0:00:22.630,0:00:25.420
It is a tremendous privilege

0:00:25.420,0:00:27.985
for me and brother Leiter

0:00:27.985,0:00:29.495
to be here with you,

0:00:29.495,0:00:31.357
a tremendous privilege.

0:00:31.363,0:00:36.692
And I have been given sort of

0:00:36.692,0:00:39.132
an insurmountable or difficult task:

0:00:39.132,0:00:42.154
take an hour and preach everything

0:00:42.154,0:00:45.814
that ought to be preached [br]on a biblical church.

0:00:45.814,0:00:49.130
And I think it would take [br]much longer than an hour.

0:00:49.136,0:00:54.364
But we are going to look at [br]a few things (incomplete thought).

0:00:54.370,0:00:58.176
Oh, well, be careful with [br]that kind of statement.

0:00:58.182,0:01:01.707
You may regret it.

0:01:01.707,0:01:05.215
But we are going to talk about church.

0:01:05.221,0:01:06.788
And if you are here tonight,

0:01:06.788,0:01:08.864
you are probably here because you have

0:01:08.864,0:01:11.614
an uneasiness or restlessness

0:01:11.614,0:01:15.099
about the way things are,

0:01:15.099,0:01:20.899
about the spiritual [br]decline in your country,

0:01:20.899,0:01:24.563
in Europe as well as America,

0:01:24.563,0:01:28.243
looking for something.

0:01:28.243,0:01:30.092
Well, let me just share with you.

0:01:30.098,0:01:36.523
There are a lot of people and a lot of movements that can give you something.

0:01:36.529,0:01:40.666
There are all sorts of things going on in Christianity today.

0:01:40.672,0:01:48.901
It looks like a circus offering certain aspects of Christianity,

0:01:48.907,0:01:53.839
certain power, certain joy, certain life.

0:01:53.845,0:02:01.401
So many things, so many gimmicks, so many promises,

0:02:01.407,0:02:09.812
healing, prosperity, life as you want it, your best life now,

0:02:09.818,0:02:14.863
absolutely everything is laid before you.

0:02:15.147,0:02:19.809
What Jesus Christ lays before you is this:

0:02:19.815,0:02:26.202
the promise of eternal life, and a cross.

0:02:26.864,0:02:32.634
What Jesus Christ lays before you is what really matters.

0:02:32.640,0:02:38.561
And that is a character conformed to his image.

0:02:38.567,0:02:43.812
The writers of the New Testament, although they speak quite frequently

0:02:43.818,0:02:48.136
about all the blessings that God can pour out on a man,

0:02:48.142,0:02:54.725
and the full counsel of Scripture tells us that the blessings of God are many,

0:02:54.731,0:02:57.918
but for those who have come to know Christ,

0:02:57.924,0:03:00.710
I think they have settled it in their heart

0:03:00.716,0:03:09.627
that every blessing other than conformity to Christ is a lesser blessing.

0:03:09.633,0:03:13.017
I want to be like Jesus.

0:03:13.023,0:03:16.465
I want to be conformed to his will,

0:03:16.471,0:03:20.777
and not just in some extravagant religious way.

0:03:20.783,0:03:24.710
I want to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ

0:03:24.716,0:03:28.036
in my personal relationship with God the Father,

0:03:28.042,0:03:32.205
and I want to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ

0:03:32.211,0:03:38.880
in the relationships in my life, especially the most intimate.

0:03:38.886,0:03:43.287
Now I bring this up because it is so very important to me.

0:03:43.293,0:03:47.688
I was preaching several years ago in Austin, Texas.

0:03:47.694,0:03:51.761
And after I finished my first sermon, this pulpit committee,

0:03:51.767,0:03:55.243
it is a committee in the church that is looking for a new pastor,

0:03:55.249,0:04:00.155
it came up to me, and it said, "Would you be our pastor?"

0:04:00.161,0:04:02.386
I said, “What?”

0:04:02.392,0:04:05.258
They said, “Would you consider being our pastor?”

0:04:05.264,0:04:09.155
And I looked at them and I said, “Are you crazy?”

0:04:09.161,0:04:11.158
And they said, “Why do you say that?”

0:04:11.164,0:04:15.744
I said, “You don’t know if I love my wife or not.”

0:04:15.750,0:04:20.668
The point that I was making is: You know nothing about me.

0:04:20.675,0:04:24.088
The devil preaches well.

0:04:24.094,0:04:33.477
But true Christianity is seen in the life, the hidden life of a man, of a woman,

0:04:33.483,0:04:37.067
and the dying to self,

0:04:37.073,0:04:42.628
and the giving one’s self away in the name of Christ to God the Father

0:04:42.634,0:04:49.781
in the power of the Holy Spirit, and giving that life to others.

0:04:50.423,0:04:54.265
We hear a lot of talk today about doing everything for the glory of God,

0:04:54.271,0:04:55.177
and that is true.

0:04:55.183,0:04:57.314
It is a true statement.

0:04:57.320,0:05:02.151
But I am afraid we sometimes use it to forget the Second Command.

0:05:02.157,0:05:05.970
The first is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

0:05:05.976,0:05:14.186
And the second is to love your neighbor as yourself in sacrificial, joyful service.

0:05:14.192,0:05:17.625
So the Christianity that I am talking about tonight

0:05:17.631,0:05:24.929
is not some gigantic religious show in a coliseum.

0:05:24.935,0:05:28.164
It's not about you getting your best life now,

0:05:28.170,0:05:33.795
the car you want, the house you want or perfect health.

0:05:33.801,0:05:38.183
What it's about is this:

0:05:38.189,0:05:44.583
It's knowing God the Father and knowing Jesus Christ whom he has sent,

0:05:44.589,0:05:49.293
and being conformed to his image.

0:05:49.299,0:05:50.800
What joy!

0:05:50.806,0:05:58.668
To be able, just think about this, to be able to love as he loves.

0:05:59.627,0:06:04.141
To be able to represent him.

0:06:04.970,0:06:07.866
Just to know him. That is Christianity.

0:06:07.872,0:06:16.099
Now, we are going to talk a bit about church.

0:06:16.105,0:06:23.621
Most of us have this ecclesiastical, organizational idea of church.

0:06:23.627,0:06:28.810
We think of buildings with steeples on top of them and crosses on top of the steeples.

0:06:28.816,0:06:32.435
We think of beautiful lawns.

0:06:32.441,0:06:37.140
We think of old men preaching very boring messages.

0:06:37.146,0:06:40.193
We think of all sorts of things when we think about church.

0:06:40.199,0:06:44.030
But we need to understand what church truly is.

0:06:44.036,0:06:46.784
It's none of that.

0:06:47.244,0:06:54.894
Church is not so much an organization, as it is an organism.

0:06:54.900,0:06:58.815
It is a living entity.

0:06:58.821,0:07:05.537
It is a creation of God through his Son and for his Son.

0:07:05.543,0:07:10.843
It is relational.

0:07:10.849,0:07:15.894
Now I want you to keep that word in the forefront of your mind.

0:07:15.900,0:07:17.780
It is relational.

0:07:17.786,0:07:24.609
Church, like your own personal life, is about a relationship with God

0:07:24.615,0:07:30.657
and a relationship with brothers and sisters in Christ.

0:07:30.663,0:07:34.253
You see, it is all about relationship.

0:07:34.259,0:07:36.113
It is all about that.

0:07:36.114,0:07:39.294
There is so much that is done, dressed in religious garb,

0:07:39.300,0:07:43.194
but it really has so little meaning.

0:07:44.131,0:07:48.904
God has called us into a relationship with himself.

0:07:48.910,0:07:51.542
He has done that as we are individuals.

0:07:51.548,0:07:53.901
He has done that collectively as a body,

0:07:53.907,0:07:57.474
and God has called us to be in relationship with one another,

0:07:57.480,0:08:02.432
to love one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.

0:08:02.438,0:08:05.728
And so the first thing I want you to see is that when we talk about church,

0:08:05.734,0:08:13.537
we are talking about an organism, something organic in nature.

0:08:13.543,0:08:15.994
Now, there are two passages of Scripture,

0:08:16.000,0:08:18.776
and we are not going to spend much time there at all

0:08:18.782,0:08:21.330
because we are going to look at several things tonight.

0:08:21.336,0:08:24.536
But just for a moment, I want you to go to Jeremiah

0:08:24.542,0:08:31.775
and I want you to see the origin of the Church, its divine origin.

0:08:31.781,0:08:47.502
Jeremiah chapter 31, just quickly.

0:08:47.508,0:08:51.430
Now if you look in verse 31 of Jeremiah 31,

0:08:51.436,0:08:53.895
He says, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD,

0:08:53.901,0:08:57.762
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,

0:08:57.768,0:09:00.231
not like the covenant which I made with their fathers

0:09:00.237,0:09:04.647
in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt,

0:09:04.653,0:09:06.383
My covenant which they broke,

0:09:06.389,0:09:09.274
although I was a husband to them, declares the LORD.”

0:09:09.275,0:09:14.037
Now the first thing I want you to understand is something about the nation of Israel.

0:09:14.043,0:09:23.397
Do you honestly believe that everyone who came out of Egypt, led by Moses, was a believer?

0:09:23.403,0:09:24.363
No, not at all.

0:09:24.369,0:09:28.938
As a matter of fact, the great majority of them were idolaters.

0:09:28.944,0:09:34.498
They were worshiping goat gods, demon gods, all sorts of things

0:09:34.504,0:09:38.319
even in the desert as they are being led around by God.

0:09:38.325,0:09:46.220
We are looking at basically a physical nation that was called out of Egypt.

0:09:46.226,0:09:49.447
They were of the blood of Abraham.

0:09:49.452,0:09:52.761
But most of them did not have faith.

0:09:52.767,0:09:56.259
That is why they died in the wilderness, all right?

0:09:56.265,0:10:04.451
So they were basically a carnal nation doing carnal things

0:10:04.457,0:10:11.458
who had to be subdued by laws and authorities and this and that.

0:10:11.464,0:10:17.246
They had to be subdued, in a sense, by the whip in order to keep them in line.

0:10:17.252,0:10:18.441
And why is that?

0:10:18.447,0:10:21.895
Because their hearts had not be changed.

0:10:21.901,0:10:25.115
Now I want you to think about something for a moment.

0:10:25.121,0:10:31.286
Most churches today are that way.

0:10:31.292,0:10:39.061
Filled with a group of people whose hearts have not been changed.

0:10:39.067,0:10:43.867
And pastors spend a great deal of their time doing what?

0:10:43.873,0:10:54.231
Trying to motivate, manipulate, push, shove, coerce,

0:10:54.237,0:10:58.275
throwing all sorts of little parties and all sorts of little gimmicks

0:10:58.281,0:11:00.440
and this and that, and so many other things

0:11:00.446,0:11:06.275
just to try to keep a group of people together in Jesus’ name.

0:11:06.281,0:11:08.348
Behold the power of the gospel!

0:11:08.354,0:11:13.543
Not much gospel power manifested there, is it?

0:11:13.549,0:11:17.472
Countless people identified in this country, in my country

0:11:17.478,0:11:20.419
with some denomination or some church,

0:11:20.425,0:11:28.487
but it has no power, no sway over their life whatsoever, nothing.

0:11:28.493,0:11:33.391
The true Church is not that way.

0:11:33.963,0:11:38.037
Your ideas of Church as a building;

0:11:38.043,0:11:45.672
as an ecclesiastical, organizational structure of half hearted people attending,

0:11:45.678,0:11:50.999
and having to be held together by manipulation and coercion and gimmicks,

0:11:51.005,0:11:53.419
that is not the Church.

0:11:53.420,0:11:55.668
Now he is going to tell us what the Church is like.

0:11:55.674,0:12:00.226
Look what he says: He says in verse 33,

0:12:00.232,0:12:04.000
“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,

0:12:04.006,0:12:05.163
declares the LORD,

0:12:05.169,0:12:10.741
I will put My laws within them, and on their heart I will write it.”

0:12:10.747,0:12:18.873
Now you must understand God is not speaking here poetically.

0:12:18.879,0:12:20.079
Now why do I say that?

0:12:20.085,0:12:23.052
Because sometimes we hear such beautiful things in Scripture

0:12:23.058,0:12:29.050
and we say, “Oh, that is nice,” but we are not considering what he is saying.

0:12:29.056,0:12:33.529
He is saying, in the Church through the coming of the Messiah,

0:12:33.535,0:12:37.405
He is going to create a new people,

0:12:37.411,0:12:39.878
and they are not going to be a group of people

0:12:39.884,0:12:45.238
who merely have some tablets of stone that they look at and disobey.

0:12:45.244,0:12:50.469
He is going to create a group of people and he is going to transform their heart

0:12:50.475,0:12:57.275
and he is going to put his will, his laws, his desires in their heart.

0:12:57.281,0:12:58.259
Do you see that?

0:12:58.265,0:12:59.341
They are going to be changed.

0:12:59.347,0:13:01.788
And I use the word 'desire.'

0:13:01.794,0:13:05.957
I know it can be sort of dangerous, but there is a reason for it.

0:13:05.963,0:13:09.616
When I say he puts his laws in your heart,

0:13:09.622,0:13:14.379
you can still have this mechanical idea

0:13:14.385,0:13:17.312
that, yes, those laws are in there and I must obey them.

0:13:17.318,0:13:22.435
But when I say 'desires,' he is not just revealing his will to you,

0:13:22.441,0:13:27.771
he is changing your heart so that his will is your will

0:13:27.777,0:13:31.305
and you desire to do what he desires.

0:13:31.311,0:13:33.514
That is why John writes in his epistle

0:13:33.520,0:13:38.012
that the commandments of God to the people of God are not burdensome.

0:13:38.018,0:13:41.889
They desire these things. Do you see that?

0:13:41.895,0:13:43.918
That is what the Church is.

0:13:43.924,0:13:46.360
He goes on and he says,

0:13:46.366,0:13:50.226
“I will put My laws within them, and on their heart I will write it;

0:13:50.232,0:13:56.085
and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

0:13:56.091,0:14:03.868
All throughout the Old Testament, there is this impassioned longing that we see

0:14:03.874,0:14:07.103
in the words coming out of the mouth of God

0:14:07.109,0:14:10.635
in which he is constantly saying, looking forward to the future,

0:14:10.641,0:14:15.836
“One day, they will be My people. I will be their God.

0:14:15.842,0:14:21.090
I will have a people on this earth, and I will be that people's God.”

0:14:21.096,0:14:25.559
That time came with the coming of Christ.

0:14:25.565,0:14:30.584
Through his death and resurrection; through the work of the Holy Spirit,

0:14:30.590,0:14:35.565
God has created for himself a people.

0:14:35.571,0:14:40.003
Now, they are not a people who have simply turned over a new leaf.

0:14:40.009,0:14:43.329
They are not a people who have simply decided

0:14:43.335,0:14:45.728
that they want to live a higher lifestyle.

0:14:45.734,0:14:51.638
They are not a people who just, one day, decided we are going to change and be better.

0:14:51.644,0:14:57.337
No. They are people upon whom God has acted in his own power.

0:14:57.343,0:15:01.263
He has transformed them.

0:15:01.269,0:15:05.528
Now, are you that people?

0:15:05.534,0:15:10.750
Do you know, I still, as we all, I struggle with many failures,

0:15:10.756,0:15:18.776
many weaknesses, many struggles in the Christian life.

0:15:19.701,0:15:26.959
But there is no doubt, the witness of my own, the people around me,

0:15:26.965,0:15:31.291
and the people who knew me 25 years ago,

0:15:31.297,0:15:36.754
this guy is not even the same the person that I knew.

0:15:36.760,0:15:40.143
I mean, I know my desires have changed.

0:15:40.149,0:15:47.821
I mean, one day just going from, "let’s go party, let’s get in a fight if we can,

0:15:47.827,0:15:51.157
let’s chase women, let’s get drunk, let’s do this,"

0:15:51.163,0:15:54.395
to the very next day, "I don’t want to do all that anymore."

0:15:54.401,0:15:56.910
What has happened to me?

0:15:56.916,0:15:58.793
I want Christ.

0:15:58.799,0:15:59.987
I want to know him.

0:15:59.993,0:16:03.082
I want to please God and be pleasing to God.

0:16:03.088,0:16:07.378
Do you know that as a reality in your own life?

0:16:07.384,0:16:13.727
Is your religion something that you are just trying to do the right thing,

0:16:13.733,0:16:18.939
or has Christ transformed you so that you want to know him,

0:16:18.945,0:16:23.444
you want to do his will, you delight to do his will?

0:16:23.450,0:16:27.828
I mean, what has happened to you?

0:16:29.000,0:16:36.655
Brother Leiter says quite often that most people’s Christianity is basically this:

0:16:36.661,0:16:45.028
They are trying to do all the good things they hate, in order to please God.

0:16:45.034,0:16:52.236
That is not Christianity.

0:16:52.945,0:16:57.142
Christianity is when, "I want to do this."

0:16:57.148,0:17:02.037
And you are not sad because you look at the will of God, and think, I have to do that.

0:17:02.043,0:17:07.310
You are sad when you look at the will of God and realize you have fallen short.

0:17:07.316,0:17:10.010
The burden doesn't come from obedience,

0:17:10.016,0:17:13.030
the burden comes when we see we have disobeyed.

0:17:13.036,0:17:13.631
Why?

0:17:13.637,0:17:15.873
We are transformed. We are new creatures.

0:17:15.878,0:17:18.358
We are saints of God. We are children of God.

0:17:18.364,0:17:20.926
We are sons of the living God. We are led of the Spirit.

0:17:20.933,0:17:23.442
Do you see?

0:17:23.448,0:17:28.626
When he says, “New creature,” when he says, “I will write it on their heart,”

0:17:28.632,0:17:35.899
he is not speaking metaphorically to the point where it no longer has meaning.

0:17:35.905,0:17:40.709
He is not speaking poetically so it's just some beautiful nonsense. No.

0:17:40.715,0:17:48.041
When a person is saved, they become a new creature.

0:17:48.047,0:17:51.455
That is what the Church is made up of.

0:17:51.461,0:17:54.296
Now he says this:

0:17:54.302,0:17:58.377
“They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying,

0:17:58.383,0:18:02.096
‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me.”

0:18:02.102,0:18:05.914
That is not saying that in the Church there won’t be teachers or pastors,

0:18:05.920,0:18:08.153
evangelists and so on.

0:18:08.159,0:18:11.277
But what he is saying is:

0:18:11.283,0:18:19.823
The people of Israel, although they saw these magnificent manifestations of God,

0:18:19.829,0:18:21.760
they didn’t understand them.

0:18:21.766,0:18:28.710
I mean, they could see God part the water, and then go worship a goat idol.

0:18:28.716,0:18:33.063
They could see fire coming down from heaven, and then make a golden calf.

0:18:33.069,0:18:35.798
They didn’t understand.

0:18:35.804,0:18:41.573
In witnessing to people—and I know many of you have had this same experience—

0:18:41.579,0:18:47.041
you pour your heart out to someone about the grace of God,

0:18:47.047,0:18:53.982
and they don’t comprehend at all.

0:18:53.988,0:18:58.255
Someone says, “Sir, are you going to go to heaven when you die?”

0:18:58.261,0:18:59.586
“Oh, yes, I am going to go to heaven.”

0:18:59.592,0:19:00.476
“Why do you think so?”

0:19:00.482,0:19:04.281
“Well, I am a good man. I am a good man.”

0:19:04.287,0:19:11.535
And so you go through, for the next 20 minutes, every Scripture in the Bible

0:19:11.541,0:19:16.448
that explains he is a wretched beast under the wrath of God.

0:19:16.454,0:19:20.104
He says "Yes" to every one of the verses;

0:19:20.110,0:19:22.986
and then when you say, “Sir, are you going to go to heaven?”

0:19:22.992,0:19:23.831
“Yes.”

0:19:23.837,0:19:24.479
“Why?”

0:19:24.485,0:19:27.112
“I am a good man.”

0:19:27.118,0:19:30.358
Now, that is where you would be. Do you understand that?

0:19:30.364,0:19:33.961
Your darkness would be to that extent and even worse.

0:19:33.967,0:19:35.249
But what's happened?

0:19:35.255,0:19:43.739
This passage. He has taught you.

0:19:43.745,0:19:48.754
“They shall be taught of God.”

0:19:48.760,0:19:56.625
He himself illumined your mind and changed your heart.

0:19:56.631,0:20:00.521
So many people walking around, especially these TV evangelists.

0:20:00.527,0:20:03.860
I think we ought to put most of them on a boat and just ship them somewhere

0:20:03.866,0:20:08.096
to an island where there is no people.

0:20:08.102,0:20:11.039
But they are saying, “The supernatural nature of Christianity

0:20:11.045,0:20:13.675
and the supernatural this and the supernatural that.”

0:20:13.681,0:20:16.770
Supernatural?

0:20:16.776,0:20:20.426
There is more of the supernatural power of God

0:20:20.432,0:20:24.122
manifested in the regeneration of a single heart

0:20:24.128,0:20:27.099
than in the creation of the universe itself.

0:20:27.105,0:20:35.073
Supernatural; we are not marveling at what is truly supernatural.

0:20:35.079,0:20:37.991
You say, “Well, brother Paul, do you believe God can heal people?”

0:20:37.997,0:20:42.772
I have seen God heal people in the mountains where there were no doctors,

0:20:42.778,0:20:46.922
not frequently, but according to his will, his plan, his purpose.

0:20:46.928,0:20:52.108
But I want to tell you something, I did not get excited in comparison

0:20:52.114,0:21:00.065
when I have seen the Holy Spirit literally take a spiritually dead man and make him alive.

0:21:00.071,0:21:01.700
Do you see that?

0:21:01.706,0:21:04.258
There is the supernatural nature of Christianity,

0:21:04.264,0:21:10.286
but focus on what is truly supernatural and important.

0:21:10.292,0:21:16.541
Now, he goes on and he says this,

0:21:16.547,0:21:20.775
“For they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.”

0:21:20.781,0:21:25.481
Now will they all know him to the extent that Jonathan Edwards

0:21:25.487,0:21:28.356
or a Calvin or a Luther or somebody like that?

0:21:28.362,0:21:32.042
No, I am not even in their league.

0:21:32.048,0:21:34.942
So what does this mean?

0:21:34.947,0:21:36.714
Well, let’s go on.

0:21:36.720,0:21:40.169
It says, “For they will all know Me,

0:21:40.175,0:21:43.561
from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the LORD.

0:21:43.567,0:21:50.489
For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

0:21:50.495,0:21:54.113
They will enter into a relationship with him,

0:21:54.119,0:21:56.909
knowing that he is the one true God,

0:21:56.915,0:22:04.140
and they will have a keen awareness that by his hand he has cleansed them,

0:22:04.146,0:22:09.105
freed them from their sin.

0:22:09.111,0:22:13.516
There will not be the smack of self-righteousness there.

0:22:13.522,0:22:17.285
They will not say, "God and I have worked this out."

0:22:17.291,0:22:23.257
They will have a keen awareness that God has taken care of their iniquity,

0:22:23.263,0:22:26.472
and he did it all by himself.

0:22:26.478,0:22:30.913
Now, another thing. Let’s go on.

0:22:30.919,0:22:36.341
Just jump over really quick to verse 38 of chapter 32.

0:22:36.347,0:22:39.296
Again, “They shall be My people, and I will be their God.”

0:22:39.302,0:22:50.861
And look what he says, “I will give them one heart and one way.”

0:22:53.135,0:22:59.701
Have you ever seen these marches for Jesus, the unity marches that they have,

0:22:59.707,0:23:02.978
in which all these different denominations come together,

0:23:02.984,0:23:07.443
and they are trying to prove to the world that there is unity between them

0:23:07.449,0:23:10.891
when, in fact, there is very little unity at all between them.

0:23:10.897,0:23:14.146
And they are all marching together and singing "Kumbaya,"

0:23:14.152,0:23:16.755
and we are proving to the world that we are one.

0:23:16.761,0:23:20.701
That is not what Jesus meant, ok?

0:23:20.707,0:23:25.781
That is not what Jesus meant.

0:23:28.845,0:23:33.720
You bring two Christians together, two Christians,

0:23:33.726,0:23:38.928
and although they may differ in some things,

0:23:38.934,0:23:46.673
but you bring two Christians together and, my friend, you will find unity.

0:23:46.679,0:23:50.925
You will find Spirit bearing witness with spirit.

0:23:50.931,0:23:52.205
You will find joy.

0:23:52.211,0:24:00.114
It is amazing; I can sit down, for example, in an airplane in Zambia,

0:24:00.120,0:24:04.974
and sit down beside a person I have never met in my life,

0:24:04.980,0:24:09.886
and after a while pull out my Bible to kind of, you know,

0:24:09.892,0:24:14.433
hoping this guy say something to me like, “What’s that?”

0:24:14.439,0:24:16.427
Sometimes I pull out my Greek New Testament

0:24:16.433,0:24:18.384
so they will look at it and go, “What is that?”

0:24:18.390,0:24:22.111
I can’t read it very well, but it really makes a great witnessing tool.

0:24:22.117,0:24:24.845
No matter where I am in the Greek New Testament,

0:24:24.851,0:24:29.245
I read John 3:16 when they ask me to read something to them.

0:24:29.251,0:24:35.142
But I can sit down with someone I have never met,

0:24:35.148,0:24:41.458
and we start talking and discover that we are both believers in Jesus Christ,

0:24:41.464,0:24:46.190
and I mean it is a party for the rest of the flight.

0:24:46.196,0:24:50.068
We are one.

0:24:50.074,0:24:53.381
People say, "There is so much disunity in the Church."

0:24:53.386,0:24:55.522
No, there is not.

0:24:55.528,0:24:58.681
There is a lot of disunity with a bunch of carnal people

0:24:58.687,0:25:00.716
who are goats trying to act like sheep.

0:25:00.722,0:25:02.763
That is the problem.

0:25:02.769,0:25:06.849
But when you bring believers together, there will be unity.

0:25:06.855,0:25:09.266
Does it mean that there will never be disunity?

0:25:09.272,0:25:11.845
No, it doesn’t mean, because there is sin in all of us.

0:25:11.851,0:25:13.637
It doesn't mean there will never be disunity.

0:25:13.643,0:25:16.566
It doesn't mean there will never be disagreements.

0:25:16.572,0:25:19.815
But it means when you look at the full course of the relationship,

0:25:19.821,0:25:27.994
there is a fraternal love, a unity there.

0:25:28.000,0:25:31.836
I remember one of the illustrations that I just love to use on this,

0:25:31.842,0:25:34.297
I was traveling through the mountains years and years ago

0:25:34.303,0:25:37.642
in a red zone that the Communists, the Maoists controlled.

0:25:37.648,0:25:39.799
And we were lost and everything.

0:25:39.805,0:25:44.338
It was pitch dark and we were scared, another missionary and myself.

0:25:44.344,0:25:48.758
And we made our way into this little village and I kind of stood on the edge of it,

0:25:48.764,0:25:51.893
my brother that was with me was a Peruvian.

0:25:51.899,0:25:54.684
And he went in and he came back out.

0:25:54.690,0:25:56.266
He says, “I don’t see any military.”

0:25:56.272,0:26:00.769
So we kind of walked in, and I kind of humped over so everyone would think I was short,

0:26:00.775,0:26:08.689
and we came up to this drunk and we said, [?], “Are there brothers here?”

0:26:08.695,0:26:15.591
And he said, [?], “The old woman over there. She is one of you.”

0:26:15.597,0:26:19.986
And so I went over there, and I knocked on the door.

0:26:19.992,0:26:23.019
And after a few minutes, the door kind of creaks open.

0:26:23.025,0:26:29.665
It is a little mud, adobe hut carved into the back of a cliff.

0:26:29.671,0:26:31.715
And this little woman, she is about this big,

0:26:31.721,0:26:34.693
she opened the door with her lantern and looked.

0:26:34.699,0:26:40.512
And I said [?], “We are brothers.”

0:26:40.518,0:26:42.436
She knew what that meant in Spanish.

0:26:42.442,0:26:46.512
We are evangelicals, we are Christian, and we need help.

0:26:46.518,0:26:50.210
And she went... I will never forget that face.

0:26:50.216,0:26:53.375
And she just grabbed us and pulled us in,

0:26:53.381,0:26:58.392
took us down to the basement that they had carved out of the side of the hill there,

0:26:58.398,0:26:59.450
put us down there.

0:26:59.456,0:27:01.875
A little boy came. She gave him some instructions.

0:27:01.881,0:27:03.844
All of the sudden he took off.

0:27:03.850,0:27:05.234
He comes back, running.

0:27:05.240,0:27:08.605
And then this man shows up. He has got two chickens;

0:27:08.611,0:27:12.114
and another little poor farmer comes up with some yucca plant

0:27:12.120,0:27:13.787
and they start preparing.

0:27:13.793,0:27:15.714
And we stayed there all night.

0:27:15.720,0:27:23.557
All right, now they were won to the Lord by a group of Nazarene missionaries.

0:27:23.562,0:27:30.004
The Nazarenes and I could sit down and debate some issues.

0:27:30.010,0:27:32.931
We would.

0:27:35.712,0:27:43.848
But these were people who knew Christ and knew their sins had been forgiven,

0:27:43.854,0:27:52.214
and because I was a preacher in Jesus’ name, willing to risk their life.

0:27:52.220,0:27:56.779
There is unity.

0:27:57.537,0:28:04.384
Now, theology is extremely important. It is extremely important.

0:28:04.390,0:28:11.839
But I'll tell you this: I will not separate and break fellowship

0:28:11.845,0:28:15.837
with someone who disagrees with me on some things.

0:28:15.843,0:28:21.191
Now I will separate with people who depart from historical Christianity,

0:28:21.197,0:28:24.072
who preach another Christ and so on and so forth.

0:28:24.078,0:28:28.018
But, you see, there is a unity there.

0:28:28.024,0:28:34.624
They knew Christ. They rejoiced in him.

0:28:34.630,0:28:37.604
That is what happens when you have a church

0:28:37.610,0:28:44.383
and it's a church of people who have been converted;

0:28:44.389,0:28:51.613
who have been regenerated by the Spirit of God.

0:28:53.136,0:28:55.945
Will there be immaturity? Yes.

0:28:55.951,0:29:03.257
Will there be problems? Live with me for a while, you will get your answer.

0:29:03.996,0:29:10.348
But will people be able to see there is something different about this group of people

0:29:10.354,0:29:12.637
and that something is their love?

0:29:12.643,0:29:17.876
Jesus says, “They will know, the world will know you are my disciples

0:29:17.882,0:29:21.192
by the love you have for one another.”

0:29:21.198,0:29:29.279
Now, he says, “I will give them one heart and one way.”

0:29:29.285,0:29:33.791
And then, “that they may fear Me.”

0:29:33.797,0:29:37.893
Here is something about us as Christians.

0:29:37.899,0:29:44.296
We can make a mess, but there is something that God has done to us.

0:29:44.302,0:29:49.223
He has put his fear in our hearts.

0:29:49.229,0:29:56.896
In a marriage relationship, my own, sometimes I will act like a jerk.

0:29:56.902,0:29:59.472
Do you know what that word is?

0:29:59.478,0:30:09.772
And not want to acknowledge it, not want to say to my wife, “I am sorry.”

0:30:09.778,0:30:13.970
And I will walk out there and I will go into my office,

0:30:13.976,0:30:16.989
I got a book to write, I got a sermon to prepare.

0:30:16.995,0:30:22.784
It's like the Lord's there, "That's fine, you are going to be doing it on your own

0:30:22.790,0:30:26.269
till you get this matter straight."

0:30:26.275,0:30:30.111
But do you know what? There is a fear in me.

0:30:30.117,0:30:32.191
There is a fear.

0:30:32.197,0:30:38.298
There is an uneasiness, an unsettledness in my heart, a tremor.

0:30:38.304,0:30:44.591
And I know I have got to go back and I have got to apologize

0:30:44.597,0:30:49.318
and I have got to make this matter right.

0:30:49.324,0:30:55.103
You see, you have a group of people who have been given new hearts,

0:30:55.109,0:30:57.993
and in that new heart, the law of God has been written.

0:30:57.999,0:31:02.634
And not only the law of God has been written, but he has put his fear in us

0:31:02.640,0:31:08.888
so that even when we have conflicts, disagreements and problems,

0:31:08.894,0:31:13.175
it is the fear of the Lord that causes us once again to humble ourselves

0:31:13.181,0:31:20.173
and to acknowledge our wrong and to work for restoration.

0:31:20.179,0:31:22.286
That is the Church.

0:31:22.292,0:31:27.575
Now, I want us to go for a moment...Again, I said I would have to skip around.

0:31:27.581,0:31:34.774
I want us to go to Matthew chapter 28.

0:31:34.780,0:31:37.395
You know the great commission in verse 18,

0:31:37.401,0:31:39.659
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying,

0:31:39.665,0:31:43.784
‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.’”

0:31:43.790,0:31:45.589
Oh this passage!

0:31:45.595,0:31:51.939
Last month, I spent like three weeks on "All authority has been given unto Me.”

0:31:51.945,0:31:58.037
Oh, man, it just laid me on the floor.

0:31:59.247,0:32:02.605
We have very little idea what that means.

0:32:02.611,0:32:09.479
But I would encourage you to read Daniel chapter 7 and Psalms chapter 2.

0:32:09.485,0:32:12.776
Such authority has been given to him.

0:32:12.782,0:32:17.489
He has so much authority that all the kings,

0:32:17.495,0:32:22.045
all their actions and decrees are inconsequential.

0:32:22.051,0:32:23.197
They don't even matter.

0:32:23.203,0:32:26.673
It is as though they didn't even exist.

0:32:26.679,0:32:34.025
When his kingdom showed up 2,000 years ago, everything else came to an end.

0:32:34.031,0:32:37.133
Oh, he's allowing the kings and the nations to still play,

0:32:37.139,0:32:40.509
as though they had life and power.

0:32:40.515,0:32:44.964
But they have none. He rules over all.

0:32:44.970,0:32:46.976
Now, but it says this,

0:32:46.982,0:32:54.695
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations."

0:32:54.701,0:33:01.800
I am so glad that he did not put here, “Go therefore and preach the gospel.”

0:33:01.806,0:33:04.034
You say, “Well, why, brother Paul?

0:33:04.040,0:33:11.346
I mean, on YouTube that is all you talk about, you only have one sermon."

0:33:12.498,0:33:23.534
Because it is so easy...now Adolphe Monod the famous French Reformed pastor

0:33:23.540,0:33:26.508
he said, “Oh, the cross of preaching the cross,”

0:33:26.514,0:33:29.963
meaning that preaching the cross was such a burden because of its grandeur,

0:33:29.969,0:33:34.410
because a preacher could never preach the cross as it ought to be preached.

0:33:34.416,0:33:40.754
But there is another sense in which the preaching of the gospel

0:33:40.760,0:33:44.893
is a lot easier than making disciples.

0:33:45.699,0:33:49.744
You see, someone hears a preacher like me on YouTube

0:33:49.750,0:33:53.137
or you see me preach right now.

0:33:53.143,0:33:56.693
But you don't know me.

0:33:57.888,0:34:01.902
Or I know how to make sentences connect together.

0:34:01.908,0:34:05.042
But do you really know me?

0:34:05.048,0:34:09.063
Do you really know if I am a godly man?

0:34:09.070,0:34:13.987
You see in preaching the gospel, I can preach, go.

0:34:13.994,0:34:18.897
I can stand in front of people and, boy, look like something very, very spiritual

0:34:18.902,0:34:23.168
and then go and you never see my life. Do you see that?

0:34:23.175,0:34:25.216
That is so easy.

0:34:25.222,0:34:28.514
But he says, “Go and make disciples.” And what does that mean?

0:34:28.521,0:34:33.429
To make disciples, that means you are going, at least for a while,

0:34:33.435,0:34:37.353
to imitate me as I imitate Christ, to follow me as I follow Christ.

0:34:37.359,0:34:40.318
I am going to teach you, not only with my words,

0:34:40.324,0:34:45.826
but I am going to teach you as you watch me live 24 hours a day.

0:34:45.831,0:34:49.228
That is tough.

0:34:50.940,0:34:57.328
That is part of the work of the church.

0:34:58.047,0:35:02.668
This has...you know, when I first was a missionary in Peru,

0:35:02.674,0:35:05.758
I just discipled, discipled and discipled.

0:35:05.764,0:35:13.219
And it was tough because people watched your life.

0:35:13.225,0:35:19.015
But I will tell you something that has been even more difficult:

0:35:19.021,0:35:24.159
My three children. To disciple them.

0:35:24.165,0:35:27.669
Because, you know, they are just... they can, you know,

0:35:27.675,0:35:31.825
“Dad, you said this. Why did you do this?”

0:35:31.831,0:35:35.117
You see, it is so humbling, but it is so good.

0:35:35.123,0:35:44.026
I would rather be crushed so that the hypocrisy would be torn out of me

0:35:44.032,0:35:48.900
than to put on a mask and make everybody think I am something I am not.

0:35:48.906,0:35:52.827
See, make disciples, it means that you live with people.

0:35:52.833,0:35:57.643
You touch people. You get involved in their life.

0:35:57.649,0:36:02.620
I was evangelizing one day and boy did I have a rude awakening.

0:36:02.626,0:36:05.088
I was out there, man. I was handing out tracts.

0:36:05.094,0:36:09.227
And I was preaching and people were throwing the tracts at me,

0:36:09.233,0:36:12.795
and I saw this guy kind of look kind of a punk rocker guy,

0:36:12.801,0:36:14.694
and he took off kind of one direction.

0:36:14.700,0:36:17.489
I walked up there and put a tract on him.

0:36:17.495,0:36:20.854
I said, "Here, this is a tract of the gospel about Jesus."

0:36:20.860,0:36:26.222
He turned around and he goes, “You don’t care about me.”

0:36:26.228,0:36:30.730
And he, I mean, stopped me in my tracks.

0:36:30.736,0:36:36.208
He goes, "Do you care enough about me to be my friend,

0:36:36.214,0:36:39.009
to come to my house,

0:36:39.015,0:36:42.941
to get to know me and my problems and my messed up life,

0:36:42.947,0:36:48.754
or are you just out here winning brownie points for God?”

0:36:49.536,0:36:51.489
Caring about people.

0:36:51.495,0:36:54.448
That is why even be very, very careful in your evangelism.

0:36:54.454,0:37:00.030
People can recognize just superficial, I want to just put another notch on my belt.

0:37:00.036,0:37:03.474
Look at me, "I am a preacher that everybody persecutes.”

0:37:03.480,0:37:05.977
It is not about you.

0:37:05.983,0:37:09.773
To disciple people, you have got to enter into relationships with people.

0:37:09.779,0:37:11.263
And to have a church,

0:37:11.269,0:37:17.373
you are committing yourself to enter into a profound relationship with people.

0:37:17.379,0:37:19.681
That is why one of our missionaries said,

0:37:19.687,0:37:22.319
“Brother Paul, we need to start a church in this area.”

0:37:22.325,0:37:24.801
I said, “Well, why do you feel like we need to start a church?”

0:37:24.807,0:37:27.360
“We need to start a church here because if we start this church here,

0:37:27.366,0:37:29.129
then we can start this church over here,

0:37:29.135,0:37:34.556
and we can use it as kind of a mother or a seed bed to plant other churches over here.”

0:37:34.562,0:37:40.946
And I said, “Stop. You don’t plant churches so that you can plant another church.

0:37:40.952,0:37:45.482
You plant a church because you care about the people.

0:37:45.488,0:37:48.155
And if you have any other idea about it,

0:37:48.161,0:37:53.953
you end up using people to fulfill your vision.”

0:37:53.959,0:38:04.797
You see, church is for these people.

0:38:06.088,0:38:14.844
And I want you to think about some of the greatest writers among the reformers,

0:38:14.850,0:38:18.605
the Puritans, the early Baptists.

0:38:18.611,0:38:20.898
I want you to realize something.

0:38:20.904,0:38:23.798
They never got on an airplane.

0:38:23.804,0:38:27.553
They never traveled, some of them, outside of their country.

0:38:27.559,0:38:31.681
Some of them even outside of their town.

0:38:31.687,0:38:38.221
But as they pastored, and their sermons, their writings,

0:38:38.227,0:38:48.224
their life of pouring themselves into a flock has been used to change the world.

0:38:48.230,0:38:57.511
Adolphe Monod, the guy was so smart, his head must have been this big.

0:38:57.517,0:39:00.366
He could do anything at the university.

0:39:00.372,0:39:02.791
He could do critical studies in Hebrew.

0:39:02.797,0:39:05.621
Then they'd get him over here, critical studies in the New Testament.

0:39:05.627,0:39:07.713
Then over here, history of the world.

0:39:07.719,0:39:09.914
I mean, the guy could do everything.

0:39:09.920,0:39:12.411
And they wanted him in the university so bad,

0:39:12.417,0:39:16.022
and he said, “No, I want to go pastor this little flock.”

0:39:16.028,0:39:22.460
And the book that he wrote [?] The Farewell,

0:39:22.466,0:39:27.317
are 19 sermons that he preached on his death bed to his flock.

0:39:27.323,0:39:30.348
And the last few sermons he laid on his back like this,

0:39:30.354,0:39:31.834
and could only look up at the ceiling

0:39:31.840,0:39:34.486
because he couldn’t even turn his head to look at the flock anymore.

0:39:34.492,0:39:38.605
That book is priceless.

0:39:38.611,0:39:44.242
Sometimes we want to do so much that we don’t do anything.

0:39:44.248,0:39:48.333
And sometimes we do so much and you can discern in there,

0:39:48.339,0:39:52.654
man, you are all about creating a name for yourself.

0:39:52.660,0:39:57.909
You're all about some great thing you're going to do.

0:39:59.534,0:40:04.516
I was preaching last year in a place and people were coming from everywhere,

0:40:04.522,0:40:07.407
but it really wasn’t of the Lord.

0:40:07.413,0:40:10.842
It was celebritism and it stunk.

0:40:10.848,0:40:14.337
And I walked over in the corner and the pastor came up to me

0:40:14.343,0:40:21.185
and he said, “Paul, maybe you just ought to go somewhere and die,

0:40:21.191,0:40:23.774
so that no one will hear your name again.”

0:40:23.780,0:40:27.635
And what he meant is, maybe you need to walk away from this entire circus

0:40:27.641,0:40:31.630
and go pastor a little flock of people and just die there,

0:40:31.636,0:40:33.215
and walk away from this mess.

0:40:33.221,0:40:36.256
You see, here is what I want you to see.

0:40:36.262,0:40:44.639
I am 47. I mean, I am like, I am not as old as these two guys here,

0:40:44.645,0:40:48.414
but I am getting older.

0:40:48.420,0:40:52.432
I am not as old as him but I am getting older.

0:40:52.438,0:40:55.190
I'm over the hill, and I figured out when you get over the hill,

0:40:55.196,0:40:57.514
you start going down a lot faster.

0:40:57.520,0:41:03.296
I'm getting older and I don't want to waste my life.

0:41:03.302,0:41:08.934
And what I see is that a lot of the big stuff and big plans and big ideas

0:41:08.940,0:41:16.633
and everything we have about winning the world is nothing but flesh sometimes,

0:41:16.639,0:41:23.906
because we want to touch everybody, but we don’t touch anybody.

0:41:25.890,0:41:28.138
And so he says, “Make disciples.”

0:41:28.144,0:41:29.867
And then he says this. Look at this.

0:41:29.873,0:41:33.846
He says, "Make disciples of all the nations,

0:41:33.852,0:41:37.777
baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

0:41:37.783,0:41:42.709
teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.”

0:41:42.715,0:41:44.467
Now think about this.

0:41:44.473,0:41:48.253
He doesn't just say, "Teach them."

0:41:48.259,0:41:54.789
He says, “Teach them to obey what I have commanded you.”

0:41:54.795,0:41:59.648
You can’t teach them to obey what God has commanded you

0:41:59.654,0:42:03.507
unless you are obeying what God has commanded you.

0:42:03.513,0:42:10.683
And so the Church gives us an opportunity to live, to flesh this out,

0:42:10.689,0:42:26.660
to live in obedience before other people and to be an influence with our lives.

0:42:27.598,0:42:40.476
And so the Church is a community of people who have professed faith in Jesus Christ

0:42:40.482,0:42:48.469
and confessed his Lordship and have come together to worship him,

0:42:48.475,0:42:56.937
but have also come together that they might mutually encourage one another

0:42:56.943,0:43:02.293
towards the goal of conformity to the image of Jesus Christ.

0:43:02.299,0:43:05.234
Now it is amazing. I was in Peru several years ago,

0:43:05.240,0:43:10.663
and a young American Marine, it was just a freak accident.

0:43:10.669,0:43:15.425
He had his gun and he just turned... it went off and he shot himself in the head.

0:43:15.431,0:43:19.873
And he laid there in the hospital basically brain dead for three or four days

0:43:19.879,0:43:21.746
before they pulled the plug.

0:43:21.752,0:43:26.296
And I didn’t know this, but I show up to try to witness to him

0:43:26.302,0:43:33.407
and there is these two Marines in full dress standing on each side of the door like this.

0:43:33.413,0:43:36.465
I asked somebody, “What is this?”

0:43:36.471,0:43:40.915
And the Marine says, “No Marine dies alone.”

0:43:40.921,0:43:41.760
Wow.

0:43:41.766,0:43:44.681
Well, I started talking to somebody and I found out

0:43:44.687,0:43:48.800
if a bunch of Marines are running,

0:43:48.806,0:43:52.939
the first Marine arrives when the last Marine arrives.

0:43:52.945,0:43:55.947
They arrive together.

0:43:55.953,0:43:59.942
So if you are running first, and this guy is last,

0:43:59.948,0:44:05.297
don’t think about crossing that line until you get him and bring him with you.

0:44:05.303,0:44:09.895
Well, you talk about an example of the Christian life.

0:44:09.901,0:44:11.883
"I am growing."

0:44:11.889,0:44:20.014
Yeah, what about your brother? What about your sister in Christ?

0:44:20.020,0:44:26.943
You see, without a church we can’t do any of this.

0:44:27.684,0:44:29.516
You want to have a biblical church?

0:44:29.522,0:44:31.422
Why do you want to have a biblical church

0:44:31.428,0:44:34.311
so that you can say you have a biblical church?

0:44:34.317,0:44:37.384
Do you want to have a biblical church so that, you know, I mean...

0:44:37.390,0:44:41.362
so that you can start a bunch of biblical churches?

0:44:41.368,0:44:45.371
Or do you just want to honor God and love people,

0:44:45.377,0:44:50.092
whether anything happens or not?

0:44:50.098,0:45:05.959
Now, it goes on, and I want us to go for a moment just to Ephesians four.

0:45:05.965,0:45:11.636
I want to talk about leadership for a moment, chapter four.

0:45:11.642,0:45:14.212
Speaking of Christ in verse 11,

0:45:14.218,0:45:16.775
"And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets,

0:45:16.781,0:45:20.280
and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,

0:45:20.286,0:45:24.268
for the equipping of the saints for the work of service,

0:45:24.274,0:45:26.451
to the building up of the body of Christ."

0:45:26.457,0:45:35.239
Now, this is both a beautiful text and a very dangerous text.

0:45:35.245,0:45:37.998
What do I mean?

0:45:38.560,0:45:45.203
He has given gifted men to the Church to do what? To equip the saints.

0:45:45.209,0:45:48.293
But most of the time when this is preached,

0:45:48.299,0:45:51.942
it is preached in a militant sort of way.

0:45:51.948,0:45:53.108
What do I mean?

0:45:53.114,0:45:57.923
It is preached to the..."Look, in our church, man, we have got to get going,

0:45:57.929,0:45:59.506
we have got to get doing stuff.

0:45:59.512,0:46:02.619
Look, I train you so that you can go out and do the ministry,

0:46:02.625,0:46:06.756
and that ministry is winning people and making this church grow."

0:46:06.762,0:46:08.714
And what am I doing?

0:46:08.720,0:46:13.699
I am turning this thing back again into a factory,

0:46:13.705,0:46:17.960
into a place where the saints come to labor.

0:46:17.966,0:46:20.716
Do you see that?

0:46:21.482,0:46:29.622
You are a worker in the beehive, in the anthill.

0:46:29.628,0:46:33.564
"We have got to go. We have got to grow. We have got to build.

0:46:33.570,0:46:39.913
We have got to do. I train you, you go."

0:46:39.919,0:46:42.346
People have asked me several times today,

0:46:42.352,0:46:45.601
how is it that some churches start out wanting to be biblical

0:46:45.607,0:46:49.640
and then eventually they just kind of go the way of all other churches?

0:46:49.646,0:46:52.170
These are the reasons.

0:46:52.176,0:47:01.314
They turn church life into almost some kind of a factory, a work house.

0:47:01.320,0:47:03.485
Now are we to do works of service?

0:47:03.491,0:47:06.105
We absolutely are to do works of service.

0:47:06.111,0:47:10.053
But I want you to look at this in a little bit different way.

0:47:10.059,0:47:13.779
He has given us gifted men for the equipping of the saints.

0:47:13.785,0:47:18.621
Now the equipping of the saints just doesn't mean so that they can go out and work

0:47:18.627,0:47:22.500
and bring in more people.

0:47:22.506,0:47:34.253
The equipping ot the saints means to prepare them, to grow them to maturity,

0:47:34.259,0:47:40.786
to help them be able to enter in strongly into a personal devotional life,

0:47:40.792,0:47:43.558
into a personal walk with Christ.

0:47:43.564,0:47:47.371
It's not just about training them to go out to do something.

0:47:47.377,0:47:52.199
It's training them so that they can be something.

0:47:52.205,0:47:54.762
To be like Christ.

0:47:54.768,0:47:59.420
And also this equipping is for the building up of the body of Christ.

0:47:59.426,0:48:03.665
Now, of course, that includes evangelism.

0:48:03.671,0:48:10.698
But I need to equip you, not to just go out and win somebody

0:48:10.704,0:48:14.727
and bring them in and they remain just as immature as the rest of us.

0:48:14.733,0:48:20.811
I need to equip you to be able to minister to him.

0:48:20.817,0:48:25.611
To minister to the body also, to help us grow into maturity.

0:48:25.617,0:48:33.493
I need to equip husbands to do what? To minister to their wives.

0:48:33.499,0:48:38.695
I need to equip fathers to do what? To minister to their children.

0:48:38.701,0:48:44.401
I need to equip women to minister to their husbands and their children.

0:48:44.407,0:48:50.346
You see how we will just take a verse and automatically assume this is what it means?

0:48:50.352,0:48:54.011
Get them all equipped so they can go out there and do a bunch of work.

0:48:54.017,0:48:57.209
Get them equipped so that they can be like Christ,

0:48:57.215,0:49:01.026
minister to one another, and witness to the world,

0:49:01.032,0:49:10.751
but not in a machine, cog in a wheel, factory sense of a beehive sort of thing,

0:49:10.757,0:49:17.471
or an anthill where everyone goes out, gathers and comes back in.

0:49:18.579,0:49:20.721
You see, again, look at what we are talking about,

0:49:20.727,0:49:26.426
relationships, loving one another, caring about one another,

0:49:26.432,0:49:29.642
not so concerned about coming across the line first,

0:49:29.648,0:49:36.295
but coming across the line with our other brothers and sisters in Christ as a church.

0:49:36.301,0:49:42.289
Now, he goes on and he says,

0:49:42.295,0:49:44.843
“For the equipping of the saints for the work of service,

0:49:44.849,0:49:46.772
to the building up of the body of Christ.”

0:49:46.778,0:49:48.956
Now look, you can see.

0:49:48.962,0:49:51.530
"Until we all attain to the unity of the faith,

0:49:51.536,0:49:54.825
and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man,

0:49:54.831,0:50:03.124
to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”

0:50:03.130,0:50:12.886
To be a part of a church is to make a commitment to be biblically,

0:50:12.892,0:50:20.462
practically concerned for the other people in that body,

0:50:20.468,0:50:26.899
that they might become everything that God desires for them to be.

0:50:26.905,0:50:28.881
Now, let’s go on.

0:50:28.887,0:50:36.492
I want us to go now to 2 Timothy chapter three.

0:50:36.498,0:50:42.492
The Church, its doctrine, its practices

0:50:42.498,0:50:47.608
must be founded upon the Word of God.

0:50:47.614,0:50:53.862
Now, he says here, “That from childhood you have known the sacred writings

0:50:53.868,0:50:57.485
which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation

0:50:57.491,0:51:01.940
through faith which is in Christ Jesus.“

0:51:01.946,0:51:04.131
How does a person come to know the Lord?

0:51:04.137,0:51:08.317
Through the sacred writings, through Scripture.

0:51:08.323,0:51:17.023
Let me share with you. We will maybe talk about this tomorrow about evangelism,

0:51:18.095,0:51:23.245
but I have seen recently people come to know the Lord,

0:51:23.251,0:51:32.592
not as a result of a one time encounter or witnessing through a tract.

0:51:32.598,0:51:41.310
I have seen people come to the Lord after eight months of Bible study,

0:51:41.316,0:51:43.686
after eight months of the study in Scripture.

0:51:43.692,0:51:49.237
My brother-in-law, John Green, from England is a great evangelist.

0:51:49.243,0:51:53.618
He doesn’t preach. He shouldn’t preach.

0:51:53.624,0:51:58.460
But as far as one on one dealing with people...

0:51:58.466,0:52:01.174
And he just recently brought a guy to my office

0:52:01.180,0:52:05.480
that he had been dealing with for about eight months,

0:52:05.486,0:52:07.672
Bible study after Bible study,

0:52:07.678,0:52:11.609
going through the Scripture, going through the Scripture.

0:52:11.615,0:52:17.065
Listen to me: Preach on the streets? Yes.

0:52:17.071,0:52:20.327
Witness to people, tracts? Yes.

0:52:20.333,0:52:24.797
Have you ever thought about entering into a relationship with some of these people?

0:52:24.803,0:52:30.357
Inviting to meet them at a coffee shop once a week, twice a week,

0:52:30.363,0:52:33.355
going through Scripture, studying Scripture.

0:52:33.361,0:52:38.260
Not just hit and miss, like a sniper with a rifle,

0:52:38.266,0:52:40.616
giving them one shot to come to know the Lord,

0:52:40.622,0:52:48.760
but maybe saying, “I am going to pour my life into that person.”

0:52:50.215,0:52:56.282
And then he says, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching,

0:52:56.288,0:52:59.713
for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

0:52:59.719,0:53:04.847
so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

0:53:04.853,0:53:08.373
When I was in seminary several years ago,

0:53:08.379,0:53:14.763
my professor, he stood in front of the class one day

0:53:14.769,0:53:21.949
and he goes, “Sh... sh, listen.”

0:53:21.955,0:53:23.125
“What?”

0:53:23.131,0:53:30.492
“Listen. I hear footsteps.

0:53:30.498,0:53:40.510
Yes. They are the footsteps of Aristotle walking through these halls

0:53:40.516,0:53:44.445
and they are louder than the footsteps of the apostles.”

0:53:44.451,0:53:46.758
The point he was making was,

0:53:46.764,0:53:52.378
much of what we were doing had more to do with Greek philosophy

0:53:52.384,0:53:57.755
than it did with the New Testament, saying it was wrong.

0:53:57.761,0:54:02.637
I want you to know something, not only walking through church,

0:54:02.643,0:54:13.614
but walking through your mind and your heart is psychology, sociology,

0:54:13.620,0:54:24.382
anthropology, doctrines of this age, and they will destroy you.

0:54:24.388,0:54:30.069
We do not need to augment the Scriptures with the social sciences

0:54:30.075,0:54:32.798
in order to have a church.

0:54:32.804,0:54:38.797
A church is founded upon the Word of God,

0:54:38.803,0:54:45.727
and it needs no help from any outside source.

0:54:45.733,0:54:48.285
I will give you an example.

0:54:48.291,0:54:54.380
If I were to teach on, right now, on the father's responsibility

0:54:54.386,0:54:58.150
to be the primary educator in the life of his child,

0:54:58.156,0:55:04.829
many of you would be going... because that is not practiced here.

0:55:04.834,0:55:06.337
Yeah.

0:55:06.343,0:55:14.636
Or if I began to teach on the biblical submission of the wife to the husband,

0:55:14.642,0:55:18.031
some of you women would probably grow horns and claws

0:55:18.037,0:55:23.125
and attack me right now, because that is not practiced here.

0:55:23.131,0:55:25.237
It is hated. It is despised.

0:55:25.243,0:55:34.189
Years and years and years of training, and all the dark arts you have received.

0:55:34.195,0:55:40.460
You went to preschool. They did not teach you Psalms one.

0:55:40.466,0:55:42.999
They taught you the ways of the world.

0:55:43.005,0:55:47.852
You went to grade school, they taught you all the doctrines of this age.

0:55:47.858,0:55:50.799
You went to high school and they did the same.

0:55:50.805,0:55:53.988
As a child, every time you turned on the television set,

0:55:53.994,0:55:58.562
they taught you in a manner completely contrary to Christianity.

0:55:58.568,0:56:06.847
And now you wonder why it is so difficult to live the Christian life?

0:56:08.450,0:56:09.652
You see?

0:56:09.658,0:56:14.203
There are things that Scripture teaches that if I taught them right now,

0:56:14.209,0:56:19.616
maybe some of you would rise up in anger and just jump right through that window

0:56:19.622,0:56:22.558
or throw me through that window,

0:56:22.564,0:56:25.939
because you can’t even begin to address the issue

0:56:25.945,0:56:32.359
because you have been taught the contrary over and over and over.

0:56:32.365,0:56:36.739
Do not bring those sciences into the Church

0:56:36.745,0:56:42.166
because social sciences are not sciences by the pure definition of science.

0:56:42.172,0:56:46.839
And do not bring something into the Church whose major theories change

0:56:46.845,0:56:50.871
about once ever three years.

0:56:51.286,0:56:56.424
We are to found the Church upon the Scriptures,

0:56:56.430,0:57:00.505
and the Church and the Scriptures need no outside help.

0:57:00.511,0:57:03.481
Let me give you a perfect example of this.

0:57:03.487,0:57:11.545
You go to a Christian counselor who is also a psychologist

0:57:11.551,0:57:17.109
and you say, “I need some counseling.” He goes, “Ok.”

0:57:17.115,0:57:18.763
You walk in.

0:57:18.769,0:57:25.025
You say, “Now, before we get started, I understand you are a Christian psychologist.

0:57:25.031,0:57:28.423
What is your basis of authority?”

0:57:28.429,0:57:34.376
Now that is a proper question in debate, apologetics, secular philosophy, ok?

0:57:34.382,0:57:36.208
What is the basis of your authority?

0:57:36.214,0:57:38.798
I mean, you are going to start telling me things.

0:57:38.804,0:57:41.846
What is the basis of your authority?

0:57:41.852,0:57:45.098
And so you say, “Well, the Bible.”

0:57:45.104,0:57:47.892
I go, “What are all these other books?”

0:57:47.898,0:57:54.401
“Well, I just... you know, the truth of Scripture, but all truth is God’s truth,

0:57:54.407,0:57:58.922
so the truth we also find in these books are true, too.”

0:57:58.928,0:58:02.072
“Well, I got a problem.”

0:58:02.078,0:58:03.505
“Well, what is your problem?”

0:58:03.511,0:58:10.985
“Well, I see there Freud, Rogers and Skinner,

0:58:10.991,0:58:16.379
three main guys in the West with regard to psychology.”

0:58:16.385,0:58:18.868
“Yes, so?”

0:58:18.874,0:58:24.949
“Well, Freud said that Rogers and Skinner were idiots.

0:58:24.955,0:58:28.714
And Rogers and Skinner said that Freud was a pervert.

0:58:28.720,0:58:31.902
And Skinner said Rogers didn’t know what he was talking about,

0:58:31.908,0:58:34.686
and everything Rogers wrote contradicted Skinner.

0:58:34.691,0:58:37.315
So now here's my question:

0:58:37.321,0:58:40.564
If all three of them contradict each other,

0:58:40.570,0:58:46.187
and all three of them contradict the Bible, who is the authority?”

0:58:46.193,0:58:50.128
And he goes, “Well, I choose..you know, the Bible, of course, is the authority.

0:58:50.134,0:58:55.219
And then I choose out of these men what's true”

0:58:55.225,0:58:58.425
“So now you are the authority.”

0:58:58.431,0:59:00.534
Do you see the problem?

0:59:00.540,0:59:03.029
There is one authority and it is Scripture.

0:59:03.035,0:59:13.844
If they speak not according to the Law and the Prophets, there is no light in them.

0:59:15.539,0:59:18.272
But it has become the religion of the age

0:59:18.278,0:59:24.821
and one of the greatest hindrances to biblical church, a great hindrance.

0:59:24.827,0:59:28.060
Now I realize that I may have made people mad

0:59:28.066,0:59:30.652
and if I did so by my attitude I apologize,

0:59:30.658,0:59:35.539
but what I said, I do not apologize for. It is true.

0:59:35.545,0:59:43.360
Churches today are overrun with the ideas of secular anthropology,

0:59:43.366,0:59:48.834
secular psychology and secular sociology.

0:59:48.840,0:59:52.371
Now, don’t think you are going to have a biblical church

0:59:52.377,0:59:57.142
by purging that out of your evangelism.

0:59:57.148,1:00:06.632
You have to purge it out of your marriage, your idea of man, your idea of truth.

1:00:06.638,1:00:09.765
You have to purge it out of everything.

1:00:09.771,1:00:13.209
God’s Word is true.

1:00:13.215,1:00:16.974
And if something does not line up with God’s Word, it is not true

1:00:16.980,1:00:21.051
and it's not additional truth.

1:00:21.635,1:00:22.588
Do you see?

1:00:22.594,1:00:26.993
Many of you, let me ask you a question, you would possibly say,

1:00:26.999,1:00:30.882
“Yes, brother Paul, I believe in the inspiration of Scripture.

1:00:30.888,1:00:35.159
I am a conservative Christian. I believe in the inspiration of Scripture;

1:00:35.165,1:00:40.099
that Scripture was God breathed, that it is infallible, inerrant;

1:00:40.105,1:00:43.946
that it is a faithful communication of God's truth.

1:00:43.952,1:00:46.902
Ok. You believe in the inspiration of Scripture?

1:00:46.908,1:00:50.984
You have only won half the battle.

1:00:50.990,1:00:52.605
Here is the next question:

1:00:52.611,1:00:57.597
But do you believe in the sufficiency of Scripture?

1:00:58.025,1:01:03.712
Do you believe that the Scripture is sufficient

1:01:03.718,1:01:08.298
to make the man of God adequate for every good work

1:01:08.304,1:01:14.527
or does the man of God also need Freud, Skinner, Rogers and everything else

1:01:14.533,1:01:18.690
in order to counsel God’s people, in order to teach God's people,

1:01:18.696,1:01:20.413
in order to train God’s people?

1:01:20.419,1:01:26.840
You see, this is what Scripture is saying.

1:01:26.846,1:01:30.698
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching,

1:01:30.704,1:01:34.637
for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

1:01:34.643,1:01:41.343
so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

1:01:41.349,1:01:47.750
Every good work that needs to be done in the body, every good work,

1:01:47.756,1:01:50.552
the Scripture can adequately prepare us for that.

1:01:50.558,1:01:56.252
The Bible says in 2 Peter chapter one,

1:01:56.258,1:02:02.437
Everything that we need for life and godliness has been granted to us.

1:02:02.443,1:02:07.973
Everything we need to direct our marriages have been granted to us in this book.

1:02:07.979,1:02:12.921
Everything we need to raise our children have been granted to us in this book.

1:02:12.927,1:02:18.234
It is found there. It is.

1:02:19.195,1:02:21.461
And you have to make a decision.

1:02:21.467,1:02:27.840
Do you want a biblical church, or do you want a halfway biblical church?

1:02:28.375,1:02:31.800
There is no, like the philosopher said,

1:02:31.806,1:02:37.638
“What does Jerusalem have to do with Athens?”

1:02:37.652,1:02:44.258
What does Christianity have to do with all these doctrines of the age

1:02:44.264,1:02:47.486
that give no light and bring no blessing

1:02:47.492,1:02:51.332
and kill all fruitfulness in the life of a person?

1:02:51.338,1:02:57.738
Now, I want to go to one other thing and then we will bring this to a close,

1:02:57.744,1:03:01.988
because I know I have gone on very long.

1:03:01.994,1:03:06.137
Let’s just look for a moment at body life.

1:03:06.143,1:03:14.308
I want us to go to chapter twelve of the book of Romans, verse 3,

1:03:14.314,1:03:17.887
“For through the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you

1:03:17.893,1:03:21.477
not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think;

1:03:21.483,1:03:24.344
but to think so as to have sound judgment,

1:03:24.350,1:03:29.236
as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.”

1:03:29.242,1:03:34.757
Listen. As you grow in your Christian walk,

1:03:34.763,1:03:39.362
you are going to come across true, honest believers

1:03:39.368,1:03:44.554
that are not quite as mature, that are rather problematic.

1:03:44.560,1:03:47.296
You need to constantly be asking yourself this question.

1:03:47.302,1:03:49.618
What do I have that I have not received,

1:03:49.624,1:03:53.506
and if I have received it, why do I boast?

1:03:53.512,1:03:55.840
Who made you what you are?

1:03:55.846,1:03:58.446
By God’s grace you have been saved.

1:03:58.452,1:04:03.620
By God's grace, a work of sanctification continues in you.

1:04:03.626,1:04:06.680
There is no room for boasting in the Christian life.

1:04:06.686,1:04:14.935
And there is no room for comparison of setting one saint against another.

1:04:14.941,1:04:20.270
I remember one time a woman who had done a great deal of damage

1:04:20.276,1:04:22.760
with her wickedness in the Church,

1:04:22.766,1:04:27.173
and one morning she came just running down the aisle.

1:04:27.179,1:04:29.842
I was preaching, and she was weeping,

1:04:29.848,1:04:33.150
and she just fell on the steps of the platform

1:04:33.156,1:04:35.870
and she was crying out to God for forgiveness.

1:04:35.876,1:04:40.014
And I looked up and I saw the faces of the people in that crowd.

1:04:40.020,1:04:49.358
And I mean, they were like, unbelieving, unforgiving.

1:04:50.131,1:04:53.856
The woman had done some bad things.

1:04:53.862,1:05:00.795
And I went down and I put my hand on her shoulder and I prayed for her.

1:05:00.801,1:05:05.542
Afterwards, some people came up to me and they said,

1:05:05.548,1:05:09.509
“How could you touch that woman?”

1:05:09.515,1:05:15.425
And I said, “Because if she doesn’t get forgiven, I have to go to hell too.”

1:05:15.431,1:05:18.276
You see the point?

1:05:18.282,1:05:20.130
Mercy...you know,

1:05:20.136,1:05:27.295
if you need evidence that we are not perfected at the moment of our conversion,

1:05:27.301,1:05:29.559
if you need evidence of that,

1:05:29.565,1:05:33.763
then just listen to this one statement by Jesus Christ.

1:05:33.769,1:05:38.807
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”

1:05:39.034,1:05:43.167
That shames me, that verse; and I will tell you why.

1:05:43.173,1:05:47.545
A man like me who has received such mercy,

1:05:47.551,1:05:51.377
I have to be told to be merciful?

1:05:51.825,1:05:54.505
I have to be reminded to be merciful?

1:05:54.511,1:05:56.329
After the mercy I have received,

1:05:56.335,1:05:58.953
after the things I have done and been forgiven.

1:05:58.959,1:06:06.473
I have to be reminded to be merciful? That is pathetic.

1:06:11.271,1:06:14.921
And so body life is, again, built around humility.

1:06:14.927,1:06:17.264
It is built around a mercy.

1:06:17.270,1:06:20.951
It's built around thinking more of others.

1:06:20.957,1:06:24.497
And he says: "For just as we have many members in one body

1:06:24.503,1:06:28.606
and all the members do not have the same function,

1:06:28.612,1:06:31.677
so we, who are many, are one body in Christ,

1:06:31.683,1:06:34.605
and individually members one of another."

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

1:06:41.535,1:06:42.705
and I didn’t want to go there

1:06:42.711,1:06:51.232
because I didn’t want to spend the entire night having you just sitting here.

1:06:54.642,1:06:59.349
Sometimes I look at my wife

1:06:59.355,1:07:04.769
and, you know, men are really bad in that we begin to think at times

1:07:04.775,1:07:07.802
that our wives are an extension of us,

1:07:07.808,1:07:11.349
and our children are an extension of us.

1:07:11.355,1:07:16.624
We forget that they are persons in their own right.

1:07:17.703,1:07:23.401
There will be things between our wives and Christ that we know not of.

1:07:23.407,1:07:27.740
But sometimes I sit there and I try to remember this:

1:07:27.746,1:07:32.464
She is God's daughter.

1:07:32.470,1:07:35.337
Now I don’t know if any of you have daughters.

1:07:35.343,1:07:38.651
But I have a little daughter.

1:07:39.221,1:07:44.396
I don't know where my Christianity would go if somebody tried to hurt her,

1:07:44.402,1:07:48.561
but I would do everything in my power to stop them.

1:07:48.567,1:07:53.949
I mean, If you really don't want to be my friend,

1:07:53.955,1:07:57.709
then do something bad to my daughter.

1:07:58.342,1:08:01.413
I can't even imagine; someone would have to restrain me

1:08:01.419,1:08:04.262
if somebody did something to my daughter.

1:08:04.268,1:08:11.286
And I always try to remember my wife in that context with her Father.

1:08:11.292,1:08:15.679
She is God’s daughter.

1:08:15.685,1:08:19.023
I am going to mess with her?

1:08:19.028,1:08:21.435
I am going to hurt her?

1:08:21.441,1:08:24.608
If I being evil can love my daughter so much

1:08:24.613,1:08:27.005
that I would throw myself in front of a train for her,

1:08:27.011,1:08:31.121
or fight any man on the face of the earth at least for two seconds

1:08:31.127,1:08:34.509
before he knocks me out,

1:08:34.515,1:08:38.770
am I going to suppose that I want to deal with God in that way,

1:08:38.776,1:08:40.475
treating harshly his daughter?

1:08:40.481,1:08:42.477
Now let’s take that farther.

1:08:42.483,1:08:48.189
You see, C S Lewis said this one time and I can’t quote him directly,

1:08:48.194,1:08:53.500
but basically he said this, “There are no common people.”

1:08:53.506,1:09:05.835
Every person you meet will either be, one day, a monster in the bowels of hell

1:09:05.841,1:09:10.602
or will be a creature so splendid and glorious

1:09:10.608,1:09:13.796
that if you could see them now in that future state,

1:09:13.801,1:09:18.399
you would fall down on your face and have a tendency to worship them.”

1:09:18.404,1:09:22.828
All right, now I want you to think that about your brother in Christ for a moment,

1:09:22.834,1:09:24.060
your sister in Christ.

1:09:24.067,1:09:30.366
Don't deal with this person in a harsh manner.

1:09:30.372,1:09:32.915
Realize what they are.

1:09:32.921,1:09:36.377
Realize what has been paid for them.

1:09:36.384,1:09:39.402
Realize what they are going to become.

1:09:39.408,1:09:44.033
Realize the relationship they have with God,

1:09:44.040,1:09:46.997
and you will begin to treat them differently.

1:09:47.004,1:09:48.287
Do you see that?

1:09:48.292,1:09:55.121
They are not just some common little believer who attends church.

1:09:55.127,1:10:00.489
They are God’s and one day they will be more glorious

1:10:00.495,1:10:05.142
than anyone could even imagine.

1:10:06.952,1:10:09.473
That is church.

1:10:10.051,1:10:16.832
And he goes on and he says that we are members.

1:10:16.838,1:10:19.675
I am told that I am one with my wife

1:10:19.681,1:10:24.918
and that only an insane man tears at his own flesh.

1:10:24.924,1:10:31.096
Only an insane man practices self mutilation, I mean, we all now that.

1:10:31.102,1:10:33.886
You see a man on the side of the street,

1:10:33.892,1:10:35.295
and he is ripping his arm off,

1:10:35.301,1:10:38.000
you don’t say, “Hey, how is it going?”

1:10:38.006,1:10:42.514
I mean, you say, “That is a very problemed person.”

1:10:42.520,1:10:52.514
All right, now, to attack my wife is insanity, the worst form, to rip at her.

1:10:52.520,1:10:58.493
Brother and sister in Christ, same thing, members.

1:10:59.295,1:11:00.555
And just remember this:

1:11:00.561,1:11:05.476
You are not just ripping at one of your members.

1:11:05.482,1:11:11.627
You are ripping at one of Christ’s members, part of his body.

1:11:11.633,1:11:16.705
The Church in Corinth was sternly warned that anyone destroys the body,

1:11:16.711,1:11:19.588
God will destroy them.

1:11:20.867,1:11:24.267
You see, you need to have a heightened view of God.

1:11:24.273,1:11:25.568
You have heard that over and over.

1:11:25.574,1:11:27.904
We need to have a heightened view of God.

1:11:27.910,1:11:29.747
That's true. Do you know what else though?

1:11:29.753,1:11:37.361
You need to have a heightened view of other believers;

1:11:38.932,1:11:44.150
of what they are, what they will be, what was paid for them.

1:11:44.156,1:11:46.044
And we are members.

1:11:46.050,1:11:48.969
Now, gosh, I can do this in America,

1:11:48.975,1:11:54.554
but here in Europe you guys are a lot more civilized.

1:11:54.560,1:11:56.211
But I am going to do this anyways.

1:11:56.217,1:11:59.350
Let’s see. Who has got tennis shoes on?

1:11:59.356,1:12:03.728
Who wants to volunteer? Who is really brave? Is anybody brave?

1:12:03.734,1:12:06.260
You don’t need tennis shoes, you can do it in socks.

1:12:06.266,1:12:08.111
Ok, stand up.

1:12:08.117,1:12:11.601
And, really, guys, if I am out of line, just realize I am an American,

1:12:11.607,1:12:15.138
I am from the South. I have no culture, ok?

1:12:15.174,1:12:23.674
Now I want you to run over to that rail as fast as you can, and then run back.

1:12:23.680,1:12:25.785
As fast as you can.

1:12:25.790,1:12:27.964
Go!

1:12:28.932,1:12:33.066
Ooh, I should have got tennis shoes on him. He almost went out the window.

1:12:33.072,1:12:38.999
Ok, now I want you to grab one foot like this,

1:12:39.005,1:12:44.036
and I want you to run over there half way, and then come back.

1:12:44.042,1:12:48.142
Halfway? yeah, just half way. We don't want you going out the window.

1:12:48.148,1:12:51.863
Ok. Slower, right?

1:12:51.869,1:12:55.619
All right. Now grab this foot like this,

1:12:55.625,1:12:58.214
and grab the other one and pull it back.

1:12:58.220,1:12:59.506
All right, thank you.

1:12:59.512,1:13:07.585
Now look. I removed one member and he could not move as fast,

1:13:07.591,1:13:11.314
as quickly and definitely he wasn’t as graceful.

1:13:11.320,1:13:13.214
I removed one member.

1:13:13.220,1:13:18.222
I remove two members and I incapacitated him completely.

1:13:18.228,1:13:21.055
He couldn't even walk.

1:13:21.061,1:13:27.778
Now, do you think every member in the body of Christ is important?

1:13:27.784,1:13:31.948
This is not only an encouragement for every saint

1:13:31.954,1:13:36.190
to come to understand their giftedness and their part in the body of Christ,

1:13:36.196,1:13:41.127
but it is also necessary for us to appreciate every saint

1:13:41.133,1:13:45.996
and to encourage them to be a part of the body, because we need them.

1:13:46.002,1:13:54.411
Now, if you tell saints, “Look. We need you to minister according to your gifts.

1:13:54.417,1:13:59.651
We need you to be a part of this body because, man, we are out to do this.”

1:13:59.657,1:14:02.879
Again, that is mechanical.

1:14:02.885,1:14:05.642
We just want you to be part of the factory.

1:14:05.648,1:14:11.071
But if you say, “We need you in this body to minister to your gifts

1:14:11.077,1:14:15.739
because we as a body need you.

1:14:15.752,1:14:17.004
We need your giftedness.

1:14:17.010,1:14:19.025
We need what God has done in your life.

1:14:19.031,1:14:21.818
We need you as a person. We need you.”

1:14:21.824,1:14:26.795
That is church, you see, that is church;

1:14:26.801,1:14:29.503
that we are members of one another.

1:14:29.509,1:14:34.196
And then he goes on and he says this...

1:14:34.202,1:14:39.900
I want to just run down to nine because of the lack of time.

1:14:39.906,1:14:42.303
He says, "Let love be without hypocrisy.

1:14:42.309,1:14:45.202
Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.

1:14:45.208,1:14:48.422
Be devoted to one another."

1:14:48.428,1:14:51.168
So you want to have a church?

1:14:51.174,1:14:54.739
Are you willing to be devoted to one another?

1:14:54.745,1:14:58.419
I am not talking about showing up on Sunday,

1:14:58.425,1:15:03.929
listening to a sermon and running away.

1:15:03.935,1:15:07.607
I am talking about actually entering into relationships.

1:15:07.613,1:15:12.688
You see, Christianity, especially now in reformed circles,

1:15:12.694,1:15:18.662
in many ways has become like almost going to the theater.

1:15:18.668,1:15:21.987
People got their favourite preacher,

1:15:21.993,1:15:25.564
and their favorite worship, and so they go in

1:15:25.570,1:15:29.279
and they take their seat in the church.

1:15:29.285,1:15:32.109
We ought to get a thing with a popcorn holder

1:15:32.115,1:15:37.549
and a place where you can put your Coke to watch your favorite preacher,

1:15:37.554,1:15:42.806
to watch your favorite worship guy, and then to say good bye.

1:15:42.813,1:15:46.314
And the best part is, it's free.

1:15:46.351,1:15:51.540
Unless you're in a baptist church and then they make you pay a tithe.

1:15:51.546,1:15:53.061
It's free.

1:15:53.067,1:15:54.200
That is not church.

1:15:54.206,1:15:55.948
I hear ministers say all the time,

1:15:55.954,1:15:58.953
"The Bible says you shall not forsake the assembling of yourselves together.”

1:15:58.959,1:16:00.051
And what he is saying is,

1:16:00.057,1:16:02.571
“Listen, you need to come hear me preach.”

1:16:02.577,1:16:05.915
But what it is saying is you don’t forsake the assembling of yourselves together

1:16:05.921,1:16:07.717
so that you can minister to one another,

1:16:07.723,1:16:10.152
exhort one another, encourage one another.

1:16:10.165,1:16:21.903
That is why, at least, there is less obstacles in doing this sort of thing in a small fellowship.

1:16:21.909,1:16:25.571
And if the fellowship grows larger, to either,

1:16:25.577,1:16:29.448
some of the members that are in that fellowship that are from a certain part of town,

1:16:29.454,1:16:31.300
send them over there to start another church,

1:16:31.306,1:16:35.729
or at least break this thing up in some sort of house churches and things like that,

1:16:35.735,1:16:39.490
so that you can actually get involved in ministering to one another.

1:16:39.496,1:16:41.382
Another thing that is very important.

1:16:41.388,1:16:46.800
I was preaching down in a place in Alabama a few weeks ago

1:16:46.806,1:16:49.886
to a group of people in Tharptown, Alabama.

1:16:49.892,1:16:52.477
And I just love these people, they are just wonderful.

1:16:52.483,1:16:58.374
And I was preaching, and it was going a little bit long.

1:16:58.380,1:17:01.521
I know you can’t believe that, but it was going a little bit long

1:17:01.527,1:17:04.245
and I said, “Now, stop that.”

1:17:04.251,1:17:07.183
They all kind of looked up. I said, “I know what you are thinking.

1:17:07.189,1:17:10.096
You are all thinking about leaving here and going to El Rancho.”

1:17:10.102,1:17:16.008
El Rancho is the most favorite Mexican restaurant there near the church.

1:17:16.014,1:17:20.831
As a matter of fact, it is the only restaurant in the whole entire town.

1:17:20.837,1:17:23.063
And I said, “I know what you are doing.

1:17:23.069,1:17:24.941
You're not thinking about church anymore,

1:17:24.947,1:17:27.942
you're thinking about going to El Rancho."

1:17:27.948,1:17:31.301
And they were like, you know, all feeling guilty.

1:17:31.307,1:17:33.713
But I said that because I wanted to teach them something.

1:17:33.719,1:17:43.655
I said, "Now stop. Ask yourself right now. Are you doing church?"

1:17:43.661,1:17:47.104
I said, "I want you to look at something a little bit different.

1:17:47.110,1:17:50.922
Right now, you are sitting under the preaching of the Word of God.

1:17:50.928,1:17:54.764
We have worshiped collectively and we have prayed collectively.

1:17:54.770,1:17:57.716
Now you think you have done something spiritual,

1:17:57.722,1:18:01.589
and then you are going to leave and you are going to go to El Rancho

1:18:01.595,1:18:05.187
and do something not so spiritual.”

1:18:05.193,1:18:08.443
I said, “Actually, the way you need to look at it is,

1:18:08.449,1:18:12.995
you are leaving here to go to church.”

1:18:13.001,1:18:14.746
And they are like, “Well, what do you mean?”

1:18:14.752,1:18:18.569
I said, “Now, if you go there and talk about your favorite football team or something,

1:18:18.575,1:18:20.346
not necessarily.”

1:18:20.352,1:18:24.603
I said, “But do you realize, you are not talking to each other right now.

1:18:24.609,1:18:26.956
You are not ministering to one another.

1:18:26.962,1:18:29.679
You are listening to a sermon, which is necessary,

1:18:29.685,1:18:32.288
you have worshiped collectively and prayed collectively,

1:18:32.294,1:18:34.828
which is all necessary and good and it is part of church.

1:18:34.834,1:18:38.372
But what do you say now that as soon as I dismiss this,

1:18:38.378,1:18:44.385
we all go over to El Rancho and have church?”

1:18:44.391,1:18:51.708
We go over there, sit down at a table with a fellow believer,

1:18:51.714,1:18:54.436
talk to them, get to know them,

1:18:54.442,1:19:01.559
find out what is going on in their life, eat some chips. God is good.

1:19:01.565,1:19:04.500
And just get to know one another,

1:19:04.506,1:19:08.324
to love one another, to bless one another.

1:19:08.330,1:19:12.598
You see, their whole idea of church revolved around coming into that place,

1:19:12.604,1:19:18.255
worshiping collectively, listening to a Bible study and then leaving.

1:19:18.261,1:19:19.607
That is not Church.

1:19:19.613,1:19:22.508
That is a very essential part of Church.

1:19:22.514,1:19:29.062
But see, there you go again just identifying it with a service, a meeting, a meeting place.

1:19:29.068,1:19:33.254
It is you collectively caring for one another.

1:19:33.260,1:19:38.788
There was a pastor down in Argentina, and he had grown the church to about 600,

1:19:38.794,1:19:40.181
and that is the language he used.

1:19:40.187,1:19:43.001
He said, “Because I had grown the church to 600.”

1:19:43.007,1:19:45.021
And he said, “I was miserable.”

1:19:45.027,1:19:49.389
He said, “Finally I came under such... I didn’t even know why.

1:19:49.395,1:19:52.107
I just knew something was wrong; knew something was terribly wrong.”

1:19:52.113,1:19:56.822
So he set aside time for prayer and fasting, and studying the Scriptures,

1:19:56.828,1:20:00.877
and it just seemed that the Lord impressed upon his heart through the study of Scripture,

1:20:00.883,1:20:06.329
that everything he had built was just hay, wood and stubble,

1:20:06.335,1:20:07.688
that he needed to start again.

1:20:07.694,1:20:12.413
He is a really personable guy, a really great speaker, knew how to do things,

1:20:12.419,1:20:15.382
and I mean people were coming to that church in the droves.

1:20:15.388,1:20:17.714
And God was saying...

1:20:18.196,1:20:19.729
So this is what he did.

1:20:19.735,1:20:25.268
The next Sunday, you know, they got the big worship service and everything,

1:20:25.274,1:20:30.494
and the music director goes, “And now, pastor Ortiz,” let’s say,

1:20:30.500,1:20:33.275
“is going to come and give us the Word of God.”

1:20:33.285,1:20:35.343
And he got up and he walked over there,

1:20:35.349,1:20:48.549
and he goes, “Love one another as Jesus loved you.”

1:20:48.554,1:20:50.076
And he sat down.

1:20:50.082,1:20:51.947
And the music director hopped up

1:20:51.953,1:20:55.903
and said, “We will have another song now before the main sermon.”

1:20:55.909,1:21:00.195
So he sings another song and then, “Now our pastor will come and...”

1:21:00.201,1:21:10.359
He goes, “No, really. Love one another as Christ loved you.”

1:21:10.365,1:21:13.726
He said he did that for six weeks.

1:21:13.732,1:21:20.589
And he said on the sixth week, two of the deacons sitting in the front pew;

1:21:20.595,1:21:22.691
one in the front pew, the other one in the second pew;

1:21:22.697,1:21:24.655
the one in the front pew turned around,

1:21:24.661,1:21:27.808
and he said, “As soon as I got through saying, ‘Love one another,’

1:21:27.814,1:21:31.848
the deacon turned around and goes, ‘Hey,

1:21:31.854,1:21:35.985
I think I know what he is trying to tell us.’”

1:21:35.991,1:21:40.334
And what happened was they started serving one another,

1:21:40.340,1:21:41.846
caring for one another.

1:21:41.852,1:21:45.702
The Spirit of God began to work.

1:21:45.708,1:21:50.608
The deacons started searching out the widows in the church who were alone.

1:21:50.614,1:21:56.785
I mean, just all kinds of things. Do you see?

1:21:57.371,1:22:01.668
This is church. That is church.

1:22:01.674,1:22:11.314
Now, he goes on and says, “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love;

1:22:11.320,1:22:16.067
give preference to one another in honor.”

1:22:16.073,1:22:21.758
Boy. We are not a people who know much about honor.

1:22:21.764,1:22:24.599
In America, we pride ourselves,

1:22:24.605,1:22:28.571
"We don’t have a king and we are never going to have a king.

1:22:28.577,1:22:31.133
And I don’t care who you think you are.

1:22:31.139,1:22:34.057
I am just as good as you are."

1:22:34.063,1:22:35.547
That's our mentality.

1:22:35.553,1:22:41.186
Independent spirit - I bow my head to no one.

1:22:41.192,1:22:44.838
That is not Christian.

1:22:46.489,1:22:49.956
He says, "Give preference to one another in honor,

1:22:49.962,1:22:55.471
not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.”

1:22:55.477,1:22:59.459
Look. But this lagging behind, look what it is in.

1:22:59.465,1:23:02.440
Don't lag behind in being devoted to one another.

1:23:02.446,1:23:06.821
Don't lag behind in giving preference to one another.

1:23:06.827,1:23:09.578
“Rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation,

1:23:09.584,1:23:14.152
devoted to prayer,” for your brothers and sisters in Christ.

1:23:14.158,1:23:18.819
“Contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.”

1:23:18.825,1:23:23.051
Do you do that? Do you practice hospitality?

1:23:23.057,1:23:30.120
Invite people into your home, feed them?

1:23:30.126,1:23:32.117
Call over other believers?

1:23:32.123,1:23:35.742
Hey, come on over to my house tomorrow.

1:23:35.748,1:23:39.312
I am going to put a pot of stew on and we'll just talk about the Lord.

1:23:39.318,1:23:40.441
Do you open your home?

1:23:40.447,1:23:43.969
Do you know it is one of the qualifications of an elder?

1:23:43.975,1:23:47.840
He has to be hospitable. He has to open up his home.

1:23:47.846,1:23:49.886
And if he doesn’t, he doesn’t qualify.

1:23:49.892,1:23:54.398
I don't care if he is the best teacher on the face of the earth.

1:23:54.404,1:23:55.178
Do you see?

1:23:55.184,1:23:58.730
You can say, “Oh, we can look past that, because he is a great Bible teacher."

1:23:58.736,1:24:01.475
No, you can’t.

1:24:03.749,1:24:06.769
“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.”

1:24:06.775,1:24:12.276
Now, I want you to just think about this for a moment.

1:24:12.282,1:24:17.723
A guy says... I will put this in the context of marriage;

1:24:17.729,1:24:21.390
A guy says, “I can’t love my wife.”

1:24:21.396,1:24:23.673
He is a Christian. He is in the church.

1:24:23.679,1:24:28.725
He comes to the pastor and he says, “I can’t love my wife.”

1:24:28.731,1:24:31.160
Ok. You can't love her as a wife.

1:24:31.166,1:24:32.677
"No."

1:24:32.683,1:24:38.380
Can you love her as a fellow believer?

1:24:38.386,1:24:40.402
"No."

1:24:40.408,1:24:45.459
Can you love her as a lost person?

1:24:45.465,1:24:47.259
"No."

1:24:47.265,1:24:51.320
Can you love her as an enemy who persecutes you and curses you?

1:24:51.326,1:24:52.336
"No."

1:24:52.342,1:24:55.708
Christ has commanded you to love her in all those ways.

1:24:55.714,1:24:59.695
See, you are not just called to love your brother.

1:24:59.701,1:25:03.792
You are called to love your enemy who persecutes you and curses you

1:25:03.798,1:25:06.441
and wants your eternal condemnation.

1:25:06.447,1:25:13.786
So if you are called to love that guy, most certainly you can love your brother.

1:25:13.792,1:25:17.475
Do you see that?

1:25:28.761,1:25:33.267
Do you know, honestly, what my goal is in life?

1:25:33.273,1:25:38.203
I mean, I kind of have a little... I figured I wasn’t going to get everything, you know,

1:25:38.209,1:25:40.371
I wasn’t going to be able to accomplish everything,

1:25:40.377,1:25:44.323
so I thought, “I am going to set out one goal.”

1:25:44.329,1:25:50.504
But it is kind of an all encompassing goal.

1:25:52.449,1:26:03.623
If I can grow in my love toward my wife,

1:26:03.629,1:26:12.194
if I can manifest Christlike love toward her, that is my goal.

1:26:12.200,1:26:15.793
You say, “Well, that is kind of puny.”

1:26:15.799,1:26:20.240
Obviously you are not a husband.

1:26:21.928,1:26:23.765
But look at this.

1:26:23.770,1:26:32.539
If I can love the person with whom I have the closest, most intimate relationship,

1:26:32.545,1:26:38.770
she seeing all my flaws, and I having to bear with all of hers,

1:26:38.776,1:26:44.409
then love is not going to be a problem with everybody else, is it?

1:26:44.415,1:26:48.141
I am so tired. I told someone.

1:26:48.147,1:26:50.767
They said, “Why are you going to plant a church somewhere?”

1:26:50.773,1:27:03.614
I said, “I am tired of preaching Christianity. I want to go live it somewhere.”

1:27:04.122,1:27:14.657
You know, guys, if this is a church and if this is not your goal,

1:27:14.663,1:27:17.580
then what you are going to do is, you are going to go out and bring in people

1:27:17.586,1:27:22.961
and make them two fold sons of hell like yourself.

1:27:24.523,1:27:32.955
But this goal is, to be like Christ and to follow him.

1:27:32.961,1:27:35.753
That is the church.

1:27:35.759,1:27:42.847
A group of people devoted to Christ, devoted to one another.

1:27:42.853,1:27:44.325
That’s it.

1:27:44.331,1:27:49.338
So you can have all those other things and elders and everything else,

1:27:49.344,1:27:55.939
but if you don’t have this, then you don’t have a church, ok?

1:27:55.945,1:27:58.311
All right. Let’s pray.

1:27:58.317,1:28:01.279
Father, I come before you and I pray, Lord,

1:28:01.285,1:28:06.665
that you would help us to understand and to apply these truths,

1:28:06.671,1:28:12.794
to be transformed by them, in Jesus name, Amen.