The Army of God's Kingdom
What is the Church? • Sermon • Submitted
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Spirit fill me with YOUR power...
Spirit fill me with YOUR power...
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Run down on next 3 Sundays…
Wont have worship gathering next Sunday off (12/24)
Following Sunday (12/31) is New Years Eve Party
(1/7) starting a new series - Grace Alone, GALATIANS
Tonight we finish up our series “What is the Church?”
Open your bibles to ...
ILLUSTRATION - ON A MISSION… BACKPACKING SAN JACINTO AT 13 W/ POPS… MISSION WAS TO HIKE TO THE TOP OF THAT MOUNTAIN… STAND ON PEAK… TOOK SUPPLIES TO SURVIVE JOURNEY… EVERYTHING WE DID SERVED THE PURPOSE OF GETTING US TO THE TOP OF THAT MOUNTAIN… BEAUTIFUL VIEW…
ILLUSTRATION - ON A MISSION… BACKPACKING SAN JACINTO AT 13 W/ POPS… MISSION WAS TO HIKE TO THE TOP OF THAT MOUNTAIN… STAND ON PEAK… TOOK SUPPLIES TO SURVIVE JOURNEY… EVERYTHING WE DID SERVED THE PURPOSE OF GETTING US TO THE TOP OF THAT MOUNTAIN… BEAUTIFUL VIEW…
When you think about your life right now, what mission are you on?
What mountain are you trying to climb?
Maybe…
Financial stability
romance
your career
maybe it’s simply being happy…
defined as “having more.”... never obtain it...
Tonight, as we wrap up this series on what the church is…
we are going to talk about what the mission of the follower of Jesus is…
We are going to talk about how the church... the people of God…
is an Army… on a mission… to advance God’s kingdom…
Pray
Pray
SCRIPTURE
SCRIPTURE
“3 For though we (Christians, the church) walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,”
“3 For though we (Christians, the church) walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,”
WHAT IS THE WAR?
HOW DO WE FIGHT?
WHY DOES IT MATTER?
WHAT IS THE WAR?
WHAT IS THE WAR?
Paul is saying that the Christian…
whether they like it or not…
is involved in a war...
Not a normal war…
It’s not a war with guns…
Or tanks…
or hand to hand combat
Paul says “it’s a war that’s waged NOT according to the flesh...
It’s a different war…
This war is a spiritual war…
In a war you have 2 or more parties in opposition of the other…
Multiple parties willing to go to battle for what they want…
They have different agendas but a similar mission...
The mission of going to war is to advance a Kingdom…
WHO’S INVOLVED?
God
Satan
Every human who’s ever lived
Remember the mission of going to war is to advance a kingdom…
B. GOD’S KINGDOM VS. MY KINGDOM
I’m sure you’ve heard about God’s Kingdom… “The Kingdom of God”...
The Lord’s prayer… Your kingdom come your will be done...
SO, what is God’s kingdom?
In God’s kingdom He is King…
That means he rules and reigns…
He calls the shots…
That’s what a King does
That means everything in God’s kingdom obeys him
But not out of obligation or duty… but from the heart… out of love…
It’s almost Christmas…
What do we celebrate at Christmas? (Jesus’ birth… coming to earth)
In Jesus tells us why He came…
43 but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”
43 but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”
He came to preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God.
He came on a mission to advance God’s kingdom
But… there is a problem…
Each of us is on a mission as well…
to advance a kingdom…
And the mission I find myself on far too often is…
The mission of advancing MY kingdom.
My rule…
my reign…
my way…
What I want…
We will usually try to sprinkle a little bit of what God wants in there…
But only to the degree that it fits in MY plans…
I’ll give a little bit of money but I’m not going to give sacrificially…
In my kingdom my money belongs to me, not God.
I’ll confess some sins but not the big ones…
In my kingdom I prefer to remain hidden…
I don’t want to walk in the light...
I’ll serve the needs of others but only when it’s convenient…
In my kingdom my life exists to benefit myself first…
Building my kingdom is about advancing my way…
So consider our planet…
7.6 Billion people
7.6 Billion rival kingdoms…
battling to advance their kingdom…
The result =
Poverty… you can’t be rich unless someone else is poor.
Injustice
Discrimination
Racism
It’s all a result of self-centered kingdoms colliding…
It’s my will vs. your will
The root of all sin selfishness…
We want to call the shots… do things our way
One thing I notice as a pastor is a good number of people in america will “Go to church” but when it comes to “being the church”...
No thanks, I’m really busy…
There is no such thing as “going to church” in the bible…
That’s why we did this series “what is the church?”
Instead of doing things our own way...
To learn about God’s way…
To learn about what it looks like when God calls the shots… when He is king and not me...
To learn more about what God’s kingdom looks like…
If we’re honest... and take a sober look at our lives…
The truth is we tend to be on the mission of advancing our kingdom, our agenda… FAR TOO OFTEN
So it’s really important to recognize what mission you are actually giving yourself to…
To recognize what kingdom you are building… what kingdom you are advancing
HERE’S THE THING… AND ITS HUGE…
God’s mission to advance His kingdom means…
That He has declared war on all other kingdoms
That means God actively opposes all other kingdoms
He wants obedience to His rule and reign…
Obedience to His will…
But not out of obligation like a tyrant…
God’s desire is that His people in His kingdom would DELIGHTFULLY obey him…
God isn’t a normal King…
Normal Kings use their power and authority to benefit themselves…
God is different…
He uses His authority for the benefit of others…
Not only that but He uses His authority to bless the very people who reject him…
The very people who are trying to advance rival kingdoms…
People like you and I…
Jesus Christ, God in the flesh left His throne in heaven…
He came to earth
To live perfectly in your place
To die in your place, for every single sin…
Jesus is a King who uses his authority to bless His enemies…
Like me… PREACH!
When you see God as the good king who uses His authority to sacrificially love you…
You will gladly, delightfully obey him…
So whether you like it or not war has been declared…
It’s a battle over who will be king…
God… Satan… or you…
A christian is someone who says God and God alone is King...
And the Church... is the people fighting to advance God’s kingdom
So that’s the war...
2. HOW DO WE FIGHT?
2. HOW DO WE FIGHT?
Paul gives us 2 ways we fight in v. 5…
“5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,”
“5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,”
2 ways we fight...
Believing the truth about God.
Obeying God.
Believing the truth about God
He says we fight against ARGUMENTS & OPINIONS that are against the knowledge of God…
The knowledge of God:
Who God is (His Character, His attributes, etc.)
What God has done (put on flesh, died on the cross, graciously forgives sin, offers us Jesus’ perfect record…)
Paul is saying the 1st way we fight is by not believing lies about God…
So what are the lies about God that we believe?
God doesn’t care…
God is absent… or distant...
Even if God could do something to help my situation… He won’t.
Maybe God tolerates me… But he definitely doesn’t love me…
And so many more…
Many of the lies we believe about God are a result of thinking with a religious mindset…
Religion says “I obey, therefore, I’m accepted by God.”
The problem is that all of us disobey…
Which would then lead to God not accepting us…
I disobey… God loves me less…
I disobey… God cares for me less…
You need to know that religion is based on a lie about God…
That lie = God’s love and acceptance can be earned…
The truth about Christianity… truth about God… The truth of the Gospel is NOT...
“I obey, therefore, I’m accepted by God…”
NO… the truth of the Gospel is…
“I’m accepted by God through Jesus, therefore, I obey.”
I don’t obey to receive God’s love or blessing…
I obey Him BECAUSE he loves me
The life… death… and resurrection of Jesus squashes all the lies about God…
Jesus is proof:
That God DOES care
That God isn’t absent… HE CAME TO SAVE… IMMANUEL...
That not only CAN God help our situation but HE did…
Jesus’ perfect life in your place, and death in your place is proof that God not only tolerates you… He LOVES you… PASSIONATELY.
My friend you are in the middle of a war…
But its not bombs and bullets being fired at you…
It’s lies…
tells us that Satan is at work deceiving the world…
He is a liar…
A deceiver…
His main strategy is to get you to believe lies about Who God is and what God’s done…
SPIRIT FILL ME… PREACH!
The 1st way we fight in the war is by believing the truth about God…
Paul tells us the 2nd way we fight is to obey God…
Here’s the thing… If you believe the truth about God, you WILL obey.
Did you know that every sin is a result of believing a lie about God?
TIM CHESTER QUOTE - You Can Change
“We sin because we believe the lie that we are better off without God, that His rule is oppressive, that we will be free without Him, that sin offers more than God.”
Paul talks about this in …
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
God gives people over to their sinful desires because they exchange the truth about God for a lie…
Think about the sins in your life…
Don’t think about the what… think about why you do it…
That’s ultimately the sin…
Buy you lunch example…
I might lie...
Because I want others to approve of me…
And I believe the lie that God’s approval of me isn’t enough…
I might overwork…
Because I feel the need to prove myself or justify myself or meet all my family’s needs…
And I believe the lie that God isn’t trustworthy to meet my needs, that He isn’t my provider, that I’m on my own…
Every sin is a result of believing a lie about God… not believing the truth...
Tim Chester goes on to say...
“Not many Christians think of themselves as unbelievers. After all, we normally use the term to describe people who aren’t Christians at all… The problems lie in the gap between what we believe in theory and what we believe in practice.”
The truth is what we do reveals what we are actually believing…
The way we fight in this spiritual war is by believing the truth about God… and obeying Him
One more thing about Satan’s lies...
One of the lies Satan wants you to believe is the lie that…
you can actually advance your own kingdom…
the truth is... the moment you reject God as king by disobeying Him…
Guess who’s kingdom you just joined forces with…
Satan’s
The truth is... the war really isn’t God’s kingdom vs. Satan’s kingdom vs. your kingdom…
It’s God’s kingdom vs. Satan’s…
When we are believing the lie that we can be King…
it means Satan has recruited us to share in the same mission as him…
Rebellion against God’s rule and reign…
Do you see that?
So we fight back by believing the truth about God…
By not being deceived…
and by obeying him…
Call band up… close with this…
3. WHY DOES IT MATTER?
3. WHY DOES IT MATTER?
Whether you like it or not you are in the middle of a war…
where every choice you make… big or small…
Advances a kingdom…
So, your obedience to God... has massive implications…
What you and I do... matters
What you and I don’t do… matters.
Because it advances a kingdom…
We talked about it earlier but do you remember why Jesus says he came to earth…
To preach the GOOD NEWS of the kingdom of God.
Hear me say this… only one kingdom is good news…
Because only one kingdom has a Good king…
Who doesn’t use His authority to benefit himself…
He uses it to bless his rivals...
In God’s kingdom…
Sinful rebellion is transformed into delightful obedience...
Self-centeredness is transformed into living for the benefit of others…
Enemies of God become beloved sons & daugters...
Sinners become saints…
Rebels become disciples…
Communities are redeemed and churches are born
Only God’s kingdom has the power to transform and redeem…
The church is an army…
Its the people fighting to advance God’s kingdom…
By believing the gospel…
And obeying God.
Friends… that’s God’s plan to redeem ALL things…
The spirit of God ruling and reigning in the hearts of His people.
replacing evil and sin with love and grace and mercy.
It starts... in the hearts…. of God’s people…
and ends with all of creation coming under the rule and the reign of King Jesus…
Your simple acts of obedience BRING - THE - KINGDOM - OF GOD.
AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD BRINGS TRANSFORMATION...
Many of us are concerned with what our calling is…
The problem is we are viewing it through the lens of building our Kingdom, not Gods…
God, what are you calling me to in my career?
God, are you calling me to get married?
God, I want my life to look a certain way, how do I make that a reality?
God, what are you calling me to?!
My friend, God is calling you first and foremost to obey him.
That is the primary calling of your entire life
That means your career is incredibly important...
but maybe not for the reasons you think.
Your career becomes less about YOUR identity and purpose…
and instead becomes an environment where you display what the kingdom of God is like.
Your sexuality and your love life become incredibly important…
it becomes less about YOUR satisfaction or approval
and instead becomes an environment where you display what the kingdom of God is like.
And the Kingdom of God has the power to transform...
Brokenness into beauty...
We are planting a church…
A People fighting to advance God’s kingdom…
By believing the gospel…
And obeying God...
If we want to capture ground from the enemy…
it starts with God capturing your heart…
King Jesus leaves his throne in heaven…
On a mission...
To transform and redeem you…
With his love
With his mercy
With his grace
The king of kings exchanges His heavenly crown for a crown of thorns…
Why? Because he loves you…
The cross is proof… proof of his love…
And proof that He’s good…
And proof that he’s trustworthy…
Tonight, I invite you to lay the burdens that you are carrying…
At the feet of king Jesus…
He cares…
I invite you to experience the good news of Jesus being the king of your life… and not you…
As God rules and reigns in the hearts of the people of this church…
The result will be that His kingdom comes…
In us… and through us…
He brings transformation...
To this valley… to this country… and to this planet…
PRAY...