The Priority Of BBC - [Colossians 1:28-29]

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When you're out of town, you go to different churches. And I'm a simple man, and I just like to go to a church that preaches the
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Word, that preaches Christ Jesus. I don't really care about the music, I don't really care about the atmosphere,
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I don't really care about the building, I don't really care about much, but give me Jesus. I remember one time in California, we took the kids to an emergent church.
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We went to the worship service on Sunday morning, to a good church, and then Sunday night we went to an emergent church, and people were painting on the walls during the service.
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You could walk up and take communion any time the Spirit of God led you. There were some ladies over to the side, making a crucifix out of broken beer bottles.
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And I remember my kids looked at me and they said, Dad, is this a church? I said, no, now be quiet.
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I listened to a sermon preached locally, not here, but locally about a week ago, and the pastor said, you know what, we're all on a journey, we don't want to stop believing about things, here's a psalm of ascent, but before we do that, the number one song of all time is a journey song,
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Don't Stop Believing, or something like that. Played part of the song, exegeted the song, played a little bit more of the song, exegeted some of the psalm, and I just thought, what is going on with people?
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I mean, what would you do if I said, alright, I'm back from vacation, we're going to try a new style, Natalie, cue it up, a little
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Bachman -Turner overdrive and let's go. What are people thinking? What's the purpose of the church?
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Why do we exist? And if you answer that question, everything falls in line. So I ask you this morning, why do we exist?
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What is the purpose of Bethlehem Bible Church? What's the vision statement of the church?
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Do we have a vision statement? What do local churches do? Why did Jesus ordain local churches?
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And if you turn your Bibles to Colossians chapter 1, let's ask the question and then answer it with the words of Scripture.
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How does a church honor her King Christ Jesus? It's not rocket science, it's just sheer stewardship.
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In a day and age where people are trying to manipulate our minds and congregations and wallets, what does the
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Bible say about a church that honors Christ Jesus? There is a reason why in your bulletin on the front page or on your bulletin, there's one verse.
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Every single week, there's one verse on top of this bulletin. There's a reason. Because that is our flagship verse, as it were.
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That is our mission statement. That is why we exist. And again, I didn't get much sleep and I've been out of town, so I think maybe
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I have a little license. Over my dead body are we going to do anything else but that.
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By the power that God gives us, we are a local church designed to honor Christ Jesus.
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And you'll learn today why we exist. What do we do? Who tells us what to do?
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And so this morning, we'll look at Colossians chapter 1, this great book, Colossians, that talks about Christ Jesus, the preeminent, wonderful, sufficient
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Savior. I'll read Colossians chapter 1, verses 28 and 29.
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And then we'll have a little background, and then we'll see how our church should honor
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Christ Jesus. Colossians 1 .28. Him we proclaim.
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Jesus Christ we proclaim. Warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
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Paul said, For this I toil, struggling with all His energy that He powerfully works within me.
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What was happening in Colossians? Of course, you don't want to just dive into a book, so what was going on here at this city?
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Here's what was going on. Jesus is good, the false teachers would say, but He's not everything.
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Jesus is okay, but He's not the best. Jesus is not a false teacher, but He's just not everything you need.
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And that's what the false teachers were spouting. And they essentially said this, that your
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Christian life is Jesus plus. Jesus plus angels,
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Jesus plus mysticism, Jesus plus experience, Jesus plus, Jesus plus,
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Jesus plus. And when you add Jesus, you really add something to Jesus, you're really taking away from Christ sufficient atonement.
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And now this church that Paul loves is dealing with the crisis, and where's Paul providentially?
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Where's Paul? Where would you think God would place Paul to help nip this issue in the bud? If you were running the universe, where would you have
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Paul strategically placed? On Main Street in Colossae, wouldn't you? And where's
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Paul instead? He's in jail, far away. And so Paul writes this letter at a crucial time to correct this church and to lead them into the right thinking in this desperate time.
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And he basically says Christ is all you need. He alone is preeminent. So this morning, let me give you three essentials for a
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Christ -honoring church. Whatever church you go to, if you're Dave Jeffries, disobeying the will of God, moving to Texas, looking for a new church, this is what you look for.
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I go out of town for six weeks and Jeffries leaves. How does that work? Whether you're out of town, whether you're thinking about moving, whatever it is, what do you look for in a church?
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Three essentials for a Christ -honoring church for you, for me.
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I think it would be good to kind of just readjust our thinking as well, even if we're the ones staying here.
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Number one, the first essential for a Christ -honoring church is you need to remember the church's purpose.
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Let's call this the right purpose. What is the purpose of the church? If you want to honor the Lord, you need to have the right purpose.
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And if you are aiming at the wrong thing, you're sure to miss the right thing. So what is the goal?
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What's the goal here? I'll tell you what the goal of this church is not. The goal of this church is not a new building.
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I mean, are you kidding me? The goal is new building? Is the goal more money? Is the goal to sell this building?
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Is the goal to have more pastors and have more missionaries? What is the goal? More people?
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We just need more people. If the goal is a new building, then let's bring in the professional fundraisers, let's call them what they really are, professional money extractors, and then
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I'll just let them extract money out of you. If that's the goal, we need a new building, then we need money. Isn't it nice to know, by the way, that we are the church?
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And whether we meet in the compact center, people that meet there now, it's not a church, but if we were to meet there in the compact center, or we meet in the catacombs, we are the church.
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It's not the building. What is the goal? Friendship?
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My kids like it? I like the music? What's our goal? Look at chapter 1, verse 28. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may...
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Here's what Paul and his entourage thought about when it comes to the church of Colossae, and it easily implies for us as well, implies to us, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
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What is the goal of the ministry at Bethlehem Bible Church? And I'll tell you in one word. Maturity. Maturity.
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If you have children, this should be an easy one, because what's the goal for you as you raise your children? Fun? Oh, it's good to have fun.
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Amusement? Oh, it's nice. Entertainment? Yes. Education? Here we say, I'd like to have my kids grow up.
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The goal of the ministry at our church is maturity. And it sounds normal to us, because we hear the
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Bible every week, but in a world filled full of consumer entertainment, this is kind of like a shock to the system.
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This is when you go to California, northern California, and you're thinking, you know, there's sharks in these waters right here.
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Sharky, sharky, bitey, bitey. So let's just get in carefully, but then you forget how cold it is.
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This is like plunging into a swimming pool full of crushed ice. The mission statement of the local church is that we might mature in Christ Jesus.
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I get asked all the time, where's our mission statement? I might want to just underline this. I have some church vision statements online that I found this morning, and why we need to have church vision statements, according to this group.
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This group says, remember, this is your vision. It's the way God sees you. If your vision is small, your church will be small.
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If you think God's view of your purpose is small, you've been deceived. That's why you need to dream big.
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Here's this church's vision statement. Quote, We see the Life Church as dynamic, spirit -filled, multicultural church numbering in the thousands, impacting our city, our nation, and our world through leadership development and church planting.
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I guess those are good things, but the goal of this church, Paul's goal for Colossae was that you would be mature.
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That's what we're after is maturity. We're not after big churches. Somebody said to me the other day they were doing some business plan, and a so -called
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Christian said to this other person, You don't think it's God's will for you to be poor now, do you? I said,
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It just might be God's will for you to be poor. It might be God's will for our church to be small, large.
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That's up to the Lord. But our goal is each one of you, maturity. I dare you to sit here week after week without feeling the pressure of, in light of the grace of God, in light of what
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Christ has done, I feel the pressure to grow. And to quote John DeBrine, You either grow in grace or you grow in disgrace.
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There are some senior citizens here, I know it. I knew it! We want to mature to look more like Christ, don't we?
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As the Spirit of God energizes us, we look more and more like Christ Jesus. Maturity is the goal.
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And who comes up with the goal? The vocal minority? The democratic majority? Barna?
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Pragmatists? Church history? Creeds? Well, God told me this is what we're supposed to do. I've heard it many times, and I've heard friends tell me, that the pastor said,
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God has told me we need to move to this new land. God has told me we need a big building. God has told me we need to do this.
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God has told me we need to do that. I don't know who tells that person. Maybe some frijoles told the person.
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I'm not sure. But it wasn't God, because here's what God tells the person. If you're going to be in leadership, the goal of the church is maturity.
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Cambridge Declaration said, The Bible alone teaches all that is necessary for our salvation and is the standard by which all
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Christian behavior must be measured. My goal is in a new building. Frankly, if we get the new building, great.
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If not, what changes in my life? If we sell the building, great.
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We could be here for 10 more years. So here, the Lord has, for 14 years, helped guide us, helped guide me to say, you know what, the goal of the church at Bethlehem Bible Church is maturation.
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Now, all of a sudden, we have an opportunity to expand and grow. By the way, I think this is all the Lord's problem, because I didn't try to recruit all you people.
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I didn't try to get you all. I can't satisfy you all. There's nothing I can do about it, but God has given me a bunch of people, so I think he'd probably give us a building, don't you think?
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Because my goal is maturation. My goal is not financial, not for applause, not having a big church.
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I want you to mature, and I want to look at each one of you, or I can't do it, take too long, but every one of you,
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I want you to learn and grow, that we may present every man in Christ.
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People say, well, I'm going to leave if that's the goal. We'll miss you, but I don't think you're going to leave, because I think you know deep down, when there's a crisis in life, how do immature people handle crises?
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One of the reasons why I love Pastor Dave, and there's many, but here's one of the reasons. Dave is mature, so when a crisis comes, it's not this apoplectic anxiety attack.
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There can be stress, and there can be, we're going to have to rely on the Lord, and we're going to have to pray, but you see older people who have been through the wringer, and they're mature.
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How does a mature person respond to trial? Paul says, take a look, that we may present you.
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There's a future evaluation where Paul, and Epaphras, and others along with Paul's entourage, has to present the church that he was responsible to God, on the
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Bema Seat Judgment. This is what we did. To present.
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This is the same language when Jesus might present to himself the church in all her glory. Same language in Romans 12.
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I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice.
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Just as Hannah presents Samuel to God, pastors, apostles, prophets,
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Bible teachers, say, you know what? On Judgment Day, I've got to present you to the Lord of the church, and I want you to be immature.
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No. I want you to be mature. And look at this. How many times do you see every man in verse 28, in verse 29?
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Every creature. Every person. Not just the elite. Not just the special gnostic group.
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Well, there's the in -club, and there's the... No. If you're a man, woman, or child, I don't care how old you are, I want you to mature.
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It's not just a select group. Not just the discipleship people.
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Every person. Every man. Every man. Every man. And what are we supposed to do?
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We're supposed to present every man complete or mature. If you studied the word complete or mature in the
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Old Testament, here's the driving force. And I think there's a good spillover in the New Testament. A mature or perfect person in the
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Old Testament was wholeheartedly devoted to God. Wholeheartedly devoted.
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They had grown up. They had matured. I remember when I was a kid, I always had that growing bean thing that you'd stand underneath, and your mom would measure you.
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I tried to always get up on my toes a little bit and cheat. But men were born good, so I knew it was just my inner goodness rising.
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And so I would mark myself, and I want to grow. Well, we're to grow, but how do you see growth?
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You see growth by seeing yourself get out of yourself and be more wholly devoted to the
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Lord Christ Jesus and His work. As Luther said, we're curved in on ourselves as unbelievers and as new
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Christians, as immature Christians. And now as God works in our heart and matures us, it begins to work out through this wholehearted devotion to God.
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I could ask you the question, are you more devoted to God now than you were five years ago?
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One year ago? And if you can look, I mean, if I compare myself to yesterday,
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I'm thinking, well, maybe not, because I lost my sanctification, I'm back in Massachusetts.
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Just kidding. But five years ago, I am different. I do have, of course, peaks and valleys, but I can see
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I'm getting turned away from myself with this devotion to God that He's working in me. 1
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Kings 8 says, Let your heart be wholly true to the Lord our God. And here's the thing, if I wanted to fleece you,
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I would not let you grow in Christ. I would prevent it. I wouldn't want to preach to you doctrine in Christ. I'd want a bunch of how -to sermons, and I'd give you a bunch of journey songs, because then
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I could manipulate in any way I wanted to. I could fleece you. You show me people go to Benny Hinn on Saturday and it was canceled.
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That was sad, wasn't it? Couldn't happen to a nicer false prophet.
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We're broke. Hallelujah. You keep people immature and then you can manipulate them.
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If you have people grow, it's hard to manipulate them. If I got up today and I said, we're changing everything, and I'm going to start telling you a lot about psychology, because God has really moved in my heart a lot of psychological things.
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I don't think you'd put up with it. Lou's already shaking his head. Lou's the only guy that said amen when
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I said I'm glad to be back. He's already shaking his head. We're not going to let that happen. It's hard to take advantage of mature people.
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And how does maturity look like in your life? Well, now when you're going to evangelize, you can by the grace of God.
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You don't have to call the pastor. You can disciple. You can train. You can give counsel to people.
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You know how to pray. It doesn't mean everyone here has to be a pastor, pastor's wife, missionary, or evangelist.
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But I think there should be a bunch. We need good plumbers. We need godly business people. We need godly mothers right here.
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But the way Paul has heard from God directly as an apostle was the growth of the church, the people, is the goal.
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Do I want church growth? Yes. I want you to grow. I don't care how big this thing gets.
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We've had a holy huddle with how many do we have here, 70 or 80? And we've had a lot of people. As one person said,
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Mike, knowing your personality, this will never be a mega church. And then, of course, when
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Christians mature, they evangelize more, they give more, they do all this other stuff more.
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Other stuff meaning, I don't mean it sacrilegiously, the biblical disciplines more. Sing better.
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The list goes on. They do the one another's better. The responsibility of the elders of Bethlehem Bible Church and my responsibility is that you grow.
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Now, let's not get all caught up in everything else that's going on. We're glad to buy the land. We're glad to have building plans.
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We're glad to try to sell this place. We're glad to do all the other stuff. But I don't really have to have any of it.
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I don't have to say, you know what, I want that so bad, I'm going to change course. I don't want to change course.
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I want you to grow. And by the way, if you think you're mature now, then please be mature even in your analysis of what do we do.
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I don't want to go to two services, but we'll eventually probably have to go to two services unless God removes a bunch of you.
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If God brings more people and we have to go to two services, then maturity is going to say, well, I don't really like it, but I guess
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God is sovereign. You say, well, you know what, that's going to make two churches. Yeah, I guess God can't do anything with two groups of people coming in,
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I guess, so you could just never bless that. Maturity says, you know what, in light of what God has given us, we are to be faithful.
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Stewards are found faithful. That's all we need. Does this sound familiar?
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And He gave some as apostles and some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints, for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the
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Son of God to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
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Does that sound familiar? That is like a mirror to what Colossians 1 says. Ephesians 4 and Colossians 1, it's the same.
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We want you to be mature. We want you to grow. That's my goal.
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It's not trying to make relevant. Let me ask you a question. Is anything more relevant in the universe than God?
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Because if there is, I don't know it. Well, you've got to be relevant. I have only God to give.
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I'm not sure if the Creator of the universe, the One who can forgive sins, is very relevant to you, but He is relevant.
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My goal is not to entertain you. Whether you're a sheep or whether you're a goat, my job is not to entertain.
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There's a great little article by Spurgeon called Feeding Sheep Are Amusing Goats. You ought to read sometime.
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I'll just give you a snippet. If it is a Christian work, why did not Christ speak of it?
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Amusement. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. That's clear enough. So it would have been if He had added and provide amusement for those who do not relish the gospel.
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I did not hear Jesus say, Run after these people, Peter, and tell them we'll have a different style of service tomorrow, something short and attractive with little preaching.
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We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they'll be sure to enjoy it. I read that and I thought, tonight
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I was going to say this morning, come tonight we're going to have a sermon, we're going to have some ice cream, we're going to have some psalm singing, and I think you'll really enjoy it.
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But I'm not going to say that now. You're going to hate it. Be quick,
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Peter, Spurgeon said, we must get the people somehow. The goal isn't consumerism, how many people we can get here.
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The goal is maturity. And with maturity you will be helped with temptation, helped with trials, your trust in the
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Lord will be increased. But I have a question, how do we get there? If the goal is maturation, then how do we get there?
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And the verse goes on to tell us, which gives me the second essential for a Christ -honoring church. If the goal is to get unbelievers, then we water down the gospel.
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If the goal is to make you have an experience with warm fuzzies, then we clip the gospel. If the goal is numbers, then we do self -help.
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But if the goal is maturity, then what do we do? Verse 28. The second essential for a
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Christ -honoring church is the right preaching. Preaching about the right person, Christ Jesus.
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Look at verse 28. Him we proclaim. There you go. Christ we proclaim.
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How do you get people mature? Ten promises? Twelve steps? Forty days? No. Him we proclaim.
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You talk about Christ Jesus. You say, well, I already know about Christ Jesus. I got saved a long time ago. Now I need to know how to have a better marriage.
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Him we proclaim. It's an ongoing tense. Over and over and over and over and over and over.
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Luther said we always preach Him, the true God and man. This may seem a limited and monotonous subject, likely to soon be exhausted, but we are never at the end of it.
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And don't mature congregations love to hear about Jesus? I pretty much had enough of me all week.
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I was going to say, haven't you? But I just got here. Haven't you had enough of yourself all week?
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Like when Anita was singing, He's my best thought by day or by night. I need to be reminded who this
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God is. And so Paul and Timothy and Epaphras, they proclaim
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Christ. The false teachers at Colossae, they proclaim themselves. They proclaim other things.
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Paul said that's not what we do. They don't want you to be mature. We do. How do you get mature? You hear about Christ Jesus over and over and over.
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Barnhouse said if Satan were really to take over a city, this is what would happen. The bars would close.
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No alcohol would be sold. There'd be happy marriages, well -behaved children, no crime, and everyone would be in churches on Sunday where Jesus Christ is not preached.
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After all, it's good to be good and it's nice to be nice. But if you want to be mature, you need to learn about Christ Jesus.
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And when you do, you keep wanting more of the Lord. A lady got saved.
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She said to Spurgeon, Spurgeon, if Christ Jesus does love me like that,
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He'll never hear the last of it. And we never want to hear the last of it either.
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Turn with me, if you would, to Mark chapter 1. I was talking to Tim Boslin about this passage this summer.
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Mark chapter 1. Just thinking about the gravity of Christ Jesus as I was reading an
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Alistair McGrath book. He was making mention of this. Mark chapter 1. Sometimes we read the text so fast we don't stop and have a say -la moment or a stop and let that sink in moment.
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And here's this dramatic account. And I want to read this and I want you to think about what's happening here.
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Mark chapter 1. This is our Master, our Mediator, our Advocate, our Lord, and we need to have this
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Jesus preached to us so that we might mature and honor Christ, honor the Father. Mark 1 .16.
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Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
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And Jesus said to them, Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men. What isn't said there?
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Hi, My name is Jesus the Messiah. The text doesn't even tell us
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He said who He was. And I think McGrath is right. The author,
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Mark, wants you to see the power and the presence and the majesty of such a
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God -man where He goes up and He says to you, tomorrow in the middle of the day at your terminal and you're working, follow
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Me. Who are you? What's your name? Where are you going? Who do you think you are? Can I see your
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ID? These people get up, push away from their work, from their earning, from their fishing nets, and they follow
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Jesus. Now that's a pretty impressive person if He can command that. Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.
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And immediately, they left their livelihood, their nets, and followed Him. And it just keeps going.
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You just say, the majesty of Christ Jesus. Who is like this? I listened to John 7, 8, 9 this morning and I thought,
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Who are you? That's actually what one of the false teachers said to Jesus. Who are you? Who do you think you are?
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He's God. And going a little further, He saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother who were in their boat, mending their nets.
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They're mending the nets. And immediately He called them. And they left their father. Forget work. It's work and father.
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They left their father Zebedee in the boat and hired servants and followed Him. No explanation or elaboration,
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McGrath says, is offered. Yet the fishermen left everything immediately and followed Jesus. No reason is given for their decision to follow the stranger who has so dramatically entered into their lives.
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Mark leaves us with the impression of an utterly compelling figure who commands assent by His very presence.
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He does not even tell them His name, yet they chose to entrust themselves to Him. Isn't that glorious?
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I'm not even going to tell you who I am. You follow me. Okay. That's why Paul said one year later in 2
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Corinthians 4, we proclaim not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord. Let's go back to Colossians chapter 1.
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Paul had talked a lot about Jesus in chapter 1. Him we proclaim. What about Him?
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Not a system of philosophy, not how he personally received Him, but Him. I'm going to say this again in a second, but I'll say it now to kind of say it in advance so you can kind of chew on it for a second.
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I think too much of evangelical Christianity is centered around the conversation that we, how we experience our salvation.
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How Jesus is experienced by us instead of this is just who
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Jesus is. So let's think for a second. Hold on with me. I'll explain what I mean.
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Colossians 1 .15 -20 Paul is going to say, of course
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Jesus is God. Chapter 1 later on he says, Him we proclaim. This is the
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Him we proclaim. H -I -M. He, verse 15, is the image of the invisible
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God. As the Creed said, He's very God of, very God, begotten, not made.
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He's the firstborn of all creation. He's not talking about chronology. He's talking about height, preeminence.
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Firstborn, having inheritance rights doubled in the Old Testament. For by Him all things were created.
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What did the false teacher say at Colossae? Angels. They created everything.
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Jesus is an angel. But here it doesn't say that. Verse 16, By Jesus all things were created, including angels, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.
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All things were created through Him and for Him. Jesus wasn't an angel.
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He's the eternal I Am. Look at verse 17, And He is before all things. Can you imagine?
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The preexistent One. And in Him all things hold together.
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The preeminent One. For verse 19, In Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.
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You think of an attribute of God? Jesus has it. And the great work that God the
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Father had sent Him to do, He did. Verse 20, And through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross.
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You want to mature? Then you need to be reminded, along with me, that we used to have a federal head and his name was
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Adam. We used to be an Adam. And we were like Adam. We were a chip off of Adam's old block.
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Like father, like son. Like father, like daughter. But now we have a new federal head and his name is Jesus. And wouldn't we like to hear about this great victorious vanquisher?
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I think we would want to. Christians need the Gospel as the object of discussion.
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Listen to what Herman Riddibas said. In our society, here's what
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I really think is happening. Salvation discussions about Jesus have moved away from external accomplishment to internal appropriation.
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How we have received Him versus what He is and what He has done. Of course, you can give your testimony, this is how
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God has saved me. But even then, it's not this mystical, pietistic, this is how I personally appropriated
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Jesus and let Him be the Lord, or however we talk. Paul was saying, we proclaim
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Him. We don't proclaim our experience of Him, we're just proclaiming
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Him. Now, it's not always wrong to say this is a personal testimony, but there has been a shift in evangelicalism.
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Listen to Riddibas, the Dutch theologian. While in Calvin and in Luther, all the emphasis fell on the redemptive event that took place with Christ's death and resurrection.
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Later, under the influence of pietism, mysticism, and moralism, the emphasis shifted to the individual appropriation of the salvation given in Christ and to its mystical and moral effect in the life of the believer.
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Accordingly, in the history of the interpretation of the epistles of Paul, the center of gravity, listen, shifted more and more from forensic to the pneumatic and ethical aspects of his preaching.
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Away from what Jesus did on the cross to how I experience it.
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And there arose an entirely different conception of the structures that lay at the foundation of Paul's preaching.
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So Paul says you want to learn and grow. You learn and grow when you learn about this objective reality that took place 2 ,000 years ago.
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Redemption accomplished. You say, yeah, but I already got the Jesus part.
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B .B. Warfield said, our need of Christ does not cease with our believing. I just think what has
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Christ done for us as a church? We are in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5. Christ is in us.
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Galatians 2. We have eternal life. Matthew 25. We have no condemnation.
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Romans 8, John 5. We've passed from death to life. 1 John 3. We'll be with Jesus in the
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Father's house. John 14. We'll rise again in Christ. John 11. We'll never eternally die.
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John 11. We're united with Christ in regeneration. Ephesians 2.
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We're baptized into His death. We're resurrected with Christ. We've been raised with Him. We sit in the heavenly places with Him so our life is hidden with God in Christ.
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When Christ who is our life appears, we will also appear with Him in glory. That's why it's so wrong if I craft a sermon around you and around your needs.
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This is what I want. Well, what's Scaparis want today? Better let him have it. What's Reddy want today?
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Better not let him have it. Whatever it is. That's liberalism. Well, I'm going to exegete you and then
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I'll preach Christ. Fosdick said, let them not end, but start with thinking of the auditor's vital needs and then let the whole sermon be organized around their constructive endeavor to meet those needs.
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But if the goal is, I want you to grow, then the goal is, here's Christ Jesus that we'll proclaim every single week.
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No creativity, no ingenuity. Say, well, I'm kind of bored hearing about Jesus every week.
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Well, I have a couple thoughts. One, stop watching TV because advertisements make you not content.
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Bigger, better. And two, I'd say, have you really considered your sin lately?
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How bad is your sin? Because if you realize how bad your sin is, you realize how great Jesus' death was and His forgiveness, and then you're not going to be bored with that.
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By the way, you won't be bored in eternity praising Christ Jesus, the Lamb who shed His blood on your behalf.
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Griffith Thomas said, this then is the blessed and glorious theme of the Christian ministry. Christ, the
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Divine Person, the Anointed Savior, the Revealer of God, the Atonement for sin, the
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Guide, satisfaction, completion of life, the refuge of the past, the stay of the present, and the hope of the future.
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If you teach VBS, if you teach Awana, if you're in nursery, if you're in junior church, if you're in Sunday school, what's your mandate?
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Preach Christ Jesus. Listen to how
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Paul described Christ in the book of Colossians. I won't give you the reference, but every one of these has a reference. The Son of God, the object of the
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Christian faith, the Redeemer, the image of God, the Lord of creation, the head of the church, the reconciler of the universe, supreme authority over all, the one in whom all treasures of wisdom and knowledge lie hidden, the conqueror of all evil, enthroned at the right hand of God, and the list goes on and on.
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Paul couldn't get over Jesus. Paul, how many years ago were you on the Damascus Road? Twenty, twenty -five?
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And Paul still was praising the Lord. You ever meet a new Christian? And they are so fired up.
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I mean, they're like pyros for God. They're just lighting matches everywhere with the
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Gospel and throwing things out. They're excited. They realize they should have died and gone to hell, and now they're going to heaven based on only one person's work.
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Christ. Okay, three persons. Father, Son, and the Spirit. And then what do we do?
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Oh, you know what? He's overzealous. He'll get over it in a few years. He'll be old and stayed in New England -ly just like me in about five years.
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Okay, let's take the New England part out. That kind of blew it. Paul, Damascus Road, twenty years earlier?
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He never forgot it. And you know what churches do? It's not, let's say,
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Jesus is bad, Jesus isn't Lord, Jesus isn't the Son of God. But we put Jesus off in the corner, and here's how
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Wells described it. The problem of Christ missing as the focal point in church today is not like the abduction of a child who is happily playing at home one minute and then is no longer to be found the next.
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No one has abducted Christ in this sense. The disappearance is closer to what happens in homes where children are ignored and to all intents and purposes abandoned.
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They remain in the home, and they have no place in the family. So it is with Christ in the church.
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He remains on the edges of evangelical life but has dislodged from its center.
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In the old days I kind of was bugged when the sermons I preached 14 years ago from Genesis and Exodus are no longer to be found and they're not online.
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But now, I praise God they are lost. I'm sure
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I preached dozens of sermons that if you were a rabbi, not believing in Jesus, you would say, I get it,
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I like it, that was a good message on Exodus, but where was Christ? And the interesting thing is if you preach the
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Bible, what does Jesus say in Luke chapter 24? What did Jesus say in John chapter 5?
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That the Scriptures testify to Christ. So if you preach verse by verse, Jesus should be showing up.
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So at this church, I want maturation. And I know there's only one way you get it. And that's try to give you
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Jesus from the pulpit, give you Jesus from Sunday school, Awana. When I met with the Awana leaders before I left,
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I basically said this. This is the condensed version. Kids with good manners still go to hell.
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Polite kids still go to hell. I didn't say this part, but I could have. People that march against abortion still go to hell.
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Policemen go to hell. Grandmas go to hell. Everybody goes to hell because they're all sinners unless Christ Jesus is looked upon with entrusting faith.
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And so I want these kids, along with you leaders at Awana, excuse me, VBS, I want the kids to go to heaven.
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So your job is to preach the gospel to them. I found some sermon titles from the last 10 years at other places.
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How can I have a happier marriage? How can I handle my money? How can I like my job?
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Am I caught in an adult children of alcoholics pattern? How can I be a better parent?
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How can I get more time for myself? How can I feel better about myself? What would
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Jesus say to Madonna? Maybe that one has a little hope in it,
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I don't know. How about if you ever stand up to preach in any way, shape, or form, you talk about Jesus Christ?
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You say, you preach too long. Too long about Jesus. If I'm really preaching Jesus, can you honestly say there, by the way, this is a set up for a longer sermon.
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You guys are so dust. No. Charlie, you're not singing today, so we get the extra time.
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I've only preached twice in the last six weeks, so you know it's going to be a long message. I don't want long messages.
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So you know what you say? If it is about Jesus, if it's long messages just with pablum, then fine, cut it off.
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But if it's long messages about Jesus and His word and His life and His atonement and His high priesthood, what else are we going to do?
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Quick go home to see the Red Sox lose? I mean, seriously. That's why Paul got the message.
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That's why Paul gave Timothy the message. I solemnly charge you in the presence of God, even Christ Jesus, this
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Christ Jesus who's going to judge people like you, the preacher, preach the word. And when you preach the word, you'll be preaching
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Christ. Even with our evangelism. Why don't you pray this prayer?
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Lord, as soon as I can get to Jesus, the better. I just look at everybody and I go, when I start a conversation, how can
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I get to Jesus? How can I kind of take over and get to Jesus? Luke and I were walking down the street in Santa Cruz and there was this 30 -foot kind of mobile home deal made of wood.
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And we walked in to take a look at it because it was kind of interesting. It was called the Molecule Home. And I walked in and the creator of it and the sales rep were both there.
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And the sales rep, Paul, came in. He was wearing a blue, what's those kind of ties, what are they called?
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What was it? Bow tie, yeah. It's a bow ribbon. I don't know what it is. And he said, hey, $1 ,000 down and $100 a month will get you this thing.
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Do you like it? I said to Luke, don't answer that question because I see where the sales rep's going.
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I said, it's pretty cool, but I said, I'm not interested. That's okay. We have a place and everything. He says, can you imagine?
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This guy right here made this. Now, the sales rep was smart and I had this hat on.
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It's a construction hat. It's got a K on the front and on the back. It said construction, something such as construction. Somebody gave it to me.
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He goes, so you're in the construction business, eh? I said, I don't know how it came into my mind, but I said, no.
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I'm in the deconstruction business. And he just looked at me like, normal at Santa Cruz, past the hemp shoes.
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And I said, here's what I mean. You just got done praising this guy for this ingenuity, this genius.
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It looks great. It's like a log cabin on wheels. And I said, can you imagine if there was just a bunch of trees over there and then we say, out of all those trees, this just thing came out.
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A lot of time, a lot of billions of years, and it just happened. I said, what would happen to what this man has done?
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It would rob him of his glory. He's been made in the image and likeness of God. He's got a creative mind that God has given him.
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And we say, this is cool, and we give him praise. Here's what I deconstruct. See this world here?
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See that sun? See the trees? See the redwoods? You look at that and then all of a sudden, nobody made it?
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I'm telling you, Jesus Christ made everything and wants our honor. And isn't it bad to think we won't give him honor.
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We'll just think it's Mother Nature. We'll just think it's Mother Earth. We'll just think it's evolution. I didn't know what the guy was going to say.
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He goes, what church do you go to? And I said, well, I'm out of town, but I go to this San Lorenzo Valley Baptist Church down the street, and they go, oh, that's that conservative one.
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We went to one funeral there. What's my point?
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Preachers, Paul's mandate, we preach the Gospel because we want you to grow. But it doesn't stop there.
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When you hear about the Gospel, I hope you just can't get it out of your mind and everywhere you go, it's the Gospel, the
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Gospel, the Gospel. I sit next to a lady in the plane and I think to myself, my flesh says this. I hope nobody sits next to me.
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I hope nobody sits over there either. I'm in C. I want no one in A and I want no one in B because I like to lay down.
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It's been a really rough vacation. I'm going back to BBC. Here there was a couple sitting right there taking some of my spot and half that armrest to my side.
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There was a couple up front and they had wedding rings on and two men. They had a son and the son was just out of control.
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And I said to the lady, I said, that little boy needs a mom. She goes, oh.
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Like, you know, who would say such a thing in a flight from San Francisco? And I said,
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God's ways are always the best ways. She said, yeah, that's true.
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She said, I pray all the time. And I said, I'm a pastor, that's good to hear. Then the conversation went.
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And she said, that must have been horrible what Jesus went through. All the thorns and everything.
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And then I just went right into why did 29 ,000 other Jews, why were they crucified and no atonement? It was the wrath of God poured out on Jesus in our place.
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I deserved it. Forget these other people on the plane. I deserved it. And yet, because God loved me, because the
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Son loved me, He went willingly. The Father sent Him willingly. Can you imagine, Christian?
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We've got this wrong idea. God somehow hated me and then the Son died for me.
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And now I'm loved. God loved you and demonstrated
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His love for you by sending the Son. Of course, then making you reconciled and then now making you born again.
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I'm not the smartest man. I don't have the biggest IQ. But I do know this.
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I really want you to grow. And for those of you that have matured, it thrills me that you're maturing, discipling, praying, teaching.
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I love that. But I want you to know in light of this building, in light of this land, in light of everything else, listen to me carefully.
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Nothing is going to change when it comes to vision, mission, and purpose of this church.
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I never say this word, but I'm going to say it from the pulpit this morning. Friends, we are Calvinists. Calvinists believe that God is sovereign over everything.
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And so, if God is sovereign over our salvation and where we may move and where we may not move, then we can just relax.
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We have a king. We have a leader. Nobody has to freak out about anything. I'm not worried. Don't waste any time on it.
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There are decisions that have to be made. But we just say, you know what, we want maturity. So let's make every decision in light of how do the saints mature and how do we preach
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Christ Jesus to everybody that comes through here. And if we pray for rain, God give us more people to affect and infect with Christ Jesus, well, then we ought not to complain about the mud.
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I don't think it's happening, but just in case it is, I want you to mature and we're going to give you
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Christ Jesus every week by the grace of God. You say, what's the third point?
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I'll have to tell you another time. Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for working in our hearts to make us love
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Christ Jesus, to admire His person. We should have been the ones saying, and we were before we were saved,
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He has a demon. Who are you? Who do you make yourself out to be?
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You're sinning on the Sabbath. And yet now, Father, because of the mediating work of Christ Jesus, we now look at Jesus and say,
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He's precious. He's valuable. He's everything. He's the one that's given me access to your throne.
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He's the one who has my salvation secure. He's the one who bore every one of my sins, even those sins
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I'll commit today and tomorrow, not just the past. He's the one that has given me
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His spirit so that we might live a godly life. So, Father, I pray for Bethlehem Bible Church.
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I pray that you'd help us to grow the right way, maturing people, maturing people who praise
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Jesus Christ more and more and more, to one another here at the church, in the building, and then to other people who are dying for the gospel.
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And it's good to know that all your purposes will come to pass, that you're a sovereign
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God and can be trusted. And once you have set your love on us, we'll never be denied.