THE CHURCH OF GOD

amen Well the series The Glory of God I started in the new year because I wanted us to Embark in the year of 2019 together with a shared spiritual resolution. It's simple but it's not simplistic. I just felt God calling me and calling us to this can 2019 be the year that we fall more in love with guy here that we fall more in love with Jesus that he captures more of our mind more of our heart that we look more like him at the end of the year than we do right now at the beginning and end in order for that to happen. What do we need? What do we need it? We don't need so much that the church often thinks we need is not about another program or a book or seminar. It's not about a trick or technique. It's not about anything that we have control over if we want to fall more in love with God if we want to be more like him and live according to what we need. Is God himself? We need more Jesus. We need we need him to have more of us. We need him to grow and expand the capacity of our hearts and our minds and our lives to reflect and shine his glory threw us into really this whole series have been built on this this beautiful verse and 2nd Corinthians Chapter 3 Verse 18, which says there's does we all with unveiled face. We don't have to stand outside the holy of holies. We don't need a veil to protect us from God anymore. Like they did in the Tabernacle or the temple because when Jesus died on the cross the temple was torn from top to bottom. We don't need that Veil anymore. Now, we are seeing God without any mediator because Jesus himself is the perfect mediator. He's the exact image and representation of God himself with unveiled face beholding. The glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of Glory to another

Search what we what we need more than anything is to see God more clearly. The understand him in new and profound and fresh ways. We need to open up areas of our life that we've been trying to keep from him. We need counter and interaction and experience with God and when that happens the text says change happen. You can't be in the presence of God and walk away in different. You can't encounter God's in his Beauty and in his Holiness ago.

I think I'll go another there's something about the Beauty and the glory in the power in the awesomeness. Guy that brings change.

From glory to glory we are being transformed when we behold the glory of God. So we started by talking about while the presence of God it is that even doable is that something that is possible and that the ReSound answer of scripture is yes. This is the heart of God God wants to be known God is a revealing a revelatory God. He expresses himself. He makes himself known.

Then we talked about the sacredness of God. That we cannot treat God. like something common that that it's a it's a spiritual danger to treat god with complacency to become overly comfortable with God. Our God is a consuming fire. He is not like man. Were Made In His Image he's not made in ours our God is to be adored and respected and our God is to be feared Our God is to be feared very often in our culture. You say what we need to fear God that sounds like a bad thing. Like we're supposed to be scared of God, but that's that's not what it means to fear God it is to stand in. Awe. It is to be transfixed by the other nests the awesomeness incredible Glory of our God. So we don't want to treat God. Like we would treat another person. We don't want to treat God like an ordinary thing. We need to respect the sacredness of God. It's the last week then we talked about how the presence of God in the sacredness of God in human history has been revealed. It started in the garden where God's presence dwelt with his people that's always been the heart of gods to dwell with his people the joining of Heaven and Earth, but the reality of sin and our Rebellion brought a separation between the heavens and the Earth and that is out of the garden, but God thank God in his Mercy doesn't give up on us. As a God begins to pursuing and God begins to continue to to have his presents with his people and we saw how in the Tabernacle and then in the temple God made his presence. Well in the midst of his people then we also saw last week that in Jesus something radically different happens. Now God is not going to dwell in a tent or in a building made by human hands know when Jesus came Jesus Tabernacle in our midst the glory of God. The presence of God came as a human being Emmanuel God With Us the very presence of God that have been in the Tabernacle. The very presence of God that have been in the temple was now in the person of Jesus and Jesus came in Facebook obedience did what nobody else had done. He did everything the father asked him to do.

And as a reward for his faithfulness when he tasted death not because he turned up at because we did God raised him from the dead now. It doesn't end there as I said last week it gets better because of the presence of God started out in the garden and then it went to a tent and it was in a temple and then it came in the person of Jesus Jesus did something after his death and Resurrection. He said I don't want you to worry about this. I'm going to ascend and when I Ascend I'm going to give you the spirit and now the very presence of God is going to dwell within you. The same Glory the same presents the same power of God that was in the Tabernacle that was in the tent that was in Jesus is now going to reside within your mortal body. What I thought I'd say that out loud in my mind's like threatens to explode. The Same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in me not because I'm I'm super righteous not because I've done something but because Jesus is perfectly righteous and feed gifts us the spirits. The presence of God which was found in the Tabernacle the presents which was found in the temple the presents which was found in Jesus is now found in the people of Jesus. It's found in the church. So tonight I want us to think about the church. It's always challenging to talk about the church because in our culture when we think about the church, we predominately think about this building. We think about a structure. Or we think about a service we made the church into a noun that refers to a structure Oedipus or a building where people gather for a service and that maybe our cultural understanding of what the church is, but that's not the biblical understanding of what the church is. This building is no different than any other building that surrounds us the difference is when we gather together as God's people and got Spirit who is within us.

Is bound together with you or three Gather in my name there? I am also Jesus. It's when we come together as the people of God. That is the church and I say it every week. I'll stop saying it when we really believe it and really start living it. We are the church. We are the church. And then again, I and II last week I hit on this pretty hard. It's not just us as individuals. When I say we are the church, I'm not saying I'm the church and and you're the church as if God has a whole bunch of little churches. Now we are the church. We are God's family. We are God's kingdom agents in this world. We belong to him. So I want us to think a little bit about the church tonight and actually the first place in the gospels that the the word church even shows up as found in Matthew chapter 16, if you get your Bibles there I'd love you to open up with me to Matthew chapter 16 is very well-known passage. Not often very well understood.

Verse 13 says this now when Jesus came into the district assessoria Phillipi. Yes does disciples a question who do people say that the son of man is?

The area of Cesery of Philip. I was an area that was known.

as a demonic stronghold it was known to the ancient Greek cultures of the area as one of the doorways one of the gates to Hades that they believe that in that area there was direct access to the realm of the undead it was known as a place of Witchcraft and occult practices. This is a place that was known as a stronghold for the kingdom of darkness. You need to know that understand what's happening in this passage when Jesus takes his disciples into the area of Cesery to Phillipi. He's walking up here me now to the gates of hell. All right, hold on to that. He says that who do people say that the son of man is when people say that I am MMA answer they said was something cure John the Baptist which would be weird because Jesus have been baptized by John the Baptist and they were cousins and there was all this stuff going on. John had been killed him. He was a great prophet and some that one. Maybe it's John the Baptist back from the dead. The others think you're Elijah or Jeremiah are one of the Prophet come back. What's the confusion about who Jesus is people knew that Jesus was different. They knew that there was something about him that was unique. He taught as one having Authority and he was able to perform Miracles that hadn't been seen in the nation of Israel for at least 400 years really going back much farther.

People are unsure. So he said to them. Well, who do you say that? I am. Who do you think that I am? It's an important question not just for Jesus and his disciples. It's an important question for us. Who do who do we say that Jesus is there is a temptation to make Jesus into our image. Isn't there there is a Temptation inclination of the human heart to kind of Create and Craft a jeep that looks like we want Jesus to look. A Jesus that only tells us what we want to hear and to Jesus that would never call us to something that makes us uncomfortable. We want the warm-and-fuzzy Jesus. We want the Jesus. That's our best friend's what we need though is a Jesus that is king of kings and Lord of lords. We need a Jesus that is an alpha and omega. We need a Jesus that is the first and foremost in all things and that is who Jesus is. It says who who do you say that? I am and of course it had to be Peter. Had to be him just hit Simon Peter replied. You are the Christ. You are the Christ. I like this cuz this is one of the places in our English translations that it actually uses the everytime we read Jesus Christ, it's Jesus. Christ. It's not his last name. It's a description at the title of who and what he is. It means Messiah. It means anointed one memes King. Peter's response is not with your mr. Christ.

Peter's response is so much more profound than that. You are the king you are the long-awaited promised Messiah. You are the one who's on the favor of God dwell. You are the Christ the lord.

If they live in the Roman Empire the Roman Empire had a saying Caesar is Lord. Peter's declaration goes right against and says you are the Lord you are the Christ you are the son of the Living God Goosebumps. It gets really Goosebump me when Jesus responds Jesus answered and he said you are so blessed not because you said that you are blessed to say that blessed. Are you Simon bar Jonah for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. But my father who is in the heaven computer. Peter you didn't think this up on your own buddy, don't don't let that head swell up too much this this Jesus said this is a god something amazing and Supernatural just happened right here. God revealed to you who I am.

How could he say anything? But blessed are you you've been blessed? With a Divine inside from the father. What a blessing and then Jesus said something of so beautiful. He says and I tell you I'm going to name you Peter now petrol, which means Rock Peter effectively becomes Rocky. I tell you you are Peter. your Rocky And on this rock, I will build my church and the Gates of Hell shall not Prevail against it. There's been a lot of confusion historically about what Jesus means when he says that some people think that will that means that well Peter is the first pope and he's the first of toys the Vicar of Christ on the earth and and he has the authority as as this represents that it's about heater. Search that's how it's not about Peter.

Year was blessed by God to see this. It's not about Peter. Jesus says I tell you because of this on this on this Proclamation on this truth that I am the Christ. I will build my church. First of all, let me ask you whose church is it? He's pretty unequivocal in that isn't he now my church. My church will be a mess. Not your church that this is hard right because our language, you know, we we we put ownership on Archer. This is my church. Which church you go to EMC EMC is my church, I go to this church are I go to the sacred thing of the knights. This is not your church. This is not my church. This is not a Baptist Church. It's not a church that belongs to any man this if it's anything of use in the Kingdom, this is Jesus's church, and it belongs to him. Now. It will belong to him tomorrow and it will belong to him forever.

We got to get this right. We got to get this right lest we end up being really busy doing the things of Jesus and Jesus isn't in our MIT. It hits his church on this rock Upon This Rock at the very Gates of Hell at the place in the ancient world where they thought Satan had its most rule. Jesus says on a declaration that I am the king. I will build my church right here at the gates of health and guess what? They will not stand against

Man, that's awesome. That is awesome. Jesus said I am I'm Jesus is picking a fight gear. He picking a fight with the powers of Darkness.

Sometimes we interpret this like, oh, well, if we just we just cuddle and cuddle in our church Satan can do is worse than we'll just use the shield of faith and he can't touch us and that's true. The shield of Faith does extinguish the Flaming darts of the evil one. That's not what Jesus said. Jesus doesn't say, you'll stand strong when when the Gates of Hell come against you the gates of hell, don't move. The point of Jesus is we're going to charge into the gates and it cannot stand against the power of the Christ.

Church, the church is a powerful force. in the world

the Church of the place where the presents and therefore the power of God rest and well and there is no power structure in this world that can compare or stand against the Church of Jesus with this caveat when it's led by Jesus. If we put our hands on the holy thing we will mess it up when we try to control or use Jesus to be the kind of thing the kind of Savior that we want him to be we forfeit and lose the power of the king.

We want to experience the kind of power against which the Gates of Hell cannot stand. It's got to be built on cheese. We got to know who he is. We got to confess and that's not just with our lives. But with our hearts that Jesus is Lord. He's the king who owns not just me and my heart is not he owns the Earth it is his it belongs to him. The Earth just isn't where it yet.

Upon This Rock and then he said something really interesting says I'm going to give you the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven whatever you bind on Earth shall be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on Earth shall be listed ads. What's up, this is not just getting it to Peter. He's giving it to all who come to him as king. I'm going to give you the power and the authority not because of how great you are.

Because of how amazing he is. I'm going to give you the authority to fight with the kingdom of darkness.

You're going to win. Just Wynn.

It's interesting. I didn't put verse. Why do peppers 20in hair good for me?

Let me strictly charge the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. He said that interesting. Isn't that interested in Salvation history? He's not yet gone to the Cross did not yet been resurrected this moment. He's he's there picking a fight. And if you keep reading for the story The the struggle the spiritual battle begins to pick up like crazy. It's from that moment on that the that Satan in his his Empire are doing everything they can to take Jesus out and eventually they do.

But that's the beauty of the gospels at the moment of the greatest defeat when the Christ died on the cross. Our Victory is sealed. Stop this moment. He says yeah, you get it. You get it that I'm the Christ. I got some stuff to do before they kill me. So let's not start announcing it to quick because if you announce it to quick that's going to hurry up the cross. So let's let's just slow your roll. So you're wrong and it's fascinating the death and the burial and resurrection of Jesus Jesus picks this up again. And what does he say? Do we know the Great Commission go and make disciples, but we miss the beginning of it sometimes in the beginning is not It's everything to what Jesus said. Jesus says to them. He comes to them in his resurrected Glory. Jesus comes to them and he says all authority in heaven and on Earth has now been given to me. Has everything to Great Commission without this declaration is a burden that we can never live up to but if this is true, nothing can stand against us right now. It's already in the heavens and on Earth has been given to me and because of that and I'll send you go there for As You Go Make Disciples of everyone everywhere. Go get the nation go get the Jewish Brothers go get the Gentiles go to the North or the south of the east or the West anywhere the people dwell. You were going you get them and you tell them that Jesus is the king.

Disciples of Jesus make followers of the Kingdom's bring them out of the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of the beloved Son. Bring them the King Jesus. That's what that's what the church is supposed to do. The power of the church is not located in his preaching. It's not located in its acts of righteousness or Mercy. The power of the church is located in Jesus who has all authority in heaven on Earth.

Why is it that we run into so many other things? I'll be there at church. This doesn't seem to be growing. Our churches is struggling. You don't we need we need better bulletins. We need a smoke machine. We need we need mailers. We need we need this we need we need a bass player all we got. Now, come on. Come on weenie. I love having a bass player. Right? I really don't like smoke machines is take my voice away. None of those things really matter.

We want to see the church grow. We want to see the church do what God wants the church to do. We need the power of Jesus to show up in our life. Nothing else will do it. Nothing else will do. The Jesus says you're going to make disciples that I want you to teach them to observe all that I commanded have them follow me. Behold I Am With You Always even to the end of the age. I guess the church my we treat the church.

Like it's something common. Like it's something of this world. It is anything but that it's the kingdom of God in this world.

Is God's plan to bring restoration and Reconciliation to the cosmos?

I don't get it. I think he could come up with a better plan.

You can get tired of me saying this but I've met most of you. And I know myself and I'm like really. This is your plan. That's exactly it. Why because in our weakness his strength is magnified in our foolishness wisdom and demonstrated by God choosing to use us as his church as the place where the presents in the power of God manifest in the world. He makes it very clear that it's not about us and it's all about him. So I I don't get it. I don't deserve it. I'm not worthy of it. But I treasure it with everything I got I'm so glad I'm apart of the Church of God. Right. Now here's the reality. Nothing bugs me more than the Church of God.

Nothing gets under my skin more than the Church of God, but that's what it because we're a family I don't get so bothered when some other family does something. I don't like cuz that's better family still in my family gets arrived bothers me. I'm not going to give up on the church. Cuz Jesus is never going to give up on the church. I'm not going to do what so many of our generation of done which is to say, you know, I really like Jesus. I just don't like the church. I'm going to go. I'm going to go have a little quiet time with Jesus with my cup of coffee, but I don't need to be with other believers. You can't love Jesus and hate the thing that he died for.

You can't despise the secret things of God. And the church is precious. The church is a treasure. The church is a bad. If no one saw it coming the Apostle Paul calls it the scandal of the ages. The mystery of Eternity that God is going to dispense himself to men and women from every tribe tongue and nation and make a new humanity and new family in Jesus. No one saw that coming.

we could talk lyrics What a time to be alive. What a glorious privilege it is to be a part of the chair.

All the God would grace us and help us to treat his church is his church remember to treat his church with the respect and honor and reverence that it's due.

We wouldn't be casual. We wouldn't be complacent. Is anybody here willing to tell me that if God decided to go back to a tabernacle or a temple, right and he would put his presents and His glory there there be lightning and fire and clouds and darkness and booming. And are you telling me that you would look at that and go?

Because he decided to put it in Treasures of clay.

We become way too comfortable. The Same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead now dwells in your mortal body God Lives tremble

Call Sis work out your salvation with fear and trembling. It should over what I can't believe it. believer God help me believe help me live it help me see it help me behold it so that I can be transformed from glory to glory into your image. I went this week to Ephesians chapter 4. Visions chapter for the Apostle Paul this some of his most beautiful and poignant writing about the church in this text. Listen to what he says. He says, I love the Lord and I love thee throws that in I'm in prison. It doesn't always go easy. It's messy to follow the lord. There's there's trouble ahead. They they did kill Jesus. Jesus said if you want to follow me, you got to deny yourself pick up your cross and follow which means there's suffering ahead. Their sacrifice ahead. The way of Jesus is the way of defeat that God turns into victory. Author that I'm talking to you as a prisoner of the Lord. I'm I'm I'm talking to you as one who is put it all on the line. And even though I'm sitting in prison, I'm not afraid I'm not ashamed I'm not going to stop no one can stop me. Tell jesus takes me home cuz I I therefore a prisoner of the Lord urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. That's what I want us to get tonight. That's what I want you to walk out of here tonight. I want you to wrestle with the reality that the invitation that Jesus has given you is more than you could ever hope and you never deserved at the invitation of Jesus is not just to believe in him so that you don't have to go to health when you get to go to heaven for the invitation of Jesus is that you can be a new creation right here and now and he will put his Spirit within you and she will use you to do his will. Oh, how do we treat that as mum game?

Live your life in a manner worthy to the calling of which you've been called. I'd rather be called to be a gatekeeper in the house of the Lord than to dwell in the tents of the wicked. I'd rather be called to be the humblest follower of Jesus in the richest most powerful man on the planet.

You've been honored much more than you deserve. You've been privileged more than you could ever hope to earn or imagined to acquire. I'd rather be a follower of Jesus that I can hang.

Your life worthy to the calling to what you been call. God's not done with you yet. I'll tell you know how you've done. He's done with you. When you breathe your last.

He'll take you in the glory. Tell he does that lady. You're still here. He's got something for you. There's a reason. So live like it matter live like your life matters live like you can make a difference not cuz you're so great. But because the presence of God dwells within you.

Live worthy of the calling to which you have been called. What was that look like that. Look we March around and said I got the power of God in Me So,

now now

No.

No, God save us from ourselves.

No. Was that look like he says this with all humility.

Gentleness what course cuz it's not up. It's not me. It's Jesus has all the authority I merely an ambassador. Did Jesus have all these right? I'm just a wreck that's been saved by grace my better than anybody. I resonate with Paul Jesus came to save Sinners of whom I am the worst.

the humility with gentleness with patience It's not how God ass. Don't you love the patience of God?

Hey, here's the thing. We we want got to be patient with us and quick with others.

I love the patience of God. Bearing with one another in love. What's it look like to live a life worthy of the calling man. It means that we acknowledge that Jesus is the king of Jesus is the king. I'm not

not all about me. About him because it's about him and he supplies all my needs. I don't need to use you to get what I want. I don't need to manipulate you or control you or control my environment or my circumstances to get what I want because Jesus is everything the Jesus gives me Freedom now, I'm free to just love you. I'm free to accept you as you are. I don't got to make you be like me. I want you to be like Jesus. But that's up to him. I can't who's going to build the church again. Where do you say Apartments Rock? I will build my church at who's going to build it if he doesn't build it labor building thing.

I don't got Force you I gotta make you I don't got a I don't got to. I love you. Whether he loves me. Change is everything when Jesus is King. The church is not the March out with swords to put your sword away.

Carry a towel to serve. Love we lay down ourselves. Seek out the needs of others with all humility with gentleness with patience bearing with one another in love eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of Peace. Oh, I want to be eager for that. That word either that's important. You know what I spent most of my life being eager for to be right. Love to be right. I love to win to win. I love to be right I love to win and that means in a very sick and twisted way that I love it when you're wrong. And when you lose because in order for there to be a winner in order for me to be right, you got to be wrong. If I live my life trying to be right and trying to win. I am living my life. Hoping that you're wrong in the loser. What a terrible stupid whale live.

Jesus has risen. You bend unified already by the spirit. The this is what you should hunger for to hold onto that Unity with everything. You got don't let yourself get in the way during genda agenda of the Spirit. Hold on to the unity that's been given to you in the spirit. What do you mean Paul? Well, there's one body. one spirit

I talked about this last week one bothered one church is not a white shirt and a black church. There's not a conservative Church in a liberal Church. There's not a church. There is who's church is it again? Jesus church. How many churches does he have got one? He's got one. I'm not saying there's not local Expressions that if we put the local expression of the church before Jesus's church. We got it all wrong.

I'll just listen. There's one body and one Spirit just as you were called to one. Hope that belongs to your call.

You weren't called with one thing and you called with another we're called to the same thing.

one more Wednesday one baptism one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in

How can I despise you if the spirit of God dwells in you?

How can I despise you if God has tabernacled in you the way that he did in Jesus in the temple in the New Jerusalem, how can I despise you if God. That's called you and loved you and saved you and dwell in you and you can annoy me. That's just life. I told the membership class this morning, like if I haven't offended you yet. Keep coming. I talk a lot So eventually it's going to happen. We might annoy each other. We might challenge each other. We might stretch each other in those moments. Remember, there's one Lord One Faith one. Hope one baptism.

If we're going to treat the sacred things of God as sacred, we got to start with each other.

I don't know that you are my disciples by the love you have for one another. by the respect the Sacrifice by the care, but humility by the tenderness by The Patience by the gentleness faithfulness Bible loyalty.

I know by the law.

There's one guy one father was overall in through while I'm in.

and the Church of God

Is it treasure?

You cannot treat it lightly. And what we're not perfect. You find a perfect Church. Don't go there. You'll ruin it.

But he's perfect. He's in me. He's in you and so it's one of our former Elders used to say all the time the Jesus in me loves the Jesus in you.

And if you're good enough for Jesus, you're good enough for me.

May we treat the Church of God. with the respect and dignity that God does and that it deserves a man.