Automated Transcript:
Going to be beginning in verse 22, going through the end of the chapter. Again, the material pulling out different things from Jesus’s second year of ministry. And so there are some sections where we’re going to get part of a chapter instead of a whole chapter. And so that’s, that’s the reason why we’re here. Let’s begin with word prayer, Our gracious father in heaven.
We bow before you grateful for the day. You’ve blessed us with, for the opportunities that we have to serve you, to praise your name, to glorify you. And to honor you in all of the ways that you have given us the ability to do, we are so incredibly grateful for the mercy that you give to us each and every day, to allow us to see another day,
to allow us to arise and have the health, to be able to assemble together and serve you, to be able to worship and study your word. We pray that you be with our country and the upcoming days, may there be peace and may those who lead this country make decisions which lead toward peace instead of uprising, pray that you will help us to always strive to live peaceably with all men,
as much as lies within us and help us to always yet stand fast for the faith. Never wavering, always speaking the truth in love. We pray that you forgive us when we sin and fall short of your glory, help us to have a heart that is ready and mindful to repent. When we know we’ve done wrong, but we also ask for forgiveness of those things that we do wrong,
that we may not realize we have done pray that you be with us. As we go through this period of study, may all that we say and do be in accordance with your will. We pray for those in this congregation. Who’ve lost loved ones in recent days, and we pray that you will be with them and comfort them and help them through the difficulties that will come their way in these days.
And weeks ahead, we pray that you will help us to be a strength and a comfort to all those who are struggling and pray that they will seek strength and comfort through your word and through the faith that is in Jesus Christ. All this, we pray in Jesus name. Amen. Matthew chapter 1222 Begins. Then one who was brought to him who was demon possessed,
blind, and mute. And he healed him so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. This was a lease by way of scriptural record. A rather rare recurrence. There would be times where a blind person would be brought to Jesus or would encounter Jesus. And Jesus would heal his sight. There would be times where a person who was mute would encounter Jesus and Jesus would cause them to be able to speak again.
There would be times when someone was deaf or lame or some other individual problem, and Jesus would fix that. But rarely would you have so many different situations, all compounded in the same individual. And yet what you see here is the primary problem back of all of it was his demon possession. Okay? The fact that he was possessed by a demon is seeming to be part of the,
the bigger problem at large, that was causing his other problems. So either way, you’ve got Jesus dealing with three separate issues. This man’s demon possessed. This man’s blind. This man cannot speak. And so Jesus heals him. Now. There’s not some great long record. There’s not some long oratory or fanciful actions that occur. Jesus just heals him.
And the man can see, and the man can speak all the multitudes. Verse 23 were amazed and said, could this be, and what did they say? What did they call him? The son of David. Now, do they mean by that? Oh, look, this, this person’s from the tribe of Judah and happens to be from the lineage of David.
Like they’d been missing anybody from the lineage of David all this time. No. So what do they mean?<inaudible> Gay man of God. Great leader. What was David King? Does Israel have a King at this point in time from among Israel? No, they don’t. Herod is the one who’s been set up by the Roman government, but he’s not actually a Jew.
He’s a Herodians. And so he’s from a completely different lineage. He’s not from the tribe of Judah. He’s not from David. And so they save this. This is not, Oh, look, this guy must be from the tribe of Judah because he’s done this great miracle. No, this is, is this. The Messiah is this man, the son of David,
the one who would reign on the throne of David, the one who would deliver Israel, the savior of Israel. That’s what this statement is. Okay. So notice first and foremost, you have the unparalleled situation by way of other times, other diseases, other things that Jesus has has, has healed, then you have the kind of the unparalleled reaction.
Wait a minute, is this the Messiah? But then notice what occurs. Now, when the Pharisees heard it, they said this fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub the ruler of the demons, the Pharisees knee-jerk reaction to hearing the people question is this, the Messiah is this, the son of David, is this the King we’ve been waiting for,
was not to deal with the question. Honestly, it was not to look at the facts. It was not to examine the potential of that being true. It was to do what Lie Their knee-jerk reaction is to lie. There’s A reality that we face that when we’ve given a lot, a great deal of time and fought and energy to speak carefully and wisely and thoughtfully,
we may speak in a way that is better than our natural reaction. I mean, let’s hope so. W when you’re, when you’re calm and patient and thoughtful, and you’re not in, you’re not in the moment, you may find a better way to phrase things or a better thing to say than when you’re just reacting. But when you’re just reacting,
if we all are just a little bit harshly, honest with ourselves, you tend to be just a bit more honest to what you really think and feel. And this is the Pharisees reacting. This is them being honest to how they truly feel about Jesus. That is, they hate him so much. They will claim. He came from Satan to avoid admitting what they know to be true.
And so their gut reaction, their immediate reaction to the people is no, no, no. This man heals this man cast out demons by the power of Satan. This man cast out demons by the power of Satan. Now, wait a minute.<inaudible> One of the other things that you get when you have kind of that just knee jerk reaction, and you spout something off in the moment is you might not quite have thought through all the implications of your argument.
And that’s what Jesus is going to attack. Jesus is going to attack the premise under their argument, their argument being the only reason he can take the person’s demon away. And we can’t is he’s using the power of Satan and we wouldn’t. Okay. That’s, that’s really, what’s behind this whole thing is they’re trying to lower Jesus. They’re trying to say he’s doing this by the power of Satan to raise themselves up because they look bad because they couldn’t heal the Man.
This Is a defensive act. This, this, this is, this is a negative attack. If we were going to put it in political terms to try and obscure the fact that they couldn’t heal the man at all. So they’re going to try and claim he did it, but he did it by the power of Satan. Okay. So here we are,
Matthew 22, or sorry, Matthew 12, verse 24. This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub the ruler of the demons, then verse 25. But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them now again, though, this is just very similar to what we studied about on Wednesday. They’re saying this, but they’re not spouting this out loud.
They’re not saying this publicly is in front of the crowd. And they’re certainly not saying this to Jesus’ face. And yet Jesus knowing their hearts and serves their argument before they can even begin to spread it. Notice what he says. He says every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. This is by the way, not the most comforting passage to be reading this month.
Okay? I’m just saying, this is not one of the most comforting passages in scripture at this moment in time, every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand here? They are. They’re making this claim that Satan is using his own power to cast out his own demons out of individuals.
And Jesus goes back behind the argument and says, your argument is a logical fallacy. Satan will not work against himself. Certainly not intentionally work against himself. And so Jesus goes back to the premise and says, because the premise you’ve worked upon his faults, your arguments, faults, your answers faults, and it shows you to be who you really are.
And that’s a liar. Okay? But he goes on to say, and if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cash them out, therefore they shall be your judge. What does he mean by this?<inaudible> Do you think there’s a possibility that any of the quite literal descendants sons of the Pharisees? So if you, if you picture the Pharisees here being the middle age and older rabbis and teachers,
the ones who are of elevated stature, the ones who are of prominence, the ones who have power to lose, but you think about the age of Jesus and all of his disciples, likelihood is all of his disciples were younger than him. He began his ministry when he was how old, 30 we’re in the second year of his ministry. So he’s about 31,
32 years old. Most likely all of his disciples are that age or younger. So all of his disciples are probably 30 or 20, or which means they’re the ages of these Benz sons. So are, is there any potential that some of these men’s sons are actually following Jesus? We know there were those who followed Jesus, who weren’t of the 12,
who could perform miracles, you Jesus, Or the disciples came to Jesus that time. And they said, here’s this man. Who’s not with us, but he’s performing miracles. Should we tell Him to stop? So We knew, we know there were people who were following Jesus, but weren’t of the 12 that had the ability to perform miracles. When Jesus sent the 70 out,
he sent the, Have the out, into all the regions around and they came back and they said that we were able to heal people. And we were, and demons were, were willing to submit to us and all of these wonderful things that they did while they were sent out by Jesus and Jesus comes back and says, The thing that’s most important is,
is your name written in the kingdom of heaven? He draws I’m away from the, the glory of the miracles. They were able to perform back to what was most important, and that was their soul Condition. But I say all that To say, is it possible? And I’m just Raising this as an option here. Is It possible that some of the Pharisees own children,
Drin we’re following Jesus? And the answer is certainly yes. So Jesus says, if I do it by the power of Satan, what are you saying about your own children? What are you saying about your own sons who are following me? Who do the same thing? Okay. So now he takes the premise of the argument about a house divided against itself.
Satan casting out Satan, a way, then he lays on them. Well, if you’re saying this is true about me, you’re saying about everyone else who does it? That includes some of your sons. So now they’ve made an argument against themselves. And then he says, verse 28. But if I cast out demons by the spirit of God, surely the kingdom Of God has come upon you all right now,
here’s, here’s the problem. And here’s what he’s done. He took away their arguing about it being from Satan. Okay. That, that the logic doesn’t work. So the argument falls that the logical conclusion of the argument is fallacious. Therefore, a premise is fallacious. So he makes the argument go away. Then he says, now you’ve got an emotive argument,
but if I’m doing it by the power of Satan, that means you’re claiming your sons are doing it by the power of Satan. And you won’t make that argument. That leaves the other alternative because they’re in a situation where either it’s Satan doing it, or What’s the other alternative, it’s God doing it. He’s tired Take in their argument where they’ve lied against him.
He’s torn away the foundation of the argument, he’s shown the logical fallacy. And then he’s put them in a situation. Now, the Only other alternative they have is God, he doesn’t argue for it. He says, if this is the case now in, in reality, he is arguing for it, but he’s setting them. He’s setting them up.
He’s setting them up for a conclusion they don’t want because he’s taken the logic of their argument and decimate. It turned around with the only other alternative, which is God’s the one behind it. And the logical conclusion of God being behind it is I am the son of David. Notice what he said. He said, if I cast out demons by the spirit of God,
surely the kingdom of God, which was a prophecy of old Testament, prophets concerning the Messiah and the one who would sit on the throne in David’s place. The son of David He’s Now forced them into a conclusion that says, if we say it’s from God, then we say he must be Messiah. Do you remember Number what he did with the Pharisees?
When they said by whose authority do you do these things? And he says, I’ll answer your question. If you answer mine first, The Baptism of John from whence, did it come from heaven or from men. And they reasoned within themselves. If we say it was from heaven, then he’ll question us why we didn’t know Bay it. If we say it’s for men,
we fear the people because everyone believes John to have been a prophet, the prophet. And so they say, we cannot say, what’s he done? He’s put them in a logical position where an illogical argument, where they have no other alternatives, they can either admit what is obviously true. Or they can lie and get in trouble. They won’t lie about their sons.
They’ll lie about him, but they won’t lie about their sons. So now they have no other recourse. But to admit that he is exactly who they don’t want to claim he is, Okay. So then we read Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods? Unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.
He who is not with me is against me. And he who does not gather with me, scatters abroad. Jesus. Now not only defies their argument about him using the power of Satan, but he goes so far in the other direction to say, I’m the standard Either. You’re with me or you’re not with God. Now, the Pharisees would never make that argument.
The Pharisees wouldn’t go so far as to say that the Pharisees would, would, would castigate someone who didn’t agree with them. The Pharisees didn’t like those who oppose them, but the Pharisees would not go so far as to claim that they held the position of God, But Jesus did. And so now he says, okay, if you’re working against me,
then that puts you all right. And I watch the logic. Well swing. He said, Satan, won’t cast out Satan And your sons cast out demons. Therefore, if they’re doing it by the power of God, so am I, therefore I’m doing it by the power of God. Therefore the kingdom of God is come. Therefore I am the Messiah.
And therefore, if you oppose me, you’re back on The other team, he just put them on Satan’s team. All without saying all of that specifically, he did it through the logical arguments that he made to defeat there’s place himself, where he belongs and then show them for what they were. Okay. Okay. Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men,
but the blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven. Men. Anyone who speaks a word against the son of man, it will be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy spirit, it will not be forgiven him either in this age or in the age to come either, make the tree good or end its fruit good or else make the tree bad.
And its fruit bad for a tree is known by Fruit. Having set up this situation, having given this argument, he now sets forward that they have a problem because they’re entering a situation where they can, can and are going to condemn themselves. They’re Going to look at the miracles of the Holy spirit and they’re going to claim those came from Satan. And then he says,
I tell you what, let’s just do it This way. The one who produces good fruit, he is a good tree. I Am the one that produces evil. Fruit Is an evil tree. Now, which one are you? He’s laid forth a where Their deeds and their actions and their words judged them. And the people can look at the miracles and say,
that’s not from Satan. They can look at the words of Christ and say, those were the words of God. They can look at the deeds of Christ and say, he’s doing what God said. And they can look at the Pharisees and go, that’s not it. And then they can choose between the two, but he’ll even go one step further.
He’ll say verse 34 brood of Vipers. What’s that mean? You pit of snakes, you family of serpents. How can you notice this phrase? Being evil, speak good things. How do you think they took that About as well as anybody who’s who’s public, public individual. Who’s just been called a family of serpents. You got it. Okay. So he calls them a brood of Vipers.
He says, how can you being able to speak good things? He says for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. He goes back behind all of their accusations and all of their conniving and all of their deceiving and all of their, their attempts to set him up and to get him to say something and get him to do wrong and get him to heal on the Sabbath.
And he says, the problem you have is your evil. You remember John chapter eight, John chapter eight, Jesus said, you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. And the Jews responded. We’ve never been in bondage. What are you talking about? And then Jesus accuses them a few verses later of the being of their father,
because their father was a liar from the beginning. And they were just like him and accuses them of being the children of Satan. And yet they would say, no, no, no, no. We’re the descendants of Abraham. We’re the chosen people. We’re the people of God. We’re, we’re the, we’re the most religious out of the people of God.
What are you talking about? And Jesus said, no, you’re not. You’re a family of liars<inaudible> And they would go so far as to knowingly state that the power of God was the power of Satan.<inaudible> Verse 35, a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things. And an evil man out of the evil is your brings forth evil things.
But I say to you that for every idle word, men may speak, they will give account in the day of judgment for, by your words, you will be justified. And by your words, you will be condemn. Jesus lays on them, the responsibility of their own words. When we get to a mindset that says the ends justify the means.
So I’m going to just change the story a little bit because in the end, everybody will be better for it. I’m going to just manipulate the story a little bit. I’m just going to tell it this way so that in the end, everybody goes along their Merry way. I would call this the Andy Griffith style of truth, Where As long as we just lie a little bit and don’t get caught everybody in the,
and we’ll be better off. And Jesus says, by your words, not your outcomes. Interestingly, you know, when God told the prophets in the old Testament, I want a man who will stand in the gap. I am looking for a prophet who will stand up and speak the truth. He didn’t say, and I’ll judge you based upon how successful you are in changing people’s minds.
When God told Jeremiah that he was going to go out and he was going to preach, share mine as a young man, when he begins his days of prophecy, God tells him I’m going to send you out and I’m going to send you to this people and they’re going to reject you and they’re going to hate you. And they’re going to imprison you and they’re not going to believe you.
And you’re going to go speak anyway.<inaudible> God, let Jeremiah know. I’ll judge you by whether or not you say what I tell you to say not I’ll judge you by whether or not they’ll hear what I tell you to say. And the Pharisees had flipped it around. The Pharisees, wanted themselves to be judged by how many people followed them by how many people listened to them,
by how many people did what they said and, and observed the laws and the traditions that they taught them. And Jesus said, no, you’ll be judged by your words, not by your outcomes. And every day we need to be reminded. That’s still true. Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered that, Hey, they can’t let him just,
just say that teacher. We want to see a sign from you. Oh, the audacity, What were they? What, what, what had they just witnessed that they had responded to the people who saw a man who had a demon who was blind and who could not speak. And now he can see, and now he can speak. And the people see it.
They’re amazed. They think this is the son of David. The Pharisees response is he’s doing this by the power of Satan. And then he goes through all of this and their response is, will show us a sign, But I didn’t know any better. I think they were part of the media. It’s just, W w You know, I, my reaction would be where were you?
Five minutes ago? Thankfully, I’m not Jesus Verse. They, I was waiting for somebody to amen, verse 39, but he answered and said to them and evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. And no sign will be given it except the sign of the prophet. Jonah. Here’s an interesting thing. The people of Nineveh back in Jonah’s day.
So go back in your mind to the book of Jonah. God tells Jonah a prophet in Israel, you go to Nineveh and you do what convert them. Well, he gave him an eight word sermon. You go tell them this. And Jonah did what He got on a boat and started going. The other direction. Nineveh at the time was beginning to come to its power,
but it wasn’t there yet. This was still a hundred years before the Assyrians Nineveh being their capital would destroy the Northern kingdom of Israel. They’re not, they’re not the world power that they would be later, but they’re, they’re starting to come to power. And one of the things they’re known for is their ruthlessness, their evil in their atrocities. They would commit whenever they’d go attack someone and God tells Jonah,
you go tell them to repent, or I’m going to destroy. Jonah goes the other direction. We can surmise as to why. I think it’s pretty obvious in my opinion, that he does not want them to be saved. They’re a threat to Israel and they’re not Israelites. They’re not the people of God. So why should he go save them? Matter of fact,
he’ll say as much in chapter four, when he’ll see God relent because they repented. And he’ll say, I knew it. I knew if they did what you said, you wouldn’t destroy him. So Jonah goes the other direction. God brings up a storm. God prepares a fish. Jonah gets thrown overboard. We know the story. He gets spit up on land.
And then he proceeds to go to Nineveh. Something to notice is all the artistic drawings we’ve ever seen in the children’s storybooks, where Nineveh’s right by the sea, where Jonah gets spat up Nineveh wasn’t by the sea. Nobody in Nineveh witnessed him being spit out of the ocean. He shows up like any other person who shows up at Nineveh, walking there on land and having arrived.
He begins to preach. Did they in Nineveh? See a sign? No. Okay. Jonah went to the city and Jonah began to preach. Jesus now has taken the scribes and the Pharisees. And he’s just said, you are less. The people of God, then Nineveh was in Jonah’s day. But he says, I’ll give you a sign. He says,
you wicked and adulterous generation, the ones who seek a sign. And by the way, they saw a sign, but they weren’t going to believe it. All right, that, that was the thing. The people of Nineveh, they didn’t well, show us, assign, show us, prove it to us. Deuce, call down something from heaven or,
or heal some button. They didn’t ask for that. And yet they repented from least to the greatest. So here, these Israelites are, and they’re saying, show us a sign. He says for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish. So will the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth,
the men of Nineveh will arise in judgment with this generation and condemn it. He said, we’ll believe that you do this by the power of God. Just do one more miracle. And Jesus said on the day of judgment, none of is going to rise up and they’re going to condemn you for the evil adulterous people About me. The only thing you could do to say an Israelite was worse than a brood of Vipers would be to say that Gentiles were better than them and would condemn them.
And that’s exactly what Jesus does. He says because they repented at the many great signs and wonders that Jonah performed, Right? No, They repented at the preaching of Jonah and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it for, she came from the end of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.
Then Solomon performed great signs and wonders and miracles. He had the wisdom from God in judgment, but she came because she had heard of all the things that he did. And Jesus said, she’s going to rise up and condemn you because she having only heard the rumors believed it enough to travel all the way to Israel, to find out if the rumors were true and you won’t even admit they’re true.
When you see them. The queen of Shiva said, when she saw the wisdom of Solomon, she said the half has not even been told, having witnessed it for herself, but they would see the miracles and claim. It came from Satan. When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest and finds none.
Then he says, I will return to my house from which I came. And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits, more wicked than himself. And they enter into well they’re in the last state of man is worse than the first. So shall it be wicked generation?
Jesus uses the illustration of one who, as it were as demon possessed and demons cast out. But instead of doing anything good with the person’s life, they just continue on the way they were theirs. We don’t really know anything about how demon possession works. So we’re not going to try and make a whole lot of speculations. Other than this speculation, the demon came into an individual.
For some reason, maybe it had nothing to do with that individual’s choices. And maybe it did. It seems in this case, it did the person’s choices could have kept the demon from coming back, but he doesn’t make a good choice. Instead. He does nothing with the freedom he’s been granted and the demon returns fold. We can say that much.
We can also bring that forward to a more modern idea. Since we don’t have demon possession today, here’s a person whose life is filled with sin. They hear the truth. They hear the gospel. They repent of their sins. They’re converted to Christ. They’re immersed in water for the remission of their sins. They rise up to walk in newness of life.
All those past sins are gone. So they proceed to go into life now with a new life, with being a new creature, having no sin to their charge, but they don’t change their life. They don’t begin to instill in their life. Good things. They don’t begin to instill in their life righteous actions. They don’t begin to actually all Bey God,
they continue down a road of ambivalence. Do you think Satan’s going to let them stay on that road as his new Satan’s going to give them every opportunity to not only go back into sin, but to go deeper than they ever were before to make sure they never try and crawl out again. And that happens to people. And Jesus said, that’s the situation of this wicked generation.
Now I want to point out this is during the time when Jesus is popular, but what’s going to happen when Jesus starts giving them hard sayings, they’re going to turn on him. They’re going to depart from him. And they’re going to do exactly what Jesus is saying here. Verse 46, while he was still talking to the multitudes. Behold, his mother and brothers stood outside,
seeking to speak with him. Then one said to him, look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak with you. But he answered and said to the one who told him, who is my mother and who are my brothers. And he stretched out his hand toward his disciples and said, here are my mother and my brothers for whoever does the will of my father,
who is in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. At the time that Jesus spoke this, he has bred his brothers. His sisters were not believing as to who he was. It seems to be true that Mary believed who he was. But the majority of his family did not. They would later by all accounts, after his resurrection, they wouldn’t come to understand and believe who he was.
But Jesus said, my family are those who obey God. And a lot of Christians have had to make the choice in their own lives to say to their own family. My family are those who obey God, not necessarily those whose house I was born into. And it’s sad when that happens, but here’s the, here’s the reality behind that statement. Jesus is also letting his disciples know you’re going to have to turn against your family.
If you’re going to be obedient to God. Now, step right back to his statement, to the Pharisees about their sons. If those sons were going to be his disciples and going to follow him, who were they not going to get the support of their family? And so Jesus lays forth an example saying, you’re my family. If you do what I command you,
if you do the will of my father in heaven. But if you don’t, you’re no family of mine. Okay? So we’ll go through the questions and review those Wednesday night. Thank you for your attention. First of all, if as you came into the auditorium, if you didn’t pick up your Lord supper there and the table, as you walked through the door,
now’s a good time to do it. Go back and pick it up. And I’ll continue on with these announcements. If you’re visiting with us, we want you to know that you are indeed our honored guest. If you would pick up one of those colored cards in the Pew, in front of you and fill it out and either leave it on the Pew or hand it to one of us,
either way, it will be taken care of need to remember our sick. I was talking with Marie. Joan is really suffering with her migraine headaches. She’s had several in the past few days and she’s still losing weight. So for sure, keep Joan in your prayers. Dorothy Wilson still suffering from extremely high blood pressure. And as is her husband Rodale. I think his problems are mostly with arthritis,
but anyway, on a brighter note, it’s good to see Noah Olson back with us after having been down with the COVID-19 and in fact, Noah will be our song leader today. Now wait a minute. They switched. So yeah, no one is going to lead the lead. The songs, Elena sharp, Shelly stacks, mother has double pneumonia and is suffering from a Murcia sore in the back of head.
She is the picture I’ve seen is really, really severe. So keep her in your prayers. Barbara Diller is home recovering from rotator cuff procedure, and she’s still in a lot of pain. That arm has to be mobilized for a couple of weeks. And that’s got to be very, very uncomfortable and keep the Ken Phillip keep Ken Phillips in your prayers.
That’s a day old, a friend. He has COVID and he also has blood clots. He has a lot of serious problems. Keep these people in your prayers. Remember Francis Redmond, the loss of her daughter, Sandra this past. Well, it’s been a little over a week now, but she’s doing well. And I think under the circumstances, we’re not recovering,
but handling the situation very well. I have a card here from Rushmore posted on the bulletin board so y’all can read it. But a few days, this is from Louis. A few days ago, I spent 15. I sent 15,000 to get Guyana for nationwide workshops, TV programs, and literature distribution. Before that, I stand about twice as much to India for TV programs and literature,
you help make all of this possible. Thanks Louis. So some of our missionary work appears to be going very, very well today’s service. The song leader will be no Olsen. The opening prayer will be Michael Dale, Marjorie Phillips we’ll have the Lord’s supper. Aaron Cozort will have the sermon and Tommy Laster will have the closing prayer. Thank you all for your attendance.
Good morning. First song. This morning is going to be number 474 seven zero victory in Jesus. We will sing the first and third verses of 470. Let us think. I heard an old, old story. How a savior came from glory, how he gave his life on Calvary to save a wretch like me. I heard his groaning of his precious bla toning that Irie parented up my eyes and enzyme one<inaudible> Oh,
victory. Geez, smile, save. You know, for a river. He saw me and bought me with his reading and he loved me<inaudible> I knew him and I love his do him. He plunged me to victory being knee cleansing. FLA. I heard about a man, John. He is build for me and glory. And I heard about the street of gold beyond the<inaudible> about the angels sing and the old redone them Shannon’s story.
And some sweet day. I’ll sing there. Song of victim Ori. Oh, victory. Jeez. My savior for he saw me and bought me with his reading, blah. He loved me. I knew him and my is do, and he plunged me to victory. The knee cleansing flaw. Our next song is going to be number 604, six zero four.
He’ll sing all three verses. And then after which brother Michael Dale is going to lead us in opening for number 604. I want to be ready to meet him all three verses. Let us think. You may. I have your worldly pleasures, your silver and your gold. You may pile up all the riches that this old world can hold, but I’d rather have my save your and with him,
for least. And for, I want to be ready to meet him in the glory. Then I want to be ready to meet him. And then I want to be ready to meet him in the sky. Oh, I want to me more like him, man, do his blessed come and for, I want to be ready to meet him and the glory that you may talk about,
your riches, your diamonds and your pearls. You may gain the wealth for ages of this and all the worlds, but the savior is more precious with am. I’ll take my stand for, I want to be ready to meet him and the glory and I want to be ready to meet him by and by. I want to be ready to meet him in the sky.
Oh, I want to be more like him and do his blessed CTCA. And for, I want to be ready to meet him and the glory. And there is one thing I can boast of salvation from the fall I’m in air to well thing, glory. My father owns it all. That is why I’m shouting happy and go. He’s come. And for,
I want to be ready to meet him in the glory land. I want to be ready to meet him by and by. I want to be ready to meet him in the sky. Oh, I want to be more like as a man do is blessed man for, I want to be ready to meet him in the glory land. Please bear with me Our great and glorious father in heaven.
How Holy and awesome you are. We humbly bow before you as your servants. And we thank you so much for this time that we have to, and this opportunity that you give us to lift our voices and prayer to you and know that you hear us. We thank you Lord for this time that we have to worship you and songs and to listen to your word.
And we ask that we take what we hear today into our hearts and our minds. And we use it to further your work. At this time, father, we ask you that you be with all of those on our, on our prayer list. Those that have lost loved ones, be with them and comfort them and knowing where their, where their loved ones have gone.
And we ask that you be with those that on the number of those on our list that are sick and ailing. And if it be your will, we ask that you bring them back to us in a better health and let them be here to worship you with alongside us and Edify one another. And that at this time, Lord, we thank you so much for your son who died for us and that we are able to be with you one day in the sky.
We thank you so much for everything you’ve blessed us with and your son’s name. Amen. Long before the Lord’s supper, it’s going to be number 176, one 76, lamb of God, all three verses of one 76. And if you’re using the book, it says two verses, but on the slides, we’re going to go one, two and three.
One in the book is split in. Let’s just go off the slide. One 76 you’ll are only no sand to a time, but you have sent him from your sign to<inaudible> saw God and to be calm the lamb of God. Oh, lamb of God. Sweet lamb of God. I love the lamb of God. Oh, wash me and his precious blood.
My Jesus Christ. The lamb of God, your gift. They cruise as if they laughed and scorn him as he nine<inaudible> King, they named a frog God and sacrifice the lamb of God. Oh, lamb of God. Sweet lamb of God. I love the whole<inaudible> Oh, wash me and his precious blood. My Jesus Christ. The lamb of God.
I was so lost. I should have a side, but you have rot me to yours. To me.<inaudible> your staff and rod. And to be called the lamb of God. Oh, damn up. God sweet lamb of God. I love, Oh, the lamb of God. Oh, wash me and his precious blood. My Jesus Christ.
The lamb of God At, at this time, let’s remember the cross and the sacrifice that Jesus made for our sins. Let’s pray. Heavenly father. We’re thankful for this bread. It represents Jesus’ body. That was nailed to the cross for sins mankind, for him to follow you, please forgive us of our sins. Amen. As pray heavenly father,
we thank for this fruit of the vine, the represents Jesus blood that was shed on that terrible cross for our sins and pray heavenly father, you please forgive us of our sins. Amen. Separate from the Lord’s table. We have an opportunity to give us. We have prosper. That was great. Having a father with thankful for the financial gains you have given us through the years and we pray heavenly father you’ll accept a portion back to you so we can continue the work here at Collierville.
Amen. If you are using a Psalm book, if you want to go ahead and Mark number 909, there’s a fountain free will be the song and the invitation song before the lesson will be number 876 to Canaan’s land. I’m on my way, eight, seven, six, or excuse me. Eight, six, seven, my bad eight, six,
seven. We’ll sing the first, second and fourth verses of 867 to Canaan’s line. I’m on my way. Let us think To Kane Ann’s land. I’m on my way where the so never dies. My dark as night will turn today where the so never a guys. No,<inaudible> no.<inaudible> where<inaudible>. And so never Rose is blooming there for me where the so never dies.
And I will spin and turn where the so never a guys. No<inaudible> no<inaudible> guys were<inaudible> and so never guys. I am on my way to that fair land where the<inaudible>, where there will be no partying and where the so never no<inaudible> fair Wells. No,<inaudible> where<inaudible> and the so never cause it’s good to have no back Take your Bibles,
if you will. And open them to the book of Philippians, It’s good to have each and every one of you here this morning, especially those who are visiting with us, we are grateful for your presence and we hope you will be back every opportunity that you have. We’re also mindful of those who are still with us remotely and mindful, especially of,
of Ms. Francis at this time. And the things that she is going through. Please keep her in your prayers. There are passages in scripture where God encapsulates in a few words, A picture of what he wants. We have a phrase in our society that goes something along the lines of a picture’s worth a thousand words, but a good paragraph or couple of sentences can paint An amazing picture.
And God does that through the Penman, Paul, As he’s writing to the church at Philippa, and he writes to them there in chapter one and tells them exactly what God wants To see when he sees the church. And he paints a picture for us beginning in verse 27, going down through verse 31 or verse 30 of the picture of the church God wants.
And that picture is as accurate today as it was 2000 years ago, Paul writes to the church at<inaudible>. And as we go through this passage, we’ll examine each of these in turn, but I want to read the passage and I want to encapsulate or try to at least to the best of my abilities, The passage, and paint the picture for Olivia In chapter one,
verse 27. Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel and not in any way, terrified by your adversaries, which is to them, a proof of perdition,
but to you of salvation and That from God, for, to you, It has been granted on behalf of Christ. Not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me. And now here Is in me, allow me if you will, to take these verses And present them in their individual message,
break them down into a new thought. I thought that encapsulates what I think Paul is saying here, first and foremost, You see a unique message. And again, this is the picture of the church, a unique message, creating a unified people, standing together for a unified purpose, enduring a unified resistance for a unified reward For everyone who wanted to write that down,
let me go through it again. You have a unique message. Creating a unified piece Bull standing together for a unified purpose, Enduring a unified resistance For A unified reward. We’re going to break these down into three sections. Break this thought down into three sections. We begin in chapter one, verse 27. Paul says only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ.
Paul calls upon the church and God calls upon the church to have a life, to have an existence, to have a conduct, a manner of life that is worthy of the gospel. God sends forth this good news, this message of the cross, this salvation that is proclaimed to the entire world and says, you set your life, your actions, your conduct,
your behavior in view of that. And you make sure your life is worthy of that. Now this is not what he’s saying. He is not saying you make sure and earn your salvation. I’ve laid the ground rules. Now go earn it. Now. That’s not what he’s saying. He’s saying God has called you to something amazing. He has called you to something unique that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the entire world.
The Hindus do not have a gospel message. The Muslims do not have a gospel message. The Chinese do not have a gospel message. They don’t, Oh God. Yes. In his wisdom and knowledge and foresight and manifest wisdom. As Paul describes it in Ephesians laid forth. The salvation that is offered in Jesus Christ by the church, through the blood of the lamb,
that is unique in all the world. And he called me, Calls his church to set their lives, their conduct, their actions, to be worthy of that call in first Corinthians chapter two first Corinthians chapter two, Paul writes to the church at Corinth and we will visit a few other passages, mainly in Corinthians as we go through the lesson this morning,
but keep your finger in, in Philippians because we will be back throughout our lesson. In first Corinthians chapter two, beginning in verse one, Paul writes to them and says, and I brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence that you speech or of wisdom declaring to you. The testimony of God for, I determined not to know anything among you,
except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear and in much trembling. And my speech in my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature yet,
not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing, but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew for had they known they would not have crucified the Lord of glory, but as it is written,
eye has not seen nor ear heard nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love him, Paul, Right to these brethren and reminds them of the gospel he preached and the manner with which he preached it in verses one through five. He said, I did not preach it with excellence of speech. Paul was capable of preaching with excellence of excellence of speech,
but that’s not how he preached. He preached with planus. He says in verses six and seven, that it was not with the wisdom of the age. Paul knew the wisdom of the age. Paul could quote to those in Athens, their own philosophers. And yet that was not the message Paul preached. And he says the message he preached was not from the rulers of this age.
So many people will strive to be seen as those who are high and in accordance and in agreement with those who rule in the world as they’re alive. And Paul says, I don’t care who rules this world? And I don’t care about agreeing with them and I’m not going to spout what they spout. I’m going to preach the gospel. In first Corinthians chapter 15,
he goes on to say, moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel, which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand now, a whole lot of that verse ought to sound a whole lot like first or Philippians chapter one, verse 27. He’s called them to the gospel. He’s called them to that in which they are to stay in.
And he says by which also you are saved. If you hold fast, that word, which I preach to you, unless you believed in vain for, I delivered to you. And now he’s going to rehearse the, the, the central message of what he proclaimed. What is this unique gospel For? I delivered to you, first of all, that,
which I also received that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures. So notice first and foremost, you have a Messiah who died. That was a unique message, But you have A Messiah who died in accordance with prophecies that had occurred hundreds of years before. That was a unique message. He says for Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he Rose again the third day,
according to the scriptures. Now notice you have a Messiah, a savior who comes, who lives, who dies, who does all of this in accordance with prophecies that have come hundreds of years in advance, but he doesn’t just die. He dies and is buried. And that seems to be the end. And everybody thinks it’s over his own disciples thought it was over Mary and the other Mary who came to the tomb,
thought it was over. They weren’t there to see the risen Christ. They were there to anoint a dead body. You see if it had been normal, if it had been like everything else, if it had not been unique, he’d have still been dead, But they can Came to the tomb and he wasn’t in the tomb. And the angel said,
why do you seek the living with the dead? And he Rose the third day in accordance with the scriptures. It’s one thing to prophesy about a Messiah coming. And it’s one thing to prophecy about the Messiah dying. It’s another thing to prophecy about the Messiah raising again from the dead Ed and that doesn’t exist anywhere else in history. And that he was seen by CFUs.
And Then by the 12, after that, he was seen by over 500 brethren at once of whom the greater part remained to the present, but some have fallen asleep. Paul reminds these Corinthian brethren, As he writes to them that Jesus wasn’t just seen by one person or two people or 12 people or 13 people, 14 people, but 500 plus people.
And he says, and most of them are still around. If you care to go to Jerusalem and meet them, You want to see someone who saw Christ. When he Rose from the dead, then go see them. The evidence is alive and walking around. After that, he was seen by James then by all the apostles. Then last of all,
he was seen by me also as one born out of due time. So Paul says there is a unique gospel dif From anything ever in humanity’s existence from then, until now, but that unique gospel create a unified people go back to verse 27 of Philippians, one Philippians one verse 27. Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whether I come and see your maps,
and I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit notice, he says they are to stand fast. They are to hold firm. They are not to depart, not to move away, not to go their own direction, but to stand fast in the gospel message, same thing. He told the Corinthians, he said, the gospel I delivered to you and in which you stand and that they are to stand unified.
They are to stand with one spirit. They are to stand together, Striving together, Err, sorry. In one way, in one spirit with one mind striving together For the faith of the gospel Here, you have a unified people standing together for a unified Purpose. They are to be of one spirit they’re to be of one mind and they are to preach one message for one Purpose.
In first Corinthians chapter one, Paul again writes to Corinth as he He’s introducing his letter to them. And he says, in verse 10, now I plead with you brethren by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind.
And in the same judgment, he said the church, the church that Christ wants the church that Christ built the church that God wants is one that is unified in message in doctrine. And then action. But he’s going to let the Corinthians know that’s not the picture that they look like. If you were to hold up a picture of the church, God wants,
and then you were to hold up a picture of the church at Corinth. They wouldn’t overlap And they wouldn’t match. I remember when I was younger, before we had digital cameras and Cheap scanners and all sorts of crazy fun kids, stuff like that in the technology world we had what was called Transfer paper. And you could take something and you could put it underneath this paper and it was translucent.
You could see the outline something, and you could copy the outline of it. And we ruined a number of baseball cards this way. We wanted to create our own baseball card. So we would, we would transfer the outline of the card over onto another piece of paper. Guess what? Being Five or six year old that I was when I held it up and looked at the two after I was done,
they didn’t look that much. It wasn’t an exact copy. God wants his church to be a unified people standing together for a unified purpose. And that only happens when we have a unified Message. Philippians chapter Two, as Paul continues to write To these brethren, we read Chapter two, verse one. Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love,
if any fellowship of the spirit, if any affection and mercy fulfill my joy by being like minded, having the same, love being one, a chord of one mind, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit or in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
Paul calls upon these brethren who have a unified purpose. And the first purpose he lays before them is care for one, another humility of self and raising up of their brethren to care for them more than we care for ourselves. As a unifying people with a unified purpose, he wants them to preach the gospel, but he also wants them to care for one another.
He goes on in chapter three, chapter three, verse one. Finally, my brethren rejoice in the Lord for me to write the same thing to you is not tedious, but for you, it is safe, but where of dogs, but where of evil workers, but where of the mutilation for we are the circumcision who worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh.
He wants him to be unified in purpose to preach the same message, but he also wants them to care for one another, but he also wants them to beware of false prophets. He wants them to be aware and cognizant that there are people who are teaching that, which is false and believing that the flesh is Enough And believing that they can teach that as long as you are happy,
as long as you are prosperous, as long as your flesh is gratified, you are fine. Nine Paul says no chapter four, Verse eight. He says, finally, brethren whatsoever. Things are true whatsoever. Things are noble whatsoever. Things are just whatsoever. Things are pure whatsoever. Things are lovely was where things are of good report. If there is any virtue.
And if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things, things which you have learned and receive and her Saul and see, or have seen in me, These do, And the God of peace will be with you. He wants these brethren to be unified in purpose, to preach the gospel. He wants them to be unified in care for one another.
He wants them to unified in opposition to false teachers and he wants them to do and teach You. Remember Jesus said in Matthew chapter seven, that the wise man and the foolish man were compared to one another. The wise man was the one who heard the sayings of Jesus and then did them. And the foolish man was the one who heard the sayings of Jesus and then did not do them.
And Paul doesn’t want the church to be a teaching church that doesn’t live its own Teaching. Yeah. So Paul calls upon these brethren to be unified in purpose to declare the gospel, to care for one another to beware of false prophets to do and teach the truth. But then also chapter four, verse 10 through verse 17, to support The gospel church.
If I was one of those churches that had, by what we read in this, in this letter, Ben continually sending Paul support to aid him in the work that he was doing in the missionary work that he was doing. And even at this time, while he is sitting in a Roman prison, They helped to sustain his life verse 10 of chapter four.
But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at year care for me has flourished again, though. You surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Essentially what he’s saying there is you’ve been able to send funds to me, to help me in my situation. And I know you wanted to do it before, but you Couldn’t. This was a poor church,
not a rich one. He said you were okay Able to do this before. But then he says, not that I speak in regard to need for, I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. I know how to be a based, and I know how to abound elsewhere or excuse me, everywhere. In all things, I have learned both to be full and to be hungry,
both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Nevertheless, you have done well that you shared in my distress. Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving. But you only for, even in Tesla, Nikah you send aid ones.
And again, four minuses, Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. Paul says that the church that God wants is a church that’s unified in message. That cares for one another. That stands against false doctrine that is willing to put first the kingdom of heaven, but then is also going to teach and to preach And to support those who go Out to do the same.
That’s the picture of the church that Paul paints a unified people standing together for a unified purpose. And if Paul stopped there, maybe We could believe it’d be all sunshine and roses. If we did exactly that, but Paul didn’t stop there. Did he verse 28 Of chapter one? We remember that he said, and it not in any way, Terrified And not in any way,
terrified by your adversaries with them, a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, that is from God, verse 30, having the same conflict which you saw in me. And now here is in me. Paul sits in a Roman prison. Paul is sitting in prison for the gospel sake and he’s writing these brethren and says, do not be terrified by your adversaries.
Do not be held back, do not be held back by fear, do not be held back by their actions, do not be held back. Do not be terrified. We Are to be a unified people standing together for a unified purpose. Enduring a unified resistance Is everyone Who stands with Satan Resist the gospel. Every one who has said, I will hold allegiance to self,
to sin, to self-gratification and to want. And disobedience of God will oppose the gospel. No, Whether they will do it silently or whether they will do it vocally, they will oppose The gospel. And Paul wants these brethren to remember that that’s no excuse Verse three. We read, I thank my God. Upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine,
making requests for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day, until now being confident of this very thing that he, who has begun a good work in, you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ just as it is right. For me to think this, think this of you, because I have you in my heart in as much as both in my chains and in my defense and confirmation of the gospel,
you all are partakers with me of grace. Paul Paul Said, I’m in chains and bonds. I’m in prison. And yet you share in the same grace. I do. He wants them to know That though. Some people will look at persecution and claim that’s evidence. God’s not with you. Notice what he said here in verse 20 verse 28, he said,
which is to them, a proof of perdition. Have you ever heard the phrase? Well, that wouldn’t be happening to them. If they were the people Of God, They wouldn’t be persecuted the way they’re persecuted. If they were really who they claimed to be. Paul says that to the argument of the evil people. That’s the argument of the unbelievers that they see the church and they see it persecuted and they see it in prison and they see it under bondage.
And they see it going through these trials. When they see that’s proof of perdition of ungodliness. And he says, it’s not. He says, but to you Of salvation, Wait a minute, Paul, what are you saying? Paul is saying, when you are in prison and you are in chains and you are in bonds as I am, I am,
yes. Look at those chains and you don’t see that God is against you. You have evidence he’s for You. Oh, How, how does that work this way? Jesus said to his disciples before he left this earth, if they hated me, they’ll hate you. Also, If they’ve done this to me, they’ll do the same thing to you.
So Paul looked at his bonds and his chains and didn’t say, God, why have you forsaken me? He looked at his bonds and his chains and said, I’ve been granted Grace to preach the gospel, even in chains and in bonds, proof of salvation and that from God. But then there’s this last piece unified people. Let me go all the way back to the beginning.
A unique message. Creating a unified people, standing together for a unified purpose, enduring a unified resistance for a unified reward. Verse 29. Paul writes for, to you. It has been granted on behalf of Christ. Not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake. Wait a minute air. Are you saying our reward is to suffer?
Nope. And yes, because When we share in his suffering, we’re told in scripture, we share in something else, turn over to second or Philippians chapter two, verse five, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ. Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation,
taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him the name, which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of those in heaven and those on earth and of those under the earth.
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God. The father Paul said that we have a unified purpose in, during a unified resistance for a unified reward because suffer with Christ. And then he said, and Christ suffered that God in turn might exalt Him. Philippians chapter two To verse 14, he says, do all things without complaining and disputing that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in the world,
holding fast, the word of life so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labelled labored in vain. Yes. And if I am being poured out as a drink, offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all for the same reason. You also Glad and rejoice with me,
Paul, what do you have to be joyful for? What do you have to rejoice about your suffering, their suffering? Where’s the rejoicing Joy sing is in the reward. The salvation, when this life is over, see Paul could die in prison. As a matter of fact, in chapter one, he said I’m between as it were a rock and a hard place,
because my desire is this is over. My desire is to go home and be with the Lord. I’m in a straight between us two. I don’t know which to choose, but I know for yours Or sake, which one is going to be, Paul would leave that prison for a time. But based Upon what we know from history, wouldn’t be very Long and he’d be back.
And that time he’d never leave. But Paul realized what I read in verse 20 of chapter one, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing, I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness as always. So now, now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death, for me to live is Christ and to die Is gay unified people standing together for a unified purpose,
enduring a unified resistance for a unified reward. That’s the picture of the church that Christ wants, but it all begins with a unique message When our message stops being unique, not because there’s something to replace it, but because we’ve stopped Preaching it and we’ve stopped living it When we’ve watered it down and adulterated it to such an extent that it sounds like everybody else’s message.
It will never produce a unified people, striving Being together for a unified purpose, enduring a unified resistance because when the resistance come, the people who see a message that looks just like the one they’ve always believed, but has no resistance. Guess what they’ll do. They’ll leave that message behind and go to this other one where they’re not being opposed because it’s easier because it doesn’t have any cost attached to it because it doesn’t require anything.
It starts with a unique Message. Paul wrote to the church at Galatians and said he marveled that they were so soon removed From the grace of God that they received through the gospel to go into part two, another gospel, which he said is not another guy. He said, some of you have been deceived and you have departed from the grace of God,
The gins with a unique message Of a Christ who would come, who would die, but wouldn’t stay dead. Who would rise again on a third, on the third day, who would ascend up into heaven, who would sit at the right hand of God who would deliver his people from four? Or excuse me from San for salvation. Yeah. And if you’re outside of the body of Christ this morning,
you need to understand that Jesus Christ came to die. Yes. To save mankind, but to save them by redeeming and purchasing his Church whose body we are. If we hold fast, the doctrine that he left behind. But If we don’t, we are not Of his Jesus said in Matthew chapter 12, these are my brethren and my sisters and my mother,
those who do the will of my father, Who is in heaven. So if you’re outside the body of Christ this morning, you’re outside of the place where salvation is found, where grace is found, where hope is found, where mercy is found. You’re not a part of the people of God. And we don’t want that for you. We don’t want you to stay there.
We don’t want your hope to be damnation. We want your hope to be salvation. That’s found in Christ and found only in his body, which is the church you’re outside the body of Christ. You enter into salvation by hearing the word of God and believing that Jesus Christ is the son of God. You enter into salvation by repenting of your sins and having a change of mind.
That brings about a change of life to go. I’m not going to live that way anymore. I have to be unified with his people. I have to have conduct worthy of the gospel to confess the name of Christ and be immersed in water for the remission of your sins, buried in water, dying to sin, rising up a new creature and newness of life.
And then becoming a part of the church. Because in acts chapter two, we’re told that those who gladly received the word were added to the church by the Lord, based upon them being saved, they weren’t added to the church and then say they were saved and added to the church, but they didn’t join the church. God added to them, them to the church.
They became a part of the body when they had their sins washed away. And they did that when they were baptized, you’re outside the body of Christ this morning, don’t stay there because the picture of the church can be what the church really is. If you’re a member of the body of Christ and your actions in the church, don’t match the purpose,
the unified purpose of the church. Then they need to change. You need to come back, you need to repent and you need to come home. If you have need of salvation, if you have need of repentance, if you have any need at all, why not come as we stand in, as we say, Hey, so Hey, Stu is spring is the founder from the us or,
and he bids Saul free. The dreaming well, you to the fountain free. Will you TIS for you and me thirsty?<inaudible> here. The welcome call, TIS a foul and Oh, and four also there’s a rock that’s flat pan. So is that<inaudible> is for you and me and his stream. I see. Let us, Hey, Angela,
will you to the fountain free, will you TIS for you and me thirsty? So here, the welcome call is found and hope. And for also closing song this morning is going to be number 711 seven one one blessed be the tie that binds or sing the first Bruce, this song, then we’ll have our closing prayer, 711 blessed be the title.
Listen, blessed<inaudible> of the fellowship of<inaudible> that Would you bow with me, God and father in heaven. We’re in date thankful for this beautiful first day of the week that you’ve given us and allowed us the freedom and the privilege to worship fi and sing praises to your name, father. We thank you for the great lessons that we’ve studied here today and pray that we can apply that to our lives,
to be better stewards of your word father. We’re also mindful of those of our number who are sick and have lost, loved ones. We pray father that you will comfort them is you only know how, by the way, pray that as we leave this building, that we will continue to strive to be that light to those around us and set that example and bring the loss to you,
father, we thank you for your son, Jesus, and that great sacrifice that was made. If I would pray, you’ll be with us and keep us safe and forgive us, our sins Christ’s name. We pray. Amen.<inaudible>.