Title: A Biblical Church
Meta: church, fellowship, Acts, Biblical, body, believers, meetings
Tags: Churches today are overrun with the ideas of secular anthropology, secular psychology and secular sociology. Now, don’t think you are going to have a biblical church by purging that out of your evangelism. You have to purge it out of your marriage, your idea of man, your idea of truth. You have to purge it out of everything. God’s Word is true. And if something does not line up with God’s Word, it is not true and it’s not additional truth.

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It is a tremendous privilege for me and brother Leiter to be here with you,

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a tremendous privilege.

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And I have been given sort of a, kind of an insurmountable or difficult task

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of take an hour and preach everything that ought to be preached on a biblical church.

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And I think it would take much longer than an hour.

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But we are going to look at a few things about... huh?

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Oh, well, be careful with that kind of statement (preach as long as you want).

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You may regret it.

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But we are going to talk about church.

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And if you are here tonight,

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you are probably here because you have an uneasiness or restlessness

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about the way things are, about the spiritual decline in your country,

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in Europe as well as America, looking for something.

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Well, let me just share with you.

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There are a lot of people and a lot of movements that can give you something.

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There are all sorts of things going on in Christianity today.

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It looks like a circus offering certain aspects of Christianity,

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certain power, certain joy, certain life.

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So many things, so many gimmicks, so many promises,

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healing, prosperity, life as you want it, your best life now,

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absolutely everything is laid before you.

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What Jesus Christ lays before you is this:

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the promise of eternal life, and a cross.

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What Jesus Christ lays before you is what really matters.

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And that is a character conformed to his image.

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The writers of the New Testament, although they speak quite frequently

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about all the blessings that God can pour out on a man,

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and the full counsel of Scripture tells us that the blessings of God are many,

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but for those who have come to know Christ,

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I think they have settled it in their heart

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that every blessing other than conformity to Christ is a lesser blessing.

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I want to be like Jesus.

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I want to be conformed to his will,

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and not just in some extravagant religious way.

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I want to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ

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in my personal relationship with God the Father,

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and I want to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ

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in the relationships in my life, especially the most intimate.

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Now I bring this up because it is so very important to me.

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I was preaching several years ago in Austin, Texas.

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And after I finished my first sermon, this pulpit committee,

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it is a committee in the church that is looking for a new pastor,

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it came up to me, and it said, "Would you be our pastor?"

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I said, “What?”

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They said, “Would you consider being our pastor?”

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And I looked at them and I said, “Are you crazy?”

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And they said, “Why do you say that?”

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I said, “You don’t know if I love my wife or not.”

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The point that I was making is: You know nothing about me.

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The devil preaches well.

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But true Christianity is seen in the life, the hidden life of a man, of a woman,

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and the dying to self,

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and the giving one’s self away in the name of Christ to God the Father

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in the power of the Holy Spirit, and giving that life to others.

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We hear a lot of talk today about doing everything for the glory of God,

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and that is true.

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It is a true statement.

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But I am afraid we sometimes use it to forget the Second Command.

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The first is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

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And the second is to love your neighbor as yourself in sacrificial, joyful service.

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So the Christianity that I am talking about tonight

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is not some gigantic religious show in a coliseum.

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It's not about you getting your best life now,

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the car you want, the house you want or perfect health.

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What it's about is this:

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It's knowing God the Father and knowing Jesus Christ whom he has sent,

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and being conformed to his image.

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What joy!

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To be able, just think about this, to be able to love as he loves.

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To be able to represent him.

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Just to know him. That is Christianity.

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Now, we are going to talk a bit about church.

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Most of us have this ecclesiastical, organizational idea of church.

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We think of buildings with steeples on top of them and crosses on top of the steeples.

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We think of beautiful lawns.

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We think of old men preaching very boring messages.

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We think of all sorts of things when we think about church.

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But we need to understand what church truly is.

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It's none of that.

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Church is not so much an organization, as it is an organism.

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It is a living entity.

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It is a creation of God through his Son and for his Son.

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It is relational.

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Now I want you to keep that word in the forefront of your mind.

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It is relational.

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Church, like your own personal life, is about a relationship with God

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and a relationship with brothers and sisters in Christ.

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You see, it is all about relationship.

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It is all about that.

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There is so much that is done, dressed in religious garb,

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but it really has so little meaning.

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God has called us into a relationship with himself.

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He has done that as we are individuals.

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He has done that collectively as a body,

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and God has called us to be in relationship with one another,

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to love one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.

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And so the first thing I want you to see is that when we talk about church,

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we are talking about an organism, something organic in nature.

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Now, there are two passages of Scripture,

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and we are not going to spend much time there at all

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because we are going to look at several things tonight.

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But just for a moment, I want you to go to Jeremiah

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and I want you to see the origin of the Church, its divine origin.

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Jeremiah chapter 31, just quickly.

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Now if you look in verse 31 of Jeremiah 31,

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He says, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD,

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when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,

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not like the covenant which I made with their fathers

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in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt,

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My covenant which they broke,

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although I was a husband to them, declares the LORD.”

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Now the first thing I want you to understand is something about the nation of Israel.

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Do you honestly believe that everyone who came out of Egypt, led by Moses, was a believer?

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No, not at all.

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As a matter of fact, the great majority of them were idolaters.

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They were worshiping goat gods, demon gods, all sorts of things

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even in the desert as they are being led around by God.

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We are looking at basically a physical nation that was called out of Egypt.

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They were of the blood of Abraham.

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But most of them did not have faith.

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That is why they died in the wilderness, all right?

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So they were basically a carnal nation doing carnal things

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who had to be subdued by laws and authorities and this and that.

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They had to be subdued, in a sense, by the whip in order to keep them in line.

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And why is that?

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Because their hearts had not be changed.

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Now I want you to think about something for a moment.

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Most churches today are that way.

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Filled with a group of people whose hearts have not been changed.

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And pastors spend a great deal of their time doing what?

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Trying to motivate, manipulate, push, shove, coerce,

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throwing all sorts of little parties and all sorts of little gimmicks

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and this and that, and so many other things

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just to try to keep a group of people together in Jesus’ name.

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Behold the power of the gospel!

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Not much gospel power manifested there, is it?

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Countless people identified in this country, in my country

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with some denomination or some church,

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but it has no power, no sway over their life whatsoever, nothing.

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The true Church is not that way.

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Your ideas of Church as a building;

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as an ecclesiastical, organizational structure of half hearted people attending,

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and having to be held together by manipulation and coercion and gimmicks,

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that is not the Church.

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Now he is going to tell us what the Church is like.

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Look what he says: He says in verse 33,

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“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,

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declares the LORD,

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I will put My laws within them, and on their heart I will write it.”

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Now you must understand God is not speaking here poetically.

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Now why do I say that?

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Because sometimes we hear such beautiful things in Scripture

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and we say, “Oh, that is nice,” but we are not considering what he is saying.

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He is saying, in the Church through the coming of the Messiah,

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He is going to create a new people,

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and they are not going to be a group of people

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who merely have some tablets of stone that they look at and disobey.

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He is going to create a group of people and he is going to transform their heart

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and he is going to put his will, his laws, his desires in their heart.

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Do you see that?

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They are going to be changed.

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And I use the word 'desire.'

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I know it can be sort of dangerous, but there is a reason for it.

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When I say he puts his laws in your heart,

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you can still have this mechanical idea

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that, yes, those laws are in there and I must obey them.

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But when I say 'desires,' he is not just revealing his will to you,

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he is changing your heart so that his will is your will

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and you desire to do what he desires.

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That is why John writes in his epistle

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that the commandments of God to the people of God are not burdensome.

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They desire these things. Do you see that?

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That is what the Church is.

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He goes on and he says,

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“I will put My laws within them, and on their heart I will write it;

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and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

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All throughout the Old Testament, there is this impassioned longing that we see

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in the words coming out of the mouth of God

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in which he is constantly saying, looking forward to the future,

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“One day, they will be My people. I will be their God.

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I will have a people on this earth, and I will be that people's God.”

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That time came with the coming of Christ.

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Through his death and resurrection; through the work of the Holy Spirit,

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God has created for himself a people.

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Now, they are not a people who have simply turned over a new leaf.

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They are not a people who have simply decided

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that they want to live a higher lifestyle.

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They are not a people who just, one day, decided we are going to change and be better.

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No. They are people upon whom God has acted in his own power.

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He has transformed them.

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Now, are you that people?

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Do you know, I still, as we all, I struggle with many failures,

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many weaknesses, many struggles in the Christian life.

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But there is no doubt, the witness of my own, the people around me,

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and the people who knew me 25 years ago,

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this guy is not even the same the person that I knew.

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I mean, I know my desires have changed.

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I mean, one day just going from, "let’s go party, let’s get in a fight if we can,

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let’s chase women, let’s get drunk, let’s do this,"

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to the very next day, "I don’t want to do all that anymore."

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What has happened to me?

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I want Christ.

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I want to know him.

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I want to please God and be pleasing to God.

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Do you know that as a reality in your own life?

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Is your religion something that you are just trying to do the right thing,

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or has Christ transformed you so that you want to know him,

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you want to do his will, you delight to do his will?

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I mean, what has happened to you?

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Brother Leiter says quite often that most people’s Christianity is basically this:

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They are trying to do all the good things they hate, in order to please God.

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That is not Christianity.

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Christianity is when, "I want to do this."

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And you are not sad because you look at the will of God, and think, I have to do that.

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You are sad when you look at the will of God and realize you have fallen short.

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The burden doesn't come from obedience,

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the burden comes when we see we have disobeyed.

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Why?

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We are transformed. We are new creatures.

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We are saints of God. We are children of God.

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We are sons of the living God. We are led of the Spirit.

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Do you see?

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When he says, “New creature,” when he says, “I will write it on their heart,”

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he is not speaking metaphorically to the point where it no longer has meaning.

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He is not speaking poetically so it's just some beautiful nonsense. No.

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When a person is saved, they become a new creature.

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That is what the Church is made up of.

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Now he says this:

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“They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying,

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‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me.”

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That is not saying that in the Church there won’t be teachers or pastors,

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evangelists and so on.

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But what he is saying is:

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The people of Israel, although they saw these magnificent manifestations of God,

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they didn’t understand them.

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00:18:21,766 --> 00:18:28,710
I mean, they could see God part the water, and then go worship a goat idol.

237
00:18:28,716 --> 00:18:33,063
They could see fire coming down from heaven, and then make a golden calf.

238
00:18:33,069 --> 00:18:35,798
They didn’t understand.

239
00:18:35,804 --> 00:18:41,573
In witnessing to people—and I know many of you have had this same experience—

240
00:18:41,579 --> 00:18:47,041
you pour your heart out to someone about the grace of God,

241
00:18:47,047 --> 00:18:53,982
and they don’t comprehend at all.

242
00:18:53,988 --> 00:18:58,255
Someone says, “Sir, are you going to go to heaven when you die?”

243
00:18:58,261 --> 00:18:59,586
“Oh, yes, I am going to go to heaven.”

244
00:18:59,592 --> 00:19:00,476
“Why do you think so?”

245
00:19:00,482 --> 00:19:04,281
“Well, I am a good man. I am a good man.”

246
00:19:04,287 --> 00:19:11,535
And so you go through, for the next 20 minutes, every Scripture in the Bible

247
00:19:11,541 --> 00:19:16,448
that explains he is a wretched beast under the wrath of God.

248
00:19:16,454 --> 00:19:20,104
He says "Yes" to every one of the verses;

249
00:19:20,110 --> 00:19:22,986
and then when you say, “Sir, are you going to go to heaven?”

250
00:19:22,992 --> 00:19:23,831
“Yes.”

251
00:19:23,837 --> 00:19:24,479
“Why?”

252
00:19:24,485 --> 00:19:27,112
“I am a good man.”

253
00:19:27,118 --> 00:19:30,358
Now, that is where you would be. Do you understand that?

254
00:19:30,364 --> 00:19:33,961
Your darkness would be to that extent and even worse.

255
00:19:33,967 --> 00:19:35,249
But what's happened?

256
00:19:35,255 --> 00:19:43,739
This passage. He has taught you.

257
00:19:43,745 --> 00:19:48,754
“They shall be taught of God.”

258
00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:56,625
He himself illumined your mind and changed your heart.

259
00:19:56,631 --> 00:20:00,521
So many people walking around, especially these TV evangelists.

260
00:20:00,527 --> 00:20:03,860
I think we ought to put most of them on a boat and just ship them somewhere

261
00:20:03,866 --> 00:20:08,096
to an island where there is no people.

262
00:20:08,102 --> 00:20:11,039
But they are saying, “The supernatural nature of Christianity

263
00:20:11,045 --> 00:20:13,675
and the supernatural this and the supernatural that.”

264
00:20:13,681 --> 00:20:16,770
Supernatural?

265
00:20:16,776 --> 00:20:20,426
There is more of the supernatural power of God

266
00:20:20,432 --> 00:20:24,122
manifested in the regeneration of a single heart

267
00:20:24,128 --> 00:20:27,099
than in the creation of the universe itself.

268
00:20:27,105 --> 00:20:35,073
Supernatural; we are not marveling at what is truly supernatural.

269
00:20:35,079 --> 00:20:37,991
You say, “Well, brother Paul, do you believe God can heal people?”

270
00:20:37,997 --> 00:20:42,772
I have seen God heal people in the mountains where there were no doctors,

271
00:20:42,778 --> 00:20:46,922
not frequently, but according to his will, his plan, his purpose.

272
00:20:46,928 --> 00:20:52,108
But I want to tell you something, I did not get excited in comparison

273
00:20:52,114 --> 00:21:00,065
when I have seen the Holy Spirit literally take a spiritually dead man and make him alive.

274
00:21:00,071 --> 00:21:01,700
Do you see that?

275
00:21:01,706 --> 00:21:04,258
There is the supernatural nature of Christianity,

276
00:21:04,264 --> 00:21:10,286
but focus on what is truly supernatural and important.

277
00:21:10,292 --> 00:21:16,541
Now, he goes on and he says this,

278
00:21:16,547 --> 00:21:20,775
“For they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.”

279
00:21:20,781 --> 00:21:25,481
Now will they all know him to the extent that Jonathan Edwards

280
00:21:25,487 --> 00:21:28,356
or a Calvin or a Luther or somebody like that?

281
00:21:28,362 --> 00:21:32,042
No, I am not even in their league.

282
00:21:32,048 --> 00:21:34,942
So what does this mean?

283
00:21:34,947 --> 00:21:36,714
Well, let’s go on.

284
00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:40,169
It says, “For they will all know Me,

285
00:21:40,175 --> 00:21:43,561
from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the LORD.

286
00:21:43,567 --> 00:21:50,489
For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

287
00:21:50,495 --> 00:21:54,113
They will enter into a relationship with him,

288
00:21:54,119 --> 00:21:56,909
knowing that he is the one true God,

289
00:21:56,915 --> 00:22:04,140
and they will have a keen awareness that by his hand he has cleansed them,

290
00:22:04,146 --> 00:22:09,105
freed them from their sin.

291
00:22:09,111 --> 00:22:13,516
There will not be the smack of self-righteousness there.

292
00:22:13,522 --> 00:22:17,285
They will not say, "God and I have worked this out."

293
00:22:17,291 --> 00:22:23,257
They will have a keen awareness that God has taken care of their iniquity,

294
00:22:23,263 --> 00:22:26,472
and he did it all by himself.

295
00:22:26,478 --> 00:22:30,913
Now, another thing. Let’s go on.

296
00:22:30,919 --> 00:22:36,341
Just jump over really quick to verse 38 of chapter 32.

297
00:22:36,347 --> 00:22:39,296
Again, “They shall be My people, and I will be their God.”

298
00:22:39,302 --> 00:22:50,861
And look what he says, “I will give them one heart and one way.”

299
00:22:53,135 --> 00:22:59,701
Have you ever seen these marches for Jesus, the unity marches that they have,

300
00:22:59,707 --> 00:23:02,978
in which all these different denominations come together,

301
00:23:02,984 --> 00:23:07,443
and they are trying to prove to the world that there is unity between them

302
00:23:07,449 --> 00:23:10,891
when, in fact, there is very little unity at all between them.

303
00:23:10,897 --> 00:23:14,146
And they are all marching together and singing "Kumbaya,"

304
00:23:14,152 --> 00:23:16,755
and we are proving to the world that we are one.

305
00:23:16,761 --> 00:23:20,701
That is not what Jesus meant, ok?

306
00:23:20,707 --> 00:23:25,781
That is not what Jesus meant.

307
00:23:28,845 --> 00:23:33,720
You bring two Christians together, two Christians,

308
00:23:33,726 --> 00:23:38,928
and although they may differ in some things,

309
00:23:38,934 --> 00:23:46,673
but you bring two Christians together and, my friend, you will find unity.

310
00:23:46,679 --> 00:23:50,925
You will find Spirit bearing witness with spirit.

311
00:23:50,931 --> 00:23:52,205
You will find joy.

312
00:23:52,211 --> 00:24:00,114
It is amazing; I can sit down, for example, in an airplane in Zambia,

313
00:24:00,120 --> 00:24:04,974
and sit down beside a person I have never met in my life,

314
00:24:04,980 --> 00:24:09,886
and after a while pull out my Bible to kind of, you know,

315
00:24:09,892 --> 00:24:14,433
hoping this guy say something to me like, “What’s that?”

316
00:24:14,439 --> 00:24:16,427
Sometimes I pull out my Greek New Testament

317
00:24:16,433 --> 00:24:18,384
so they will look at it and go, “What is that?”

318
00:24:18,390 --> 00:24:22,111
I can’t read it very well, but it really makes a great witnessing tool.

319
00:24:22,117 --> 00:24:24,845
No matter where I am in the Greek New Testament,

320
00:24:24,851 --> 00:24:29,245
I read John 3:16 when they ask me to read something to them.

321
00:24:29,251 --> 00:24:35,142
But I can sit down with someone I have never met,

322
00:24:35,148 --> 00:24:41,458
and we start talking and discover that we are both believers in Jesus Christ,

323
00:24:41,464 --> 00:24:46,190
and I mean it is a party for the rest of the flight.

324
00:24:46,196 --> 00:24:50,068
We are one.

325
00:24:50,074 --> 00:24:53,381
People say, "There is so much disunity in the Church."

326
00:24:53,386 --> 00:24:55,522
No, there is not.

327
00:24:55,528 --> 00:24:58,681
There is a lot of disunity with a bunch of carnal people

328
00:24:58,687 --> 00:25:00,716
who are goats trying to act like sheep.

329
00:25:00,722 --> 00:25:02,763
That is the problem.

330
00:25:02,769 --> 00:25:06,849
But when you bring believers together, there will be unity.

331
00:25:06,855 --> 00:25:09,266
Does it mean that there will never be disunity?

332
00:25:09,272 --> 00:25:11,845
No, it doesn’t mean, because there is sin in all of us.

333
00:25:11,851 --> 00:25:13,637
It doesn't mean there will never be disunity.

334
00:25:13,643 --> 00:25:16,566
It doesn't mean there will never be disagreements.

335
00:25:16,572 --> 00:25:19,815
But it means when you look at the full course of the relationship,

336
00:25:19,821 --> 00:25:27,994
there is a fraternal love, a unity there.

337
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:31,836
I remember one of the illustrations that I just love to use on this,

338
00:25:31,842 --> 00:25:34,297
I was traveling through the mountains years and years ago

339
00:25:34,303 --> 00:25:37,642
in a red zone that the Communists, the Maoists controlled.

340
00:25:37,648 --> 00:25:39,799
And we were lost and everything.

341
00:25:39,805 --> 00:25:44,338
It was pitch dark and we were scared, another missionary and myself.

342
00:25:44,344 --> 00:25:48,758
And we made our way into this little village and I kind of stood on the edge of it,

343
00:25:48,764 --> 00:25:51,893
my brother that was with me was a Peruvian.

344
00:25:51,899 --> 00:25:54,684
And he went in and he came back out.

345
00:25:54,690 --> 00:25:56,266
He says, “I don’t see any military.”

346
00:25:56,272 --> 00:26:00,769
So we kind of walked in, and I kind of humped over so everyone would think I was short,

347
00:26:00,775 --> 00:26:08,689
and we came up to this drunk and we said, [?], “Are there brothers here?”

348
00:26:08,695 --> 00:26:15,591
And he said, [?], “The old woman over there. She is one of you.”

349
00:26:15,597 --> 00:26:19,986
And so I went over there, and I knocked on the door.

350
00:26:19,992 --> 00:26:23,019
And after a few minutes, the door kind of creaks open.

351
00:26:23,025 --> 00:26:29,665
It is a little mud, adobe hut carved into the back of a cliff.

352
00:26:29,671 --> 00:26:31,715
And this little woman, she is about this big,

353
00:26:31,721 --> 00:26:34,693
she opened the door with her lantern and looked.

354
00:26:34,699 --> 00:26:40,512
And I said [?], “We are brothers.”

355
00:26:40,518 --> 00:26:42,436
She knew what that meant in Spanish.

356
00:26:42,442 --> 00:26:46,512
We are evangelicals, we are Christian, and we need help.

357
00:26:46,518 --> 00:26:50,210
And she went... I will never forget that face.

358
00:26:50,216 --> 00:26:53,375
And she just grabbed us and pulled us in,

359
00:26:53,381 --> 00:26:58,392
took us down to the basement that they had carved out of the side of the hill there,

360
00:26:58,398 --> 00:26:59,450
put us down there.

361
00:26:59,456 --> 00:27:01,875
A little boy came. She gave him some instructions.

362
00:27:01,881 --> 00:27:03,844
All of the sudden he took off.

363
00:27:03,850 --> 00:27:05,234
He comes back, running.

364
00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:08,605
And then this man shows up. He has got two chickens;

365
00:27:08,611 --> 00:27:12,114
and another little poor farmer comes up with some yucca plant

366
00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:13,787
and they start preparing.

367
00:27:13,793 --> 00:27:15,714
And we stayed there all night.

368
00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:23,557
All right, now they were won to the Lord by a group of Nazarene missionaries.

369
00:27:23,562 --> 00:27:30,004
The Nazarenes and I could sit down and debate some issues.

370
00:27:30,010 --> 00:27:32,931
We would.

371
00:27:35,712 --> 00:27:43,848
But these were people who knew Christ and knew their sins had been forgiven,

372
00:27:43,854 --> 00:27:52,214
and because I was a preacher in Jesus’ name, willing to risk their life.

373
00:27:52,220 --> 00:27:56,779
There is unity.

374
00:27:57,537 --> 00:28:04,384
Now, theology is extremely important. It is extremely important.

375
00:28:04,390 --> 00:28:11,839
But I'll tell you this: I will not separate and break fellowship

376
00:28:11,845 --> 00:28:15,837
with someone who disagrees with me on some things.

377
00:28:15,843 --> 00:28:21,191
Now I will separate with people who depart from historical Christianity,

378
00:28:21,197 --> 00:28:24,072
who preach another Christ and so on and so forth.

379
00:28:24,078 --> 00:28:28,018
But, you see, there is a unity there.

380
00:28:28,024 --> 00:28:34,624
They knew Christ. They rejoiced in him.

381
00:28:34,630 --> 00:28:37,604
That is what happens when you have a church

382
00:28:37,610 --> 00:28:44,383
and it's a church of people who have been converted;

383
00:28:44,389 --> 00:28:51,613
who have been regenerated by the Spirit of God.

384
00:28:53,136 --> 00:28:55,945
Will there be immaturity? Yes.

385
00:28:55,951 --> 00:29:03,257
Will there be problems? Live with me for a while, you will get your answer.

386
00:29:03,996 --> 00:29:10,348
But will people be able to see there is something different about this group of people

387
00:29:10,354 --> 00:29:12,637
and that something is their love?

388
00:29:12,643 --> 00:29:17,876
Jesus says, “They will know, the world will know you are my disciples

389
00:29:17,882 --> 00:29:21,192
by the love you have for one another.”

390
00:29:21,198 --> 00:29:29,279
Now, he says, “I will give them one heart and one way.”

391
00:29:29,285 --> 00:29:33,791
And then, “that they may fear Me.”

392
00:29:33,797 --> 00:29:37,893
Here is something about us as Christians.

393
00:29:37,899 --> 00:29:44,296
We can make a mess, but there is something that God has done to us.

394
00:29:44,302 --> 00:29:49,223
He has put his fear in our hearts.

395
00:29:49,229 --> 00:29:56,896
In a marriage relationship, my own, sometimes I will act like a jerk.

396
00:29:56,902 --> 00:29:59,472
Do you know what that word is?

397
00:29:59,478 --> 00:30:09,772
And not want to acknowledge it, not want to say to my wife, “I am sorry.”

398
00:30:09,778 --> 00:30:13,970
And I will walk out there and I will go into my office,

399
00:30:13,976 --> 00:30:16,989
I got a book to write, I got a sermon to prepare.

400
00:30:16,995 --> 00:30:22,784
It's like the Lord's there, "That's fine, you are going to be doing it on your own

401
00:30:22,790 --> 00:30:26,269
till you get this matter straight."

402
00:30:26,275 --> 00:30:30,111
But do you know what? There is a fear in me.

403
00:30:30,117 --> 00:30:32,191
There is a fear.

404
00:30:32,197 --> 00:30:38,298
There is an uneasiness, an unsettledness in my heart, a tremor.

405
00:30:38,304 --> 00:30:44,591
And I know I have got to go back and I have got to apologize

406
00:30:44,597 --> 00:30:49,318
and I have got to make this matter right.

407
00:30:49,324 --> 00:30:55,103
You see, you have a group of people who have been given new hearts,

408
00:30:55,109 --> 00:30:57,993
and in that new heart, the law of God has been written.

409
00:30:57,999 --> 00:31:02,634
And not only the law of God has been written, but he has put his fear in us

410
00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:08,888
so that even when we have conflicts, disagreements and problems,

411
00:31:08,894 --> 00:31:13,175
it is the fear of the Lord that causes us once again to humble ourselves

412
00:31:13,181 --> 00:31:20,173
and to acknowledge our wrong and to work for restoration.

413
00:31:20,179 --> 00:31:22,286
That is the Church.

414
00:31:22,292 --> 00:31:27,575
Now, I want us to go for a moment...Again, I said I would have to skip around.

415
00:31:27,581 --> 00:31:34,774
I want us to go to Matthew chapter 28.

416
00:31:34,780 --> 00:31:37,395
You know the great commission in verse 18,

417
00:31:37,401 --> 00:31:39,659
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying,

418
00:31:39,665 --> 00:31:43,784
‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.’”

419
00:31:43,790 --> 00:31:45,589
Oh this passage!

420
00:31:45,595 --> 00:31:51,939
Last month, I spent like three weeks on "All authority has been given unto Me.”

421
00:31:51,945 --> 00:31:58,037
Oh, man, it just laid me on the floor.

422
00:31:59,247 --> 00:32:02,605
We have very little idea what that means.

423
00:32:02,611 --> 00:32:09,479
But I would encourage you to read Daniel chapter 7 and Psalms chapter 2.

424
00:32:09,485 --> 00:32:12,776
Such authority has been given to him.

425
00:32:12,782 --> 00:32:17,489
He has so much authority that all the kings,

426
00:32:17,495 --> 00:32:22,045
all their actions and decrees are inconsequential.

427
00:32:22,051 --> 00:32:23,197
They don't even matter.

428
00:32:23,203 --> 00:32:26,673
It is as though they didn't even exist.

429
00:32:26,679 --> 00:32:34,025
When his kingdom showed up 2,000 years ago, everything else came to an end.

430
00:32:34,031 --> 00:32:37,133
Oh, he's allowing the kings and the nations to still play,

431
00:32:37,139 --> 00:32:40,509
as though they had life and power.

432
00:32:40,515 --> 00:32:44,964
But they have none. He rules over all.

433
00:32:44,970 --> 00:32:46,976
Now, but it says this,

434
00:32:46,982 --> 00:32:54,695
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations."

435
00:32:54,701 --> 00:33:01,800
I am so glad that he did not put here, “Go therefore and preach the gospel.”

436
00:33:01,806 --> 00:33:04,034
You say, “Well, why, brother Paul?

437
00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:11,346
I mean, on YouTube that is all you talk about, you only have one sermon."

438
00:33:12,498 --> 00:33:23,534
Because it is so easy...now Adolphe Monod the famous French Reformed pastor

439
00:33:23,540 --> 00:33:26,508
he said, “Oh, the cross of preaching the cross,”

440
00:33:26,514 --> 00:33:29,963
meaning that preaching the cross was such a burden because of its grandeur,

441
00:33:29,969 --> 00:33:34,410
because a preacher could never preach the cross as it ought to be preached.

442
00:33:34,416 --> 00:33:40,754
But there is another sense in which the preaching of the gospel

443
00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:44,893
is a lot easier than making disciples.

444
00:33:45,699 --> 00:33:49,744
You see, someone hears a preacher like me on YouTube

445
00:33:49,750 --> 00:33:53,137
or you see me preach right now.

446
00:33:53,143 --> 00:33:56,693
But you don't know me.

447
00:33:57,888 --> 00:34:01,902
Or I know how to make sentences connect together.

448
00:34:01,908 --> 00:34:05,042
But do you really know me?

449
00:34:05,048 --> 00:34:09,063
Do you really know if I am a godly man?

450
00:34:09,070 --> 00:34:13,987
You see in preaching the gospel, I can preach, go.

451
00:34:13,994 --> 00:34:18,897
I can stand in front of people and, boy, look like something very, very spiritual

452
00:34:18,902 --> 00:34:23,168
and then go and you never see my life. Do you see that?

453
00:34:23,175 --> 00:34:25,216
That is so easy.

454
00:34:25,222 --> 00:34:28,514
But he says, “Go and make disciples.” And what does that mean?

455
00:34:28,521 --> 00:34:33,429
To make disciples, that means you are going, at least for a while,

456
00:34:33,435 --> 00:34:37,353
to imitate me as I imitate Christ, to follow me as I follow Christ.

457
00:34:37,359 --> 00:34:40,318
I am going to teach you, not only with my words,

458
00:34:40,324 --> 00:34:45,826
but I am going to teach you as you watch me live 24 hours a day.

459
00:34:45,831 --> 00:34:49,228
That is tough.

460
00:34:50,940 --> 00:34:57,328
That is part of the work of the church.

461
00:34:58,047 --> 00:35:02,668
This has...you know, when I first was a missionary in Peru,

462
00:35:02,674 --> 00:35:05,758
I just discipled, discipled and discipled.

463
00:35:05,764 --> 00:35:13,219
And it was tough because people watched your life.

464
00:35:13,225 --> 00:35:19,015
But I will tell you something that has been even more difficult:

465
00:35:19,021 --> 00:35:24,159
My three children. To disciple them.

466
00:35:24,165 --> 00:35:27,669
Because, you know, they are just... they can, you know,

467
00:35:27,675 --> 00:35:31,825
“Dad, you said this. Why did you do this?”

468
00:35:31,831 --> 00:35:35,117
You see, it is so humbling, but it is so good.

469
00:35:35,123 --> 00:35:44,026
I would rather be crushed so that the hypocrisy would be torn out of me

470
00:35:44,032 --> 00:35:48,900
than to put on a mask and make everybody think I am something I am not.

471
00:35:48,906 --> 00:35:52,827
See, make disciples, it means that you live with people.

472
00:35:52,833 --> 00:35:57,643
You touch people. You get involved in their life.

473
00:35:57,649 --> 00:36:02,620
I was evangelizing one day and boy did I have a rude awakening.

474
00:36:02,626 --> 00:36:05,088
I was out there, man. I was handing out tracts.

475
00:36:05,094 --> 00:36:09,227
And I was preaching and people were throwing the tracts at me,

476
00:36:09,233 --> 00:36:12,795
and I saw this guy kind of look kind of a punk rocker guy,

477
00:36:12,801 --> 00:36:14,694
and he took off kind of one direction.

478
00:36:14,700 --> 00:36:17,489
I walked up there and put a tract on him.

479
00:36:17,495 --> 00:36:20,854
I said, "Here, this is a tract of the gospel about Jesus."

480
00:36:20,860 --> 00:36:26,222
He turned around and he goes, “You don’t care about me.”

481
00:36:26,228 --> 00:36:30,730
And he, I mean, stopped me in my tracks.

482
00:36:30,736 --> 00:36:36,208
He goes, "Do you care enough about me to be my friend,

483
00:36:36,214 --> 00:36:39,009
to come to my house,

484
00:36:39,015 --> 00:36:42,941
to get to know me and my problems and my messed up life,

485
00:36:42,947 --> 00:36:48,754
or are you just out here winning brownie points for God?”

486
00:36:49,536 --> 00:36:51,489
Caring about people.

487
00:36:51,495 --> 00:36:54,448
That is why even be very, very careful in your evangelism.

488
00:36:54,454 --> 00:37:00,030
People can recognize just superficial, I want to just put another notch on my belt.

489
00:37:00,036 --> 00:37:03,474
Look at me, "I am a preacher that everybody persecutes.”

490
00:37:03,480 --> 00:37:05,977
It is not about you.

491
00:37:05,983 --> 00:37:09,773
To disciple people, you have got to enter into relationships with people.

492
00:37:09,779 --> 00:37:11,263
And to have a church,

493
00:37:11,269 --> 00:37:17,373
you are committing yourself to enter into a profound relationship with people.

494
00:37:17,379 --> 00:37:19,681
That is why one of our missionaries said,

495
00:37:19,687 --> 00:37:22,319
“Brother Paul, we need to start a church in this area.”

496
00:37:22,325 --> 00:37:24,801
I said, “Well, why do you feel like we need to start a church?”

497
00:37:24,807 --> 00:37:27,360
“We need to start a church here because if we start this church here,

498
00:37:27,366 --> 00:37:29,129
then we can start this church over here,

499
00:37:29,135 --> 00:37:34,556
and we can use it as kind of a mother or a seed bed to plant other churches over here.”

500
00:37:34,562 --> 00:37:40,946
And I said, “Stop. You don’t plant churches so that you can plant another church.

501
00:37:40,952 --> 00:37:45,482
You plant a church because you care about the people.

502
00:37:45,488 --> 00:37:48,155
And if you have any other idea about it,

503
00:37:48,161 --> 00:37:53,953
you end up using people to fulfill your vision.”

504
00:37:53,959 --> 00:38:04,797
You see, church is for these people.

505
00:38:06,088 --> 00:38:14,844
And I want you to think about some of the greatest writers among the reformers,

506
00:38:14,850 --> 00:38:18,605
the Puritans, the early Baptists.

507
00:38:18,611 --> 00:38:20,898
I want you to realize something.

508
00:38:20,904 --> 00:38:23,798
They never got on an airplane.

509
00:38:23,804 --> 00:38:27,553
They never traveled, some of them, outside of their country.

510
00:38:27,559 --> 00:38:31,681
Some of them even outside of their town.

511
00:38:31,687 --> 00:38:38,221
But as they pastored, and their sermons, their writings,

512
00:38:38,227 --> 00:38:48,224
their life of pouring themselves into a flock has been used to change the world.

513
00:38:48,230 --> 00:38:57,511
Adolphe Monod, the guy was so smart, his head must have been this big.

514
00:38:57,517 --> 00:39:00,366
He could do anything at the university.

515
00:39:00,372 --> 00:39:02,791
He could do critical studies in Hebrew.

516
00:39:02,797 --> 00:39:05,621
Then they'd get him over here, critical studies in the New Testament.

517
00:39:05,627 --> 00:39:07,713
Then over here, history of the world.

518
00:39:07,719 --> 00:39:09,914
I mean, the guy could do everything.

519
00:39:09,920 --> 00:39:12,411
And they wanted him in the university so bad,

520
00:39:12,417 --> 00:39:16,022
and he said, “No, I want to go pastor this little flock.”

521
00:39:16,028 --> 00:39:22,460
And the book that he wrote [?] The Farewell,

522
00:39:22,466 --> 00:39:27,317
are 19 sermons that he preached on his death bed to his flock.

523
00:39:27,323 --> 00:39:30,348
And the last few sermons he laid on his back like this,

524
00:39:30,354 --> 00:39:31,834
and could only look up at the ceiling

525
00:39:31,840 --> 00:39:34,486
because he couldn’t even turn his head to look at the flock anymore.

526
00:39:34,492 --> 00:39:38,605
That book is priceless.

527
00:39:38,611 --> 00:39:44,242
Sometimes we want to do so much that we don’t do anything.

528
00:39:44,248 --> 00:39:48,333
And sometimes we do so much and you can discern in there,

529
00:39:48,339 --> 00:39:52,654
man, you are all about creating a name for yourself.

530
00:39:52,660 --> 00:39:57,909
You're all about some great thing you're going to do.

531
00:39:59,534 --> 00:40:04,516
I was preaching last year in a place and people were coming from everywhere,

532
00:40:04,522 --> 00:40:07,407
but it really wasn’t of the Lord.

533
00:40:07,413 --> 00:40:10,842
It was celebritism and it stunk.

534
00:40:10,848 --> 00:40:14,337
And I walked over in the corner and the pastor came up to me

535
00:40:14,343 --> 00:40:21,185
and he said, “Paul, maybe you just ought to go somewhere and die,

536
00:40:21,191 --> 00:40:23,774
so that no one will hear your name again.”

537
00:40:23,780 --> 00:40:27,635
And what he meant is, maybe you need to walk away from this entire circus

538
00:40:27,641 --> 00:40:31,630
and go pastor a little flock of people and just die there,

539
00:40:31,636 --> 00:40:33,215
and walk away from this mess.

540
00:40:33,221 --> 00:40:36,256
You see, here is what I want you to see.

541
00:40:36,262 --> 00:40:44,639
I am 47. I mean, I am like, I am not as old as these two guys here,

542
00:40:44,645 --> 00:40:48,414
but I am getting older.

543
00:40:48,420 --> 00:40:52,432
I am not as old as him but I am getting older.

544
00:40:52,438 --> 00:40:55,190
I'm over the hill, and I figured out when you get over the hill,

545
00:40:55,196 --> 00:40:57,514
you start going down a lot faster.

546
00:40:57,520 --> 00:41:03,296
I'm getting older and I don't want to waste my life.

547
00:41:03,302 --> 00:41:08,934
And what I see is that a lot of the big stuff and big plans and big ideas

548
00:41:08,940 --> 00:41:16,633
and everything we have about winning the world is nothing but flesh sometimes,

549
00:41:16,639 --> 00:41:23,906
because we want to touch everybody, but we don’t touch anybody.

550
00:41:25,890 --> 00:41:28,138
And so he says, “Make disciples.”

551
00:41:28,144 --> 00:41:29,867
And then he says this. Look at this.

552
00:41:29,873 --> 00:41:33,846
He says, "Make disciples of all the nations,

553
00:41:33,852 --> 00:41:37,777
baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

554
00:41:37,783 --> 00:41:42,709
teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.”

555
00:41:42,715 --> 00:41:44,467
Now think about this.

556
00:41:44,473 --> 00:41:48,253
He doesn't just say, "Teach them."

557
00:41:48,259 --> 00:41:54,789
He says, “Teach them to obey what I have commanded you.”

558
00:41:54,795 --> 00:41:59,648
You can’t teach them to obey what God has commanded you

559
00:41:59,654 --> 00:42:03,507
unless you are obeying what God has commanded you.

560
00:42:03,513 --> 00:42:10,683
And so the Church gives us an opportunity to live, to flesh this out,

561
00:42:10,689 --> 00:42:26,660
to live in obedience before other people and to be an influence with our lives.

562
00:42:27,598 --> 00:42:40,476
And so the Church is a community of people who have professed faith in Jesus Christ

563
00:42:40,482 --> 00:42:48,469
and confessed his Lordship and have come together to worship him,

564
00:42:48,475 --> 00:42:56,937
but have also come together that they might mutually encourage one another

565
00:42:56,943 --> 00:43:02,293
towards the goal of conformity to the image of Jesus Christ.

566
00:43:02,299 --> 00:43:05,234
Now it is amazing. I was in Peru several years ago,

567
00:43:05,240 --> 00:43:10,663
and a young American Marine, it was just a freak accident.

568
00:43:10,669 --> 00:43:15,425
He had his gun and he just turned... it went off and he shot himself in the head.

569
00:43:15,431 --> 00:43:19,873
And he laid there in the hospital basically brain dead for three or four days

570
00:43:19,879 --> 00:43:21,746
before they pulled the plug.

571
00:43:21,752 --> 00:43:26,296
And I didn’t know this, but I show up to try to witness to him

572
00:43:26,302 --> 00:43:33,407
and there is these two Marines in full dress standing on each side of the door like this.

573
00:43:33,413 --> 00:43:36,465
I asked somebody, “What is this?”

574
00:43:36,471 --> 00:43:40,915
And the Marine says, “No Marine dies alone.”

575
00:43:40,921 --> 00:43:41,760
Wow.

576
00:43:41,766 --> 00:43:44,681
Well, I started talking to somebody and I found out

577
00:43:44,687 --> 00:43:48,800
if a bunch of Marines are running,

578
00:43:48,806 --> 00:43:52,939
the first Marine arrives when the last Marine arrives.

579
00:43:52,945 --> 00:43:55,947
They arrive together.

580
00:43:55,953 --> 00:43:59,942
So if you are running first, and this guy is last,

581
00:43:59,948 --> 00:44:05,297
don’t think about crossing that line until you get him and bring him with you.

582
00:44:05,303 --> 00:44:09,895
Well, you talk about an example of the Christian life.

583
00:44:09,901 --> 00:44:11,883
"I am growing."

584
00:44:11,889 --> 00:44:20,014
Yeah, what about your brother? What about your sister in Christ?

585
00:44:20,020 --> 00:44:26,943
You see, without a church we can’t do any of this.

586
00:44:27,684 --> 00:44:29,516
You want to have a biblical church?

587
00:44:29,522 --> 00:44:31,422
Why do you want to have a biblical church

588
00:44:31,428 --> 00:44:34,311
so that you can say you have a biblical church?

589
00:44:34,317 --> 00:44:37,384
Do you want to have a biblical church so that, you know, I mean...

590
00:44:37,390 --> 00:44:41,362
so that you can start a bunch of biblical churches?

591
00:44:41,368 --> 00:44:45,371
Or do you just want to honor God and love people,

592
00:44:45,377 --> 00:44:50,092
whether anything happens or not?

593
00:44:50,098 --> 00:45:05,959
Now, it goes on, and I want us to go for a moment just to Ephesians four.

594
00:45:05,965 --> 00:45:11,636
I want to talk about leadership for a moment, chapter four.

595
00:45:11,642 --> 00:45:14,212
Speaking of Christ in verse 11,

596
00:45:14,218 --> 00:45:16,775
"And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets,

597
00:45:16,781 --> 00:45:20,280
and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,

598
00:45:20,286 --> 00:45:24,268
for the equipping of the saints for the work of service,

599
00:45:24,274 --> 00:45:26,451
to the building up of the body of Christ."

600
00:45:26,457 --> 00:45:35,239
Now, this is both a beautiful text and a very dangerous text.

601
00:45:35,245 --> 00:45:37,998
What do I mean?

602
00:45:38,560 --> 00:45:45,203
He has given gifted men to the Church to do what? To equip the saints.

603
00:45:45,209 --> 00:45:48,293
But most of the time when this is preached,

604
00:45:48,299 --> 00:45:51,942
it is preached in a militant sort of way.

605
00:45:51,948 --> 00:45:53,108
What do I mean?

606
00:45:53,114 --> 00:45:57,923
It is preached to the..."Look, in our church, man, we have got to get going,

607
00:45:57,929 --> 00:45:59,506
we have got to get doing stuff.

608
00:45:59,512 --> 00:46:02,619
Look, I train you so that you can go out and do the ministry,

609
00:46:02,625 --> 00:46:06,756
and that ministry is winning people and making this church grow."

610
00:46:06,762 --> 00:46:08,714
And what am I doing?

611
00:46:08,720 --> 00:46:13,699
I am turning this thing back again into a factory,

612
00:46:13,705 --> 00:46:17,960
into a place where the saints come to labor.

613
00:46:17,966 --> 00:46:20,716
Do you see that?

614
00:46:21,482 --> 00:46:29,622
You are a worker in the beehive, in the anthill.

615
00:46:29,628 --> 00:46:33,564
"We have got to go. We have got to grow. We have got to build.

616
00:46:33,570 --> 00:46:39,913
We have got to do. I train you, you go."

617
00:46:39,919 --> 00:46:42,346
People have asked me several times today,

618
00:46:42,352 --> 00:46:45,601
how is it that some churches start out wanting to be biblical

619
00:46:45,607 --> 00:46:49,640
and then eventually they just kind of go the way of all other churches?

620
00:46:49,646 --> 00:46:52,170
These are the reasons.

621
00:46:52,176 --> 00:47:01,314
They turn church life into almost some kind of a factory, a work house.

622
00:47:01,320 --> 00:47:03,485
Now are we to do works of service?

623
00:47:03,491 --> 00:47:06,105
We absolutely are to do works of service.

624
00:47:06,111 --> 00:47:10,053
But I want you to look at this in a little bit different way.

625
00:47:10,059 --> 00:47:13,779
He has given us gifted men for the equipping of the saints.

626
00:47:13,785 --> 00:47:18,621
Now the equipping of the saints just doesn't mean so that they can go out and work

627
00:47:18,627 --> 00:47:22,500
and bring in more people.

628
00:47:22,506 --> 00:47:34,253
The equipping of the saints means to prepare them, to grow them to maturity,

629
00:47:34,259 --> 00:47:40,786
to help them be able to enter in strongly into a personal devotional life,

630
00:47:40,792 --> 00:47:43,558
into a personal walk with Christ.

631
00:47:43,564 --> 00:47:47,371
It's not just about training them to go out to do something.

632
00:47:47,377 --> 00:47:52,199
It's training them so that they can be something.

633
00:47:52,205 --> 00:47:54,762
To be like Christ.

634
00:47:54,768 --> 00:47:59,420
And also this equipping is for the building up of the body of Christ.

635
00:47:59,426 --> 00:48:03,665
Now, of course, that includes evangelism.

636
00:48:03,671 --> 00:48:10,698
But I need to equip you, not to just go out and win somebody

637
00:48:10,704 --> 00:48:14,727
and bring them in and they remain just as immature as the rest of us.

638
00:48:14,733 --> 00:48:20,811
I need to equip you to be able to minister to him.

639
00:48:20,817 --> 00:48:25,611
To minister to the body also, to help us grow into maturity.

640
00:48:25,617 --> 00:48:33,493
I need to equip husbands to do what? To minister to their wives.

641
00:48:33,499 --> 00:48:38,695
I need to equip fathers to do what? To minister to their children.

642
00:48:38,701 --> 00:48:44,401
I need to equip women to minister to their husbands and their children.

643
00:48:44,407 --> 00:48:50,346
You see how we will just take a verse and automatically assume this is what it means?

644
00:48:50,352 --> 00:48:54,011
Get them all equipped so they can go out there and do a bunch of work.

645
00:48:54,017 --> 00:48:57,209
Get them equipped so that they can be like Christ,

646
00:48:57,215 --> 00:49:01,026
minister to one another, and witness to the world,

647
00:49:01,032 --> 00:49:10,751
but not in a machine, cog in a wheel, factory sense of a beehive sort of thing,

648
00:49:10,757 --> 00:49:17,471
or an anthill where everyone goes out, gathers and comes back in.

649
00:49:18,579 --> 00:49:20,721
You see, again, look at what we are talking about,

650
00:49:20,727 --> 00:49:26,426
relationships, loving one another, caring about one another,

651
00:49:26,432 --> 00:49:29,642
not so concerned about coming across the line first,

652
00:49:29,648 --> 00:49:36,295
but coming across the line with our other brothers and sisters in Christ as a church.

653
00:49:36,301 --> 00:49:42,289
Now, he goes on and he says,

654
00:49:42,295 --> 00:49:44,843
“For the equipping of the saints for the work of service,

655
00:49:44,849 --> 00:49:46,772
to the building up of the body of Christ.”

656
00:49:46,778 --> 00:49:48,956
Now look, you can see.

657
00:49:48,962 --> 00:49:51,530
"Until we all attain to the unity of the faith,

658
00:49:51,536 --> 00:49:54,825
and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man,

659
00:49:54,831 --> 00:50:03,124
to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”

660
00:50:03,130 --> 00:50:12,886
To be a part of a church is to make a commitment to be biblically,

661
00:50:12,892 --> 00:50:20,462
practically concerned for the other people in that body,

662
00:50:20,468 --> 00:50:26,899
that they might become everything that God desires for them to be.

663
00:50:26,905 --> 00:50:28,881
Now, let’s go on.

664
00:50:28,887 --> 00:50:36,492
I want us to go now to 2 Timothy chapter three.

665
00:50:36,498 --> 00:50:42,492
The Church, its doctrine, its practices

666
00:50:42,498 --> 00:50:47,608
must be founded upon the Word of God.

667
00:50:47,614 --> 00:50:53,862
Now, he says here, “That from childhood you have known the sacred writings

668
00:50:53,868 --> 00:50:57,485
which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation

669
00:50:57,491 --> 00:51:01,940
through faith which is in Christ Jesus.“

670
00:51:01,946 --> 00:51:04,131
How does a person come to know the Lord?

671
00:51:04,137 --> 00:51:08,317
Through the sacred writings, through Scripture.

672
00:51:08,323 --> 00:51:17,023
Let me share with you. We will maybe talk about this tomorrow about evangelism,

673
00:51:18,095 --> 00:51:23,245
but I have seen recently people come to know the Lord,

674
00:51:23,251 --> 00:51:32,592
not as a result of a one time encounter or witnessing through a tract.

675
00:51:32,598 --> 00:51:41,310
I have seen people come to the Lord after eight months of Bible study,

676
00:51:41,316 --> 00:51:43,686
after eight months of the study in Scripture.

677
00:51:43,692 --> 00:51:49,237
My brother-in-law, John Green, from England is a great evangelist.

678
00:51:49,243 --> 00:51:53,618
He doesn’t preach. He shouldn’t preach.

679
00:51:53,624 --> 00:51:58,460
But as far as one on one dealing with people...

680
00:51:58,466 --> 00:52:01,174
And he just recently brought a guy to my office

681
00:52:01,180 --> 00:52:05,480
that he had been dealing with for about eight months,

682
00:52:05,486 --> 00:52:07,672
Bible study after Bible study,

683
00:52:07,678 --> 00:52:11,609
going through the Scripture, going through the Scripture.

684
00:52:11,615 --> 00:52:17,065
Listen to me: Preach on the streets? Yes.

685
00:52:17,071 --> 00:52:20,327
Witness to people, tracts? Yes.

686
00:52:20,333 --> 00:52:24,797
Have you ever thought about entering into a relationship with some of these people?

687
00:52:24,803 --> 00:52:30,357
Inviting to meet them at a coffee shop once a week, twice a week,

688
00:52:30,363 --> 00:52:33,355
going through Scripture, studying Scripture.

689
00:52:33,361 --> 00:52:38,260
Not just hit and miss, like a sniper with a rifle,

690
00:52:38,266 --> 00:52:40,616
giving them one shot to come to know the Lord,

691
00:52:40,622 --> 00:52:48,760
but maybe saying, “I am going to pour my life into that person.”

692
00:52:50,215 --> 00:52:56,282
And then he says, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching,

693
00:52:56,288 --> 00:52:59,713
for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

694
00:52:59,719 --> 00:53:04,847
so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

695
00:53:04,853 --> 00:53:08,373
When I was in seminary several years ago,

696
00:53:08,379 --> 00:53:14,763
my professor, he stood in front of the class one day

697
00:53:14,769 --> 00:53:21,949
and he goes, “Sh... sh, listen.”

698
00:53:21,955 --> 00:53:23,125
“What?”

699
00:53:23,131 --> 00:53:30,492
“Listen. I hear footsteps.

700
00:53:30,498 --> 00:53:40,510
Yes. They are the footsteps of Aristotle walking through these halls

701
00:53:40,516 --> 00:53:44,445
and they are louder than the footsteps of the apostles.”

702
00:53:44,451 --> 00:53:46,758
The point he was making was,

703
00:53:46,764 --> 00:53:52,378
much of what we were doing had more to do with Greek philosophy

704
00:53:52,384 --> 00:53:57,755
than it did with the New Testament, saying it was wrong.

705
00:53:57,761 --> 00:54:02,637
I want you to know something, not only walking through church,

706
00:54:02,643 --> 00:54:13,614
but walking through your mind and your heart is psychology, sociology,

707
00:54:13,620 --> 00:54:24,382
anthropology, doctrines of this age, and they will destroy you.

708
00:54:24,388 --> 00:54:30,069
We do not need to augment the Scriptures with the social sciences

709
00:54:30,075 --> 00:54:32,798
in order to have a church.

710
00:54:32,804 --> 00:54:38,797
A church is founded upon the Word of God,

711
00:54:38,803 --> 00:54:45,727
and it needs no help from any outside source.

712
00:54:45,733 --> 00:54:48,285
I will give you an example.

713
00:54:48,291 --> 00:54:54,380
If I were to teach on, right now, on the father's responsibility

714
00:54:54,386 --> 00:54:58,150
to be the primary educator in the life of his child,

715
00:54:58,156 --> 00:55:04,829
many of you would be going... because that is not practiced here.

716
00:55:04,834 --> 00:55:06,337
Yeah.

717
00:55:06,343 --> 00:55:14,636
Or if I began to teach on the biblical submission of the wife to the husband,

718
00:55:14,642 --> 00:55:18,031
some of you women would probably grow horns and claws

719
00:55:18,037 --> 00:55:23,125
and attack me right now, because that is not practiced here.

720
00:55:23,131 --> 00:55:25,237
It is hated. It is despised.

721
00:55:25,243 --> 00:55:34,189
Years and years and years of training, and all the dark arts you have received.

722
00:55:34,195 --> 00:55:40,460
You went to preschool. They did not teach you Psalms one.

723
00:55:40,466 --> 00:55:42,999
They taught you the ways of the world.

724
00:55:43,005 --> 00:55:47,852
You went to grade school, they taught you all the doctrines of this age.

725
00:55:47,858 --> 00:55:50,799
You went to high school and they did the same.

726
00:55:50,805 --> 00:55:53,988
As a child, every time you turned on the television set,

727
00:55:53,994 --> 00:55:58,562
they taught you in a manner completely contrary to Christianity.

728
00:55:58,568 --> 00:56:06,847
And now you wonder why it is so difficult to live the Christian life?

729
00:56:08,450 --> 00:56:09,652
You see?

730
00:56:09,658 --> 00:56:14,203
There are things that Scripture teaches that if I taught them right now,

731
00:56:14,209 --> 00:56:19,616
maybe some of you would rise up in anger and just jump right through that window

732
00:56:19,622 --> 00:56:22,558
or throw me through that window,

733
00:56:22,564 --> 00:56:25,939
because you can’t even begin to address the issue

734
00:56:25,945 --> 00:56:32,359
because you have been taught the contrary over and over and over.

735
00:56:32,365 --> 00:56:36,739
Do not bring those sciences into the Church

736
00:56:36,745 --> 00:56:42,166
because social sciences are not sciences by the pure definition of science.

737
00:56:42,172 --> 00:56:46,839
And do not bring something into the Church whose major theories change

738
00:56:46,845 --> 00:56:50,871
about once ever three years.

739
00:56:51,286 --> 00:56:56,424
We are to found the Church upon the Scriptures,

740
00:56:56,430 --> 00:57:00,505
and the Church and the Scriptures need no outside help.

741
00:57:00,511 --> 00:57:03,481
Let me give you a perfect example of this.

742
00:57:03,487 --> 00:57:11,545
You go to a Christian counselor who is also a psychologist

743
00:57:11,551 --> 00:57:17,109
and you say, “I need some counseling.” He goes, “Ok.”

744
00:57:17,115 --> 00:57:18,763
You walk in.

745
00:57:18,769 --> 00:57:25,025
You say, “Now, before we get started, I understand you are a Christian psychologist.

746
00:57:25,031 --> 00:57:28,423
What is your basis of authority?”

747
00:57:28,429 --> 00:57:34,376
Now that is a proper question in debate, apologetics, secular philosophy, ok?

748
00:57:34,382 --> 00:57:36,208
What is the basis of your authority?

749
00:57:36,214 --> 00:57:38,798
I mean, you are going to start telling me things.

750
00:57:38,804 --> 00:57:41,846
What is the basis of your authority?

751
00:57:41,852 --> 00:57:45,098
And so you say, “Well, the Bible.”

752
00:57:45,104 --> 00:57:47,892
I go, “What are all these other books?”

753
00:57:47,898 --> 00:57:54,401
“Well, I just... you know, the truth of Scripture, but all truth is God’s truth,

754
00:57:54,407 --> 00:57:58,922
so the truth we also find in these books are true, too.”

755
00:57:58,928 --> 00:58:02,072
“Well, I got a problem.”

756
00:58:02,078 --> 00:58:03,505
“Well, what is your problem?”

757
00:58:03,511 --> 00:58:10,985
“Well, I see there Freud, Rogers and Skinner,

758
00:58:10,991 --> 00:58:16,379
three main guys in the West with regard to psychology.”

759
00:58:16,385 --> 00:58:18,868
“Yes, so?”

760
00:58:18,874 --> 00:58:24,949
“Well, Freud said that Rogers and Skinner were idiots.

761
00:58:24,955 --> 00:58:28,714
And Rogers and Skinner said that Freud was a pervert.

762
00:58:28,720 --> 00:58:31,902
And Skinner said Rogers didn’t know what he was talking about,

763
00:58:31,908 --> 00:58:34,686
and everything Rogers wrote contradicted Skinner.

764
00:58:34,691 --> 00:58:37,315
So now here's my question:

765
00:58:37,321 --> 00:58:40,564
If all three of them contradict each other,

766
00:58:40,570 --> 00:58:46,187
and all three of them contradict the Bible, who is the authority?”

767
00:58:46,193 --> 00:58:50,128
And he goes, “Well, I choose..you know, the Bible, of course, is the authority.

768
00:58:50,134 --> 00:58:55,219
And then I choose out of these men what's true”

769
00:58:55,225 --> 00:58:58,425
“So now you are the authority.”

770
00:58:58,431 --> 00:59:00,534
Do you see the problem?

771
00:59:00,540 --> 00:59:03,029
There is one authority and it is Scripture.

772
00:59:03,035 --> 00:59:13,844
If they speak not according to the Law and the Prophets, there is no light in them.

773
00:59:15,539 --> 00:59:18,272
But it has become the religion of the age

774
00:59:18,278 --> 00:59:24,821
and one of the greatest hindrances to biblical church, a great hindrance.

775
00:59:24,827 --> 00:59:28,060
Now I realize that I may have made people mad

776
00:59:28,066 --> 00:59:30,652
and if I did so by my attitude I apologize,

777
00:59:30,658 --> 00:59:35,539
but what I said, I do not apologize for. It is true.

778
00:59:35,545 --> 00:59:43,360
Churches today are overrun with the ideas of secular anthropology,

779
00:59:43,366 --> 00:59:48,834
secular psychology and secular sociology.

780
00:59:48,840 --> 00:59:52,371
Now, don’t think you are going to have a biblical church

781
00:59:52,377 --> 00:59:57,142
by purging that out of your evangelism.

782
00:59:57,148 --> 01:00:06,632
You have to purge it out of your marriage, your idea of man, your idea of truth.

783
01:00:06,638 --> 01:00:09,765
You have to purge it out of everything.

784
01:00:09,771 --> 01:00:13,209
God’s Word is true.

785
01:00:13,215 --> 01:00:16,974
And if something does not line up with God’s Word, it is not true

786
01:00:16,980 --> 01:00:21,051
and it's not additional truth.

787
01:00:21,635 --> 01:00:22,588
Do you see?

788
01:00:22,594 --> 01:00:26,993
Many of you, let me ask you a question, you would possibly say,

789
01:00:26,999 --> 01:00:30,882
“Yes, brother Paul, I believe in the inspiration of Scripture.

790
01:00:30,888 --> 01:00:35,159
I am a conservative Christian. I believe in the inspiration of Scripture;

791
01:00:35,165 --> 01:00:40,099
that Scripture was God breathed, that it is infallible, inerrant;

792
01:00:40,105 --> 01:00:43,946
that it is a faithful communication of God's truth.

793
01:00:43,952 --> 01:00:46,902
Ok. You believe in the inspiration of Scripture?

794
01:00:46,908 --> 01:00:50,984
You have only won half the battle.

795
01:00:50,990 --> 01:00:52,605
Here is the next question:

796
01:00:52,611 --> 01:00:57,597
But do you believe in the sufficiency of Scripture?

797
01:00:58,025 --> 01:01:03,712
Do you believe that the Scripture is sufficient

798
01:01:03,718 --> 01:01:08,298
to make the man of God adequate for every good work

799
01:01:08,304 --> 01:01:14,527
or does the man of God also need Freud, Skinner, Rogers and everything else

800
01:01:14,533 --> 01:01:18,690
in order to counsel God’s people, in order to teach God's people,

801
01:01:18,696 --> 01:01:20,413
in order to train God’s people?

802
01:01:20,419 --> 01:01:26,840
You see, this is what Scripture is saying.

803
01:01:26,846 --> 01:01:30,698
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching,

804
01:01:30,704 --> 01:01:34,637
for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

805
01:01:34,643 --> 01:01:41,343
so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

806
01:01:41,349 --> 01:01:47,750
Every good work that needs to be done in the body, every good work,

807
01:01:47,756 --> 01:01:50,552
the Scripture can adequately prepare us for that.

808
01:01:50,558 --> 01:01:56,252
The Bible says in 2 Peter chapter one,

809
01:01:56,258 --> 01:02:02,437
Everything that we need for life and godliness has been granted to us.

810
01:02:02,443 --> 01:02:07,973
Everything we need to direct our marriages have been granted to us in this book.

811
01:02:07,979 --> 01:02:12,921
Everything we need to raise our children have been granted to us in this book.

812
01:02:12,927 --> 01:02:18,234
It is found there. It is.

813
01:02:19,195 --> 01:02:21,461
And you have to make a decision.

814
01:02:21,467 --> 01:02:27,840
Do you want a biblical church, or do you want a halfway biblical church?

815
01:02:28,375 --> 01:02:31,800
There is no, like the philosopher said,

816
01:02:31,806 --> 01:02:37,638
“What does Jerusalem have to do with Athens?”

817
01:02:37,652 --> 01:02:44,258
What does Christianity have to do with all these doctrines of the age

818
01:02:44,264 --> 01:02:47,486
that give no light and bring no blessing

819
01:02:47,492 --> 01:02:51,332
and kill all fruitfulness in the life of a person?

820
01:02:51,338 --> 01:02:57,738
Now, I want to go to one other thing and then we will bring this to a close,

821
01:02:57,744 --> 01:03:01,988
because I know I have gone on very long.

822
01:03:01,994 --> 01:03:06,137
Let’s just look for a moment at body life.

823
01:03:06,143 --> 01:03:14,308
I want us to go to chapter twelve of the book of Romans, verse 3,

824
01:03:14,314 --> 01:03:17,887
“For through the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you

825
01:03:17,893 --> 01:03:21,477
not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think;

826
01:03:21,483 --> 01:03:24,344
but to think so as to have sound judgment,

827
01:03:24,350 --> 01:03:29,236
as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.”

828
01:03:29,242 --> 01:03:34,757
Listen. As you grow in your Christian walk,

829
01:03:34,763 --> 01:03:39,362
you are going to come across true, honest believers

830
01:03:39,368 --> 01:03:44,554
that are not quite as mature, that are rather problematic.

831
01:03:44,560 --> 01:03:47,296
You need to constantly be asking yourself this question.

832
01:03:47,302 --> 01:03:49,618
What do I have that I have not received,

833
01:03:49,624 --> 01:03:53,506
and if I have received it, why do I boast?

834
01:03:53,512 --> 01:03:55,840
Who made you what you are?

835
01:03:55,846 --> 01:03:58,446
By God’s grace you have been saved.

836
01:03:58,452 --> 01:04:03,620
By God's grace, a work of sanctification continues in you.

837
01:04:03,626 --> 01:04:06,680
There is no room for boasting in the Christian life.

838
01:04:06,686 --> 01:04:14,935
And there is no room for comparison of setting one saint against another.

839
01:04:14,941 --> 01:04:20,270
I remember one time a woman who had done a great deal of damage

840
01:04:20,276 --> 01:04:22,760
with her wickedness in the Church,

841
01:04:22,766 --> 01:04:27,173
and one morning she came just running down the aisle.

842
01:04:27,179 --> 01:04:29,842
I was preaching, and she was weeping,

843
01:04:29,848 --> 01:04:33,150
and she just fell on the steps of the platform

844
01:04:33,156 --> 01:04:35,870
and she was crying out to God for forgiveness.

845
01:04:35,876 --> 01:04:40,014
And I looked up and I saw the faces of the people in that crowd.

846
01:04:40,020 --> 01:04:49,358
And I mean, they were like, unbelieving, unforgiving.

847
01:04:50,131 --> 01:04:53,856
The woman had done some bad things.

848
01:04:53,862 --> 01:05:00,795
And I went down and I put my hand on her shoulder and I prayed for her.

849
01:05:00,801 --> 01:05:05,542
Afterwards, some people came up to me and they said,

850
01:05:05,548 --> 01:05:09,509
“How could you touch that woman?”

851
01:05:09,515 --> 01:05:15,425
And I said, “Because if she doesn’t get forgiven, I have to go to hell too.”

852
01:05:15,431 --> 01:05:18,276
You see the point?

853
01:05:18,282 --> 01:05:20,130
Mercy...you know,

854
01:05:20,136 --> 01:05:27,295
if you need evidence that we are not perfected at the moment of our conversion,

855
01:05:27,301 --> 01:05:29,559
if you need evidence of that,

856
01:05:29,565 --> 01:05:33,763
then just listen to this one statement by Jesus Christ.

857
01:05:33,769 --> 01:05:38,807
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”

858
01:05:39,034 --> 01:05:43,167
That shames me, that verse; and I will tell you why.

859
01:05:43,173 --> 01:05:47,545
A man like me who has received such mercy,

860
01:05:47,551 --> 01:05:51,377
I have to be told to be merciful?

861
01:05:51,825 --> 01:05:54,505
I have to be reminded to be merciful?

862
01:05:54,511 --> 01:05:56,329
After the mercy I have received,

863
01:05:56,335 --> 01:05:58,953
after the things I have done and been forgiven.

864
01:05:58,959 --> 01:06:06,473
I have to be reminded to be merciful? That is pathetic.

865
01:06:11,271 --> 01:06:14,921
And so body life is, again, built around humility.

866
01:06:14,927 --> 01:06:17,264
It is built around a mercy.

867
01:06:17,270 --> 01:06:20,951
It's built around thinking more of others.

868
01:06:20,957 --> 01:06:24,497
And he says: "For just as we have many members in one body

869
01:06:24,503 --> 01:06:28,606
and all the members do not have the same function,

870
01:06:28,612 --> 01:06:31,677
so we, who are many, are one body in Christ,

871
01:06:31,683 --> 01:06:34,605
and individually members one of another."

872
01:06:34,611 --> 01:06:41,529
Now, In 1 Corinthians, Paul deals with this in greater length

873
01:06:41,535 --> 01:06:42,705
and I didn’t want to go there

874
01:06:42,711 --> 01:06:51,232
because I didn’t want to spend the entire night having you just sitting here.

875
01:06:54,642 --> 01:06:59,349
Sometimes I look at my wife

876
01:06:59,355 --> 01:07:04,769
and, you know, men are really bad in that we begin to think at times

877
01:07:04,775 --> 01:07:07,802
that our wives are an extension of us,

878
01:07:07,808 --> 01:07:11,349
and our children are an extension of us.

879
01:07:11,355 --> 01:07:16,624
We forget that they are persons in their own right.

880
01:07:17,703 --> 01:07:23,401
There will be things between our wives and Christ that we know not of.

881
01:07:23,407 --> 01:07:27,740
But sometimes I sit there and I try to remember this:

882
01:07:27,746 --> 01:07:32,464
She is God's daughter.

883
01:07:32,470 --> 01:07:35,337
Now I don’t know if any of you have daughters.

884
01:07:35,343 --> 01:07:38,651
But I have a little daughter.

885
01:07:39,221 --> 01:07:44,396
I don't know where my Christianity would go if somebody tried to hurt her,

886
01:07:44,402 --> 01:07:48,561
but I would do everything in my power to stop them.

887
01:07:48,567 --> 01:07:53,949
I mean, If you really don't want to be my friend,

888
01:07:53,955 --> 01:07:57,709
then do something bad to my daughter.

889
01:07:58,342 --> 01:08:01,413
I can't even imagine; someone would have to restrain me

890
01:08:01,419 --> 01:08:04,262
if somebody did something to my daughter.

891
01:08:04,268 --> 01:08:11,286
And I always try to remember my wife in that context with her Father.

892
01:08:11,292 --> 01:08:15,679
She is God’s daughter.

893
01:08:15,685 --> 01:08:19,023
I am going to mess with her?

894
01:08:19,028 --> 01:08:21,435
I am going to hurt her?

895
01:08:21,441 --> 01:08:24,608
If I being evil can love my daughter so much

896
01:08:24,613 --> 01:08:27,005
that I would throw myself in front of a train for her,

897
01:08:27,011 --> 01:08:31,121
or fight any man on the face of the earth at least for two seconds

898
01:08:31,127 --> 01:08:34,509
before he knocks me out,

899
01:08:34,515 --> 01:08:38,770
am I going to suppose that I want to deal with God in that way,

900
01:08:38,776 --> 01:08:40,475
treating harshly his daughter?

901
01:08:40,481 --> 01:08:42,477
Now let’s take that farther.

902
01:08:42,483 --> 01:08:48,189
You see, C S Lewis said this one time and I can’t quote him directly,

903
01:08:48,194 --> 01:08:53,500
but basically he said this, “There are no common people.”

904
01:08:53,506 --> 01:09:05,835
Every person you meet will either be, one day, a monster in the bowels of hell

905
01:09:05,841 --> 01:09:10,602
or will be a creature so splendid and glorious

906
01:09:10,608 --> 01:09:13,796
that if you could see them now in that future state,

907
01:09:13,801 --> 01:09:18,399
you would fall down on your face and have a tendency to worship them.”

908
01:09:18,404 --> 01:09:22,828
All right, now I want you to think that about your brother in Christ for a moment,

909
01:09:22,834 --> 01:09:24,060
your sister in Christ.

910
01:09:24,067 --> 01:09:30,366
Don't deal with this person in a harsh manner.

911
01:09:30,372 --> 01:09:32,915
Realize what they are.

912
01:09:32,921 --> 01:09:36,377
Realize what has been paid for them.

913
01:09:36,384 --> 01:09:39,402
Realize what they are going to become.

914
01:09:39,408 --> 01:09:44,033
Realize the relationship they have with God,

915
01:09:44,040 --> 01:09:46,997
and you will begin to treat them differently.

916
01:09:47,004 --> 01:09:48,287
Do you see that?

917
01:09:48,292 --> 01:09:55,121
They are not just some common little believer who attends church.

918
01:09:55,127 --> 01:10:00,489
They are God’s and one day they will be more glorious

919
01:10:00,495 --> 01:10:05,142
than anyone could even imagine.

920
01:10:06,952 --> 01:10:09,473
That is church.

921
01:10:10,051 --> 01:10:16,832
And he goes on and he says that we are members.

922
01:10:16,838 --> 01:10:19,675
I am told that I am one with my wife

923
01:10:19,681 --> 01:10:24,918
and that only an insane man tears at his own flesh.

924
01:10:24,924 --> 01:10:31,096
Only an insane man practices self mutilation, I mean, we all now that.

925
01:10:31,102 --> 01:10:33,886
You see a man on the side of the street,

926
01:10:33,892 --> 01:10:35,295
and he is ripping his arm off,

927
01:10:35,301 --> 01:10:38,000
you don’t say, “Hey, how is it going?”

928
01:10:38,006 --> 01:10:42,514
I mean, you say, “That is a very troubled person.”

929
01:10:42,520 --> 01:10:52,514
All right, now, to attack my wife is insanity, the worst form, to rip at her.

930
01:10:52,520 --> 01:10:58,493
Brother and sister in Christ, same thing, members.

931
01:10:59,295 --> 01:11:00,555
And just remember this:

932
01:11:00,561 --> 01:11:05,476
You are not just ripping at one of your members.

933
01:11:05,482 --> 01:11:11,627
You are ripping at one of Christ’s members, part of his body.

934
01:11:11,633 --> 01:11:16,705
The Church in Corinth was sternly warned that anyone destroys the body,

935
01:11:16,711 --> 01:11:19,588
God will destroy them.

936
01:11:20,867 --> 01:11:24,267
You see, you need to have a heightened view of God.

937
01:11:24,273 --> 01:11:25,568
You have heard that over and over.

938
01:11:25,574 --> 01:11:27,904
We need to have a heightened view of God.

939
01:11:27,910 --> 01:11:29,747
That's true. Do you know what else though?

940
01:11:29,753 --> 01:11:37,361
You need to have a heightened view of other believers;

941
01:11:38,932 --> 01:11:44,150
of what they are, what they will be, what was paid for them.

942
01:11:44,156 --> 01:11:46,044
And we are members.

943
01:11:46,050 --> 01:11:48,969
Now, gosh, I can do this in America,

944
01:11:48,975 --> 01:11:54,554
but here in Europe you guys are a lot more civilized.

945
01:11:54,560 --> 01:11:56,211
But I am going to do this anyways.

946
01:11:56,217 --> 01:11:59,350
Let’s see. Who has got tennis shoes on?

947
01:11:59,356 --> 01:12:03,728
Who wants to volunteer? Who is really brave? Is anybody brave?

948
01:12:03,734 --> 01:12:06,260
You don’t need tennis shoes, you can do it in socks.

949
01:12:06,266 --> 01:12:08,111
OK, stand up.

950
01:12:08,117 --> 01:12:11,601
And, really, guys, if I am out of line, just realize I am an American,

951
01:12:11,607 --> 01:12:15,138
I am from the South. I have no culture, OK?

952
01:12:15,174 --> 01:12:23,674
Now I want you to run over to that rail as fast as you can, and then run back.

953
01:12:23,680 --> 01:12:25,785
As fast as you can.

954
01:12:25,790 --> 01:12:27,964
Go!

955
01:12:28,932 --> 01:12:33,066
Ooh, I should have got tennis shoes on him. He almost went out the window.

956
01:12:33,072 --> 01:12:38,999
OK, now I want you to grab one foot like this,

957
01:12:39,005 --> 01:12:44,036
and I want you to run over there half way, and then come back.

958
01:12:44,042 --> 01:12:48,142
Halfway? yeah, just half way. We don't want you going out the window.

959
01:12:48,148 --> 01:12:51,863
OK. Slower, right?

960
01:12:51,869 --> 01:12:55,619
All right. Now grab this foot like this,

961
01:12:55,625 --> 01:12:58,214
and grab the other one and pull it back.

962
01:12:58,220 --> 01:12:59,506
All right, thank you.

963
01:12:59,512 --> 01:13:07,585
Now look. I removed one member and he could not move as fast,

964
01:13:07,591 --> 01:13:11,314
as quickly and definitely he wasn’t as graceful.

965
01:13:11,320 --> 01:13:13,214
I removed one member.

966
01:13:13,220 --> 01:13:18,222
I remove two members and I incapacitated him completely.

967
01:13:18,228 --> 01:13:21,055
He couldn't even walk.

968
01:13:21,061 --> 01:13:27,778
Now, do you think every member in the body of Christ is important?

969
01:13:27,784 --> 01:13:31,948
This is not only an encouragement for every saint

970
01:13:31,954 --> 01:13:36,190
to come to understand their giftedness and their part in the body of Christ,

971
01:13:36,196 --> 01:13:41,127
but it is also necessary for us to appreciate every saint

972
01:13:41,133 --> 01:13:45,996
and to encourage them to be a part of the body, because we need them.

973
01:13:46,002 --> 01:13:54,411
Now, if you tell saints, “Look. We need you to minister according to your gifts.

974
01:13:54,417 --> 01:13:59,651
We need you to be a part of this body because, man, we are out to do this.”

975
01:13:59,657 --> 01:14:02,879
Again, that is mechanical.

976
01:14:02,885 --> 01:14:05,642
We just want you to be part of the factory.

977
01:14:05,648 --> 01:14:11,071
But if you say, “We need you in this body to minister to your gifts

978
01:14:11,077 --> 01:14:15,739
because we as a body need you.

979
01:14:15,752 --> 01:14:17,004
We need your giftedness.

980
01:14:17,010 --> 01:14:19,025
We need what God has done in your life.

981
01:14:19,031 --> 01:14:21,818
We need you as a person. We need you.”

982
01:14:21,824 --> 01:14:26,795
That is church, you see, that is church;

983
01:14:26,801 --> 01:14:29,503
that we are members of one another.

984
01:14:29,509 --> 01:14:34,196
And then he goes on and he says this...

985
01:14:34,202 --> 01:14:39,900
I want to just run down to nine because of the lack of time.

986
01:14:39,906 --> 01:14:42,303
He says, "Let love be without hypocrisy.

987
01:14:42,309 --> 01:14:45,202
Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.

988
01:14:45,208 --> 01:14:48,422
Be devoted to one another."

989
01:14:48,428 --> 01:14:51,168
So you want to have a church?

990
01:14:51,174 --> 01:14:54,739
Are you willing to be devoted to one another?

991
01:14:54,745 --> 01:14:58,419
I am not talking about showing up on Sunday,

992
01:14:58,425 --> 01:15:03,929
listening to a sermon and running away.

993
01:15:03,935 --> 01:15:07,607
I am talking about actually entering into relationships.

994
01:15:07,613 --> 01:15:12,688
You see, Christianity, especially now in reformed circles,

995
01:15:12,694 --> 01:15:18,662
in many ways has become like almost going to the theater.

996
01:15:18,668 --> 01:15:21,987
People got their favorite preacher,

997
01:15:21,993 --> 01:15:25,564
and their favorite worship, and so they go in

998
01:15:25,570 --> 01:15:29,279
and they take their seat in the church.

999
01:15:29,285 --> 01:15:32,109
We ought to get a thing with a popcorn holder

1000
01:15:32,115 --> 01:15:37,549
and a place where you can put your Coke to watch your favorite preacher,

1001
01:15:37,554 --> 01:15:42,806
to watch your favorite worship guy, and then to say good bye.

1002
01:15:42,813 --> 01:15:46,314
And the best part is, it's free.

1003
01:15:46,351 --> 01:15:51,540
Unless you're in a baptist church and then they make you pay a tithe.

1004
01:15:51,546 --> 01:15:53,061
It's free.

1005
01:15:53,067 --> 01:15:54,200
That is not church.

1006
01:15:54,206 --> 01:15:55,948
I hear ministers say all the time,

1007
01:15:55,954 --> 01:15:58,953
"The Bible says you shall not forsake the assembling of yourselves together.”

1008
01:15:58,959 --> 01:16:00,051
And what he is saying is,

1009
01:16:00,057 --> 01:16:02,571
“Listen, you need to come hear me preach.”

1010
01:16:02,577 --> 01:16:05,915
But what it is saying is you don’t forsake the assembling of yourselves together

1011
01:16:05,921 --> 01:16:07,717
so that you can minister to one another,

1012
01:16:07,723 --> 01:16:10,152
exhort one another, encourage one another.

1013
01:16:10,165 --> 01:16:21,903
That is why, at least, there is less obstacles in doing this sort of thing in a small fellowship.

1014
01:16:21,909 --> 01:16:25,571
And if the fellowship grows larger, to either,

1015
01:16:25,577 --> 01:16:29,448
some of the members that are in that fellowship that are from a certain part of town,

1016
01:16:29,454 --> 01:16:31,300
send them over there to start another church,

1017
01:16:31,306 --> 01:16:35,729
or at least break this thing up in some sort of house churches and things like that,

1018
01:16:35,735 --> 01:16:39,490
so that you can actually get involved in ministering to one another.

1019
01:16:39,496 --> 01:16:41,382
Another thing that is very important.

1020
01:16:41,388 --> 01:16:46,800
I was preaching down in a place in Alabama a few weeks ago

1021
01:16:46,806 --> 01:16:49,886
to a group of people in Tharptown, Alabama.

1022
01:16:49,892 --> 01:16:52,477
And I just love these people, they are just wonderful.

1023
01:16:52,483 --> 01:16:58,374
And I was preaching, and it was going a little bit long.

1024
01:16:58,380 --> 01:17:01,521
I know you can’t believe that, but it was going a little bit long

1025
01:17:01,527 --> 01:17:04,245
and I said, “Now, stop that.”

1026
01:17:04,251 --> 01:17:07,183
They all kind of looked up. I said, “I know what you are thinking.

1027
01:17:07,189 --> 01:17:10,096
You are all thinking about leaving here and going to El Rancho.”

1028
01:17:10,102 --> 01:17:16,008
El Rancho is the most favorite Mexican restaurant there near the church.

1029
01:17:16,014 --> 01:17:20,831
As a matter of fact, it is the only restaurant in the whole entire town.

1030
01:17:20,837 --> 01:17:23,063
And I said, “I know what you are doing.

1031
01:17:23,069 --> 01:17:24,941
You're not thinking about church anymore,

1032
01:17:24,947 --> 01:17:27,942
you're thinking about going to El Rancho."

1033
01:17:27,948 --> 01:17:31,301
And they were like, you know, all feeling guilty.

1034
01:17:31,307 --> 01:17:33,713
But I said that because I wanted to teach them something.

1035
01:17:33,719 --> 01:17:43,655
I said, "Now stop. Ask yourself right now. Are you doing church?"

1036
01:17:43,661 --> 01:17:47,104
I said, "I want you to look at something a little bit different.

1037
01:17:47,110 --> 01:17:50,922
Right now, you are sitting under the preaching of the Word of God.

1038
01:17:50,928 --> 01:17:54,764
We have worshiped collectively and we have prayed collectively.

1039
01:17:54,770 --> 01:17:57,716
Now you think you have done something spiritual,

1040
01:17:57,722 --> 01:18:01,589
and then you are going to leave and you are going to go to El Rancho

1041
01:18:01,595 --> 01:18:05,187
and do something not so spiritual.”

1042
01:18:05,193 --> 01:18:08,443
I said, “Actually, the way you need to look at it is,

1043
01:18:08,449 --> 01:18:12,995
you are leaving here to go to church.”

1044
01:18:13,001 --> 01:18:14,746
And they are like, “Well, what do you mean?”

1045
01:18:14,752 --> 01:18:18,569
I said, “Now, if you go there and talk about your favorite football team or something,

1046
01:18:18,575 --> 01:18:20,346
not necessarily.”

1047
01:18:20,352 --> 01:18:24,603
I said, “But do you realize, you are not talking to each other right now.

1048
01:18:24,609 --> 01:18:26,956
You are not ministering to one another.

1049
01:18:26,962 --> 01:18:29,679
You are listening to a sermon, which is necessary,

1050
01:18:29,685 --> 01:18:32,288
you have worshiped collectively and prayed collectively,

1051
01:18:32,294 --> 01:18:34,828
which is all necessary and good and it is part of church.

1052
01:18:34,834 --> 01:18:38,372
But what do you say now that as soon as I dismiss this,

1053
01:18:38,378 --> 01:18:44,385
we all go over to El Rancho and have church?”

1054
01:18:44,391 --> 01:18:51,708
We go over there, sit down at a table with a fellow believer,

1055
01:18:51,714 --> 01:18:54,436
talk to them, get to know them,

1056
01:18:54,442 --> 01:19:01,559
find out what is going on in their life, eat some chips. God is good.

1057
01:19:01,565 --> 01:19:04,500
And just get to know one another,

1058
01:19:04,506 --> 01:19:08,324
to love one another, to bless one another.

1059
01:19:08,330 --> 01:19:12,598
You see, their whole idea of church revolved around coming into that place,

1060
01:19:12,604 --> 01:19:18,255
worshiping collectively, listening to a Bible study and then leaving.

1061
01:19:18,261 --> 01:19:19,607
That is not Church.

1062
01:19:19,613 --> 01:19:22,508
That is a very essential part of Church.

1063
01:19:22,514 --> 01:19:29,062
But see, there you go again just identifying it with a service, a meeting, a meeting place.

1064
01:19:29,068 --> 01:19:33,254
It is you collectively caring for one another.

1065
01:19:33,260 --> 01:19:38,788
There was a pastor down in Argentina, and he had grown the church to about 600,

1066
01:19:38,794 --> 01:19:40,181
and that is the language he used.

1067
01:19:40,187 --> 01:19:43,001
He said, “Because I had grown the church to 600.”

1068
01:19:43,007 --> 01:19:45,021
And he said, “I was miserable.”

1069
01:19:45,027 --> 01:19:49,389
He said, “Finally I came under such... I didn’t even know why.

1070
01:19:49,395 --> 01:19:52,107
I just knew something was wrong; knew something was terribly wrong.”

1071
01:19:52,113 --> 01:19:56,822
So he set aside time for prayer and fasting, and studying the Scriptures,

1072
01:19:56,828 --> 01:20:00,877
and it just seemed that the Lord impressed upon his heart through the study of Scripture,

1073
01:20:00,883 --> 01:20:06,329
that everything he had built was just hay, wood and stubble,

1074
01:20:06,335 --> 01:20:07,688
that he needed to start again.

1075
01:20:07,694 --> 01:20:12,413
He is a really personable guy, a really great speaker, knew how to do things,

1076
01:20:12,419 --> 01:20:15,382
and I mean people were coming to that church in the droves.

1077
01:20:15,388 --> 01:20:17,714
And God was saying...

1078
01:20:18,196 --> 01:20:19,729
So this is what he did.

1079
01:20:19,735 --> 01:20:25,268
The next Sunday, you know, they got the big worship service and everything,

1080
01:20:25,274 --> 01:20:30,494
and the music director goes, “And now, pastor Ortiz,” let’s say,

1081
01:20:30,500 --> 01:20:33,275
“is going to come and give us the Word of God.”

1082
01:20:33,285 --> 01:20:35,343
And he got up and he walked over there,

1083
01:20:35,349 --> 01:20:48,549
and he goes, “Love one another as Jesus loved you.”

1084
01:20:48,554 --> 01:20:50,076
And he sat down.

1085
01:20:50,082 --> 01:20:51,947
And the music director hopped up

1086
01:20:51,953 --> 01:20:55,903
and said, “We will have another song now before the main sermon.”

1087
01:20:55,909 --> 01:21:00,195
So he sings another song and then, “Now our pastor will come and...”

1088
01:21:00,201 --> 01:21:10,359
He goes, “No, really. Love one another as Christ loved you.”

1089
01:21:10,365 --> 01:21:13,726
He said he did that for six weeks.

1090
01:21:13,732 --> 01:21:20,589
And he said on the sixth week, two of the deacons sitting in the front pew;

1091
01:21:20,595 --> 01:21:22,691
one in the front pew, the other one in the second pew;

1092
01:21:22,697 --> 01:21:24,655
the one in the front pew turned around,

1093
01:21:24,661 --> 01:21:27,808
and he said, “As soon as I got through saying, ‘Love one another,’

1094
01:21:27,814 --> 01:21:31,848
the deacon turned around and goes, ‘Hey,

1095
01:21:31,854 --> 01:21:35,985
I think I know what he is trying to tell us.’”

1096
01:21:35,991 --> 01:21:40,334
And what happened was they started serving one another,

1097
01:21:40,340 --> 01:21:41,846
caring for one another.

1098
01:21:41,852 --> 01:21:45,702
The Spirit of God began to work.

1099
01:21:45,708 --> 01:21:50,608
The deacons started searching out the widows in the church who were alone.

1100
01:21:50,614 --> 01:21:56,785
I mean, just all kinds of things. Do you see?

1101
01:21:57,371 --> 01:22:01,668
This is church. That is church.

1102
01:22:01,674 --> 01:22:11,314
Now, he goes on and says, “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love;

1103
01:22:11,320 --> 01:22:16,067
give preference to one another in honor.”

1104
01:22:16,073 --> 01:22:21,758
Boy. We are not a people who know much about honor.

1105
01:22:21,764 --> 01:22:24,599
In America, we pride ourselves,

1106
01:22:24,605 --> 01:22:28,571
"We don’t have a king and we are never going to have a king.

1107
01:22:28,577 --> 01:22:31,133
And I don’t care who you think you are.

1108
01:22:31,139 --> 01:22:34,057
I am just as good as you are."

1109
01:22:34,063 --> 01:22:35,547
That's our mentality.

1110
01:22:35,553 --> 01:22:41,186
Independent spirit - I bow my head to no one.

1111
01:22:41,192 --> 01:22:44,838
That is not Christian.

1112
01:22:46,489 --> 01:22:49,956
He says, "Give preference to one another in honor,

1113
01:22:49,962 --> 01:22:55,471
not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.”

1114
01:22:55,477 --> 01:22:59,459
Look. But this lagging behind, look what it is in.

1115
01:22:59,465 --> 01:23:02,440
Don't lag behind in being devoted to one another.

1116
01:23:02,446 --> 01:23:06,821
Don't lag behind in giving preference to one another.

1117
01:23:06,827 --> 01:23:09,578
“Rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation,

1118
01:23:09,584 --> 01:23:14,152
devoted to prayer,” for your brothers and sisters in Christ.

1119
01:23:14,158 --> 01:23:18,819
“Contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.”

1120
01:23:18,825 --> 01:23:23,051
Do you do that? Do you practice hospitality?

1121
01:23:23,057 --> 01:23:30,120
Invite people into your home, feed them?

1122
01:23:30,126 --> 01:23:32,117
Call over other believers?

1123
01:23:32,123 --> 01:23:35,742
Hey, come on over to my house tomorrow.

1124
01:23:35,748 --> 01:23:39,312
I am going to put a pot of stew on and we'll just talk about the Lord.

1125
01:23:39,318 --> 01:23:40,441
Do you open your home?

1126
01:23:40,447 --> 01:23:43,969
Do you know it is one of the qualifications of an elder?

1127
01:23:43,975 --> 01:23:47,840
He has to be hospitable. He has to open up his home.

1128
01:23:47,846 --> 01:23:49,886
And if he doesn’t, he doesn’t qualify.

1129
01:23:49,892 --> 01:23:54,398
I don't care if he is the best teacher on the face of the earth.

1130
01:23:54,404 --> 01:23:55,178
Do you see?

1131
01:23:55,184 --> 01:23:58,730
You can say, “Oh, we can look past that, because he is a great Bible teacher."

1132
01:23:58,736 --> 01:24:01,475
No, you can’t.

1133
01:24:03,749 --> 01:24:06,769
“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.”

1134
01:24:06,775 --> 01:24:12,276
Now, I want you to just think about this for a moment.

1135
01:24:12,282 --> 01:24:17,723
A guy says... I will put this in the context of marriage;

1136
01:24:17,729 --> 01:24:21,390
A guy says, “I can’t love my wife.”

1137
01:24:21,396 --> 01:24:23,673
He is a Christian. He is in the church.

1138
01:24:23,679 --> 01:24:28,725
He comes to the pastor and he says, “I can’t love my wife.”

1139
01:24:28,731 --> 01:24:31,160
OK. You can't love her as a wife.

1140
01:24:31,166 --> 01:24:32,677
"No."

1141
01:24:32,683 --> 01:24:38,380
Can you love her as a fellow believer?

1142
01:24:38,386 --> 01:24:40,402
"No."

1143
01:24:40,408 --> 01:24:45,459
Can you love her as a lost person?

1144
01:24:45,465 --> 01:24:47,259
"No."

1145
01:24:47,265 --> 01:24:51,320
Can you love her as an enemy who persecutes you and curses you?

1146
01:24:51,326 --> 01:24:52,336
"No."

1147
01:24:52,342 --> 01:24:55,708
Christ has commanded you to love her in all those ways.

1148
01:24:55,714 --> 01:24:59,695
See, you are not just called to love your brother.

1149
01:24:59,701 --> 01:25:03,792
You are called to love your enemy who persecutes you and curses you

1150
01:25:03,798 --> 01:25:06,441
and wants your eternal condemnation.

1151
01:25:06,447 --> 01:25:13,786
So if you are called to love that guy, most certainly you can love your brother.

1152
01:25:13,792 --> 01:25:17,475
Do you see that?

1153
01:25:28,761 --> 01:25:33,267
Do you know, honestly, what my goal is in life?

1154
01:25:33,273 --> 01:25:38,203
I mean, I kind of have a little... I figured I wasn’t going to get everything, you know,

1155
01:25:38,209 --> 01:25:40,371
I wasn’t going to be able to accomplish everything,

1156
01:25:40,377 --> 01:25:44,323
so I thought, “I am going to set out one goal.”

1157
01:25:44,329 --> 01:25:50,504
But it is kind of an all encompassing goal.

1158
01:25:52,449 --> 01:26:03,623
If I can grow in my love toward my wife,

1159
01:26:03,629 --> 01:26:12,194
if I can manifest Christlike love toward her, that is my goal.

1160
01:26:12,200 --> 01:26:15,793
You say, “Well, that is kind of puny.”

1161
01:26:15,799 --> 01:26:20,240
Obviously you are not a husband.

1162
01:26:21,928 --> 01:26:23,765
But look at this.

1163
01:26:23,770 --> 01:26:32,539
If I can love the person with whom I have the closest, most intimate relationship,

1164
01:26:32,545 --> 01:26:38,770
she seeing all my flaws, and I having to bear with all of hers,

1165
01:26:38,776 --> 01:26:44,409
then love is not going to be a problem with everybody else, is it?

1166
01:26:44,415 --> 01:26:48,141
I am so tired. I told someone.

1167
01:26:48,147 --> 01:26:50,767
They said, “Why are you going to plant a church somewhere?”

1168
01:26:50,773 --> 01:27:03,614
I said, “I am tired of preaching Christianity. I want to go live it somewhere.”

1169
01:27:04,122 --> 01:27:14,657
You know, guys, if this is a church and if this is not your goal,

1170
01:27:14,663 --> 01:27:17,580
then what you are going to do is, you are going to go out and bring in people

1171
01:27:17,586 --> 01:27:22,961
and make them two fold sons of hell like yourself.

1172
01:27:24,523 --> 01:27:32,955
But this goal is, to be like Christ and to follow him.

1173
01:27:32,961 --> 01:27:35,753
That is the church.

1174
01:27:35,759 --> 01:27:42,847
A group of people devoted to Christ, devoted to one another.

1175
01:27:42,853 --> 01:27:44,325
That’s it.

1176
01:27:44,331 --> 01:27:49,338
So you can have all those other things and elders and everything else,

1177
01:27:49,344 --> 01:27:55,939
but if you don’t have this, then you don’t have a church, OK?

1178
01:27:55,945 --> 01:27:58,311
All right. Let’s pray.

1179
01:27:58,317 --> 01:28:01,279
Father, I come before you and I pray, Lord,

1180
01:28:01,285 --> 01:28:06,665
that you would help us to understand and to apply these truths,

1181
01:28:06,671 --> 01:28:12,794
to be transformed by them, in Jesus name, Amen.