Sermon Transcript — May 30, 2004
Well, brethren, as we have heard in a number of messages already today, we are here to observe one of the seven annual holy days, one of the feasts of God. Each day, of course, has its unique aspects, and we've heard about most, if not all of those, with regards to the day of Pentecost already. Pentecost, of course, as we have heard, reminds us of the time that God poured out His Holy Spirit upon the church, and by pouring out His Holy Spirit actually formed the New Testament church. As we read in the number of scriptures it is by the Holy Spirit, and because the Holy Spirit dwells in us that we are in the family of God.
Of course, we are called firstfruits, Jesus Christ. Of course, being the first of the firstfruits, and even by that term, firstfruits mean that there are people going to be added to God's family later. So it's, you know, a definite major aspect of the plan of God.
One way to sum up God's plan is eternal salvation as His family. Sure, there's other ways we could sum it up in one sentence, but if we summed up God's plan, one way to do it would be to say, "Eternal salvation as His family."
Now, I'd like to ask a question in that regard. Who is saved by, or through, the plan of God? Who is saved by, or through, the plan of God? For whom is Jesus Christ savior? We could certainly discuss the prerequisites of God's calling, repentance, faith, baptism and the receiving of the Holy Spirit, and a number of those things we've heard already. We could discuss Jesus Christ as our personal savior, and that term is often used, and of course, used correctly. We could discuss God's plan for every person at some time, for now, or in the future.
But I'd like to pose the question, carefully, is that all? Is that all? Let's think for a moment about God's family, the emphasis on family. Turn with me if you would to Ephesians 5:23. As kind of a keynote scripture, this would probably be it, and we're going to read a few other scriptures in here in this chapter as well. But as a keynote scripture:
Ephesians 5:23 - "For the husband is (the) head of the wife, as also Christ is (the) head of the church; and He is the savior of the body." Let's go ahead and read a few other scriptures, and I'll explain what I mean.
Verse 24 - "Therefore, (just) as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything." By the way, today is not a marriage sermon. That is not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the other aspect of these particular scriptures.
Verse 25 - "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church. . .
Verse 26 - "that He might sanctify and cleanse (her) (it) with the washing of water by the word.
Verse 27 - "that He might present (her) (it) to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that (she) it should be holy and without blemish.
Verse 28 - "So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.
Verse 29 - "For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes (it) and cherishes it, (just) as the Lord does the church." And if we jump over to Verse 31:
Verse 31 - "For this reason a man shall leave His father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.
Verse 32 - "This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church." Now, to clarify my question, I'll ask another question. Is Christ only the savior of individuals? - is really where my question is going today. No. He is also the savior of the entity called "His body," or called, "The Church." He is referred to as the Savior of Israel, the Savior of the world.
One of the things that I emphasize in the couple classes I teach at ABC as we are looking at former prophets in Acts is that we need to remember that God does not only work with us as individuals, which of course He does, but also as a group. We clearly see that in the Old Testament with Old Testament Israel; we clearly see that in the New Testament. We can see that perhaps, it really comes to mind when we read Revelation 2 and 3 as Jesus is addressing the seven congregations there as entities.
You know, in our western society we tend to think in individual terms. We think of individual rights, personal goals, and that's not a problem as long as we don't take it too far, which unfortunately in our society can often happen. Because we're not just individuals. We are members of groups, members of families, clubs, companies. It used to be that the group, the family, the team, the company came first. Individuals came second.
Our society now promotes the "I" mentality of sacrificing the group for the good of the individual. Job changes happen more often; splits in marriages happen more often. There seems to be an unwillingness, or lack of willingness, to endure short term personal sacrifice for the long term good of the group.
It's very important, I believe, as we focus on the day of Pentecost, and what God did through the Holy Spirit that we be wary of this mentality in the church. It is of course right, and certainly truthful to say that every person must work out his or her own salvation, and that Christ is our personal savior. There is no question about that.
But also we need to make sure that we have in our minds the vision of what - ekklesia - means, what ekklesia completely means. We've often heard, I think, over the years, and rightly so, that ekklesia means - called out ones. It actually means more than that. It means - called out ones brought together. Ekklesia originally in the Greek meant - an assembly, or a calling together. It just didn't mean - called out - individual selected, but it meant - bringing together. Bringing together. And that's what Jesus Christ has done, and has done from the very beginning since His ministry on earth, He brought His apostles together. He brought people that were called out together.
Turn with me, if you would to Leviticus 23:15. You know, when you have the last message of the day whereas you've had two services, sometimes you wonder if you'll have any unique scriptures left, but I don't think anyone's gone to Leviticus 23 yet. There'll be a couple of other scriptures that I'll probably overlap.
Leviticus 23:15 - Here it talks about the observance of the feast of weeks, or the feast of firstfruits, or the feast of Pentecost. "And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be complete." Perhaps in our local congregations we've heard about the wave sheaf offering being discussed during those days of unleavened bread, which of course is the offering that was fulfilled by Jesus Christ upon His ascension to heaven. ". . .seven Sabbaths shall be completed.
Verse 16 - "Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; (then) you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord." Now notice Verse 17:
Verse 17 - "You shall bring from your (habitations) (dwellings) two wave loaves of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven." That may surprise us just a little bit, an offering to God would be baked with leaven. But this is baked with leaven. You have two loaves. And notice what it says about this: ". . . they are (or these are) the firstfruits to the Lord." Go down to Verse 22. Well, I'll just leave Verse 22 for yourself; it talks about gleaning. Gleaning is strictly associated with the day of Pentecost.
Well, anyway, we were to count from the days of unleavened bread, and then they were to offer loaves as firstfruits ready for the bigger harvest to them. Originally all firstfruits were first products included the first-born children of Israel would be dedicated to God. Of course, later on He changed that to have the Levites serve him.
Now again, let's notice something unique about the sacrifice, we have leavened loaves. Bread, of course, is grain that has gone through a refining and mixing process until you don't have individual grains anymore. You have a loaf, and in this case, you have two loaves, representative of the Old Testament church, of course being Israel, and the New Testament church. Why are they leavened? Well, because the church is not yet perfect. We, as the body of Christ, are not perfect. We are not a perfect group; we are not a perfect entity, but because of the first of the firstfruits, Jesus Christ, we are accepted before God.
Turn with me, if you would to Acts 2:41. We heard about some of the other scriptures here in Acts 2, and we'll finish up this chapter here, beginning in Verse 41. And here were the result, the initial result of Peter's preaching and exhortation from the apostles.
Acts 2:41 - "And those who gladly received His word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added. . ." Notice in Verse 42 what they did:
Verse 42 - "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and (in) fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers." Let's go down to Verse 46 and see the results.
Verse 46 - "So continuing daily with one accord. . ." Unlike the bad joke, no that has nothing to do with Honda okay, but continuing: ". . . with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart." Well, I guess we should catch a couple of these words - one accord, simplicity of heart -
Verse 47 - "praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." One accord means, I'm going to read a little bit from a couple of commentaries - one accord means with one mind. The word denotes the entire harmony of their views and feelings. There were no schisms, no divided interests, no discordant purposes. That's from Barnes's Notes on the Bible. Also from Gill - singleness simplicity of heart, and singleness of heart means without deceit, without hypocrisy, either in their thanksgivings to God or in their welcome and entertainment of each other, and with great sincerity, openness and frankness before God in one another. That's Gill's take on what it means - simplicity of heart.
And back to Barnes: "This means with a sincere and pure heart. They were satisfied and thankful. They were not perplexed or anxious, nor were they solicitous of luxurious living or aspiring after the vain objects of the people of the world. They were focused, and they were unified."
Revelation 19 - The reason I started in Ephesians 5 is I wanted us to notice that phraseology "savior of the body," and how Christ, or how the words used by Paul in Ephesians 5 were always about the church - the church as a single entity. Revelation 19:7-8 also talks about a single entity known as - the bride.
Revelation 19: 7 - "Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready." One wife for Jesus Christ, the church. That's how Christ sees us. Yes, we have individual relationships with Him, no question about it, but He also sees the church as one, just like we read in Ephesians 5. And notice what it says here, this last phrase - ". . .His wife has made herself ready." That places an enormous responsibility upon us as the church.
Verse 8 - "And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints." So here we are filled in that yes, the church is composed of individual saints. The church has made herself ready.
How does God want to see His bride? How does Jesus Christ want to see His bride? How does Jesus Christ want to see His body? You know, the past number of years, there have been any number of perspectives that have been offered here and there in terms of - the church - the church as the body of Christ. We have correctly identified the body of Christ is not first and foremost a physical organization, but rather a spiritual organism. However, unfortunately there have been a few misperceptions that have also arisen. Some have thought we could have spiritual unity without physical contact. Others have thought that because we have one Holy Spirit, there is little need for oneness of minds and oneness of heart.
Again, I ask us to take a look today from the Bible, how does God wish to see the body of Christ? How does God want to see His family? Yes, we may have unity in doctrine and teaching, but do we have closeness as a family? Are we of the same heart in judgment, and we'll be into that scripture in just a few moments. So, if you want a title to today's message, Germans always give titles, by the way, "A Fitness Plan for the Body of Christ." "A Fitness Plan for the Body of Christ.'
Germans also always have points. So, point number one: Whenever you hear on the radio or more likely see in a magazine an advertisement for getting in shape, what do you usually have? Well, you have a "before" picture, and an "after" picture, don't you? And, you know, the "before" picture is not that inviting, and the "after" picture is usually impossible.
But nevertheless, you have a "before," and you have an "after" picture, and the point of the "after" picture is to give you a vision, give you an idea if you only take this supplement, or lift this many pounds of weights, or join this health club, this is what you can expect to look like. I would like us from the Bible to take a look at the "after" picture. Take a look at the "after" picture.
In other words, what is God's vision of what He wants His family to become? What does God say in His word of how He wants the family to look like? Let's take a look. Let's go to John 13, and then we're going to move immediately to John 17, and as we're examining the scriptures with regards to this and how God would like to see His family, see the body of Christ, perhaps we can ask in our minds, how would you like to see your personal family? What is your vision for your personal family? What would you imagine as to having the ideal family? What would it be like? What would it be like?
I would surmise that what we would like ideally in our families is actually fairly close to what we're going to read in the Bible for God's goals for His family.
John 13:34 - We're just going to read Verse 34, and then we'll to jump over to John 17. "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you," That is how you should love one another. So, you know, the gauntlet has been thrown down in that regard, Jesus Christ has set the standard by which He wants us to have love among ourselves. Okay, now let's go to John 17 because a good part of Christ's final prayer before He was crucified centered on the church. Centered on the church, and what He wanted the church to be, which of course is also what the Father wanted the church to be.
John 17:11 - "Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You, Holy Father, keep through Your name (those) whom you have given Me, that they may be one as We are." If we leave off the word in italics, as we heard in the sermonette today, that's how it would read. ". . .that they may be one as We." That's what Christ wanted for the church - oneness as God, the Father, and Jesus Christ. Now that's an extremely high goal, but that is the goal. There is no minimizing of that goal; that is what Christ prayed.
Verse 13 - "But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves."
Verse 20 - "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word.
Verse 21 - "that they all may be one, as You, Father, (are) in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me." Now here He also tells us how we can be one. We're actually going to cover that in the last point today about they may be one in God and Jesus Christ, that a major part of that oneness and that unity comes through focus on God, that our minds and hearts are set upon God. We'll get to that in point three.
Verse 22 - "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one.
Verse 23 - "I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me."
Verse 26 - "And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them." This was Christ's prayer before He died that those with the Holy Spirit of God, called out of the world, called into the assembly of God, we don't just have hoary heads in the congregation today (reaction to little children making noise. . .) Actually, as I was walking through the congregation today, I was actually stopped by a few groups of kids; it's great to see.
The prayer of Christ was that those who were called into the assembly of God, that is what ekklesia means, would have the same unity, joy and love that God, the Father, and Jesus Christ have. No less. No less, and certainly with God, all things are possible. So that is the shape that God would like to see in the family of God.
Ephesians 4. Now this does not happen automatically, I probably didn't even need to say that. We know that. It does not happen automatically; it takes very hard work. It takes great effort. It takes really being in tune with God's mind, and we're going to discuss that in point two and point three. Right now again, I would like us to have a very clear vision from God's word of how He wants to see His family. Let's begin in Ephesians 4:1.
Ephesians 4:1 - "I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to (have a) walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.
Verse 2 - "with all lowliness and gentleness," Now He's going to talk about some characteristics that would certainly aid, and certainly help in this unity and this unified, this one mind, one heart that Christ wants for us. ". . .all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love." Not just bearing for bearing's sake, but bearing in love because of the love of God that we have.
Verse 3 - "endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." That's what God has set for us, that we endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit. And here's what He says:
Verse 4 - "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;
Verse 5 - "one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
Verse 6 - "one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." Let's jump over to Verse 11.
Verse 11 - "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers." What's the purpose? Again, we're looking at the purpose. The purpose is:
Verse 12 - "for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
Verse 13 - "till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;" Again, this is a very high goal and standard, but this is the picture that we need to have in our minds, and that we need to be seeking.
Verse 16 - "from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by (what) which every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes the growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love." Again, here is the vision, and I think we have noticed how these verses are formulated. It requires work and effort. It is not automatic. Just because there is one body, one spirit, one faith, etc., does not mean that we have perfection as a body in being unified in these or any other area. You cannot receive connection through the Holy Spirit as God's perfect harmony and unity. We must grow in these areas, and we must work together for that. That's the goal, and that's the vision that God has given us.
Let's go to Philippians 2: 1-5:
Philippians 2:1 - "Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,
Verse 2 - "fulfill My joy be being like-minded, having the same love ,(being) of one accord, of one mind." There's any number of scriptures in the New Testament that talk about that. ". . .one accord, one mind. . ." same love, same judgment.
Verse 3 - "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit," Why? Because that brings division. That brings division. Anytime there's selfish ambition or conceit, that means somebody is putting themselves ahead of the body, ahead of the team. ". . .but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
Verse 4 - "Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others." And finally, last verse in this section:
Verse 5 - "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." That is the mind of Christ. That is the prayer that He prayed to His Father that there would be that type of unity and love in the body of Christ. Turn with me, if you would to I Corinthians 1. Quite a few of you have had the chance, it just came out on CD, or maybe you saw it in the theater, how many of you have seen Miracle on Ice, the movie. One or two of you, good! I'll get to talk to you. I won't spoil the movie for you; don't worry. The USA wins, by the way, but you know, but if you've been around since 1980, you would have realized that.
The Miracle on Ice, I think, as all of you realize, is a move about the 1980 US Olympic hockey team, and that they were able to win the gold medal, and in route to winning the gold medal, they beat the Soviet team who had won the gold medal for the previous who knows five-six-seven Olympics, and it was just a huge upset, and that's why it's literally called The Miracle on Ice.
It's a very interesting movie, though what I found most interesting about it was not necessarily the historical aspect, but what it talks about in terms of teamwork. There's one part in the movie, well, there's a couple different things I want to mention, one is that the coach in picking the players didn't necessarily pick the individual best players at every position. He picked the players who he thought had the heart and the team spirit to make this team work, because there were a few people he cut from the team, and everybody else was asking him, "Why'd you cut this guy? This guy's great; he's the best!"
And he said, "Yeah, but he's not right for this team, the team that we need to go."
There's one part in the movie, earlier on in the movie, he asks everybody where they're from, and this type of thing, and they're saying, "University of Boston, University of Minnesota," this type of thing. They're going through the various practices and drills, and finally they have a warm-up game, and I forget who it was against, it's not the Olympics yet, I think it was a warm-up game against the national team from Czechoslovakia, but I could be wrong in that. Anyway, they played, and it was a three to three tie. Now you might think, "Well, that's a successful game." You know, Czechoslovakia national team was one of the three or four best at the time, and you know, maybe the players were thinking that they were pretty good.
Well, the coach was quite upset with their lack of effort. So he made them - I don't know what they call it in ice hockey, in basketball, we call it - "one lines." You know, you go up to one line and back, and then the next line and back, and he's having them do this and do this and do this, until literally, they're dropping on the ice, but they're not getting the point. And finally, one player seemed to realize and get the point. And he stood up; he introduced himself by name, and he said, "I am so and so, and I play for the United States of America."
In other words, he had stopped identifying with himself as an individual, from whatever university he was, but saw him as a part of the team. At that point the coach said, "Hit the showers." They had gotten the point. They had gotten the point. This is about team, not about individuals.
Paul mentions the same thing, or something similar in I Corinthians 1.
I Corinthians 1:10 - "Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you (all) speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Verse 11 - "For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those in Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you." And what had happened? They started identifying themselves by individuals and not by, in this case, the coach, of course, Jesus Christ, or by the body of Christ.
Verse 12 - "Now I say this, that each of you says, 'I am of Paul,' or 'I am of Apollos,' or 'I am of Cephas," or 'I am of Christ.'
Verse 13 - "Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?" He's saying, "This is not right. This is not right." How is division identified? When the love is not the same. When there's no longer simplicity of heart. There's no longer the family in mind, but rather the individual.
When is a family not a family? Talking about our individual families, families we see out in the community. When it is really a family in name only. There are families as we all know who are truly bonded, truly care for one another, bend over backwards for one another, who spend time together, share with one another, laugh together, cry together, work together, play together, and then there are families who have only three things in common: a name, a roof, and blood.
Those same possibilities, and of course, I perhaps have described extremes, I realize that, those same possibilities face us in the church. We can either be the family that God envisions, that He has described for us in His word, or we can be a group that meets together under one roof, has one Holy Spirit, same name, but are really not together the way God has described for us.
I appreciate the ensemble playing for us today. Those of you from Dayton and Cincinnati North, you've been together for a few months now. Any of you have ever played a musical instrument and played in an ensemble or band, you realize that it is one thing to individually master your particular instrument. Then it's another thing to master your individual particular instrument and play in a group of five, or ten, or twenty, or thirty, or larger. There's an entirely different dynamic of playing solo for yourself in your room and it sounding very good, and then getting together with a band or an orchestra or an ensemble and making all the parts meld into one sound. There's a different strategy; there's a different dynamic that has to take place. It's not only the individuals playing, but they have to learn to listen to one another as much as they can and really play so that's there is just one sound coming out, and not three, four, five different sounds.
I don't how many of you follow sports; I do somewhat. If you ask three sports fans, you're liable to get four opinions on the greatest sports teams in America in history. Some will say the Yankees early on in the last century. Others will talk about their favorite football team, or perhaps the basketball teams, perhaps under John Wooden, UCLA, those types of things. Since I have the pulpit, I'll give you my favorite team of all time. Sorry for the rest of you who don't have a voice today.
My team, if you asked me for one of the greatest sports teams in America, I would say the Celtics. Back in the 1960's, perhaps dropping into the 50's and into the early 70's. The Boston Celtics professional basketball team won in thirteen years, eleven NBA championships. At one point, eight in a row. In today's time, a team will struggle to win two in a row. Chicago certainly won three in a row at one time, but to win eight in a row or eleven in thirteen years, nearly impossible.
If you've done any reading about the Celtics basketball team, Red Auerbach took the same approach as the coach in Miracle on Ice, in my opinion. And that is, he looked for players that played as a team.
You know, it's interesting if you take a look at who was on the Celtic basketball team, and certainly they had great players. There's no question about that. But in my opinion, at any one position, they did not have the individual best player at any one position at any time during those years. Now you think of somebody like Bill Russell, a tremendous center, but he was playing against a guy by the name of Wilt Chamberlen. So, again, if you take a look at individual players by position, they may not have the absolute best in the league at that time. They had very good players, but the point is they knew how to play as a team. And despite the great players that they were playing against, because of their team play, that's why they won all those championships.
Turn with me if you will to Romans 12. Ministers are sometimes accused of being de-scriptive in their sermons and not pre-scriptive, so I will offer a pre-scription today on each of these three points from God's word. How can we better increase the bonds between us and seek for that unity, that true bondedness and that true love and closeness that God wants to see for His family.
Frankly we could go back to what we read in Acts 2, at the end of Acts 2 and see the answer. We're going to see the answer here in Romans 12:10.
Romans 12:10 - "Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.
Verse 13 - "distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality." There is really no substitute for fellowship and hospitality in terms of building bonds with one another. Remember back to the scripture in Acts 2 it talks about that they would be together in fellowship and in prayers and in breaking of bread together. Three things that they were doing together; the fourth thing was continuing in the apostles doctrine. But the point is that they did spend time together. They spent time socially together, breaking the bread, talking, fellowship. A little substitute and it's not that hard to do. Maybe you were thinking I was going to give you some big complicated formula of how we can do that. No big complicated formula. It's right here in God's word. Let's continue reading:
Romans 12:14 - "Bless those who persecute you, bless (those) and do not curse.
Verse 15 - "Rejoice with those who rejoice, (and) weep with those who weep.
Verse 16 - "Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion." If you want to note down the scripture, in Luke 12:37, one of the first things that Jesus Christ will do in the kingdom of God is practice hospitality. We will sit down to a table, and He will serve us. It is called the wedding feast. It is called the wedding feast.
Turn with me if you would to Hebrews 3:13. Unfortunately in our busy time that we all seem to be in at a very hectic pace whether you are a list person, or you're not a list person, we do live very busy lives, and sometimes, and perhaps more recently, the simple things of Christianity maybe we just haven't found or made the time for. And perhaps we can be reminded through God's word to find or make the time for some of these things, again, it's not rocket science for us, very simple, but the effects are definitely powerful as far as getting together for fellowship and getting together to enjoy food and drink together.
Hebrews 3:13 - It talks about: "But exhort one another daily, while it is called 'Today,' lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." We're not just here to help one another in physical need; we are here to exhort one another, encourage one another, motivate one another spiritually. That's why God has brought us together; that's why the New Testament church was formed, that we would not be individual Christians out there by ourselves. Rather that we are brought together to support and help one another. Hopefully that gives us a good part of the vision that God would like to see for His family.
Point two is simply - we are what we eat. We are what we eat, and no I'm not going to preach to you about low carb. I'm glad some people like low carb; that means there's all the more carbohydrates for me. No comments.
Tradition has it, and I, as Mr. Seelig said this morning, I am also a firm believer in that the law was given to Israel on the Feast of Pentecost. Now, unfortunately, Israel did not have the mind or the spirit or the heart to keep it. They saw it as a burden, and in Christ's time, the Pharisees made the law a burden by expanding the list of do's and don'ts, by making it into a checklist mentality.
Now I'm all in favor of checklists for some things, but not in this regard. Unfortunately Israel, unfortunately the Pharisees could not understand the purpose behind God's law. Why was God's law given? To combine with the Holy Spirit, what is that supposed to produce in us? What is it supposed to produce in us individually, or as the body of Christ?
Obviously the commandments of God are not simply one long list or one long computer code to run us like computers. We are not computers. The laws of God articulate in language the mind and the heart of God, and it is this mind and this heart that God wants us to develop through reading of His word and through thinking about it and putting it in our minds. The goal is to develop this mind, not simply to have a perfect checklist. The Pharisees wanted a perfect checklist, and Paul even said you know, according to the traditions I received from my fathers, according to how they did it and how I was taught, I was perfect. And then he goes on to say, "But I missed the point. I missed the point. The operation was a success, but the patient died." Basically, what Paul was saying. That's Fenchel paraphrase, by the way, not a divine revelation.
Now, I would like to take you through a small exercise. You have a choice of how you would like to view a flower. Choice number one is what I'm going to read to you. I'm going to give you a description, and forgiveness is begged from the botanists among us and those who are experts in gardening if I mispronounce something, but I'm going to describe for you a multi-flora rose. Hopefully I don't have any big words in here.
Description: A multi-flora rose is a thorny perennial shrub with arching stems or canes and leaves divided into five and eleven sharply to leaflets. Beginning in May or June, clusters of showy fragrant white to pink flowers appear, each about an inch across. Small bright red fruits or rosehips develop during the summer becoming leathery and remain on the plant throughout winter. Multi-flora rose is extremely prolific and can form impenetrable thickets that exclude native species. This exotic rose readily invades open woodlands, forest edges, successional fields, savannahs and prairies that have been subjected to land disturbance. Everything you never wanted to know about a multi-flora rose. Now that is choice number one of how to view a flower.
Choice number two is to look up at the flowers here. Now how many of you would rather have me read you a description of how a multi-flora rose looks, as comparison to just simply looking at the beauty before you. Anybody who'd rather have me read it again? Not a single hand. This is amazing. I'm shocked.
Well, the same thing is with God and the mind and the heart of God. We can think that we may know the scriptures perfectly, but unless we are putting that into action, unless it is changing our hearts and minds, we have nothing better than a description, and not the real McCoy.
What is really a thing of beauty is not to necessarily read about compassion, but to see compassion in action. It is not necessarily to read about mercy, but to see mercy in action. Not only to read about love, but to see love in action. That is what we're supposed to be doing with the words that we take from the page with God's Spirit; it's supposed to be turned into something beautiful like these flowers, and not that we can just memorize the description.
Let's go to Matthew 22. Please don't misunderstand me; I don't mean for a second that reading God's word, and God's word itself is not beautiful, encouraging, uplifting, inspiring; it certainly is, but if all that remains are words on a page, or words that we've committed to memory and not a real change of heart and mind, it will not have done it's job. Or we will not have allowed it to do it's job.
Matthew 22:36 - "Teacher, (which) what is the great commandment in the law?
Verse 37 - "Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God will all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
Verse 38 - " 'This is the first and great commandment.
Verse 39 - " 'And the second is like (unto it, related to it, connected with it) it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' " Continually God said, "I'm going to write my law on the hearts and on the minds." And again, not as a computer code, not as a well-done checklist, but truly beauty as we see in the flowers.
First let's go to I Timothy 1:5.
I Timothy 1:5 - "Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from a sincere faith." That is the purpose of why we study God's word.
I found an interesting statistic not long ago, and I suppose depending on which educational professor you ask, this may be different, statistics may vary, but this is just the one that I happened to find: what are the most effective learning methods? Most effective learning methods. Again, I don't claim that these statistics are one hundred percent foolproof, plus or minus error of you know three percent, as they say in surveys, but here's what this particular study came up with.
When we read something, over time we may retain five percent of what we have read. If we hear it in a lecture format, maybe ten percent. Audio/visual presentation, we retain twenty percent. Interactive discussion, fifty percent, fifty percent retention. If we actually go out and practice that which we have learned, seventy-five percent retention. And if we actually begin teaching what we have learned, ninety percent retention.
So in terms of pre-scription for this particular point, in terms of what we can do in studying God's word, maybe try writing down how you would teach a particular principle in your study to somebody else. In your Bible study, let's try not just reading it, maybe not even just thinking about it, certainly we should practice it, but maybe we could try writing down in order that we really become and really take into our heart and mind that which we have read, write down how you would teach this principle in your own words.
Having had the opportunity to teach at ABC, I certainly did not know the books that I am now teaching any better than when I started teaching them. I don't claim to be an expert. No comment from the ABC students who are here, I don't claim to be an expert in those books by any means, but boy, I sure know those books a whole lot better now than before I started needing to teach them.
So in terms of a "to do," that we can do in our Bible study as we're doing our Bible study think about how would we teach this to our children, our neighbor, our boss, whatever name you want to fill in, how would we teach that principle, and write down a few things and perhaps that will help soak in what we need to do.
The third and final point in terms of fitness plan for the body of Christ is that we have to identify with the mind of the coach. And great coaches look for players who first and foremost will identify with their principles, with their - how do I want to say it, with their ideals, their goals, their standards, if you will, that's what they look for. I talked to a CEO one time, and she told me that, you know, skills she can teach. There's no problem to teaching skills. Someone's coming lacking a particular skill on the job, she can teach. What she can't teach are the moral characteristics that she wants in employees at her company. She said, "I can't teach that." Though they have to be able to identify right away with that when they come in. They have to already have that, so we have to identify with the mind of the coach.
Let's go to Hebrews 12. I see a few people fanning themselves. Is it a little warm in here? A little bit? Okay. Maybe I could ask one of the ushers if they could find a way to turn on a little bit more air conditioning. Of course, then I'm going to have a few people saying, "No, no, no. I'm going to freeze."
I'm almost done, so you know, if you're freezing or roasting, either way, you'll have relief before too long. Hebrews 12:1-2:
Hebrews 12:1 - "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." Again, simplicity of heart goes back to what we read in Acts. Simplicity of heart; focus. And what are we supposed to do? We are to:
Verse 2 - "(looking) (look) to Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith, (the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega,) who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of (the throne of) God." We need to have our focus securely on God. When we get our focus off of God, and off of His plan, and off of His greatness, what happens? We become discouraged; we become distracted; we become frustrated; we become angry; we become upset. Why? Because our focus goes on something else. Maybe the focus goes on ourselves; maybe the focus goes on our neighbor who's not as perfect as we would like our neighbor to be. Funny thing. Maybe it goes on something else, but as soon as we take our focus off of God and what He wants us to do, then we have problems.
Let's go to John 15:1.
John 15:1 - "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
Verse 2 - "Every branch (in Me) that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
Verse 3 - "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you." Now notice what He says here:
Verse 4 - "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me." If we are wanting to grow individually, and as the body of Christ in the Holy Spirit, in the fruit of the Spirit, we have to abide in Jesus Christ. Our lives have to revolve around Him. We have to be God centered. We have to have, as it talks about in Deuteronomy the command given to Israel that when we walk in, when we go out, when we lie down, when we rise up, that we are focused on God and what He wants us to do.
Verse 5 - "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing." Pretty clear.
Verse 6 - "If anyone does not abide in Me, he (is) (will) be cast out as a branch and (is) withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
Verse 7 - "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
Verse 8 - "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so you will be My disciples." That is a part of the power we show we're the disciples of Jesus Christ.
How healthy is our connection with Jesus Christ and God, the Father in prayer and in our minds as we heard earlier today in the morning sermon; how much are our minds focused on God? We need to think about what we need to think about.
Turn with me if you would to I Timothy 4. If all of us individually are focused on Jesus Christ, on His teachings, on His way, on the plan of God, of what God is doing, of God's greatness, of God's mercy and comfort and strength and deliverance, that will help bind and unify the church, because all of our focus and visual will be going the same direction. We will not be distracted here, or distracted there or frustrated here, or discouraged there. I Timothy 4:12-16. It says here:
I Timothy 4:12 -"Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity." That's why we have been called. That is the reason for, and the purpose for the life that we have been given. It's not first and foremost to be a good husband or father, or to be a good mother or wife, or employee on the job, or coach of the baseball team, or whatever the case may be. Now all that can serve and should be served by the fact our focus is first and foremost on God. But first and foremost, our focus must be on God. And He says here:
Verse 13 - "Till I come, give attention. . ." Give diligence, give your energy. . . ". . . to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine." And going on with our theme, so to speak, for the day or the purpose and meaning of Pentecost. . .
Verse 14 - "Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy (with) by the laying on of hands of the presbytery.
Verse 15 - "Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them. . ." He was telling Timothy. He was saying, "Timothy, you need to throw all your energy into this, not to anything else. ". . .that your progress may be evident to all.
Verse 16 - "Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save (both) yourself and those who hear you." In other words, Paul was reminding Timothy to make sure that our focus is very sharp. Make sure our focus is very sharp.
During the Days of Unleavened Bread, we read that Israel had the same spiritual food, the same spiritual drink as we do. They had the same rock, Jesus Christ, as the leader, but they failed because they did not have the heart, or the mind, or the spirit for it. We are told in the Bible that the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth, provide us with comfort, give us the will to do what is right, impart to us strength, love, and direct our minds. And of course, a whole lot more than that.
The question is - how in tune are we with God's lead through the Holy Spirit? Again to provide us a little bit of vision, I'd just like to go through, I'm not going to even tell you chapter and verse they're in, they're mostly in Acts. But if you go through and study the book of Acts, I think you'll be, how do I want to say, inspired by the way the Holy Spirit was working in individuals and the church collectively at that time. And there's no reason that if we're in tune individually and collectively with God that the same thing could not happen in the body of Christ today.
So I'm just going to go through and just read a number of scriptures, I'd just like you to get the feel for that period of time a little bit from what was recorded. Here are some of those scriptures:
"Unto the day he was taken out, having given directions to the apostles whom he chose through the Holy Spirit. Then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit said to them rulers of the people and elders of Israel. And when they had prayed, the place that they were assembled was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
"And we are witnesses of these things, so also of the Holy Spirit which God has given to those who obey Him. Therefore brothers, look out from among you seven men being witnessed to, being full of the Holy Spirit with wisdom that we may appoint over this duty.
"Oh, stiff-necked and uncircumcised and hardened ears you always resist the Holy Spirit, as your fathers, so you do also.
"Then indeed the churches had rest throughout all Judah, and Galilee and Samaria having been built up and having gone on in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they increased.
"And as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, 'As so then separate Barnabas and Saul to the work which I have called them. And these indeed sent out by the Holy Spirit went down to Seleucia and from there, they sailed to Cypress.
"And the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these necessary things."
Now I've just read a few verses, and I've only made it half-way through the book of Acts. I think there are some fifty to sixty different references to how God's Spirit works and moved individuals and the church as a body at that time. We need to be in tune with God's mind and the Holy Spirit.
Turn with me if you would to Titus 3:4
Titus 3:4 - "But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
Verse 5 - "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit." That tells us that God's Holy Spirit can change us if we allow ourselves to be led by God's Holy Spirit, but also notice here, we have the word - "renew." That has to be an ongoing thing, a daily thing, multiple times throughout the day that we are being in touch with God through study, through prayer, through thinking, meditation, that we are in tune with that still small voice that God offers us to lead us.
It's simply not possible to have Jesus Christ live His life in us, nor to have the understanding we need to have without God's Holy Spirit. We must use it; we must be renewed in it.
We read earlier where we are to be unified in the Spirit. We are to have the same mind and the same judgment. We are to be unified, to put it in "Fenchel" phraseology, in substance. We are to be unified in substance, in love, we were told. The same heart, we were told. It's good, and its fine, and it's right to be unified in form, nothing wrong with that. But we need to be unified in substance of the heart, and the substance of mind. In my personal opinion, I believe based on scripture, for the church to grow and become the body of Christ as it should be, as God is looking for it at the return of Jesus Christ. That the Holy Spirit we must be much more in tune with God's Spirit and allow it to change us. Allow it change us individually, and allow it to change us collectively.
Final scripture, Ephesians 2:21-22: Notice what it says here, beginning in Verse 19:
Ephesians 2:19 - "Now therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God." That's how God sees us as His household, as His home, as His family, together.
Verse 20 - "having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,
Verse 21 - "in whom the whole building, being joined (fitted) together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord." He's not talking about individual lose bricks all lying separate on one foundation. That is not what He is talking about. He is talking about the whole building being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
Verse 22 - "in whom you also (are) being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.
Now we know individually we are called the temple, our bodies are the temple of God's Spirit, individually. But also collectively, together, we are being built for a habitation of God in the Spirit. So, it behooves us to take that just as seriously as our individually calling.
God's plan is one of eternal salvation as His family. The Day of Pentecost pictures the beginning of that spiritual family, the beginning of that spiritual family through people being called out, brought together, being given God's Holy Spirit. Most certainly God is interested in us individually; He works with us individually; He intervenes for us individually. But also God works with His family, the body of Christ as a whole. We need to consider that. Now we need to consider where we need to grow as individuals, but how do we need to grow, how do we need to improve as a team? We need to think of a team mentality, or as an ensemble, if you want to think of a musical analogy, or as the family as it is described in the Bible.
As we consider the meaning of Pentecost, as we consider the work of Jesus Christ, having the heart and mind of Christ and the lead of God through the Holy Spirit, let us consider the unity, the closeness, the love that God not only wants to see in us individually, but also in His family.
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