WEBVTT

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It is a tremendous privilege

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for me and brother Leiter

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to be here with you,

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a tremendous privilege.

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And I have been given sort of

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an insurmountable or difficult task:

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take an hour and preach everything

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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 (incomplete thought).

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Oh, well, be careful with 
that kind of statement.

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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

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an uneasiness or restlessness

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about the way things are,

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about the spiritual 
decline in your country,

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in Europe as well as America,

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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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I mean, they could see God part the water, and then go worship a goat idol.

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They could see fire coming down from heaven, and then make a golden calf.

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They didn’t understand.

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In witnessing to people—and I know many of you have had this same experience—

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you pour your heart out to someone about the grace of God,

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and they don’t comprehend at all.

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Someone says, “Sir, are you going to go to heaven when you die?”

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“Oh, yes, I am going to go to heaven.”

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“Why do you think so?”

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“Well, I am a good man. I am a good man.”

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And so you go through, for the next 20 minutes, every Scripture in the Bible

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that explains he is a wretched beast under the wrath of God.

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He says "Yes" to every one of the verses;

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and then when you say, “Sir, are you going to go to heaven?”

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“Yes.”

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“Why?”

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“I am a good man.”

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Now, that is where you would be. Do you understand that?

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Your darkness would be to that extent and even worse.

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But what's happened?

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This passage. He has taught you.

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“They shall be taught of God.”

00:19:48.760 --> 00:19:56.625
He himself illumined your mind and changed your heart.

00:19:56.631 --> 00:20:00.521
So many people walking around, especially these TV evangelists.

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

00:20:03.866 --> 00:20:08.096
to an island where there is no people.

00:20:08.102 --> 00:20:11.039
But they are saying, “The supernatural nature of Christianity

00:20:11.045 --> 00:20:13.675
and the supernatural this and the supernatural that.”

00:20:13.681 --> 00:20:16.770
Supernatural?

00:20:16.776 --> 00:20:20.426
There is more of the supernatural power of God

00:20:20.432 --> 00:20:24.122
manifested in the regeneration of a single heart

00:20:24.128 --> 00:20:27.099
than in the creation of the universe itself.

00:20:27.105 --> 00:20:35.073
Supernatural; we are not marveling at what is truly supernatural.

00:20:35.079 --> 00:20:37.991
You say, “Well, brother Paul, do you believe God can heal people?”

00:20:37.997 --> 00:20:42.772
I have seen God heal people in the mountains where there were no doctors,

00:20:42.778 --> 00:20:46.922
not frequently, but according to his will, his plan, his purpose.

00:20:46.928 --> 00:20:52.108
But I want to tell you something, I did not get excited in comparison

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.

00:21:00.071 --> 00:21:01.700
Do you see that?

00:21:01.706 --> 00:21:04.258
There is the supernatural nature of Christianity,

00:21:04.264 --> 00:21:10.286
but focus on what is truly supernatural and important.

00:21:10.292 --> 00:21:16.541
Now, he goes on and he says this,

00:21:16.547 --> 00:21:20.775
“For they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.”

00:21:20.781 --> 00:21:25.481
Now will they all know him to the extent that Jonathan Edwards

00:21:25.487 --> 00:21:28.356
or a Calvin or a Luther or somebody like that?

00:21:28.362 --> 00:21:32.042
No, I am not even in their league.

00:21:32.048 --> 00:21:34.942
So what does this mean?

00:21:34.947 --> 00:21:36.714
Well, let’s go on.

00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:40.169
It says, “For they will all know Me,

00:21:40.175 --> 00:21:43.561
from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the LORD.

00:21:43.567 --> 00:21:50.489
For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

00:21:50.495 --> 00:21:54.113
They will enter into a relationship with him,

00:21:54.119 --> 00:21:56.909
knowing that he is the one true God,

00:21:56.915 --> 00:22:04.140
and they will have a keen awareness that by his hand he has cleansed them,

00:22:04.146 --> 00:22:09.105
freed them from their sin.

00:22:09.111 --> 00:22:13.516
There will not be the smack of self-righteousness there.

00:22:13.522 --> 00:22:17.285
They will not say, "God and I have worked this out."

00:22:17.291 --> 00:22:23.257
They will have a keen awareness that God has taken care of their iniquity,

00:22:23.263 --> 00:22:26.472
and he did it all by himself.

00:22:26.478 --> 00:22:30.913
Now, another thing. Let’s go on.

00:22:30.919 --> 00:22:36.341
Just jump over really quick to verse 38 of chapter 32.

00:22:36.347 --> 00:22:39.296
Again, “They shall be My people, and I will be their God.”

00:22:39.302 --> 00:22:50.861
And look what he says, “I will give them one heart and one way.”

00:22:53.135 --> 00:22:59.701
Have you ever seen these marches for Jesus, the unity marches that they have,

00:22:59.707 --> 00:23:02.978
in which all these different denominations come together,

00:23:02.984 --> 00:23:07.443
and they are trying to prove to the world that there is unity between them

00:23:07.449 --> 00:23:10.891
when, in fact, there is very little unity at all between them.

00:23:10.897 --> 00:23:14.146
And they are all marching together and singing "Kumbaya,"

00:23:14.152 --> 00:23:16.755
and we are proving to the world that we are one.

00:23:16.761 --> 00:23:20.701
That is not what Jesus meant, ok?

00:23:20.707 --> 00:23:25.781
That is not what Jesus meant.

00:23:28.845 --> 00:23:33.720
You bring two Christians together, two Christians,

00:23:33.726 --> 00:23:38.928
and although they may differ in some things,

00:23:38.934 --> 00:23:46.673
but you bring two Christians together and, my friend, you will find unity.

00:23:46.679 --> 00:23:50.925
You will find Spirit bearing witness with spirit.

00:23:50.931 --> 00:23:52.205
You will find joy.

00:23:52.211 --> 00:24:00.114
It is amazing; I can sit down, for example, in an airplane in Zambia,

00:24:00.120 --> 00:24:04.974
and sit down beside a person I have never met in my life,

00:24:04.980 --> 00:24:09.886
and after a while pull out my Bible to kind of, you know,

00:24:09.892 --> 00:24:14.433
hoping this guy say something to me like, “What’s that?”

00:24:14.439 --> 00:24:16.427
Sometimes I pull out my Greek New Testament

00:24:16.433 --> 00:24:18.384
so they will look at it and go, “What is that?”

00:24:18.390 --> 00:24:22.111
I can’t read it very well, but it really makes a great witnessing tool.

00:24:22.117 --> 00:24:24.845
No matter where I am in the Greek New Testament,

00:24:24.851 --> 00:24:29.245
I read John 3:16 when they ask me to read something to them.

00:24:29.251 --> 00:24:35.142
But I can sit down with someone I have never met,

00:24:35.148 --> 00:24:41.458
and we start talking and discover that we are both believers in Jesus Christ,

00:24:41.464 --> 00:24:46.190
and I mean it is a party for the rest of the flight.

00:24:46.196 --> 00:24:50.068
We are one.

00:24:50.074 --> 00:24:53.381
People say, "There is so much disunity in the Church."

00:24:53.386 --> 00:24:55.522
No, there is not.

00:24:55.528 --> 00:24:58.681
There is a lot of disunity with a bunch of carnal people

00:24:58.687 --> 00:25:00.716
who are goats trying to act like sheep.

00:25:00.722 --> 00:25:02.763
That is the problem.

00:25:02.769 --> 00:25:06.849
But when you bring believers together, there will be unity.

00:25:06.855 --> 00:25:09.266
Does it mean that there will never be disunity?

00:25:09.272 --> 00:25:11.845
No, it doesn’t mean, because there is sin in all of us.

00:25:11.851 --> 00:25:13.637
It doesn't mean there will never be disunity.

00:25:13.643 --> 00:25:16.566
It doesn't mean there will never be disagreements.

00:25:16.572 --> 00:25:19.815
But it means when you look at the full course of the relationship,

00:25:19.821 --> 00:25:27.994
there is a fraternal love, a unity there.

00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:31.836
I remember one of the illustrations that I just love to use on this,

00:25:31.842 --> 00:25:34.297
I was traveling through the mountains years and years ago

00:25:34.303 --> 00:25:37.642
in a red zone that the Communists, the Maoists controlled.

00:25:37.648 --> 00:25:39.799
And we were lost and everything.

00:25:39.805 --> 00:25:44.338
It was pitch dark and we were scared, another missionary and myself.

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,

00:25:48.764 --> 00:25:51.893
my brother that was with me was a Peruvian.

00:25:51.899 --> 00:25:54.684
And he went in and he came back out.

00:25:54.690 --> 00:25:56.266
He says, “I don’t see any military.”

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,

00:26:00.775 --> 00:26:08.689
and we came up to this drunk and we said, [?], “Are there brothers here?”

00:26:08.695 --> 00:26:15.591
And he said, [?], “The old woman over there. She is one of you.”

00:26:15.597 --> 00:26:19.986
And so I went over there, and I knocked on the door.

00:26:19.992 --> 00:26:23.019
And after a few minutes, the door kind of creaks open.

00:26:23.025 --> 00:26:29.665
It is a little mud, adobe hut carved into the back of a cliff.

00:26:29.671 --> 00:26:31.715
And this little woman, she is about this big,

00:26:31.721 --> 00:26:34.693
she opened the door with her lantern and looked.

00:26:34.699 --> 00:26:40.512
And I said [?], “We are brothers.”

00:26:40.518 --> 00:26:42.436
She knew what that meant in Spanish.

00:26:42.442 --> 00:26:46.512
We are evangelicals, we are Christian, and we need help.

00:26:46.518 --> 00:26:50.210
And she went... I will never forget that face.

00:26:50.216 --> 00:26:53.375
And she just grabbed us and pulled us in,

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,

00:26:58.398 --> 00:26:59.450
put us down there.

00:26:59.456 --> 00:27:01.875
A little boy came. She gave him some instructions.

00:27:01.881 --> 00:27:03.844
All of the sudden he took off.

00:27:03.850 --> 00:27:05.234
He comes back, running.

00:27:05.240 --> 00:27:08.605
And then this man shows up. He has got two chickens;

00:27:08.611 --> 00:27:12.114
and another little poor farmer comes up with some yucca plant

00:27:12.120 --> 00:27:13.787
and they start preparing.

00:27:13.793 --> 00:27:15.714
And we stayed there all night.

00:27:15.720 --> 00:27:23.557
All right, now they were won to the Lord by a group of Nazarene missionaries.

00:27:23.562 --> 00:27:30.004
The Nazarenes and I could sit down and debate some issues.

00:27:30.010 --> 00:27:32.931
We would.

00:27:35.712 --> 00:27:43.848
But these were people who knew Christ and knew their sins had been forgiven,

00:27:43.854 --> 00:27:52.214
and because I was a preacher in Jesus’ name, willing to risk their life.

00:27:52.220 --> 00:27:56.779
There is unity.

00:27:57.537 --> 00:28:04.384
Now, theology is extremely important. It is extremely important.

00:28:04.390 --> 00:28:11.839
But I'll tell you this: I will not separate and break fellowship

00:28:11.845 --> 00:28:15.837
with someone who disagrees with me on some things.

00:28:15.843 --> 00:28:21.191
Now I will separate with people who depart from historical Christianity,

00:28:21.197 --> 00:28:24.072
who preach another Christ and so on and so forth.

00:28:24.078 --> 00:28:28.018
But, you see, there is a unity there.

00:28:28.024 --> 00:28:34.624
They knew Christ. They rejoiced in him.

00:28:34.630 --> 00:28:37.604
That is what happens when you have a church

00:28:37.610 --> 00:28:44.383
and it's a church of people who have been converted;

00:28:44.389 --> 00:28:51.613
who have been regenerated by the Spirit of God.

00:28:53.136 --> 00:28:55.945
Will there be immaturity? Yes.

00:28:55.951 --> 00:29:03.257
Will there be problems? Live with me for a while, you will get your answer.

00:29:03.996 --> 00:29:10.348
But will people be able to see there is something different about this group of people

00:29:10.354 --> 00:29:12.637
and that something is their love?

00:29:12.643 --> 00:29:17.876
Jesus says, “They will know, the world will know you are my disciples

00:29:17.882 --> 00:29:21.192
by the love you have for one another.”

00:29:21.198 --> 00:29:29.279
Now, he says, “I will give them one heart and one way.”

00:29:29.285 --> 00:29:33.791
And then, “that they may fear Me.”

00:29:33.797 --> 00:29:37.893
Here is something about us as Christians.

00:29:37.899 --> 00:29:44.296
We can make a mess, but there is something that God has done to us.

00:29:44.302 --> 00:29:49.223
He has put his fear in our hearts.

00:29:49.229 --> 00:29:56.896
In a marriage relationship, my own, sometimes I will act like a jerk.

00:29:56.902 --> 00:29:59.472
Do you know what that word is?

00:29:59.478 --> 00:30:09.772
And not want to acknowledge it, not want to say to my wife, “I am sorry.”

00:30:09.778 --> 00:30:13.970
And I will walk out there and I will go into my office,

00:30:13.976 --> 00:30:16.989
I got a book to write, I got a sermon to prepare.

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

00:30:22.790 --> 00:30:26.269
till you get this matter straight."

00:30:26.275 --> 00:30:30.111
But do you know what? There is a fear in me.

00:30:30.117 --> 00:30:32.191
There is a fear.

00:30:32.197 --> 00:30:38.298
There is an uneasiness, an unsettledness in my heart, a tremor.

00:30:38.304 --> 00:30:44.591
And I know I have got to go back and I have got to apologize

00:30:44.597 --> 00:30:49.318
and I have got to make this matter right.

00:30:49.324 --> 00:30:55.103
You see, you have a group of people who have been given new hearts,

00:30:55.109 --> 00:30:57.993
and in that new heart, the law of God has been written.

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

00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:08.888
so that even when we have conflicts, disagreements and problems,

00:31:08.894 --> 00:31:13.175
it is the fear of the Lord that causes us once again to humble ourselves

00:31:13.181 --> 00:31:20.173
and to acknowledge our wrong and to work for restoration.

00:31:20.179 --> 00:31:22.286
That is the Church.

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.

00:31:27.581 --> 00:31:34.774
I want us to go to Matthew chapter 28.

00:31:34.780 --> 00:31:37.395
You know the great commission in verse 18,

00:31:37.401 --> 00:31:39.659
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying,

00:31:39.665 --> 00:31:43.784
‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.’”

00:31:43.790 --> 00:31:45.589
Oh this passage!

00:31:45.595 --> 00:31:51.939
Last month, I spent like three weeks on "All authority has been given unto Me.”

00:31:51.945 --> 00:31:58.037
Oh, man, it just laid me on the floor.

00:31:59.247 --> 00:32:02.605
We have very little idea what that means.

00:32:02.611 --> 00:32:09.479
But I would encourage you to read Daniel chapter 7 and Psalms chapter 2.

00:32:09.485 --> 00:32:12.776
Such authority has been given to him.

00:32:12.782 --> 00:32:17.489
He has so much authority that all the kings,

00:32:17.495 --> 00:32:22.045
all their actions and decrees are inconsequential.

00:32:22.051 --> 00:32:23.197
They don't even matter.

00:32:23.203 --> 00:32:26.673
It is as though they didn't even exist.

00:32:26.679 --> 00:32:34.025
When his kingdom showed up 2,000 years ago, everything else came to an end.

00:32:34.031 --> 00:32:37.133
Oh, he's allowing the kings and the nations to still play,

00:32:37.139 --> 00:32:40.509
as though they had life and power.

00:32:40.515 --> 00:32:44.964
But they have none. He rules over all.

00:32:44.970 --> 00:32:46.976
Now, but it says this,

00:32:46.982 --> 00:32:54.695
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations."

00:32:54.701 --> 00:33:01.800
I am so glad that he did not put here, “Go therefore and preach the gospel.”

00:33:01.806 --> 00:33:04.034
You say, “Well, why, brother Paul?

00:33:04.040 --> 00:33:11.346
I mean, on YouTube that is all you talk about, you only have one sermon."

00:33:12.498 --> 00:33:23.534
Because it is so easy...now Adolphe Monod the famous French Reformed pastor

00:33:23.540 --> 00:33:26.508
he said, “Oh, the cross of preaching the cross,”

00:33:26.514 --> 00:33:29.963
meaning that preaching the cross was such a burden because of its grandeur,

00:33:29.969 --> 00:33:34.410
because a preacher could never preach the cross as it ought to be preached.

00:33:34.416 --> 00:33:40.754
But there is another sense in which the preaching of the gospel

00:33:40.760 --> 00:33:44.893
is a lot easier than making disciples.

00:33:45.699 --> 00:33:49.744
You see, someone hears a preacher like me on YouTube

00:33:49.750 --> 00:33:53.137
or you see me preach right now.

00:33:53.143 --> 00:33:56.693
But you don't know me.

00:33:57.888 --> 00:34:01.902
Or I know how to make sentences connect together.

00:34:01.908 --> 00:34:05.042
But do you really know me?

00:34:05.048 --> 00:34:09.063
Do you really know if I am a godly man?

00:34:09.070 --> 00:34:13.987
You see in preaching the gospel, I can preach, go.

00:34:13.994 --> 00:34:18.897
I can stand in front of people and, boy, look like something very, very spiritual

00:34:18.902 --> 00:34:23.168
and then go and you never see my life. Do you see that?

00:34:23.175 --> 00:34:25.216
That is so easy.

00:34:25.222 --> 00:34:28.514
But he says, “Go and make disciples.” And what does that mean?

00:34:28.521 --> 00:34:33.429
To make disciples, that means you are going, at least for a while,

00:34:33.435 --> 00:34:37.353
to imitate me as I imitate Christ, to follow me as I follow Christ.

00:34:37.359 --> 00:34:40.318
I am going to teach you, not only with my words,

00:34:40.324 --> 00:34:45.826
but I am going to teach you as you watch me live 24 hours a day.

00:34:45.831 --> 00:34:49.228
That is tough.

00:34:50.940 --> 00:34:57.328
That is part of the work of the church.

00:34:58.047 --> 00:35:02.668
This has...you know, when I first was a missionary in Peru,

00:35:02.674 --> 00:35:05.758
I just discipled, discipled and discipled.

00:35:05.764 --> 00:35:13.219
And it was tough because people watched your life.

00:35:13.225 --> 00:35:19.015
But I will tell you something that has been even more difficult:

00:35:19.021 --> 00:35:24.159
My three children. To disciple them.

00:35:24.165 --> 00:35:27.669
Because, you know, they are just... they can, you know,

00:35:27.675 --> 00:35:31.825
“Dad, you said this. Why did you do this?”

00:35:31.831 --> 00:35:35.117
You see, it is so humbling, but it is so good.

00:35:35.123 --> 00:35:44.026
I would rather be crushed so that the hypocrisy would be torn out of me

00:35:44.032 --> 00:35:48.900
than to put on a mask and make everybody think I am something I am not.

00:35:48.906 --> 00:35:52.827
See, make disciples, it means that you live with people.

00:35:52.833 --> 00:35:57.643
You touch people. You get involved in their life.

00:35:57.649 --> 00:36:02.620
I was evangelizing one day and boy did I have a rude awakening.

00:36:02.626 --> 00:36:05.088
I was out there, man. I was handing out tracts.

00:36:05.094 --> 00:36:09.227
And I was preaching and people were throwing the tracts at me,

00:36:09.233 --> 00:36:12.795
and I saw this guy kind of look kind of a punk rocker guy,

00:36:12.801 --> 00:36:14.694
and he took off kind of one direction.

00:36:14.700 --> 00:36:17.489
I walked up there and put a tract on him.

00:36:17.495 --> 00:36:20.854
I said, "Here, this is a tract of the gospel about Jesus."

00:36:20.860 --> 00:36:26.222
He turned around and he goes, “You don’t care about me.”

00:36:26.228 --> 00:36:30.730
And he, I mean, stopped me in my tracks.

00:36:30.736 --> 00:36:36.208
He goes, "Do you care enough about me to be my friend,

00:36:36.214 --> 00:36:39.009
to come to my house,

00:36:39.015 --> 00:36:42.941
to get to know me and my problems and my messed up life,

00:36:42.947 --> 00:36:48.754
or are you just out here winning brownie points for God?”

00:36:49.536 --> 00:36:51.489
Caring about people.

00:36:51.495 --> 00:36:54.448
That is why even be very, very careful in your evangelism.

00:36:54.454 --> 00:37:00.030
People can recognize just superficial, I want to just put another notch on my belt.

00:37:00.036 --> 00:37:03.474
Look at me, "I am a preacher that everybody persecutes.”

00:37:03.480 --> 00:37:05.977
It is not about you.

00:37:05.983 --> 00:37:09.773
To disciple people, you have got to enter into relationships with people.

00:37:09.779 --> 00:37:11.263
And to have a church,

00:37:11.269 --> 00:37:17.373
you are committing yourself to enter into a profound relationship with people.

00:37:17.379 --> 00:37:19.681
That is why one of our missionaries said,

00:37:19.687 --> 00:37:22.319
“Brother Paul, we need to start a church in this area.”

00:37:22.325 --> 00:37:24.801
I said, “Well, why do you feel like we need to start a church?”

00:37:24.807 --> 00:37:27.360
“We need to start a church here because if we start this church here,

00:37:27.366 --> 00:37:29.129
then we can start this church over here,

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.”

00:37:34.562 --> 00:37:40.946
And I said, “Stop. You don’t plant churches so that you can plant another church.

00:37:40.952 --> 00:37:45.482
You plant a church because you care about the people.

00:37:45.488 --> 00:37:48.155
And if you have any other idea about it,

00:37:48.161 --> 00:37:53.953
you end up using people to fulfill your vision.”

00:37:53.959 --> 00:38:04.797
You see, church is for these people.

00:38:06.088 --> 00:38:14.844
And I want you to think about some of the greatest writers among the reformers,

00:38:14.850 --> 00:38:18.605
the Puritans, the early Baptists.

00:38:18.611 --> 00:38:20.898
I want you to realize something.

00:38:20.904 --> 00:38:23.798
They never got on an airplane.

00:38:23.804 --> 00:38:27.553
They never traveled, some of them, outside of their country.

00:38:27.559 --> 00:38:31.681
Some of them even outside of their town.

00:38:31.687 --> 00:38:38.221
But as they pastored, and their sermons, their writings,

00:38:38.227 --> 00:38:48.224
their life of pouring themselves into a flock has been used to change the world.

00:38:48.230 --> 00:38:57.511
Adolphe Monod, the guy was so smart, his head must have been this big.

00:38:57.517 --> 00:39:00.366
He could do anything at the university.

00:39:00.372 --> 00:39:02.791
He could do critical studies in Hebrew.

00:39:02.797 --> 00:39:05.621
Then they'd get him over here, critical studies in the New Testament.

00:39:05.627 --> 00:39:07.713
Then over here, history of the world.

00:39:07.719 --> 00:39:09.914
I mean, the guy could do everything.

00:39:09.920 --> 00:39:12.411
And they wanted him in the university so bad,

00:39:12.417 --> 00:39:16.022
and he said, “No, I want to go pastor this little flock.”

00:39:16.028 --> 00:39:22.460
And the book that he wrote [?] The Farewell,

00:39:22.466 --> 00:39:27.317
are 19 sermons that he preached on his death bed to his flock.

00:39:27.323 --> 00:39:30.348
And the last few sermons he laid on his back like this,

00:39:30.354 --> 00:39:31.834
and could only look up at the ceiling

00:39:31.840 --> 00:39:34.486
because he couldn’t even turn his head to look at the flock anymore.

00:39:34.492 --> 00:39:38.605
That book is priceless.

00:39:38.611 --> 00:39:44.242
Sometimes we want to do so much that we don’t do anything.

00:39:44.248 --> 00:39:48.333
And sometimes we do so much and you can discern in there,

00:39:48.339 --> 00:39:52.654
man, you are all about creating a name for yourself.

00:39:52.660 --> 00:39:57.909
You're all about some great thing you're going to do.

00:39:59.534 --> 00:40:04.516
I was preaching last year in a place and people were coming from everywhere,

00:40:04.522 --> 00:40:07.407
but it really wasn’t of the Lord.

00:40:07.413 --> 00:40:10.842
It was celebritism and it stunk.

00:40:10.848 --> 00:40:14.337
And I walked over in the corner and the pastor came up to me

00:40:14.343 --> 00:40:21.185
and he said, “Paul, maybe you just ought to go somewhere and die,

00:40:21.191 --> 00:40:23.774
so that no one will hear your name again.”

00:40:23.780 --> 00:40:27.635
And what he meant is, maybe you need to walk away from this entire circus

00:40:27.641 --> 00:40:31.630
and go pastor a little flock of people and just die there,

00:40:31.636 --> 00:40:33.215
and walk away from this mess.

00:40:33.221 --> 00:40:36.256
You see, here is what I want you to see.

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,

00:40:44.645 --> 00:40:48.414
but I am getting older.

00:40:48.420 --> 00:40:52.432
I am not as old as him but I am getting older.

00:40:52.438 --> 00:40:55.190
I'm over the hill, and I figured out when you get over the hill,

00:40:55.196 --> 00:40:57.514
you start going down a lot faster.

00:40:57.520 --> 00:41:03.296
I'm getting older and I don't want to waste my life.

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

00:41:08.940 --> 00:41:16.633
and everything we have about winning the world is nothing but flesh sometimes,

00:41:16.639 --> 00:41:23.906
because we want to touch everybody, but we don’t touch anybody.

00:41:25.890 --> 00:41:28.138
And so he says, “Make disciples.”

00:41:28.144 --> 00:41:29.867
And then he says this. Look at this.

00:41:29.873 --> 00:41:33.846
He says, "Make disciples of all the nations,

00:41:33.852 --> 00:41:37.777
baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

00:41:37.783 --> 00:41:42.709
teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.”

00:41:42.715 --> 00:41:44.467
Now think about this.

00:41:44.473 --> 00:41:48.253
He doesn't just say, "Teach them."

00:41:48.259 --> 00:41:54.789
He says, “Teach them to obey what I have commanded you.”

00:41:54.795 --> 00:41:59.648
You can’t teach them to obey what God has commanded you

00:41:59.654 --> 00:42:03.507
unless you are obeying what God has commanded you.

00:42:03.513 --> 00:42:10.683
And so the Church gives us an opportunity to live, to flesh this out,

00:42:10.689 --> 00:42:26.660
to live in obedience before other people and to be an influence with our lives.

00:42:27.598 --> 00:42:40.476
And so the Church is a community of people who have professed faith in Jesus Christ

00:42:40.482 --> 00:42:48.469
and confessed his Lordship and have come together to worship him,

00:42:48.475 --> 00:42:56.937
but have also come together that they might mutually encourage one another

00:42:56.943 --> 00:43:02.293
towards the goal of conformity to the image of Jesus Christ.

00:43:02.299 --> 00:43:05.234
Now it is amazing. I was in Peru several years ago,

00:43:05.240 --> 00:43:10.663
and a young American Marine, it was just a freak accident.

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.

00:43:15.431 --> 00:43:19.873
And he laid there in the hospital basically brain dead for three or four days

00:43:19.879 --> 00:43:21.746
before they pulled the plug.

00:43:21.752 --> 00:43:26.296
And I didn’t know this, but I show up to try to witness to him

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.

00:43:33.413 --> 00:43:36.465
I asked somebody, “What is this?”

00:43:36.471 --> 00:43:40.915
And the Marine says, “No Marine dies alone.”

00:43:40.921 --> 00:43:41.760
Wow.

00:43:41.766 --> 00:43:44.681
Well, I started talking to somebody and I found out

00:43:44.687 --> 00:43:48.800
if a bunch of Marines are running,

00:43:48.806 --> 00:43:52.939
the first Marine arrives when the last Marine arrives.

00:43:52.945 --> 00:43:55.947
They arrive together.

00:43:55.953 --> 00:43:59.942
So if you are running first, and this guy is last,

00:43:59.948 --> 00:44:05.297
don’t think about crossing that line until you get him and bring him with you.

00:44:05.303 --> 00:44:09.895
Well, you talk about an example of the Christian life.

00:44:09.901 --> 00:44:11.883
"I am growing."

00:44:11.889 --> 00:44:20.014
Yeah, what about your brother? What about your sister in Christ?

00:44:20.020 --> 00:44:26.943
You see, without a church we can’t do any of this.

00:44:27.684 --> 00:44:29.516
You want to have a biblical church?

00:44:29.522 --> 00:44:31.422
Why do you want to have a biblical church

00:44:31.428 --> 00:44:34.311
so that you can say you have a biblical church?

00:44:34.317 --> 00:44:37.384
Do you want to have a biblical church so that, you know, I mean...

00:44:37.390 --> 00:44:41.362
so that you can start a bunch of biblical churches?

00:44:41.368 --> 00:44:45.371
Or do you just want to honor God and love people,

00:44:45.377 --> 00:44:50.092
whether anything happens or not?

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.

00:45:05.965 --> 00:45:11.636
I want to talk about leadership for a moment, chapter four.

00:45:11.642 --> 00:45:14.212
Speaking of Christ in verse 11,

00:45:14.218 --> 00:45:16.775
"And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets,

00:45:16.781 --> 00:45:20.280
and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,

00:45:20.286 --> 00:45:24.268
for the equipping of the saints for the work of service,

00:45:24.274 --> 00:45:26.451
to the building up of the body of Christ."

00:45:26.457 --> 00:45:35.239
Now, this is both a beautiful text and a very dangerous text.

00:45:35.245 --> 00:45:37.998
What do I mean?

00:45:38.560 --> 00:45:45.203
He has given gifted men to the Church to do what? To equip the saints.

00:45:45.209 --> 00:45:48.293
But most of the time when this is preached,

00:45:48.299 --> 00:45:51.942
it is preached in a militant sort of way.

00:45:51.948 --> 00:45:53.108
What do I mean?

00:45:53.114 --> 00:45:57.923
It is preached to the..."Look, in our church, man, we have got to get going,

00:45:57.929 --> 00:45:59.506
we have got to get doing stuff.

00:45:59.512 --> 00:46:02.619
Look, I train you so that you can go out and do the ministry,

00:46:02.625 --> 00:46:06.756
and that ministry is winning people and making this church grow."

00:46:06.762 --> 00:46:08.714
And what am I doing?

00:46:08.720 --> 00:46:13.699
I am turning this thing back again into a factory,

00:46:13.705 --> 00:46:17.960
into a place where the saints come to labor.

00:46:17.966 --> 00:46:20.716
Do you see that?

00:46:21.482 --> 00:46:29.622
You are a worker in the beehive, in the anthill.

00:46:29.628 --> 00:46:33.564
"We have got to go. We have got to grow. We have got to build.

00:46:33.570 --> 00:46:39.913
We have got to do. I train you, you go."

00:46:39.919 --> 00:46:42.346
People have asked me several times today,

00:46:42.352 --> 00:46:45.601
how is it that some churches start out wanting to be biblical

00:46:45.607 --> 00:46:49.640
and then eventually they just kind of go the way of all other churches?

00:46:49.646 --> 00:46:52.170
These are the reasons.

00:46:52.176 --> 00:47:01.314
They turn church life into almost some kind of a factory, a work house.

00:47:01.320 --> 00:47:03.485
Now are we to do works of service?

00:47:03.491 --> 00:47:06.105
We absolutely are to do works of service.

00:47:06.111 --> 00:47:10.053
But I want you to look at this in a little bit different way.

00:47:10.059 --> 00:47:13.779
He has given us gifted men for the equipping of the saints.

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

00:47:18.627 --> 00:47:22.500
and bring in more people.

00:47:22.506 --> 00:47:34.253
The equipping ot the saints means to prepare them, to grow them to maturity,

00:47:34.259 --> 00:47:40.786
to help them be able to enter in strongly into a personal devotional life,

00:47:40.792 --> 00:47:43.558
into a personal walk with Christ.

00:47:43.564 --> 00:47:47.371
It's not just about training them to go out to do something.

00:47:47.377 --> 00:47:52.199
It's training them so that they can be something.

00:47:52.205 --> 00:47:54.762
To be like Christ.

00:47:54.768 --> 00:47:59.420
And also this equipping is for the building up of the body of Christ.

00:47:59.426 --> 00:48:03.665
Now, of course, that includes evangelism.

00:48:03.671 --> 00:48:10.698
But I need to equip you, not to just go out and win somebody

00:48:10.704 --> 00:48:14.727
and bring them in and they remain just as immature as the rest of us.

00:48:14.733 --> 00:48:20.811
I need to equip you to be able to minister to him.

00:48:20.817 --> 00:48:25.611
To minister to the body also, to help us grow into maturity.

00:48:25.617 --> 00:48:33.493
I need to equip husbands to do what? To minister to their wives.

00:48:33.499 --> 00:48:38.695
I need to equip fathers to do what? To minister to their children.

00:48:38.701 --> 00:48:44.401
I need to equip women to minister to their husbands and their children.

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?

00:48:50.352 --> 00:48:54.011
Get them all equipped so they can go out there and do a bunch of work.

00:48:54.017 --> 00:48:57.209
Get them equipped so that they can be like Christ,

00:48:57.215 --> 00:49:01.026
minister to one another, and witness to the world,

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,

00:49:10.757 --> 00:49:17.471
or an anthill where everyone goes out, gathers and comes back in.

00:49:18.579 --> 00:49:20.721
You see, again, look at what we are talking about,

00:49:20.727 --> 00:49:26.426
relationships, loving one another, caring about one another,

00:49:26.432 --> 00:49:29.642
not so concerned about coming across the line first,

00:49:29.648 --> 00:49:36.295
but coming across the line with our other brothers and sisters in Christ as a church.

00:49:36.301 --> 00:49:42.289
Now, he goes on and he says,

00:49:42.295 --> 00:49:44.843
“For the equipping of the saints for the work of service,

00:49:44.849 --> 00:49:46.772
to the building up of the body of Christ.”

00:49:46.778 --> 00:49:48.956
Now look, you can see.

00:49:48.962 --> 00:49:51.530
"Until we all attain to the unity of the faith,

00:49:51.536 --> 00:49:54.825
and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man,

00:49:54.831 --> 00:50:03.124
to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”

00:50:03.130 --> 00:50:12.886
To be a part of a church is to make a commitment to be biblically,

00:50:12.892 --> 00:50:20.462
practically concerned for the other people in that body,

00:50:20.468 --> 00:50:26.899
that they might become everything that God desires for them to be.

00:50:26.905 --> 00:50:28.881
Now, let’s go on.

00:50:28.887 --> 00:50:36.492
I want us to go now to 2 Timothy chapter three.

00:50:36.498 --> 00:50:42.492
The Church, its doctrine, its practices

00:50:42.498 --> 00:50:47.608
must be founded upon the Word of God.

00:50:47.614 --> 00:50:53.862
Now, he says here, “That from childhood you have known the sacred writings

00:50:53.868 --> 00:50:57.485
which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation

00:50:57.491 --> 00:51:01.940
through faith which is in Christ Jesus.“

00:51:01.946 --> 00:51:04.131
How does a person come to know the Lord?

00:51:04.137 --> 00:51:08.317
Through the sacred writings, through Scripture.

00:51:08.323 --> 00:51:17.023
Let me share with you. We will maybe talk about this tomorrow about evangelism,

00:51:18.095 --> 00:51:23.245
but I have seen recently people come to know the Lord,

00:51:23.251 --> 00:51:32.592
not as a result of a one time encounter or witnessing through a tract.

00:51:32.598 --> 00:51:41.310
I have seen people come to the Lord after eight months of Bible study,

00:51:41.316 --> 00:51:43.686
after eight months of the study in Scripture.

00:51:43.692 --> 00:51:49.237
My brother-in-law, John Green, from England is a great evangelist.

00:51:49.243 --> 00:51:53.618
He doesn’t preach. He shouldn’t preach.

00:51:53.624 --> 00:51:58.460
But as far as one on one dealing with people...

00:51:58.466 --> 00:52:01.174
And he just recently brought a guy to my office

00:52:01.180 --> 00:52:05.480
that he had been dealing with for about eight months,

00:52:05.486 --> 00:52:07.672
Bible study after Bible study,

00:52:07.678 --> 00:52:11.609
going through the Scripture, going through the Scripture.

00:52:11.615 --> 00:52:17.065
Listen to me: Preach on the streets? Yes.

00:52:17.071 --> 00:52:20.327
Witness to people, tracts? Yes.

00:52:20.333 --> 00:52:24.797
Have you ever thought about entering into a relationship with some of these people?

00:52:24.803 --> 00:52:30.357
Inviting to meet them at a coffee shop once a week, twice a week,

00:52:30.363 --> 00:52:33.355
going through Scripture, studying Scripture.

00:52:33.361 --> 00:52:38.260
Not just hit and miss, like a sniper with a rifle,

00:52:38.266 --> 00:52:40.616
giving them one shot to come to know the Lord,

00:52:40.622 --> 00:52:48.760
but maybe saying, “I am going to pour my life into that person.”

00:52:50.215 --> 00:52:56.282
And then he says, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching,

00:52:56.288 --> 00:52:59.713
for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

00:52:59.719 --> 00:53:04.847
so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

00:53:04.853 --> 00:53:08.373
When I was in seminary several years ago,

00:53:08.379 --> 00:53:14.763
my professor, he stood in front of the class one day

00:53:14.769 --> 00:53:21.949
and he goes, “Sh... sh, listen.”

00:53:21.955 --> 00:53:23.125
“What?”

00:53:23.131 --> 00:53:30.492
“Listen. I hear footsteps.

00:53:30.498 --> 00:53:40.510
Yes. They are the footsteps of Aristotle walking through these halls

00:53:40.516 --> 00:53:44.445
and they are louder than the footsteps of the apostles.”

00:53:44.451 --> 00:53:46.758
The point he was making was,

00:53:46.764 --> 00:53:52.378
much of what we were doing had more to do with Greek philosophy

00:53:52.384 --> 00:53:57.755
than it did with the New Testament, saying it was wrong.

00:53:57.761 --> 00:54:02.637
I want you to know something, not only walking through church,

00:54:02.643 --> 00:54:13.614
but walking through your mind and your heart is psychology, sociology,

00:54:13.620 --> 00:54:24.382
anthropology, doctrines of this age, and they will destroy you.

00:54:24.388 --> 00:54:30.069
We do not need to augment the Scriptures with the social sciences

00:54:30.075 --> 00:54:32.798
in order to have a church.

00:54:32.804 --> 00:54:38.797
A church is founded upon the Word of God,

00:54:38.803 --> 00:54:45.727
and it needs no help from any outside source.

00:54:45.733 --> 00:54:48.285
I will give you an example.

00:54:48.291 --> 00:54:54.380
If I were to teach on, right now, on the father's responsibility

00:54:54.386 --> 00:54:58.150
to be the primary educator in the life of his child,

00:54:58.156 --> 00:55:04.829
many of you would be going... because that is not practiced here.

00:55:04.834 --> 00:55:06.337
Yeah.

00:55:06.343 --> 00:55:14.636
Or if I began to teach on the biblical submission of the wife to the husband,

00:55:14.642 --> 00:55:18.031
some of you women would probably grow horns and claws

00:55:18.037 --> 00:55:23.125
and attack me right now, because that is not practiced here.

00:55:23.131 --> 00:55:25.237
It is hated. It is despised.

00:55:25.243 --> 00:55:34.189
Years and years and years of training, and all the dark arts you have received.

00:55:34.195 --> 00:55:40.460
You went to preschool. They did not teach you Psalms one.

00:55:40.466 --> 00:55:42.999
They taught you the ways of the world.

00:55:43.005 --> 00:55:47.852
You went to grade school, they taught you all the doctrines of this age.

00:55:47.858 --> 00:55:50.799
You went to high school and they did the same.

00:55:50.805 --> 00:55:53.988
As a child, every time you turned on the television set,

00:55:53.994 --> 00:55:58.562
they taught you in a manner completely contrary to Christianity.

00:55:58.568 --> 00:56:06.847
And now you wonder why it is so difficult to live the Christian life?

00:56:08.450 --> 00:56:09.652
You see?

00:56:09.658 --> 00:56:14.203
There are things that Scripture teaches that if I taught them right now,

00:56:14.209 --> 00:56:19.616
maybe some of you would rise up in anger and just jump right through that window

00:56:19.622 --> 00:56:22.558
or throw me through that window,

00:56:22.564 --> 00:56:25.939
because you can’t even begin to address the issue

00:56:25.945 --> 00:56:32.359
because you have been taught the contrary over and over and over.

00:56:32.365 --> 00:56:36.739
Do not bring those sciences into the Church

00:56:36.745 --> 00:56:42.166
because social sciences are not sciences by the pure definition of science.

00:56:42.172 --> 00:56:46.839
And do not bring something into the Church whose major theories change

00:56:46.845 --> 00:56:50.871
about once ever three years.

00:56:51.286 --> 00:56:56.424
We are to found the Church upon the Scriptures,

00:56:56.430 --> 00:57:00.505
and the Church and the Scriptures need no outside help.

00:57:00.511 --> 00:57:03.481
Let me give you a perfect example of this.

00:57:03.487 --> 00:57:11.545
You go to a Christian counselor who is also a psychologist

00:57:11.551 --> 00:57:17.109
and you say, “I need some counseling.” He goes, “Ok.”

00:57:17.115 --> 00:57:18.763
You walk in.

00:57:18.769 --> 00:57:25.025
You say, “Now, before we get started, I understand you are a Christian psychologist.

00:57:25.031 --> 00:57:28.423
What is your basis of authority?”

00:57:28.429 --> 00:57:34.376
Now that is a proper question in debate, apologetics, secular philosophy, ok?

00:57:34.382 --> 00:57:36.208
What is the basis of your authority?

00:57:36.214 --> 00:57:38.798
I mean, you are going to start telling me things.

00:57:38.804 --> 00:57:41.846
What is the basis of your authority?

00:57:41.852 --> 00:57:45.098
And so you say, “Well, the Bible.”

00:57:45.104 --> 00:57:47.892
I go, “What are all these other books?”

00:57:47.898 --> 00:57:54.401
“Well, I just... you know, the truth of Scripture, but all truth is God’s truth,

00:57:54.407 --> 00:57:58.922
so the truth we also find in these books are true, too.”

00:57:58.928 --> 00:58:02.072
“Well, I got a problem.”

00:58:02.078 --> 00:58:03.505
“Well, what is your problem?”

00:58:03.511 --> 00:58:10.985
“Well, I see there Freud, Rogers and Skinner,

00:58:10.991 --> 00:58:16.379
three main guys in the West with regard to psychology.”

00:58:16.385 --> 00:58:18.868
“Yes, so?”

00:58:18.874 --> 00:58:24.949
“Well, Freud said that Rogers and Skinner were idiots.

00:58:24.955 --> 00:58:28.714
And Rogers and Skinner said that Freud was a pervert.

00:58:28.720 --> 00:58:31.902
And Skinner said Rogers didn’t know what he was talking about,

00:58:31.908 --> 00:58:34.686
and everything Rogers wrote contradicted Skinner.

00:58:34.691 --> 00:58:37.315
So now here's my question:

00:58:37.321 --> 00:58:40.564
If all three of them contradict each other,

00:58:40.570 --> 00:58:46.187
and all three of them contradict the Bible, who is the authority?”

00:58:46.193 --> 00:58:50.128
And he goes, “Well, I choose..you know, the Bible, of course, is the authority.

00:58:50.134 --> 00:58:55.219
And then I choose out of these men what's true”

00:58:55.225 --> 00:58:58.425
“So now you are the authority.”

00:58:58.431 --> 00:59:00.534
Do you see the problem?

00:59:00.540 --> 00:59:03.029
There is one authority and it is Scripture.

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.

00:59:15.539 --> 00:59:18.272
But it has become the religion of the age

00:59:18.278 --> 00:59:24.821
and one of the greatest hindrances to biblical church, a great hindrance.

00:59:24.827 --> 00:59:28.060
Now I realize that I may have made people mad

00:59:28.066 --> 00:59:30.652
and if I did so by my attitude I apologize,

00:59:30.658 --> 00:59:35.539
but what I said, I do not apologize for. It is true.

00:59:35.545 --> 00:59:43.360
Churches today are overrun with the ideas of secular anthropology,

00:59:43.366 --> 00:59:48.834
secular psychology and secular sociology.

00:59:48.840 --> 00:59:52.371
Now, don’t think you are going to have a biblical church

00:59:52.377 --> 00:59:57.142
by purging that out of your evangelism.

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.

01:00:06.638 --> 01:00:09.765
You have to purge it out of everything.

01:00:09.771 --> 01:00:13.209
God’s Word is true.

01:00:13.215 --> 01:00:16.974
And if something does not line up with God’s Word, it is not true

01:00:16.980 --> 01:00:21.051
and it's not additional truth.

01:00:21.635 --> 01:00:22.588
Do you see?

01:00:22.594 --> 01:00:26.993
Many of you, let me ask you a question, you would possibly say,

01:00:26.999 --> 01:00:30.882
“Yes, brother Paul, I believe in the inspiration of Scripture.

01:00:30.888 --> 01:00:35.159
I am a conservative Christian. I believe in the inspiration of Scripture;

01:00:35.165 --> 01:00:40.099
that Scripture was God breathed, that it is infallible, inerrant;

01:00:40.105 --> 01:00:43.946
that it is a faithful communication of God's truth.

01:00:43.952 --> 01:00:46.902
Ok. You believe in the inspiration of Scripture?

01:00:46.908 --> 01:00:50.984
You have only won half the battle.

01:00:50.990 --> 01:00:52.605
Here is the next question:

01:00:52.611 --> 01:00:57.597
But do you believe in the sufficiency of Scripture?

01:00:58.025 --> 01:01:03.712
Do you believe that the Scripture is sufficient

01:01:03.718 --> 01:01:08.298
to make the man of God adequate for every good work

01:01:08.304 --> 01:01:14.527
or does the man of God also need Freud, Skinner, Rogers and everything else

01:01:14.533 --> 01:01:18.690
in order to counsel God’s people, in order to teach God's people,

01:01:18.696 --> 01:01:20.413
in order to train God’s people?

01:01:20.419 --> 01:01:26.840
You see, this is what Scripture is saying.

01:01:26.846 --> 01:01:30.698
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching,

01:01:30.704 --> 01:01:34.637
for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

01:01:34.643 --> 01:01:41.343
so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

01:01:41.349 --> 01:01:47.750
Every good work that needs to be done in the body, every good work,

01:01:47.756 --> 01:01:50.552
the Scripture can adequately prepare us for that.

01:01:50.558 --> 01:01:56.252
The Bible says in 2 Peter chapter one,

01:01:56.258 --> 01:02:02.437
Everything that we need for life and godliness has been granted to us.

01:02:02.443 --> 01:02:07.973
Everything we need to direct our marriages have been granted to us in this book.

01:02:07.979 --> 01:02:12.921
Everything we need to raise our children have been granted to us in this book.

01:02:12.927 --> 01:02:18.234
It is found there. It is.

01:02:19.195 --> 01:02:21.461
And you have to make a decision.

01:02:21.467 --> 01:02:27.840
Do you want a biblical church, or do you want a halfway biblical church?

01:02:28.375 --> 01:02:31.800
There is no, like the philosopher said,

01:02:31.806 --> 01:02:37.638
“What does Jerusalem have to do with Athens?”

01:02:37.652 --> 01:02:44.258
What does Christianity have to do with all these doctrines of the age

01:02:44.264 --> 01:02:47.486
that give no light and bring no blessing

01:02:47.492 --> 01:02:51.332
and kill all fruitfulness in the life of a person?

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,

01:02:57.744 --> 01:03:01.988
because I know I have gone on very long.

01:03:01.994 --> 01:03:06.137
Let’s just look for a moment at body life.

01:03:06.143 --> 01:03:14.308
I want us to go to chapter twelve of the book of Romans, verse 3,

01:03:14.314 --> 01:03:17.887
“For through the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you

01:03:17.893 --> 01:03:21.477
not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think;

01:03:21.483 --> 01:03:24.344
but to think so as to have sound judgment,

01:03:24.350 --> 01:03:29.236
as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.”

01:03:29.242 --> 01:03:34.757
Listen. As you grow in your Christian walk,

01:03:34.763 --> 01:03:39.362
you are going to come across true, honest believers

01:03:39.368 --> 01:03:44.554
that are not quite as mature, that are rather problematic.

01:03:44.560 --> 01:03:47.296
You need to constantly be asking yourself this question.

01:03:47.302 --> 01:03:49.618
What do I have that I have not received,

01:03:49.624 --> 01:03:53.506
and if I have received it, why do I boast?

01:03:53.512 --> 01:03:55.840
Who made you what you are?

01:03:55.846 --> 01:03:58.446
By God’s grace you have been saved.

01:03:58.452 --> 01:04:03.620
By God's grace, a work of sanctification continues in you.

01:04:03.626 --> 01:04:06.680
There is no room for boasting in the Christian life.

01:04:06.686 --> 01:04:14.935
And there is no room for comparison of setting one saint against another.

01:04:14.941 --> 01:04:20.270
I remember one time a woman who had done a great deal of damage

01:04:20.276 --> 01:04:22.760
with her wickedness in the Church,

01:04:22.766 --> 01:04:27.173
and one morning she came just running down the aisle.

01:04:27.179 --> 01:04:29.842
I was preaching, and she was weeping,

01:04:29.848 --> 01:04:33.150
and she just fell on the steps of the platform

01:04:33.156 --> 01:04:35.870
and she was crying out to God for forgiveness.

01:04:35.876 --> 01:04:40.014
And I looked up and I saw the faces of the people in that crowd.

01:04:40.020 --> 01:04:49.358
And I mean, they were like, unbelieving, unforgiving.

01:04:50.131 --> 01:04:53.856
The woman had done some bad things.

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.

01:05:00.801 --> 01:05:05.542
Afterwards, some people came up to me and they said,

01:05:05.548 --> 01:05:09.509
“How could you touch that woman?”

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.”

01:05:15.431 --> 01:05:18.276
You see the point?

01:05:18.282 --> 01:05:20.130
Mercy...you know,

01:05:20.136 --> 01:05:27.295
if you need evidence that we are not perfected at the moment of our conversion,

01:05:27.301 --> 01:05:29.559
if you need evidence of that,

01:05:29.565 --> 01:05:33.763
then just listen to this one statement by Jesus Christ.

01:05:33.769 --> 01:05:38.807
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”

01:05:39.034 --> 01:05:43.167
That shames me, that verse; and I will tell you why.

01:05:43.173 --> 01:05:47.545
A man like me who has received such mercy,

01:05:47.551 --> 01:05:51.377
I have to be told to be merciful?

01:05:51.825 --> 01:05:54.505
I have to be reminded to be merciful?

01:05:54.511 --> 01:05:56.329
After the mercy I have received,

01:05:56.335 --> 01:05:58.953
after the things I have done and been forgiven.

01:05:58.959 --> 01:06:06.473
I have to be reminded to be merciful? That is pathetic.

01:06:11.271 --> 01:06:14.921
And so body life is, again, built around humility.

01:06:14.927 --> 01:06:17.264
It is built around a mercy.

01:06:17.270 --> 01:06:20.951
It's built around thinking more of others.

01:06:20.957 --> 01:06:24.497
And he says: "For just as we have many members in one body

01:06:24.503 --> 01:06:28.606
and all the members do not have the same function,

01:06:28.612 --> 01:06:31.677
so we, who are many, are one body in Christ,

01:06:31.683 --> 01:06:34.605
and individually members one of another."

01:06:34.611 --> 01:06:41.529
Now, In 1 Corinthians, Paul deals with this in greater length

01:06:41.535 --> 01:06:42.705
and I didn’t want to go there

01:06:42.711 --> 01:06:51.232
because I didn’t want to spend the entire night having you just sitting here.

01:06:54.642 --> 01:06:59.349
Sometimes I look at my wife

01:06:59.355 --> 01:07:04.769
and, you know, men are really bad in that we begin to think at times

01:07:04.775 --> 01:07:07.802
that our wives are an extension of us,

01:07:07.808 --> 01:07:11.349
and our children are an extension of us.

01:07:11.355 --> 01:07:16.624
We forget that they are persons in their own right.

01:07:17.703 --> 01:07:23.401
There will be things between our wives and Christ that we know not of.

01:07:23.407 --> 01:07:27.740
But sometimes I sit there and I try to remember this:

01:07:27.746 --> 01:07:32.464
She is God's daughter.

01:07:32.470 --> 01:07:35.337
Now I don’t know if any of you have daughters.

01:07:35.343 --> 01:07:38.651
But I have a little daughter.

01:07:39.221 --> 01:07:44.396
I don't know where my Christianity would go if somebody tried to hurt her,

01:07:44.402 --> 01:07:48.561
but I would do everything in my power to stop them.

01:07:48.567 --> 01:07:53.949
I mean, If you really don't want to be my friend,

01:07:53.955 --> 01:07:57.709
then do something bad to my daughter.

01:07:58.342 --> 01:08:01.413
I can't even imagine; someone would have to restrain me

01:08:01.419 --> 01:08:04.262
if somebody did something to my daughter.

01:08:04.268 --> 01:08:11.286
And I always try to remember my wife in that context with her Father.

01:08:11.292 --> 01:08:15.679
She is God’s daughter.

01:08:15.685 --> 01:08:19.023
I am going to mess with her?

01:08:19.028 --> 01:08:21.435
I am going to hurt her?

01:08:21.441 --> 01:08:24.608
If I being evil can love my daughter so much

01:08:24.613 --> 01:08:27.005
that I would throw myself in front of a train for her,

01:08:27.011 --> 01:08:31.121
or fight any man on the face of the earth at least for two seconds

01:08:31.127 --> 01:08:34.509
before he knocks me out,

01:08:34.515 --> 01:08:38.770
am I going to suppose that I want to deal with God in that way,

01:08:38.776 --> 01:08:40.475
treating harshly his daughter?

01:08:40.481 --> 01:08:42.477
Now let’s take that farther.

01:08:42.483 --> 01:08:48.189
You see, C S Lewis said this one time and I can’t quote him directly,

01:08:48.194 --> 01:08:53.500
but basically he said this, “There are no common people.”

01:08:53.506 --> 01:09:05.835
Every person you meet will either be, one day, a monster in the bowels of hell

01:09:05.841 --> 01:09:10.602
or will be a creature so splendid and glorious

01:09:10.608 --> 01:09:13.796
that if you could see them now in that future state,

01:09:13.801 --> 01:09:18.399
you would fall down on your face and have a tendency to worship them.”

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,

01:09:22.834 --> 01:09:24.060
your sister in Christ.

01:09:24.067 --> 01:09:30.366
Don't deal with this person in a harsh manner.

01:09:30.372 --> 01:09:32.915
Realize what they are.

01:09:32.921 --> 01:09:36.377
Realize what has been paid for them.

01:09:36.384 --> 01:09:39.402
Realize what they are going to become.

01:09:39.408 --> 01:09:44.033
Realize the relationship they have with God,

01:09:44.040 --> 01:09:46.997
and you will begin to treat them differently.

01:09:47.004 --> 01:09:48.287
Do you see that?

01:09:48.292 --> 01:09:55.121
They are not just some common little believer who attends church.

01:09:55.127 --> 01:10:00.489
They are God’s and one day they will be more glorious

01:10:00.495 --> 01:10:05.142
than anyone could even imagine.

01:10:06.952 --> 01:10:09.473
That is church.

01:10:10.051 --> 01:10:16.832
And he goes on and he says that we are members.

01:10:16.838 --> 01:10:19.675
I am told that I am one with my wife

01:10:19.681 --> 01:10:24.918
and that only an insane man tears at his own flesh.

01:10:24.924 --> 01:10:31.096
Only an insane man practices self mutilation, I mean, we all now that.

01:10:31.102 --> 01:10:33.886
You see a man on the side of the street,

01:10:33.892 --> 01:10:35.295
and he is ripping his arm off,

01:10:35.301 --> 01:10:38.000
you don’t say, “Hey, how is it going?”

01:10:38.006 --> 01:10:42.514
I mean, you say, “That is a very problemed person.”

01:10:42.520 --> 01:10:52.514
All right, now, to attack my wife is insanity, the worst form, to rip at her.

01:10:52.520 --> 01:10:58.493
Brother and sister in Christ, same thing, members.

01:10:59.295 --> 01:11:00.555
And just remember this:

01:11:00.561 --> 01:11:05.476
You are not just ripping at one of your members.

01:11:05.482 --> 01:11:11.627
You are ripping at one of Christ’s members, part of his body.

01:11:11.633 --> 01:11:16.705
The Church in Corinth was sternly warned that anyone destroys the body,

01:11:16.711 --> 01:11:19.588
God will destroy them.

01:11:20.867 --> 01:11:24.267
You see, you need to have a heightened view of God.

01:11:24.273 --> 01:11:25.568
You have heard that over and over.

01:11:25.574 --> 01:11:27.904
We need to have a heightened view of God.

01:11:27.910 --> 01:11:29.747
That's true. Do you know what else though?

01:11:29.753 --> 01:11:37.361
You need to have a heightened view of other believers;

01:11:38.932 --> 01:11:44.150
of what they are, what they will be, what was paid for them.

01:11:44.156 --> 01:11:46.044
And we are members.

01:11:46.050 --> 01:11:48.969
Now, gosh, I can do this in America,

01:11:48.975 --> 01:11:54.554
but here in Europe you guys are a lot more civilized.

01:11:54.560 --> 01:11:56.211
But I am going to do this anyways.

01:11:56.217 --> 01:11:59.350
Let’s see. Who has got tennis shoes on?

01:11:59.356 --> 01:12:03.728
Who wants to volunteer? Who is really brave? Is anybody brave?

01:12:03.734 --> 01:12:06.260
You don’t need tennis shoes, you can do it in socks.

01:12:06.266 --> 01:12:08.111
Ok, stand up.

01:12:08.117 --> 01:12:11.601
And, really, guys, if I am out of line, just realize I am an American,

01:12:11.607 --> 01:12:15.138
I am from the South. I have no culture, ok?

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.

01:12:23.680 --> 01:12:25.785
As fast as you can.

01:12:25.790 --> 01:12:27.964
Go!

01:12:28.932 --> 01:12:33.066
Ooh, I should have got tennis shoes on him. He almost went out the window.

01:12:33.072 --> 01:12:38.999
Ok, now I want you to grab one foot like this,

01:12:39.005 --> 01:12:44.036
and I want you to run over there half way, and then come back.

01:12:44.042 --> 01:12:48.142
Halfway? yeah, just half way. We don't want you going out the window.

01:12:48.148 --> 01:12:51.863
Ok. Slower, right?

01:12:51.869 --> 01:12:55.619
All right. Now grab this foot like this,

01:12:55.625 --> 01:12:58.214
and grab the other one and pull it back.

01:12:58.220 --> 01:12:59.506
All right, thank you.

01:12:59.512 --> 01:13:07.585
Now look. I removed one member and he could not move as fast,

01:13:07.591 --> 01:13:11.314
as quickly and definitely he wasn’t as graceful.

01:13:11.320 --> 01:13:13.214
I removed one member.

01:13:13.220 --> 01:13:18.222
I remove two members and I incapacitated him completely.

01:13:18.228 --> 01:13:21.055
He couldn't even walk.

01:13:21.061 --> 01:13:27.778
Now, do you think every member in the body of Christ is important?

01:13:27.784 --> 01:13:31.948
This is not only an encouragement for every saint

01:13:31.954 --> 01:13:36.190
to come to understand their giftedness and their part in the body of Christ,

01:13:36.196 --> 01:13:41.127
but it is also necessary for us to appreciate every saint

01:13:41.133 --> 01:13:45.996
and to encourage them to be a part of the body, because we need them.

01:13:46.002 --> 01:13:54.411
Now, if you tell saints, “Look. We need you to minister according to your gifts.

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.”

01:13:59.657 --> 01:14:02.879
Again, that is mechanical.

01:14:02.885 --> 01:14:05.642
We just want you to be part of the factory.

01:14:05.648 --> 01:14:11.071
But if you say, “We need you in this body to minister to your gifts

01:14:11.077 --> 01:14:15.739
because we as a body need you.

01:14:15.752 --> 01:14:17.004
We need your giftedness.

01:14:17.010 --> 01:14:19.025
We need what God has done in your life.

01:14:19.031 --> 01:14:21.818
We need you as a person. We need you.”

01:14:21.824 --> 01:14:26.795
That is church, you see, that is church;

01:14:26.801 --> 01:14:29.503
that we are members of one another.

01:14:29.509 --> 01:14:34.196
And then he goes on and he says this...

01:14:34.202 --> 01:14:39.900
I want to just run down to nine because of the lack of time.

01:14:39.906 --> 01:14:42.303
He says, "Let love be without hypocrisy.

01:14:42.309 --> 01:14:45.202
Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.

01:14:45.208 --> 01:14:48.422
Be devoted to one another."

01:14:48.428 --> 01:14:51.168
So you want to have a church?

01:14:51.174 --> 01:14:54.739
Are you willing to be devoted to one another?

01:14:54.745 --> 01:14:58.419
I am not talking about showing up on Sunday,

01:14:58.425 --> 01:15:03.929
listening to a sermon and running away.

01:15:03.935 --> 01:15:07.607
I am talking about actually entering into relationships.

01:15:07.613 --> 01:15:12.688
You see, Christianity, especially now in reformed circles,

01:15:12.694 --> 01:15:18.662
in many ways has become like almost going to the theater.

01:15:18.668 --> 01:15:21.987
People got their favourite preacher,

01:15:21.993 --> 01:15:25.564
and their favorite worship, and so they go in

01:15:25.570 --> 01:15:29.279
and they take their seat in the church.

01:15:29.285 --> 01:15:32.109
We ought to get a thing with a popcorn holder

01:15:32.115 --> 01:15:37.549
and a place where you can put your Coke to watch your favorite preacher,

01:15:37.554 --> 01:15:42.806
to watch your favorite worship guy, and then to say good bye.

01:15:42.813 --> 01:15:46.314
And the best part is, it's free.

01:15:46.351 --> 01:15:51.540
Unless you're in a baptist church and then they make you pay a tithe.

01:15:51.546 --> 01:15:53.061
It's free.

01:15:53.067 --> 01:15:54.200
That is not church.

01:15:54.206 --> 01:15:55.948
I hear ministers say all the time,

01:15:55.954 --> 01:15:58.953
"The Bible says you shall not forsake the assembling of yourselves together.”

01:15:58.959 --> 01:16:00.051
And what he is saying is,

01:16:00.057 --> 01:16:02.571
“Listen, you need to come hear me preach.”

01:16:02.577 --> 01:16:05.915
But what it is saying is you don’t forsake the assembling of yourselves together

01:16:05.921 --> 01:16:07.717
so that you can minister to one another,

01:16:07.723 --> 01:16:10.152
exhort one another, encourage one another.

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.

01:16:21.909 --> 01:16:25.571
And if the fellowship grows larger, to either,

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,

01:16:29.454 --> 01:16:31.300
send them over there to start another church,

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,

01:16:35.735 --> 01:16:39.490
so that you can actually get involved in ministering to one another.

01:16:39.496 --> 01:16:41.382
Another thing that is very important.

01:16:41.388 --> 01:16:46.800
I was preaching down in a place in Alabama a few weeks ago

01:16:46.806 --> 01:16:49.886
to a group of people in Tharptown, Alabama.

01:16:49.892 --> 01:16:52.477
And I just love these people, they are just wonderful.

01:16:52.483 --> 01:16:58.374
And I was preaching, and it was going a little bit long.

01:16:58.380 --> 01:17:01.521
I know you can’t believe that, but it was going a little bit long

01:17:01.527 --> 01:17:04.245
and I said, “Now, stop that.”

01:17:04.251 --> 01:17:07.183
They all kind of looked up. I said, “I know what you are thinking.

01:17:07.189 --> 01:17:10.096
You are all thinking about leaving here and going to El Rancho.”

01:17:10.102 --> 01:17:16.008
El Rancho is the most favorite Mexican restaurant there near the church.

01:17:16.014 --> 01:17:20.831
As a matter of fact, it is the only restaurant in the whole entire town.

01:17:20.837 --> 01:17:23.063
And I said, “I know what you are doing.

01:17:23.069 --> 01:17:24.941
You're not thinking about church anymore,

01:17:24.947 --> 01:17:27.942
you're thinking about going to El Rancho."

01:17:27.948 --> 01:17:31.301
And they were like, you know, all feeling guilty.

01:17:31.307 --> 01:17:33.713
But I said that because I wanted to teach them something.

01:17:33.719 --> 01:17:43.655
I said, "Now stop. Ask yourself right now. Are you doing church?"

01:17:43.661 --> 01:17:47.104
I said, "I want you to look at something a little bit different.

01:17:47.110 --> 01:17:50.922
Right now, you are sitting under the preaching of the Word of God.

01:17:50.928 --> 01:17:54.764
We have worshiped collectively and we have prayed collectively.

01:17:54.770 --> 01:17:57.716
Now you think you have done something spiritual,

01:17:57.722 --> 01:18:01.589
and then you are going to leave and you are going to go to El Rancho

01:18:01.595 --> 01:18:05.187
and do something not so spiritual.”

01:18:05.193 --> 01:18:08.443
I said, “Actually, the way you need to look at it is,

01:18:08.449 --> 01:18:12.995
you are leaving here to go to church.”

01:18:13.001 --> 01:18:14.746
And they are like, “Well, what do you mean?”

01:18:14.752 --> 01:18:18.569
I said, “Now, if you go there and talk about your favorite football team or something,

01:18:18.575 --> 01:18:20.346
not necessarily.”

01:18:20.352 --> 01:18:24.603
I said, “But do you realize, you are not talking to each other right now.

01:18:24.609 --> 01:18:26.956
You are not ministering to one another.

01:18:26.962 --> 01:18:29.679
You are listening to a sermon, which is necessary,

01:18:29.685 --> 01:18:32.288
you have worshiped collectively and prayed collectively,

01:18:32.294 --> 01:18:34.828
which is all necessary and good and it is part of church.

01:18:34.834 --> 01:18:38.372
But what do you say now that as soon as I dismiss this,

01:18:38.378 --> 01:18:44.385
we all go over to El Rancho and have church?”

01:18:44.391 --> 01:18:51.708
We go over there, sit down at a table with a fellow believer,

01:18:51.714 --> 01:18:54.436
talk to them, get to know them,

01:18:54.442 --> 01:19:01.559
find out what is going on in their life, eat some chips. God is good.

01:19:01.565 --> 01:19:04.500
And just get to know one another,

01:19:04.506 --> 01:19:08.324
to love one another, to bless one another.

01:19:08.330 --> 01:19:12.598
You see, their whole idea of church revolved around coming into that place,

01:19:12.604 --> 01:19:18.255
worshiping collectively, listening to a Bible study and then leaving.

01:19:18.261 --> 01:19:19.607
That is not Church.

01:19:19.613 --> 01:19:22.508
That is a very essential part of Church.

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.

01:19:29.068 --> 01:19:33.254
It is you collectively caring for one another.

01:19:33.260 --> 01:19:38.788
There was a pastor down in Argentina, and he had grown the church to about 600,

01:19:38.794 --> 01:19:40.181
and that is the language he used.

01:19:40.187 --> 01:19:43.001
He said, “Because I had grown the church to 600.”

01:19:43.007 --> 01:19:45.021
And he said, “I was miserable.”

01:19:45.027 --> 01:19:49.389
He said, “Finally I came under such... I didn’t even know why.

01:19:49.395 --> 01:19:52.107
I just knew something was wrong; knew something was terribly wrong.”

01:19:52.113 --> 01:19:56.822
So he set aside time for prayer and fasting, and studying the Scriptures,

01:19:56.828 --> 01:20:00.877
and it just seemed that the Lord impressed upon his heart through the study of Scripture,

01:20:00.883 --> 01:20:06.329
that everything he had built was just hay, wood and stubble,

01:20:06.335 --> 01:20:07.688
that he needed to start again.

01:20:07.694 --> 01:20:12.413
He is a really personable guy, a really great speaker, knew how to do things,

01:20:12.419 --> 01:20:15.382
and I mean people were coming to that church in the droves.

01:20:15.388 --> 01:20:17.714
And God was saying...

01:20:18.196 --> 01:20:19.729
So this is what he did.

01:20:19.735 --> 01:20:25.268
The next Sunday, you know, they got the big worship service and everything,

01:20:25.274 --> 01:20:30.494
and the music director goes, “And now, pastor Ortiz,” let’s say,

01:20:30.500 --> 01:20:33.275
“is going to come and give us the Word of God.”

01:20:33.285 --> 01:20:35.343
And he got up and he walked over there,

01:20:35.349 --> 01:20:48.549
and he goes, “Love one another as Jesus loved you.”

01:20:48.554 --> 01:20:50.076
And he sat down.

01:20:50.082 --> 01:20:51.947
And the music director hopped up

01:20:51.953 --> 01:20:55.903
and said, “We will have another song now before the main sermon.”

01:20:55.909 --> 01:21:00.195
So he sings another song and then, “Now our pastor will come and...”

01:21:00.201 --> 01:21:10.359
He goes, “No, really. Love one another as Christ loved you.”

01:21:10.365 --> 01:21:13.726
He said he did that for six weeks.

01:21:13.732 --> 01:21:20.589
And he said on the sixth week, two of the deacons sitting in the front pew;

01:21:20.595 --> 01:21:22.691
one in the front pew, the other one in the second pew;

01:21:22.697 --> 01:21:24.655
the one in the front pew turned around,

01:21:24.661 --> 01:21:27.808
and he said, “As soon as I got through saying, ‘Love one another,’

01:21:27.814 --> 01:21:31.848
the deacon turned around and goes, ‘Hey,

01:21:31.854 --> 01:21:35.985
I think I know what he is trying to tell us.’”

01:21:35.991 --> 01:21:40.334
And what happened was they started serving one another,

01:21:40.340 --> 01:21:41.846
caring for one another.

01:21:41.852 --> 01:21:45.702
The Spirit of God began to work.

01:21:45.708 --> 01:21:50.608
The deacons started searching out the widows in the church who were alone.

01:21:50.614 --> 01:21:56.785
I mean, just all kinds of things. Do you see?

01:21:57.371 --> 01:22:01.668
This is church. That is church.

01:22:01.674 --> 01:22:11.314
Now, he goes on and says, “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love;

01:22:11.320 --> 01:22:16.067
give preference to one another in honor.”

01:22:16.073 --> 01:22:21.758
Boy. We are not a people who know much about honor.

01:22:21.764 --> 01:22:24.599
In America, we pride ourselves,

01:22:24.605 --> 01:22:28.571
"We don’t have a king and we are never going to have a king.

01:22:28.577 --> 01:22:31.133
And I don’t care who you think you are.

01:22:31.139 --> 01:22:34.057
I am just as good as you are."

01:22:34.063 --> 01:22:35.547
That's our mentality.

01:22:35.553 --> 01:22:41.186
Independent spirit - I bow my head to no one.

01:22:41.192 --> 01:22:44.838
That is not Christian.

01:22:46.489 --> 01:22:49.956
He says, "Give preference to one another in honor,

01:22:49.962 --> 01:22:55.471
not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.”

01:22:55.477 --> 01:22:59.459
Look. But this lagging behind, look what it is in.

01:22:59.465 --> 01:23:02.440
Don't lag behind in being devoted to one another.

01:23:02.446 --> 01:23:06.821
Don't lag behind in giving preference to one another.

01:23:06.827 --> 01:23:09.578
“Rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation,

01:23:09.584 --> 01:23:14.152
devoted to prayer,” for your brothers and sisters in Christ.

01:23:14.158 --> 01:23:18.819
“Contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.”

01:23:18.825 --> 01:23:23.051
Do you do that? Do you practice hospitality?

01:23:23.057 --> 01:23:30.120
Invite people into your home, feed them?

01:23:30.126 --> 01:23:32.117
Call over other believers?

01:23:32.123 --> 01:23:35.742
Hey, come on over to my house tomorrow.

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.

01:23:39.318 --> 01:23:40.441
Do you open your home?

01:23:40.447 --> 01:23:43.969
Do you know it is one of the qualifications of an elder?

01:23:43.975 --> 01:23:47.840
He has to be hospitable. He has to open up his home.

01:23:47.846 --> 01:23:49.886
And if he doesn’t, he doesn’t qualify.

01:23:49.892 --> 01:23:54.398
I don't care if he is the best teacher on the face of the earth.

01:23:54.404 --> 01:23:55.178
Do you see?

01:23:55.184 --> 01:23:58.730
You can say, “Oh, we can look past that, because he is a great Bible teacher."

01:23:58.736 --> 01:24:01.475
No, you can’t.

01:24:03.749 --> 01:24:06.769
“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.”

01:24:06.775 --> 01:24:12.276
Now, I want you to just think about this for a moment.

01:24:12.282 --> 01:24:17.723
A guy says... I will put this in the context of marriage;

01:24:17.729 --> 01:24:21.390
A guy says, “I can’t love my wife.”

01:24:21.396 --> 01:24:23.673
He is a Christian. He is in the church.

01:24:23.679 --> 01:24:28.725
He comes to the pastor and he says, “I can’t love my wife.”

01:24:28.731 --> 01:24:31.160
Ok. You can't love her as a wife.

01:24:31.166 --> 01:24:32.677
"No."

01:24:32.683 --> 01:24:38.380
Can you love her as a fellow believer?

01:24:38.386 --> 01:24:40.402
"No."

01:24:40.408 --> 01:24:45.459
Can you love her as a lost person?

01:24:45.465 --> 01:24:47.259
"No."

01:24:47.265 --> 01:24:51.320
Can you love her as an enemy who persecutes you and curses you?

01:24:51.326 --> 01:24:52.336
"No."

01:24:52.342 --> 01:24:55.708
Christ has commanded you to love her in all those ways.

01:24:55.714 --> 01:24:59.695
See, you are not just called to love your brother.

01:24:59.701 --> 01:25:03.792
You are called to love your enemy who persecutes you and curses you

01:25:03.798 --> 01:25:06.441
and wants your eternal condemnation.

01:25:06.447 --> 01:25:13.786
So if you are called to love that guy, most certainly you can love your brother.

01:25:13.792 --> 01:25:17.475
Do you see that?

01:25:28.761 --> 01:25:33.267
Do you know, honestly, what my goal is in life?

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,

01:25:38.209 --> 01:25:40.371
I wasn’t going to be able to accomplish everything,

01:25:40.377 --> 01:25:44.323
so I thought, “I am going to set out one goal.”

01:25:44.329 --> 01:25:50.504
But it is kind of an all encompassing goal.

01:25:52.449 --> 01:26:03.623
If I can grow in my love toward my wife,

01:26:03.629 --> 01:26:12.194
if I can manifest Christlike love toward her, that is my goal.

01:26:12.200 --> 01:26:15.793
You say, “Well, that is kind of puny.”

01:26:15.799 --> 01:26:20.240
Obviously you are not a husband.

01:26:21.928 --> 01:26:23.765
But look at this.

01:26:23.770 --> 01:26:32.539
If I can love the person with whom I have the closest, most intimate relationship,

01:26:32.545 --> 01:26:38.770
she seeing all my flaws, and I having to bear with all of hers,

01:26:38.776 --> 01:26:44.409
then love is not going to be a problem with everybody else, is it?

01:26:44.415 --> 01:26:48.141
I am so tired. I told someone.

01:26:48.147 --> 01:26:50.767
They said, “Why are you going to plant a church somewhere?”

01:26:50.773 --> 01:27:03.614
I said, “I am tired of preaching Christianity. I want to go live it somewhere.”

01:27:04.122 --> 01:27:14.657
You know, guys, if this is a church and if this is not your goal,

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

01:27:17.586 --> 01:27:22.961
and make them two fold sons of hell like yourself.

01:27:24.523 --> 01:27:32.955
But this goal is, to be like Christ and to follow him.

01:27:32.961 --> 01:27:35.753
That is the church.

01:27:35.759 --> 01:27:42.847
A group of people devoted to Christ, devoted to one another.

01:27:42.853 --> 01:27:44.325
That’s it.

01:27:44.331 --> 01:27:49.338
So you can have all those other things and elders and everything else,

01:27:49.344 --> 01:27:55.939
but if you don’t have this, then you don’t have a church, ok?

01:27:55.945 --> 01:27:58.311
All right. Let’s pray.

01:27:58.317 --> 01:28:01.279
Father, I come before you and I pray, Lord,

01:28:01.285 --> 01:28:06.665
that you would help us to understand and to apply these truths,

01:28:06.671 --> 01:28:12.794
to be transformed by them, in Jesus name, Amen.