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Speaker: As you're seated, I, I want
you to ask yourself a question and, and

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that is this question, why are you here?

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Why do you show up at church
week after week after week?

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Maybe some of you have been
doing this your entire life.

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You were born behind the
baptistry, so to speak.

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Your, your parents had you in church, just
like little Rosies in church here, from

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the time that she was barely awake to,
to know what's going on with the world.

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You've been in church from day one
and you've always come to church,

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but, but have you ever asked yourself
the question, why are you here?

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And maybe your answer is, well, because
Jesus tells me to come to church.

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Maybe your answer is because the
Bible says I should come to church.

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And, and, and Yes, that's true.

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But why?

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Why does Jesus want you to come to church?

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Why does the Bible say
you should come to church?

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See, we've been here now for about
two and a half years as as a church,

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and yet we've never really all said,
let's get on the same page about what

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the church is in, what we're doing.

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Uh, you've heard sprinkles of it here
and there as I've, I've preached various

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messages, but what we wanted to do is we
turned the page on a new year before we

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jump back into one Peter again, which we
will hear beginning again in February.

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We wanted to take just three weeks
here to really zoom in on what is

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the church and what are we all doing?

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Why are we here?

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Why does Jesus say to
be a part of the church?

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Why does the writer of Hebrews say,
Hey, don't neglect meeting together.

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But make sure you're consistent in
showing up and stirring one another

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up towards love and good deeds.

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What are we doing?

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Why are we here?

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Charles Spurgeon thought about
that, contemplated that and,

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and said this at one point.

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He said, if I had never joined a church
until I had found one that was perfect,

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I should never have joined one at all.

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In the moment I did join it.

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If I had found one, I should have spoiled
it for, it would not have been a perfect

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church after I had become a member of it.

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Still imperfect as it is.

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It is the dearest place on earth.

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To us, it is the dearest
place on earth to us.

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When you think about the church, when
you think about our church, could you say

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it's the dearest place on earth to you?

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W was Spurgeon doing too much with that?

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Was he wrong?

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Should we all feel that way?

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These are some of the, the questions that
I think it's good for us to wrestle with.

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Why am I here?

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Why do I keep coming back to church?

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Okay.

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Jesus told me too, the Bible told me
too, but why that's so important for

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us understanding and being effective
and being fruitful as a church is to

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understand the why behind all that.

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To understand why the church should be
the, the dearest place on earth to us.

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And I think if we get a biblical picture
of the church, we will get closer, at

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least to that feeling that Spurgeon
had when he looked at the church and

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said, man, this is the, the dearest
place on Earth to me, if you're not

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already there, please take your Bibles
and open up to Ephesians chapter four.

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Ephesians chapter four.

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We're gonna be in verses 11
through 16 together this morning.

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And so we start in verse 11 of Ephesians
chapter four, and it says this.

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It says, and he gave the apostles.

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The prophets, the evangelists,
the shepherds, and the teachers.

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Let's just stop there
for just a second here.

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And he gave the apostles, the
prophets, the evangelists, the

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shepherds, and the teachers.

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These are various offices in the
church that have existed during

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different times in church history.

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And, and so if we just start with the
first two, the apostles and the prophets.

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The apostles were those who
biblically defined were.

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Eyewitnesses of the resurrected Jesus,
and they were commissioned by him to

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do the work that he entrusted to them.

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And so you think of the apostles,
you've got Peter, you've got

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James, you've got Paul, you've
got, uh, the, the, the, the 12.

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And, and Paul May stand out to
you on that because you think

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to yourself, well, well, the.

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Paul see the resurrected Jesus.

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And the answer is yes.

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If you'll remember Paul's testimony, he's
on the road to Damascus and he's about

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to, to go and persecute the church more.

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And Jesus shows up and knocks
him off his donkey and blinds him

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temporarily and appears to him
as the resurrected Christ there.

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And so Paul is an eyewitness
of the resurrected Jesus and

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commissioned by Jesus to do the work.

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Jesus had for him to do.

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The Apostles were instrumental
in laying the groundwork of what

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we know as our Bibles today.

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As you read through the, the, the New
Testament writings, the letters, as you

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read through the gospels, as you read
through these things, these are books

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that were written by these apostles,
those that were eyewitnesses of the

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resurrected Christ that were sent by him
in, powered by him, commissioned by him to

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go and do the work that they were to do.

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The apostles, but then you have the
prophets and, and, and so there's a couple

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of different possibilities here At times.

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The phrase the apostles and the prophets
was a, a bookend used to refer to both

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the New Testament and the Old Testament.

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Uh, the, the prophets used as a
standin overarching, uh, word to,

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to sum up the Old Testament, uh,
the apostles and the prophets as

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the, the foundation with Christ,
Jesus himself being the cornerstone.

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Uh, that's a reference to scripture as,
as a whole, but there was also a New

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Testament office of the, the prophet.

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If you think of the book of Acts, if you
remember the man Agabus, if that name

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strikes, strikes a bell for you at all.

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Agabus was a prophet.

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He prophesied about a famine that
was going to come to the land.

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He also prophesied with Paul
when he took Paul's belt.

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And if you remember the scene,
he wrapped Paul's hands in his

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belt and said, you're gonna be
arrested when you get to Jerusalem.

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So Agabus served as a
New Testament prophet.

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Uh, but these New Testament prophets
weren't just there to foretell.

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They were also there as the
church, which was in, its, its

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nascent stage, its fledgling stage.

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They were there to help the church
know and define biblical authority.

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Uh, so they would go to the
churches, acts 1532 says, and

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even exhort the churches as well.

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And, and so these prophets were there
to help these upstart churches and

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to strengthen them and to provide
wisdom from God to know kind of what

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it looks like to move forward as
the church before they had what you

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and I have right here in our Bibles.

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In the word of God.

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Well, well, these two offices, the
apostles and the prophets, they eventually

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faded from existence within the.

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The way that we understand
offices within the church today.

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Uh, today you may drive by a
billboard that says, apostle so-and-so

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is the pastor of this church.

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And, and, and they are, are
intending that I'm gonna give them

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the benefit of the doubt in the
sense of all of us are lowercase a

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apostles and that we have been sent.

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By God.

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That's where the, what
the word apostle means.

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It's one who has been sent, but the office
of Apostle as far as the authoritative

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office, an eyewitness of the resurrected
Jesus, who was sent specifically by

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Jesus to do the work of the ministry.

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That office is no longer
in operation and it ceased.

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Why?

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Well, because naturally speaking,
all of the original eyewitnesses

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of Jesus, what happened to them?

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What's batting a thousand
taxes and what else?

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Death.

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And so those eyewitnesses of, of
Jesus, they eventually all died.

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Peter died.

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James died.

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John died.

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Paul died, and so forth and so on.

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So the, the office of the Apostle as
the authoritative office naturally

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faded from existence from the church.

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Okay.

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What about the office of prophet?

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Well, remember what the
prophets were there to do.

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They were to there to strengthen the, the
early church and help the early church

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know how to kind of operate before the,
the canon was, was crystallized before

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we have the authority of God's word.

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Our possession to be able to know this
is what it looks like to be the church.

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Well, as the, the canon became more
formalized, as the writings of the

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apostles began to be circulated wider
amongst the, the various churches,

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the need to have those prophets
also began to become less and less.

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Unless, the other thing that
contributed to the fading of the,

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the role of the the prophet was
the rise of the false prophets.

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So you had a lot of people come
on the scene and say, I'm here to

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speak on behalf of Jesus Christ.

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I'm here to speak on behalf of God.

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And then they would speak heresy.

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They would speak false teaching, but
they were professing to be prophets.

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So what was the church left to do?

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Well, the church, as the apostolic
writings grew in their corpus and we

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began to recognize more and more of
what we now know as our New Testament.

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The, the church began to say, well,
let's take what this guy's saying to be

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true, and let's go to the New Testament.

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Let's go to the word of God together,
and let's say, does it match up?

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Is this really true?

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And, and so, because there were so
many false prophets rising up on the

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scene, the, the authority shifted
from the office of Prophet to more

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and more the, the word of God.

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It.

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And so the role of prophet
began to fade away as well as

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the canon became crystallized.

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We'll talk about the canon
more in just a minute here.

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Uh, but these other offices then
we read about are the evangelists.

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Well, who were the evangelists
in the first century?

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These were the, the church planters.

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These were, these were the ones like
Paul and Timothy and, and others

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that were going out to new regions
and sharing the gospel and planting

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churches and establishing them.

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Right?

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That's who the evangelists were.

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Is are there still evangelists today?

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Absolutely.

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There are still evangelists.

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Today we still have people planting
churches and missionaries like the

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Eubanks and others that, that are doing
the work in the ministry, taking the

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gospel places, trying to reach more
people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Evangelists are very much
still on the scene today.

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And then the final office that
we see there is the Office

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of the Shepherd and Teacher.

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And my argument here is that this is
not two offices, but really just one.

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And I think what this office
is, is the office of the elder

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or the office of the pastor.

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And, and, and so the, the pastor's
job, my job, pastor Mark's job Pastor

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Raj's job is to both shepherd the
flock and to teach the word of God.

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Those are the two things that we must
be doing as pastors, and that's what

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God has given to the church in, in
order to take the, the word of God,

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the, the authority of God's word,
and, and to bring it to bear on the

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lives of those that are gathered here.

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And notice the.

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The, the pastors are not
just teachers, right?

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I, I don't know who the, the first
teacher or first pastor to say it

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was, but, uh, the, the Shepherd
should smell like the sheep.

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And, and so my job is not just to show
up here and parachute in on Sunday

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morning and preach a sermon to you and
then disappear from life for the next

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seven days until I'm back to do it again.

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My job as your pastor and so is
Pastor Raj's job and so is Pastor.

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Mark's job is to be involved.

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It's to be connected with you.

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It's to live life with you, is
to show up at the graveside.

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It's to show up at the hospital.

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It's to show up for the
marriage counseling.

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It's to show up at the birth of the baby.

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That's what our job is to do.

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We're to shepherd.

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And we're to teach.

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Okay?

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And so these are the offices that,
that God has entrusted to, that God

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has given to, uh, the, the church here.

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These are the five offices that
represent these sources of authority,

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again, given to the church.

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And, and, and that brings us to today,
we're trying to figure out why am I here?

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Why does Jesus want me to be here?

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Why does God through his word,
tell me I should go to church?

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And what we're beginning to see here is
because the church has been entrusted

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first here as, as the bastion, as the,
the pillar in support of the truth, as

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00:10:45,555 --> 00:10:50,025
the, the place where God's authority
through God's word, wielded by God's

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00:10:50,025 --> 00:10:54,645
men who are faithfully expositing
it is, is most tangibly experienced.

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00:10:54,734 --> 00:10:56,895
And so, lemme put it this way,
if I can for point number one,

233
00:10:57,104 --> 00:11:00,734
we come to church to gather under
the gift of ecclesial authority.

234
00:11:01,214 --> 00:11:03,165
The word ecclesial it, it
comes from the Greek word.

235
00:11:04,050 --> 00:11:04,440
Cia.

236
00:11:05,070 --> 00:11:06,780
CIA means the called out ones.

237
00:11:06,810 --> 00:11:07,140
Okay.

238
00:11:07,470 --> 00:11:09,600
That is the word for
church in the Greek cia.

239
00:11:10,500 --> 00:11:10,740
Okay.

240
00:11:10,860 --> 00:11:13,290
That's why this series is, is called out.

241
00:11:13,560 --> 00:11:16,620
We are called out, we are called
out from the world to be distinct.

242
00:11:16,620 --> 00:11:19,230
We are called out from the world to
be different, and one of the things

243
00:11:19,230 --> 00:11:23,040
that we're called out to be different
by is to gather together weekly on

244
00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:27,060
a Sunday morning when your, your
unbelieving friends are sleeping in

245
00:11:27,060 --> 00:11:28,530
and enjoying another weekend day.

246
00:11:28,740 --> 00:11:30,630
We show up, we do something different.

247
00:11:30,630 --> 00:11:32,010
We gather here in part.

248
00:11:32,305 --> 00:11:35,574
To gather under the gift
of ecclesial authority.

249
00:11:35,665 --> 00:11:36,864
Ecclesial authority.

250
00:11:36,864 --> 00:11:37,645
What do I mean by that?

251
00:11:37,645 --> 00:11:41,604
Well, I mean, what we just looked
at, the word of God that is wielded

252
00:11:41,665 --> 00:11:45,354
and handled by the faithful men
of God, AKA, the pastors now.

253
00:11:46,260 --> 00:11:48,930
Some of you know me well enough, I
trust to know that I'm not up here

254
00:11:48,930 --> 00:11:50,459
telling you I'm God's gift to you.

255
00:11:51,089 --> 00:11:53,819
The rest of you who are new or
don't know me that well, I don't

256
00:11:53,819 --> 00:11:55,319
think that I'm God's gift to you.

257
00:11:55,319 --> 00:11:58,920
Okay, so I know this, this seems like
a self-serving point for a pastor to

258
00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:02,280
say, Hey, gather under the gift of
of pastors, uh, in the word of God.

259
00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:06,209
Rather, what I mean to stress
by this is God has given

260
00:12:06,209 --> 00:12:08,250
pastors to you for your good.

261
00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:10,709
If I'm doing my job well.

262
00:12:11,145 --> 00:12:14,829
Then it's less about me getting
kudos, and it's more about the, the,

263
00:12:14,834 --> 00:12:16,785
the good that you receive from that.

264
00:12:17,355 --> 00:12:20,355
And, and that's my, that's my
burden When, when the writer of

265
00:12:20,355 --> 00:12:23,805
Hebrews says that I am gonna have
to stand before the Lord and give an

266
00:12:23,805 --> 00:12:25,485
account for the souls under my care.

267
00:12:25,485 --> 00:12:28,515
Okay, that's my job, and
I need to have done that.

268
00:12:28,515 --> 00:12:32,865
Well, if I'm gonna do it biblically, my
only argument for us this morning is just

269
00:12:32,865 --> 00:12:34,155
to look to the God's word and say it.

270
00:12:34,155 --> 00:12:38,475
That's what it says is it says
that God gave us the word of God.

271
00:12:39,030 --> 00:12:41,370
And the pastors that
he's entrusted to, to.

272
00:12:41,895 --> 00:12:42,885
Wield the word of God.

273
00:12:43,005 --> 00:12:43,334
Okay?

274
00:12:43,844 --> 00:12:45,915
And, and, and, and I've sat under pastors.

275
00:12:45,915 --> 00:12:48,015
I still have pastors that influence me.

276
00:12:48,255 --> 00:12:50,954
In fact, if you've been part of
our weekend intensive Pastor Lucas

277
00:12:50,954 --> 00:12:54,015
Pace, who's here with us from, from
our sending church, he's, I would

278
00:12:54,015 --> 00:12:55,275
consider him one of my pastors.

279
00:12:55,275 --> 00:12:57,494
I can go to him and he counsels me.

280
00:12:57,494 --> 00:12:58,214
He helps me.

281
00:12:58,214 --> 00:12:59,744
He shepherds me as well.

282
00:12:59,744 --> 00:13:01,665
So we all have.

283
00:13:01,844 --> 00:13:05,594
Pastors that God has given to us and,
and as the church, that's such an

284
00:13:05,594 --> 00:13:08,714
important part of why we gather and
there's, there's these two components

285
00:13:08,714 --> 00:13:11,024
that I want us to think about a
little bit more clearly, though we

286
00:13:11,024 --> 00:13:12,194
gather under ecclesial authority.

287
00:13:12,194 --> 00:13:13,334
What is ecclesial authority?

288
00:13:13,394 --> 00:13:14,264
Well, first it's, let's
start with the Bible.

289
00:13:15,599 --> 00:13:18,000
Ecclesial authority begins with
the word of God, the apostles

290
00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:19,110
and the prophets, right?

291
00:13:19,469 --> 00:13:23,790
These apostolic writings, one of our
distinctives here is the Bible is central.

292
00:13:24,060 --> 00:13:27,689
And so what that means is we practice
expository preaching because we

293
00:13:27,689 --> 00:13:31,140
feel like that honors the word of
God, the the, the best way possible.

294
00:13:31,550 --> 00:13:31,760
It.

295
00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:34,640
It also means that, that we're gonna
emphasize the daily Bible reading.

296
00:13:34,640 --> 00:13:37,249
As you heard us, heard me preach
on it a couple of weeks ago.

297
00:13:37,249 --> 00:13:40,219
Here, it's so important to be
in God's word every single day.

298
00:13:40,819 --> 00:13:44,719
We do a daily Bible podcast, and we
do that to help encourage you to be

299
00:13:44,719 --> 00:13:46,699
in the Word of God every single day.

300
00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:48,079
The Bible is central.

301
00:13:48,079 --> 00:13:48,319
Why?

302
00:13:48,319 --> 00:13:51,499
Well, because the Bible is the
root of all ecclesial authority.

303
00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:52,040
Okay?

304
00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:56,300
Any authority that I have as your pastor
is only derived from the word of God.

305
00:13:57,464 --> 00:14:01,635
The, the power that, that I have to
produce any positive change or impact

306
00:14:01,635 --> 00:14:05,540
in your life is only so much so as I'm
bringing God's word to bear in your life.

307
00:14:05,850 --> 00:14:05,940
Life.

308
00:14:06,510 --> 00:14:10,620
I'm, I'm meant to be a vessel
through which God uses me.

309
00:14:10,620 --> 00:14:14,100
In, in, in the study of the scriptures
and the exp exposition of the word,

310
00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:17,730
to use the word of God to bring
that benefit to your life, the word

311
00:14:17,730 --> 00:14:21,450
of God is our authority, which may
raise a question to you in saying,

312
00:14:21,450 --> 00:14:22,950
well, how did we get the Bible then?

313
00:14:22,950 --> 00:14:24,840
How do we know that we should trust this?

314
00:14:25,290 --> 00:14:31,260
There was a, a book, and then it turned
into a movie called the Da Vinci Code.

315
00:14:31,260 --> 00:14:33,030
Anybody remember the
Da Vinci Code out here?

316
00:14:33,734 --> 00:14:34,604
A few of you do.

317
00:14:35,099 --> 00:14:37,994
And, and the Da Vinci Code kind
of popularized a, a myth that's

318
00:14:37,994 --> 00:14:39,015
been around for a long time.

319
00:14:39,254 --> 00:14:40,305
And, and the myth was this.

320
00:14:40,305 --> 00:14:43,574
The Da Vinci Code says the way that
we got our Bible is that Constantine

321
00:14:43,814 --> 00:14:48,584
commissioned a group of bishops to get
together and decide on a Bible, decide

322
00:14:48,584 --> 00:14:50,714
on a cannon that was going to, uh.

323
00:14:51,194 --> 00:14:55,305
Reject any threats to the, the,
the, the deity of Jesus and only

324
00:14:55,305 --> 00:14:58,395
admit the books that agreed with
what he thought should be true.

325
00:14:58,515 --> 00:15:01,905
And so, in other words, this myth
is that this group of of bishops got

326
00:15:01,905 --> 00:15:05,055
together and said, uh, we're gonna
decide what we like and just reject

327
00:15:05,055 --> 00:15:06,525
all the things that disagree with us.

328
00:15:07,215 --> 00:15:08,535
You see how that's a problem?

329
00:15:08,535 --> 00:15:08,745
Right?

330
00:15:08,745 --> 00:15:11,265
If that was actually true,
then we shouldn't have much

331
00:15:11,265 --> 00:15:12,375
confidence in this book.

332
00:15:13,095 --> 00:15:14,204
Dan Brown's problem.

333
00:15:14,645 --> 00:15:16,925
And, uh, the problem with that
view is that that's actually

334
00:15:16,925 --> 00:15:18,275
not what took place at all.

335
00:15:18,725 --> 00:15:21,395
What took place at that council that he's
referring to, which is the Council of

336
00:15:21,395 --> 00:15:25,415
naia, was the church gathered to combat
a false view that was being proposed

337
00:15:25,415 --> 00:15:29,225
by a man named Aria who was challenging
the deed of Jesus, who was arguing that

338
00:15:29,225 --> 00:15:31,145
Jesus was in fact, a created being.

339
00:15:31,485 --> 00:15:35,295
And so the church gathered together
and they condemned Arianism as

340
00:15:35,295 --> 00:15:37,095
a heresy, as a false teaching.

341
00:15:37,334 --> 00:15:40,395
And one of the ways that they did that
at the Council of Nasia was appealing

342
00:15:40,395 --> 00:15:43,995
to the New Testament books, citing
them and saying, no, this is what the

343
00:15:43,995 --> 00:15:46,064
New Testament says about Jesus Christ.

344
00:15:46,064 --> 00:15:48,105
In the beginning was the
word, the word was with God.

345
00:15:48,105 --> 00:15:50,475
The the word was God.

346
00:15:50,595 --> 00:15:52,635
And so that's what was taking place there.

347
00:15:52,755 --> 00:15:55,545
So this idea that a group of men got
together in a room and said, well, what

348
00:15:55,545 --> 00:15:57,074
do we like and what do we not like?

349
00:15:57,285 --> 00:15:58,875
That's not how we gotta the Bible at all.

350
00:15:59,805 --> 00:16:00,915
How did we get the Bible?

351
00:16:00,915 --> 00:16:05,144
Well, I alluded to it a little bit earlier
during the apostolic era, the Apostle

352
00:16:05,144 --> 00:16:08,864
Paul wrote a letter under the inspiration
of the spirit to the church at Colossi.

353
00:16:09,824 --> 00:16:11,925
That's the letter that
we know as Colossians.

354
00:16:12,285 --> 00:16:15,765
And in the letter to the Colossians,
he said, look, I want you to understand

355
00:16:15,765 --> 00:16:20,834
that Jesus is supreme, that you don't
need anything beyond Jesus because

356
00:16:20,834 --> 00:16:23,805
Paul was saying there's a threat to
the church at Colossus there where

357
00:16:23,805 --> 00:16:26,050
some false teachers are coming in
trying to tell them they need these.

358
00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:30,310
Mysticism, these, these experiences,
these visions, and Paul saying,

359
00:16:30,310 --> 00:16:31,839
no, all you need is Jesus.

360
00:16:31,839 --> 00:16:33,819
And so Paul wrote this letter
to the church at Colossus.

361
00:16:33,849 --> 00:16:36,790
Well, Colossus, they get this letter
from Paul and they read it and

362
00:16:36,790 --> 00:16:38,079
they're like, man, this is good.

363
00:16:38,140 --> 00:16:39,910
And so what does the church at Colossi do?

364
00:16:40,089 --> 00:16:42,459
They write it down and they
think to themselves, you know,

365
00:16:42,459 --> 00:16:45,040
who else would benefit from this
letter, the church at Philippi.

366
00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:48,339
And so they write their copy of Colossians
down, they hold onto that, and they

367
00:16:48,339 --> 00:16:49,885
take the, the copy that they made.

368
00:16:50,219 --> 00:16:52,050
And they send that over to the
church at Philippi and say,

369
00:16:52,050 --> 00:16:53,399
Hey, we received this from Paul.

370
00:16:53,399 --> 00:16:54,779
We think you would benefit from it too.

371
00:16:55,079 --> 00:16:58,019
The church at Philippi, they get the
book of Colossians, they read it.

372
00:16:58,019 --> 00:16:59,549
They're like, man, this
is really good stuff.

373
00:16:59,549 --> 00:17:00,779
You know who would benefit from this?

374
00:17:00,959 --> 00:17:02,189
The church at Thessalonika.

375
00:17:02,370 --> 00:17:04,530
Let's make a copy of this and
then you know what we're gonna do?

376
00:17:04,530 --> 00:17:07,380
We're gonna send this copy over
to the Church of Thessalonika.

377
00:17:07,380 --> 00:17:09,510
And so they did that
and so forth and so on.

378
00:17:09,780 --> 00:17:11,010
That happened with Colossians.

379
00:17:11,010 --> 00:17:12,000
That happened with Philippians.

380
00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:13,020
That happened with Ephesians.

381
00:17:13,020 --> 00:17:15,390
That happened with
Thessalonians, and that's how.

382
00:17:15,545 --> 00:17:18,515
These New Testament apostolic
writings began to be circulated

383
00:17:18,694 --> 00:17:21,395
and how the authority of God's
word began to be agreed upon.

384
00:17:21,545 --> 00:17:25,625
So all that happened later on, like in
one 40 and one 70 with the moratorium

385
00:17:25,625 --> 00:17:29,255
canon and all these other things is
the church said, Hey, let's, let's

386
00:17:29,255 --> 00:17:31,355
define what is already accepted.

387
00:17:31,815 --> 00:17:35,565
Okay, so the church basically
gave borders to the, the canonical

388
00:17:35,565 --> 00:17:36,555
writings of the scripture.

389
00:17:36,735 --> 00:17:39,645
They didn't give more authority
to certain writings over others.

390
00:17:39,825 --> 00:17:41,145
The writings were authoritative.

391
00:17:41,295 --> 00:17:41,685
Why?

392
00:17:41,685 --> 00:17:43,185
Well, that's a good question.

393
00:17:43,335 --> 00:17:46,365
Part of it was they were traceable
back to Apostolic authority.

394
00:17:46,365 --> 00:17:49,965
That was a major test for these
writings, and so they could be

395
00:17:49,965 --> 00:17:54,645
traced back to Peter or to Paul,
or to James or so forth and so on.

396
00:17:54,645 --> 00:17:56,055
The writer of Hebrews,
whoever that guy was.

397
00:17:56,375 --> 00:18:00,125
Right, that they could trace them back
to the Apostolic Authority and say, we

398
00:18:00,125 --> 00:18:03,905
can accept these based on the fact that
we know where they originated from.

399
00:18:04,565 --> 00:18:07,025
The second thing is the
the doctrinal agreement.

400
00:18:07,415 --> 00:18:10,325
They looked at these writings and
said, do they measure up with the rest

401
00:18:10,325 --> 00:18:11,585
of what we know to be authoritative?

402
00:18:12,090 --> 00:18:14,520
Do they deny a teaching
in the Old Testament?

403
00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:18,150
Okay, well then that's a clear sign that
this is probably not an agreement with

404
00:18:18,150 --> 00:18:20,040
what we need to see as authoritative.

405
00:18:20,460 --> 00:18:22,380
Does this disagree with
this letter over here?

406
00:18:22,470 --> 00:18:23,850
For example, the Gospel of Thomas?

407
00:18:23,850 --> 00:18:26,310
How many of you you have heard of
the the Gospel of Thomas before?

408
00:18:26,610 --> 00:18:26,790
Okay.

409
00:18:26,790 --> 00:18:29,850
The Gospel of Thomas has put forward by
some as something that we should accept.

410
00:18:29,850 --> 00:18:32,280
Well, if you read it, you're gonna
see there's so much within the

411
00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:34,770
gospel of Thomas that has nothing
to do with anything else you've

412
00:18:34,770 --> 00:18:35,700
ever read about in the Bible.

413
00:18:36,060 --> 00:18:37,620
In fact, there are things in
the gospel of Thomas you'll

414
00:18:37,620 --> 00:18:38,670
read about and say, this seems.

415
00:18:39,165 --> 00:18:43,605
Anti what we know to be true about Christ
anti what we know to be true about Jesus.

416
00:18:43,695 --> 00:18:46,875
The other problem with the gospel of
Thomas is that there's no evidence

417
00:18:46,875 --> 00:18:49,935
of it beyond the second century or
earlier than the second century.

418
00:18:50,055 --> 00:18:52,905
And so we look at this and, and we
say, okay, there are so many reasons

419
00:18:52,905 --> 00:18:55,665
why we can take a book like that
and say it doesn't pass the test.

420
00:18:56,055 --> 00:18:58,030
All this to say what you
can trust your Bible.

421
00:18:58,420 --> 00:19:00,220
Okay, you can trust your Bible church.

422
00:19:00,430 --> 00:19:03,220
This is how we began to get
the authoritative writings.

423
00:19:03,460 --> 00:19:06,610
They were recognized, they were preserved,
and eventually, yes, the church said we're

424
00:19:06,610 --> 00:19:10,300
gonna canonize them, but the church was
not saying we're giving them authority

425
00:19:10,300 --> 00:19:11,710
that they didn't already possess.

426
00:19:12,130 --> 00:19:14,920
The authority came from the fact
that they were apostolic writings.

427
00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:15,130
Okay?

428
00:19:15,130 --> 00:19:18,520
So that's part of ecclesial authority
that we're gathering under here.

429
00:19:18,790 --> 00:19:21,820
But the second part is those
that are entrusted to wield that.

430
00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:24,060
Those that are entrusted to teach that.

431
00:19:24,330 --> 00:19:24,660
Right.

432
00:19:24,785 --> 00:19:26,940
And, and that brings us to
what we're doing right now.

433
00:19:27,810 --> 00:19:30,120
And, and this is the office of the pastor.

434
00:19:30,810 --> 00:19:33,570
And so it's not laid out here
and I don't have the, the

435
00:19:33,570 --> 00:19:34,830
full time to get into it here.

436
00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:38,370
But one of the things that we need to
understand behind this is, is that the

437
00:19:38,370 --> 00:19:41,970
office of the pastor is not just free
for anyone to stand up and say, well,

438
00:19:41,970 --> 00:19:45,030
yeah, I want to do that regardless of
the character of the man that says that.

439
00:19:45,540 --> 00:19:48,330
The Bible lays out qualifications,
first Timothy chapter three in

440
00:19:48,330 --> 00:19:51,570
Titus chapter one that says, these
are the qualifications of an elder.

441
00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:54,899
If a man does not measure up
to these qualifications, he

442
00:19:54,899 --> 00:19:56,820
cannot serve in that role.

443
00:19:56,910 --> 00:20:01,080
And so the assumption made by Paul here
is that the men who are entrusted to

444
00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:04,800
teach the word of God, the authoritative
word of God, are men of character.

445
00:20:04,830 --> 00:20:05,340
Men who.

446
00:20:05,850 --> 00:20:09,900
Would be able to put themselves forward,
not as perfect, but men who would be

447
00:20:09,900 --> 00:20:12,990
able to put themselves forward and
say, we, we fulfill the obligations,

448
00:20:12,990 --> 00:20:14,610
the requirements of an elder.

449
00:20:15,180 --> 00:20:17,160
And, and, and we love the
Lord and we love his church.

450
00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:18,840
And so we're here to
preach the word of God.

451
00:20:19,500 --> 00:20:20,520
And so that's what they're called to do.

452
00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:22,530
They're called to shepherd
and they're called to preach.

453
00:20:22,770 --> 00:20:26,520
But if you ever wondered, what's the
point of preaching, we're asking a lot

454
00:20:26,520 --> 00:20:27,510
of questions this morning, aren't we?

455
00:20:27,690 --> 00:20:28,950
What's the point of, of preaching?

456
00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:32,190
WW why do you come here and listen to me?

457
00:20:33,300 --> 00:20:36,120
It, it, it, it can't just be an info dump.

458
00:20:36,390 --> 00:20:36,720
Okay.

459
00:20:37,110 --> 00:20:39,420
I, I'm a graduate of Dallas
Seminary and the Master Seminary,

460
00:20:39,420 --> 00:20:40,920
so I know what an info dump is.

461
00:20:42,675 --> 00:20:46,155
Um, it, it, it, it has to go beyond that.

462
00:20:46,155 --> 00:20:47,325
And here's what I mean by that.

463
00:20:47,325 --> 00:20:50,505
Our, our sending pastor wrote a
book, uh, that called, that's called

464
00:20:50,505 --> 00:20:51,585
Preaching, that changes lives.

465
00:20:52,090 --> 00:20:54,375
And, and I got to sit under
his, his leadership and his

466
00:20:54,375 --> 00:20:55,515
teaching for, for six years.

467
00:20:55,515 --> 00:20:58,815
And, and when I showed up at, at
our sending church as a pastor, I, I

468
00:20:58,815 --> 00:21:00,375
knew how to ex expose it, a passage.

469
00:21:00,375 --> 00:21:04,365
What he taught me to do I is to take
the, the word of God and, and to bring

470
00:21:04,365 --> 00:21:06,255
the exposition into the application.

471
00:21:06,445 --> 00:21:10,615
Okay, and, and this is not lest you think,
well, this is all about pragmatism and

472
00:21:10,615 --> 00:21:11,965
everything else we've got No, no, no.

473
00:21:11,965 --> 00:21:14,575
This is simply about saying, this is
what the word of God does in our life.

474
00:21:14,695 --> 00:21:17,635
Here's the sign of a successful
sermon, and you can hold me to this.

475
00:21:17,785 --> 00:21:19,315
In fact, I would ask you to do this.

476
00:21:19,795 --> 00:21:21,535
The sign of a successful
sermon is twofold.

477
00:21:21,775 --> 00:21:24,180
Number one, you walk away feeling like
you understand the passage better.

478
00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:26,280
Okay, that has to be done.

479
00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:28,200
That's, that's part of
the job of expositing.

480
00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:31,890
That's what it means to explain, to give
light to the text, that you walk away,

481
00:21:31,890 --> 00:21:33,600
say, I understand that passage better.

482
00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:36,300
And second, you walk away
saying, I know what I should

483
00:21:36,300 --> 00:21:38,070
do in response to that sermon.

484
00:21:39,150 --> 00:21:41,460
If you walk away from a sermon
that I preach and you think to

485
00:21:41,460 --> 00:21:43,350
yourself, okay, that that was fine.

486
00:21:43,410 --> 00:21:45,600
I agree with what he said, but
I don't know what difference

487
00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:46,410
that should make in my life.

488
00:21:46,740 --> 00:21:47,760
I have failed you.

489
00:21:48,660 --> 00:21:48,960
Okay.

490
00:21:49,410 --> 00:21:52,830
That's part of our job is to preach
in such a way that we bring the

491
00:21:52,830 --> 00:21:54,240
word of God to bear in your life.

492
00:21:54,270 --> 00:21:58,230
And, and listen, y'all, I'm preaching to
myself in the study for the, the whole

493
00:21:58,230 --> 00:22:02,100
week before I stand up here, so I'm not
exempting myself from what I'm preaching.

494
00:22:02,100 --> 00:22:04,290
I need to be transformed by the
word of God that I'm preaching

495
00:22:04,290 --> 00:22:05,460
just as much as anybody else does.

496
00:22:05,475 --> 00:22:07,155
Us, but that's the job.

497
00:22:07,155 --> 00:22:08,205
That's what God has done.

498
00:22:08,355 --> 00:22:11,535
And so we gather under the
gift of ecclesial authority.

499
00:22:11,535 --> 00:22:12,345
That's my job.

500
00:22:12,345 --> 00:22:13,335
That's Pastor Raj's job.

501
00:22:13,335 --> 00:22:14,535
That's Pastor Mark's job.

502
00:22:14,835 --> 00:22:17,715
Whenever you see a pastor here,
stand up and handle the word of God.

503
00:22:17,715 --> 00:22:21,315
Our job is to bring the authoritative
word of God to bear in your life in

504
00:22:21,315 --> 00:22:24,320
such a way that you will be different,
that you will be transformed.

505
00:22:24,930 --> 00:22:25,200
Okay.

506
00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:26,730
That's what we're doing.

507
00:22:26,790 --> 00:22:28,800
That's one of the reasons
why you're here this morning.

508
00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:31,170
I'm here this morning because
Jesus tells me to be here.

509
00:22:31,170 --> 00:22:32,250
'cause God's word tells me to be here.

510
00:22:32,250 --> 00:22:33,180
Yes, but why?

511
00:22:33,390 --> 00:22:36,660
Well, because this is where you
encounter the authority of the

512
00:22:36,660 --> 00:22:39,210
Word of God, preached by the men
that God has entrusted to do that.

513
00:22:39,660 --> 00:22:40,830
That's unique to the church.

514
00:22:40,830 --> 00:22:44,190
That's one of the reasons why the church
is the dearest place on Earth to us.

515
00:22:44,245 --> 00:22:45,745
But it's more than that.

516
00:22:45,745 --> 00:22:48,325
'cause that preaching that
it does transform, then what

517
00:22:48,325 --> 00:22:49,375
does it transform us to do?

518
00:22:49,375 --> 00:22:50,515
We'll keep going in our text.

519
00:22:50,515 --> 00:22:51,385
Look down at verse 12.

520
00:22:52,075 --> 00:22:56,155
He says this, he gave these offices
then to equip the saints for the

521
00:22:56,155 --> 00:23:00,505
work of ministry, for building up the
body of Christ until we all attained

522
00:23:00,505 --> 00:23:03,535
to the unity of the faith and of
the knowledge of the Son of God.

523
00:23:03,830 --> 00:23:08,030
To mature manhood, to the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ, so that

524
00:23:08,030 --> 00:23:11,810
we may no longer be children tossed to
and fro by the waves and carried about by

525
00:23:11,810 --> 00:23:17,690
every wind of doctrine, by human cunning,
by craftiness, in deceitful schemes.

526
00:23:18,530 --> 00:23:21,950
So it would follow then if the pastor's
job is to preach in such a way as to

527
00:23:21,980 --> 00:23:26,780
transform, uh, that, that Paul would
then shift to the impact that the, the

528
00:23:26,780 --> 00:23:31,190
proclaimed word should have in our lives,
which is what that we would be equipped.

529
00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:35,160
My job and Pastor Rob's job and
Pastor Mark's job, and as Lewis

530
00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:38,730
preaches too, his job is to equip the
saints for the work of the ministry.

531
00:23:38,850 --> 00:23:42,120
And so I've, I just said in, in point
number one that we gather under the,

532
00:23:42,120 --> 00:23:43,830
the gift of ecclesial authority.

533
00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:48,630
But here's where I want you to understand
too, that, that my task is every

534
00:23:48,630 --> 00:23:53,400
single day I need to be aware that this
church does not rise or fall on me.

535
00:23:54,540 --> 00:23:57,150
It doesn't rise or fall on our pastors.

536
00:23:57,420 --> 00:23:59,490
It doesn't rise or fall on our staff.

537
00:23:59,895 --> 00:24:04,995
Okay, this church rises and falls
on whether or not we as a church

538
00:24:04,995 --> 00:24:08,835
body are doing the work that God has
called us as a church body to do.

539
00:24:08,835 --> 00:24:11,175
And you are a part of
that just as much as I am.

540
00:24:11,955 --> 00:24:14,685
My job is to equip the saints
for the work of the ministry.

541
00:24:15,045 --> 00:24:19,665
My job is to do that and, and listen
where we are at in this dispensation of

542
00:24:19,665 --> 00:24:21,045
our church, if I can put it that way.

543
00:24:21,255 --> 00:24:25,125
Uh, I, I am cognizant, cognizant
of that on a, a weekly basis.

544
00:24:25,335 --> 00:24:27,645
I need to be even more so
probably, but here's why.

545
00:24:28,275 --> 00:24:30,795
Do you know all of the different
teams that were active this

546
00:24:30,795 --> 00:24:32,055
morning to make this possible?

547
00:24:32,985 --> 00:24:34,905
Uh, this is a cafeteria
that you're sitting in.

548
00:24:34,905 --> 00:24:35,175
I know.

549
00:24:35,175 --> 00:24:35,715
It's shocking.

550
00:24:35,775 --> 00:24:35,985
I know.

551
00:24:35,985 --> 00:24:38,925
It feels like, man, this is
the, the, the most sacred space

552
00:24:38,925 --> 00:24:40,365
I've ever been in my life.

553
00:24:40,515 --> 00:24:40,785
No.

554
00:24:40,785 --> 00:24:44,385
Uh, there are sloppy Joes served in here
on like Monday through Friday probably.

555
00:24:44,955 --> 00:24:48,345
Um, and sometimes it smells like it when
we come in on Sunday morning to set up

556
00:24:48,345 --> 00:24:52,635
church, but our setup team, the guys that
show up before anybody else to pick up our

557
00:24:52,635 --> 00:24:57,075
trailers and, and drive those over here,
uh, we have our church, the entirety of

558
00:24:57,075 --> 00:24:59,325
it fits in two trailers, uh, every week.

559
00:24:59,565 --> 00:25:02,805
If, if somebody stole those trailers,
um, we're still gonna have church,

560
00:25:02,805 --> 00:25:03,555
but it's gonna look different.

561
00:25:03,675 --> 00:25:03,915
Okay.

562
00:25:04,605 --> 00:25:08,085
But, but the guys that drive the trailers
here, the, the team that shows up to

563
00:25:08,085 --> 00:25:10,665
set up the stage, to set up the pipe
and drape the, the projectors, the

564
00:25:10,665 --> 00:25:14,175
sound team that we have in the back,
y'all, none of this is, is paid labor.

565
00:25:14,820 --> 00:25:16,260
None of this is, is staff labor.

566
00:25:16,405 --> 00:25:20,100
Our, our kids men side, the, the kids,
men volunteers that we have that show

567
00:25:20,100 --> 00:25:22,560
up, that coordinate all of these things
that, that pull everything out to

568
00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:25,230
make sure that our kids are, are not
just babysat over there, but taught

569
00:25:25,230 --> 00:25:26,760
the word of God on a weekly basis.

570
00:25:27,450 --> 00:25:30,300
You add to that our ushers, you
think about our welcome team.

571
00:25:30,300 --> 00:25:31,800
You think about a hospitality team.

572
00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:34,470
You think about our greeters,
there's a team that tears down all

573
00:25:34,470 --> 00:25:37,050
of this at the end too, and people
that drive the trailers back.

574
00:25:37,860 --> 00:25:40,740
This church is so much
bigger than one person.

575
00:25:42,135 --> 00:25:46,065
You add to that our, our community groups,
we have 11 community groups that meet

576
00:25:46,065 --> 00:25:49,455
throughout our area here, and these are
groups where people gather together, we're

577
00:25:49,455 --> 00:25:50,715
gonna talk about this more next week.

578
00:25:50,985 --> 00:25:53,835
And they gather together and they gather
together to encourage one another and

579
00:25:53,835 --> 00:25:56,925
to live life together and to know each
other and to be known by other people.

580
00:25:57,135 --> 00:26:02,085
You know, this church is way bigger
than a pastor or a group of pastors,

581
00:26:03,225 --> 00:26:05,805
and that's so important for me to
understand because part of my job

582
00:26:05,805 --> 00:26:06,945
is to make sure that that's true.

583
00:26:08,205 --> 00:26:11,925
Part of my job is to make sure that
this never comes, becomes about me,

584
00:26:12,675 --> 00:26:16,875
or it never becomes about our staff,
or it never becomes about a brand that

585
00:26:16,875 --> 00:26:20,325
this is always about, Hey, I'm here to
make sure that we're equipped to be as

586
00:26:20,325 --> 00:26:22,275
effective as a bride as we possibly can.

587
00:26:23,565 --> 00:26:25,455
And so as we think about
that, that's another reason

588
00:26:25,455 --> 00:26:26,505
why you're here this morning.

589
00:26:27,285 --> 00:26:28,275
Why do I go to church?

590
00:26:28,275 --> 00:26:30,135
Well, Jesus tells me to
and the Bible tells me to.

591
00:26:30,255 --> 00:26:31,065
Okay, but why?

592
00:26:31,755 --> 00:26:34,935
Well, because this is where we
experience that equipping work.

593
00:26:35,655 --> 00:26:37,995
And we do that as we gather
under that ecclesial authority.

594
00:26:38,205 --> 00:26:41,685
And so our second point this week is
this value the results of ecclesial

595
00:26:41,685 --> 00:26:46,005
authority, value the results of
what happens when you show up here.

596
00:26:46,995 --> 00:26:50,895
And those results are the equipping of
the saints for the work of ministry.

597
00:26:51,285 --> 00:26:53,535
And, and really there's, there's two.

598
00:26:54,150 --> 00:26:55,020
Components of that.

599
00:26:56,070 --> 00:26:57,510
There's two components of this equipping.

600
00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:01,710
There is a building up component
and there is a shoring up component.

601
00:27:01,980 --> 00:27:02,250
Okay?

602
00:27:02,730 --> 00:27:05,910
As you gather together to be equipped,
you are equipped to be able to build up

603
00:27:05,910 --> 00:27:09,510
and to be built up, and you are equipped
to be able to shore up and be shored up.

604
00:27:09,570 --> 00:27:10,890
And so let me explain
that a little bit more.

605
00:27:11,250 --> 00:27:13,170
First, you're, you're
gathered to build up.

606
00:27:13,170 --> 00:27:13,950
Notice what he says here.

607
00:27:13,950 --> 00:27:20,220
He says, for building up, you are equipped
for the building up of the body of Christ.

608
00:27:20,595 --> 00:27:24,525
Until we all attain to the unity of
faith and of the knowledge of the son of

609
00:27:24,525 --> 00:27:27,495
God to mature manhood to the measure of
the stature of the fullness of Christ.

610
00:27:27,495 --> 00:27:31,365
In other words, what Paul is telling
you church, is that you have a role

611
00:27:31,365 --> 00:27:33,165
in the edification of the church.

612
00:27:34,095 --> 00:27:35,655
This is one Corinthians 12.

613
00:27:36,075 --> 00:27:39,045
This is the, the hand can't say
to the i, I I don't need you.

614
00:27:39,975 --> 00:27:42,045
The, I can't say to the
ear, I don't need you.

615
00:27:42,465 --> 00:27:44,655
The foot can't say, man,
I wish I was a nose.

616
00:27:45,705 --> 00:27:50,595
We need all of us working
together to build up the church.

617
00:27:51,045 --> 00:27:53,205
It's, it's using your giftedness.

618
00:27:53,205 --> 00:27:56,055
It's it's serving for the body of Christ.

619
00:27:56,325 --> 00:27:58,665
And this is another distinguishing
factor of the church.

620
00:27:58,815 --> 00:28:01,635
You can belong to a lot of
different organizations and

621
00:28:01,635 --> 00:28:02,955
belong to them passively.

622
00:28:03,135 --> 00:28:05,205
You cannot belong to
this church passively.

623
00:28:06,195 --> 00:28:07,125
You can belong to your HOA.

624
00:28:07,605 --> 00:28:07,845
Right?

625
00:28:08,235 --> 00:28:11,146
And, and, and you don't have to
serve on the board of your HOA.

626
00:28:11,580 --> 00:28:13,770
You do have to pay your
HOA fees, so that's no fun.

627
00:28:13,770 --> 00:28:17,910
But you don't have to, you
can just benefit from the

628
00:28:18,060 --> 00:28:19,140
pools in your neighborhood.

629
00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:21,780
You can benefit from the
the workout facility.

630
00:28:21,780 --> 00:28:25,200
You don't have to contribute anything
to the plans for the HOA parties.

631
00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:27,000
You can just show up at the event.

632
00:28:27,390 --> 00:28:29,040
There's no expectation placed upon you.

633
00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:32,520
Same thing with Little League,
even though they strong arm you

634
00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:33,840
to try to sign up to be a coach.

635
00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:37,560
I know enough about my competitive nature
that for me to coach my kids' team would

636
00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:39,630
be regressive sanctification on display.

637
00:28:42,675 --> 00:28:47,865
So I don't coach my kids'
teams, but you don't have to.

638
00:28:48,615 --> 00:28:51,555
You can sign your kid up to play and
then you can just attend and watch.

639
00:28:52,455 --> 00:28:54,705
There is no attending
and watching at church.

640
00:28:55,185 --> 00:28:55,995
That's not what it's for.

641
00:28:56,685 --> 00:28:59,625
You're here to be equipped to do
the work of the ministry with us.

642
00:29:00,345 --> 00:29:03,585
The church is strongest when everyone
is working together for her good.

643
00:29:04,155 --> 00:29:06,075
And the the reverse is
true of that as well.

644
00:29:06,315 --> 00:29:09,285
We will suffer when not everybody
is working together for her good.

645
00:29:10,815 --> 00:29:13,905
In other words, we come here
to, sometimes we say, you don't

646
00:29:13,905 --> 00:29:15,705
come to church to consume that.

647
00:29:15,705 --> 00:29:16,575
That's not true.

648
00:29:17,835 --> 00:29:19,635
You do come to church to consume.

649
00:29:20,085 --> 00:29:22,515
You're consuming right now,
you're listening to this sermon.

650
00:29:23,505 --> 00:29:27,255
The difference is you come to church,
to church to consume, to contribute.

651
00:29:28,005 --> 00:29:28,815
That's the difference.

652
00:29:29,745 --> 00:29:33,765
Nobody comes to church or nobody should
come to church to just consume, right?

653
00:29:34,125 --> 00:29:36,165
We are not here to build spiritual fat.

654
00:29:37,245 --> 00:29:39,345
We are here to be a church
that is spiritually fit.

655
00:29:39,945 --> 00:29:43,845
And so we want you to consume in
order to then contribute to what

656
00:29:43,845 --> 00:29:47,445
we're doing here as a church, to the
building up of the body of Christ.

657
00:29:47,685 --> 00:29:49,725
And you say, well, how
long do we have to do that?

658
00:29:49,725 --> 00:29:54,675
Well, Paul just says this, it's only
until we attain to the unity of the

659
00:29:54,675 --> 00:29:58,545
faith and the knowledge of the son of
God to mature manhood to the measure of

660
00:29:58,545 --> 00:30:00,735
the stature of the fullness of Christ.

661
00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:05,280
So I promise you, church, that I'll stop
asking you to serve once we as a church

662
00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:08,700
get to the place where we at the fullness
of the stature of the measure of Christ.

663
00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:12,900
And I promise you, church, that that is
not gonna happen this side of eternity.

664
00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:16,650
In other words, this is who
the church is always gonna be.

665
00:30:17,430 --> 00:30:20,640
And this is why Spurgeon said you're
never gonna walk into a perfect church.

666
00:30:21,895 --> 00:30:25,110
And, and, and so if, if I come
back here and I say, man, I just,

667
00:30:25,110 --> 00:30:26,430
I, I, you know what I really want.

668
00:30:26,430 --> 00:30:28,830
I just wanna be a church, part
of a church where I don't, I'm

669
00:30:28,830 --> 00:30:30,180
not being asked to contribute.

670
00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:32,790
I, I just wanna be a part of a church.

671
00:30:32,820 --> 00:30:34,170
I wanna find a church that's already done.

672
00:30:35,220 --> 00:30:38,370
Listen, we've had some people leave
our church here because of that.

673
00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:41,460
They're like, well, you know,
I'm, I'm not really looking to,

674
00:30:41,879 --> 00:30:44,400
to need to, to serve this way.

675
00:30:45,690 --> 00:30:48,629
If you're looking for a church
where you can just show up and

676
00:30:48,629 --> 00:30:51,330
receive and consume, you're looking
for a church that doesn't exist,

677
00:30:53,550 --> 00:30:58,050
at least it shouldn't
exist in, in every church.

678
00:30:58,575 --> 00:31:01,395
Whether it meets here in in a
cafeteria and we have to do all of

679
00:31:01,395 --> 00:31:03,585
this work to get it set up and torn
down and everything else like that.

680
00:31:03,585 --> 00:31:08,355
Or whether you have the multi-billion
dollar facility and you've got everything

681
00:31:08,355 --> 00:31:11,385
taken care of and you've got a paid staff
that takes out the trash and sets up all

682
00:31:11,385 --> 00:31:12,645
the chairs and everything else like that.

683
00:31:13,275 --> 00:31:16,800
Regardless, every church needs
the church being equipped to do

684
00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:17,985
the work of the ministry together.

685
00:31:19,575 --> 00:31:23,355
There's never a church that you're gonna
walk into where you should be said, it

686
00:31:23,355 --> 00:31:25,035
should be said to you, you, you're good.

687
00:31:25,035 --> 00:31:25,785
We don't need you.

688
00:31:26,910 --> 00:31:29,040
Man, if we ever say that,
have we missed the point?

689
00:31:30,540 --> 00:31:32,700
We're here to equip the church for
the building up of the ministry.

690
00:31:32,700 --> 00:31:34,080
So it's, it's to be built up.

691
00:31:34,085 --> 00:31:36,870
But the second thing that you, the, the
second result, the second benefit that you

692
00:31:36,870 --> 00:31:39,570
get is that you are going to be shored up.

693
00:31:39,570 --> 00:31:41,190
That word means to strengthen.

694
00:31:41,910 --> 00:31:43,080
Look again, back at our passage.

695
00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:43,860
And this is what it says.

696
00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:48,510
He says, so that, uh, you're being
equipped so that we may no longer

697
00:31:48,510 --> 00:31:51,660
be children tossed to and fro by the
waves, and carried about by every

698
00:31:51,660 --> 00:31:55,410
wind of doctrine, by human cunning,
by craftiness and deceitful schemes.

699
00:31:57,180 --> 00:32:01,230
Uh, the, the second effect that ecclesial
authority should have on a church is the

700
00:32:01,230 --> 00:32:03,300
shoring up of any weak spots in the wall.

701
00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:09,660
This is so important for us because we
have an enemy, as we're gonna get to in

702
00:32:09,660 --> 00:32:13,110
one Peter, who's prowling around like a
roaring lion seeking someone to devour.

703
00:32:13,980 --> 00:32:16,890
We have an enemy who wants to
stop us in our tracks in what

704
00:32:16,890 --> 00:32:17,970
we're doing here at the church.

705
00:32:18,390 --> 00:32:21,000
We have an enemy who wants to
undermine ecclesial authority.

706
00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:24,120
We have an enemy that
wants to tear down pastors.

707
00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:27,690
We have an enemy that wants to sabotage
the church in any way possible.

708
00:32:28,260 --> 00:32:31,440
We have an enemy that wants you to
believe the church doesn't need me.

709
00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:31,500
We,

710
00:32:33,780 --> 00:32:37,230
and so Paul says, we're being equipped
so that we would no longer be children.

711
00:32:37,770 --> 00:32:42,180
That word is used as a, a stand-in for
the concept of, of spiritual immaturity.

712
00:32:43,575 --> 00:32:47,715
Paul's saying that God has given the
the church to equip you, to mature

713
00:32:47,715 --> 00:32:49,065
you, to grow your in your faith.

714
00:32:49,095 --> 00:32:52,335
That's one of the ways that you're
equipped to build others up, is as

715
00:32:52,335 --> 00:32:56,265
your faith is developed, so that what
will, so that you would no longer be

716
00:32:56,265 --> 00:32:59,235
tossed to and fro by waves and carried
about by every wind of doctrine.

717
00:33:01,185 --> 00:33:04,995
The ecclesial authority of God's word,
faithfully handled by God's shepherds,

718
00:33:04,995 --> 00:33:07,605
provides a spiritual anchor for your soul.

719
00:33:09,750 --> 00:33:13,590
We don't have false prophets today
in the same way the early church did

720
00:33:13,590 --> 00:33:16,440
showing up and saying, well, hey,
here's my, my word from the Lord.

721
00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:19,290
But you know what we have, we have
social media influencer pastors

722
00:33:19,290 --> 00:33:20,430
all over the place, don't we?

723
00:33:22,290 --> 00:33:22,500
Y'all?

724
00:33:22,500 --> 00:33:25,230
It's a minefield out there
on your Instagram reels.

725
00:33:25,230 --> 00:33:27,540
If you're getting your theology
from Instagram, you're getting

726
00:33:27,540 --> 00:33:28,890
your theology from the wrong place.

727
00:33:31,575 --> 00:33:34,905
It, it's, it's the church that
God has given to wield that it's

728
00:33:34,905 --> 00:33:37,575
the church that God has given
you to, to protect you from that.

729
00:33:37,575 --> 00:33:40,095
And I'm not condemning every
Instagram pastor out there.

730
00:33:40,095 --> 00:33:40,905
That's not my point.

731
00:33:41,955 --> 00:33:45,645
My point is just we there, we're gonna
hear voices from all over the place.

732
00:33:47,145 --> 00:33:49,875
We have to say, where do I know
where the truth is gonna be heralded?

733
00:33:50,355 --> 00:33:54,195
And if your response right now is to say,
well, what gives you the right to say

734
00:33:54,195 --> 00:33:56,055
that you have the, the right view of that?

735
00:33:57,240 --> 00:34:01,500
Listen, if you can't trust your
pastors to be able to do that, then

736
00:34:01,500 --> 00:34:02,760
this isn't the right church for you.

737
00:34:04,735 --> 00:34:08,069
I, I, I, if you're here
cynical every single week,

738
00:34:10,139 --> 00:34:13,799
then, then you're not benefiting
your soul and you're not benefiting

739
00:34:13,799 --> 00:34:15,120
anyone else in this room either.

740
00:34:17,969 --> 00:34:22,170
I, I mean, I, I can show you my
resume, my credentials, everything

741
00:34:22,170 --> 00:34:24,900
else like that, that, that's
not, that's not here, nor there.

742
00:34:26,235 --> 00:34:29,205
The the test is, I want you to look
at the word of God as I preach the

743
00:34:29,205 --> 00:34:30,435
word of God and say, is it true?

744
00:34:32,085 --> 00:34:33,585
Is, is that what the Bible says?

745
00:34:34,784 --> 00:34:37,275
And if it is, then there's your answer.

746
00:34:38,654 --> 00:34:41,054
So we gather to be equipped, to
be strengthened, to be shored

747
00:34:41,085 --> 00:34:44,025
up, to safeguard your walk.

748
00:34:44,025 --> 00:34:48,735
It, it, it's, it's become in
vogue for a lot of people to,

749
00:34:48,735 --> 00:34:50,174
to deconstruct their faith.

750
00:34:51,300 --> 00:34:53,460
In fact, there have been some
very public Deconstructions of

751
00:34:53,460 --> 00:34:56,400
Faith, Rett and Link Josh Harris.

752
00:34:57,540 --> 00:35:00,270
Here's something that I've noticed
about those that end up deconstructing.

753
00:35:00,270 --> 00:35:03,150
One of the first steps towards
the deconstruction process is they

754
00:35:03,150 --> 00:35:04,560
divorce themselves from the church.

755
00:35:06,330 --> 00:35:11,250
They leave the safety, the haven of God's
church where they're being built up and

756
00:35:11,250 --> 00:35:15,060
shored up to be able to stand against
the attacks, the enemy, to be able to

757
00:35:15,060 --> 00:35:17,640
stand against the winds of doctrine
that are gonna toss them to and fro.

758
00:35:18,765 --> 00:35:21,735
And once they leave the safe haven of
the church and they give themselves

759
00:35:21,735 --> 00:35:24,975
over to say, well, it's not that
I'm totally walking away from Jesus.

760
00:35:24,975 --> 00:35:27,375
I just don't want Jesus' bride, and
then they're gonna go over here and

761
00:35:27,375 --> 00:35:29,055
try to to do church by themselves.

762
00:35:29,055 --> 00:35:30,884
What they're gonna find
is you can't do that.

763
00:35:32,865 --> 00:35:35,295
You can't be a Christian
and reject the church.

764
00:35:37,275 --> 00:35:38,235
It doesn't work.

765
00:35:39,165 --> 00:35:41,924
And so it's no surprise when those
guys that start that way end up

766
00:35:41,924 --> 00:35:43,035
saying, actually, you know what?

767
00:35:43,275 --> 00:35:43,904
Nevermind.

768
00:35:43,935 --> 00:35:45,615
I'm out on Christianity altogether.

769
00:35:48,060 --> 00:35:51,509
There's also a growing Chen trend recently
where I've seen a lot, especially of

770
00:35:51,509 --> 00:35:54,149
young men who have said, you know what?

771
00:35:54,214 --> 00:35:57,480
I, I, I am really, I'm
into Roman Catholicism now.

772
00:35:57,480 --> 00:35:59,190
I'm, I'm really into the ancients.

773
00:35:59,190 --> 00:36:00,720
I'm really into Eastern Orthodox.

774
00:36:00,720 --> 00:36:02,279
I'm really into these things.

775
00:36:04,470 --> 00:36:06,930
And a lot of that comes from a
desire to say, well, I, I want more.

776
00:36:06,930 --> 00:36:07,740
I want more.

777
00:36:07,740 --> 00:36:09,149
I want more of an experience.

778
00:36:09,149 --> 00:36:10,859
I want the new, I want
something different.

779
00:36:10,859 --> 00:36:12,149
I want to feel something.

780
00:36:12,390 --> 00:36:14,705
I want the smells and the bells,
and that's what they give me.

781
00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:20,400
And so they're looking for more than what
God has given to them as the ecclesial

782
00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:23,010
authority of the church to say it's
God's word and God's pastors and God's

783
00:36:23,010 --> 00:36:25,140
people and saying, it's not enough.

784
00:36:25,140 --> 00:36:27,360
I'm gonna leave church.

785
00:36:27,390 --> 00:36:29,460
It's, it's a good thing for us to be here.

786
00:36:29,460 --> 00:36:30,240
Why do we gather?

787
00:36:30,240 --> 00:36:31,860
It's because it's safe for us to be here.

788
00:36:32,820 --> 00:36:34,080
It's safe for us to be here.

789
00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:37,890
I had a friend who was a helicopter
mechanic in the army, and this was

790
00:36:37,890 --> 00:36:39,150
during the height of the war in Iraq.

791
00:36:39,570 --> 00:36:43,260
And he was deployed and, and I
remember when he came back from

792
00:36:43,260 --> 00:36:46,350
his, his first deployment, I talked
to him, I said, Clint, were, were

793
00:36:46,350 --> 00:36:48,720
you afraid while you were there?

794
00:36:49,500 --> 00:36:54,090
He said, honestly, no, because he was
on one of the, the massive bases there.

795
00:36:54,450 --> 00:36:56,280
And he said, our, our base was so big.

796
00:36:56,970 --> 00:37:00,419
That you really didn't have any clue
or feeling that you were anywhere

797
00:37:00,419 --> 00:37:02,309
else in, in, in any sort of danger.

798
00:37:02,309 --> 00:37:04,350
I said, well, were you
ever in any sort of danger?

799
00:37:04,350 --> 00:37:04,890
He said, no.

800
00:37:04,890 --> 00:37:07,919
He said occasionally there was some small
arms fire or whatever, any like that, but

801
00:37:07,919 --> 00:37:11,759
he said, honestly, when that happened,
all of us would go run up and, and, and

802
00:37:11,759 --> 00:37:14,160
get on the wall and stand and look it
out on the wall, because what they would

803
00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:17,759
do is they would call in the coordinates
of the insurgents and the, the Air Force

804
00:37:17,759 --> 00:37:19,140
would come in and just obliterate them.

805
00:37:19,829 --> 00:37:21,990
And so the troops were never afraid.

806
00:37:22,709 --> 00:37:22,950
Why?

807
00:37:22,950 --> 00:37:24,704
Because they knew they were
in the safe haven of the base.

808
00:37:25,964 --> 00:37:28,515
I knew they knew that while
they were there, the attacks

809
00:37:28,515 --> 00:37:29,504
were still gonna be out there.

810
00:37:29,774 --> 00:37:33,075
It's not that there wasn't any danger
anywhere, but they knew that while

811
00:37:33,075 --> 00:37:35,024
they were there, they were safe.

812
00:37:36,884 --> 00:37:40,335
Y'all, while you are with the church, and
I'm not just talking about being inside

813
00:37:40,335 --> 00:37:45,194
the four walls of the church now, but when
you are a part of this family, this body

814
00:37:45,464 --> 00:37:49,154
with your pastors overseeing you and your
leaders and one another, encouraging and

815
00:37:49,154 --> 00:37:51,254
building each other up, you are safe here.

816
00:37:52,214 --> 00:37:52,935
You're safe here.

817
00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:55,890
It's not that there's not any dangers
out there, there are plenty of

818
00:37:55,890 --> 00:37:59,850
threats to our faith out there, but
the safest place for you to be to

819
00:37:59,850 --> 00:38:03,030
stand against that is in the church.

820
00:38:04,050 --> 00:38:06,210
That's why we show up at church.

821
00:38:07,740 --> 00:38:11,250
But there's one more thing that
we should consider and why we show

822
00:38:11,250 --> 00:38:12,240
up in church, and that is what?

823
00:38:12,300 --> 00:38:14,730
What's the end goal in all of this?

824
00:38:15,479 --> 00:38:17,789
What's the point in all of
this, and that's where Paul

825
00:38:17,789 --> 00:38:19,049
goes in the rest of our passage.

826
00:38:19,049 --> 00:38:20,370
Notice he says this in verse 15.

827
00:38:20,370 --> 00:38:23,850
He says, rather speaking the
truth in love, we are to grow

828
00:38:23,850 --> 00:38:25,979
up in every way into him.

829
00:38:26,129 --> 00:38:28,709
Who is the head into Christ?

830
00:38:28,890 --> 00:38:29,309
From whom?

831
00:38:29,309 --> 00:38:32,490
The whole body joined and held
together by every joint with which

832
00:38:32,490 --> 00:38:37,109
it is equipped, when each part is
working properly, makes the body grow

833
00:38:37,109 --> 00:38:39,390
so that it builds itself up in love.

834
00:38:40,410 --> 00:38:41,759
So what's the goal in all of this?

835
00:38:42,240 --> 00:38:45,990
Paul just said it to grow
up in every way into him.

836
00:38:45,990 --> 00:38:49,349
Who is the head in Christ?

837
00:38:50,639 --> 00:38:51,479
In Christ?

838
00:38:52,049 --> 00:38:55,709
And so he says there in verse 15, he
says, rather speaking the truth in love.

839
00:38:57,629 --> 00:38:58,709
Look at the context here.

840
00:38:58,919 --> 00:39:01,349
Look back at at verse 14, if you will.

841
00:39:02,685 --> 00:39:03,435
Uh, verse 14.

842
00:39:03,435 --> 00:39:05,535
He, he's talking about those
that are threatening the church.

843
00:39:05,595 --> 00:39:08,924
He says, so that we may no longer
be children tossed to and fro

844
00:39:09,105 --> 00:39:11,835
by the waves and carried about
by every wind of doctrine.

845
00:39:11,984 --> 00:39:16,845
Notice this by human cunning, by
craftiness in deceitful schemes.

846
00:39:17,464 --> 00:39:20,134
So you have cunning, you have
craftiness, you have deceitful.

847
00:39:20,915 --> 00:39:23,915
This is the nature of the false teachers
that are attacking the church, that

848
00:39:23,915 --> 00:39:28,504
are coming after Christians, and he
contrasts that in the very next verse,

849
00:39:28,504 --> 00:39:32,615
he says, rather than that, what does
the church need to be characterized by?

850
00:39:32,615 --> 00:39:36,065
We need to speak the truth in love.

851
00:39:36,705 --> 00:39:39,884
Not in deception, not in underhanded ways.

852
00:39:40,125 --> 00:39:43,575
We're not trying to manipulate,
we're not trying to, to, to, to tug

853
00:39:43,575 --> 00:39:46,605
on heartstrings and, and play on
emotionalism and all those things.

854
00:39:46,875 --> 00:39:49,095
We're certainly not trying to deceive no.

855
00:39:49,185 --> 00:39:53,085
We're gonna declare the truth and
we're gonna do it in a spirit of love.

856
00:39:53,865 --> 00:39:54,855
Love for one another.

857
00:39:54,884 --> 00:39:56,924
Love for those that come and visit us.

858
00:39:56,924 --> 00:40:00,734
Love for the lost, uh, the church
response to the threats of false teaching

859
00:40:00,734 --> 00:40:02,234
in the bold assertion of the truth.

860
00:40:02,910 --> 00:40:05,339
Of ecclesial authority, the word of God.

861
00:40:05,399 --> 00:40:06,720
And that's not just a job.

862
00:40:06,720 --> 00:40:08,789
Now for the pastors,
that's a job for all of us.

863
00:40:09,359 --> 00:40:11,459
All of us, as we are equipped,
are being equipped to be able to

864
00:40:11,459 --> 00:40:14,100
go out and speak the truth and
love into the world around us.

865
00:40:14,310 --> 00:40:15,990
And as we do that, what happens?

866
00:40:15,990 --> 00:40:22,890
We grow up as a church in every way
into him who is the head into Christ?

867
00:40:23,939 --> 00:40:26,609
That word head can either
mean source or authority.

868
00:40:27,419 --> 00:40:30,330
And so when we talk about Jesus as
being the head of the church, do we mean

869
00:40:30,330 --> 00:40:31,799
that he's the source or the authority?

870
00:40:32,714 --> 00:40:35,145
Yes, he's both.

871
00:40:35,714 --> 00:40:37,484
Christ is the source of the church.

872
00:40:37,484 --> 00:40:39,134
We don't have the church without Christ.

873
00:40:39,734 --> 00:40:42,315
And Christ is the ultimate
authority of the church.

874
00:40:42,795 --> 00:40:46,214
There is no authority that exists
outside of the authority of Jesus and

875
00:40:46,214 --> 00:40:48,795
the authority that he has given to us.

876
00:40:49,484 --> 00:40:52,665
And so Jesus as the primary authority
of the church, has given his word

877
00:40:52,665 --> 00:40:55,875
to the church to be faithfully and
accurately taught by the pastors

878
00:40:56,145 --> 00:40:58,125
who serve as his under shepherds.

879
00:40:58,920 --> 00:41:01,920
And so we are called to combat the
false doctrine, the false teaching

880
00:41:01,920 --> 00:41:04,080
by speaking the truth in love.

881
00:41:04,410 --> 00:41:05,550
And what's the result of all this?

882
00:41:05,550 --> 00:41:08,160
We are growing up into the
head, into him who is Christ.

883
00:41:08,790 --> 00:41:12,690
In other words, the goal of why we
gather is the exaltation of Jesus.

884
00:41:12,930 --> 00:41:16,200
The goal and why we gather is
the, the, the magnification of

885
00:41:16,200 --> 00:41:17,820
Christ to say he is the head.

886
00:41:17,970 --> 00:41:19,320
He is why we're here.

887
00:41:19,590 --> 00:41:21,390
He's the one that's worthy
of the attention, the

888
00:41:21,390 --> 00:41:22,800
adoration and our affections.

889
00:41:24,180 --> 00:41:26,490
And so our final point this
morning in why we show up.

890
00:41:27,180 --> 00:41:30,810
Why we're here is this, we
here are here to commit to the

891
00:41:30,810 --> 00:41:32,549
goal of ecclesial authority.

892
00:41:32,939 --> 00:41:39,359
We're here to commit to that goal, that
goal of glorifying Jesus, exalting Jesus.

893
00:41:40,140 --> 00:41:43,470
That's why you come to
church on a Sunday morning.

894
00:41:44,384 --> 00:41:46,575
You come to church to exalt Jesus.

895
00:41:46,575 --> 00:41:48,225
To glorify Jesus.

896
00:41:48,734 --> 00:41:50,865
Notice he goes on, he
says this, from whom?

897
00:41:50,865 --> 00:41:51,555
This is the head.

898
00:41:51,555 --> 00:41:56,354
This is Jesus from whom the whole
body joined and held together by every

899
00:41:56,354 --> 00:42:01,365
joint with which is it is equipped when
each part is working properly, right?

900
00:42:01,785 --> 00:42:04,124
We want to be a church where
every part is working properly

901
00:42:04,575 --> 00:42:07,305
because that's the way that Jesus
is gonna be exalted most clearly.

902
00:42:08,145 --> 00:42:11,145
And so when every part is working
properly, that's what we were just

903
00:42:11,145 --> 00:42:14,475
talking about a moment ago, being
equipped to build up and shore up

904
00:42:14,924 --> 00:42:17,384
using our gifts to serve the church.

905
00:42:17,805 --> 00:42:19,935
And so when each part is
working properly, we will be a

906
00:42:19,935 --> 00:42:22,424
church that is exalting Christ.

907
00:42:23,354 --> 00:42:26,265
And the result of that, he says, is
that it will make the body grow so

908
00:42:26,265 --> 00:42:28,634
that it builds itself up in love.

909
00:42:31,694 --> 00:42:35,595
I get that it's probably not a shock
to hear a pastor preach a sermon

910
00:42:35,745 --> 00:42:39,734
on why it's important to be a part
of the church to be a committed

911
00:42:40,245 --> 00:42:41,984
part of, of what we're doing here.

912
00:42:43,575 --> 00:42:46,515
But I, I hope this third
point at least pivots your

913
00:42:46,515 --> 00:42:47,745
perspective on that a little bit.

914
00:42:49,544 --> 00:42:52,185
Listen, at the end of the day,
I want you to love our church.

915
00:42:52,995 --> 00:42:54,825
I want you to say, this is
the dearest place on earth.

916
00:42:55,725 --> 00:42:57,794
I want you to say, I'm, I'm all in here.

917
00:42:58,694 --> 00:43:00,734
And I want you to say that because
the word is faithfully taught.

918
00:43:00,734 --> 00:43:02,355
I want you to say that
because you love your pastors.

919
00:43:02,355 --> 00:43:04,754
I want you to say that because you love
your brothers and sisters in Christ

920
00:43:04,815 --> 00:43:07,815
and that you love serving them and
you love being served by them, and you

921
00:43:07,815 --> 00:43:09,165
love to be built up and to shore up.

922
00:43:09,165 --> 00:43:13,004
I want you to say all of those things,
but my ultimate prayer is for you to

923
00:43:13,004 --> 00:43:15,845
get to the place if you're not already
there, and I know so many of you are.

924
00:43:16,825 --> 00:43:20,575
But I want you to get to the place to
embrace the mindset that says, I love

925
00:43:20,575 --> 00:43:22,735
this place because I want to honor Christ.

926
00:43:22,765 --> 00:43:26,365
And the best way for me to
honor and exalt Jesus Christ

927
00:43:26,365 --> 00:43:29,065
is to love the bride of Christ.

928
00:43:30,175 --> 00:43:34,225
That's why when you come here
on Sunday morning, I want you

929
00:43:34,225 --> 00:43:35,125
to come here on Sunday morning.

930
00:43:35,125 --> 00:43:38,395
You're driving force being we're,
we're coming together corporately

931
00:43:38,455 --> 00:43:40,975
with my brothers and sisters
of Christ to to exalt Jesus.

932
00:43:41,395 --> 00:43:43,045
To lift Jesus high this morning.

933
00:43:43,555 --> 00:43:44,665
That's what we're here to do.

934
00:43:45,944 --> 00:43:47,894
You can't grow up into him.

935
00:43:47,894 --> 00:43:48,555
Who is the head?

936
00:43:48,555 --> 00:43:52,455
If you're not committed to
his bride, you can't do it.

937
00:43:53,745 --> 00:43:57,854
You can't be a lone ranger
Christian and honor Christ.

938
00:44:00,404 --> 00:44:02,504
You have to be a part
of the bride of Christ.

939
00:44:02,504 --> 00:44:04,274
You can't fulfill God's purpose for you.

940
00:44:05,475 --> 00:44:08,234
God has saved you and given
you his spirit, and he's given

941
00:44:08,234 --> 00:44:10,634
you a gift to be used for the
building up of the body of Christ.

942
00:44:10,634 --> 00:44:13,245
If you walk away from the church and say,
I'm not gonna be a part of the church.

943
00:44:14,355 --> 00:44:15,674
Because the church hurt me.

944
00:44:16,634 --> 00:44:20,444
You've got a long line of people to get
behind and say, join the club on that.

945
00:44:22,185 --> 00:44:25,694
But, but if you reject the entirety of
the bride of Christ because you've had a

946
00:44:25,694 --> 00:44:29,654
bad experience with the bride of Christ,
then you are rejecting God's design

947
00:44:29,654 --> 00:44:32,775
for you and you are not honoring Jesus.

948
00:44:35,830 --> 00:44:38,415
I I if, if you are here at arm's length.

949
00:44:40,320 --> 00:44:44,070
Don't confuse showing up at
church for honoring Christ either.

950
00:44:46,710 --> 00:44:49,680
If you're showing up and you've got a
hard heart and you've got a cold heart

951
00:44:49,680 --> 00:44:54,360
and you are bitter in spirit, Christ
isn't exalted by your presence here,

952
00:44:57,660 --> 00:44:59,520
and I don't know who you think
you're impressing either.

953
00:45:00,205 --> 00:45:00,325
I

954
00:45:02,460 --> 00:45:04,020
don't mean for this to
be a pew emptying sermon.

955
00:45:04,020 --> 00:45:04,770
I really, really don't.

956
00:45:06,809 --> 00:45:10,289
But I do want us to be a church that does
honor Jesus, and I want us to be clear on

957
00:45:10,289 --> 00:45:11,609
what that looks like and what that means.

958
00:45:12,390 --> 00:45:15,479
And let me say church, I think
you're doing a great job.

959
00:45:16,919 --> 00:45:20,490
I love this place more than
I've loved any other church

960
00:45:20,490 --> 00:45:21,539
than I've ever been a part of.

961
00:45:22,350 --> 00:45:24,629
And even as I'm looking out at this
room, I'm seeing so many people that are

962
00:45:24,629 --> 00:45:29,939
doing this, that have Jesus and that are
honoring Christ and that He, you are gonna

963
00:45:29,939 --> 00:45:31,164
hear well done, good and faithful servant.

964
00:45:32,834 --> 00:45:36,164
And I love being a part of the story that
God is, is, is weaving through your life.

965
00:45:36,224 --> 00:45:37,604
I love to be able to get to do that.

966
00:45:37,934 --> 00:45:40,664
I just, again, it, it's important
that all of us are on the same

967
00:45:40,664 --> 00:45:43,004
page together as what the church is
and what we're talking about here.

968
00:45:45,044 --> 00:45:48,555
We need to be a place where we're all
working properly because what's at stake?

969
00:45:48,555 --> 00:45:53,294
It's not my name, it's not my brand, it's
not my, my preaching, it's not my legacy.

970
00:45:54,825 --> 00:45:56,834
It's whether or not we're a
church that exhausts Jesus.

971
00:45:58,610 --> 00:46:02,175
And, and, and if that's not what your
goal is here, then, then, then you're not

972
00:46:02,175 --> 00:46:03,795
gonna find yourself at home here with us,

973
00:46:06,285 --> 00:46:09,075
because we want to be a church
that is bent on exalting Christ.

974
00:46:10,305 --> 00:46:11,895
He's the one that gets the glory here.

975
00:46:12,105 --> 00:46:14,325
No one else, no one else.

976
00:46:16,725 --> 00:46:19,875
That church is far more important
than I think our world or culture

977
00:46:19,875 --> 00:46:22,425
or society gives her credit for.

978
00:46:23,835 --> 00:46:25,515
We have to say, why are we here?

979
00:46:27,500 --> 00:46:31,484
Uh, uh, Charles Spurgeon loved the church
so much that he made it his life's work

980
00:46:31,484 --> 00:46:36,285
to not only preach in such a way that he
earned the, the nickname the Prince of

981
00:46:36,285 --> 00:46:41,205
Preachers, but he also founded a, a, a
college to train up pastors to be able to

982
00:46:41,205 --> 00:46:45,520
go out and plant more churches and to be
able to, to strengthen existing churches.

983
00:46:46,845 --> 00:46:50,685
And Charles's wife, Susie, she was
also committed to the same thing and

984
00:46:50,685 --> 00:46:52,214
loved the church this much as well.

985
00:46:52,424 --> 00:46:55,605
So, so for them, the, the phrase
the dears place on earth was not

986
00:46:55,605 --> 00:47:00,915
just a, a tagline or a nugget, a
tweetable quote from a, a sermon, and

987
00:47:00,915 --> 00:47:02,115
they, they lived it with her life.

988
00:47:02,174 --> 00:47:05,535
Susie, she, she founded what
came to be known as Mrs.

989
00:47:05,540 --> 00:47:06,435
Spurgeon's book Fund.

990
00:47:07,395 --> 00:47:10,634
And so this became a ministry that she
was collecting books and, and she saw

991
00:47:10,634 --> 00:47:14,955
to the distribution of nearly 200,000
books to more than 25,000 pastors over

992
00:47:14,955 --> 00:47:17,805
the course of her life that otherwise
wouldn't have been able to afford them.

993
00:47:19,875 --> 00:47:20,055
Why?

994
00:47:20,055 --> 00:47:21,165
Because she loved the church.

995
00:47:22,755 --> 00:47:24,734
She loved the bride of Christ.

996
00:47:28,694 --> 00:47:32,295
My my prayer is that after this first
message, at least we can walk away

997
00:47:32,295 --> 00:47:34,035
saying, I know why I go to church now.

998
00:47:35,625 --> 00:47:40,995
We're gonna talk more next week as,
as we get into, okay, what is, what is

999
00:47:40,995 --> 00:47:44,294
making church, giving church the, the
place in my life that it, it deserves?

1000
00:47:44,294 --> 00:47:45,105
What does that look like?

1001
00:47:45,105 --> 00:47:46,694
Is we're gonna talk about
the church and community.

1002
00:47:47,084 --> 00:47:47,384
Okay.

1003
00:47:49,154 --> 00:47:52,544
But what we're about to do right now
is we're about to turn and remember

1004
00:47:52,544 --> 00:47:54,314
why the church exists to begin with.

1005
00:47:54,674 --> 00:47:59,834
And, and when we do this, what we're
doing is, is we're remembering, as Paul's

1006
00:47:59,834 --> 00:48:01,725
gonna say, the, the death of Jesus, right?

1007
00:48:03,285 --> 00:48:06,645
And so in just a minute here, not just
yet, not just yet, in just a minute

1008
00:48:06,645 --> 00:48:09,615
here, the, the ushers are gonna come
down and, and pass the elements.

1009
00:48:09,615 --> 00:48:14,115
And when they do, uh, what we're
gonna have is, is a wafer and

1010
00:48:14,115 --> 00:48:15,045
we're gonna have a cup of juice.

1011
00:48:15,045 --> 00:48:19,725
And, and I, I say this often,
um, nothing's gonna happen

1012
00:48:19,755 --> 00:48:21,225
magically to that wafer.

1013
00:48:21,285 --> 00:48:25,935
It came from a box that was on a shelf in
Kroger, and the juice came from a bottle

1014
00:48:25,935 --> 00:48:27,375
that was also on the shelf in Kroger.

1015
00:48:28,230 --> 00:48:30,840
And it's still gonna be that when
you hold it in your hand, okay?

1016
00:48:31,530 --> 00:48:34,110
Uh, it doesn't mystically
transform into anything else.

1017
00:48:34,950 --> 00:48:38,130
Rather, what these are meant
to do, as Paul reminds us, is

1018
00:48:38,520 --> 00:48:40,650
they're meant to be reminders.

1019
00:48:41,280 --> 00:48:41,970
Reminders of what?

1020
00:48:41,970 --> 00:48:43,380
Reminders of the death of Christ.

1021
00:48:44,790 --> 00:48:48,000
And, and what's so important is
these reminders of the death of

1022
00:48:48,000 --> 00:48:52,410
Christ are, are essential to why
we're here this morning as well.

1023
00:48:53,580 --> 00:48:56,850
Because if Jesus didn't die for this
place, this place doesn't exist.

1024
00:48:58,049 --> 00:49:01,349
If Jesus didn't die for the forgiveness
of our sins, none of us can be here and

1025
00:49:01,349 --> 00:49:03,119
offer anything acceptable to the Lord.

1026
00:49:04,169 --> 00:49:08,700
If Jesus didn't break his body and shed
his blood for us, then none of our worship

1027
00:49:08,970 --> 00:49:10,919
serves to the exaltation of Christ at all.

1028
00:49:12,180 --> 00:49:17,519
But rather in Acts 2028, Paul said
that that Christ didn't indeed die to

1029
00:49:17,519 --> 00:49:19,289
purchase the church with his blood.

1030
00:49:21,375 --> 00:49:23,565
As these elements are going to be
passed, I wanna encourage you to

1031
00:49:23,565 --> 00:49:25,065
be careful of, of a few things.

1032
00:49:25,065 --> 00:49:27,105
Number one, beware of
a lack of conversion.

1033
00:49:28,335 --> 00:49:32,145
If you're not saved, then what we're
doing here is, is not for you right now.

1034
00:49:32,145 --> 00:49:35,475
And I say that for your, your protection
because the Bible talks about if we take

1035
00:49:35,475 --> 00:49:38,775
communion in an unworthy manner, we can
eat and drink judgment to ourselves.

1036
00:49:40,425 --> 00:49:42,105
So this is really for believers.

1037
00:49:42,105 --> 00:49:44,625
So I would encourage you, be
careful of a lack of conversion.

1038
00:49:44,625 --> 00:49:46,875
The second thing is a lack of confession.

1039
00:49:48,630 --> 00:49:52,860
If you haven't gotten right with the
Lord as far as confessing sin before

1040
00:49:52,860 --> 00:49:56,070
the Lord, and you're harboring,
no knowingly harboring sin in

1041
00:49:56,070 --> 00:49:59,280
your life, unrepentant sin in your
life, let me encourage you as well.

1042
00:49:59,280 --> 00:50:04,260
Do not take these elements this morning
if you're not willing to confess that

1043
00:50:04,260 --> 00:50:07,860
sin and lay it at the foot of the
cross where it belongs, and to repent

1044
00:50:07,860 --> 00:50:10,020
from that sin and to put it to death.

1045
00:50:10,320 --> 00:50:11,970
Do not take these elements this morning.

1046
00:50:13,680 --> 00:50:15,300
And the third thing, I would
encourage you to be aware of a

1047
00:50:15,300 --> 00:50:16,650
lack of concentration this morning.

1048
00:50:17,955 --> 00:50:19,095
It can become white noise.

1049
00:50:19,095 --> 00:50:19,964
We've done this before.

1050
00:50:19,964 --> 00:50:20,745
They're gonna pass through.

1051
00:50:20,745 --> 00:50:21,884
The pastor's gonna read something.

1052
00:50:21,884 --> 00:50:22,515
We're gonna take this.

1053
00:50:22,515 --> 00:50:26,475
We're gonna eat, we're gonna drink, and
we're gonna move on with our life use

1054
00:50:26,475 --> 00:50:29,115
this time, as the elements are passed,
the music is played to make sure that

1055
00:50:29,115 --> 00:50:30,584
your mind is in the right place as well.

1056
00:50:30,584 --> 00:50:32,955
For you to take these elements,
do what, what the scriptures

1057
00:50:32,955 --> 00:50:34,515
call you to do, contemplate.

1058
00:50:34,515 --> 00:50:36,975
Remember the death of Christ for
you and what it means for you.

1059
00:50:37,305 --> 00:50:39,734
So these elements will be passed, and
then we'll take them together in a moment.

1060
00:50:41,250 --> 00:50:46,290
As we understand it biblically,
there are two ordinances that are,

1061
00:50:46,620 --> 00:50:48,930
the church belong to the church.

1062
00:50:49,080 --> 00:50:53,730
There's the ordinance of baptism and
there's also the ordinance that we are

1063
00:50:54,030 --> 00:50:56,160
remembering right now, which is communion.

1064
00:50:56,250 --> 00:50:58,470
We can back the music out if we can.

1065
00:50:58,470 --> 00:50:59,070
Thanks guys.

1066
00:51:00,225 --> 00:51:02,294
Which is communion, which
is the, the Lord's table.

1067
00:51:02,774 --> 00:51:05,415
And these are given to the church to be
done within the church because they're

1068
00:51:05,415 --> 00:51:09,584
part of what binds us together and unites
us as the church we've been talking about.

1069
00:51:09,584 --> 00:51:15,884
Why we're, we gather, this is one of
the the greatest reasons why we gather.

1070
00:51:16,214 --> 00:51:19,299
We gather because Jesus died
for our sins and rose again.

1071
00:51:20,175 --> 00:51:21,765
From the graves that we might be forgiven.

1072
00:51:22,965 --> 00:51:26,055
And so as we gather, we read
what Paul wrote to the church

1073
00:51:26,115 --> 00:51:28,154
in Corinth when he says this.

1074
00:51:28,215 --> 00:51:31,035
I received from the Lord what I
also delivered to you, that the

1075
00:51:31,035 --> 00:51:33,825
Lord Jesus on the night when he was
betrayed, took bread and when he had

1076
00:51:33,825 --> 00:51:36,705
given thanks, he broke it and said,
this is my body, which is for you.

1077
00:51:37,154 --> 00:51:38,805
Do this in remembrance of me.

1078
00:51:38,985 --> 00:51:39,705
Let's eat together.

1079
00:51:48,194 --> 00:51:48,644
In the same way.

1080
00:51:48,644 --> 00:51:52,424
Also, he took the cup after supper saying,
this cup is the new covenant in my blood.

1081
00:51:52,814 --> 00:51:55,454
Do this as often as you drink
it in remembrance of me.

1082
00:52:03,224 --> 00:52:06,224
And then he says, for as often as you
eat this bread and drink the cup, you

1083
00:52:06,224 --> 00:52:08,624
proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

1084
00:52:10,274 --> 00:52:12,765
And what's awesome is every
single Sunday morning when we

1085
00:52:12,765 --> 00:52:14,654
gather together as the church.

1086
00:52:15,194 --> 00:52:19,604
We gather together to proclaim
the Lord's resurrection as well.

1087
00:52:19,664 --> 00:52:23,444
Until he comes church, let's
stand together and I will pray

1088
00:52:23,444 --> 00:52:24,734
for us as we're dismissed.

1089
00:52:27,794 --> 00:52:29,774
Father, we are so grateful
for the bride of Christ.

1090
00:52:29,774 --> 00:52:33,794
We are thankful that you have saved us and
placed us into a community, into a family,

1091
00:52:33,794 --> 00:52:39,345
into a, a place with, with brothers and
sisters who care for us and serve with

1092
00:52:39,345 --> 00:52:42,825
us and serve alongside us, Lord, that
we are here to be equipped together

1093
00:52:42,825 --> 00:52:45,915
for the building up in the shoring up
of the church, Lord, that we are here

1094
00:52:45,915 --> 00:52:47,745
to ultimately exalt Christ together.

1095
00:52:47,745 --> 00:52:51,044
What a glorious reality that is,
that you didn't save us and leave

1096
00:52:51,044 --> 00:52:52,694
us by ourselves to figure this out.

1097
00:52:53,189 --> 00:52:56,490
And so, Lord, I, I pray that you
would just continue to bless what's

1098
00:52:56,490 --> 00:52:57,899
going on here at Compass Bible Church.

1099
00:52:57,899 --> 00:53:02,339
I thank you for these faithful saints who
are so passionate about exalting Christ,

1100
00:53:02,339 --> 00:53:04,049
who do this so well week in and week out.

1101
00:53:04,049 --> 00:53:07,790
I pray that you would continue
to give us, uh, just a, a, a, a

1102
00:53:07,790 --> 00:53:11,069
sense of, of love for Christ that
bleeds out into this community.

1103
00:53:11,100 --> 00:53:14,129
Lord, make us a bright and brilliant
lampstand to all around us.

1104
00:53:14,129 --> 00:53:15,390
We pray this in Jesus' name.

1105
00:53:15,995 --> 00:53:16,775
A man.