SImple Church: Back to Basics #2 - "What is the Purpose of the Church?" (Selected Scriptures)

The Church Exists for the Exaltation of God, the Edification of His People, and the Evangelization of the Nations

Let's get to the ministry of God's Word. We are continuing on in the sermon series that we began last week that we have called Simple Church, Volume 2, Back to Basics. And this afternoon we come to the second message in that series.

For those of you who are on our email list, I said that as I put this message together and I've got time to meditate and think over it, I am pretty convinced this may be one of the most crucial messages ever preached in the history of Redeemer.

Not because I'm impressive or I have anything impressive to say, but because I think understanding.

The.

Themes and topics we want to talk about today are critical to the life of our church. And so if you have a copy of God's Word, and I hope you do, take it and turn with me to Matthew chapter 28, Ephesians 4, and 2 Timothy 1.

If you borrowed one of the hardback Bibles in the back, that's page 886, 1038, and 1055. Matthew chapter 28, verses 16 through 20, Ephesians 4, 11 through 16, and 2 Timothy chapter 1 from verse 13 through to chapter 2 verse 2.

Quite a lot of reading as we get started. But I hope that it will lay a foundation for what we're going to talk about this afternoon. So join me over in Matthew chapter 28. We will start there and work our way across the New Testament a little bit.

So Matthew chapter 28 from verse 16 through to 20. And if you're able to do so, can I invite you to stand with me out of reverence for God's Word as we read this portion of the Scriptures. Matthew chapter 28, reading from verse 16 through to verse 20.

Brothers and sisters, these are God's words. The eleven disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped, but some doubted. Jesus came near and said to them, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always to the end of the age.

Turn over with me to Ephesians 4. Ephesians chapter 4 and verses 11 through 16. Ephesians chapter 4 and verses 11 through 16. Paul says,. And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and the knowledge of God's Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ's fullness.

Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown about by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. But speaking the truth in love, let us grow up in every way into him who is the head, Christ.

From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love, by the proper working of each individual part. And finally, 2nd Timothy chapter 1.

2nd Timothy chapter 1 and reading from verse 13 right down to chapter 2 and verse 2. Paul says, hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

Guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who lives in us. You know that all those in the province of Asia have deserted me, including for jealous and homogenies. May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Anesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.

On the contrary, when I was in Rome, he diligently searched for me and found me. May the Lord grant that he may obtain mercy from him on that day. You know very well how he ministered at Ephesus. You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commits to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Pray that God will bless those readings from his Word and grant us understanding.

Let's pray, ask for the Spirit's help, and we will come to the ministry of God's Word this afternoon. Let's pray together. Gracious Father, we thank you so much for your Word. We thank you that, as the psalmist says, the entrance of your Word gives light and it gives understanding to those who are simple.

Lord, compared to your infinite wisdom, we are all simple. And so, Father, we would ask that you would cause the entrance of your words, the arrival of your Word, to give light to all of us. And Father, as we pray for our body, we pray also for Coram Dale Medford.

Thank you for Pastor Brian and Pastor Jason who serve there. Pray for them as they continue to minister downtown and pray for their continued growth and their continued pursuit of you as a body. Pray that your Spirit would be at work among them, causing Jesus to be known through that body of believers.

And Father, that's our prayer for ourselves as we come now to the ministry of your Word. May Jesus Christ be known in Word, in deed, and in power. For we ask it in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen. Please be seated.

Well, for your family, we, as I said, are continuing on in this sermon series that we've entitled Simple Church 2, Back to Basics. And this afternoon, I want to speak to you from the theme— really is a question, and all my sermon touters for this series are questions—my question for this afternoon, as you can see from your study guide there, what is the purpose of the church?

What is the purpose of the church? Well, if you talk to different people, you get the sense that as far advanced as we are as a society, and where we are in the history of the church, we still haven't quite figured out what the purpose of the church is, if you were to speak to certain folks.

So some folks will tell you that the church exists to bring about social transformation. This was the idea of the social gospel that came around towards the end of the 19th century. That essentially, the gospel purely deals with the social ills and social concerns of man.

If you don't have a gospel that deals with those concerns, you have no gospel at all. And the social gospel has waned and waxed a little bit, and in its most current form, we see it with so many of the conversations surrounding issues of so-called social justice and what-have-you.

So that's one group of people. Another group will tell you that the church exists purely for evangelism and mission, as one rather prominent megachurch pastor put it, quote, if you got saved last Sunday, that was the last Sunday, I won't mention the name of his church, but blank church existed for you.

And his sentiment there was simply that we exist to deal with non-Christians. This church doesn't exist for Christians. So if you became a Christian, this church stopped being for you last Sunday. Now your job is to turn around and go get more people to come.

So some folks will tell you social transformation, others will tell you we're purely here for evangelism and mission. Others will tell you that the church exists for community. This was the idea that really came to the fore through the Seeker Church movement.

One of the unsung fathers of that movement was a businessman named Peter Drucker, and his whole emphasis was that modern society is losing its sense of community. The church and religion in general, but especially the Christian church, is the one last place where people still care about community.

So let's give people a sense of community through building churches they want to be a part of. And so the Seeker Church movement was born, and we haven't got rid of it ever since. So you hear all of these competing voices, and especially in our day where we have social media, and whereas once upon a time you had to pay money to be able to put your opinions out there, now you can just turn a camera on yourself and talk to everybody with one fell swoop.

But with all of that,.

It raises a question. How on earth can something as simple as the purpose of the church get to be so confusing? Last week we looked at Matthew chapter 16. Jesus said, I would build my church. Well, when Jesus said, I will build my church, sometimes you have to wonder when people talk like this, do we even know, did He even know, forget if we knew, did He even know what He meant by that statement?

Well, of course He knew what He meant by that statement. I put it to you that the Lord of the church actually does have a purpose for the church. That He clearly tells us what that purpose is. You can know it, and you can assess churches by their commitment and their faithfulness to that purpose.

And we recognize this in every other sphere of life. So if I walked into Carl's Jr. and Carl's Jr. started, well, actually I can't use that anymore because they do say plant-based burgers, don't they?

But let's suppose they said, we don't do burgers anymore.

Okay, what do you do?

We're an Italian restaurant now. Some of you in this room just look to me like, what on earth? Because you recognize, hold on, that's not your job. That's not what you do. You're the burger place. Or I went to the airport and the airport said, well, we don't fly anywhere anymore.

Now we just drive people everywhere. You do know you're—some of you would look at that and say, you do know you're an airport, right? Like your job is to fly planes, you know, big metal things that go up in the air.

We recognize that if we get off-purpose, something is wrong. But somehow at times when it comes to the church, it's perfectly fine for churches to be off-purpose as long as they mean well. Well, actually, I'm going to say that the Bible is very clear about the purpose of the church.

And to the degree that we are unclear, we're not going to know what our role in the church is. Beloved, why do faithful churches exist? Why has God predetermined that of all the things that should exist in this world that He has made, one thing that should be in the world are faithful churches for His glory?

Why has God determined that the church should exist? That's really the question I want to explore in this sermon. Here's my answer to that. My big idea for today. It's very simple. Faithful churches exist for three reasons.

No more, no less, as we read the Bible. Three reasons. They exist for the exaltation of God, the edification of God's people, and the evangelization of the nations. That's why every church exists. For the exaltation of God, the edification of God's people, and the evangelization of the nations.

I'll make this point at the end of the sermon, but I'm going to make it now as well. A church can't decide we're big on one, and we don't care about the other two. Or we're big on two, and we don't care about the other one.

As we'll see when we start to compare Scripture with Scripture, the Scripture assumes the church does all three. Maybe we don't do all three well, and maybe we don't do all three with the same amount of vigor and the same amount of.

Effort.

Which, of course, that raises some questions. But either way, the church exists for these three reasons. The exaltation of God, the edification of God's people, and the evangelization of the nations. Simple enough.

That's actually really my point for this sermon. Let's get it straight into it. Point number one, first reason why faithful churches exist, they exist for exaltation. Exaltation, simply put, we mean that the church is a worshipping body.

The church is a worshipping body. So first and foremost, the church exists for the purpose of worship. When you look at God's people, God's covenant people, Old Testament Israel and the church in the New Covenant, you look at God's description of the purpose for why the church exists, and worship is a vital component.

I'm gonna fly through a lot of Scripture, so if you're the note-taking type, please use that study guide and take some notes of some of these references. I think they might even be on the study guide.

So Exodus chapter 3 and verse 12, God has sent Moses to go and deliver His people. Exodus 3, 12, Moses says, I will certainly be with you. This is God speaking. I will certainly be with you, and this will be the sign that you are to you, that I am the one who sends you.

When you bring the people out of Egypt, you will all worship God on this mountain. So God says to Moses, He's worried, like, you're sending me to Pharaoh, you know, I can't go back there. And God says, don't worry, I'll be with you.

And here's the sign. When you go, and when you bring them out, you'll come back to this very mountain to worship. Moses took that to heart, because multiple times in Exodus, he tells Pharaoh that's where they're leaving.

So Exodus chapter 7 and verse 16, it says, God says to Moses, here's what you tell Pharaoh. Tell him, Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, has sent me, excuse me, to tell you, let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness.

But so far you have not listened. So Moses is clear,.

You're,.

He's going to bring these people out, but they're coming out for the purpose of worship. Chapter 8 verse 1, same thing. Then Yahweh said to Moses, go in to Pharaoh and tell him, this is what Yahweh says, let my people go, so that they may worship me.

Isaiah chapter 43 and verse 21, easy way to remember it, 4, 3, 2, 1. Isaiah 43, 21, the people I formed for myself will declare my praise. We cross over into the New Testament and Jesus says exactly the same thing.

And this one I do want you to see. So tell me to John chapter 4. To have this in front of you, John chapter 4. John chapter 4 from verse 20 through to 24. John chapter 4 from verse 20 through 24. This is the story of Jesus and the, what church history now knows as the woman at the well, the Samaritan woman.

They've been having a discussion about the nature of worship. But pick up what Jesus says in verse 20. In fact, this is the woman speaking. Let me read from verse 19 to give us context. John 4, 19. Sir, the woman replied, I see that you are a prophet.

Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem. Now some people have said that this woman is just basically trying to be a distraction and not, basically not trying to deal with the heart of the issue that Jesus is going to raise later.

I don't think he's doing that though. I think he's, she's asking a legitimate question. Because look at what Jesus answers, verse 21. Jesus told her, believe me woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain, and the mountain he's referring to was Mount Gerizim.

That was the mountain that the Samaritans worshipped on instead of Jerusalem. And so Jesus says, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know.

We worship what we do know, because salvation is of the Jews. But an hour is coming, and it's now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him.

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. So right from the mouth of Jesus, he says, the Father's great concern is that he would have a people who would worship him, and that those who worship him would worship in spirit and in truth.

After all, this makes sense when you think about it, doesn't it? If God is supremely zealous for his own glory, if God is, I want to be careful how I put this, but if he is passionate for his own glory, if that is true, why would he not be passionate to have a people who worship him?

I mean, after all, if we are his people, shouldn't his glory, the glory of our triune God, shouldn't that be our biggest preoccupation? I mean, wouldn't it make sense that the greatest good that could possibly exist, our triune God, that the greatest good would be the pursuit of his children, that we as his children would seek to pursue worshipping him?

Puritan pastor Thomas Watson spoke to this theme. I love the way he puts this. He says, quote, this divine worship God is very jealous of. It is the apple of his eye, the pearl of his crown, which he guards as he did the tree of life, with cherubim and a flaming sword, so that no man may come near it to violate it.

God is deeply concerned that his people render to him the worship that is due, that is appropriate to his name. Well, then that begs the question, what does it look like for us to be a people who worship?

If we say the church is a worshipping body, that we, having continuity with the saints of old, the people of God, that we are a worshipping people, what does that look like? A few thoughts. First of all, worship is ascribing appropriate honor to God.

It's ascribing appropriate honor to God. It's saying and doing that which is worthy of who God is. So the psalmist can say in Psalm 29 and 2, ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.

One of my favorite call to worship verses, Psalm 95 and 6, come let's worship and bow down. Let's kneel before Yahweh our maker. Psalm 99 and 5, exalt the Lord our God, bow in worship at his footstool, for he is holy.

Psalm 99 and 9, exalt the Lord our God, bow in worship at his holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy. We cross over into the New Testament, and in the Old Testament where the worship was incredibly localized to particular places, the author to the Hebrew says, Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful.

By it we may serve God.

Acceptably,.

Appropriately, with reverence and awe. So worship is ascribing appropriate honor to God. Secondly, worship is expressed not just through our words, but indeed as well. Worship is expressed through word and deed.

Now, one of the sad realities of the modern church is that at times we confuse worship with the singing time, such that everything before that isn't worship, and everything after it isn't worship. So I said, worship is what we do when we come together, and that's true to an extent.

Our corporate gathering is a part of our worship, all the things we do, but worship is not just words. Worship is also our very lives. So Paul can say in Romans chapter 12, verses 1 and 2, that the presenting of our bodies to God as a living sacrifice, the Christian standard Bible translates this last phrase, this is your true worship.

That genuine worship, your reasonable worship, your spiritual worship, as some of your translations will say, that true worship is not just we sing some songs on a Sunday, and we go our merry way, but is the offering up of our very lives in gratitude to the God who has saved us.

That's what Paul can say in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 31. So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do,.

Do everything.

For the glory of God.

So on your job, that's a form of worship. With your family, that's worship. Talking about the things of the Lord after service or in a growth group, that too, that's also worship. We ought to think of all of our lives in terms of worship.

And like I said, of course, what we do in our gathered worship is special and unique, and the Bible has much to say about that.

Too.

But really what we do when we gather on the Lord's Day ought to be an outflow, and at the same time an encouragement to worship through all of life. As we live life to the glory of God. So worship is ascribing appropriate honor to God.

It's expressed through word and deed. Thirdly, worship is focused on the Lord Jesus. Worship is focused on the Lord Jesus. So you read the Bible, the Bible makes it very clear that the Lord Jesus is the focal point of our worship.

So Acts chapter 5, verse 31, Peter's preaching and he says that God exalted this man, that he lifted up this man, Jesus. Philippians chapter 2 that we read so often, especially during Christmas time. Philippians 2, 9 and 10 says, for this reason, the fact that Jesus was obedient all the way to the point of the cross, for this reason, God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow.

Hebrews chapter 7, verse 26 that we have, says we have a high priest who is holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. And if you, again, you just think about it for a moment, this makes perfect sense.

How could Jesus not be the focal point of our worship when he left the throne of heaven and added perfect humanity to his deity? Why wouldn't he be the focal point of our praises when we fail to live a perfect, a life of perfect, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience to God?

And he did. Why wouldn't we worship at the feet of the one who went to Calvary's cross for us? Why would we not raise our voices and our hands and the entirety of our being in praise of the one who sits enthroned in glory, pleading for us as his people?

I don't understand how that cannot be the logical response for us as God's people. I mean, we're gonna do it for all eternity. Why don't we just get the jump on it now? Worship is ascribing appropriate honor to God.

It's expressing, it's expressed, excuse me, through word and deed. It's focused on the Lord Jesus. Fourthly, worship is fueled by dependence in prayer. Worship is fueled by dependence in prayer. Faith family, prayer is how we give voice to the desperation of our souls for the presence, the power, and the provision of God.

Now let me say that again. Prayer is how we give voice to the desperation of our souls for the presence, for the power, and for the provision of God. What does it communicate? When a body of believers— and I'm speaking just very generally here— but what does it communicate when a body of believers struggles to gather to pray?

Can I make a suggestion what it says? I could be wrong. If I'm wrong, let me know. Send us an email, cuttingroomfloor .redeemermethod .org. We'll cover it on this week's episode. But can I put it to you that when a body of believers—any body of believers—struggles to gather to pray, part of what we're communicating is that we are really not that needy.

Kofi, you can't say that! Actually, I can say that. James chapter 4 and verse 2. James says you do not have because you do not ask. The implication being you need to ask, but you don't ask. That's why you don't have.

Remember what Jesus said in the Beatitudes, Matthew chapter 5 and verse 6? Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness because they will be filled. I don't know if you've ever been hungry or thirsty before, but if you've ever been hungry or thirsty before, you need very little external motivation to go find something to eat and go find something to drink.

And can I put it to you that it is a soul that is conscious of its spiritual need that cries out to God in prayer for the provision that only God can give. Here at Redeemer, we've recently kind of reset and restarted our prayer meetings, and given that we don't own our own space, the only time we could really make work in the week was three o 'clock on Sunday before our worship service.

Can I take a moment of privilege since I have the mic, and unless you're gonna tackle me, you really can't stop me. Can I take a moment and encourage you to come together at that time of prayer as we, as a corporate body, gather before the throne of grace?

I get it. Our Sundays are relatively long. There's lots going on. I fully understand that. But can I encourage you that if we are going to be a body that receives from God, we have to be a body that is willing to humble itself to ask together.

So the church exists for the exaltation of God through His Son, Jesus Christ. In the study guide, I actually printed out a copy of our core values. And in our core values, we put it like this, that here at Redeemer Bible Fellowship, we desire to be a body of worshiping saints engaged in the means of grace and energized by prayer.

That's what it looks like when a church takes seriously, or one expression of what it looks like, when a church takes seriously its call to exaltation. That's one facet of the purpose of the church. But there's more.

So there's exaltation, but secondly, there's edification. Edification. Edification. The church is a growing and a learning body. Edification. The church is a growing and a learning body. Edification isn't a word we use in everyday life, generally speaking.

Well, maybe if you're in my line of work, it might be. But in general, it's not a word we use every day. But it is an important biblical word. At its core, the term simply means to build something. So my Spanish is not that great, but I'm made to understand that the Spanish word for building is edificio or something along those lines?

Edificio. Thank you. Has that root term edifice in it, something that is built up. When we speak about edification in the spiritual life, we're referring to the process by which God's people are built up in their knowledge, their character, and their service.

That's all that term edification means. It's the process by which God's people are built up in their knowledge, their character, and their service. I mean, it's very clear when you read the Bible that God wants his people to grow.

So 1st Peter chapter 2, remember that for when we study 1st Peter in the summer? We're to desire the pure milk of the word so that we may grow up into our salvation. In Peter's second letter that Lord willing, we'll look at this summer.

He says, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Beloved, I will put it to you that a growing Christian is a healthy Christian. That a Christian who is growing is a Christian who is showing signs of spiritual health, and that what is true for the individual Christian is true for a church.

A growing church, spiritually speaking, is a healthy church. Now few churches, if any, consciously reject the need for believers to grow. We all recognize Christians should want to grow. Churches should want to grow spiritually.

We all understand that. But can I put it to you, the disagreement comes in when we ask what growth looks like and how it happens. For some people, our church is growing numerically. It must be growing spiritually.

Well weeds grow numerically. Doesn't mean that they're good for you. So let's ask the biblical question. What is actual edification? What does it look like when a church is being built up and it's growing?

Well, as you can see up on screen, there's two sides to this. First of all, there is what we can call objective edification. The first side of this. On the objective side, if you will, all that means is, it's referring to our learning of the Word of God as individuals and as bodies of believers.

I think I've said this before, but if I haven't, the reality is growth doesn't happen where there is a closed Bible. Now, whenever I make that statement, I usually get told, well, Kofi, what about believers who don't have access to a Bible?

My simple response is, you aren't one of them. Think Logan Hart about it. We live in the West. This is my phone. I usually have it in the pulpit to help me run the slides, but for a moment, I can push one, two buttons.

For those of you who can't see that at home, Logos Bible software is opening up on my phone. I have,.

In English,.

About 25 translations of the Bible on my phone. That doesn't include all the foreign language ones they threw in because they thought I speak all those languages, I guess. I don't, but I have all of those, not to mention countless books.

I am not in the position of someone who doesn't have a Bible, so I'm not going to talk to people like they don't have access to a Bible in 2022. For the normative Christian, for the Christian in ideal circumstances, growth happens as they encounter the Word of God.

So Paul can say in Acts chapter 20 in verse 32, now I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified. In the original language, it points even clearer to the fact it's the Word of God that does both those things.

I was telling the guys who gathered this morning that I received an email this week. From somebody who apparently came across our church online. Praise God for that. But had some concerns. Don't know where this person lives because they didn't say where they lived.

Just that they had watched the live streams and felt the need to, as they put it, give me a friendly word of advice, which usually when someone tells you that what they're about to say is friendly, it usually isn't.

That's been my experience anyway. But in this particular instance, the criticism that came in this email, you probably guessed it was a criticism, was that they had come across our services through just the wonders of YouTube, as YouTube does, and they were concerned that, and they specifically blamed me, that I am fixated, this is what they said in the email quote, that I am especially fixated on creating theological nerds.

I've really got to stop reading the church email, but that's a conversation for another time. I read it for a while, and I just looked at it on my computer screen, I was like, that doesn't even make any remote, okay, never mind.

I hear a lot of criticism, most of which I keep away from this pulpit, because my mother raised me to believe that the best answer to the foolish is silence and doing your job. But I do want to address that one.

Do I want to create a bunch of theological nerds as pastor? Not particularly. What I do want, not because I want to, but because the Bible tells me to, is for you to be so strong in this word of God, that you can glorify God in the area that he has called you to serve him in.

Can I also put it to you that that's your birthright as God's people? Think about, I wonder if Christians often think about this, it is your right to be able to understand this Bible. Not it's a privilege, not it's a right.

Where do I get that from the Bible, Kofi? Well, Jesus said it, John chapter 8 verse 32, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free, implying that you can know it, and you can walk in the result of knowing it, which is the truth setting you free.

Paul said it, 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 12. He says that we have not received the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand the things that are freely given to us by God.

And in its context, he's talking about the revelation of God's word. He says that's freely given to us by the Spirit. And in fact, the one who gives it to us also gives us what we need to understand, that which God gives.

Paul also says it in 1 Corinthians, excuse me, Philippians 1 and 9, where he says that he's praying for the Philippian Christians, that they would grow in knowledge. We often hear people talk about this distinction between head and heart knowledge.

You've heard people say that before? You know, we should, don't pursue head knowledge, pursue heart knowledge. Well, first of all, this isn't a history lecture. Otherwise, I'd tell you where in history that comes from.

Hint, it doesn't come from people who believe the Bible is the word of God. Actually, the Bible doesn't teach this, in my opinion, made up distinction between head knowledge and heart knowledge. In the biblical understanding, your heart can't have any knowledge that your mind doesn't have.

That's why Romans chapter 12 verse 1 says that we should be transformed by the renewing of our minds. In the biblical understanding, knowledge begins with the renewing of your mind, which leads to trust in your heart and then obedience with your hands.

So actually, you know, I'm not interested in creating theological nerds, whoever said that. I'm interested in ensuring that you as God's people know this book, both in your own personal study and reading of it, and when we gather together, so that you can glorify God by enjoying that which Christ died for, which is the fact that you would have the spirit who helps you to understand the things that are freely given to you by God.