Fulfilling Our Duty To The Church
FULFILLING OUR DUTY TO THE CHURCH
HEBREW 10:25
I. OUR DUTY TO ATTEND THE CHURCH
A. SPIRITUALLY ALIVE PEOPLE WILL GO THE CHURCH AND WILL ADD SOMETHING TO THE SERVICE
B. PSALM 122:1 “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.”
C. HEBREWS 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
D. ROMANS 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
II. OUR DUTY TO EXTEND THE CHURCH
A. WE ARE TO BE THE HAND OF GOD EXTENDED
B. WE CAN EXTEND THE CHURCH BY VISITATION, BY INVITATION, BY FRIENDLINESS, AND BY CARING FOR NEW CONVERTS
C. WE CAN EXTEND THE CHURCH BY CULTIVATING A MISSIONARY VISION BOTH AT HOME AND ABROAD
III. OUR DUTY TO DEFEND THE CHURCH
A. THERE ARE SIX GREAT DANGERS THAT FACE THE CHURCH
1. THE INFILTRATION OF ERROR; II TIMOTHY 4:3, 4 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
2. THE DANGER OF WRONG LEADERSHIP; II JOHN 7-9 “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.”
3. THE SNARE OF WORLDLINESS; I JOHN 2:15, 16 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”
4. THE PERIL OF COMPLACENCY; REVELATION 3:15, 16 “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou were cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.”
5. THE DEMON OF DISAFFECTION; we are admonished to have real love one for another. JOHN 15:12 “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.”
6. THE EVIL OF CLIQUISHNESS; I CORINTHIANS 3:4- 8 “For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.”
IV. OUR DUTY TO RECOMMEND THE CHURCH
A. WE RECOMMEND THE CHURCH BY CONSISTENT CHRISTIAN LIVING.
B. WE RECOMMEND THE CHURCH BY WHAT WE DO: ACTIONS ALWAYS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS.
C. WE RECOMMEND THE CHURCH BY WHAT WE SAY (OUR WORDS MUST ALWAYS BE GRACIOUS, LOVING AND KIND)
The challenge is to serve the Lord with gladness, abounding in the work of the Lord.