God's Purpose for the Church — Emanuel Esh

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God's Purpose for His People

Eternal Father, whence to Thee? As we sang this morning, we are here looking up to You, looking unto You through Jesus Christ our Lord. And we come in His wonderful name, bowing our hearts before You this morning, acknowledging that You are God.

You are the Eternal, the Almighty One, the Creator. You're the One that has created us and You desire that we would know Your heart. And that we would know Your will. And that we would know what You would have us to do.

And so, Father, I pray as I stand here at this place that You would speak, Lord, through this vessel of clay and Your heart and Your will. And that You would somehow, Lord, do something that the name of Jesus Christ would be glorified.

Not just today, but in the hearts of especially these 600 plus students, Lord. That they could go from here, change, different from when they came. That they might be a testimony of the glory of our God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Father, would You anoint me, give me the words to speak. That I may share from Your heart what You would have me to say. This I pray, Father, in Jesus Christ's name. With thanksgiving. Amen. It's a little bit of a challenge to sit here all week.

And then to stand here and to preach something that God would have you all to hide in your hearts. But I trust God for that. I was reminded this morning as I sat here in the worship service. And I listened to that beautiful singing just ascending up towards heaven.

I was reminded of the story I read in the book that Hudson Taylor's biography. And how that he had come back from the mission field. He was there at a convention center and there was a worship service going on that Sunday morning.

And he, having come back from China and having seen the multitudes and the masses, the millions without Christ. And having such a deep desire and burden for the lost. And then he came home. And there the saints of God were joyously gathering together and worshiping God.

A beautiful thing. He just couldn't stand it anymore. He went out and wept. And when the first time I read that, I didn't really understand it. Then I thought of the time that I spent some time in Ghana.

Up in the north. I went out into those villages. I walked out there through those paths, those trails. And we came to a village. And for the first time, they heard the gospel being preached. And they begged us.

Please, please send us some missionaries. And we would go into another village and the same thing would happen. Can't you please send us one missionary to teach us about the ways of God. And with that burden on my heart, I came back.

And on a Sunday morning there at charity. And we gathered together in the congregation, lifted up their voices and they sang and praised God in such a beautiful way. And my heart broke. And I thought of that this morning.

Worship, Mission, and the Purpose of Life

Oh, we love to get together and worship God. We love to get together and we love to sing. And it's right to do that. But what really is the purpose of my life? What really is the purpose of your life?

Is it to come to Bible school once a year? Have a nice social? Hear some good teaching? And then go home to live the American dream? Or is Bible school time to come back from the front of warring against the enemy?

A reprieve, a time of rest where you can once again be fed and receive God's word in preparation to go forth again. I would like to this morning, by God's grace, focus on an overview of the church. Perhaps through that I could share my heart and maybe part of God's heart on his goal and his purpose for us.

I remember the first time that I flew on an airplane. Flew out of Baltimore, I believe. Headed to Jamaica. As the airplane took off and we ascended and we went up and up and up. The houses got smaller and smaller and the cars and all those things just got so small down there.

And I was just in awe at how far I could see. And I thought of, this must be just a little bit of what God can see. I could see for hundreds of miles what God can see all around the world. Think with me if there were an eagle sitting on the top of a high mountain, on top of a tree.

The very peak. An eagle has amazing eyes. That eagle can see for miles and miles. He can see the whole broad overview, the whole perspective of the valley below. But that eagle has such amazing eyes, he can also zero in on a specific spot if he wants to.

If there were to be a fox or a rat or a mouse or something like that running across the ground, way down there, deep down that valley, that eagle with those powerful eyes can see that. If we could look at the Bible a little bit that way this morning and look at the church from an eagle's perspective.

Israel’s Calling to Display God’s Glory

As I thought about that, I realized that the Bible is written in a sense from that way. We're not there in the middle of Egypt when God called His children out. We can look at that from an eagle's perspective.

We can stand back and we can look at the whole panoramic view of what God was trying to do as He raised up His children. As He brought His children out of Egypt there and He took them across the Red Sea by His own mighty power on His right hand.

And He took them into the wilderness there in Sinai. For 40 years they walked through there. And God's desire and God's purpose for His people was that they would become a glorious nation, a peculiar people, a nation of priests who would make intercession for the souls of men all around them.

And that every nation that would be around there, the Ammonites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, and all the other Gilgameshites and so forth, that every one of those nations could look upon His people and that by that they could see God.

By that they would come to know the Creator of the universe, the God of heaven, the Almighty, the Everlasting. And God was depending on His people to be that, so that they could manifest the glory of God to the nations around them.

And as they went through the Red Sea and Pharaoh's army was drowned, you can see God's people at the time of the great deliverance, with great rejoicing, they sang the songs of Moses. And then God led them into the wilderness for a time of testing, trials, a time of proving.

You can see them murmuring when the water is gone. You can see them murmuring and crying against Moses, blaming Moses when the food is gone. But you can see God's hand coming through in a mighty way there.

If we can look at the church from a broad perspective, from an overview this morning, we can see God's heart and desire is for a glorious people, His own people, who will manifest His glory to all nations.

And that is still God's heart today, just as strong as it ever has been. And today, we are standing in the limelight. We are the ones that God is depending on. We are the ones that God wants to manifest His glory through, so that the nations and the peoples of the earth will believe on His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen? See the presence of God. Again, if you were with an eagle's eye watching God's people all the way through the Old Testament, you would see them coming to Mount Sinai, and you would see the smoke and the fire of Sinai there.

You would hear the law of God being given, and you would see the people's response to that. Oh, they desired to follow God. They desired to do the best they can. They tried their hardest to keep God's law, but they failed miserably.

Within 40 days, they made a golden calf, and they despised God, and they raised up another god and said, These be the gods that will lead us on. These be the gods that will take us on. These are the gods that delivered us from Egypt.

What an affront to God. In 40 days, how could that be? I remember, as I was a young boy, reading through the Edgemire Bible story for the first time. I must have probably been seven or eight. I just learned to read, and I was a reader.

I loved to read, and I was just reading almost every book I could lay my hands on. And I got hold of that Bible story book about that thick when I was probably about eight years old. And I began to read through it, and I came to a place in the Judges where it showed about God's people and how they, time and time again, they fell away.

Israel’s Repeated Failure and God’s Mercy

And then God in His great mercy would bring them back again. And I read about four or five stories there in the book of Judges, how that happened over and over again and again. And I was appalled. And I just remember thinking to myself, how could God's people fall into sin so quickly, so easily?

Oh, I did not understand it. That's the story of God's people. And God was disappointed in His people over and over again. He left them down. He led them up to the promised land of Canaan. He had given them so many promises of what that land of Canaan was going to be like.

And He led them right to the very doors of that promised land. And those ten spies came back as unbelievers, and they disgraced the whole congregation and turned them away. We see God's heart of sadness, His anger at their lack of faith, at their lack of faith in His Word, their lack of faith in His promises.

Finally, they walked, they crossed the River Jordan. Joshua led them into that land. And God had a people who believed Him once again. Then we have 400 years of Judges where they again fell into sin over and over again.

This is the picture of God's people. It shouldn't be that way. It shouldn't be that way. Then we have God using a shepherd boy named David and how He used David and raised up a kingdom there. And David was a mighty warrior of God and He brought such victory to that land.

And the nation of Israel, God's people began to be lifted up and God's people began to stand. And they became the attraction of all the nations in the days of Solomon. People from afar off, they came to see.

What did they come to see? They came to see the Queen of Sheba. What did she come for? She came to see this mighty King and His people. And what was it about these people? Why are they so great? Why are they so blessed?

And she testified that God is with them. The Queen of Sheba. But then we can, if we were to watch this nation, if we were to watch the church, and she is called the church there, which is simply God's people.

It's the congregation of the Lord. It's the assembly of God's people. And there, if we watch them as that kingdom crescendoed up in the time of Solomon, and it was a glorious kingdom, but then there began to be sin coming in, and this kingdom went down again.

And you can watch her as she goes down and down, another step down continually. They turned to idolatry and all kinds of sin and immorality. And God's people ended up being taken into captivity. Went to Babylon.

They could weep with the prophet Jeremiah. They could mourn as she goes into captivity. It's God's people. What about God's purpose? The people have lost a vision of their purpose. The people have lost the vision that God has for them.

And because of that, they go into captivity. They focus on themselves. They focus on their own personal lives. They forget that they've been redeemed. They forget their purpose. They forget why they are even created.

And they go about establishing their own righteousness. They go about doing their own thing. And God, the witness and testimony of God's people, falls into the dirt again. That should not be. Isaiah, many promises, looking forward, speaking of everlasting joy, speaking of being redeemed and so forth, and we see those times when once again God, by His mighty hand, brought back His people to Jerusalem and made her a praise again.

Nehemiah came back and rebuilt the walls. They're God's people. And once again, a testimony went forth of God's people in the earth. I thought of Esther living in the palace at Shushan and how she prevailed and how Haman came against them.

It's such a beautiful picture, but there's one verse I loved there in Esther. It was after Haman had been caught in his sin and had been exposed and the king had sent out a decree that the Jews should fight back if they're attacked.

You know what it says there? It says that many became Jews. Because of the faithfulness of God's people, many of the people became Jews. And I love that. Then there's a time of darkness again, 400 years, which is called 400 silent years, where God's church, God's people, just kind of are quiet.

Not much happening. But then we have the light begin to shine forth as John the Baptist comes. He's a burning and shining light. We see something new begin to happen and he speaks of one who's to come after him.

Christ’s Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection

And sure enough, there we see some night there we see the birth of Christ and we see the angels singing over that thing and we know it's something unusual. And we see that the day star is rising and there's light shining forth again and God's people are hopeful that maybe God will yet send a Deliverer.

Maybe He will yet send a Redeemer. Maybe He will yet send a Savior and save us from our enemies. And God does that. The Son of God Himself comes and walks on the face of the earth. No longer just prophets, but here is God Himself walking the earth.

See His mighty power in healing. See Him when He walks on the sea. He has power over the wind. He has power over the sea. And He has power over demons. And people are healed. But yet we see Him being crucified.

They take the Son of God. Notice how that focus shifts from God's people to a person. And here we have Jesus Christ in the four Gospels. Beautiful pictures of Christ. And they take Him. This is God incarnate.

And they crucify Him. We see the enemy at work. We see the enemy out to kill, to steal and to destroy. But God has a plan. He is not going to lose. He is going to win. We see Jesus being crucified. If you were to take that powerful, powerful microscope or that telescope from your far off perch and you zero that thing in on the cross when you see the Son of God hanging there.

And you zero right down and you look closely what's happening there. And you see Him hanging there. You hear women weeping. You would see His disciples. You would hear that Roman soldier say, Truly this is the Son of God.

You would hear Jesus say, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. You would hear Him cry out, It is finished. And slumped to die. And you would wonder, what is it all about? You would watch Him take Him into a tomb.

And there they buried Him. And the Sabbath day drew near. And there is a waiting. A waiting. His disciples are sad. His followers are hopeless. But there is another day coming. The first day of the week, it says, The angel of the Lord came down and rolled away the stone.

And Jesus Christ rose from the dead. God is building His church. He is going to build His church. And He used His Son. And now it says that we are His body. His workmanship. We are the congregation of the Lord.

But He, Jesus Christ, was raised from the dead and He went back to heaven. And He sat down at the right hand of the Father. Making intercession for us. But before He went, He gave that last great commission.

To go ye into all the world and preach the gospel. That is still the purpose of God. You see, in the Old Testament, God wanted His people to be a glorious, shining testimony. And the nations were to look in upon them and see what God was doing with them.

And that is what was happening. The nations were watching God's people. And they were watching what was happening there. The design was that those people would come to become Jews. Like they did in the day of Esther.

The Great Commission and the Birth of the Church

Now, the picture has changed a little bit in the New Testament. The New Covenant is that no longer are we waiting for the people to come in. But now we are to go. We are to go into all the earth. We are to go out into all those nations.

We are to go out into all those people and proclaim unto them the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not going to wait for them to come into us. But I am afraid so many times the church of today is waiting for the people to come in.

And to see what we are when we are in here on a Sunday morning. Isn't it a beautiful sight? It is lovely. And so we kind of think this is what church is. This is what it is all about. Yes, on Sunday morning we get together.

Our singing is beautiful. But what does God really want? He wants us to make the church glorious and beautiful. He wants us to be a part of it. But He wants us to go forth into all the earth. That is what He is looking for.

And then Pentecost came. And the power of God, the Holy Ghost was sent forth and shed abroad upon the 120 in the upper room. And there is where we see the actual church being birthed and coming to life.

And how that 3 ,000 were saved and several days later 5 ,000 were saved. And again it says many were added to the church after persecution. More were added to the church and so forth. And then we have the picture.

Then the focus turns no longer. The focus is now off of Jesus Christ. You see when Christ went back to having the focus shift from Him onto God's people again. And then we see through the book of Acts what God did with His people who were willing in the day of His power.

The church was born. She was persecuted. They tried to stamp it out. But the harder they tried to stamp it out the more it spread. I remember a testimony of one of the missionaries in the mission house there on the coast.

One day the missionary wife, she saw a great big fat spider scooting across the floor. One of those kind with big legs. Lots of legs that spiders have. And this spider had a great big abdomen. You know how some spiders have great big abdomens.

Well she went and got something and she went and just, you know, she wanted to kill that spider. She just smashed down upon that thing. You know what happened? Hundreds of baby spiders just went everywhere.

Hundreds of them. That spider was somehow carrying those baby spiders. And when she popped that abdomen just hundreds of baby spiders went everywhere. And that's exactly what God wants us to be. If somehow I could take the heel of my shoe or something and just come down like this on this congregation and see everyone just go every way out to preach the gospel.

That would be the glory of God, wouldn't it? The church used to be the manifest glory of God. I know that this week a lot of the focus was on personal holiness. Practical holiness. Much was preached about me personally.

Speaking to my own heart. But you know God wants us to lift up our eyes into the fields. Lift your eyes up into the harvest where it is ripe. The fields are ripe in the harvest. He says don't get too caught up just looking at yourself.

Yes, there is a time for that. And we need to be serious when we do that. We need to take the word of God seriously. We need to apply it to our heart very seriously. But what does God, what is the purpose of that?

The purpose is not that I might just be holy. No, the purpose is that I might become a partaker of the kingdom and of the church of Jesus Christ, that mighty force that will not be overcome. The church of Jesus Christ will never be overcome.

The Church as Christ’s Invincible Body

Jesus said I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against her. Solomon called her a garden, his sister, his spouse, a spring, a fountain. She is my dove and my undefiled, he says.

Isaiah says she is the strength and the glory of God. This church is supposed to be a beautiful, powerful force that no one can overcome. And no one will overcome the church of Jesus Christ. Now, if your local church falls into sin and goes downhill and is overcome by the world or whatever it may be, then don't think that the church of Jesus Christ is overcome.

No, no, no, the church of Jesus Christ will never be overcome. She sought out a city not forsaken. It is the holy people and redeemed of the Lord. The church is God's building and husbandry, his heritage and his habitation.

In Hebrew, she is called Mount Zion, the city of the living God. The heavenly Jerusalem, the general assembly, the church of the firstborn, rest in heaven. She is to be glorious. Is she alive? Is the church of Jesus Christ alive?

Psalms calls her Mount Zion, the mountain of the Lord's hill, the holy hill. Psalms 15 says, Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in that holy hill? And it gives the credentials of those who will dwell there.

She is the body of Christ, the bride and a spouse and chaste virgin, the mother of us all. The church of the living God. And I thought about it. She's called a woman. And this is one woman that you should desire after.

You should set your eyes upon this one. And you should make her beautiful. You should realize that she is beautiful. And in God's sight, she's the bride for his son. He's preparing a bride. Christ is looking for a bride.

And you and I, as being born again believers, we are a partaker of this thing. And God wants us. Us. He wants every one of us to be a testimony. To be a people that the nations will look upon. And that we can go out and influence the nations.

That's the purpose of God's church today. Is that they should be a glorious, invincible people. They should be known. They should be showing forth the glory of God everywhere they go. Let us not forget the purpose of what God has us here for.

The Church as a Unified Body

Now, therefore, you are no more strangers than foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints in the household of God. And ye are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.

In whom all the building fitly framed together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In whom ye also are built together for inhabitation of God through the Spirit. Again, a lot of the emphasis this week was on personal holiness.

But I want to encourage each one. And I don't know where you all are from. I don't know your home situation. If I could give a word of encouragement to you young people. It's good to focus on personal holiness.

But what really does God want? God wants to see a body. God wants to see His body. Jesus Christ wants to see His body. Working and flowing together as a body. Put away individualism. Put away. Submit yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Become a part of a living organism. The church of Jesus Christ. Don't think that you can preach the gospel all by yourself. Yes, you can. And that is our personal responsibility. But I'm trying to get something across to you that without.

Unless the church of Jesus Christ is manifested. The nations really can't see it clearly. They cannot see Christ clearly in just one person. But when they see the body of Christ working together in the love of Jesus Christ.

Then they will say, now I can see. And it's important that each one of you become a faithful strength in the fellowship where you are. Put your heart into it. Submit to your elders, your leaders, the fellowship.

And recognize that God wants to see. God wants to use a body to reach the world. And when the heathen see you as a Christian. They can see Christ in you. But when they see the body and how that they flow together and love one another.

Then they will see the fullness of Christ. They will see the manifestation of the glory of God in a more real way. The church of the living God. She is his inheritance. She is the king's daughter. God is her refuge and strength.

A very present help in trouble. And though the earth be removed. And though the mountains be carried in the midst of the sea. Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled. Though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.

God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. This is the church. God shall help her in that right early. Matthew speaks of the kingdom of God. His kingdom. The kingdom of heaven. It is the place of God's throne.

The sanctuary of God. This is the church. And this church is not just this little group here. It is not just our own elite group. The church is... Worldwide is the church. And then there's also local fellowships.

I came across this as I was reading the German. And the German speaks about... has two words that we use for the word church. The one word is Kirche, which is translated church. And that Kirche is the church worldwide.

And then there's another word which is translated in German, which is called Gemeine. Or is Gemeinschaft. Which simply means fellowship. And so we have the church worldwide. But then we have many local little fellowships together.

And those are also called churches. And rightly so. Peter says, we're living stones. Chosen of God. Precious. A spiritual house. A holy priesthood. You see, it was God's design. It is God's design for his people to be holy priests.

Interceding for others. To offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Ye are a chosen generation. A royal priesthood. This is the church. A holy nation. A peculiar people. But ye should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Did you catch that? Two things in those verses that Peter spoke about. A holy nation. You are a priest. To offer up spiritual sacrifices. And you are a peculiar people. That should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

And I was so blessed with the message on Friday evening about the responsibility of being reconcilers. Going out and reconciling the world unto God. Beautiful message of the responsibility of the Christians.

Individually. But we also have the responsibility of the church. In Revelations. Turn to Revelations. Chapter 7. Verse 9. And here we have another picture of the church. Again, this is a view from far off.

The Multitude Before the Throne

And here we see a great multitude standing which no man can number. And these are people from every kindred. Every nation. Every tribe. And every tongue. Every people. And they are standing before the throne.

Before the Lamb. And they have in their hands. Their clothes is white robed. And they have in their hands palms. That's a beautiful sight. And that is the church of Jesus Christ. God is looking forward to that day.

He's longing for that day. When he can tell his son to go and get his bride. Jesus is waiting for that day. But not every kindred. Or every tongue. Or every tribe. Is there yet. Is it? And yet there are many, many millions.

I remember reading a tract. A year or two after I was saved. I read this tract. On the front of the tract it said. That there are still hundreds of millions. Who have never heard the name of Christ. And that just boggled my mind.

I thought. Surely this guy must be wrong. You mean there will be hundreds of millions. That have never yet heard the name of Jesus Christ. But I understand today. That there are several billion. That have never heard the name of Jesus Christ.

I heard a sister testifying just recently. Going into a local city here in Lancaster. And meeting up with a young girl. About 17 years of age. And she began to share with her. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And the girl just in a dumbfounded way. Looked at her. This girl had grown up here in her local city of Lancaster. And had never heard the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this young lady she realized.

That this girl is totally ignorant. She knows nothing of God. She knows nothing of the gospel. She knows nothing of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is in her local town. Where you can hear the gospel on the radio every day.

You can hear the gospel. You can see it on television. But she never heard the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ before. Didn't even know the first thing about God. But there are not only hundreds of millions today.

Billions. In that same place. And what is the church doing? What is the church doing? We love getting together on Sunday morning, don't we? We love to sing the praises of God. We love to share together about how great a deliverance God has brought to us.

We love to give testimony of how God saved my soul. We love to share of what God is doing in my life right now, here today. But what's the purpose? What is God's purpose for saving your soul? What is God's purpose for delivering you out of sin?

What is the purpose that God has washed you in the blood of His own dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ? What is His purpose? And what are you going to do about it? Oh, I pray that God would somehow touch hearts this morning.

That somehow you could get a little picture, a little vision of God's overall desire, design and purpose for His people. God is a jealous God. He longs to have souls from every kindred, tribe and tongue and nation to worship Him.

And He will have them there. When I thought about what was shared on Friday night, it was said that this gospel, that this ministry of reconciliation has been committed unto us. It has been committed unto us.

But you know what? We act as though God would take His Word back and maybe commit it to someone else. We act as though He might someday take that Word back and commit it to the angels. I remember one day calling a business call early one morning from a bishop from a church somewhere local here.

And I don't know how the conversation went that way, but he exclaimed in the midst of the conversation, he said, oh, you don't need to worry about that. He said, the angels are going to preach the gospel.

You don't need to go out and tell them. You don't need to be worried about that. No, God is going to have the gospel preached. He's going to use the angels to go preach the gospel. And I said, where did you find that?

I was totally shocked. But sometimes we have that kind of attitude. But that word stuck in my heart. God has committed unto us the ministry of reconciliation. He has given that thing to us. He will never give it to anyone else.

He will never do that. As long as this world stands, He is still going to hold that word. It has been committed unto us. The ministry of reconciliation. And what is the church going to do with that? Bible school is not just a social.

Bible school should be a time where you come with earnest desire to hear the Word of God preached so that you can go back home and manifest the glory of God in the church of Jesus Christ so that the name of God be lifted up, that Jesus Christ be exalted, and that the people around you...

It is God's desire and God's desire that this peculiar people, that these people be so peculiar, so different, so unusual, that when people meet you, they will recognize something different about you.

That when someone comes into your fellowship, they will sense and see you guys are really different. What is it that makes you so different? You see, we are supposed to be different. We are supposed to be a people called out of God.

We are supposed to be a holy nation. We are supposed to be a peculiar people, that when people come in, they wonder about us and they have questions about us. That is the way it is supposed to be. But it seems sometimes we are ashamed.

It seems sometimes we are ashamed to be different. But God wants it that way. A great multitude which no man can number of all nations. This is God's heart. This is the heartbeat of God. And in God we will have it.

It will happen. It is the end result right here. Will I be a partaker of that? Will I be faithful in that? Can God depend upon me to do that? And they are standing there with poems in their hands. Can you see the multitude this morning?

Can you, from your bird's eye view, can you see that great multitude standing before the throne of God? They are just millions of them. An innumerable company of people. Yes, there is going to be innumerable company of people there.

And they are waving their palms. It is a sign of victory. And they are waving those palms, those victorious palm leaves, before the Lamb and before God and before His throne. And they are saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb.