What Is the Foundation of the Church of God?

What is the foundation of the Church of God? I want our closing hymn to be today, The Church is One Foundation, if we can find that somewhere in the mix back there. What is the foundation of the Church of God, and how did you come to sit here today? Let's explore those two questions. First of all, in Matthew 16, in verse 13, Jesus Christ is having a discussion with the disciples and asking them questions. Matthew 16, 13, When Jesus came to the coast of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I am, the Son of Man, am? And they said, Some say, You are John the Baptist. Some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah, are one of the prophets. He said unto them, But whom do you say that I am? They say that, but what do you say? And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And then Jesus said, Blessed are you, Simon of Arjona, because flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven, showing that spiritual knowledge is revealed from God. The revelation to Peter that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And our key verse here is the next verse. And I say unto you that you are Peter, Petra's little rock. And upon this rock, Petra, Petra, big rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades, hell, the grave shall not prevail against it. And in 1 Corinthians 3, beginning in verse 7, we see more about the foundation of the Church of God. What is the foundation, the true foundation of the Church of God? If you want to talk about building a church, what foundation do you lay? The Apostle Paul makes it very clear here in 1 Corinthians 3, beginning in verse 7, and going through verse 11. So then neither he that plants anything, neither he that waters, of course, Paul had planted, he had brought the gospel to the Corinthians, he was their father in the gospel. Corinthians became very critical of the Apostle Paul, and one of the reasons for writing this letter is to answer many of the charges that they had brought against him. Even some saying that he was not an Apostle, the very one that brought him the gospel. Then, Apollos came along, a very powerful preacher apparently, and somewhat a charismatic figure. Paul didn't seem to be very charismatic at all. And he was watering. Now, he that plants and he that waters are one, they have the same mission, same goal, and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. That has to do with those who labor in the gospel more than it applies to anyone else, especially those in the ministry. For we are laborers together with God, you are God's husbandry, you are God's building. Down in verse 16, he says that we are the temple of God. In verse 17, he says, If any man defile the temple of God, him will God destroy. It's a very sobering set of scriptures here. According the grace of God, which is given unto me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another builds thereon, but let every man take heed how he builds thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that which is, that which is laid, and that foundation is Jesus Christ. That Jesus Christ identifies himself as the big rock upon which the church is built, and that the gates of the grave will not prevail against it. Now, there's more added concerning the foundation in Ephesians, so we'll turn forward there to Ephesians chapter 2.

Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, to the non-Israelites. He was chosen of God to make it known the great mystery that had been hidden through the ages, and that is that Jew and Gentile would be joined together in one body, in one great household of God, one great family, the church.

Ephesians 2, especially, is devoted to that, somewhat breaking in on the thought, verse 17, in Ephesians chapter 2.

And came and preached peace to you, which were afar off. So, the non-Israelites were afar off, that is, from the promises that were made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And the Jews got the idea that, from this, that they were perhaps better than anybody else.

The Scriptures, as you know, the oracles of God were committed unto them, and they had that advantage. And so, the Bible calls them those who are near. They are familiar with the promises.

So, he says, and came and preached peace to you that were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him, that is, through Christ, we both, Jew and Gentile, have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

Now therefore, you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets.

So, we have another dimension added here, the apostles and prophets, and Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.

Now, when you might think of a cornerstone as that which is down in the corner of the very foundation, the very substrata upon which the structure is built, Christ is both the foundation upon which it is built, and also, he is the chief cornerstone. He is the head of the corner, which we'll see very clearly in just a moment in 1 Peter, chapter 2.

In whom all the building, fitly framed together, grows unto an holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

So, we are the temple of God. God's Spirit dwells in us in that temple.

Now, please go to 1 Peter 2, chapter 2. Peter, the apostle of hope, living his life, knowing that he would die a martyr no matter how well he kept the faith.

So Peter wasn't too concerned about a place of safety.

In 1 Peter, chapter 2, in verse 4, In verse 4, We just read from Ephesians 2, that Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone. Behold, I lay in Zion. Zion is symbolic of the church. You might put in your margin there, Hebrews 12, verse 22, which says, But you have come to the Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the general assembly, and church of the firstborn.

So Zion is symbolic of the church.

Behold, I lay in Zion, in the church, a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believes on him, shall not be confounded.

Unto you therefore, which believe, he is precious. But unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner. So Jesus Christ is the foundation of the church, and also he is the chief cornerstone. He is head of the church.

We'll go now to Ephesians, back to Ephesians, chapter 1.

Ephesians, chapter 1, and we'll see this very clearly.

Two of the epistles that you really should master would be 1 Corinthians, which answers the question, Is Christ divided? And Paul shows us from the calling to the resurrection, Christ is not divided.

And Ephesians is another great unity book of the Bible.

In Ephesians, chapter 1, it shows what we just read here, and a different way of expressing it. Instead of chief cornerstone, we note in Ephesians 1-22, and it put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body.

It's his body because God and Christ live in us, we are the temple of God, the fullness of him that fills all in all.

So we see that Jesus Christ is the foundation upon which the church is built, and he is also the head of the church, the chief cornerstone.

So how did you and I come to sit here today? What price was paid that we might sit here, that we might know the answers to the great questions of life? In 1 Corinthians 6, back a few pages, 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 19, we see the answer there of what was given. Paul and Peter write about the price that was paid.

Peter talks about we are redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, that is, bought back.

1 Corinthians 6, 19, What know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you, which you have of God, and God sends the Holy Spirit, God the Father.

Remember John 15 and 26, that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, sent in the name of Christ, shed on us through Christ, is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own, or you are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

We are bought with a price, and that price, of course, was the very life essence of the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us.

Christ states in John 15, greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life or his friends.

From time immemorial, men have asked some of the great questions of life. To me, the seven greatest questions, which I hope to refer to virtually every Sabbath, is, does God exist?

Because the learned ones, so-called of this world, are trying to do away with the existence of God. Of course, you can't do away with the existence of God. They are trying to erase God from our memory. Does God exist? What is God? Who is God? What is his purpose?

And corollary to that is, who is man? What is man? What is his purpose?

We know those answers.

The answers to those questions, though, were not fully answered until Jesus came on the scene preaching the good news of the kingdom of God.

They didn't fully understand. Peter even writes about the angels desiring to look into this great salvation that is being revealed to humankind.

In Mark 1, we go back there, Jesus Christ, after John was put in prison, came on the scene preaching the good news of the coming kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God seminars are going to begin in cities around the world beginning September the 10th.

I hope that we'll be able to present those seminars sometime in the near future. I don't know exactly when we have had so many different things going on, but eventually we want to do it. Some areas have had a lot of people to preregister. I think Philadelphia, Pennsylvania leads the U.S. in the number who have preregistered for these.

In Mark 1.14, after John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel.

Evangelio, the gospel, means the good news, the good news of the kingdom of God.

The greatest priority of John is Matthew 6.33. Seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

So Jesus Christ came preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand, repent you and believe the gospel.

Now, we know that salvation is a gift, but there are conditions to receiving that gift. You might say, I will give you a thousand dollars, and then you put conditions to it. It's still a gift, but there are conditions. Peter on the day of Pentecost says, repent. Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. But see, the condition was to repent. What do you repent of? Breaking God's immutable spiritual law. And some say, well, is commandment keeping necessary for salvation? If repentance is necessary to receive the Holy Spirit, then you have to repent of breaking God's immutable spiritual law. And in that sense, it is necessary. God did not come to save us, or Jesus did not send Christ, to save us in our sins, but to save us out of our sins.

If that were not the case, then Jesus Christ, as Paul writes in Galatians 2, verse 18, that he would be the minister of sin. So Jesus Christ came preaching repentance.

The time is at hand, the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand, repent you and believe the gospel. So Jesus Christ came preaching that, and that's one of the conditions. And hopefully, as you sit here today, each one of us has repented of our sins.

Jesus Christ holds the keys to the kingdom of God. Let's notice this in Revelation chapter 3. Very interesting here in Revelation. Chapters 2 and 3, the seven messages to the seven churches.

In Revelation chapter 3, at the beginning of each message to each church, there are characteristics of Jesus giving. And if you've never looked at that, you might want to just do a study.

The characteristics of Jesus are given, the commendation, what's wrong, and then what you need to do and the reward.

In Revelation 3.7, and to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, these things says, He that is holy, He that is true, He that has the key of David.

David was a king. And so what is the key to being in the kingdom of God, to being a king and priest in the kingdom of God? Jesus Christ holds the key of David. Now, one of the groups calls their program the key of David, and they focus on the physical throne of David. The key of David has to do with how you enter into the kingdom of God. Jesus Christ holds that key, and He came and revealed the Father, and the key to entering in the kingdom of God. So we note that He has the key of David, He that opens and no man shuts, and shuts and no man opens. There's no way into the kingdom except through Christ. As we'll note later in John 10 about the Good Shepherd. Now back to Matthew 16, we left off reading last time in verse 18 where Jesus Christ said that He would build His church upon the big rock. We also noticed from Ephesians 2 that Jew and Gentile are joined together in the household of God. We noted that the church is also built upon the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone. He is the foundation and the head of the corner. In Matthew 16, verse 19, Jesus Christ says, "...and I will give you," He's speaking there to the apostles, "...the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Now there we could get into all kinds of discussions about that. It says in Psalm 34, it's either verse 4 or 5, that all of God's works are done in truth.

So God doesn't bind error. At times we have practiced, according to Beth's knowledge available, things that were in error, as has Pentecost on Monday instead of on Sunday, and there have been other things as well. You know, it's amazing what people will do depending on the situation's circumstance. It seems in today's world that people think it's sort of like wild horses on the plain. We used to have all the horses in the corral. Now all the wild mustangs have been turned out to the plains. And have mercy on those who try to round them up. But anyhow, Jesus Christ gave the keys of the kingdom to the apostles, and Christ commissioned the church to take the keys of the kingdom to the world. Forward in Matthew 28. Matthew 28, hopefully you can quote these scriptures from memory. But in Matthew 28, if you can't, you can work on it. In Matthew 28, verse 19, Go you therefore and teach all nations. So God and Jesus Christ have structured the church, commissioned the church, to carry out and fulfill the Great Commission. And the church has been developed and structured to fulfill that mission, that commission. And as you note on the emblem of the United Church of God, it is to proclaim the gospel and to prepare a people. Public proclamation and preparation of the bride for the return of Jesus Christ. In Matthew 28, 19, Go you therefore and teach or disciple all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things.

Whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you, even unto the end of the age. So the church has been given that commission. We'll notice in Romans chapter 10, Romans chapter 10, this is a weighty and heavy responsibility. I talked a little bit about in the announcements, about how to carry this gospel to the world. We are trying to do basically everything we can in the media sense, in the public proclamation sense, to get this done. The Internet, of course, is a powerful tool. So you have electronic media, you have television, you have on-the-spot reporting, you have the print media, and now we are doing face-to-face once again with the Kingdom of God seminars, and the public proclamation. Notice here in Romans 10.14, And how shall they call on him, in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him, of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? So God has organized and structured the Church in such a way that the Church will continue down through all ages. If you look at the demographics of the Church today, especially the leadership, I believe that everyone that is on the Council is 60 years of age or older, many are over 70, and so it is in virtually every congregation throughout the world that the leadership, especially... Now, we have, thankfully here, we are obeying that best obeyed commandment fairly well, be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the earth. And the second best obeyed commandment is, thou shalt not eat pork, but then the... We have 15 pre-teens. We recently had a camp for them, so we're pleased to see the young people come along, but how are we going to even communicate this to them, and especially in view of the Spirit of the times in which we live? How shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. But they have not all obeyed the gospel. One of the big discussions we had in the council meetings has to do with, why aren't people responding? Has God quit calling people? Stop calling? I don't think God has... I don't think God is slack in doing what he needs to do, do you? So what is it? Of course, we live in an age, in a generation, in which the hearts of people are hardened, and people make God over in their image. I talked a little bit about that last week, and how they view things. But they have not all obeyed the gospel. Many don't want to hear it. And if they do hear it, they stop their ears of it, or they harden their hearts. And even Jesus Christ, after all was said and done, after he ascended back to heaven, there were 120 converts, I guess you would call them converts, assembled there in Jerusalem, in the upper room, before the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost. They have not all obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah said, Lord, who hath believed our report, so then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. So you have to go out there and preach and teach the Word of God if you're going to obey what Christ says that you should do, and what the commission is to the Church. Jesus Christ, as we've already noted, the head of the Church likens Himself to a shepherd. Let's go to John 10. John 10, verse 7.

Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily I say unto you, I am the door to the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and he shall go in and out and find pasture.

If any man enter in, he shall be saved, shall go in and out and find pasture. There is none other name given under heaven whereby men must be saved in that name of Jesus Christ. The thief comes not but for to steal and to kill, and to kill and to destroy. I am come that they might have life and they might have it more abundantly.

I am the Good Shepherd. Now, the Bible speaks of three classes of shepherds and three titles. The Good Shepherd gives us life for the sheep, as it says here. The Great Shepherd that leads the sheep to greener pastures and cares and takes care of the sheep on their way to the Promised Land. And then the Chief Shepherd who rewards us at the coming of Jesus Christ.

I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep. But he that is in hireling and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf catches them and scatters the sheep. The hireling flees because he is in hireling and cares not for the sheep. I am the Good Shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine, as a father knows me, even so know I the father, and I lay down my life for the sheep.

And of course, we are all admonished to have the same love, care, and concern, one for another, and lay down our life for the sheep. And basically, that's what we are saying that we will do when we wash one another's feet just before taking the symbols of the New Covenant Passover. The Church consists of human beings, as we've already noticed and noted, from Scripture, in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. So who called us and who placed us in the body?

We have heard John 644 quoted many times. I would guess scores and maybe hundreds. No man can come to me unless the Father draw him. God the Father, how did you come to sit here today? Because God the Father knows you, and for some reason, He extended grace to you and I at this particular time, and in essence drafted us and gave us an opportunity by opening our minds and hearts to the truth. And sometimes I just think we don't even grasp the magnitude, the significance, how awesome that calling is, and in turn, our responsibility to that calling. Let's notice the Father's personal involvement in this.

If you would go to James 1, verse 17, James 1 and verse 17 and 18, and we'll see the Father declares that He is intimately involved in this. In James 1, 17, every—I would say that the Holy Spirit is a good gift— every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.

It comes down from the Father of lights with whom is no bearableness, neither shadow of turning of His own will beget He us with the word of truth. See, the Father is the one who begets. We've already noted that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, said to us in the name of Jesus Christ, and is shed abroad in our hearts through Jesus Christ, shed on us through Christ.

Of His own will beget He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-roots of His creatures, His creation. So, in view of the things that we have said here today, and one more very special and important scripture goes back to 1 Corinthians 12. 1 Corinthians 12, verses 12 and 13, which I call the most powerful unity scriptures in the whole Bible. Remember that we said the great rhetorical question of 1 Corinthians is, is Christ divided? And Paul shows from your calling to the resurrection that Christ is not divided.

In 1 Corinthians 12, 12, For as the body is one and have many members, and all the members of that one body, being many are one body, so also is Christ. So, what that's saying, Christ is not divided. For by one Spirit, we're all baptized into one body. See, human beings, the ministry, human beings can baptize you in water. And when you do baptismal counseling, you talk to people, you counsel with them, and you take them at their word.

You ask them if they've repented, and the discussion goes on, and you take them at word. You know, one of the things that I tell those who are counseling for baptism, I said, when you get into baptismal waters, we're going to ask you to state your name, and then we're going to ask you, have you repented of your sins? That is the time to tell the truth. Because man can baptize you in water, but only God begets you, baptizes you in the Holy Spirit. By one Spirit, are we all baptized into one body. After baptism, we lay on hands and ask that God the Father would beget this person with His Spirit, and that that person would become a new creation.

Or by one Spirit, are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jew or Gentile, whether we be bond or free, have been all made to drink into one Spirit. So, in view of all these things that we have said so far with regard to the foundation of the Church, who is the head of the Church, how we came to be here, how great and important and significant our calling is, who am I or who are you to say that we don't want to be here, that we don't want to pay the price, or to say that God is not fair or the way is too hard?

Who am I or who are you to fight against God? Who of His own will set us apart, and as we've read from James, of His own will beguett He us with the word of truth?

He opened our eyes to the marvelous truth. He revealed to us the answers to the great questions of life, the questions that the so-called great minds and philosophers have tried to answer through the ages. Only God can put you in the Church. No man can do it. No man can keep you in the Church. But God, through Christ, the Holy Spirit, and your response to them, He has promised that He will never leave you or forsake you, as we've already read.

Only you can take you out of the Church. You can quench the Spirit. You can commit the unpardonable sin. And the lifeline is broken. If you do that, there's no way back. No way back. And of course, Satan and his agents are working day and night to take you out of the body of Christ. But God has promised through Christ that He will allow us, give us the power to overcome all forces. That includes Satan and his minions, both in the spirit realm, the human realm, whomever, wherever they may be.

Let's go back now to Romans 8. Romans 8.31, already referred to here today, in Romans 8.31, What shall we say to these things, of God be for us, who can be against us? Now, the question of whether or not you can make it. You can make it. We should also keep in mind that promise in Hebrews 7.25 that I refer to so often.

He can save us to the uttermost, seeing that He ever lives to make intercession for us. If God be for us, who can be against us? He that's fair not His own Son, but deliver Him up for us all, and how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? If God so loved us that He was willing to do that, is He going to forsake us? Of course not. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who is He that condemns? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercessions for us.

I recently gave a sermon here about Jesus Christ as our intercessor, praying for us at times that we don't even know about it, or how to pray for. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ, shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword, as it is written? Now, verse 36 here, you probably don't focus on it very often, but it is one of the great keys to making it.

Because the condition, in this sense, for all these promises, to a large degree, hinges on us coming to this state of mind. He says, as it is written, that we are counted all day long in sheep from the slaughter.

In other words, anything that I get above death is a gift. But, at the same time, I have to do my part. I have to be willing to give up self. I have to be willing to give up my personal ambitions.

And from the days of Cain and Abel to the present day, it is one of the great weaknesses and one of the great things that have plagued the sons of men. To be able to humble themselves to the point that they are counted as sheep from the slaughter. That they are willing to take on the same role that Jesus Christ did, that of being a servant and serving. To surrender, submit, and serve.

Know in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come. Nor height, nor death, nor any creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If we stay with it, we have these absolute promises. We have this treasure, this precious gift of the Holy Spirit in earthen vessels, as Paul writes to Timothy. The Spirit of God we have, and the Word of God is equated with the Spirit of God. The words I speak, they are the Spirit in their life. That's what Jesus says in John 6, 63.

If we ingest that word, then we have the strength and the power of life, spiritual life, abiding in us.

It is that Spirit and that Word that convicts us of the truth. That inward man is renewed daily. One of the reasons why that over 50% of the people who were ever baptized in the Church of God left the Church.

This dates back to the days before Mr. Armstrong died, that over 50% of them left the Church.

One of the main reasons they did not renew that inward man daily. Give us this day our daily bread. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

Keep the feast of unleavened bread every day. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 5, Let us keep the feast, not with the leavened bread of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, renewing that inward man daily. Christ has set the various offices in the Church to ensure the unity of the body of Christ. The books, the epistles of 1 Corinthians and Ephesians especially, explains the unity of the body of Christ and how it can be achieved.

Let's go now to Ephesians 4.

Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 12 that God has given various gifts to the members of the body of Christ, and every gift is given to prophet everybody. That is, the whole. To build up the whole. To edify it is the word that is used in the King James.

In Ephesians chapter 4 verse 1, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of vocation wherein you are called. There is no greater calling. There is no higher thing to aspire to than the kingdom of God. Seek you first.

With all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love.

We have a difficulty with that one as well.

And oftentimes we want our way.

And some people present things in such a way it is our way or the highway. And some choose a highway.

With all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love. Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

And then he lists seven unities.

There is one body. There is one body in which the Spirit of God dwells. One Spirit, even as you are called, in the hope of your calling.

One Lord, one faith, one baptism.

That one baptism. The Bible speaks of three baptisms.

Baptism by water we've talked about.

Baptism by fire at the end of the age. The evil will get the baptism of fire.

But there's one baptism into the body of Christ, and only God can do that.

One God and Father of all who is above all, through all, and in you all.

But every one of us is given grace, the word grace, divine favor, charis, and the Greek, according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Everybody has been given some gifts. Everybody.

I wonder how well each one of us is using our gifts.

Wherefore, he said, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and Satan the devil had taken humankind captive, and gave gifts unto men.

We have been set free through Jesus Christ. We're no longer to be bondservants of sin, and Satan, and death.

Now he that ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth.

So Jesus Christ gave his life. He was buried and in the grave for three days and three nights.

He that descended is the same also that I ascended up far above all heavens that he might fill all things.

He's now seated at the right hand of the Father. He makes intercession for us according to the will of the Father.

He prays for us. He looks out for us. He is, in every sense, our high priest.

And he gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying, the building of the body of Christ.

Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, under the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and cared about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive.

But speaking the truth and love may grow up into him, into all things, which is the head, even Christ.

So every gift that we have and every member of the body of Christ, if we are properly oriented toward fulfilling the mission that Christ has given, and all of us, in a sense, have been commissioned to carry out the Great Commission, we have opportunity every day of our lives to try to fulfill this Great Mission.

And especially, Paul says, the laborer within the household of God, the household of faith, from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, everybody on board, everybody necessary, everybody doing their part.

We have here in this congregation, and I'm beginning to see it more and more throughout all of the congregations of the Church of God around the world, as I hear ministers talk, this great spirit of service, of stepping up to the plate, of standing in the gap, of filling the void.

The whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working, in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body into the edifying of itself in love. The greatest motivating force in the universe, that is love.

So, as we have mentioned earlier, Christ has set various offices for a purpose, principally to ensure the unity of the body of Christ, the Church of God.

There must be authority through human beings to preserve the truth, otherwise we would be continually tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. There are people who devote time and effort and energy.

I know recently one guy wanted to show me a 20-foot chart that he had made out.

And I said, well, what am I going to learn from this?

Well, basically, he said, what it's showing is how important the millennium is and how Satan has deceived the world about the millennium.

I said, well, haven't we always taught that? Don't we know that?

But he has spent all of this time developing this, and yet there were other things that we won't mention.

Paul prophesied that the Church would fall on hard times in the last days.

And as we have heard so often, let's turn there to 1 Timothy 4.

You know, more and more we're going toward this thing that animal life is more and more being equated with human life.

This guy shot a grisly that came onto his property recently, and they're going to try him, and he's possibly facing some time in prison because grisly are on the endangered species list.

And more and more animal life is being equated with human life.

In 1 Timothy 4, the Spirit speaks expressly that in the latter time some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.

And then they list some of these.

Speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron.

If you quench the Spirit long enough, if you don't do what you know to do, enough times, eventually, the conscience gets seared.

Forbidding to marry, commanding to abstain from meats. That's that animal life that's so important, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

2 Timothy 3 talks about in the latter times all of the different behaviors that will be extant during that time.

Let's notice 2 Timothy chapter 4.

And one of the things that needs to be impressed, and I hope we can impress it upon all of the ministry around the world, and everybody that preaches and teaches in the Church of God, is how critical the times are in which we live, and the admonition that is in the Bible with regard to preaching the truth.

If you read the first several chapters of Acts, you'll note the boldness of Peter, James, and John, and the apostles in general.

That they were boldly going forth preaching and teaching the truth. They were beaten. They were at times it looked like they wouldn't survive, but they continued on.

In 2 Timothy chapter 4, this charge that Paul gave Timothy, and some of the sobering words later in this, I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead at his appearing in his kingdom.

Preach the word. Be incited season out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and teaching. Be bold. Don't back down. Do you know what convicts the sinner? It is the Spirit of God and the Word of God. I mean, you can do all the fancy talking, you can muster up.

The fancy talking and the hooks that you put out are there to try to get them to the point that they will put their nose in the Bible. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians, he said, I came to you not with the wisdom of this world, and I desired to know nothing among you except Christ and him crucified.

Corinth was one of the great pagan centers of the ancient world, and people responded. I believe in preaching the word.

Preach the word. Be instant in season, out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound teaching, but after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears.

I hear so-and-so over there. I really like to hear his sermons. He talks about this stuff out there.

Better make sure that you do as a Berean and see whether or not it's true.

And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned undefables, but watch you in all things endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make foolproof of your ministry, for I am now ready to be offered in the time when my departure is at hand.

I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith.

Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me at that day, and not only to me, but to all of them that love his appearing.

Do your diligence to come shortly unto me, for demons have forsaken me, having loved the present world, has departed unto Thessalonica, crescens to Galatia, tied us unto Dalmatian.

Only Luke is with me and makes it sound like the one he wrote the epistle to. It seems like that he departed from the faith.

You have to love the truth, and no one can develop this love affair of the truth for you, except you, God and Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God.

God has called each one of us for a great purpose.

So don't fall for the age-old lie that God does not have a structured government and a recipe for eternal life.

It's very clear in the Bible that he does. Satan deceived Eve into believing there was a shortcut to eternal life.

Christ is active in the Church. Christ is walking among the seven golden candlesticks, as you read in Revelation 1.

We are here at a period of time in human history. It's a critical time, a transitional time, in the Church of God.

It's a critical time, a transitional time, in the world.

It's a time as never before to gird up the loins of our mind and put on the whole armor of God and fight the good battle, the good fight of faith.

And don't let any man take your crown.

You see, the actions of one man or a dozen men should not shake our faith.

If I fall away tomorrow, it doesn't stop the Church.

If a hundred men fall away tomorrow, it doesn't stop the Church.

Because Jesus Christ said, upon this rock, big rock, Jesus Christ, God who was promised who cannot lie, has established and built the Church of God.

And the Church of God is going to continue.

And the Church of God is going to fulfill its mission.

And, brethren, I hope that all of you are dedicated to being a part of that as we move forward in the Church of God in fulfilling the mission that God has given us.

Let's notice one final scripture here.

In Ephesians chapter 3, we'll close with this.

This is actually a prayer that Paul prayed.

In Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 14.

For this cause, now what is the cause? Paul had explained in the previous sections of this book how that God had brought together Jew and Gentile into one body.

And that he was revealing this great mystery.

Let's go back and read verse 9 before we read that. To make all men see what is this fellowship of the mystery which, from the beginning of the world, has been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.

To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers and heavenly places might be known by the Church, the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose, which He purpose in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him, wherefore I desire that you faint not at my tribulation for you, which is your glory.

And now this prayer.

For this cause, the cause of God in Christ and doing the work of God, I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit and the inner man.

Remember what we talked about in renewing the inner man daily.

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with the fullness of God.

Now to Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, and to Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.