's the thing on shark tank.

Periodically people come in and they have leveraged everything for their business. And a lot of them have actual good ideas that they have quit their jobs for. They've pulled money out of savings for. They've taken out loans for. They put blood, sweat, tears into, and they come in and they are sold. They are completely all in on their business.

And when they pitch it and whether or not they get a good response or a bad response, like you can tell they have poured themselves into this. And that regardless of whether or not the sharks invest or don't invest, they're going to continue to pour themselves out for this. And honestly, as we read in the pages of scripture, that is to be our attitude towards the church, towards Jesus, towards his people, towards his mission. We're to be like those in inventors that have poured themselves out. They've as it seems as if every hour they put into it, they love their business more. Every time they had to pull money out for it, every time they had to quit their job for it, they become more and more and more and more invested in what they're doing.

They're more all in to what they're doing. Like they've put everything in on this one idea, this one business. And the church is supposed to be that, that we as Christians, when we become Christians, are supposed to go all in, put everything we have into God's people and his mission. That's what we're designed to do. So the Bible uses the illustration of a family.

And it's actually not even an illustration. The Bible says we become a new family. Romans 8 says that Jesus is the firstborn among many brothers and that we're all adopted as sons. That basically when Jesus died for us and we placed faith in him, we're actually brought into the family. That we've given not only a new father, but brothers and sisters. And that we're to be absolutely devoted to and committed to the church.

So I'm going to pray and we're going to hop in and begin to look at somehow we see this in Galatians. And then we're going to, we're going to keep moving today and actually jump through a good bit of scripture. But I think it's going to be helpful as we get to see what the church is supposed to look like. So let's pray. God, we pray that as we study your words, you would begin to, to change us. God, that you would be at work in our hearts to make us into your people and to shape us more into the image of your son.

We love you and we praise you in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. So Galatians one, go to Galatians one. We'll be in, we're going to look at one through five. And here's basically what we're going to look at.

We're going to try to see how, if you don't have a Bible, there's some on the rows, it'll be on page 631. We're going to see how Paul understands his identity in light of being a part of God's new family, how he understands who he is and who he's talking to. And here's, here's one of the problems we run into when, when you read through and you hear that God's a new father and that we're a family now and that we're a true, real eternal family is that some of us have really busted up families. Some people hear that and they say, oh, it's beautiful because they can, they readily draw on good pictures of what a family is supposed to look like.

But others of us hear that and it's like, that sounds terrible. Like my, my father was terrible. I don't want to be told that God's a father. Does that mean he's distant? Does that mean he, he pieces out as soon as it gets difficult? Does that mean I never really get to know him?

Does that mean he's really harsh? Like, uh, when you say we're brothers and sisters, you're like, man, that's, that's terrible. But here's, here's the reason why it's so helpful. First of all, we get an actual good new eternal father and we get actual good eternal family. And part of the reason we've been so hurt by our families is that we knew what a father was actually supposed to look like. Even when we didn't have a good example of one, we knew deep down, this is what it should have been like.

That's why we say things like, oh, she's like a sister to me. Because we know that once it gets to a certain point, it's like, we're more than just friends. This is actually a family relationship. And even if we don't have good ones, we know they should have been good. We know what they should have been like. And the Bible says that actually Jesus redeems that for us, brings us into a new family.

And so we're just going to read as Paul writes in Galatians, this is the beginning of just one of his letters. And we're really just looking at how Paul understands his identity, who he is and who he's talking to through this lens. Paul, an apostle. Apostle means sent one. So basically chosen to be sent out like a delegate.

Paul, an apostle, not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead. So he's saying, I'm an apostle. I'm sent out by Jesus and God the Father and all the brothers who are with me. So he's writing Paul, an apostle, and he tells how he became a possible apostle. And then he says, and all the brothers who are with me are writing this as well. And the word brothers there in the Greek means brothers and sisters.

It basically means siblings. So if some of you took Spanish, and I think French is the same way, they have like the masculine form of the word that includes both masculine and feminine. So we have brothers and then we have sisters and then we have brothers and sisters. A lot of other languages just would include brothers and that would include both. And so that's kind of like our word for siblings. So basically what he's saying is the family here, Paul and the family here are writing to you in Galatia, which was a different city where he wasn't.

And the brothers who are with me to the churches of Galatia. So his understanding was there's a city in Galatia and there are multiple churches there. They all belong to the same big church. They all belong to Jesus, but there's a local church that you would belong to these people. You would be devoted to these people. You'd be a part of this church.

And there's another church that belongs to you in that you're all Christians, but you don't specifically know all of those people aren't connected to all those people. They belong to each other in a distinct way. So that's what he's writing to multiple churches in this city. Grace to you and peace from God, our father. So he's writing saying, Hey, the family here is saying grace to you.

We're writing this letter to you and peace to you from God, our father. We all now have the same father, which means we're all siblings. We're all brothers and sisters. We're all family now. So he writes, Hey fam, peace to you from God, our father.

And the Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of God and father, to the will of our God and father, to whom be the glory forever. And amen. So that's how he starts his letter in chapter in verse three at verse 11. He's going to say, brothers, I want to remind you. And there's throughout all of Paul's letters. He's going to say, Hey, brothers, Hey, brothers and sisters.

Hey family. I want to remind you. I want to exhort you. I want to tell you this. I want to show you this, but he understands that his identity identity is marked by what Jesus has accomplished, made us into a family. And so throughout the new Testament, it's going to tell us over and over and over again, how we ought to relate to one another, what it looks like for us to be a part of this new family.

So it's the same thing where some of us had really messed up families, but we have an idea of what it's supposed to look like. Some of us have been a part of really messed up churches. And I'm about to say today, we're just going to look through and say, well, this is what it's supposed to look like. This is what by God's grace, it gets to look like through what Jesus has accomplished for us. And so here's what we're going to do in the new Testament. There are 59 verses that have the phrase one another, where it is specifically talking to the church.

This is how you relate to other people in the church. So Christians, this is how you treat other Christians. This is how you ought to relate to one another. So it'd be the same as if you said, okay, this is, this is what a family is like. And this is what a father is supposed to do. And this is what brothers and sisters are supposed to do.

The writers of the new Testament over and over again, it said, this is how you ought to relate to one another. So here's what we're going to do. We're going to walk through 59 one another's to see what it looks like for the church redeemed by Jesus to relate to one another's family. Y'all ready? 59. I'm going to just read them.

Don't try to get all these, like just, just kind of take it in. Sometimes when you're reading scripture, it's like a wine tasting. You take one verse, you swirl it around, you smell it. You're going to swish it around in your mouth and you're going to like, I don't know, I think you're supposed to spit it back out at that point. And then you drink it again. Like you're trying to get the, all of it out of that one little sip.

We're not doing that today. We're like pouring a bucket of water on our head just to kind of get the, Ooh, okay. I get the picture. Like that was aggressive. I see what we're doing here. So that's what we're doing today.

It's not a wine tasting. It is a ice bucket challenge. We're going to run through really quickly and just try to see what the Bible says, what the new Testament says about how we ought to relate to one another. And we can give you this list later if you're interested in it. Um, so 59, here we go. Be at peace with one another.

We will stop every once in a while and I'll give commentary kind of like I just did there. Uh, wash one another's feet. That's Jesus talking to the disciples after he washes their feet, love one another, love one another, love one another, love one another, love one another, be devoted to one another in brotherly love. And so basically as the church, we're to be committed to devoted to each other. We're to go all in for one another. We're to, we're to push all of our chips onto the table for the sake of one another, honor one another above yourselves, live in harmony with one another, love one another, stop passing judgment on one another.

Uh, that basically is stepping in and saying, uh, have a conversation. See, passing judgment is I see you doing something and I think, okay, well, if he's just going to be like that, then we're just not going to be friends anymore. Or you do something to me and I just say, okay, well, she's, she's just like that. I'm writing her off. And what he's saying is you've passed judgment. You've condemned somebody.

And what we're supposed to do is actually when something happens is go talk to him, assume the best, assume that they can change, assume that they didn't do it intentionally. So stop passing judgment on one another, accept one another. Then just as Christ accepted you, which means everybody's invited in. Jesus didn't raise the bar really high. He went and accomplished it for us and accepted everybody. So accept one another as Christ accepted you instruct one another, greet one another with a holy kiss.

When you come together to eat, wait for each other, have, that's a problem for some people who are conditioned, always late to their community group, but it says, wait for him, uh, have equal concern for each other. Greet one another with a holy kiss. Greet one another with a holy kiss. Be affectionate. I think is what that's getting after. Um, serve one another in love.

If you keep on biting and devouring each other, you will be destroyed by each other. So don't harm each other. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. Uh, this one is, uh, says carry each other's burdens. Sometimes the church carrying each other's burdens looks like our church coming together to help another church across the state, across the globe. Um, when, when there was the, the flood here, uh, I know a guy who I went to high school with, who's a pastor of a church in, in Augusta.

He called me and said, Hey, I know you're going to have to be doing some flood work, some flood repairs and stuff. Uh, our church just took up and I think it was, uh, it's around $2,000, a couple thousand dollars that they just said here, we're sending to y'all for whatever y'all need to use it for, for flood stuff. Sometimes that's what it looks like. Um, a lot of times though, it looks like real relationships with real people who have real burdens that you step in and help carry. So it's going to look like helping somebody move.

It's going to look like your group accommodating someone else in your community group and meeting at a different time. It's going to look like, um, washing each other's children, washing each other's clothes, letting people stay with you. If there's a need, it's going to look like getting together and saying, okay, you lost your job. Uh, we can do $25 a month until you're able to find a new job. And, and another couple saying, yeah, we're actually going to cancel our direct TV and we'll be able to do 75 a month. And we're going to start praying really hard that you get a job before football season.

That's our prayer. Like we're going to come together and help bear one another's burdens. Like we're going to, we're going to step in and say, I'm going to, I'm going to help here. I'm going to leverage my time, my energy for you. Um, carry each other's burdens, uh, be patient, bearing with one another in love, be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other. Those were all kind of right in the same area together.

Uh, Paul wrote those and he's basically assuming that if you're in real relationships with real people, you're going to need some patience. You're going to need some compassion and you're going to need to be willing to forgive actual real things, big, uh, sins that were committed against you. You're going to be able to step in and forgive as Jesus forgave you that we're going to be in real relationships so that there's real offense. Now we say this a good bit, but it's like there's couples that are like, Oh, we never fight. It's like, Oh, y'all don't hang out with each other very much. Like y'all just, one of you secretly mad.

Like what? Yeah. You know, cause like if you hang out with a person, John, people are the worst. Like if you hang out with people, they're going to sin, they're going to cause problems. Like there's going to be some conflict. And so Paul saying, yeah, be around each other enough so that there's actually room for now you need to forgive.

Now you need to have compassion. Now you need to work it out. Speak to one another with Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Y'all know that when we sing, we're not just singing to God or for our own benefit. We're actually singing for the benefit of everybody around us. Like we're speaking to one another.

We're rehearsing truth to one another. So sometime when you're singing on a Sunday, just turn and make eye contact with someone. Just be like, and then just start singing. Like, don't do that. But, but you know, that's part of the reason we're singing is to, is to encourage one another is to, to point one another back to truth, to hear all of these voices of all these people who know and believe the same stuff. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ in humility, consider others better than yourself.

And we also read earlier, honor one another above yourselves, that we as Christians are just supposed to assume that others are more important. We're supposed to go out of our way to, to look out for the interests of others, not our own, that we're to believe as Christians that I'm the least important person in the room. Just as Jesus honored us when we didn't deserve honor, just as Jesus humbled himself when he deserved to be glorified. We as Christians are supposed to follow after him, humbling ourselves and honoring others and looking out for their needs, not ours. Do not lie to each other, bear with each other, forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another, teach one another, admonish one another.

Those are in the same verse. So basically we need to coach each other up, teach. We need to say, Hey, you're not looking at that correctly. You need to see this, or I just don't feel like you understand this. And we need to admonish one another, which means rebuke, step in and say, Hey, you're wrong here. We need to care enough about each other to actually step in and say, Hey, you're wrong.

Like you're not treating her properly. You're not acting correctly here. You need to change. You need to grow, make your love increase and overflow for each other, love each other, encourage each other, encourage each other, build each other up, encourage one another daily, spur one another on toward love and good deeds, encourage one another that we as Christians should be going out of our way to say, encouraging things to each other should be looking for ways to step in and say, Hey, I just want to point out where I see Jesus at work in you. You're hanging out with our group. It's the first time you've actually confessed sin.

Do you know how huge that is that you were honest with us tonight? Do you know how big that is? That means Jesus is at work in you that you actually believe the gospel going up to someone and saying, Hey, I just want to tell you how much I appreciate you're always bringing food. When we come hang out with our group, like, like every week I eat your Doritos and I just want to say, thank you like for doing that. Some people, you need to say to them, Hey, every time you hang out with our group and you say, Hey, I just want to share something I've been reading in scripture and you share something like it.

I learn Like every single time you've said, Hey, I want to share something. I've been Jesus has been teaching me. I learned stuff. You probably should do that more often, but going out of our way to find ways to encourage one another. Do not slander one another. Don't grumble against each other.

Confess your sins to each other So that we would as Christians when we sin we'd own up to it When others sin we would talk to them not about them We would just go to the person instead of slandering them. We would just go confront them We would just go talk to them. We would just go work it out with them Pray for each other love one another deeply from the heart live in harmony with one another love each other deeply Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling open your homes open your refrigerator open your Wallet have some people around your table do that on a regular basis Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others You should just understand that when God blesses you it's for the benefit of your church family Clothe yourselves with humility towards one another greet one another with a kiss of love Love one another love one another love one another love one another love one another love one another all that was John and he said that a lot He really was trying to drive that home That the church is to love one another In John in his gospel. He he says that Jesus tells him this before he before he's gonna go to the cross He says a new commandment I give to you.

This is John 13 34 and 35. We're gonna have it on the screen A new commandment I give to you that you love one another Just as I have loved you You also are to love one another That Jesus says the way I loved you the way I served you the way I humbled myself for you the way I went out of my way for you That's how we ought to love each other and then he says this by this All people will know that you are my disciples If you have love for one another That that's to be the defining Mark Of the church that's what christians are supposed to look like so just imagine for a second those 59 things We just went through just imagine a group of people that actually Did all that Actually when they sinned just owned up to it didn't try to hide it When others sinned they didn't talk about them. They just went and talked to them They just went and said hey, I just want I need to talk to you about this because this offended me or this hurt me or I was confused by this or I need to clarify with you or Just loved one another just assumed when they entered the room. They were the least important person there So let's just let's say for a minute.

Yeah, like we're all on an expedition in africa We're going to uncharted areas. We're walking through the woods hacking stuff down We finally come to this little like crevice and a rock and we we all decide this seems like a good idea So we just like go into this weird cave and then it opens up to this area where there's like waterfalls and butterflies and like Pixie dust like it's just like this place shouldn't even exist. It's beautiful and we we meet a group of people That actually does all of these It may take a little while for us to see it if we realize this is what's happening They're not perfect, but when they mess up they just own it. They go talk to each other They bear one another's burdens as if someone gets sick, they all just rally around them I think we'd be there for just a little while and I'd start being like We're gonna mess this up Like I suddenly feel a little bit Uncomfortable like I'm gonna like this is this is gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna teach y'all how to do bad things Like because I'd go over to someone and be like could you believe what that guy just did and that would be the weirdest thing because they wouldn't do that He'd be like, I don't know.

Did you talk to him? I'm like, no I'm talking to you That guy's the idiot I'm trying to make myself look better but point it out. What is your problem? By God's grace, this is actually what the church gets to look like Because Jesus has already equipped us with everything we need to actually do this He's loved us more than we could ever Ever love him in return and so we get to just out of that love love each other He's humbled himself. He's served us. He's forgiven us and so with all that we're equipped to actually do this and without the cross We can't Without the cross you can't confess sin you need to be looking pretty good You need to make people think more highly of you than you really are.

You can't tell them you're depressed You can't tell them you're hurting. You can't tell them you're weak. You can't tell them you keep messing up Not without the cross But without the cross what we're saying is that all of us are broken all of us are busted All of us are bankrupt and that Jesus paid for it so that when I come tell my group Hey, I just want to tell y'all I'm kind of secretly a jerk I want to tell y'all how I've been treating y'all poorly I want to tell y'all what I've been up to I want to tell you what happened in my past They're not they're not surprised We all became christians by being sinners in the first place in need of grace The the gospel actually equips us for all this That's why we say we're a gospel-centered community on mission because we have a gospel-centered part. Well, this this all breaks down It all falls apart so That's what the church is supposed to be A group of people that treat one another like that because they've been so overwhelmed By how they were treated like that through Jesus on the cross And that's why some of us are so frustrated around the church Because we're approaching it incorrectly Like I know a really good way to be frustrated at my house Is to when I get home from work bust through the door and basically have this attitude I'm here Focus on me now I have entered The king has arrived Silence the child.

Where's my food? Like if I approach my house that way and sometimes my heart is there Just being real with y'all sometimes I rock up to the house and that's kind of where my heart is That's kind of where my attitude is Let me tell you something those nights are miserable Because that's not how my house works Like I'm I'm only setting myself up to be absolutely miserable And it's going to be the same with my son as he grows up if he thinks our house is going to revolve around him surprise It's not It's the same with my wife if she thinks that everything is going to like it just it breaks down when all of us just assume I'm the most important Some of us walk into a church that's supposed to be a group of people absolutely Humbled and shattered by the cross and overwhelmed by grace and love and forgiveness and we do the exact same thing Jesus says that that he came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many and that If you want to be great in the church, you'll be a servant and you'll be a slave Just for a second if you if you're Think about our local southern church culture And if you're not familiar with american southern church culture Bless your heart And welcome glad you're here um perk up learn something um Think about our local church culture and here's basically What if what if everybody went from? Our current attitude to just believing I'm here to serve If you walk into a room and your attitude is I'm a servant I'm the least important person here How much joy is now open up to you? If I come home and I know I'm gonna walk through the door and immediately what I get to do is help my wife out by Pulling the son off of her who probably has a stick for some reason and I don't know how he got it and like just Trying to help take care of him so that she can rest a little bit and I'm gonna help with with food or I'm gonna help Watch him so that she like whatever like if I come in and I just know I'm gonna roll around on the ground and wrestle with my son And I'm gonna try to have a conversation with my wife and everything I have all my energy whatever is devoted to them like There's so much joy open to me now Because that actually gets to happen That actually is an opportunity for me Here's the problem with us as americans We're australians Westerners Here's the problem with us.

We've been taught We've been taught to be shoppers To be capitalists Consumers If I go to a restaurant And you ask me how was it? Oh, I can tell you everything I wasn't doing it actively, but I can tell you how comfortable it was how loud it was How much I enjoyed the ambiance the feel how the the waiter or waitress was how long we had to wait how much it cost How much I thought cost to food ratio was was it a lot of food but low quality? I'm, okay with that. Was it a high quality food, but about this big not coming back like you know I can tell you I can tell you all of that I can tell you oh that place is great because you don't have to tip like they just hand you your food You go sit down you bust your own table or I can say you got a factor in tip there Like you're gonna know that's gonna cost you three extra bucks.

So it's a trick. What's written on the thing like I can tell you And I didn't sit while I was eating and think about all of that. I've just been taught to be a shopper If I come hang out with a church and you ask me how was it I like this I didn't like this I didn't this this this this this because we've been taught to be shoppers And all I can tell you is how much better would every local church in our city be if all of us went from shoppers to servants If everybody actually just started looking like this My uncle was um He's a nigerian. He um I was from obomashaw. He's of the yoruba people group He's been in my family as long as my mom has he was adopted and when he came to the u.s.

Uh He you know grew up most of his life in nigeria has family there But he came to the u.s. To go to school and when he came to the u.s. And he went to college he walked out of his dorm He walked to the end of the end of the road and I guess he just decided to go one way or the other Decided to go right so he went right and then he Walked and saw a baptist church and that was where he had become a christian through baptist going to nigeria And he said okay, and he made note of when they met on sunday And he showed up on sunday and that was his church for the four years. He was in school Because it was the closest baptist church to his house He was just looking for a group of people that belonged to Jesus and that was his people And part of me thinks that's kind of crazy What if that church was terrible?

For real though And I think what my uncle would have said was then how much more would they have needed me? What if they what if they were really messed up Those people belong to Jesus and Jesus sent me here and put me right next to him How much more so would they need me? If we're really family And they're hurting How much more do they need me right now? I think that would have been his response And the the little american shopper inside of me dies a little bit Now I'm not saying it's wrong to have some preferences. I I don't know I'm I'm very americans I got to think through this a little bit But I can tell you what I am saying is how much better and how much more biblical Would all of our churches look if we suddenly went from shoppers to servants If you quit approaching it as what am I getting out of it?

And what am I putting into it? Who have I served recently? What do I have that I can use for the benefit of our church family? What do I have that I can use for the benefit of my group? What have I been gifted in what has God blessed me with what do I own? What is he do I have a good job do I make a lot of money do I can I cut grass like what can I do To serve our church family And just assumed you were a servant how much more beautiful would this be We'd actually get to begin to look like Jesus's people on earth and then that's where he says if you love one another like this People will know that people would come in and we'd be the weirdest group of people they ever hung out with Because we were just straight up about honest about our junk and then when someone else sinned against us We just went and talked to them You can't do that.

Can you? Y'all are all mad at each other. So you got in a room and hashed it out No, sweep it under the rug or just avoid each other, right? Like stop being friends like there's so many things it's like but we would actually get to just Commit up front we begin to look like the church. We say things in church culture like this What's going on with that church? Ah, it just wasn't for me Right That is correct We hear that and think oh, okay, you looking for another one?

No the church wasn't for you It's the church is for Jesus And you exist for the church like you exist for the rest of the people around there Or we say things like I just have to do what's best for me I I have had people say that to me and my response has been yeah That does not come from here Jesus did not do what was best for him And he has a group of people who follow after him doing what's best for others So here's here's how this is supposed to work in the church Um in poker you have chips You bet chips if you win the hand you have the higher hand you win all the chips on the table And there's a thing on poker called going all in And that's where you put all your chips on the table And let me tell you you've never played poker. I'm going to teach you something after you've gone all in You don't fold Because all your chips are on the table You see all the cards Now you may pray And try to do like statistical math as it gets closer to the end and you're like, okay I gotta have these two cards to win and then the next card comes you're like Okay, now I just need this card to win and like eventually maybe but you don't fold Nobody puts all their chips in pre-flop get and then folds before they see the next like they don't you You you stay in and that's the that's how we ought to be as the church Which is when you became a christian you pushed all your chips on the table Which means that we don't fold Someone in your community group can say hey, why won't you leave me alone? Why won't you just let me run away? Why won't you just let me alone so I can sin?

Why won't you just and stop and you look at him and say because I'm not folding All my chips are on the table. I can't quit We belong to each other Paul says it's like members of the same body that like we're body parts together You know when you stub your toe or you get a paper cut or like you hit your hand with a hammer you think up Too bad hand No This is your hand If it's your friend's hand you think too bad for your hand, but if it's your hand That's the way the church relates to one another when somebody's hurting when somebody's in pain when somebody celebrates like we're all tied together We're all all in together That's the way family works That's why the bible says we've been made into a new family We ought to treat each other that way when my younger brother was born He was born with two parents and two brothers and he had no say in the matter He had the last name he had he had the genetic makeup that he had he's gonna have a block head and be kind of short That's what happened. Sorry He had two brothers that tormented him One of his favorite stories is when I went to him and said hey, you want to play uh, like cops and robbers? And he was like, yeah, so I handcuffed him to a pole and then punched him a bunch Logan and I were older we my dad said he came home one time in the middle of the summer Comes into the house.

We're pouring in sweat and drinking like kool-aid and stuff and he's like where's vince? And we're like, oh because we were playing cowboys and indians and we had tied him to a tree And went in to get something to drink He was still tied to the tree when I said he went out there He's sweat pouring off his little face couldn't tell which was tears and which was sweat like but he couldn't sorry That's who you got Some people were born with really sweet nice sisters that cared for him. You didn't get that He's in He's committed It's the same thing with with uh, this past year when my wife and I she had a we had a son and we're at the hospital people told me When you mean the first time you hold your son It's gonna change you It's gonna be this moment and I guess I was too like geared up for it, but they handed him to me and I was like Yeah, I don't got I got nothing He's screaming he's covered in goo. It's like all right What do I do with this thing like what are you gonna?

I mean I don't emotion my way through the world. I just I was like, all right, let's do this You know, it's just ready to go, but I didn't have this like I don't know what I was expecting but like Time to slow down and speed up my heart to beat little tears come out like it just didn't happen Uh, and so like we're in the hospital and is in in the hospital bed and stuff She'd had a c-section so she couldn't really move around I'm holding him doing stuff and she goes Don't you just love him so much? And I was like He's all right She said she looked at me and said I'm serious and I went like anna we're guys we just met give me give me a minute You know, like I gotta get to know him And she She was in her little hospital bed tubes and stuff. She's like I'm going to punch you Uh But the truth was yeah Yeah, I did love him and it didn't have anything to do with what he'd accomplished or whatever like when when anna and I got married I pushed all my chips on the table I went all in And that was if she could have kids if she couldn't have kids if we ended up adopting if she ends up In it being sick if we have to go like I was all in and as soon as she said she was pregnant I was all in with archer.

I was all in with our son like that was it I don't know how he's gonna turn out He might grow up and be the most fun person I've ever met. He might be hilarious. He might be great. I don't know Maybe he'll be really serious and super smart. Maybe he'll work his whole life just to barely pass high school Maybe he won't work hard at all. Maybe he'll be a complete jerk.

Maybe he'll be rebellious his entire life Maybe he'll run away and I can't get to him. I don't know where he is half the time, but I'll tell you one thing I'm in I'm in for whatever all my chips are on the table. I'm not folding So whatever it takes whatever that means however that plays out over the course of his life. I'm in What the bible says is that when Jesus saved us And made us his and bought us through his blood we pushed all our chips on the table And that we were given brothers and sisters and we're all in We don't quit Jesus loves us bought us made us his we are an eternal family that one day when Jesus calls us home We'll gather around his table as his children forever And there won't be any more sin and there won't be any more pain and we'll have a glorious eternal family And then we get to start doing that right now That that's who the church is That if you're a christian you are committed to and devoted to Jesus Through his local church and that means you're all in with a group of real people Real sinners saved by Jesus in a real life in a real place and you're in Good bad.

Maybe he'll be really serious and super smart. Maybe he'll work his whole life just to barely pass high school Maybe he won't work hard at all. Maybe he'll be a complete jerk. Maybe he'll be rebellious his entire life Maybe he'll run away and I can't get to him. I don't know where he is half the time, but I'll tell you one thing I'm in I'm in for whatever all my chips are on the table. I'm not folding So whatever it takes whatever that means however that plays out over the course of his life. I'm in What the bible says is that when Jesus saved us And made us his and bought us through his blood we pushed all our chips on the table And that we were given brothers and sisters and we're all in We don't quit Jesus loves us bought us made us his we are an eternal family that one day when Jesus calls us home We'll gather around his table as his children forever And there won't be any more sin and there won't be any more pain and we'll have a glorious eternal family And then we get to start doing that right now That that's who the church is That if you're a christian you are committed to and devoted to Jesus Through his local church and that means you're all in with a group of real people Real sinners saved by Jesus in a real life in a real place and you're in Good bad. Otherwise you're in that's the church

So as long as we continue to approach the church on an incorrect basis We'll never get out of it what what it was supposed to be As long as you approach your family like they're optional you'll never have a family The way it's supposed to be and as long as we continue to approach the church Like it's a store like we're consumers The church makes a terrible shop It makes a great family Because that's what it was designed to be I got five quick ways specific ways that we get to begin to be all in I'm just trying to help us have some tangible steps First one is this join a church Commit to a local group of Jesus's people Quit shopping Some of you maybe you're actually uh, usually a part of another church and you're hanging out with us today Ah Go back to your other church and start serving Start assuming that you're a part of that church start assuming that your goal your role there is to serve I It doesn't have to be this church, but if you're a christian, it's a church that you are committed to That you're there and if they start getting off if they start not teaching the truth you're talking to them You're fighting for it If they start changing things wrongly, you're you're humbly submitting, but you're going and you're talking to them

So you're willing to submit to one another you're honoring them, but you're going to come you're going to talk to them You're going to confront them. You're going to work it out Join a church if you're a part of our church been hanging out for a while. Uh step two just join a group One of the ways that we commit to Jesus's people is with real people real faces real problems real Good qualities and bad qualities an actual group of people and the way that we do that here is by being in a group That you commit to a group Uh Some of you the way you're going to get to start going all in is by giving and serving You're going to begin to assume that whatever you've been blessed with whatever energy talents Finances whatever belongs to Jesus and his people that it's for their good And so you're going to begin to start giving and serving Begin to start putting some some of your own energy some of your own way And I don't know what that looks like It's going to be different per person for what they're given what they've been blessed with what their talents are what their skill set Some of you the way you actually begin to go all in is you need to quit hiding You've been holding on to some chips You've you've been not trusting Jesus's people to act like Jesus which is to To be able to be known in front of them and still be left

So you're holding on to some things that happened in your past you're holding on to some things that you've done You're holding on you you hadn't gone all in yet And you're designed to be able to say Jesus saved me from this He cleansed me from this and I'm all in with this group of people Some of you need to be reconciled Which just means that you've allowed some frustrations Some grievances To grow up between you and another christian You hadn't loved them enough to tell them or you know, you've been actively sinning against them and your attitude towards them or something You did to them and you've been hiding And in a minute when we stand up to sing you're going to need to go talk to them if they're in this room And if they're not in this room God in his grace has blessed you With a little machine in your pocket That can dial phone Numbers You're gonna need to call them Depending on how big it is you might can work it out over the phone if not you're gonna need to set up a time to get with them

But you're holding out And you're not treating them like family They need to work it out And for our church as a whole one of the ways that we're going to continue to move forward in this and being committed to one another is we're going to have some more formal Forms of membership through our community groups Where we're actually as a group and as a church looking and saying we all believe these things We're all going for this together and in our groups are going to begin to say this is what it looks like for us In lexington for us in red bank for us in downtown to actually be a gospel center community on mission committed to one another And this is how we're going to do that So what this is going to look like it's our groups are actually going to get together and start writing out some Here's what we're going for here's how this is going to look and we're going to commit to one another a little more formally Some of you need to become christians

Jesus has already accomplished everything if you be a part of his family You can repent of your sin and be made new be welcomed in And join an eternal family of a bunch of messed up people saved by Jesus bought by his blood and made blood together brothers and sisters for eternity Miriam and matt are going to come back up here and sing and here's what we're going to do We're going to take communion Which is us as christians Celebrating that Jesus has died for us has paid for our sin That when he died on the cross his body was broken for us his blood was shed for us and that we are saved by His sacrifice made into his people by what he accomplished for us If you need to be reconciled with somebody if you need to repent of some sin you need to go ahead and do that before you take communion Before you go celebrate that his blood has covered you that you've been saved through Jesus And then I want to us today as we take communion. I want us to celebrate That through Jesus's blood shed on our behalf We've been blood bought and made into a family That when you placed your faith in Jesus you were given not only a new father not only a new name not only a Salvation and hope and justification, but you were actually given a new family And I want us as a church to be devoted to one another in love to commit to each other and to go all in Matt and miss miriam are going to sing while we take communion and then we'll all sing together The words will be on the screen as they sing feel free to sing with them

But we will be taking communion as soon as as soon as we're done praying God we thank you for your grace God we thank you for each other That we have people that we get to be around in normal everyday life that are our family That we get to serve That we get to rally around when they're down and they get to do the same for us They get to admonish us teach us defend us God I pray that you would help every person in this room to be a part of your church To be a christian And to be committed to your people And God we we await the day When you take us home To live with you forever As your sons and daughters Purchased through your grace and through your cross We praise you in Jesus name Amen

Apr 17

We Love Jesus

We Love Jesus

Chet Phillips

Transcript

Good morning. My name is Chet. We've entitled this sermon series, Home Sweet Home. We're spending five weeks just looking at the church, looking who the church is, what are the characteristics of the church, if you find God's people on earth, what do they look like, how ought they to organize themselves, and that's what we've been spending some time doing. So we're in our second week.

Last week, what we said was the church is the church through Jesus' work on its behalf. The church is people. It's God's people on earth. The church is all of the people throughout all of history who have ever believed in Jesus. So when you talk about the church, you're talking about all Christians everywhere, around the globe and throughout all history who have believed in Jesus, and then each local church is made up of those people, a group of those people.

And the church, we would be tempted to say that the church is a group of people who do this, have these certain characteristics, act this way, behave a certain way, follow a certain set of rules, follow the Bible, whatever. We would be tempted to say that. So it's people's actions first, and that's what makes them the church. But when you start reading the Bible, and we looked in Ephesians 1 and 2, what we saw was the churches made the church by Jesus, that it was his actions on behalf of the church, on behalf of his people, that actually makes them the church, that he died for their sins, that he welcomes them, that he adopts them, that he accomplishes everything for them.

So we said it's kind of like a family. So here's how this works. You have the genetic makeup that you have. You have the last name that you have based off of the actions of other people, not off of your actions. You're in the family you're in based off of other people's actions. So, I don't know, a hundred years ago, there was a young lady.

She worked at a bookstore. There was a young man. And he had what they would have said a hundred years ago, mad game. And he came to the bookstore, and he began to talk with her, to flirt with her. They met at a train station. They grew up in school together.

They met in college. They grew up, their families lived next door. It doesn't matter. Everybody's got these different stories. But there's these people that came together.

And about the same time, there were some other people that met and came together. And both of those people around the same time-ish, within 20 to 30 years of each other, had children. And then those people grew up and met each other at a bookstore or a train station or the internet, whatever. And eventually, you have what we have now, which is a certain genetic build, a certain genetic makeup, a certain last name. And it's based solely off of the effort, energy, work of somebody else. And that's the church, that we're the church, that Christians are Christians based off of what Jesus has already done, based off of what he accomplished for us on the cross.

You wouldn't have Christians without Christ. I know that seems complex, but it's pretty straightforward. Without Jesus, there is no church, because the church is his people on earth. And so, what we're going to talk about today is, though, what does the church begin to look like? If there are Christians made so by Jesus' effort, made so by Jesus' work, what do they look like? What are the characteristics?

What are the attributes that if you went across the globe, if you went back in time, if you looked at any given church, what are the things that automatically begin to show up because they belong to Jesus? So, one of the ways to think about this, if we're still kind of following the family idea, is on my dad's side, he's got a brother. My uncle and my aunt, they have four children. Three of them are boys. One of them is a girl. And in that family, because of the genetic makeup, because of the genes they have, because of the upbringing, if you're one of their children, you're tall, you're sarcastic, like aggressively so, you're just kind of aggressive in general, and you're fairly good at sports.

Like, that's just kind of their children fit that category. So, even my cousin Cindy, who's a girl, she's tall for a girl, she's sarcastic, and she's, you know, good at sports for a girl. I just said that to annoy some people. I was just for my own enjoyment. So, I'm sorry. But, she, that's just what it is.

That's how it works. And it has to do with their genes, and it has to do with their upbringing. It has to do with the parents they had, the situations where they lived. I'm like, it has all these things to do with that. And there are just certain qualities and characteristics that are just going to come through their DNA they had no real choice about. That's the church.

That when we become Christians, when Jesus works on your behalf, and you see what he's accomplished for you on the cross, and you place your faith in him, and what we read last week, the Holy Spirit comes in and dwells in you, it's like you have new DNA. You've been made new. The Bible says you've been born again. You've been welcomed into a new family. And so you have a new father and some new DNA, and the church begins to look like the church across the globe, regardless of language, regardless of culture. There are certain things that are just going to be there.

Now, this is very important for us to understand before we start reading this text today. If you are tall and sarcastic and athletic, that does not make you my cousin. They don't recruit. Like, they don't just meet people and be like, hey, you're tall. I saw you using your words to hurt that person's feelings. Want to be my brother?

Like, they don't do that. My uncle's not like, I think I met one of my sons today. No, like, he knows. So here's what I'm saying, and here's what the Bible says very clearly. We're going to look at what are the characteristics, what are the attributes of the church? If you're going, okay, I want to be a Christian, or I see that in my life I don't have any of those, the response is not, let me start doing those.

The response is, let me have Jesus make me part of his family. You go to Jesus first. He's got to adopt you. He's got to pay for your sins. He's got to make you one of his before those characteristics will start showing up. So you don't just white knuckle, okay, let me do all the actions.

Just the same with, like, growing up in my house. You know, I had to cut the grass. I slept in my house. I had to eat at a tape pool with my family at a certain time. If you just showed up, cut my grass, showed up to dinner, slept in my house, the next day you looked at my dad and you were like, hey, daddy. He'd have been like, boy, what are you doing?

Like, who are you? Get out of here. Like, just because you do the actions doesn't make you a son. It doesn't make you a daughter. And so what you've got to realize, and Jesus puts it this way, he says that you don't get figs from a thistle bush, which is basically like nobody's ever picked a peach from a pine tree. So if we go through this today and you start realizing you don't have the characteristics, you don't have the attributes, you're like, oh, I'm a peach tree.

I'm a peach tree. And it's like, why are you making pine cones? Like, those peaches are the worst, crunchiest, most terrible peaches. I'm a peach tree. I'm just really tall and I throw needles everywhere. And during a certain time of the year, I throw yellow dust everywhere onto all the cars, you know, like all the other peach trees.

Like, if you realize that, the response isn't start really trying hard to make peaches. The response is, go to Jesus. Say, hey, I need you to dig me up. I need you to plant a new tree here. Okay? So, now let's look at what are the characteristics of the church.

Go to Acts chapter 2. In your blue and white Bibles, that's going to be on page, we're going to be on page 592. Acts chapter 2. So what this is, is Jesus has already died. He's already taken disciples and trained them on what it looked like to follow him. And then he dies to pay for sin because it wasn't just about following him.

He actually needed a sacrifice on our behalf. We needed someone to die for us. So Jesus dies and then he rises again from the grave. And when he rises, he goes back to his disciples and he says, okay, what we were doing already, I need you to keep doing. And I need you to tell people that there has been a sacrifice, that they can be saved, that there is hope. I need you to go be my people, be my church.

And so what we're going to read is the beginning of the church in Acts chapter 2. And here's what we're seeing. It's kind of like flipping through an old photo album and realizing that your great, great, great granddad has your sister's, wait, no, granddad, that would be weird, has your brother's face. Or your brother has your great, great, great granddad's face. Maybe he's your sister. Maybe she's, you know, got some really strong features.

Or he has some soft ones. Like you don't know. Your granddad, you realize, whoa, y'all's faces are the same. Like we look the same. That's what we're doing. We're looking back at the church and saying, what are the characteristics that we see that are typical, that are the attributes of all of the church throughout time and history?

If you went to Botswana, you would see this. If you went back in time 300 years, you would see this. Like you would see this in the church. That's what we're looking at, in Christians. And so as a Christian today, if you're in here, you're just basically asking this question, how do I see this showing up in my life? Where is this in me?

Where is this in our church? And we are going to talk about what we see in this passage and then we'll reference other passages just to try to help make it clear. And so we'll be a little more all over the place than we usually are, but we'll stay in here in our Bibles and show stuff on the screen. And we'll pray and we're going to start reading. God, we thank you that we have your word. We thank you that your Holy Spirit leads us from the inside out, that you begin to change us and make us yours.

I pray, Lord, that you would shape us as a church, as your people, to live out what it means, what it looks like to be your people on earth. And I pray, Lord, that you would claim more people for yourself today, that more people would respond to your love, that more people would respond to what you've accomplished on the cross today, and that more people would be a part of your church today. We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, so Peter is one of Jesus' followers, and this is the Holy Spirit comes on Peter and on all of the other disciples and indwells them, and Peter begins to proclaim.

He opens the Bible, begins to teach, he begins to quote Scripture and preach to about thousands of people. There's just a giant crowd, and so we're going to pick up in verse 37 where he's finishing up what he's been saying. And what he's been saying is, in the Old Testament, it is clear that Jesus fulfills these prophecies and that Jesus is who he says he was. He is God who died for our sins, and we're going to pick up where he finishes. And what we're looking for is what are the characteristics that begin to immediately show up in the church that ought to show up in us. Verse 36, Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.

So Peter finishes by saying, Jesus who was crucified, who died for your sins in your place, is Lord and Christ. He is the one who was promised who would save us. And he's Lord, he's in charge. Verse 37, Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart. And they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brothers, what shall we do? The first characteristic that is absolutely first and foremost in the church is that the church, that Christians love Jesus.

That's the first characteristic. That the church, that Christians are cut to the heart by Jesus and they love Jesus. That they see what he accomplished for them on the cross. And there's this love, this response to Jesus' love for us. That the Christians in the church respond by loving Jesus. And so here's what that means for us.

1 John 4 says that it's God that loves us and that we respond in love. Like that we didn't love him first, but he loved us first. Went to the cross for us. That he redeemed us to make us his and that we love in response. Matthew 22, Jesus says that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. He says that's the primary thing, that we would love God.

Now, you can't always feel lovey. Like some of us hear that. You hear that you should love God. And there's like, maybe the room's like half and half. Half of the room is like, yes. Love God.

I do that. I do that right now. Like half of the room, like you talk to them and you're like, hey, how's it going? How are you and Jesus? And they're like, oh, wonderful. I've just been reading my Bible and it was like, I felt today like God gave me a hug.

People, it's like, that's beautiful. I'm probably not going to say that to you if you ask me how things are going. Like, it's like, I just don't, I don't feel my way through life. I'm not emotioning around everywhere. And so there's this thing when we see, like, you should love God and there's this immediate like, for half of us that are like, I don't know how to do that. I agree.

That sounds good. But how do you do that? Like, how do you, and so you just, it's almost like you try to force yourself to feel a feeling. Which is really hard. Like, all right, make yourself hungry right now. If you're not hungry, unhungry yourself.

Nope. Or if you are hungry, unhungry yourself. If you're not hungry, well done. You already unhungried yourself. I just got confusing. It wasn't helpful.

You can't make yourself feel a feeling. That's what I was going for. All right. Nailed it. But you can't.

Like, how do you produce that? And so here's where the Bible actually steps in and helps us out a lot. Just makes it much easier on us. John 14. This quote will be on the screen. John 14 says this.

If you love me, this is Jesus talking to his disciples. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Another place he says, if you love me, you'll obey me. Now, I used to read that and think, like, oh, I got to do what you say and then I'll be in the club. Like, that's, that's the, if you love me, do what I say. Like, and it used to bother me until I realized that I have a hard time feeling like I love Jesus.

Like, that happens sometimes. But what it made so clear to me was, what he's saying is, not if you commit, if you do my commandments, you'll love me. This is the other way around. If you love me, like, if you have that characteristic, you'll do this. And it'll be easy. And that makes sense.

It's like saying, if you trust me, you'll do what I say. So there are some people in your life that you just, when a situation comes up, you're like, I just need to call them. I need to talk to them. And you basically just show up to them and say, hey, what should I do here? And you're just going to do what they say. You already know you're going to do what they say because you trust them.

You believe that what they're going to say and they'll say, you should do this. And you go, all right, sounds good. And it depends on how much you trust them as to how willing you're able to do that. What he's saying is, if you love me, and so for people who don't feel lovey, we get to obey. And that's how we show Jesus that we love him. We get to do, we get to read what he says and do it.

And that's one of the ways that we get to say, no, I love you. Be the same way if I said, oh, I love my wife. I love her. I mean, I don't, I hadn't seen her in a while. I don't really hang out with her anymore. Or I hadn't done any of that husband stuff recently.

Like, talk to her or help her do anything. You'd be like, I don't know how much you like. Did she leave? Like, or why is there? No, she's there. She's probably crying.

I'm not there. I don't know what she's doing. Like you, like it shows up. Like you would say, I don't think you, do you know what the word love means? Like you're supposed to, like there's some things that go along with, whatever. That's what Jesus is saying.

If you love me, this will show up. If you love me, you'll obey me. Let me, I'm going to read a quote from C.S. Lewis because he's addressing this. And I think it's really helpful. They are told as Christians that they ought to love God.

They cannot find any such feelings in themselves. What are they to do? The answer is the same as before. Act as if you did. Do not sit trying to manufacture feelings. Ask yourself, if I were sure I loved God, what would I do?

When you have found the answer, go and do it. On the whole, God's love for us is a much safer subject to think about than our love for him. Nobody can always have devout feelings. And even if we could, feelings are not what God principally cares about. Christian love, either towards God or towards man, is an affair of the will. If we are trying to do his will, we are obeying the commandment, thou shalt love the Lord thy God.

He will give us feelings of love if he pleases. We cannot create them for ourselves and we must not demand them as a right. But the great thing to remember is that though our feelings come and go, his love for us does not. It is not wearied by our sins or our indifference. And therefore, it is quite relentless in its determination that we shall be cured of those sins at whatever cost to us, at whatever cost to him. We just get to follow and remember forever that he loves us.

But one of the first traits, characteristics that you'll see in the church is a love for Jesus, shown in an appreciation of Jesus, shown in an obedience to Jesus. And when you find a church that is a church that is Christians, you'll find people singing to Jesus, you'll find people praying to Jesus, you'll find people preaching about Jesus, you'll find people gathering on a regular basis to remind themselves what he's done for them and to celebrate that it's already been accomplished because they love Jesus. And so the first thing that we see right out the gate is that they're cut to the heart by Jesus. And let's keep reading.

We'll move on to the next characteristic that you're going to see. So Christians love Jesus. The church loves Jesus. Verse 37. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do?

And Peter said to them, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Okay. Peter says repent. Repent means stop sinning. Acknowledge where you're wrong and turn away from that. Put it down.

Acknowledge that you need Jesus to save you, that you can't save yourself. Confess that and leave it. Turn away from your sin and come to Jesus. So he says repent. The second thing that we see that is true about the church is that the church hates sin. Christians hate sin. hatred comes from love.

Just so y'all know. Hatred comes out of love. The only reason you hate things is because you love something else. If you've ever met a person who truly hated, it first was born out of love. It came out of love. So let's say after the gathering today, we're hanging out.

I got a one-year-old son. His name's Archer. He comes running up and like hits your leg and you take offense because what the heck is he trying to do? So you just, I don't know, slap him in the face. He falls on the ground. My wife's there and she's like, comes at you, you know, like her eyes turn to fire and she assaults you and you push her down.

Then I'm going to come over there and you know what I'm going to say? I'm going to go, hey, you probably shouldn't hit children. And that was my wife. You should quit kicking her. You're hurting her. Like, no, that's not what's going to happen.

You and I are going to have an interaction because I love, because I love them. I'm going to hate anything that hurts them because I love them. I'm going to hate anything that comes against them. So Christians who love Jesus hate our sin because our sin killed Jesus. It was our sin that sent Jesus to the cross. It was our sin, our failure, our rebellion that he had to come pay for.

Christians hate sin. If there was a weapon that killed your brother, there was a gun that somebody shot your brother with, you wouldn't take it to your house and hang it over your mantle and people came over and said, what is that? You say, oh, it's the gun that killed my brother. I polished it up and hung it up here. You wouldn't do that. And if you meet Christians, people who are part of the church that don't care about their sin, they don't, they're missing something.

So Christians repent. Christians hate sin, fight sin. Now, we don't hate sin in a superior way that we look down on those evil sinners. No, we were the first people to repent. That was how we responded to Jesus. We acknowledged our sin.

We hate sin the same way we hate cancer. That it's in us and it's in other people and we want to get rid of it. We want to fight it in ourselves and we want to fight it in other people. We're not mad at the people. We want to help them. Christians hate sin.

They hate how sin tears families apart. They hate how sin causes death and murder and lies and strife. They hate how sin eats away at us so that we can't even think straight anymore. They hate how sin tears up all of our relationships. We hate sin and so we fight against it. Romans 8 is going to say that we put to death through the Holy Spirit we put to death the deeds of the body.

That Christians actively aggressively fight sin. Know it. Look for it. Realize that's what made Jesus have to save us. Repent. Acknowledge it.

Fight sin. Hate sin. That's in the church. If you're in here today and you say you are a Christian and your life is not marked by active repentance continually looking at your own sin and despising it and actively working to change if you say you're a Christian and nobody can ever come tell you that you're wrong nobody can ever address error in you that's scary because the first step of becoming a Christian was saying I see that Jesus had to die for my sin and I want to turn away from it. I don't want any more of it. Now we're going to keep sinning.

You're going to keep failing. You're going to keep falling short. It doesn't say Christians don't sin. We just don't like it. We don't like how evil our hearts are. We don't like that we're actively in sin.

I'm going to read a quote. This is from 1 John so it'll be on the screen. If we say we have fellowship with him which means we're connected with in relationship with Jesus while we walk in darkness we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves. If you were like I don't know I'm doing pretty good.

I don't have any sin. The sin was you just lied to yourself. Repent of that and then try to figure out what else is going on because we've got something going on. We're continually lying to ourselves. If we confess our sins he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned we make him a liar and his word is not in us.

So here's what he's saying. If we walk in darkness if we're actively sinning actively unrepentant actively pursuing sin we're in darkness we're not in the light. We haven't shown a light on haven't seen clearly how messed up we are. You want to hear something kind of gross about me? It's not real gross. I'll just tell it and then you can decide whether or not you want to hear it.

And his word is not in us. So here's what he's saying. If we walk in darkness if we're actively sinning actively unrepentant actively pursuing sin we're in darkness we're not in the light. We haven't shown a light on haven't seen clearly how messed up we are. You want to hear something kind of gross about me? It's not real gross. I'll just tell it and then you can decide whether or not you want to hear it. I'm kind of a sweaty person. I have really thick hair and whenever I'm doing something like activity wise I start sweating and I do this a lot with my hand

Just while I'm doing stuff like I'll just run my hand through my hair and what happens is there's some sort of a weird biological thing I have that is due to the consistency of my sweat maybe high fructose corn syrup I should try to drink less Mountain Dew and the thickness of my hair that it turns into the most amazing hair gel you've ever seen and after I have been sweating or working out or whatever I can make my hair do just whatever I want it to and it'll stay that way forever. Yesterday I was putting floors down in my house and apparently

For some reason kept doing this and so I had been doing this for a while people would come over to my house I talked to people I went outside for a while and talked to my neighbors for a little bit I walked by a mirror and every hair on my head was standing straight up and the only way you would assume that happened was I actively stood in front of a mirror and was like this looks good because there's no other reason why anyone's hair should ever do that I mean I look like

A character from like a cartoon or something like my hair just and I thought that's why my neighbors looked at me weird because I was just straight up talking to them like yeah what's going on and they were like yeah okay like don't know me well enough to go hey bro that's not a good look like you should you should go fix that I didn't know it because I hadn't looked at myself and what he's saying is if we if we walk in darkness

We're not walking in the light of Jesus but once we shine a light on it we see it and we fix it it was too late for me yesterday because my hair was done like I couldn't get it back down it's not too late for our sin like we get to see our sin and we get to confess it we get to bring it to Jesus it's the same way with your room looks really clean until you turn the light on your house is really nice until you move the refrigerator and you gotta see what's behind there

Like that's what he's saying so honestly if we hadn't noticed your sin in a while you probably haven't been very close to Jesus because that's where we notice our sin but here's the good news we just confess he's already forgiven us we just we hate our sin we repent of it but he's already accomplished everything it's not about your behavior your ability to be good it's about you acknowledging it and getting to move forward because he forgives us Christians hate sin

The church hates sin alright let's keep reading so he starts off with repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself just wanted to point this out noticing sin in ourselves does not create superiority or pride or self-righteousness

Towards other people it helps us love them more so when we see someone else sinning and doing things that we would never do because we sin in a different area we just get to go yeah they're far off too they're far off like I was far off and this is for everyone who's far off everyone who's not even remotely close to being like Jesus gets to be welcomed in 40 and with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them saying save yourselves from this crooked generation

So those who received his word were baptized and there were added that day about 3,000 souls so 3,000 people just became the church just joined the church there was about 120 before this so now there are 3,000 Christians on the face of the planet and immediately the Holy Spirit goes to work to begin to change in them and give them the family traits that we're looking at today so 42 and they

Those 3,000 people devoted themselves to the apostles teaching okay this is something else that you will find every church everywhere they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching what that means is they took everything the apostles which were the 12 men who followed Jesus around whatever they said they took it they wanted to learn they wanted to grow they wanted to understand who Jesus was what he had done

What that meant the apostles we know were teaching from the Old Testament and then we have now what they wrote down in the New Testament and so what this means for us today is that the church loves the word the church loves the word which means we love the Bible we studied the Bible we grow in the Bible because it's what teaches us how we ought to act how we ought to live what Jesus has done for us you go around the world you're going to find people

That read this study this memorize this in places in places where it's illegal they've made there are people that had the Bible mounted to the underside of a stool so they could flip it over and be reading and if anybody authority or whatever came they could flip the stool back over and sit down on top of it because the Bible would be hidden underneath there are people who would pass around just sheets all you would get

Was a crumpled up torn out page from a Bible and you would work as hard as you could to memorize that section and then you would trade with someone else and they would give you another torn out sheet of page from the Bible and you would try to memorize that because the church loves the word when I was in junior in college I went to Romania and I was going to get to speak at some churches in Romania and I remember

Asking the pastor I was like hey how long do you usually preach and he was like till you're done and I was like what yeah but okay how long should it be before I'm done because I'm American we pretty much have time limits on this thing and he looked at me and said about half the people here will have walked six miles or further to be here

To hear what the Bible says you go until you're done and on a regular basis I would preach which for me he was still only like 30 minutes or something 15 20 30 minutes even with a translator it's not the case now but that was when I was a junior in college and then they would still get up they'd say thank you

And they'd pick another passage and they would preach right behind it so we're going to start doing that every Sunday we'll have sermon one we'll have an intermission we'll have sermon two no but the church regardless of where it is loves the word we're going to read this we're going to study this we're going to try to grow that's why

Every week we start off with open your Bibles to this place because we're going to read this we're not just going to talk about things that we think and feel we're going to read this and try to apply this and try to see what because we believe that this is how God speaks to us this is how

We're changed and how we grow we're devoted to it now personally you got to find a way to get in the word to consume the Bible to be devoted to teaching and we have now you have more avenues for this than anybody ever has you can listen to it while you

Ride around you can put it on your iPad you can listen to other sermons where people are taking this you can order any kind of book you want to from Amazon and read this and read a commentary and what I found is we have as much access to this as any place in the world ever and we don't

Touch it but Christians do we want to know what it says we want to study we want to learn from it I've noticed a couple of things one is if it gets if your relationship to Jesus is dry or feels off or not great

The response is to start reading the Bible so let me explain how this works my wife and I have been married for going on seven years we have a son now and there are times where it's like we just kind of live in the same house

We're both there making sure things you know get done or whatever but we're not like enjoying our relationship and even harder now that we have a kid and some of y'all have like seven children and Lord bless y'all but we have one child

And it's like it's hard for us to even have a conversation where we're not like in the middle of a sentence and then having to go put it down stop quit you're gonna hurt yourself I'm gonna hurt you or like you're in the middle of a conversation

And we're like is that jelly or blood do you want to taste it like I mean we're doing pretty good as parents just so y'all know like but uh it's hard so there are times where it's like we're just not relating well and so what we do is we put I

Don't go ah you know what we're not getting along hope that gets better I put forth energy because I'm a Christian I believe we're gonna be married forever so if we're not getting along I want to make sure we get along that's gonna make forever a long time like if I gotta stay married forever

And we don't like each other that's bad so I'm like no we're gonna figure out how to like each other like we're gonna get along we're gonna I'm gonna tell some jokes we're gonna laugh if something's gonna happen we're gonna ride a roller coaster so we can at least smile near each other like

We're gonna figure this out but I have to go I have to do work I have to get somebody to watch the kids so we can go on a date or whatever and that date if we hadn't been getting along or hadn't been on a date or hadn't had a conversation with each other for a while it's awkward but the

Point is I press into it so that we can get back to where we need to be so that I can grow so the relationship can begin to grow it's not gonna happen on its own and for some of us it's like I don't know I'm just not relating well to Jesus and it's like when was the last time you opened this up when was the last time you sat with him and said I just need to talk I need you to and

You're like well it's awkward yeah it's not gonna get better not doing that that's that's how we do it I've also found Christians will sometimes say yeah I'm just really praying about this and trying to see what God wants me to do my next question always is are you reading your Bible no that's like saying I'm waiting for a phone call where's your phone in the house you're not gonna get that call like it's

Harder the person could show up the person could show up at your house and when we say I'm trying to find what God's will is for me but I'm not gonna read the main thing that he's already told me all of his will in it's a lot harder the the other thing this is I'm just trying to help us see how the word shows up in us and how how it matters to us I mean I'm going to cover two more things but let's I want to read a passage for us first

To one is from first Timothy he says until I come he's talking to a pastor devote yourself to the public reading of scripture to exhortation and teaching what he's saying is get together read this he says to that same pastor again in another letter in second Timothy 316 this will be on the screen all scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching for us to grow and learn for reproof for correction correction is hey you're a little bit out of line here

Reproof is dude pay attention the difference there reproof is a little more aggressive and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete equipped for every good work I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead and by his appearance and by his kingdom by his appearing in his kingdom preach the word be ready in season and out of season reprove rebuke and exhort with complete patience and the teaching I love it

Is good for my soul that it says reprove rebuke exhort that the reason for preaching is that what it means is when I come to the Bible I've got to realize that Jesus is going to need to reprove me he's going to correct me he's going to need to rebuke me there's going to be times where I'm off and that's what the Bible does is it helps change me and then he's going to need to exhort me which is help me grow and actually want to put forth effort two other quick things when it

Comes to reading the Bible Christians sometimes say they're actively pursuing sin and then they'll say well I prayed about it and I just feel like I don't I don't feel like I mean I think I can just keep kind of going like I don't feel like God told me to stop what you have just said if the Bible clearly explicitly says you should not be doing the behavior doing should not be actively involved in when you're involved in and you say I prayed about it but don't feel like I should stop what you have

Articulated out loud just so you know the next time you say that sentence is I'm so far removed from Jesus right now that even though he's already clearly said it it's not actively at work in me there are some things you don't need to pray about he's already made really clear and we learn through the word the other thing sometimes Christians act like they want to be led by the Holy Spirit and all Christians should all Christians should want to be led by the Holy Spirit and so Christians will say well I just don't read a lot because I

Want to be led by the Spirit I just want the Spirit to guide me like I'd much rather just have the Spirit in me than then read the Bible that thought process is confusing you're just kind of off there the Holy Spirit breathed out the Bible first Peter says that it was people carried along by the Spirit that wrote the Bible so the Holy Spirit is going to teach you through the Bible the Holy Spirit is going to teach you using the Bible the Holy Spirit can teach you can lead you when you're not near a Bible but he's going to line up with what the Bible already says it's like this you ever been around a couple and they can have a conversation

Without using words they've just been together long enough like like you would you would be around them and something would happen and one of them would look at the other one and go and they look back and go and look back and go and it was like a pitcher and a catcher doing the like you know giving each other signals and you like one of them will be like what y'all's faces doing but they have a whole conversation without ever having the reason they got there is they've been around each other so much that they knew what each other were thinking they knew like Anna and I the closest I have gotten is that I'll think up something hilarious and Anna

Will look at me and go don't say that and I'll be like my face gave me away I got to look less excited that's about as close as we get right now otherwise we got to actually say words to each other but we can't do the face thing yet but when someone says I want to just be led by the Holy Spirit the way you do that is by learning the word and it makes it way easier for the Holy Spirit to converse with you for the Holy Spirit to teach you when you're not near the Bible so if I said I really want Anna and I to be able to just have face conversations the way we practice that is not it's through real conversations that's how we learn what the face meant first the face

Needs to say words to us and then we can just get the expression part and some of us like I really just want to be led by the Spirit get in here start reading this and the Spirit will lead you that's how that's how that works he's going to lead you here and then he'll start leading you when you're not near it okay Christians love the word for oh no not for I got to read it here first that'll make sense otherwise you know where'd you get that no I got the passage we didn't read um they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship what that means is they devoted themselves to each other they devoted themselves to they belonged to one another so the Bible in several places is going

To say we're actually members of one another we belong to one another the same way that your foot belongs to your hand like you connected they're devoted to one another the Bible has 59 one another's we're going to read all of them next week and the week after probably that was 59 one another's where it says do this with one another this is how you relate to one another you're members of one another love one another bear one another's burdens like it's going to over and over and over again because it's just assumed that we're going to be connected to one another we're going to be devoted to one another when when God became your father if you place faith in him you got a whole lot of brothers and sisters so if you're like well can't can't a

Christian be a Christian on an island yes you can be a Christian on an island none of us are like I haven't seen anybody walk in here wearing a loincloth holding a volleyball with paint on it or whatever and if if we did we would say we're so glad you're off the island you should get in a community group unless you plan on going back to the island you need to get in a group that's what we say because here's the thing we were designed to be to relate to one another to love one another that the church loves one another Christians are devoted to one another first John 4 10 through 11 says this oh nope sorry that's way back wait I'm gonna get it yeah it's first John 4 10 through 11 and this is love not that we have loved God but have loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for

Our sins which means he turned away wrath says beloved if God so loved us we also ought to love one another John 13 35 says this by all by this all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another one of the ways that we put God on display is our relationship to one another that's one of the things that I love about whenever we have baptisms those videos over and over and over again is somebody saying yeah I started hanging out with a group I started hanging out with a community group I got around this person and this person and this person this person harassed me and then this person loved me and then this person sir like and it's just this I got to see Jesus at work through his people the church loves one another I feel like sometimes on Sunday what we're doing is like a cooking show you watch a cooking show that I like them at the beginning when I

See a little bit of the cooking show I'm like oh it looks great but then by the end when they walk over and they're like okay they open the oven it's already cooked and then they pull it out and then it's the worst when they go mmm this is so good it's like all right this just got annoying because I want to eat that and I'm not putting any of that effort into it and you also moved way too quickly on some of the stuff like I understood what you were talking about like polonaise what I thought I was an island um that may not be a word it might be polonaise or something like that so it's spelled like bologna anyway um it feels like you sometimes that's what Sunday is to me we're going to proclaim Jesus we're going to open the Bible but we're going to say is this is the ingredients this is what it should look like and if you just do Sundays you don't ever get to taste it if you just

Do Sundays and so what we're saying when we say get in the group is that you actually get to it makes it tangible it makes it real when you see people actually loving each other actually forgiving each other actually bearing one another's burdens because you actually get to see the gospel on display that's why Jesus says they'll know you're my disciples by the way you love one another the church is committed to loving one another we're going to spend more time on that next week and the week after the last one is this we're gonna read the rest of this passage to the breaking of bread and the prayers which was them getting together praying together to them celebrating Jesus connected with one another and all came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles and all who believed were together and had all things in common and they were selling

Their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need and day after day attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes they received their food with glad and generous hearts what I love about that section is that all of those people's friends probably thought they were crazy they were like whoa you are hanging out with these people way too much you're giving them some of your money like y'all are eating together all the time like this is getting weird and it's like no this is what family looks like we've been all brought into the same family so they were devoted to one another 47 46 and day by day attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes they received their food with glad and generous hearts praising God and having favor with all the people that's the people who weren't in the church and

The Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved the church loves Jesus's mission the church loves the people who aren't in the church yet that's what it ended with was that everybody appreciated that the church existed and more and more people were invited in if you're a Christian you care that people aren't Christians not because you want them to come be good like you that's not Christianity Christianity is I know what sin is like I know what it does to people and I know that it's been taken care of on the cross I know that there's hope I know that there's freedom I know that the things you're chasing after will never fill you up will never fix you Christians love Jesus's mission which is to see more people brought into the family to see more people have their sin paid for Christians the church loves their neighbors the church loves their enemies because they realize that they need

Jesus if you're here today and you don't know Jesus we want you to know Jesus we want you to be saved by Jesus we want you to be taken by Jesus and made his we want your sins paid for by Jesus because somebody's gonna pay for your sins and it's gonna be you or it's gonna be Jesus and the church wants more and more people to know Jesus wants more and more people to be welcomed in this was Jesus's plan from the beginning when he calls the disciples he says follow me I'll make you fishers of men which means I'm gonna teach you what it's like to be rescued to be redeemed to know and be loved and then I want you to do that with other people I want you to get more people to know this it says he appointed 12 that he said he appointed them so they could be with him and that he could send them out to preach send them out to tell people about this when Jesus is about to leave in Matthew 28 it says that he tells him go make disciples which is just go do the same

Thing I was doing with you second Corinthians 5 17 this is Paul writing to the church and here's what he says therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation the old has passed away the behold the new has come all this is from God who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation that is in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself not counting their trespasses that sins against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation therefore we are ambassadors of Christ we're representatives of his God making his appeal through us we implore you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God if you find God's people they vehemently actively continually want to see more people meet Jesus go out of their way pull money out of their wallets give up their time to see more people come to know Jesus because Christians know that that matters and Christians know where their hope comes

From and Christians know that life is is ultimately empty and fleeting and futile without Jesus if you're not a Christian today you're here and you're hanging out you're like I'm just hanging out with church people somebody invited me whatever I know I'm not a Christian here's what I would say most everything I just said does not apply to you at all it may be helpful for you to know what a church ought to look like what you need to know is that Jesus died to pay for your sins because he loves you he loved you so much he gave up his life so that you can have one what we read last week says that we were children of wrath but we've been adopted as sons we deserve to be crushed but we were brought into the family and the only way that happened was that the son became a child of wrath that the son of God took wrath on our behalf so that you who deserve wrath can be a son like that's that's what it's saying if you're here today and you're a Christian real quick if you're not a Christian and

You see that the response is the same thing that Peter said which is repent and be baptized acknowledge that you're a sinner so that you can be saved and then we'll talk about the baptism stuff later if you're a Christian the question really is are those five things showing up do you love Jesus are you obedient are you following him do you enjoy Jesus do you hate sin are you repenting you actively in sin and don't care do you love his word do you study do you read do you try to intake and grow and understand what the Bible says do you do you love the church do you love your fellow believers your brothers and sisters and do you care that people don't know Jesus if you're saying I'm a Christian those need to be showing up and you can ask Jesus to help you you continue to go back to Jesus and say I need help here I need to change here I need you to work in me here I need your DNA to be more active here I need the Holy Spirit to work in me here and if you're here today and you say I'm a

Christian but you don't have any of those none of those are showing up none of those are active in you I don't think you're a Christian if you have no evidence of those things at all I don't think you're a Christian we're not mad at you you just need to know you're not a Christian it's a dangerous spot to be in to not actually believe and follow Jesus and have him work in you and believe that that he is and the response isn't work harder the response is go back to Jesus and say I need to be made new we're gonna spend the next few weeks talking about what a local church gets to look like and how we're designed to interact with one another but those are some characteristics that define Jesus's people that are at work around the globe what's beautiful is as you open this and study it you're doing what another million people are doing in all their kind of different languages when you go out of your way to help point someone to Jesus you're doing what people have done

Through the centuries because Jesus saved people and it was his plan that his people would change the world make sure you get to join in here locally what the church looks like throughout history and throughout the globe as we love one another and serve one another as God's people let's pray God we thank you that we can be saved we thank you that that's based off of your work not ours and we ask God that you would be at work in us to help us love you more to help us follow you God to show us our sin and help us to hate it God that you would teach us through your word and that we would grow to love your word empower in us the ability to love one another even when that's hard the ability to love one another in all of life and God I pray that you would help us to have our hearts broken over the people who don't yet know you that we might go out of our way to help them come to know you

Jesus help us be your church Amen Amen Amen

Distinctly Loved

Distinctly Loved

Chet Phillips

Transcript

Well, good morning. This is the first week of our Home Sweet Home series. I'm really excited to kind of get started and to look at what the church is. Maybe a better way to say that, more theologically correct way to say that, is who the church is. And honestly, it's going to be massively helpful for us because I find that a lot of times we don't ask that question. We don't ask what makes the church the church?

How did the church become the church? Who is the church? We just kind of assume it. So maybe you'd say, well, we're at church right now. This is it. And I would say, keep listening because nuh-uh.

The Bible is going to say that the church is people. The church is more like a bride than a building. The church is more like a family than anything else. And so we're actually going to take some time just to try to understand what makes the church the church. And this is actually very important for us, massively important for us. And we know this, like we know that it's helpful for us to understand some definitions of things before we get involved in them.

A very quick example. Somebody says to you, hey, can you do me a favor? Because you've had people ask you that before, your response is, what? The response is not, yeah, the response is, what? What you want? And then they tell you, because you want to define the terms first.

You want to understand what you're getting in on. Like if I said, hey, do you want to be a Marine? You would say, what's a Marine? Like I need to know before I'm signing up for something. I need to know what we're talking about. If somebody, if you go to get married, um, so the Bible says it's like, it's like a marriage.

The church is the bride. So if you went to get married, you'd want to understand what that meant, what that entailed, what went along with that. If you were, uh, it says it's like a family. Like we have definitions that impact how we think through things, how we approach life. Um, and the church seems to me to be very similar in some ways, uh, to, to marriage and to maybe having a family, maybe having children. And here's, here's why on the outside, you think you understand really well, how it works.

And then when you get on the inside, you realize, Oh no, no, I didn't give you an example. The people who are really the best at being married are not married. They can tell you everything you want to know about marriage. What you ought to do as a husband and what you ought to do as a wife. Like I was a pro on being married and then you get married and you're like, Whoa. And you think thoughts like, I mean, I don't know my wife thought thoughts like, am I the only person in the world who's married to such a moron?

Like how come you think things like, why does it work so easily for everybody else? And why do we stay up till three o'clock in the morning arguing with each other? It's like, you haven't been in my house at three o'clock in the morning. They're all up arguing with each other. Like, that's what you needed to know. I got a secret for you.

Like you get married and you're like, wow, this is way harder than I thought. It's the same thing with having kids, man. I've got a one-year-old. I was a pro at having children a year ago. Could have told you, like you see kids, you'd be like, my kid's not going to act like that. And then you have kids and it's like the other day he hit my wife with a stick.

So I took the stick from him and he rolls on the ground screaming and kicking. Like I have just assaulted him. And my first thought is, you know, like how to, how to parent this situation. I think I should hit him with the stick. Like this is the best move right now. We'll assert a chain of dominance, like how this works, but you just, you just, it's one of those things where you think it's one way, you think it's going to be a certain way and then you get in it.

And so the truth is we look at the church and you might would say, uh, maybe from the outside, you're like, oh yeah, this is what a church should be like. And this is how a church ought to relate to each other. And this is, and it's like this magic floaty fairy tale land. And then you get into it. You actually give it a shot. Like the people who act like churches are beautiful and perfect.

It's like, you've never been a part of one. Have you? You never really gave that a go. Once you get in it, you're like, oh, oh goodness. This is more difficult than I thought. And so there's a little bit of us.

And maybe if you've been around a church before and you've had your feelings hurt, or you've been sinned against, maybe you're like, hey, is the home sweet home thing? Like, are we saying that sarcastically? That's a joke, right? Like it's tongue in cheek, like homes, home sweet home. Like this place is terrible. Is that what we're going for?

Because maybe you've been hurt. And so what I would say is this, no, it's not a joke. It actually gets to be that we actually get to have a real genuine, deep, loving relationships. And yeah, you may have been hurt before. And, and I want to go ahead and give you the Mill City guarantee, which is if you keep hanging out, you'll get hurt here. You're welcome.

We believe that we're a group of sinners brought together by the grace of Jesus. If you keep being a part of things, I can guarantee someone's going to sin against you. Your feelings are going to get hurt, or you're going to sin against somebody. You're going to hurt somebody's feelings. You're going to harm somebody. And sometimes it's, it's as easy as a misunderstanding.

And sometimes it's blatant and bad. And here's the thing. If we don't have a working, healthy, correct definition of what the church is, I can almost guarantee something for you. You won't be able to stick with one. If you don't really understand what the church is and how the church became the church. And if you don't have a very foundational definition, you'll peace out.

You'll be done at some point. And at some point you'll move from one church to another. Like the only way you'll be able to approach church is sometime kind of a, what do I like the best? What, what most suits my needs? What, what do I enjoy the most? You kind of approach it consumeristically and preferentially.

And then at some point though, you're, you're going to, you're going to bounce around from church to church because you'll think, Oh, people know me here. Can I get a handheld mic? Is that, is this going to be super distracting if I keep making this noise? People know me here. Um, and I'll try to keep the handheld night near my face. Um, when I get it, but you'll think people know me here.

They know I'm messed up. I got to go somewhere else where they don't know my story. Or you'll think, man, everybody here's a jerk or this person's a jerk. And if I could just be a part of a different church, like this would work out. Uh, this is Logan Phillips. Everybody he's been here since seven 30 this morning.

Thank you. In a world. Okay. I just wanted to test it out in a way that I won't talk the rest of the time. Um, I'm going to try not to, I'll break it. I'm going to work on that.

So I won't do that the whole time. Um, okay. You'll, you'll, you'll bounce from church to church. You'll, you'll hang out with it, with a church for a while and then you'll get offended. You'll get hurt. You'll, you'll have something, uh, just, it'll turn out they're sinners or they'll find out you're a sinner.

And it's going to be a problem. If you don't know what the church is, and if you don't know how it's actually supposed to be designed and you don't know what the foundation is for it. So here's what we're doing today. As we start this series, the next couple of weeks, we're going to talk very practically. We're going to talk about characteristics that the church ought to have. We're going to talk about what a church ought to look like.

We're going to tell you if you're a part of a church and this is missing, this is a problem. If you are a Christian and this is missing, this is a problem. This is how we ought to relate to each other. We're going to talk very practically today. We're going to lay the foundation for that with a very zoomed out view of what foundationally makes the church, the church. So if you were to describe your family to somebody and ask, what's a family?

You'd say you wouldn't start off with, well, we all have curly hair. No, foundationally it's further back. Foundationally there's something deeper there. And so what we're doing is to understand what the church is. We're going to go foundational and then we'll be able to talk about all the curly hair and stuff next week. What did actually start looking like?

So I'm going to pray and then we're going to hop into Ephesians. So God, we thank you for this opportunity. We thank you for how good you are to us. Thank you for your love and your grace towards us. And we pray Lord that we would have a better, more true understanding of the church after today. In Jesus name.

Amen. Amen. I'm taking this one off so I'm not too mic'd up the whole time. I'm going to go put it over here. Think a deep thought while I'm doing this. Talk amongst yourselves.

Okay, stop and pay attention. Here we go. Ephesians chapter one. All right. So this is a letter written by the apostle Paul to a church in Ephesus.

And he's going to start off by helping them see what it, who they are, identity. So when we talk about like I'm a part of a family, we're talking DNA, we're talking bloodline, we're talking some sort of an adoption process that makes us that. And so he's going to start off with that, who the church is, identity. So we're going to start in Ephesians chapter one, verse three. That'll be on page 633. If your Bible is one of the blue and white Bibles from the road.

If you don't own a Bible, I'll take this one with you. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. So he starts off by saying, may God be blessed. May he be held in high esteem. May he be honored. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us.

And so every time we see us here, he's talking to the church about the church. So we're going to try to, as we read this, understand what makes the us and us. Does that make sense? Like when you're in a dating, dating relationship and like you had to have a DTR or maybe, maybe you were trying to figure out like how it was going. And then like you were paying attention to the sentences and they said stuff like, you know, like they used us in a way that meant maybe we were an us. And your little heart started beating or maybe it started beating because you were like, I don't think we in us.

Will you tone it down? Like, I don't know, but you know, like this is a little bit, we're going to read this and kind of have a DTR, try to understand what makes the us, what makes we and us. Okay. Um, who has blessed us in Christ. So that's Jesus with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places.

I don't even know what that means, but it sounds amazing. It's like when someone says we're going to have a seven course meal and you think I've never had one of those. I don't know what all the seven courses will be, but it sounds amazing. So we get to know what some of these spiritual blessings are, but we don't get to know what every spiritual blessing is, but we know that the church, the us has every spiritual blessing in heavenly places because of Jesus. Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. He predestined us for adoption as sons.

That's some other family language. The Bible uses adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved. So the beloved there capital B that's Jesus. So what he's saying is that in Jesus, we've been blessed with all the blessings, all the spiritual blessings in heavenly places that he chose us in him. He predestined us to be made perfect and blameless before him that he chose to do this on our behalf, that he could bless us because of his grace. Verse seven in him, in Jesus, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.

Okay. So in Jesus, when he says we have forgiveness through his blood, uh, redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, what he's saying is that when Jesus went to the cross, his blood was shed to pay for all of our sin. That's what trespass means. Like when you trespass, you cross the line that you weren't supposed to cross. So his blood pays for that, that we're redeemed, which means to be bought back through his blood according or because of the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Okay. So, uh, verse seven and eight, it says in him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace. Grace means unearned, unmerited favor and love, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight. So lavished. How many of y'all use that word this past week? You were getting a hot dog and you were like, Hey, lavish some cheese on that.

We don't use that word very often. So I want to take a second for help us understand that. Cause I don't think we, I think we all think, Oh yeah, I kind of have an understanding of what that means, but you don't really think about it that often. So God has lavished grace on us. It means it's too much. It's too much.

So when you, you, maybe you've seen somebody in a relationship where, uh, they just lavished all their money and all their time on somebody to the point that you were like, like, this is y'all, this is unhealthy. Like you, you, this is too much. Like, even if you were the one having all this stuff, you're like, this is great. This is great. This is great. All right.

This is getting weird. Like what? Don't you have a job? What do you, why are you here all the time? Like that's, he lavished it. If you, at Thanksgiving with your family, you go to your mama's house or your great aunt, whoever got the biggest house or cooks the best.

And you, you're in line behind one of your cousins and he fills up his plate and he gets, uh, turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes and a biscuit. Cause you got to have carbs and starches. That's really all you need. Mac and cheese. You're going to need another plate for that. So he fills this up and then he gets to the gravy and he just starts pouring brown gravy.

I mean, at first it looks good. And then it's like, man, he keeps circling around. Like he just covers his whole plate with gravy. Like you can't even tell what's there anymore. And you're like, dude, just stop. That was too much.

It's too much, too much gravy. And I didn't know that was a thing, but you've put too much on your plate. That's what God's done with his grace for us. It's too much. He's lavished grace on us. Use that word sometime this next week.

11 In him, in Christ, we have obtained an inheritance. So we're in the family. The people who inherit things are in the family. This is the church having been predestined, chosen. That means chosen beforehand. That's what he says.

He chose us beforehand in a, in him, according to the purpose of him. So that's a guide or Jesus who works all things according to the counsel of his will. That phrase right there are the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will. That means that God does whatever he wants. That's what that means. According to him God who works all things according to the counsel of will of his will.

That means he does whatever he wants. He's in charge. When I was growing up in my house, there was a chair that was my dad's chair, and you could sit in it as long as my dad wasn't there. But he would walk up, and he would just do this with his hand. It was slight, and that meant get out my chair. And you knew that this is the only motion you wanted him to make with his hand.

The next motion was a little more aggressive. So he'd do that, and he'd do this. And that meant hand me the remote. And I remember very distinctly one day when he did that and this, and I hesitated. He said, boy? And I was like, I don't even like TV.

I didn't even know. Because you know how you're in a show, it's hard to just get out of it, but you get out of it. You're just like, yeah, this show, I don't even care how that character, I'm just, whatever. That was before DVR. It meant something. I just, it's God.

He's, to not be crass, he's the daddy. He does whatever he wants. That's how that works in his universe. So he works all things according to the purpose of his will. That's verse 11, 12. So that we who were the first to hope in Christ, hope means believe, put all our chips on, like everything on Christ.

Hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance, until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory. Okay. That was dense and there was a lot there, but here's the point. What makes the church, the church didn't say anything really at all about what the people do. What it said was, here's what Jesus did.

That was it. Jesus makes we and us. Jesus does it. He accomplishes it on behalf of the church. Jesus does. If you look back at the verbs in that whole paragraph, it's Jesus who has blessed us in Christ, who chose us in him, who predestined us for adoption as sons, who has blessed us in the beloved, in him, in Jesus, we have redemption through his blood.

We have the forgiveness of our sins according to the riches of his grace that he lavished upon us in his wisdom and insight that he made known to us the mystery of his will, that people might be saved through God on a cross, that he set forth as a plan for the fullness of time, that he might unite all things in himself. In him, we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined by him according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will. Like the, the point of that passage, what he's saying is that Jesus did this. Jesus accomplished this. God does what he wants and he rescued and made a people for himself.

That's the church. The church are the people throughout all time in history who have been distinctly loved and blessed by God. That's the first step is that God lavishes his grace and his love and his blessing onto us to make us his people. So distinctly loved and loved and blessed because everybody is loved and blessed by God. Let me explain how that works. Uh, blessed.

One is you don't suck in oxygen, wake up in the morning, walk around without being blessed by God. Uh, everybody has rainfall, has sunshine, gets to eat things, taste delicious food, unless you live in like England and everything tastes kind of the same, but it still nourishes you. Like everybody gets to, uh, gets to be blessed by God. Even the worst person who ever walked on the face of the earth, the most terrible, heinous person was blessed enough to have some people take care of them long enough for them to live past childhood, ate food, slept at night, got to take naps. Like, I mean, blessed everybody is.

And we're all loved by God. So the Bible says that God so loved the world that he gave his only son. Like he loved everybody enough to die for us, but it only is effective for, it only applies to the church. So that's the John three 16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him wouldn't perish and have everlasting life. So there's this, God loves everybody, but it's only going to apply to those who believe it's only going to be effective and effectual for those who believe it's like if I stood up and said, Hey, uh, we've got tickets, um, to the upcoming fireflies.

No lightning bugs. What are they called? Fireflies. They should be called the lightning bugs. That would just be way better. Cause you'd be like, go lightning bugs.

Like it just be, it would be better. But anyway, we've got tickets to the new fireflies games coming up in Lexington. All you got to do is show up to the will call and say Mill City and they'll give you a ticket. Like it's open to everybody. Who's going to enjoy the game? People who show up and ask for the ticket.

Jesus has died for everybody, but who actually gets loved and distinctly blessed by what he's accomplished? The church. And that's what makes the church, the church. So maybe you're saying, okay, hold on a second. Jesus does everything. What do I do?

And what am I supposed to do? If Jesus, well, he just does everything he chooses. He blessed. He predestines. He does all this mess. Like what, what do I do?

Well, let's answer that. Go to verse, go to chapter two. Uh, Paul's going to kind of keep talking to the Ephesians in a more specific way. Some of, some of the stuff's going on with them and talk to them about their church specifically. And then he gets more big picture in chapter two. So we're jumping down to chapter two.

So on the next page. All right. So, and you, okay, cool. We're going to get to see what we do. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. That did not start off well for us.

So we were dead in our trespasses and our sins in which we once walked. So he's talking to the church and he's using this past tense, but this is what we brought to the table. This is what we did. Sins, trespasses that we were walking in, following the course of the world, following the prince of the power of the air. That's Satan following the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. And we were by nature, children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Verse four starts with, but God. So he's changed the subject back to what God did. So let's talk a little bit about what we brought to the table. You want to know what you did, what you've done, what you've accomplished, what you get to bring to the table. You were dead in your trespasses and sins. You're a dead man walking, following after everybody else.

And he says, following after carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, most of us do a little bit of both, but a lot of times we pick one and stick with it. Here's what I mean. Some of you mostly just carry out the desires of the body. It's sensual. It's what you physically enjoy. So you're just going to be chasing after all of your urges, all of your desires.

You're going to be chasing after food. You're going to be chasing after sex. You're going to be chasing after alcohol and illicit drugs. Like your, your goal is let me just get to the weekend and I'll enjoy myself. Like I work so that I can party on the weekend so I can celebrate on the weekend. And all that is, is just what are my urges?

What are my, my current, what's my body chemistry saying to go for? And that's what I'm going for. You're carrying out the desires of the body. And some of us are carrying out the desires of the mind and that one's a little bit trickier. Some of you that's, I just want to be liked. So I'm actually going to be a really nice person, but my desire is to be well-received and have people praise me and to have people like me.

And so all you're doing is chasing after your own glory, your own name, your own friendliness. Some of you that's, I just want to be successful in work. So you're just, I'm going to work really hard and I'm going to do what I'm supposed to do. But ultimately you're just chasing after your own desires. Whatever your brain has said, this will be the best. So some people chase after money for the sake of their body because it's easier to get women and alcohol if you got stacks on stacks.

So they're chasing after money for the desire of the flesh, the desire of the body. But some people are going to chase after money for the desires of the mind, which is just, I just want to see the number on a computer screen and know it's in my bank account because it makes me feel warm inside. So I'm actually going to look really frugal. I'm actually going to seem like I have it all together, but all I'm doing is chasing after desire of the mind. Now, a lot of times we'll look at people who chase after just the fleshly stuff, just the body stuff and say, man, you need to get it together. Truth is the person who's chasing after just the mind stuff still doesn't worship God as God still has something else there.

That's if God is really God is really who he says he is, then he ought to be ultimate. And if it's just about following rules, then honestly, rules would be ultimate. God would be subservient to the rules, but that's not how it works. God is ultimate. The rules are his. So when we're chasing after anything, even if we're being a really good person and following all the rules, we've still placed something above God.

And if that was the most confusing thing you've ever heard, you might be one of the desires of the body people or I didn't say it well and nobody got that joke, which makes it better. So that's it. That's what we bring to the table. That's us. That's what you've accomplished, that you deserve death, that you deserve destruction. Honestly, every time we've chased after our own physical desires, every time we've chased after our own mental desires, what we're doing is we're looking at the creator of the universe and saying, Hey, hey, look at me.

I do what I want. I'm in charge. I'm going to, I'm going to do what I think's best. I'm going to do what I enjoy the most. I made a joke the other day when I was eating with my family, it was, we went to eat and hang out with, um, uh, my mom for her birthday. And there was a handful of people around the table and we were talking about Archer.

He's my son and he was acting up. My mom was saying that if he's acting up with me, he'd be worse with everybody else. And that's true. Cause he already knows that I'm the one who's going to be the most aggressive with him. Uh, and I just said jokingly, I was like, yeah, when I was growing up, I used to tell my dad what was up. And the reason I said that joke, because I knew everybody at the table would get it.

And there was like instant overwhelming laughter because they've met my dad and they know that never, ever, ever happened. And so I knew, I knew my audience. So I made a joke about me telling my dad what was up and they thought it was hilarious. And here's the truth. If my dad had come to me and said, you know, those little hand motions and hand me the remote. And I looked at him and said, no, it's not happening.

You have a seat. I'm going to finish my show. I wouldn't be here today. And my dad might be in a penitentiary. Like, I don't know. I don't know how that would go.

I saw the look in his eyes a couple of times. I got a guess of what it would be like. And so I never really gave that a shot. Here's the truth though. Every time we've carried out the desires of our flesh and of our mind, and we've acted like whatever I want to do is best. We've looked at the creator of the universe and said, Hey, not right now.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Hey, I'm talking. I'm gonna do what I want. I'm the daddy around here. So we've done if he really is God and really does exist and really does have claim over our lives because we belong to him.

That's what we've done. And I get uncomfortable thinking about doing that to my own dad, but we've looked at God and said, no, no, no, no, no. I'm in charge here. I put this in a really, really bad spot. So what happens for, but God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us.

He's rich in mercy. Some of you may be rich in money or know what that's like, or have a friend who's rich in money. Let me explain how that works. When you're rich in money, which we just say rich, rich, you don't worry about stuff. You got it covered. You wreck your car.

Something gets stolen. You just pay for it. You get in trouble with the law and get a lawyer. And we all have this to varying extents. Like some of us, you know, your shoe bust up, you can go buy a new shoe. But there are times in life when we're not rich in money.

You wreck your car and you look at it and go, well, it still rides. This is what my car looks like now. I kind of like the no bumper look. It makes me stand out. It tells people get away from this car. This car will strike you.

Some of you, your shoe blew up. Like there's just, it like was doing the talking thing when you walk and it flaps. And you know what you thought? That's my shoe. And it's going to stay my shoe because I can't buy another shoe. So you got some duct tape because it's cheaper and you wrapped your foot.

And that part of your shoe is a little bit more slickery, but it's okay. Like you worked it out. Some of you duct taped your car before you got a rear view mirror on one side, the side view mirror just taped on. Some of y'all don't have a side view mirror. And that tells people don't get on this side of the car because you, you didn't have the ability to cover it. God is rich in mercy, which means that the bill we ran up, he can cover the bill.

We ran up when we aggressively, wickedly, sinfully, evilly looked at him and said, no, no, no, I'm in charge. He has the ability to pay that bill because he's rich in mercy. And mercy means we don't have to get what we deserve. Why is he rich in mercy? Because of the great love with which he's rich in mercy. He loved us.

He overwhelmingly loves us. So when we rebel against him, he doesn't just go, fine, I'll crush you. It breaks his heart. And he says, I'm going to pay for this. I'm going to fix this. I'm going to fix this relationship, even though you don't deserve it, because I love you.

Some of you are in terrible relationships with your family. They treat you terribly and you keep doing stuff for me. And when people ask, why'd you do that? You say stuff like, man, it's my brother. That's my mom. What you mean is I love them.

I got their family. I can't just write them off. I got, I got to keep, I got to keep taking a beating on their behalf. And God looked at us in our rebellion and had overwhelming love and compassion and mercy for us. But God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.

By grace, you have been saved. He raised us up with him, seated us with him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. All right. Here's what happened. Because God is rich in mercy, he paid for our redemption. All you had was sin and death.

That's what you brought to the table. So Jesus took your sin and your death and rammed them into the grave with himself. He wrapped himself with them, clothed himself with them. And he took your death and your sin into the tomb with him. And then he rose again, leaving them there. And we get to be made alive when he came back to life.

If Jesus had just stayed dead, we'd all be in trouble. But Jesus came back to life, meaning that his payment for our sin and his death on our behalf worked. And he came back to life so that we can be made alive with him. Raised us up with him, seated us with him in heavenly places. That was verse six, seven. So that in the coming ages, he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

The purpose of this was that he could show us how much more grace, how much more love, how much more mercy he has for us. Some of you think I'm just barely getting in. I'm just barely had my sin paid for. No, he's got so much that overwhelmingly covers us and welcomes us in. Immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace, you have been saved through faith.

And this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast, meaning you didn't do it. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. What'd you bring to the table? Sin, death, and Jesus, because he's great, his great love, and he's rich in mercy paid for it that we could be welcomed in. That's the church.

The church is the group of people who have had God's grace and mercy lavished on them, who've had their sin and their death taken away. That's the church. That's who it is. That's the foundation for everything. And here's why you have to remember that. Sometimes you hear Christians say things like, I just feel so unworthy.

I just feel like I don't deserve it. And I've seen other Christians in a desire to be nice come alongside of them and say, no, you're great. No, no, no, no, no. God wouldn't have died for you if you weren't worth it. And that's kind of true, but mostly not. And so if you ever said to me, I just feel so undeserving and like I'm not worth it, I would come alongside you and I'd put my arm around you and go, yeah, that is so true.

I was thinking that about you yesterday. No, I wouldn't say that, but I would say, yeah, I would agree with you. Yes. Correct. You do not deserve it. Yes.

Correct. You are not worthy. If you deserved it and you were worthy, Jesus wouldn't have to die. Jesus died because you don't deserve it. You're not worthy. And he lavished grace on us, which means it was unearned, undeserved.

You weren't worth it, but he did it anyway, because he's glorious. So in chapter one, it says to the praise of his glory, to the praise of his glorious grace. So when you feel the most bottomed out, I don't deserve this. I haven't earned it. I'm not good enough. Yes.

Praise his glory. Praise his grace on your behalf. When you say to me, I feel so undeserving. I want to be like me too. That's what got us in. Jesus did it.

He's deserving. He's worthy. He needs, he should be blessed. We just get it because he's great. You didn't deserve it. You didn't earn it.

I feel that way too. And here's what's so beautiful about that. This is why if we don't get this, you won't be able to stick around, but if you get this, you, you, you've made it, you've got it, you're, you're ready. You realize that everybody in this room didn't earn it. So when they hurt you, you're not surprised they weren't good in the first place.

And when you sin against them, you can own up to it because what brought you to Jesus was your sin in the first place. If we all realize that we don't deserve it and only Jesus does, we're equipped with everything we need to be family from now on. That's it. It's when we forget one of those two things that we have some serious problems. When you start feeling like pretty good, I think God loves, you know, he loves everybody and then he loves the church more specially, but he loves me more, more specially. And then when someone sins against you, you think unacceptable because I earned it.

You need to, too. When you come tell me I did something wrong. What? That sounds true. You hurt my feelings. Probably.

What was it? Sorry. Sometimes it was on purpose. Sometimes it wasn't. I'm like, yeah, I shouldn't have said that. Yeah, I shouldn't have done that.

I'm here because I love because Jesus was good on my behalf. Jesus rescued me. That's us. That's the church. That's it. So you say, okay, well, what do I do?

Like, how do I respond to that? Well, he said it in chapter one. In him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, that Jesus died to pay for your sin and believed in him, you were sealed by the promise. Holy spirit. Belief. Put your trust in Jesus.

That's it. How do you know you're chosen? How do you know he's poured his love and grace out on you? Do you want to believe? Do you want to respond to that? That's it.

He bought all the tickets, show up to will call. That's basically like you just get to say, I trust this. I believe that all I've brought to the table is my sin and my brokenness. And I believe that he paid for it. That's it. I trust.

And then the Holy spirit comes inside of you and begins to change you from the inside out. So often I think we think I got to be a good person or I got to get my act together. I got to come to Jesus and clean myself up. You're, you're making a mockery of the cross. He came to clean you up. He came to pay for your sin.

You could just come to him and say, I trust that all I'm able to bring to the table is my messed up garbage. And he says, yeah, that's why I saved you. And you believe and you're saved. That's it. His grace is lavished on you, poured out on you. And then you're adopted into the family.

And then we get to talk about characteristics of what a church looks like. And that's where we'll go next week. We get to talk about what you begin to look like as you're a part of the family, because when you're adopted into the family, you're brought in and you start learning from the people around you. And when you have the DNA, you start just automatically being like them. So the Holy spirit comes in and changes you from the inside out.

And then you begin to learn from Jesus and you begin to learn from his people. That's how it works. My granddad was, um, he grew up and he never knew his dad. Like the one time he saw his dad, he was getting his haircut and a man came and stood by the window and just kind of looked in for a little while and turned around and walked off. And the guy cutting his hair said, Hey boy, you know who that was? He said, no, sir.

He said, that was your daddy. So my granddad ran to the window, watched him walk off. And that was it. But he, uh, my, my great granddad, Papa Holloman, who was his daddy. So my granddad's name was Phillips, but his adopted Papa Holloman.

And so my granddad, because he was adopted and because he had this other guy's DNA, like he had certain things that were affected by the DNA that was just automatically inside, like how tall he was going to be. Whiteness, like all the different things that come along with DNA, hair color, eye color, those kinds of things. And then he picked up stuff from Papa Holloman and Papa Holloman was a trip and did all kinds of stuff just to like mess with people. And that's been passed down from generation to generation, like sense of humor and messing with people. Like my Papa Holloman one time was at a, uh, they were at like Tweetsie railroad or some random place like that.

And there was a guy selling, um, uh, little cups of, uh, apple cider. And he was like talking about how they made it and all this kind of stuff. And then you could buy, you know, a cup for five cents or something. And he was like, does anybody have any questions? And Papa Holloman raised his hand. He said, yes, sir.

He goes, how much you get paid an hour? And his wife hit him and he's like, I meant about the, the, the apple cider. And he's like, you said, if I had any questions. And then he walked to the front of the line and said, let me see it. And took his little jug. It was in a jug.

Papa Holloman stuck his nose in it and went, it's too sweet. And handed it back to him. And everybody got out of the line. And I was like, no, no, no, no, I'm not having that. And my granddad picked up all this kind of stuff and he just would mess with people and make jokes, but he also had DNA. And the truth is the church has both that the Holy spirit comes inside of us and begins to change us.

And we get to grow in what it looks like to be the church and to follow Jesus. And that's what we're going to talk about for the next four weeks, what the church actually looks like. But here's what you need to know. The church has made the church by Jesus and Jesus alone. Not about what we do, not about how we act. But then once Jesus does that, we begin to have the same traits.

We begin to see it show up the same way that you've been talking to someone before. And you're like, well, I was like, are y'all brothers? And they're like, yeah. And you're like, okay, that makes way more sense with the facial expressions and the weird stuff you just said. Like you acted just like this person over here that I'm already friends with. Like it begins to happen like that way in the church.

Here's how we apply this today. If you're not a Christian, if you've never believed this, believe, put your faith in Jesus that all you bring to the table is your sin and that Jesus died to lavish grace on you, to make you his. And that's how you get to be in the church. That's the church. It's those people throughout all of history. If you're a Christian, put this on repeat.

You're a sinner who's been given grace. That's what makes you you. That's what changed you and made we and us. Like that's Jesus has accomplished that for you. So when you think, oh, I'm sinning, I'm messing this up.

Yes. You need grace. You need Jesus. And if you're a Christian or you're not a Christian, I would encourage you to hop into a community group as at least while we walk through this series. So you can begin to see what we're talking about.

You can actually experience it. Maybe if you're lucky, you'll even have someone sin against you and you can try to forgive them. It'll be good for your soul as you learn that the church is a group of sinners brought together by Jesus. Bianca's going to come back up here and we're going to sing. And here's what we're about to do. She's going to sing.

And I want the church, if you're a Christian, if you say I've placed my faith in Jesus and I've had his grace poured out on me, we're going to take communion. And I want you to remember as you walk back there that I was, we were dead walking after our own sin. That we were dead man walking. And then I want you to remember that Jesus died for you, that his grace covers you and that you've had grace poured out on you. And I want you to take communion, which is the representation of the broken body of Jesus and his spilled blood on your behalf. And it's that that makes you okay.

And it's that that covers you. And it's that that makes you his forever, not your behavior, not your goodness, Jesus. And if you're not a Christian today, don't take communion because it's for Christians. But I would invite you to place your faith in Jesus, become a Christian and then take communion. As the very first time that you celebrate that I trust that when Jesus died, he died for me and that his blood and his body cover me. And I'm placing my hope in him, not in myself, not in my own goodness, but in him that I might receive the riches of his grace and his mercy.

Let's pray. God, we thank you for your goodness. We thank you for your love. Pray, Lord, that we would celebrate today your grace and your mercy that's been poured out for us. And I pray, Lord, that that would be the foundation for us as a church, that we would know that your people are the people who have been redeemed by you, that you chose, that you love, that you lavished your grace on us. And that would be the foundation for everything that we do.

As we spend the next few weeks talking about what the church looks like, that we would understand the reason we look that way, the reason we operate that way, is because we have already been made new. We've already been born again into your family. We've already been adopted as sons. We praise you. We thank you. We love you.

In Jesus' name.