Sermon
How Will Christ Build His Church
Dells 3/10/12

INTRO: As we near Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread – we look at our relationship with God at a personal level, perhaps more than at any other time, even when we really NEED Him.

            To help us do this better, let’s first consider that the Person Who sacrificed Himself for us, had been working on this Plan a very long time already.

            During His last days as a human, He said something He had never said. He declared boldly something He didn’t say to Adam, Moses, the prophets, David, anyone …until a special moment when it could be made very clear that things were about to be taken up not just a notch, but orders of magnitude over anything mankind had ever understood about God before.

            What Jesus Christ said relates directly to YOU …and it relates directly to YOU …NOW.

            Remember it had NEVER been said by HIM before. Here is the setting context …
Matthew 16:13-17(NKJV) 13When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
14So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

In asserting His own personal relation to the Father, Christ had said: "No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him"; {Mattew 11:27} and now that to one at least the Father has been revealed in the Son, He recognises the fact with joy. These notions of the people about Him were but earth-born notions, the surmisings of "flesh and blood": this faith of the true apostle was born from above; it could have come only from heaven.

            Matthew 16:17-19(NKJV) 17Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
18And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock …

{From Expositor's Commentary} Now at last, therefore, the foundation is laid, and the building of the spiritual temple is begun. The little group is standing on one of the huge rocky flanks of mighty Hermon, great boulders here and there around them; and in all probability, well in sight, some great stones cut out of the rock and made ready for use in building, like those still to be seen in the neighbourhood of Baalbec, to the north of Hermon; for this region was famous for its great temples. Now, when we remember that the two words our Lord uses (πετρος and πετρα) for "rock" in our version have not precisely the same meaning — the one (Petros, Peter) signifying a piece of rock, a stone, the other (Petra) suggesting rather the great bed-rock out of which these stones are cut and on which they are lying. 

I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

If the surroundings suggest the use of the words "Petros" and "Petra," stone and rock, the circumstances suggest the use of the word Ecclesia, or Church, which is here employed by our Lord for the first time. Up to this time He has spoken always of the kingdom, never of the church. The word itself is especially significant. It means an assembly "called out," and suggests the idea of separateness, so appropriate to the circumstances of the little band of outcasts.

I [The Creator Savior God] will [Future tense – showing it had NOT had happened at that time] build [G3618 οἰκοδομέω oikodomeō oy-kod-om-eh'-o From the same as G3619; to be a house builder, that is, construct or (figuratively) confirm:—(be in) build (-er, -ing, up), edify, embolden.]  My [This belongs to the Creator, Savior, soon coming King and personal God – Jesus Christ] church [G1577 ἐκκλησία ekklēsia k-klay-see'-ah From a compound of G1537 and a derivative of G2564; a calling out, that is, (concretely) a popular meeting, especially a religious congregation (Jewish synagogue, or Christian community of members on earth or saints in heaven or both):—assembly, church.]

Benefit Statement:   Since Christ made it very clear Who will built the Group of called out ones, and Who they belong to, and Who are continuing to be built by Him …is there anything those called out ones are to DO?

This seems to say that Christ is doing it ALL. Is there any participation by those called and belonging to Him and built into a separated Group by Him?

SPS: Christ proclaimed to mankind for the first time EVER. “I Will Build My Church”
            The question is …HOW will Christ Build His Church?

BODY:

1)    – WE have an personal, integral part in the Plan of God as He Builds His Church –
a)    Repent, Acts 2:38 [μετανοέω metanoeō met-an-o-eh'-o]

b)    Be converted Acts 3:19(NKJV) 19Repent [μετανοέω metanoeō met-an-o-eh'-o From G3326 and G3539; to think differently or afterwards, that is, reconsider (morally to feel compunction):—repent] therefore and be converted [ἐπιστρέφω epistrephō ep-ee-stref'-o From G1909 and G4762; to revert (literally, figuratively or morally):—come (go) again, convert, (re-) turn (about, again).], that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

c)    Be Transformed Rom 12:2(NKJV) 2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed [μεταμορφόω metamorphoō met-am-or-fo'-o From G3326 and G3445; to transform (literally or figuratively “metamorphose”):—change, transfigure, transform.]] by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

d)    Go WITH Christ to continue the “building” of His Church into all the world. This is done out of concern for the Plan of God for all mankind, with the same Might of the Spirit of the Father and Jesus Christ to fulfill the Plan They set in motion from the foundation of the world.
Matthew 28:18-20(NKJV) 18And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19Go £therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Since Christ is with those He assigns to teach the world to imitate Him, He must be Calling all those into His Church. So WE can’t really call anyone, and this is just an exercise of faith while God does the real Work, huh? Christ is actually doing the Calling while He is with us, right?

John 6:44(NKJV) 44No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws [GK- DRAGS ] him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

SO, Christ is telling us to care for all human life as HE does. And He is not calling anyone either. He is with us as WE “make disciples” …as WE imitate and teach others to imitate God’s WAY, we are with Christ, as HE is with us. It is the Father Who is calling (or opening humans eyes to see themselves) and we are there, with Christ, ready to continue to never-ending transformation to God Beings in the Family of God.

So WE are part of the building of the Church of God by Christ. This Work is not ended. And our highest priority is to examine ourselves and respond to that examination with God’s Spirit and Mind and Approach to life.
2 Corinthians 13:5-6(NKJV) 5Examine [πειράζω peirazō pi-rad'-zo From G3984; to test (objectively), that is, endeavor, scrutinize, entice, discipline:—assay, examine, go about, prove, tempt (-er), try.] yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. 6But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified.

WE are the Church He spoke of. WE ARE. Why should WE be called on to repent, be converted, be transformed, and go into all the world? Because WE understand what God is doing. HE is changing humans into God Family members. To do so, those humans must come to BE L I K E Him.

We are the humans who must learn to BE L I K E Him. To NOT be like humans, but LIKE Him. As we imitate what God is doing, so others will see God’s Way and be able to repent, be converted, and be transformed into God Family Members. This is the Plan of God, and Christ is in charge of our connection to IT!

HOW Does Christ look at it all? How DID He look at it all? He exhibited miraculous FAITH. We are to examine ourselves to see if WE are in the same attitude as HE was and is.

He knew that mankind must see himself and repent, and that this leads to complete change, called conversion, and then it is possible for God to transform a human so converted into a God Family Member.

It all starts by having the same Approach to life Christ had and has. He trusted and trusts the Father to always do what is best for us individually and that being done while working out the Plan of the God Family.

Christ has been building a Group of humans who care for all human life as He does. Miraculous!

2)    Since WE are personally called, chosen, predestined, and before the rest of humanity will inherit all things, because of our righteous loving character developed with Christ in us – AND Christ died to make that possible …We must concentrate on THAT relationship above ALL else, right?

Does God love some humans more than others? Does He love those who obey Him more than those who do not? Does He love those of the Church more than those of the world? Of COURSE, Right?

How are we EVER going to come to be LIKE God, if we cannot see life as HE does?

God’s PRIORITIES are not our priorities. We repent of that, and are changed to have HIS priorities. His most important consideration when it comes to mankind is that they ALL become His Family members. That they ALL become transformed into HIS Family and become LIKE HIM! To live in outgoing concern and ever-increasing Joy and fulfillment forever, putting away the life of comparison of humans to humans, and self-defense, and self-god-making.

God LOVES His Creation. ALL of it. To be LIKE Him, WE must come to that Faith of Christ and have that approach lead US as Christ directs HIS Church …WE are that Church of Holy imitators.

John 3:1-21(NKJV)
1There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
2This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
3Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
5Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
8The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
9Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”
10Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?
11Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.
12If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
13No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.
14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
15that whoever believes in Him should £not perish but have eternal life.
16For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
17For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 
19And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 
20For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 
21But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

This Divine Person has no humanly reasoned motivation to care for us. He is in possession of all things, and eternal life too. He has all knowledge, and wisdom. He created everything, so He can start over if it doesn’t work out. Why be concerned about those who will NOT go along with HIM. Why should WE be concerned about those who will not listen?

Habakkuk 1:1-5(NKJV)
1The burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw.
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry,
And You will not hear?
Even cry out to You, “Violence!”
And You will not save.
3 Why do You show me iniquity,
And cause me to see trouble?
For plundering and violence are before me;
There is strife, and contention arises.
4 Therefore the law is powerless,
And justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore perverse judgment proceeds.
5 “Look among the nations and watch—
Be utterly astounded!
For I will work a work in your days
Which you would not believe, though it were told you.

There are righteous people, and rebellious people, right? The righteous ones are favored by God and the unrighteous ones will not receive eternal life.

So ..."good riddance to them!" Hmmm.

3)    So, WHY is Christ building His Church of imitators? People, who care for all life as He does?

John 11:20-44(NKJV)
20Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house.

21Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 

22But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”
23Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

24Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 

26And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
27She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
28And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.”
29As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him.
30Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but £was in the place where Martha met Him.
31Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, £saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”
32Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.
34And He said, “Where have you laid him?”
They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”
35Jesus wept.  
36Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”
37And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”
38Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
39Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”
Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
40Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”
41Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
42And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”
43Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”
44And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

Christ cares for His Creation so much that those who will live His Way, will be given life there forever in His Family. Those who will not, by their own hand, will be stopped from existing in the pain of self-god-making for all time. They will simply cease to exist, forever.

John 5:24-30(NKJV) 24“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
25Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.
26For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself,
27and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.
28Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice
29and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
30I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.

Jesus Christ died for every human being to be allowed into Life. HE is to LIVE that WAY in US!

To learn to not live for themselves only. To practice and achieve selflessness as He does for every human being, and for all Creation. To see Life as God sees it …uniquely precious and worth dying for.

BUT …He will not let mankind fool themselves into believing they are able to live forever. Nor will He let self-centered hate-motivated mankind go on suffering. WE are Who He is building into His Family. WE must come to see life as He does and live it for everyone else, God FIRST.

Conclusion: Those who play at religion, play at self-goodness, play at being God
…will simply cease to live.

Matt hew 23:1-39(NKJV)
1Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples,
2saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.
3Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.
4For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
5But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.
6They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues,
7greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’
8But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, £the Christ, and you are all brethren.
9Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.
10And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.
11But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.
12And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
13“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
15“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
16“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’
17Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that £sanctifies the gold?
18And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’
19Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?
20Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.
21He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who £dwells in it.
22And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.
23“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
24Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
25“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and £self-indulgence.
26Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.
28Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,
30and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’
31“Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
32Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt.
33Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?
34Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city,
35that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
36Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
37“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!
38See! Your house is left to you desolate;
39for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

CLOSE: HOW is Jesus Christ building His Church? One new Family member at a time while we help.

Colossians 3:12-17(NKJV)  
12Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;
13bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
14But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

When we think of the place and the scene and the circumstances under which Christ proclaimed that He would build His Church, the sad memories of the past and the gloomy forebodings for the future, what sublimity of faith must we recognize in the words which immediately follow: "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it"! Oh! shame on us who grow faint-hearted with each discouragement, when the Master, with rejection behind Him and death before Him, found it encouragement enough after so much toil to make a bare beginning of the new temple of the Lord; and even in that day of smallest things was able to look calmly forward across the troubled sea of the dark future and already raise the shout of final victory! HE WAS …HE IS motivated and able and DOING the Building of His called out ONES into the Family of God ….

16Let the word [LOGOS] of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Let the Faith [LOGOS] of Jesus Christ dwell in you richly. While Building His Church.

17And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
 

                                Examine yourself whether you be in THAT Faith!!!