The Family of God (Part 3)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. And he said to John, behold your mother. And the scripture says from that hour that disciple took her in his own home.

Why? Because they were family. There's no blood relation, but they were family. John had his mother. Now he had another mother. Mary had her children. Now she gained another son who took care of her from that point forward.

That should be the way it is among Christians. That even if you lost everything, there would always be someone to take you in and care for you. And just think about this. Mary had other children, didn't she?

The gospels record that Jesus had what? At least four other brothers and at least two sisters. And yet Jesus has Mary go with John. Why didn't Mary go with her own children? Because the Bible says that her own children didn't believe in Jesus at that moment.

So, you know, that's interesting. Do good to all. What's the message about? Do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. Okay, let's go back to Galatians chapter six. Hopefully that gives you some idea of the New Testament teaching on this subject.

Today, I think in the evangelical church in America, we've kind of got away from this a little bit. And there's a variety of different reasons. I mean, we're living in different times. Back then, most of the Christians were poor.

They really didn't have much. Today, we live in one of, if not the most wealthy society in history. Everybody has what they need, more than they need. So you could argue there's not that necessity today like there was back then.

Whatever the case, yeah, the times are different. Things have changed. I get it. But we need to be careful. We don't want to lose this. We don't want to lose that closeness. It's true. You're not going to be best friends with everybody in the church.

I mean, even in a normal family, you're not best friends with everybody you're blood related to. That's a given. That's not really the point. But if we only see our brothers and sisters in Christ for an hour a week, and for that hour, most of it, we're just sitting listening.

Well, you're listening to me. If that's the totality of the Christian life, you're going to be missing something. What do we do about that? I always encourage people to come out Wednesday night. Why? Because there's times before and after to make connections.

Churches have Bible studies in small groups. I mean, being part of a small group or a Bible study where you can just talk to somebody, I mean, that is so, so important. You know, make connections, keep in contact with fellow believers during the week.

And I don't say any of this to try to pressure someone into showing up Wednesday or to add more things to your plate. I know a lot of people are busy and you feel like you don't have time. I just know, speaking for myself, I know how important it is for me.

I know how much I appreciate and need Christian fellowship during the week that goes beyond Sunday morning. One way we are in fellowship with God is how? By being in fellowship with the people of God.

And when someone starts to drift and you don't see them for a long time, Christians historically have had a term for that. It's called being out of fellowship. Because you're out of the fellowship. And I say this with a heart of compassion.

I've never met a Christian who gets out of fellowship and they become more joyful and things get better. You know, that typically just doesn't happen. And again, the goal, the goal for the body of Christ is to support one another.

We want to love one another, help one another, encourage one another. And by spending time with one another, it helps to keep us accountable. That we would abide in Jesus as part of his body. Okay, Paul continues, you're in Galatians 6.

Paul continues with this idea of support and this happens in different ways. He says in verse 6, let him who has taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. So now Paul is talking about supporting the work of the ministry.

So not only do church leaders care for the flock and pray for the flock and teach the flock. The flock is to care and provide for the shepherd or shepherds, plural, whatever the case may be. Supporting through, supporting the church leadership through tithes and offerings.

Now, people get weird when you talk about money, but this is just what the Bible says, okay? You realize Jesus, his trade was what? He was a carpenter. Everybody knows that. Do you realize Jesus could have theoretically kept working as a carpenter and then split his free time between his friends and family and ministry work?

Can you imagine if Jesus never preached the Sermon on the Mount because he was too busy working on a table and a set of chairs? That would have been a tragedy, right? Now, we're glad that Jesus was committed full-time to the ministry, amen?

Amen. Could a pastor or an elder work a full-time job? Yeah, of course. And at times that's necessary. Even the apostle Paul worked a secular job for a period of time. So could a pastor work a full-time job in some secular enterprise and then split his remaining time between family and ministry?

Could he do that? Yeah, but things would suffer. Things would suffer. And this goes all the way back to the Old Testament scriptures. In Genesis 14, the priest Melchizedek, remember, he received a tithe from Abraham.

The Levitical priests were supported by the tithe, and they ate, the scripture says, of the sacrifices. In the New Testament, 1 Timothy 5, 17 and 18, says, Let the elders who rule be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.

For the scripture says, You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain, and the laborer is worthy of his wages. This is important because there are some church traditions where if a pastor is paid, there's a word they call him.

They call him what? It begins with an H. A hireling, right? If that's your job, you're getting paid, you're a hireling. This is common within the Mormon church. And nevermind that their leaders live in mansions, but that's another story.

The average bishop of a local church doesn't get anything, but that's another situation. 1 Corinthians 9, here's another verse. 1 Corinthians 9, 13 and 14. Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar?

Even so, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. So church leaders support the people, and I want to support you. I want to serve you and back you up and do anything I can for you.

So church leaders support the people, the people support the flock, supports the shepherd. So again, this just ties in that the church supports the church. All right, now the next section we're getting to the end is talking about reaping and sowing.

When you hear about reaping and sowing, what do you think of? Prosperity. Prosperity, yeah. Sometimes you have to watch out when you hear a pastor talking about, hey, you need to sow your seed and donate to the ministry.

When you hear that on TV 9 times out of 10, that's probably a bad sign. But what is he talking about here? Oh, there's the financial aspect to it, I suppose, but he's talking about spiritual things. Reaping and sowing, this comes from agriculture.

If you sow a few seeds, if you only plant a few seeds, you're going to get a lousy harvest. But if you sow many seeds, there's a greater yield. Look at Galatians 6, 7, and 8. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked.

For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. The first statement, do not be deceived, God is not mocked.

The false teachers in Galatia were deceiving people, you remember, by having them trust in their own works, that you're not saved by faith in Jesus alone, you're saved by faith plus circumcision and plus your other deeds.

So the people were deceived, many of them. And some of the people were claiming the name of Jesus, but their deeds were evil, they were sowing to the flesh. So Paul may be making a contrast between the true shepherds preaching the true gospel and the false shepherds.

The ones preaching the true gospel are to receive support, those who preach the false gospel, not so much. And while they are convincing people, and while false teachers can deceive others, they're not deceiving God.

You know, they may, like what Mark referenced, the sow your seed, and where they turn Christianity into some scam to get money, they may be able to deceive some people, they're not deceiving the Lord.

They may make a mockery of the faith, but God, the scripture says, will not be mocked. The scripture says about such people who continue in rebellion to God, they are planting seeds, aren't they? And if they keep planting those seeds of rebellion, one day they are going to reap a harvest of misery and ruin.

But to the one who is walking with the Lord, you're sowing seeds. Just think about this, today, later on, tonight, tomorrow, all throughout the week, you are sowing seeds. What's the harvest going to be like?

Well, he says, keep serving one another. Keep serving, do good, do good to all. So there's two paths, one, sowing seeds to the flesh, one, sowing seeds to the spirit. Look at verse 9, he says, and let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

You know, it's easy to become discouraged, because we often pray for and talk about all the bad things and the bad situations that are out there. Paul says, don't grow weary. Sometimes you might feel like you're growing weary.

Sometimes you may be tempted to even give up. And I think discouragement can be one of the biggest enemies for the Christian. This is why we need the family of God. This is why we need one another. The Bible says, iron sharpens iron.

We need to be there and lift each other up. The church is a family. So, you know, sowing and reaping, it takes time. You don't put in a seed and then a plant comes up the next morning, does it? It takes time.

So keep sowing. Don't lose heart. Keep doing good. You will receive a harvest. Your reward, church, is coming. So keep sowing the seed for the harvest. Keep doing good. As long as you have breath in you, look at verse 10, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, but what?

Especially do good to those who are of the household of faith. So the people in this room, you just look around, we have a responsibility to love and to serve one another. This is the household of faith.

God is our father. Christ is the firstborn. We are all what? Brethren. Children of God, members of the household of faith. So don't grow weary in doing good. Help someone out. Support one another. Back each other up.

We're a family after all. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I just pray that from your word we would take these truths, that the Holy Spirit would apply them as he would. But as time goes on, Lord, we know that the spiritual bond is really unbreakable.

And it's going to last forever and ever. We are going to spend eternity with one another. The things in this world are all passing away. Help us to work and to sow towards things that have eternal value.

So Lord, we thank you for this time together. We thank you for your word. We thank you that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ through the blood of Christ. We pray it in his name. Amen. Thanks for listening.

I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscornickchurch .com. And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett.

Until next time, with the grace of God be with you.