Great to see everybody tonight. Hope you are ready to pick up
your Bible and just, let's get with it because we've got some
exciting stuff to cover tonight. I want to talk to you about
God's manifold wisdom and how it relates to the church as a body
of servants. One of the greatest things that
you will ever do in your life is learn to love to serve other
people. Last night.
We talked about Christians being distinct at work and one of the
great ways that we We have to impact the world is to do a lot
of great things that our servant minded that maybe other people
feel like they're too good to do because of who we love so much.
I'm not talking about your jerk boss.
I'm talking about God we represent we work for.
We are a part of Jesus Christ and almighty god.
Well let's get right to it. The book of Philippians is a
wonderful book. I'm going to flip back and forth
between several. I want you to understand why
that happens. Very, very simple stuff.
Here we go. When Jesus died on the cross,
here's hot. When he developed followers, not
just a few, but they were very upset.
Remember they didn't understand that.
It was his plan completely to die on the cross, but that was
his plan. He came.
He said, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me, okay?
So he's going to be bury in the ground and he's going to rise
again, the third day. Day that message was powerful.
It was so powerful. I can give you an illustration
of it while Jesus was alive. Before the cross, there was a
guy named Lazarus in John about chapter 11, Lazarus was a good
guy, friends with Jesus. Jesus spent a lot of time there
and Lazarus died Jesus. Came a few days later and and
his loved ones and sisters would come and say Lord if you had
been here, he wouldn't Die. They had faith in him.
Jesus wept with him at the, basically, the morning that had
happened afterwards and Jesus called him forth from the grave
and raised him from the grave. That was such a powerful
evidence of Jesus resurrecting power that the Jews that were
envious of Jesus and wanted to destroy Jesus mission.
Wanted to kill Jesus, and they wanted to kill Lazarus to you.
Just keep that in your mind. And they wanted to keep the
evidence out of the way. So when Jesus was had died was
buried. And now he rose again, he had
been seen. If you've got your Bible Market
to 1st Corinthians chapter 15 1 through 4, it tells you the
story and reality of that but these guys, 12 of them are going
to go and they're going to begin preaching the message.
The question is, why am I going to flip back and forth between?
Here's how this goes, if you read the gospels, Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John the first For we call those the gospels because
basically, that gives you evidence to produce faith, that
you believe that Jesus is the son of God.
It's impossible for us to reach people to know who Jesus is
without knowing that he died was buried and rose again.
And you learn about that in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,
why are there four of them? If there was just one, somebody
would say, well, that was just one guy, there's four.
There's four that are written down eyewitness accounts, then
you come to the book of Acts, and that tells you how it was
that people were saved by this message, and it shows you the
Church of Jesus Christ. Then from Romans to Revelation,
what you find is, God sent people.
He sent these guys to preach and show the word of God to
churches. And I don't want, I don't want
you to take this for granted. In other words, God didn't sin.
And command all these letters to be written, just to individuals,
not to be shared. He wanted them to be shared.
Now, why is that? Here's why?
All this is important. And this is why I'm going to
flip back and forth between Matthew and Mark, or Acts or
Romans or Revelation, or back and forth.
Here's why all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and
is profitable for Doctrine for correction for instruction in
righteousness, that the man of God, may be complete or perfect,
throughly, furnished unto every or all good works.
That's why we flip around in our Bibles.
And that's why you don't need to be.
Fuse. When I do that tonight.
So Paul writes to the Philippians Church, they had
their that. They were a pretty peaceful good
church. They had problems.
They had issues at times 4:2, says there were two women that
weren't even getting along. And so he told these two women
to get over the problem, that existed between them and the
same could be written to of two men as well, but that's the kind
of stuff that you read when you read these Epistles, but you
learn about something. You learn about the value of the
church. I want you to understand, God
doesn't waste his time. The Bible says, the spirit
speaketh expressly, you know what that means.
It means God wants you to understand what you understand
what he's thinking. First Corinthians talks about
the reality that God wants us to know.
Now, his Mysteries, he wants us to understand what he's
thinking, but give an example of that in Ephesians chapter 3, In
Ephesians chapter 3. This is my favorite passage that
shows how important all this is right here.
Here goes, the Bible says, in chapter 23 Verse 3, how that God
made by Revelation known how that by Revelation he made known
unto me. The Mysteries as I wrote before
in a few words whereby when you read ye may understand my
knowledge in the mystery of Christ which in other Ages was
not made known Unto the Sons of men as it is now revealed unto
His Holy Apostles and Prophets by the spirit that the Gentiles
should be fellow heirs. Ears and of the same body and
partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.
Now why we preach the gospel with a smile on our face and we
get excited about it and I get amped up about preaching it is
because this is life giving stuff.
I'm not going to read you. You Oprah Magazine or Vanity,
Fair or anything else. I'm going to read to you
scripture because the word of God is alive and sharper than
any two-edged sword. And it's the only thing that can
pierce your heart. My Philosophy, my opinion
doesn't mean anything, but this means a great deal notice.
Paul said that we can read and know about the mystery.
Let me tell you what what the big plan was going to be the big
play. Most for these guys to go into
all the world and preach the gospel to Every Creature, he who
believed and is baptized shall be saved.
I don't know about you, but it's a no-brainer to ever exist in
think about living this life without being saved.
Just a no-brainer. Well, God came and he said, I
want you to preach to people. There's two things that happen
when you preach the people. Number one, if you've got the
word of God, here's what's going to happen.
You're going to If people that they're not right with God and
it's going to be a compelling reality and they're going to be
told what to do to get right with God.
That's going to happen. They're going to be convicted of
the sin and the problem they have in their life and they're
going to be given the solution to that problem.
That's good. Gospel preaching.
That's the way it's always been, okay?
It's good news, it's real good news.
It would be the equivalent of you.
Walk in the back door and saying I've got it.
Bola. And watch the building Clear
right. but if you walked in and said, I've got a Bola I would
want that vial of that cure that they ran out of early on where
people recovered real quick, right?
Well, what we offer is exactly that accept more compelling, it
more powerful because what we offer and what the Jesus offered
was to change people. Not to just change them.
From being a sinner, but to show them.
How to live, the word church means called out.
You know, what were called out of were called out as Sin.
That's the big problem in why churches fail to get and draw
people and why people are really disinterested with the church.
You want to know why people are disinterested with the church?
Jesus said, it's because they're disinterested in me, really.
You say? No, no, no color.
You don't get it people like Jesus.
He's good. Well, you can't have Jesus
without his teachings. Jesus said in John 6:63, the
words that I speak unto you, they are spirit.
And they They are life. What we offer is a life-giving
message but Jesus said this, this is the condemnation that
light is come into the world and Men loved Darkness rather than
light because their deeds were evil.
So here's what happens the preacher preaches, the message
where people realize I'm a sinner, and I'm lost and people
run for the door. Why?
Because their sin is exposed the, you know, what happens when
your sin is exposed, you got to either run from it or do.
After about it, you gotta run from it or you got to do
something about it. You want to know why?
There are so many young people that are approaching, they call
them Millennials that are not questioning whether they believe
in God or not. I want to tell you why, it's
because too many Millennials are sexually active.
And the god of Heaven, is the god of morality, and he requires
Pure Living. And the reason why people walk
away and say, I'm not sure I believe in God.
Who is he? It is because they're living a
lifestyle that God says is not okay?
See that convictions hard. That convictions are very real
thing. It's a compelling thing.
Jesus doesn't leave you alone. He never has left people alone.
You may run away from him. You may hide from him, you may
ignore him, but Jesus is real. And his message is real.
So, the church is called out of sin.
You know what God does to all safe people?
According to Acts chapter 2, the Bible says he adds them to the
church, you know what, he calls the church, if you open your
Bible to that same book or that written to the Ephesian Church
in Ephesians chapter 1. Here's what the Bible says, far
above all principality, 1:21 and power and might and dominion and
every name that is named not only in this world but also in
the one that is to come and it put all things under his feet.
And gave him to be head, over all things to the church, which
is his body. The fullness of him that filleth
all in all in the very next chapter of Passage that people
read all the time. We are saved by grace through
this faith, not of Works, lest any man should boast and then he
says the church and everyone that is saved is created in
Christ. Unto good works.
Works. In other words, I'm going to
change you from producing sand to producing righteousness.
I'm going to change you little by little until people see
changes in you. I'm going to change the outcome
of what your life looks like church, because the church is
not this building. The church is people.
When Paul wrote the Philippian Church in Philippians chapter 1
and 2. Specifically he was writing to
people that were proud Roman citizens, he had to teach them
that they were citizens of a Heavenly Kingdom.
Over and over again. The church is used.
I promised a little tutorial of this.
This is why we flip passages because God wrote the Bible, not
man. And the reason why the church is
pictured, as the church and the body, and the bride, and the
vine, and the household and the family.
Is because God wanted to communicate it in as many ways
as possible to help you recognize.
Not only his close Association, but the essential fact that if
you want a relationship with Jesus Christ, you cannot ever
disregard his church. In Acts chapter 7 verse 58.
The Bible says Saul made Havoc of the church in the form of
holding the coats of the people that killed the first Christian
martyr Stephen acts 8 1 through 4 says, Saul went everywhere.
Making Havoc of the church and Acts 9 Jesus met Paul, on the
road to go, kill Christians and put them in prison.
And here's what he said, why are you persecuting me?
I want you to make the action. The Bible says Saul was making
habit of the church. Let me make this very clear
again, the church is people he was killing people and Jesus
said why are you persecuting me? Why are you persecuting me?
The body of Christ? Is the way in which God strips
away all of The Selfish envy and sinful pleasures of this life
and create something as a group. And he wants us to shine as a
city that is set on a hill that cannot be hidden.
He would pray that the church Paul would write that the church
should be without spot and without wrinkle and without
blemish Paul writing to these Roman Christians, they were
heavily in love with the idea that they were Roman citizens
and now he strips their gears and says, no, no.
You are citizens of a kingdom. Whose King is in heaven.
Paul would not just write them about a kingdom.
Paul would write the Corinthian Church, about the idea of the
body of Christ. And that's what I want to talk
to you about for a little while we'll come back to this
Philippian congregation very quickly.
The body of Christ is very unique.
The physical body is also unique in a 24-hour period, a normal
adult body, accomplishes a great deal the heartbeats, a hundred
and three thousand six hundred and eighty, nine times.
The blood travels 168 million miles, we breathe, 23,000 times.
We inhale 438, cubic feet of air.
We eat three point two five pounds of food, unless you're
Frankie and Tina's. You drink three quarts of
liquid. You lose quite a bit of waste
you speak. Thousands of Words you move 750
muscles. You exercise, over seven million
brain cells unless you smoke pot and a lot of other things go
down. Those are the things that happen
in your physical body. Real things that go down every
day that we take for granted. When you look in the mirror,
there's a whole lot Happening Here.
Well, there's also a whole lot happening besides behind the
scenes when you read and you say Church, what does that mean to
you when you say body of Christ? What does that mean to you?
Can you exist and live your life without any respect to the
church without attending worship?
Can you live your life disregarding the concept of
regular commitment to a church? I don't think you can live your
life. Without commitment to the church
anymore than you can live your life without commitment to
Christ. Because they're one in the same
thing. They're a unit, you can't have
Jesus without the church. You just can't.
There's there's a couple of relationships in my life that I
value, very greatly. The most important one in my
life, besides God is my wife. You want to get me irritated you
try to split us up and divide us.
You try to work one against another.
I hate that that's not going to work.
Why is that? Because we always try to be on
the same page. That doesn't mean that doesn't
mean as husband and wife, we always do that.
But I'll tell you, this, Jesus is the perfect husband.
We're the ones that have to get it.
Jesus is the one that died for his bride.
That's all of us. We're the ones that have to act
like a Did she act? I don't know anybody.
Nobody that I know that wants to go marry somebody that acts like
they could care less about the person they married.
The you certainly not. Whenever you discuss church, I
want you to think about Jesus, he died for the church.
He gave his life's blood for the church.
In Acts chapter 20, Paul was riding or rather.
We have recorded what he said to the Ephesian Elders in Acts 20
about verse 28. Here's what it says, you take
heed to yourselves unto yourselves and to all the flock,
that's what Christians are called sometimes sheep.
So you take heed of the flock over which the, holy ghost or
Spirit has made you overseers or Elders to feed the Church of
Jesus or God which Which he hath purchased with his own blood.
If you're ever feeling like you're having self-esteem
problems, and you feel like you have no value and you're feeling
like somehow, in this old world that you don't know how you add
any value, and you get to questioning that I want you to
Anchor yourself and think about Jesus dying on the cross of
Calvary, because I think of his piercing eyes looking down
Through the Ages and finding your eyes and making contact and
help when you recognize that you have value.
And if you were the only soul that would ever be, Saved.
I absolutely believe Jesus would have come down and gone through
all that, he went through for you, for God.
So loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have
everlasting life. There are people that misquote
that and say, I believe in Jesus and automatically they falsely
assume they have salvation. That is a gross error.
Are there were people that disregarded and disputed the
doctrine of the church and the Apostle Paul would write about
them and say how many Essence politis have made shipwreck of
their faith. Why is that?
Because they were tearing up the church.
What's your view of church? Why don't you let God determine
your view of church for just a few minutes tonight.
In First Corinthians chapter 12. Here's what happens when you
believe Jesus Christ. Is the son of God.
For as the body is one and has many members.
But all the members of that one body being many are one body.
So also is Christ for by one Spirit.
We were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks
with a slaves or free and have all been made to drink into one
spirit. For, in fact, the body is not
one member but many. Let me see if I can get this
straight. We're living in a big old bad
world. And gods trying to call centers
out of sand into the church. With his book.
Now, people believe in Jesus. If they love Jesus, there's got
to be a place that God puts him. Let's see if we can find that.
Remember, I told you that the book of Acts tells us about how
to be saved in the beginning of the church, the Bible says that
when people cried out and recognized and were convicted by
the gospel, they cried out and said, men and Brethren.
What shall we do? Why do you think anybody would
ask that? It's the question you better be
asking if you've never gotten serious about your soul, you'd
better. I be asking that question and
you had better be getting God's answer to it because here's the
problem. Too many people get answers from
Mama and Daddy and because Mama and Daddy had some kind of a
loose relationship. So to speak with religion people
automatically assume that because of DNA, I have a
relationship not so you see you got to make up your mind for
yourself. These people said men and
Brethren. What shall we do?
Peter and the rest of the Apostles said repent and be
baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for
the remission of your sins. You know what they did?
The Bible says, then they that gladly received their word were
baptized and that same day were added unto them about 3,000
Souls. You know what that means?
Every sinner better get serious about that question and about
that answer. And they had Her respond
quickly. Quickly.
The Lord added to the church
daily. Every sinner that was being
saved. And do you know what you find
from the book of Acts onto the Book of Revelation every letter
was to be written to and read to the churches as Authority from
Jesus from God and from the holy spirit.
So when you read your Bible, you are not reading something that
is the personal advice that was omitted beer.
It revealed to one guy or one little Many people what he was
doing, is he was writing law or the law of Christ.
To the church. In fact, there were times the
letters that were written. Here's how they would do it.
He would say that letter from laodicea that I wrote to you,
you bring that letter down here to colossi and you take the
letter, I wrote to the Colossians and you take it up
there and you do everything he would say it like this.
I've taught everywhere in every Church.
Why did he say that? Because for Matthew to
Revelation was not written by men.
Paul said in First Corinthians 14 verse 37, if you think your
spiritual or a prophet, you need to acknowledge that.
The things I write unto you are the Commandments of the Lord.
But again, who did he write to? He wrote two churches?
Are you in a church tonight? Are you in a church that Jesus
Built? I want to tell you, I could go
get a tax-free charger and I could go out tomorrow in this
state or my home state of Louisiana and I could come up
and say I'm going to start Cullen's Church. my question to
you is, is that the one that Jesus did well, no.
No, I want to tell you why you need to pay attention to this.
There are lots. And lots, and lots.
And lots. And lots.
And lots of people.
That would love to tell you that you can have a relationship with
Jesus and live whatever life you want to live and call it Church.
Jesus never taught that Doctrine.
He never ever taught that doctor.
Here's what do you say? Every plant that my heavenly
father has not planted, will be routed up.
Let them alone, they that lead, they, that are blind.
And they that follow the blind. Both of them shall fall into the
ditch. Listen!
Don't you? Dare check your brain at the
back of a church house door, don't you?
Dare check your brain in and give it to somebody else and say
what do you think you lick your finger and you open up your
Bible and the privilege United States of?
Ricotta and you get it in whatever language you need it.
And you find out what God said, because what I've just shown you
is for Matthew to Revelation is what God Said.
I don't matter, you don't matter, Mom and Daddy don't
matter. Paul said, this do not think of
men above that, which is written.
You get your Bible out and if I've stirred something inside of
you, I'm going to tell you the people that are going to be
saved, you ready to hear this, the people that are going to be
saved, have an allegiance to Jesus and his word.
And they will drive to the farthest parts of the earth, to
find truth, Jesus said, sanctify them, through thy truth, Thy
word is truth. I like to think I'm preaching to
people that want the truth, you're not going to get the
truth on Fox news or CNN, or ABC or NBC or anything else.
You will get the truth from God's word.
Word and it was sealed by one reality.
Jesus rose from the grave. That's how we know that this
message that we have is real. Well, again, every member of the
spiritual body has to work well together, we do not have a
system in the Lord's church. That is segregated by young and
old. The Sunday schools school system
of 1786. That was pretty much brought
into existence from Robert. Raikes along with our modern
educational system has segregated young people versus
old people for so long that our culture does not understand the
reality of what it means to have a very diverse family unit.
I hate this is kind of bad news for all the people that are
getting older In This Crowd, but the old saying goes be nice to
your kids and your grandkids because they'll pick your
nursing home. Some of you aren't smiling.
I want to tell you about this. Whenever you talk about the
family of God, you're talking about the very youngest to the
very oldest and God requires you to have a relationship with
everybody in the body of Christ. Did you know that?
Did you know that did you know, God has an expectation that you
not only have a relationship but that you learn to love and serve
and that you would be willing to lay down your life for your
brother or your sister. God, made family.
God made love because God is love.
And God requires us to be plugged into two groups of
people. Our own family and our church
family. And if you've got a situation in
your life where you're not plugged into either one of
those, I feel very sorry for you and it's easy to do.
Because those are the two things that our society in our culture
is going after, like nothing else, the family and the church
named the last TV show, where the dad on there, that had any
sense in it, all in his head at all.
Look smart name the last time that our media Ever made a
Christian look like they offered some value to the world know.
Generally speaking people view Dad's today as Bart Simpson's
that Homer and he's an idiot. Or people look at the church and
they see people that are Backwoods and racist, and guns
and bibles. That's what our politicians say.
That's garbage. That's a society that is off the
rails. God made the family and God made
our church family. God made those two groups of
people. And if you choose not to plug
into family and you live an illicit lifestyle outside the
benefit of marriage, God's not, okay with that.
And if you live a lifestyle outside of a church family God's
not okay with that. How could God send his son to
die for people, that would ignore his gift.
How can he be okay with that? He's not.
He's not okay with that. God did not create clicks or
groups in the body of Christ. First Corinthians chapter 12
verse 24 says, but God composed the body having given greater
honor to that part, which lacks it that there should be no
Schism in the body, but that the members should have the same
care for one another. And if one member suffers all
the members suffer with it, or if one member is honored all the
members Rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ
and members individually. Where does God puts you in the
body of Christ? According to First Corinthians,
All Verse 18. God puts you in the body of
Christ, just where you need to be It's an honor.
It's an honor to know that we've got kids here that gets elected
and they get comme la di da Wards and they get cords around
their neck and they got all kind of things and ribbons and their
teachers like them and love them and want some more of them and
all that good stuff, right? We got all kinds of awards that
go along with that. When you talk about the body of
Christ and you think about where God puts you in and how you're
supposed to function, God wants everybody to recognize that they
have a role and they are important.
Important. We need you.
We live in a world that sets up clicks and age differences and
subsets within the body of Christ that's never the way it
was done. It's also very difficult at
times for people to recognize just how much care God spent, he
does not want us to compete. He wants us to serve each other
and have the same care in Ephesians 4:16.
The Bible says from whom the whole body joined and knit
together by what every joint supplies, according to the
effective working by which every part, does it chair and causes
growth of the Body for the edifying of itself in love.
Of. You know what I've learned?
I've learned that you do not have to go to Disneyland or
Disney World are on a great vacation to have quality time
with your kids. You see real relationships are
not expensive. We live in a culture today that
convinces us that you've got to go somewhere.
You got to do something, you've got to have some big Frolic
going in order to have great time.
Not so, Not at all. you know, the most important times you're
going to have time with your mom and your dad and your
grandparents. It's easy to take those kind of
times for granted. And there are some of you here
that have been weeping over new made grades and it's not
difficult for you at all to recall.
Just simple simple times. And memories that flood back?
Listen. You want to know one of the
great reasons why you have to be here every Lord's day, and I did
use the word 2:30. Is because you have a
responsibility to the body of Christ.
And in essence you have a responsibility to Christ
Hebrews. 10:24 says, when we come together we provoke one
another on to love and good works.
That means that you don't skate in here last off and skate out
as fast as you can get out of here.
Why? Because that's not how family
operates. That's not how it works.
I'm not saying that you don't have somebody sick at home, or
maybe you got to bust out on Wednesday night, because you've
got to go to a job or whatever else.
But you got people here that are very important people.
That matter, a great deal to you, that shouldn't matter a
great deal to you. Do you feel that You feel that?
You know, you your smile and your kindness and your gesture
of goodness, may be the very thing that salvages somebody's
week. Your word of encouragement, your
open arms, and your hug. Kids know all about it.
Kids know all about it kids know where their wanted.
Kids know when they're not wanted.
It's our job in this group of people, right here, every time
these doors are open, every time were around, it's my job to
make, you know, that you matter to me.
And it's your job to make me know that I matter to you.
That's our job. Imagine how important that is?
That seems small. I'm not asking you to look at
that as a deep thought, but it's very profound and it's vital and
it's important. When you read the scripture
Paul, would teach that every member of the body of Christ is
important, when he would discuss all these things with the church
at Philippi. He would use This as an example
of how we should look at life. Here's what he would say.
Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, any
comfort of love, any Fellowship of the spirit.
If there's any affection and mercy, fulfill my Joy, by being
like-minded. Having the same love being of
one, Accord of one mind, let nothing be done through selfish
ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of Mind, Let each
esteem other better than himself.
Let each of you look not only for your own interests but also
for the interests of others, you want a good family, love your
family care about your family, spend time with your family.
And allow your family to be in love with the church and with
the one who founded the church Jesus Christ, because here's
what's going to happen. You bring your family to church.
You're going to have fathers and mothers and grandfathers and
grandmothers and sons and daughters, and nieces and
in-laws, and outlaws. And everybody, there is going to
get to read and understand the expectations of these most
wonderful privileged God. God offered relationships, the
home and the church because it's easy in this life to get off
track, it's easy for our marriages, to get off track,
it's easy for our parent-child relationships, to get off track,
and it's easy for Brothers and Sisters in Christ to get off
track because we live in a selfish Wicked World. but in
here, we got something. We got something.
That's what Paul wanted us to recognize, when Jesus Built the
church. Whenever he said, fulfill my Joy
by being like-minded, there are clear ways that we can
demonstrate that first of all, the idea of being like-minded as
having the same way of thinking, How do you think?
What governs your thinking? If you are a Whimsical person
and you have changed your belief system 58 hundred times.
That is not at all the way that God wanted you to live your
life. God wants people to be
principled. He wants people to have an
ethic. He wants people to have a
Doctrine. He wants people to walk by faith
in that Doctrine, and it needs to manifest itself in their
life. Satan wants you to walk by how
you feel and your mood swings and whatever it is, that slaps
you up against the face in life. That's how Satan wants you to
operate. And if you're in this world, and
you're having lots of ups and downs and ups and downs, and
Trauma, and drama, and that's It's pretty much your Mo and
modus operandi of living. Then I want to introduce you to
the Church of Jesus Christ, and the family that he's offering
you because that is not how we live our lives.
It's not. There's a difference.
Does that mean that that's easy and those differences and those
changes are going to be easy to make not at all but you've got a
group of people. They're going to help you get
there. You know what happens when baby
boy and baby girl step out of line, you got a mama and a daddy
and a brother and a sister that want to help you get back in
line, right? You know, the saddest shows on
Earth to me, or those shows called Intervention drug and
alcohol abuse people that have used it, they got these nice
people that are sitting there on the couch, they're at their
wit's end. They do anything in the world to
fix that situation and they've thrown everything and put
everything on the line, to try to get a person to come back to
them, and fix their lifestyle, they're willing to Shell out,
thousands upon thousands of dollars, sometimes sell their
home move, do whatever it takes. Why is that?
Because people will do anything for their family.
If they have the right set of values You know what happened?
Sometimes though that pitiful Leech that sits there on the
couch in the pit of selfishness and arrogance, and anger, and
all kinds of accusations when people are begging and squalid
and begging them to come back and be a part of the family.
Then have the family values. Again, they will get up and walk
out of the room and turned their back on their family.
It happens. Now it's one thing.
If it happens on TV and somebody's life, imagine imagine
how the god of Heaven, the father of all of it, all this
faithful children, is whenever people do that to the church,
that he created to be family. He wants us to be on the same
page. Paul said it like this imitate
me just as I also imitate Christ, we need to be a people
that recognize that the law of God is a good thing.
In fact, the Bible speaks of it as the perfect law of Liberty.
Here's what Paul said to the Corinthians church now I command
you brethren for remembering me in everything and because you
hold fast truths and practices precisely as I have taught them
to you. You know what?
He says to the Philippian church.
If you open up your Bible to the book of Philippians, here's what
you find out, real quick and Philippians chapter 2.
He's writing to the church. He tells them this, let this
mind verse 5 be in you which was also in Jesus Christ.
Hang on a second. Paul says imitate me as I
imitate Christ. So in other words we need to
copy cat certain things. The next thing is follow me,
keep the law of God. What's one of the Laws of God,
ye the mind of Christ. Do you have the mind of Christ?
Do you have an unselfish attitude about other people?
Are you willing to serve? Some people in Philip, I were
not. And so what he was having to do
is work on them, you know, what happens when we have family
members that are quite there, yet, we keep working with them.
We help. We do everything.
We can, you see our attitude is nocturnal?
Our mindset is doctrinal. Our belief is doctrinal.
Our faith is Doctrine. It's based on the word of God.
Number two, have the same love. In First, John 3, 14 to 18, it
helps us, understand that. Loving Brethren is not saying I
love you but it is shown in the lifestyle and the manner in
which we act and treat other people.
Number three, be of one Accord. He would basically have one
Concept, I'll give you a singular concept that we should
have. Whenever Jesus was asked in
Matthew chapter 22. He was asked, what is the
greatest commandment Thou? Shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart and with all thy soul.
And with all thy mind, this is the first and great commandment.
If you want a singular concept about what the church and about,
what our family should be, it is love God.
Heart soul mind. Whatever.
We're on the same page about loving God.
It's going to improve every relationship in our life.
I want you to see the logic of this.
Please, I beg of you don't leave here without listening to what
I'm saying here. Whenever you serve God and you
devote yourself to him and you surrender your will to his will.
What happens is? You are the one, I am the one
that gets the benefit out of that.
Other people get the benefit out of that.
You know what happens when other people get benefit out of your
life, you become a blessing. Blessing number five, he said in
lowliness of mind. Jesus had no sin and he said
this take my yoke upon you and learn from me for.
I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your
souls. You want to know why he said, I
am gentle and lowly in heart proud.
People are not people that are saved.
Arrogant people don't seek Jesus Christ, arrogant people don't
follow Jesus Christ, people that think they've got it all figured
out and that the world just doesn't understand and that the
world should revolve around them.
Those are not safe people. And those are people that will
never know. Peace.
Have you ever run into somebody that at school or work or
wherever it was that was so arrogant.
And they had proud looks that just came out of their body.
They couldn't help it. They were just absolutely
arrogant. By the way, God hates a proud
look. So it's want you to remember
that. He hates it.
Jesus asks people to follow Jesus asks people to surrender.
Jesus asks, people to start acting like he did In Ephesians
4 and 1. Here's what he said.
I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy
of the calling with which you were called with lowliness and
gentleness with long-suffering bearing with one another in
love. Endeavoring to keep the unity of
the spirit in the bond of peace. And here's the next one esteem
others better than yourself. There was a time in high school
where I had a false sense of humility.
If it came time for me to say, oh I'm sure you could shoot a
three-pointer better than me, I was lying and I didn't believe
that. I thought I could pretty much do
it better than you. There was a time when I played
golf that I got pretty good and I thought night very many people
that can hit one further than I can hit it.
Those days are over all of them. I think today with I think
today, pretty much cemented that in my mind.
But I'll tell you this. There are some of you here that
can do all those things better than me.
And that doesn't mean I'll have less value.
I can't catch a football as well as Tanner can't anymore.
It ain't happening. I can't get away from Taylor
Elliott. He made me eat the dirt today
and a Christian kind of way. I can't get away.
I can't get away from things that I'm not good at anymore.
Has nothing to do with my value. It has to do though with my
aspect and how I view other people.
And if I can look at other people and esteem them better
than myself, if you can learn to do that, if you can learn to be
happy for people that have success, if you can learn to be
happy for people that don't have what you have, you're going to
be in a very small minority. But here's the good part about
it, you're going to be right in the family of God and you're
going to be a wonderful member of your own family.
Hardy lawyer was annoyed by the humility of his neighbor.
Who was a farmer. He told him take up for
yourself, have some pride walk. Like you have some pride, nobody
pushes me around. The farmer replied.
You see that field of grain, only the empty heads stand up
tall, You think about that in our culture?
We have the motto. If you're not the lead dog, The
View never changes. Think about that, that's
basically our motto in our society.
A famous Orchestra conductor was asked, which instrument was the
most difficult to play. He responded second violin.
Very quickly. I'm going to give you just a few
things that you can take with you about this lesson that I
want to encourage you to consider the Church of Jesus
Christ about, and the changes that God wants to make and can
only make when you are involved. And a part of the Church of
Jesus Christ, the family of God, first of all, you need to have
somebody to serve Somebody to serve you say well I could go
and I could be good and I could be a philanthropist, that's
right. But I want to tell you something
when somebody names the stadium after you, and you get Glory
because of that, you've completely cheated yourself out
of the privilege of serving for no pay back at all.
You know what I call people like that good-for-nothing.
No, they're not good for nothing in the way that we say
good-for-nothing. Sometimes we say, oh, they're
good for nothing. And we mean, literally, they are
good for nothing. But I say that to say that there
are people that are good and they do nice things but they
destroy it by seeking Glory. I want to say this to everybody
in this building. You have a responsibility to
serve people. The majority of healthcare costs
are going to be spent on every agent person in the last year of
their life. The majority.
That means there's going to be a lot of sick people.
There's going to be a lot of hospital stays.
There's going to be a lot of nursing home visits.
The Bible says in James 1 verse 27, pure religion and undefiled
before God, and the father is this, to visit orphans and
widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted, from the
world. If I were to ask for a show of
hands and I'm not when was the last time you heard someone was
sick that you were not immediately related to and you
went to the hospital to see them and visit them and check on
them. When was the last time you knew
that someone was stuck and I do mean stuck in a nursing home.
And you went to see them. Here's what's going to happen to
you. You're going to walk into a
nursing home in nursing homes. Smell You better realize that
one day, you're going to be in that same situation in that same
spot. You're going to open the door
and that person is going to look at you.
And their face is going to light up.
And all you're tired days and I'm so busy.
And I got so much going on and I've got to go here and I've got
to do this. And I've got to do the other
all, that is going to go right away.
And you're going to get to hear about a little bit of their
doctor visit, and a little bit about Medicare.
And a little bit about the fact that Medicare pays for two
rubber tennis balls to be slit and put on the bottom of a
walker and they're really nice. I got some new ones.
One day that's going to be your conversation.
You're going to be talking about your roommate, that's not having
a very good day. And then you're going to ask a
question that's going to make you think.
Who's been to see you lately. Whoa, honey, you're the first
person that's been to see me this week.
And what you're going to do is you're going to leave, they're
not tired anymore and you're going to leave there.
Probably feeling a lot better because you see that old person
in that situation couldn't do one thing for you.
That is basic good, New Testament Christianity and
that's what church creates that's what the Lord's Church
creates. if you don't know how to go visit a hospital, if you
don't know how to go visit people that are sick.
If you don't know how to go to a nursing home, then you don't
know how to go to heaven. because pure religion, you see
makes a difference in your life and you go about and you do
things for people that can't reciprocate at all.
Those are the kind of people that church when we're plugged
into the Lord's Church, those are the kind of things that are
created. You train your kids to be that
way you train, everybody's kids to be that way you take people
with you. There's a congregation in
Missouri that about every first or second Monday of the month,
all the young men meet up at the building and they got a slew of
witness and they call ahead and they all have a plan and they
stay about 15 or 20 minutes at each, one of them and they all
go by and they take turns and they swap out and maybe it's a
light bulb and maybe it's bushes that need to be fixed or limbs
or moving it. A chair or whatever it is.
Those widows can't do one thing for the guys that are going to
do that. The greatest thing that's ever
been done is for the guys that go do that because if you allow
God, And if you plug into God long enough in his church, and
he begins to make you into that, kind of servant, you will never
ever ever know anything. But a life of joy, and the
reason why people don't have joy is because they have completely
destroyed, the two institutions that God made to recharge and
re-energize and to help us the home and the church.
If you're going to be a servant of Jesus Christ, you're going to
be a servant. He's church and you're going to
look at every old person and every young person as your own
family Colossians 4. And 12 says epaphras, who is one
of you? A bondservant of Christ greet,
you laboring always fervently for you in prayers.
If you don't think you can do anything for somebody else and
you don't have wheels and you don't need to drive and
Bakersfield traffic. You call every person in this
church has named every day and you see what kind of difference
is made. You see what kind of difference
is made in your life, you see where your mind drifts on a
daily basis and who it drifts, too?
Paul trained Timothy for 15 years.
Timothy was a man of God. Timothy was trained.
How to do the work after Paul was going to die.
We have burdens to share bear, ye one another's burdens and so
fulfill the law of Christ, Galatians 6 and 2 in the very
same chapter a few verses down. It says, sometimes you have to
bear your own burdens but sometimes I can help you with
yours. Sometimes you're going to have
to go through it and it's going to be you and God, all by
yourself and sometimes you're going to have to let people in.
And the reason why people are suffering in the reason why
people are sad and the reason why people are so lonely.
And the reason our suicide rate is what it is today is because
people have not availed themselves of the greatest
life-giving life-saving preserving institution that has
ever been created in the world, and they've not plugged into it,
the Church of Jesus Christ. They've never learned that their
life has purpose and meaning and value.
And that there are people that depend on you.
In 1st Thessalonians, 5 and verse 11, therefore comfort each
other and edify. One another just as you were
also doing Galatians 5:13 by love serve one.
Another, for all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in
this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Our culture says selfish, our culture says what about me?
Jesus keeps hammering hammering leading the church.
No, put the towel around your waist.
Don't pay attention to the conversation.
Ation about greatness and wash feet because that's where
greatness is in history. People died for Kings, our King
came to the Earth and died for us in history.
Kings are offered, servanthood kings are offered, great gifts,
kings are offered, all kinds of lavish treatments.
I'm king of kings came down here and wash people's feet. is that
if you want to be great, Be the servant of all.
That's what it'll mean to make you great.
He told Elders that they had to be clothed with humility.
He asked us to Humble ourselves as a little child.
And last of all, when you're plugged into the Church of Jesus
Christ, you're going to give yourself the opportunity to grow
to be like Jesus. I'm going to read in Philippians
to the last few verses of that. Are that main portion in chapter
2 verse 5? It says let this mind be in you.
What's which was also in Jesus Christ who being in the form of
God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God.
But made himself of no reputation taking the form of a
bondservant and coming in the likeness of men.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and
became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the
cross. Therefore God has also highly
exalted him and given him the name which is above every name
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in
heaven and of those on the earth and of those under the Earth and
that every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory
of God. The father, let me tell you away
tonight that you can convince God yourself and everybody else.
Jesus is Lord and King and savior of your life.
You ready for this? when you plug yourself in and
you're baptized into the body of Christ and you have a
recognition that what that means is You're now an important part
of a family. And you're going to serve that
family, and you're going to love that family and you're going to
take everybody in that family with you to heaven.
And all along the way God is going to change you and mold you
and alter you. And you're going to have speed
bumps in the way like Paul told the Galatians until Christ be
formed in you. That's what God's trying to do.
He's trying to form Jesus in you, if you'll let it, you come
through those doors and you get here and you have the
opportunity to be here as God's family.
And you meet around this table every Lord's day and every time
the doors are open and you seek to excel to the edifying of the
church. You do your very best to build
everybody up from the youngest to the oldest.
You come in the building and you make it your business not to get
your seat. But to serve everybody in every
other seat. I want to say this just for a
minute and my minutes are gone but I want to do it anyway.
There are people that we miss. And the reason we miss them was
because the kind of servants they work.
You don't miss people that are blood sucking leeches, you don't
miss people that are takers, you don't miss those people.
You don't, you don't miss them. You may be crotchety old
so-and-so mean as a snake, a taker.
No, the ones you missed are the ones that would come in and
speak to you and say hi to you. They're the guys and the girls
that got it. They got it.
You know what they got. They got they got it.
They knew how to serve I'm thinking in my mind right now
about widows at home that I was raised with In a congregation
people that were converted to Christ.
You know what would happen every Monday night?
We'd go to Irene Gideon's house, daddy would cut her decrepid?
Stroke victim husband's hair every single Monday night, And
that was a servant. He'll right there as a kid.
I got to see my parents serve, I'm privileged to have seen
that. But I'll tell you what Irene his
wife did for us. She organized The A-Team at 7:00
and she gave his Kool-Aid and candy and we didn't have a TV
and that didn't always give us any candy for sure.
She got it. There was a young couple at
church. That had a horrible, horrible
time, making ends meet this little Widow that didn't have
the money to give it away. When I saw her, as a little kid,
put money in their pocket, and Pat them on the back and give
him a big hug and say, I've been there before.
She got it. She got it.
The question is, do you get it? And you say, you know what,
Cullen up? I feel guilty, I don't go visit
anybody? I don't go see anybody hadn't
been in the hospital ever. In my life, never been to a
nursing home. How do I learn there are people
in this audience right now. If you'll come talk to them,
they'll train. You they'll show you.
They'll develop that in you. They'll help you.
Because you've never seen a father that didn't want his son
to be greater than he was. And you've never met a mother
that didn't want her daughter, be greater than she was, and
that's what we're in the business of do.
We want to help people become more and more and more like
Jesus everyday. In the Lord's church will you
will you come with us? That's my invitation.
I want you to come with us. Jesus said, my sheep hear my
voice. They follow me.
Will you follow him? We believe that we're following
Jesus. And we want you to follow him
with us. We thank you for listening to
our podcast, put on by the Church of Christ at 22:15 plans.
Road in Bakersfield, if you would like any additional
information, or you would like to receive a free Bible
correspondence, course by mail. Please email us at info at her
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Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. Please make plans to join us.
We would love for you to be our honored guest.