Sermon Tone Analysis

*Why Should We Learn About and Love the Church?*

/Preached by Pastor Phil Layton at Gold Country Baptist Church on January 6, 2008/

www.goldcountrybaptist.org

 

New Years is traditionally a time of resolutions.

If you visited an athletic club this week you probably noticed a far greater number of people working out than you saw last month.

Maybe you were one of them who hadn’t exercised in weeks but you have now vowed you’re going to get in shape in 2008.

The workers at the Sports Club next door to our church know that January is a peak month, especially the first few weeks.

The parking lots are more full than usual, the machines are much busier, you have to actually wait for some exercises, etc.

But they also know that this will drop off as new years resolutions wear off.

There is some value in physical discipline, as the Apostle Paul –but I want us to consider a /spiritual /resolve and commitment this morning.

Three centuries ago, Jonathan Edwards was an 18-year old young Christian man who in one sitting wrote down the first 21 of his famous resolutions (eventually 70), which were quite different than the types of resolutions most of this country made this past week.

/Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God's help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ's sake.

Remember to read over these Resolutions once a week./

/1.

Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad's of ages hence.

Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general.

Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great soever./

/2.

Resolved, to be continually endeavoring to find out some new invention and contrivance to promote the aforementioned things./

/3.

Resolved, if ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again./

/4.

Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it./

/5.

Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can./

/6.

Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live./

/7.

Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life./

/8.

Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God./

/9.

Resolved, to think much on all occasions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death./

/10.

Resolved, when I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom, and of hell./

/11.

Resolved, when I think of any theorem in divinity to be solved, immediately to do what I can towards solving it, if circumstances don't hinder./

/12.

Resolved, if I take delight in it as a gratification of pride, or vanity, or on any such account, immediately to throw it by./

/13.

Resolved, to be endeavoring to find out fit objects of charity and liberality./

/14.

Resolved, never to do anything out of revenge./

/15.

Resolved, never to suffer the least motions of anger to irrational beings./

/16.

Resolved, never to speak evil of anyone, so that it shall tend to his dishonor, more or less, upon no account except for some real good./

/17.

Resolved, that I will live so as I shall wish I had done when I come to die./

/18.

Resolved, to live so at all times, as I think is best in my devout frames, and when I have clearest notions of things of the gospel, and another world./

/19.

Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if I expected it would not be above an hour, before I should hear the last trump./

/20.

Resolved, to maintain the strictest temperance in eating and drinking./

/21.

Resolved, never to do anything, which if I should see in another, I should count a just occasion to despise him for, or to think any way the more meanly of him./

/            /

There is an urgency and an earnestness you see in his writings that is not normal for a teenager (#5-7, 19), much less far older Christians.

Edwards had what one book calls “A God-Entranced View of All Things” – his concerns were:

-          God-oriented, God-centered, driven by God’s glory for the best good of man, living wholeheartedly for the Lord

-          He was very much concerned with his fellow man, how others should be treated and even thought of (#13-16, 21)

-          His focus was not just on this life but the afterlife, not worldliness, but other-worldliness (#18b), God’s kingdom

-          #3 reveals his concern that if he were ever to grow dull spiritually in his commitments, he would repent

 

I want to ask you this morning if you have fallen or grown dull in your love for God’s people?

Have you grown apathetic in your commitment to and love for the church?

My concern for many of you this morning and for us as a congregation is that we do not think enough on these things that Edwards wrote about nearly 300 years ago.

There’s a lot of goals or desires you may have for 2008, but I want to plead with you this morning with the time I have for a spiritual resolution and commitment to God and His people, that we would be eager for /learning/ about the church, as well as /longing/ to be more involved in and devoted to the church, and more than that to /love/ Christ and His church as God desires us to, above everything else we have resolved in 2008.

If we have grown dull in our love and spiritual life and commitment to Christ and His kingdom and His church, we need to /repent/ and pursue this by God’s grace.

Timothy Dwight was the grandson of Edwards who was a great theologian in his own right, and put this view of the church to music in what is believed to be the oldest hymn written by an American that is still sung in common use today

 

#134 – I LOVE THY KINGDOM LORD

1.

I love Thy kingdom, Lord, The house of Thine abode,

The church our blessed Redeemer saved With His own precious blood.

2.         I love Thy church, O God.

Her walls before Thee stand,

Dear as the apple of Thine eye, And written on Thy hand.

3.         For her my tears shall fall For her my prayers ascend,

To her my cares and toils be given Till toils and cares shall end.

4.         Beyond my highest joy I prize her heavenly ways,

Her sweet communion, solemn vows, Her hymns of love and praise.

5.         Sure as Thy truth shall last, To Zion shall be given

The brightest glories earth can yield And brighter bliss of Heaven.

Do those words sound strange to you? Christians used to think this way, but I suspect not enough of us today even think in such terms.

My former pastor John MacArthur wrote:

‘A young man contemplating conversion to Roman Catholicism wrote me to explain why he was thinking of leaving Protestantism:

Protestants don’t seem to appreciate the Church.

The Bible describes the Church as an institution Christ founded and loves.

The Church is everything to Catholics; it is nothing to most of my Protestant friends.

… Dietrich Bonhoeffer noted that the word church “to Protestants has the sound of something infinitely commonplace, more or less indifferent and superfluous, that does not make their heart beat faster; something with which a sense of boredom is so often associated.”

Let’s be honest: there is too much truth in those criticisms to dismiss them lightly.

Evangelicals are far too prone to indifference about the church.

Some evangelicals live on the periphery of the church, attending and observing without ever really becoming an integral part of the body.

Many who profess faith in Christ remain totally impassive about the church.’[1]

I want to give you some biblical reasons why we are going to learn about the church in this series in the weeks and months ahead.

But more than merely /learn about/ the church, I want to tell you why you should /love/ the church of Jesus and devote yourself wholly to it for as many more years as God gives you breath.

My prayer is that you would be able to sing from the heart that your prayers ascend for the church, your tears fall for the church, beyond your highest joy you prize the church’s sweet communion, her hymns of love and praise.

As the church is dear in God’s sight as the apple of His eye, the church would be precious in your sight, too, as saved with the precious blood of Jesus Lover of my soul,  graven on His hands, dear to God’s heart and dear to your heart.

That you would sing and really mean it “I love thy church O God!”

 

*/WHY WE SHOULD LOVE THE CHURCH/*

* *

*#1–It’s Built by Christ (who we love)*

To say it another way, it’s the only institution He Promises to Build and Bless

Matthew 16:18 “I will build my church …”

 

This is one resolution that will not wear off, like human New Years resolutions so often do.

This is the resolve and promise of the Sovereign Omnipotent Infinite Almighty King of Kings and Lord of Lords whose immutable and invincible plan will never be thwarted, overpowered, overthrown, or conquered.

“I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH.”

Last week I we looked at the details of this text and context, and we will return to this verse on more than one occasion in our series, but today rather than /expound /all the details of this text, we’ll /expand /on its truths further in relation to other passages on why we should study the church and why you should love the church with a passion our Lord desires.

Why should we be passionate about the church and pour ourselves into the church?

Because first of all, Jesus was passionate about the church and poured Himself into the church, and it is the only thing on earth He promised to build and bless.

You can pour yourself into a lot of things, a job, a career, a business, that may fail or go out of existence or all be in vain.

But the true spiritual church of Jesus will always be marching on, victorious and glorious, because it is built upon a foundation that never changes, a Jesus who is the same yesterday today and forever.

It is built from Him and by Him.

Jesus did not promise to build a parachurch organization, or a school, or extracurricular ministries, or Christian businesses or endeavors – those may have a place, but are not to take the place of the one institution Jesus Christ is commits Himself – the church.

It is the one reality that will be a winner and I want to be part of the winning side.

If you focus on externals or numbers or worldly definitions of success, you can be discouraged, but there is great encouragement when you realize the spiritual true church of Jesus Christ is guaranteed to succeed and grow by Christ Himself - not a single local church but a work much bigger than us is going on in God’s plan and will always be built on Christ, from Christ, and by Christ,  That’s something I want to devote to, something that will be triumphant, nothing can prevail against it, not even the gates of hell, or literally “Hades” (death).

The church will win in the end.

Satan tried to kill the head of the church but the gates of death could not prevail because He rose again – if death cannot prevail against the head, death will not prevail against the body of Christ.

/But first, what is the church?/

*1 Corinthians 1:2 “**To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours*” \\ \\

Note:

-          It is /God’s/ church (Paul never speaks of Peter’s church, or John’s church, or James’ church, or Apollos’ church, or his church – Paul over and over calls it the “church of God” in a particular area)

-          It meets /at/ a place, the place is not the church (at the end of 1 Corinthians Paul says “Priscilla and Aquila greet you … with the church /that is in /their house” (the building is never the church in NT, that’s just a place where the real church meets, and as far as we know, the early church met in houses at least well into the 2nd or 3rd century)

-          It is a /local /church that is predominantly referred to in NT