Real Church Growth - [Colossians 1:28-29]

Bethlehem Bible Church

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January 28, 2007

00:00: Well to start tonight Real sermon we won't do see God as creator because of some deviations this week and my health and Kim being out of town
00:08: But I wanted to ask this question. What is real church growth? What's real church growth?
00:15: What are we after? Do you want the church to grow? After all is it is it a bad thing?
00:21: Is it a good thing? Is it both? What are we aiming for in ministry? What do we want when the elders get together and we want something to happen at the church?
00:29: What is a prior at priority for us? What are we after anyone who can tell me you can sit out loud?
00:36: Yes Christian maturity good Seeking the truth
00:43: Excellent. Well, it's hard to To give more answers when we get the right answers, and that's really what
00:50: I'm after Christian maturity that is what we're after the maturation of the
00:56: Saints and you will go evangelize if you're mature Healthy sheep reproduce we want unbelievers to walk in but what we're after as a leadership team
01:05: Whether that's men's ministry or women's ministries elders deacons, whoever it might be We're after your growth.
01:12: You have to be a Christian. Yes to grow But when you come into the church, we want you to grow
01:17: So if that is our mission, that is our our mandate that is why we exist then everything
01:23: We do should help us get to that goal And so if you'll turn your Bibles to the book of Colossians tonight,
01:29: I want to look at God's plan for church growth and it's not numbers. It's not
01:35: ABCs of Christian growth a Attendance B buildings and C cash if God grants those that's fine
01:43: But our job is always the maturation of the Saints that you might be more like Christ and grow
01:49: Into his likeness that you might say yes more often to righteousness and no to sin
01:54: We want you to grow and if you're growing Certainly, you'll evangelize but that is our program here at the church the maturity of you the
02:04: Saints And if you're a parent you want the same thing for your kids, don't you? You want them to mature you want them to grow from childhood to in into adulthood?
02:13: And so the book of Colossians is such a wonderful book because it shows how great Christ Jesus is and it shows our mandate
02:21: For Christian ministry and that is the maturity of the Saints the growth of the
02:27: Saints Moving from children to use John's analogy to young men to what? Father spiritual fathers and so Paul writes this book to the
02:37: Saints at Colossi They had all kinds of questions and there were lots of false teachers around and here's what the false teachers were saying
02:45: Jesus is good Jesus is wonderful Jesus is God To some degree, but he's just not quite enough
02:55: He's he's good But he's not supreme and so Paul writes this letter to them to correct these things and the strange thing about it
03:04: Was if I was God, I wouldn't have Paul at this crucial time where this church needs him so badly.
03:12: I Would not have Paul in a jail cell. I would have Paul right there at the church
03:20: Showing up in person But that's not the way God did it at this crucial time the time when the church needed
03:26: Paul's leadership and teaching the most Paul has been in jail and he sends a letter through a path for us and he gives
03:35: Charge to the church at Colossi and he basically says Jesus is all you need.
03:41: He's the one focus on him and you can hear Colossians chapter 1 verses 15 through 20
03:49: The bells of this great supremacy of Christ just reverberate in your soul. Listen to this
03:54: Colossians 1 15 he Christ is the image of the invisible God The firstborn are preeminent of all creation
04:04: For by I'm just gonna put Jesus in for all these Pronouns personal pronouns for by Jesus all things were created both in the heavens and on earth visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authority all things have been created by Jesus and for Jesus and Jesus is before all things verse 17 and in Jesus all things hold together
04:30: Jesus is also head of the body the church and Jesus is the beginning the firstborn from the dead
04:36: All those have ever been raised from the dead. He's the preeminent one so that Jesus himself might come to have first place everything
04:44: For it was the father's good pleasure For all the fullness to dwell in Jesus and through Jesus to reconcile all things to himself
04:55: Having made peace through the blood of Christ our Jesus's cross through Jesus I say whether things on earth are things in heaven and Paul just wants to Kind of grab the church of Colossi in a pastoral shepherding manner and say he is preeminent
05:11: He is superior Christ. Jesus is All you need and Then down in chapter 1 verse 28 and 29
05:21: He gives the goal of his ministry and this is the goal of my ministry I got here almost 10 years ago, and this has been the goal of my ministry since I got here by the way
05:31: This was the first passage I ever preached at Bethlehem Bible Church outside the candidating sermon
05:40: Colossians 1 28 and 29 and we proclaim him Jesus Admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom that we may present
05:50: Every man complete in Christ and for this purpose also I labor striving according to his power which mightily works within me
06:01: That is his goal. That is what he's aiming at and if you aim at nothing. What do you usually hit?
06:07: Several summers ago. I went skeet shooting and just the odd thing about it was if I didn't aim
06:12: I never I never hit one pull Never shot one down like that But I had to pull that gun up to my shoulder and I would say pull and those skeet would go flying up Sometimes two and you would have to pull the trigger quickly and aim and this is the aim of Paul's ministry
06:31: This is the goal. This is what he's after. We want you to grow We want you to mature that's why we exist and the question that needs to be asked is
06:43: Before we even get to that who decides what the goal of ministry should be the vocal minority they decide the
06:55: Democratic majority Liberal churches politically correct churches statistical experts like Barna Creed's denominations
07:06: Puritans Congress Who decides and of course you all are here tonight on a Sunday night because you know, the
07:13: Bible decides What the goal and the aim of the church is when you pick a church do you ever say to yourself the church that I pick
07:21: I want to pick that church because That church will help me mature I've heard people pick churches for all kinds of reasons
07:29: The one that I Love the most because it's the wrong illustration is you pick
07:35: I pick a church because of fellowship sharing and caring It's good to have fellowship sharing and caring, but you can get that at the
07:44: Moose Lodge Can't you you can get that down at bingo halls? And some people pick the church because their kids like it and somebody just recently told me they said, you know
07:54: We can't attend we'd like to but my kids can't pay attention to your 55 -minute sermons I'm speechless when it comes to that.
08:06: I'm thinking there's a bigger problem in your life Than you just trying to let your kids drag you around.
08:11: You're the adult teach them Kids just don't pay attention.
08:18: You have to train them. I have to I have to restrain myself because I'm ready to go off Let me just a little heart -to -heart between pastor and the sheep when
08:36: Jesus Christ is not enough for you This church can never
08:41: Do it for you if Jesus is everything to you no matter how many friends you have no matter how many kids programs
08:49: There are no matter how many Bible schools there are no matter What kind of music we have the preference for your music all those things when someone?
08:59: Says you know what? I don't want to mature Because I think I need to have more friends and more youth groups
09:06: And I just say to myself when Jesus isn't enough we can never compete The goal for us is maturation and if the goal for us is your maturity then everything we do should be designed to help you
09:19: Be more mature Yes, it's a hospital for spiritually sick people, but it's also a teaching institution to train you into maturity
09:29: My goal here at the church is not to go to two services to have more people to have more money To have more singles my goal here is for you to grow and if we have 200 or 5 ,000 it doesn't matter
09:40: I want you personally to grow My goal here is not that we can have a dialogue when I preach and this is a safe environment for you and your families
09:48: I want dialogue. I want safe environment, but I'm after growth maturity and if you look at Colossians 128
09:56: It's right there that we may present every man complete are mature in Christ That's our goal
10:05: That's what the elders goal is and that word present is very fascinating It means to offer or to yield or to dedicate remember when
10:14: Hannah what did Hannah do with her little son? What was her son's name? Samuel she yielded him up to the
10:22: Lord she presented him she she offered him up to God Used of Jesus in Ephesians 5 that Jesus might present to himself the church
10:32: Used of us in Romans 12 that we might present our bodies a living and holy sacrifice on that judgment day the
10:41: Bema seed in 2nd Corinthians 5 10 when we stand before the Lord as Elders and all the leaders here.
10:47: It is our desire that we present you the church mature Not just the old not just the young not just the
10:57: Jews not just the Gentiles But what does your text say every man literally every person all kinds of people male and female
11:05: Not just a select group not just those who are really the leadership oriented not just for the elite
11:11: Not just those who had the special inside knowledge that was going around in the Church of Colossae, but everyone
11:18: I want you to be able to be trained. I want you to be able to evangelize effectively I want you to be able to be so mature that you can take another
11:27: Christian and Disciple them and pour your life into them and through the Spirit of God in his word that you reproduce yourself in the life of another
11:34: That's what we're after men's women's ministries men's women's ministries It's a new church growth technique
11:42: That is my goal that you could reproduce and disciple others into Christ likeness.
11:47: It's always been our goal I'd like this church to be a church that looks just like Christ Jesus as we become more
11:59: Mature and the obvious question is why aren't we in heaven now? Because God uses us
12:07: That we might teach each other learn develop and grow Sounds just like Ephesians to me for the equipping of the
12:16: Saints for the work of the service for the building up of the body Of Christ, that's why we're here. We want you to grow.
12:22: We want you to be mature and And that is our goal You say well, what's what why have you said mature so many times because that is exactly what we're after So when
12:32: I read something like this, it just strikes me as so strange
12:38: When I read Rick Warren say worship is a powerful witness to unbelievers if God's presence is felt and if the message is
12:46: Understandable God's presence must be sensed in the service More people are won to Christ by feeling
12:53: God's presence than by all our apologetic arguments combined Few people if any are converted to Christ on purely intellectual grounds
13:03: It is the sense of God's presence that melts the heart and explodes mental barriers page 241
13:12: Is that why we're here is that what we do when the unbelievers come we want to have them sense the presence of God I'm a young man 46 years old.
13:20: I've been a Christian now since 1989 and I have never felt physically the presence of God I Don't know how what that would feel like I have an idea
13:30: And when people hear the word of the here God's Word in the Old Testament knew they would think sometimes it's what?
13:37: Thunder and they would be on their faces cringing So I don't know what this feeling
13:42: God's presence is It's usually translated into its rock music with heavy percussion
13:47: And I feel the presence of God because I've got a little reverb going there Some churches don't have an offering plate because it might offend the unbeliever.
14:00: I don't want to be offensive to an unbeliever I want to be kind and we give them cookies on the way out, and I want you to be nice.
14:06: Yes, I Always tell people at the door the visitors. I always say I'm nicer in person I am in the pulpit try to be kind but my goal is not for the unbeliever to come in here
14:16: And since it's not then I don't do everything that I can to get them to come in My goal is for you to be mature and you the mature
14:24: Christian will go out and evangelize What did Lenny do today? Lenny's walking around and just living
14:32: Driving down the street gonna go to grandma's house and all of a sudden divine Appointment and Lenny's first thought is
14:38: I can't believe it happened Lord Thank you for protecting me and this man that hit me could have died and gone straight to hell
14:45: I think I ought to evangelize It's a wrong goal in mind when we want to have all the believers
14:57: Get fed pablum because I'm trying to preach to the visitors and the unbelievers
15:05: If I want to push your envelope just for a minute Do you know there's not one verse in the Bible that says invite an unbeliever to church?
15:12: There's not one verse that says you should be bringing unbelievers to church Not one should you?
15:19: Let me push it even farther then I don't want you ever This is you have to hear me out.
15:26: This is provocative preaching I don't want you ever to invite an unbeliever to this church comma
15:37: Until afterwards you've had the privilege of preaching the gospel to him or her
15:43: I mean I get paid to be good. You're good for nothing when it comes to all that right as one man said
15:50: This is a place for Christian maturity So you say well I've got a friend and I brought him to church today and then the pastor got up and talked about election
16:00: Why isn't he talking about evangelism? Well, sometimes we do talk about evangelism and God does save through the preaching of his word
16:08: But it's your job. It's your privilege. You get the privilege of talking to unbelievers about The gospel and about Christ much more so than I ever do.
16:17: I'm always hanging out with Christians. I Coolie all day every day and I tried to evangelize
16:26: Steve, but once you get saved it doesn't work anymore I mean once you're an ex -mormon, you're an ex -mormon
16:34: But you get to work and you get to be around people and you have neighbors Who need the gospel and who are going to die and go to hell unless they hear the gospel and God is pleased
16:45: To save them but for you, I'm after you my ministry is you your maturation your your growth
16:52: Your development and I love to lift weights. I've hurt my arm about seven weeks ago. And so I can't really lift much anymore and there's something about weights that I really like because when
17:03: I first start I just feel I Can't bench much and I just feel kind of as Arnold would say kind of like a girly man
17:10: You know, I just can barely do it. But all of a sudden Two weeks into it three weeks into it
17:16: I can start feeling my chest and my pecs Develop some and I start to be able to lift and I have start to get some endurance
17:22: Starts start to see some tone on my arms, and I think this is great. I can see myself grow
17:28: That's what I'm after for you growth. I want you to know more and live it out
17:34: I'm not just about only intellectual but you've got to have the doctrine. You've got to know because we're to grow in what?
17:41: grace and in knowledge That's why when
17:47: I read about Ed Young jr. Whose father must be so sad when the Cowboys were big years ago
17:56: He came out on the stage. I think this should be called a platform because it's not performance
18:01: But in his case, it's a stage He had a Troy Aikman jersey on some baggy pants and athletic shoes
18:07: And then he threw a football across several row of streets and he threw it straight to Michael Wood Who was honored for bringing six friends to church?
18:15: This is the same man who comes out in the Ephesians 6 series on top of an actual army tank
18:22: Preaching Ephesians chapter 6. I mean it's kind of fun, but I only have one question.
18:30: What do you do next week? But if my goal is to preach you the Bible and to preach you the text with Clarity hopefully and with depth and with passion then that's what you're going to get next week
18:41: And that's why you're all out on a Sunday night Spurgeon said do we feed the sheep or do we amuse the goats?
18:54: He said quote and evil is in the professed camp of the Lord so gross That the most short -sighted can hardly fail to notice it during the past few years
19:04: Remember, this is written in the late 1800s It has developed at an abnormal rate even for evil
19:11: It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments
19:16: The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the church that part of their mission is to provide
19:23: Entertainment for the people with a view to winning them From speaking out as a
19:29: Puritans did the church has gradually toned down her testimony Then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day
19:36: Then she tolerated them in her borders now. She had she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses
19:44: My first contention is that providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the scriptures as a function of the church
19:52: If it is not a Christian work, why did not crease if it is a Christian work? Why did not Christ speak of it?
19:58: Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature mark 16 That is clear enough Spurgeon says so it would have been if he added and provide amusement for those who do not relish the gospel
20:11: No such words, however are to be found it did not seem to occur to Jesus He gave some
20:17: Spurgeon said as apostles some prophets some evangelists some pastor teachers for the work of ministry
20:23: Where do entertainers come in? The Holy Spirit is silent concerning them where the prophets persecuted because they amused the people are because they refused
20:33: The concert has no martyr role Had Christ introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into his mission
20:43: He would have been more popular But because of the searching nature of his teaching many turned away and I did not hear him say
20:51: Run after these people Peter and tell them we have a different style of service tomorrow Something short and attractive with a little preaching
20:58: We will have a pleasant evening for the people tell them they will be sure to enjoy it be quick Peter We must get the people somehow
21:06: Jesus pitied sinners Sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them one day
21:18: MacArthur said something that just shook me I Thought Lord. I don't want to ever forget that John said pastors you can choose between these two things and you can only pick one
21:31: Faithfulness our popularity. It's your choice I've had people say to me.
21:40: You know what your church is boring Well, we have a little slogan around our home, and if one of the kids ever say
21:47: I'm bored Then all the other kids say back to them including the parents. What do we say to them Luke?
21:53: You're boring Problems not with mom and dad It's your problem back in the old days by the way there was no time to be bored because you had to go out and Melt the cow and do all those other things
22:03: Boredom did not exist We're not trying to have some kind of concert here
22:08: I know we want to try to clap for special music and that kind of thing It's and I understand it all but even that it's not some kind of entertainment
22:16: It's not some kind of demonstration. It is worship Boring services the people that say you know well
22:25: I don't like those songs, and I always like what Don Kistler said well. We didn't pick the songs for you
22:31: When we pick songs on Sunday We never choose them because of what you're gonna think in terms of well.
22:36: I like it. I don't like it We pick them because they're God -centered. They're God -honoring. They have a high view of God And to use your the logic on you
22:47: Sometimes the songs you pick that I allow you to pick on Sunday nights are pretty boring No, just kidding the goal is not feelings the goal is not sensation the goal is not feeling his presence
22:58: I feel emotionally charged the goal is I want you to grow and sometimes growth is painful
23:04: Pruning doesn't always feel good But the end result is wonderful gee
23:13: Campbell Morgan the man who was Preaching before Martin Lade Jones in Westminster said when amusement is necessary to get people to listen to the gospel
23:22: There will be failure This is not the method of Christ to form an organization and provide all kinds of entertainment for young people in order that they may
23:30: Come to Bible classes is to be foredoomed to failure But when the goal is maturation everything changes
23:44: Well, how do we mature people? Let's go back to the text Colossians chapter 1 verse 28. How do we work on maturation?
23:51: What do we do? Well, that's the $64 ,000 question and Paul uses three
23:57: English words to tell the church there to help us even as we look at it
24:02: How people mature and it's not ten promises. It's not twelve steps and it's not forty days.
24:08: It is three words Christ we proclaim we proclaim him.
24:14: I like how the ESV translates it him We proclaim this is the overarching central key main verb
24:23: We proclaim Christ we herald him Paul says we because it's
24:28: Paul and Timothy and Epaphras He says we proclaim Christ the false teachers around Colossi They don't but we do and we are the ones who proclaim if you look at the text
24:40: You can't tell in the Greek, but it's there the tense is a habitual ongoing continual
24:46: Declaration and preaching it is like a man standing up for the King saying here's
24:51: Jesus. We proclaim him Over and over and over we proclaim
24:57: Christ Liberal Harry Harry Fosdick said all this is good sense and good psychology
25:02: Everyone else is using it from first -class teachers to first -class advertisers We should so many preachers continue in such belated fashion to neglect it
25:11: Let them not end but start with thinking of the auditors vital needs and then let the whole sermon be
25:18: Organized around their constructive endeavor to meet those needs That's 50 years ago.
25:25: It never starts with the congregation and then we say well based on what they're doing Here's what we'll preach we say we know what you need and you need to have a good dose again of not yourself
25:34: But here's who Jesus is Paul said in another book.
25:42: I've determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ what and Him crucified and remember in the book of Colossians.
25:53: It wasn't like Jesus wasn't good The false teachers are saying he's just not good enough And I love it that Paul practices what he preaches even in the book
26:03: He says the way you get people to be mature is to keep showing them Christ And he does that in the book of Colossians.
26:11: How about this for an overview? Christ is Described as the
26:16: Son of God chapter 1 verse 14 the object of Christian faith chapter 1 verse 4 the
26:22: Redeemer 114 the image of God 115 the Lord of Creation 115 the head of the church 118
26:31: Reconciler 120 fullness of the Godhead to 9 Supreme authority over all
26:37: Christ has chapter 2 verse 10 the essence of the mystery of God chapter 2 verse 3
26:42: The one in whom all God's treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden chapter 2 verse 3 the standard by which all
26:49: Religious teaching is to be measured chapter 2 verse 8 the conqueror of evil chapter 2 verse 15
26:54: Enthroned at the right hand of God chapter 3 verse 1 Paul proclaims Christ It's not proclaimed
27:02: Christ and anything else human philosophy human experience
27:08: Sociology charismatic experiences ourselves others celebrities. Nope, because if you add
27:15: You subtract that is to say if you add to Christ you subtract maturity. I mean, how hard is it?
27:22: Did you hear Lenny today when he got up by the way, I did not plan that ahead of time I just asked him to come up and How hard is it just go to find a church where they'll preach all the
27:31: Bible and proclaim Christ because Luke 24 basically says he's everywhere Just proclaim him, you know the verse in 2nd
27:46: Timothy 4 to preach the word and I love to study preachers I don't know about you, but here's a few preachers that were preached
27:54: God's message Noah turn away from your sins Jonah yet 40 days and none of us shall be overthrown
28:01: John the Baptist repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand The healed demoniac
28:06: God has done great things for me Paul Jesus is the Christ the list goes on and on the 12 preach
28:12: Philip the Evangelist preach Peter preaches They don't add they don't subtract they just preach it all that's what we want
28:25: Several years ago. Someone said to me I don't get anything out of your sermons and then they left the church I think it's two years ago they were gonna leave the church and I met with them and and we just wanted to talk and leave on good terms and I Just said well, you know,
28:39: God bless you and I just was curious why you want to leave and the person said to me Right there in my study.
28:45: They said we get nothing out of your sermons Now, I'm not
28:51: James Boyce. I'm not Spurgeon. I'm not John the Baptist. I'm not John MacArthur. I'm not any of those but if you want to write something on my tombstone,
29:02: I Think I rightly divided the word enough and tried to encourage you to obey it and here's who
29:08: Christ is By the grace of God, I didn't get anything out of that message Well, what else am
29:14: I going to give you? I don't dance very well. I'm a poor dancer should see that Spurgeon said may
29:25: I beg you carefully to judge every preacher not by his gifts not by his persuasive powers
29:30: Not by his status in society not by the respectability of his congregation not by the prettiness of his church, but this
29:38: Does he preach the word of truth the gospel of your salvation If he does you're sitting under his ministry may prove to you the means of beginning faith in you
29:49: But if he does not you cannot expect God's blessings We want to proclaim Christ to you because you will grow as you sit under the word
29:57: This is not these are just not words on some onion skin paper that are nothing. They are supernatural words of life
30:04: They'll change you God's Word we just proclaim it
30:12: That's why when I read some of these church growth people here's what they say Rick Warren, I do not believe verse -by -verse teaching through the books of the
30:20: Bible is the most effective way to evangelize the unchurched Well, I have two comments comment number one.
30:25: My job is not to evangelize the unchurched Second of all the way to get people to grow is to teach them all the
30:32: Bible Why did I teach Song of Solomon last summer? Well, I did it for two reasons number one.
30:39: I wanted a bunch of new babies around here number two I wanted to teach all the Bible. I'm committed to teach it all
30:47: How about this? Paul is saying again. You want people to grow then you show them Christ Then why in this book called seven characteristics of a growing church?
30:56: There's not one word about preaching How did you make your church grow not one chapter on preaching?
31:04: How about Robert Schuller three characteristics of a successful pastor? Not one is preaching and then this one is to me absolutely flabbergasting
31:21: Unfortunately many churches and choosing a pastor place greatest priority on the man's ability to preach
31:29: Certainly congregations are entitled to a prepared and well -delivered message yet sermon delivery represents a very small portion of the pastor's total workweek
31:38: Indications that the sermon by itself is a relatively minor factor in the church growth of a church
31:44: How then should a pastor spend his time to have the greatest effect in church growth? Well, then this man in the pastor's church handbook goes on to tell you that now you do other things.
31:59: I know that But you put up with me because I preach Christ and you don't you know
32:04: You put up with all the other things that I do or can't do or won't do You Feed a church they overlook your your problems.
32:13: That's why these real sermon titles drive me batty How can I have a happier marriage? How can
32:18: I handle my money? How can I like my job? Here's a real one? Am I caught in an adult children of an alcoholics pattern?
32:27: Sermon, how can I be a better parent? How can I get more time for myself? How can
32:33: I feel better about myself and then this final sermon? What would Jesus say to Madonna? It's all upside down.
32:42: We preach who Christ is and when you learn about him, you will be a better parent You will be a better worker. You will be a better everything
32:50: What would Jesus say to Madonna Welcome to the praise team. No One man said limit your preaching to roughly 20 minutes because boomers don't have much time to spare and don't forget to keep your messages
33:06: Light and informal liberally sprinkling them sprinkling them with humor and personal anecdotes
33:12: How much different is it when you hear these words from God at Sinai almost
33:20: I Solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus Who is to judge the living and the dead by his appearing and by his kingdom what?
33:32: preach the word Adjuring pastors under oath
33:39: Because verse 3 says the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine But wanting to have their ears tickled they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires
33:52: We proclaim Christ and then Paul gives in Colossians five ways you go about doing that What's the goal?
33:59: The goal is maturation. How do we get to the goal? We proclaim Christ We preach all the text all the sufficient authoritative
34:07: Scripture and then there are five ways we go about it and we'll find those in the rest of the verses as we
34:12: Need to speed up five ways to proclaim Christ the church leadership and certainly filters and trickles down to everyone preaching must include
34:27: Admonishing number one preaching that proclaims Christ includes admonishment. Do you see it in verse?
34:34: 28 of chapter 1 we what? We proclaim Christ Then what?
34:40: Admonishing every man. This is how the proclamation of Christ is done.
34:46: This modifies the main Statement we proclaim him how
34:51: Admonishing every man. What does admonish mean? Have you heard of new fetic counseling?
35:01: And new fetic just means to admonish to put something in someone's mind to correct them when someone's out of line
35:07: It's a correction to put the right truth into someone's mind and that's what shepherds do
35:12: They say yes, this is good. And they also say, you know, this isn't good and we admonish and we say, you know what?
35:18: Don't do that anymore. That's the wrong way to think about it. Stop that. That's not what God wants. We admonish
35:23: How do you proclaim Christ? Sometimes you have to admonish which also includes warning the congregation about false teachers
35:31: When I first got here people would go into Apolectic shock if I ever said anything about some
35:37: Robert Schuller or Joyce Meyer or Benny Hinn or any other false teaching heretic
35:43: They just didn't know what to do Well, we are to admonish and when I came here and there was a couple ladies into Joyce Meyer and I researched
35:51: Joyce Meyer and found Out how she denied substitutionary atonement. What am I gonna do? I Didn't always get up from the pulpit
35:59: But I put something together and said to these ladies you can't do that It's bad for you
36:05: Don't eat that And that's part of proclaiming Christ Remember what
36:12: Paul said in Acts 20? I know that after my departure Savage wolves will come in among you not sparing the flock and from from among your own selves men will arise
36:22: Speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them Therefore be on the alert remembering that night and day for a period of three years.
36:30: I did not cease to Admonish each one with tears Who likes to do it?
36:36: I don't I'm kind of a live -and -let -live guy frankly, but I have a duty
36:42: About seven years ago
36:49: There was this huge push and here was the push in our church We need to be a church that stresses the positives
36:56: We need to be a church that preaches for what we stand for not what we stand against It sounds so pious it sounds so good, but it completely ignores the admonishing the church reproving rebuking
37:11: Guarding and it makes the church immature Every week should not be some personal blast.
37:18: I Acknowledge that but you can't read the
37:24: Bible for very long without seeing Paul calling people out by name And that's what we have to do sometimes
37:32: First Thessalonians 514 it says we urge you brethren admonish the unruly proclaiming
37:38: Christ includes Admonishment the Puritan Gernal said if men will be bold in sin ministers must be bold to reprove
37:48: I like what George Whitfield said it is a poor sermon that gives no offense
37:55: That neither makes the here displeased with himself nor with the preacher Which is just what
38:01: Luther said I want to preach against sin so much that you either hate your sin all your hate me It's admonishment
38:11: Remember the little sheep that would go astray all the time and what would that Shepherd do? Break the leg of the sheep put the sheep up on his shoulders
38:20: Let the leg just heal as the Shepherd would get to know the sheep even more and the sheep wouldn't run off anymore not only admonishment, but number two teaching
38:34: Teaching when it comes to proclaiming Christ one There must be admonishment to there must be teaching
38:41: One's kind of a negative guarding and now here's the positive Teaching teaching every man. It's right there in their text.
38:47: How do you preach a sermon? Just let the text preach itself I believe both the main point of the sermon should come from the text and the sub points
38:54: And that's what we try to do very often here at the church teaching every man Here we're putting something in to the vacuum that has been created by getting rid of the false thinking the false teachers the false doctrine and This means we're going to teach doctrine.
39:13: You know, I purposely teach doctrine every week here at this church I just don't always call it doctrine doctrine is a fact about God.
39:20: That's true You need doctrine and Paul is saying you want to proclaim Christ and you preach with doctrine matter of fact
39:25: We preach the word in season and out of season reprove. Here's sin rebuke.
39:31: You're the sinner Exhort come alongside of with patience and with what?
39:37: doctrine teaching instruction great patience and instruction Some say well,
39:43: I don't believe in doctrine. I just believe in Jesus You believe in doctrine because you believe in a virgin born
39:51: Christ who perfectly lived never sinned died a Substitutionary atonement and if you want to do good you need doctrine
40:00: You need dogma New Testament Church true or false and they were continually devoting themselves to the
40:07: Apostles doctrine and a fellowship to breaking bread into prayer I'm setting you up because you have to say true.
40:13: That's the Bible verse acts 242 Paul teaching publicly and from house to house true or false
40:22: Jesus preached doctrine He did he came to preach doctrine leaders should preach doctrine doctrine
40:31: Titus 1 9 Holding fast the word which is in accordance with the teaching that he may be able to both to exhort in sound doctrine teaching and refute those who contradict admonishment
40:45: Doctrine matters And I've said this many many times, but I think we move up to doctrine
40:54: I remember when I first got saved and MacArthur would say a big word I had no idea what hypostatic union was but I sure wanted to learn
41:00: I figured if he was using it I'd like to figure it out if someone said well see what's another big word that would be said
41:07: I remember when I was a new Christian, and they said redemption Reconciliation propitiation I just wrote him down to figure out
41:12: I better look those things up We can either take the
41:18: Bible and bring it down to vulgar street language Or we can take you and bring you up to the Bible language you all know big words from work
41:25: Why can't we learn the big words? From the pulpit Well there needs to be admonishment one teaching to number three wisdom just a couple words about that That's what the pastor says mean it has nothing to say about a point just a few words brethren be based on our brevity of Time tonight all wisdom do you see it in 128 with all wisdom?
41:46: Sophia Sophia the English word a lady's name means wisdom. This is the way we do it
41:51: We don't always have to just say open wide here. It is. How could you stop that?
41:56: There's wisdom as we both admonish and we teach appropriate methods kind methods truthful methods ethical methods
42:09: And not only that but even more so we try to do this in such a way that it shows both the admonishment and the teaching
42:16: In a practical way, here's what we believe and here's how it's fleshed out That's why it's important for leaders to spend time with the people so they can see what it looks like to have doctrine incarnated in the life of a person
42:31: Making it practical number four Takes hard work it takes commitment
42:37: We want mature people we get mature people by proclaiming Christ How do we proclaim Christ with admonishment with teaching with wisdom and also with toil and sweat and for this purpose?
42:49: 129 Also, I labor Striving that word labor means that you labor till you can barely work.
42:57: You are sweating I used to work on the farm. We'd get up at 5 o 'clock in the morning and we would go do all kinds of getting the weeds out of the bean fields and detasseling corn and shoveling unmentionable things and doing all kinds of other things and I would get back to our little cabin on the
43:16: Missouri River our summer little mobile home At about 3 in the afternoon and I was so dirty from head to toe
43:23: My dad didn't even like me riding in the car on the way home. He'd put some kind of bisque Queen kind of Plastic thing on the seat and I would just sit in there and I was so dirty
43:35: I could not even wash myself so I had walked down to the to the houseboat and I would just do the nasty plunge in the in the river and I would just hope that some of the
43:46: Missouri River current would just get some of that Nasty dirt off my body and I would just lay there kind of floating kind of having float therapy time at age 15 because I was so Exhausted it doesn't take you long to realize in ministry that it is exhausting both mentally and physically
44:07: Paul is saying this from where he's sweating and laboring and toiling and he's where he's even in jail
44:14: He becomes tired and weary Striving if you take a look at that English word, that's where we get the the word agony from the
44:27: Greek agony ministry expands energy mental spiritual physical
44:37: No instant heroes Lots of commitment and then lastly number five
44:49: If you're gonna want maturity in a church personally the church corporately you proclaim
44:54: Christ admonishing teaching with wisdom with sweat and toil and finally Relying on God's power verse 29 according to his power which mightily works within me
45:05: Is it me working or God? I work today. God works tomorrow. No, God is working through our hard work with supernatural energy and the power to minister
45:16: I Can't change you you can't change yourself No shrink can change you but God can change you according to his power according to his energy literally the
45:27: Greek word is energy Can't do it ourselves. It's God working in you.
45:33: Does this verse sound familiar? I'm confident of this very thing that he who began a good work in you
45:39: Will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus God working it's going to take that all our efforts are according to his power
45:48: This would be a good time to just stop and say it's going to take prayer. That's is that is the bane of my my checkmated
45:56: Ministry sometimes is when I'm to the point where I think you know what I've been doing this now for ministry Maybe 15 years full -time for 10 years and I kind of know what to do what to say how to go about it
46:07: And when I think I can do it on my own, those are my worst Worst days Luther used to say
46:14: I'm so busy today. I need to pray for three hours Those are my worst days when I think I can do it on my own Paul prayed in Ephesians I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what the hope of his calling is what are the riches of the glory of the inheritance in the
46:31: Saints and what is their surpassing greatness of his power? That would be great for me
46:36: That would be awesome for me, but it goes on and says what is the surpassing greatness of his power?
46:44: Here's this is worth this whole sermon tonight Toward us who believe friends
46:53: I have a goal and my goal is that you'd be mature that you can disciple that you can reproduce yourself And since I have that goal along with the three other elders then everything we do from IBS to Sunday school to Sunday morning
47:05: To women's Bible studies to discipleship groups. They all have that goal in mind. We want you to grow.
47:10: We want you to learn I'm gonna be dead one day Some maybe want that day sooner than later
47:17: I mean who knows this might be the day and I want to be able to die and on my deathbed think you know
47:22: What BBC will go on and those people are learning and growing? You have a ministry one day you're gonna be gone how about coming alongside of someone else who you think has a
47:34: Desire and an affinity and a likeness for the ministry and train them to do what you do Would be great
47:46: And if you want entertainment If you want rah -rah if you want friends and family you can get friends and family here at the church if you're just around But the only way you can mature is to have a group of leaders who keeps trying to tell you
48:03: Here's who Christ is and we proclaim him We always proclaim him and as Spurgeon said when we don't
48:09: Send us to the insane asylum because surely we are crazy when we don't preach Christ from the pulpit.
48:15: I Don't have anything else to give you. Oh I'm a really good biker.
48:21: Watch me bike. Everybody come over my house and watch me bike. I'm not even a good biker I'm just only good in my own mind
48:28: What am I gonna tell you to do? I'm gonna say here's Christ And by the way, that's why local fellowship and Sunday service is so important because all week long we end up thinking about ourselves focused on ourselves and Then to go and hear songs together about the greatness of Christ and the wonderful grace of Jesus After all, we're
48:50: Christians and we follow Christ Jesus and we worship him. Let's pray
49:00: Lord We acknowledge today that we are weak and frail. We acknowledge that Everything that happens good at the church
49:09: You get the credit for and all the things that are negative. The leaders are certainly responsible for And Lord we want to grow we want to have a desire for the word like newborn babes
49:19: And Lord, we'd ask that it would be easier for us to receive admonishment Teaching we asked for the leaders that they would be wise and doing that We asked for the church body that you would help us to labor and strive for ministry
49:31: Working like you're right there Seeing exactly what we do and then Lord we would do it in such a way that we would rely on upon you
49:39: Increase our prayer life increase our evangelism desires and increase our likeness to Christ.
49:45: We want to be mature We would love to plant churches we would love to split in terms of a proper healthy biblical split and send people off to other areas of this place and Lord those driving from Walpole and Waltham now and Belmont and other places
50:01: Lord we want to be mature so we can start other works here in New England. Help us to that end in Jesus name.