The Church Body

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. Now, I'd like to read this morning in Matthew chapter 16, and I'd like to start reading at verse 13 and chapter 16 of Matthew, and just read until about verse 20 there. [00:00:34] When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist, some say Elias, and others say Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. [00:01:12] And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. Now I imagine you probably know what I'm driving at here in this scripture, but let's just take a look at some of this at least. [00:01:50] Theologians have argued about this scripture, have had different views about this very scripture here. And if you were steeped in Catholic tradition, you would say it's simple. Jesus was instituting, he was setting up Peter to be the first pope of the Catholic Church. I used to work with a Catholic, and he was not just your ordinary Catholic, he was strong in his faith, and he knew what he stood for, at least he thought he did. [00:02:30] And this is what he said, this is the scripture that he pointed to. To him it seemed like Jesus was transferring his power to Peter, and they say that the Pope, there's a direct lineage there. Well, maybe I shouldn't even talk about that because that's not my subject this morning, but that was the first that I had heard of where the Pope came from and how they explained where the Pope came from. But anyway, I would say, and there are differing views on this, but at least he's acknowledging Peter, but I think the rock here he's talking about is himself. [00:03:10] In my view, at least, I would believe that Jesus is talking about himself and his work of salvation by death on the cross. Because Peter himself says later in 1 Peter 2.6 that he is the chief cornerstone, he is the elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of the church. And he instituted the church. The church of Jesus Christ is the stone, it's the foundation that all the rest is anchored on. [00:03:48] Jesus Christ is the rock, he's the stone. Especially I would like to notice verse 18 here and at least three things that I notice in about one line here. He says, I will build my church, my church. Now, it's not my church. It's not. I guess I may say this. It's not Glenn Yoder's church or Wendell or Daniel. It's the church of Jesus Christ. And let's remember that we identify people with the church. And I don't know that that's wrong, but it's the church of Jesus Christ. [00:04:27] Jesus wanted or wants a living, breathing organism, organization that can be seen by men. A visible thing that does his work here. And as I was studying this, there is no way that I can this morning cover every aspect of the church and what the church does, what the church has even done for me in many different ways. [00:05:03] The second thing I would like to notice is, well, he said, it's my church and he will build it. Well, the second thing is, and I just want to leave this as a question for the title. What is the Church of Jesus Christ? What do we think of when we think of the Church of Jesus Christ? Or what do we even think about when we think of a church? Yes, we attend church. But is it just something that, well, my parents always went to church. [00:05:36] It feels kind of normal to go to church. Or how do we view this? Did we come this morning to meet Jesus in the Church of Jesus Christ? I hope we did. I hope all of us wanted to drink from that living fountain, that well. And of course, I don't know if I need to say this, I think we all recognize that we are Rosewood Fellowship, but we are part of a universal church, and that we're not the only people that are saved. [00:06:11] There's people that are upholding the principles of God, or the principles that Jesus instituted anyway, across the face of the earth. And there's many, many more people that have a hunger and thirst for God, and the need is not actually being met. May I say that this morning? We can never get, I don't think we should ever get involved or should ever get the feeling that we're the only church and whoever doesn't belong to this church is out, doesn't have a chance. [00:06:46] Let's be careful. Let's make sure that we don't do that. I wonder sometimes if we get so involved in our social activities that surround the church, The organization of the church that maybe just feels like another social event where I go and I see my friends and now we've gone to church. We've done it. That's not wrong to have brothers and sisters that are precious. It's what God wanted for us to have. [00:07:22] And I don't want to discourage you in that, but let's be careful. Jesus Christ is the head of this church. Let's make sure that we have our lives in order, in line with Jesus Christ. If we are interested in maintaining the integrity of the church that he instituted, it is of utmost importance that we have sound doctrinal teaching. We have a soundness about it. And it's not what I think, it's what Jesus says is true. [00:07:56] When we lose sight of that as a group, when we get our eyes off Jesus and off the principles that he set forth in his word, we open the door for all kinds of strange doctrine. And I don't think I, I'm not speaking to a group this morning that is in the dark about this. We all know that we just have to backslide a little bit until we're not there anymore. [00:08:29] It doesn't take much to head down a slippery slope. And finally, we're still attending church. We still come to the service. But are we really attending the church of Jesus Christ is the question that I have. I don't know if I can express myself and how serious I think that is. We need to be where Jesus wants us. We need to keep his church pure with our teaching, our doctrine, our way of life. [00:09:04] We could make all kinds of comparisons this morning to the early church And I'm not prepared to do this, but I think it would be interesting if we would do that. And we'll just think with me for a minute about the church in Switzerland, say in 1526. And I don't know that's even I think in the 1520s, the Swiss, the Anabaptists started, I think, in about in the 1520s sometime. [00:09:36] I, maybe this is just my imagination, but how would we feel this morning? How, what is our outlook? How is our outlook different than these people? The outlook that they had and what would these and I'm not saying that we have to go back to there. We would this morning, if we were the Swiss Anabaptists, we would be across the road in the woods, hidden from view. And we would not drive all in a row in the woods. We would probably sneak out a couple at a time. And maybe Wednesday evening there were 15 of us and maybe there would only be about 12. And there would be no cell phone to call and say, you know, where are you at? But we would have a good idea that some people are probably in prison because of their faith. [00:10:28] How would that change? How would that affect me this morning? If there would be about, well, we have some people missing this morning. And I would know that these people are suffering because of their faith. Well, and I wondered, and this is just, it doesn't matter, but I wondered what these people would do if they would wander in the parking lot here and see this and how they would feel. So what would be their take on the situation? Well, they're not God. And I guess what I want to say here is it has been said that the church that forgets its past has no future. And that's true. We need to remember. I suppose we can learn from the past. [00:11:11] But what I want to say this morning is we dare not lose the principles that our forefathers died for. We dare not, we cannot go back in time, we cannot live like they lived. But we have to, if we are going to see God, we have to maintain the principles that they stood for. The third thing I would like to notice about this. He says, Jesus says here that the church will prevail. [00:11:47] The church will prevail. He leaves no doubt in anybody's mind. It's just as simple as that. The church will prevail. And I don't know. I look for a scripture. I'm sure there is scripture and I just couldn't come up with it. But there will be, when Jesus returns, there will be a church that he will take home with him. Let's make sure that we're part of that church. Let's be waiting on him to come back. He says the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Maybe in our language we would say the forces of evil will not be successful in stamping out the church, his church. [00:12:26] And I don't know if we know what the gates, what he's saying by the gates. We almost have to study the Jewish culture to understand what he's saying about the gate. But the gate was where the gathering place was for the Jews. And that's where the activity was. That's where they went to sell things and visit. And by his saying, in the gates, there will be people in the community, maybe even in our social circles that will stand against the church of Jesus Christ. [00:13:01] But he says the church will prevail. It will prevail. And I think we can take comfort. We can take hope in that. We know if we study history that Satan and his forces have many, many times tried to destroy the church of Jesus Christ through persecution, terrible persecution. You know what? He's even tried to destroy the church through prosperity. And I think that's probably almost more serious than persecution. [00:13:32] is such a sly, such a sly force that just comes in the back door and just gets us where we, we don't, we're not, we're not watching. What about internal struggles of the church where people just cannot walk together anymore? There he is, Satan trying to destroy. But I think that God has made adequate provision for his people to withstand the onslaught of Satan. [00:14:04] I want you to remember that if you're discouraged about coming to church, if there's things in God has made provision for us to to find rest and comfort among his people. So with that, how should the Church of Jesus Christ behave? And this is a question that has been asked many, many times over and over again across the ages. What does the church look like? What does Jesus want his church to look like? [00:14:38] And what is our, the way we live many times is shaped by the way we have been taught, the way we have been trained to think. And let's make sure that the way we have been trained to think In the way that we behave ourselves in church and the way that we feel that the church should be built lines up with the word of God. I think we need to be very, very careful. It seems like today the question is in belonging to the church. And this is just an overview. [00:15:09] The more I studied this subject about the church, there's so many different areas that the church works and does the work of God. My mind can't comprehend what Jesus wants to do with his people. It seems like the question today many, many times is, what can I do? How can I live and still enjoy some of my freedom and yet belong to this church? [00:15:45] I want to belong. I'd like to belong. Surely I can keep a little bit of an individualistic attitude, maybe a little bit of pride even. Seems like it would be kind of nice if we could still just kind of do what we wanted to and yet belong to an organization that's upstanding. I think we know the answer to these things. I think we have been taught well. [00:16:16] Well, it's a wrong idea. Really it is. It's a wrong idea. It's a wrong concept of what Jesus wants us to be thinking. And, you know, I think really many churches have fallen apart because of that very attitude. And I don't think that I have to look any further than right here. It begins right here in my own heart. But let's be very careful. It's the wrong idea. I recognize that if people are not finding a blessing in the church, [00:16:54] a lot of times they're not putting in a whole lot of effort in the church either. We have to put in some effort. We have to at least be there when there's a service. And I think that's very important. If we teach only a half-hearted commitment to the church, Then I think that probably we're misleading people if we think that we can just kind of coast along if we teach that. And I don't think that God wanted that for his people. [00:17:24] I think really what Jesus wanted for his church is that people would be drawn together in love and would cherish each other and work with each other. If we want to know what God's will is, I think we need to do what the Bereans did in Acts 17. They searched the scriptures daily. It's not just up, well, we have a huge responsibility as a ministry. But I encourage all of you, pick up the Bible, read, see what God is trying to say to us. [00:18:00] It has to be that way. May I say, if you depend on the ministry, you probably, you may be disappointed. I'm not trying to excuse us ministers or myself. Now, what are some comparisons that have been made? What are some characteristics of the Church of Jesus Christ? And I would like to read some more, maybe in 1 Corinthians 12. This is a scripture that is used a lot and I'm just going to read through this, maybe make some comments afterward. [00:18:37] 1 Corinthians 12 started, I'm going to break in at verse 12. This is the comparison that Paul is making about the body. I'm going to read to the end of the chapter. For as the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one spirit. [00:19:08] For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot say, because I am not the hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, because I am not the eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members, every one of them, in the body, as it hath pleased him. [00:19:40] And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of fear, nor again the head to the foot, I have no need of you. Nay, much more, those members of the body which seem to be more feeble are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor, and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. [00:20:15] For our comely parts have no need, but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked. that there should be no chism in the body but that the members should have the same care one for another and whether one member suffer all the members suffer with it or one member be honored all the members rejoice with it now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular and God hath set some in the church first apostles secondarily prophets thirdly teachers after that miracles then gifts of healings [00:20:51] helps, governments, diversities of tongues, are all apostles, are all prophets, are all teachers, are all workers of miracles, have all the gifts of healing, do all speak with tongues, do all interpret, but covet earnestly the best gifts, and yet show I unto you a more excellent way. There's no way that I could stop and explain everything or go into detail about everything in this portion of Scripture, [00:21:22] but our body is a powerful comparison to the way that the church should work together. And our body is so complex that I won't even attempt to explain it. I'm not a medical doctor, but I do have some understanding of the way the body works. And I think all of us do. We're made up of many different parts. I hate to even say what we're made up of because I'm afraid I'll say it wrong. [00:21:55] But we have cells. We're made up of cells. And then we have organs. We have the liver. We have the heart. We have the lungs. We have kidneys. We have many, many that I'm not even aware of, probably. And then we have whole systems. We have a respiratory system, we have a circulatory system, we have muscular and nervous systems. A whole system where the organs are linked together and they're helping each other. I'm not even saying all the systems, I'm sure. [00:22:29] But when everything is working just right, it works well. It's the way it's supposed to. What would happen if the heart and the lung would start fussing with each other and say, well, hey, you know, I don't know if I need you or not. You're not really, well, I could probably do a better job. Well, that's kind of irrelative this morning. But what I'm trying to say is the body is a comparison to the way that the church should be working. [00:23:03] We may even be able to do without a properly functioning organ for a while. But eventually the body, and I know that you can take one kidney out and still continue, not without pain, but you can do that. But there are certain parts of your body that you cannot do without. Thank you for watching. [00:23:51] I would like to say this this morning, when we are doing our part in the church of Jesus Christ, we are not just in it to see what I can get out of it, what pleases me. Jesus intended us to be a part working for the whole, the good of the whole thing. When we decide that, well, I guess I'm not needed or we'll just stand back a little bit. [00:24:24] We're not working for the good of the whole body. What happens when a person is hurting or a family is going through some difficult times? Or maybe there's a person that's backsliding. You know, I cut myself and instantly I don't see it, but there's things in my body that are there to try to help that thing, to heal it again, to bring restoration and meet the need, whatever the need is. [00:24:59] And I think we should do the same thing. In fact, we need to be conscious of each other's difficulties. We need to be there. Sometimes we need to just listen to people. People just want someone to listen to them. Let's make sure that we're there to listen, to help along. It doesn't matter if there's ten people in the church or a hundred people. We have needs. I have needs. I have been blessed by people coming alongside and teaching. I think if we're, what I want to say here is if we are committed to the church, we will be careful. [00:25:39] We will live our lives in such a way that we won't hinder any part of the body. At least there can be honest mistakes made. People have had good intentions and something happened that it went bad. But let's make a conscious effort to help the whole and not hinder. There's just no room for an individualistic spirit in the church of Jesus Christ. I know that we're all individuals. [00:26:12] We all have our different things that we're good at and gifts, and I don't want to squelch that, but we should have a oneness of spirit that makes that thing blend and come together for the edification of the whole. So, and again, one of the tactics of Satan in destroying the church is when we start thinking as individuals, and I don't know, maybe I'm stepping out too far this morning, but if we observe the Christian landscape and look at churches around us, maybe in the Protestants, Protestant faith or just wherever, [00:27:00] I've noticed this, that the church has groups within the church. And I want to be very careful. We have, we have, well, let's say there's youth groups, there's married people that have groups, there are, well, there's church league basketball, there's the basketball, and finally the church is decimated or brought down to just an event, a club. [00:27:31] We can't do that. We can't do that. I don't think Jesus wanted us to do that. When we do that, we set up barriers and it's hard to reach people. I know. I shouldn't say it's a lot easier. I value the advice of each one of you. I value the input of older men that have gone the way. But sometimes it's easier for me to relate to people that are about my age and have kind of the same interests that I have. [00:28:05] And I don't think it's wrong to relate to those people. And yet we have in in every church setting, there's people we have. We have age difference. We have children. We have youth. We have people my age and younger and all ages in between. And we have people that are spiritually mature and we have people that are just beginning the walk. And we need to somehow relate as a group. [00:28:37] And I think we need to be very careful that we don't divide. And I read an article and I don't have this in my notes. It doesn't matter, I guess, but it just struck me. There was a youth, a young man, 21 years old, was going around giving some lectures about something and he was in youth groups. He was talking to youth and he finally got to the, he finally concluded that we are a youth group, but we are the church. [00:29:12] We're not just a youth group. We are the church. We're part of the church. And I would encourage all of us, if we are part of a group, make sure that we don't exclude anybody from our circle. Let's make sure that we reach around. You know, we miss a blessing. It's not only, if I just relate to the people that I guess I feel comfortable with, I'm missing a blessing. And if I don't relate, if probably some other people are missing a blessing too, maybe there's somebody that needs me to listen to them. I don't know. But let's be very careful. God wants us to be serving the whole group, not just a little group. [00:29:59] There's another characteristic that I think of and these are just random thoughts, not something, not a, well I'll just say it. I think the church of Jesus Christ should be distinctly different, distinctly different. When I say that, we should be visible, it should be evident that we have a changed life. We are not the same as we were if we want to be a part of that church or group [00:30:31] I think I'll turn to 1 Peter chapter 2 and I'm going to read a little bit here You may follow if you desire to do that This is not, I recognize that this is not something new But I think we need to be conscious of where we're going and what we're doing as far as a church And I want to say this morning that I'm not speaking to you about this subject because I feel that you have or somebody has failed me in this church. Quite the contrary. I feel blessed to be a part of this church. [00:31:05] Well, let's read here. First Peter 2, 9, verse, well, verses 9 to 15. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light which in times time past were not a people but are now the people of God which have had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy dearly beloved I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul [00:31:39] Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may be made by your good works, which they shall behold glorify God in the day of visitation. Submit yourself to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king as supreme or unto governors as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God that with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. [00:32:16] I didn't need again to read that much to make my point, but I think Peter is simply saying that we need to be distinctly different. And I believe the Greek word for church is, I think, a compound word. I don't know if I can say it. I think it's ekklesia or something like that. What it means is we are a call-out people, and I think that's what we should be, a call-out people, distinctly different. [00:32:50] Now, how are we different? I think this thing comes back to the two-kingdom concept. We cannot serve two masters. We're either in this kingdom or the one over here. and when we become part of a holy nation of the church of Jesus Christ we might appear a little peculiar to the world around us and I'm not saying that we have to just go out and try to be peculiar but I don't think that the world understands what goes on in here [00:33:24] but it can be a powerful witness to the world, to our neighbors, to those around us And then I have just some random thoughts on how we should be different. And I'm not prepared to share on all of these points. The first one, I think, and probably the most noticeable when I walk out the door or go to work or to ship Shawana is nonconformity in our dress. We have. It's just visual. It's there. We have chosen to follow. I hope it's not just because the church says that I should dress this way. I hope it is because I have a deep conviction that I should dress the way I do. [00:34:09] Well, much could be said about that. I'm not prepared to share that. How we interact with people is the second one that I thought of. What's the world's way of doing things? And I hope it's not our way of doing things. But when somebody does something to me, something wants to rise up and level the playing field and get even. But you know what? God's people don't respond like that. The way we interact with our fellow man, you know, we could say, [00:34:42] Well, we can point to this, at least loving our enemies and doing good to them that hate us and despitefully use us. And that's true. Scripture teaches us about that. I think that's true. That's very important. We cannot get around that. Jesus, I think, himself said that. How about the way we respond under pressure? We're under pressure and we're not even we're not even maybe the person that's observing. We're not even speaking to him, but they observe how we respond. [00:35:13] We should be distinctly different. We should not respond the way the world does. In fact, I think that it's a message in itself, the way we respond under pressure. What about being ambassadors for the kingdom of God? When we're different, when we're called out, it's no longer about the money I can chase after or all the things that I've got going on. [00:35:44] I'm an ambassador for a kingdom that's not seen with eyes. And I think it's another area that we're different. We should be different. While the world sits down and talks about the latest football game or baseball game, we should be talking about what Christ has done for us. We should be sharing. The fourth thing I thought of was we should be a group of people that has peace among themselves. [00:36:18] You know, that speaks volumes to the world. The world today is full of turmoil, and I'm afraid it sometimes comes way too close to us. When the world sees a church that's full of turmoil, where people just can't stand each other, can't get along with each other, it's just more of the same to them. You're no different than any of us are. If we are a call-out people, we are careful, very careful. We're peacemakers. [00:36:50] We're careful. The fifth one and the last one, maybe it's the most important one, maybe it should have been said the first in the other order. We should be a loving people. We should love each other. What do we do when we love each other? Paul says in Ephesians 4 in verse 15 and 16, he says this, and I'm just breaking in in this chapter, but he says, But speaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things which is the head, even Christ, for whom the body, the whole body, fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. [00:37:43] Speaking the truth in love. You know what? The truth hurts sometimes. It does. When we speak the truth in love, we're building the church of Jesus Christ. You know, when we say the truth in an unkind way, I don't know. I think there's another word for that. I think we can call that slandering too. I think we need to be very, very careful how we speak about each other. [00:38:18] How we show love to each other, it speaks volumes to the world, to the community around us. And I think it's one of, maybe it's not the most important, I think it is though. It's very important that we're careful how we speak the truth. You know, sometimes I'm tempted to say something about somebody and it's the truth. It's the truth. But how I present it makes a big difference. [00:38:51] It makes a big difference. Love is the oil that keeps the church running smoothly. Let's be very careful. When the world observes the loving people, they recognize that there's something completely different than what they're used to. There's no getting even. There's no... It's just different. And they know if it's a genuine love or if it's just, yeah, well, yeah, we put up with each other. [00:39:23] They know. I think people can almost instantly recognize if we are genuine or if we're just, we're supposed to do that. They know that. And I don't know of anything that draws people more than when there's a group of people that have a love that binds them together. I think that's very important. It's not something that we do because, yes, it feels good. [00:39:55] But I think, may I say this morning, at least our first nature is not to be loving people. It's something that takes effort. And sometimes I need to say, I'm sorry, I just didn't say that quite right. We need to work on it. In closing, or as a closing statement, I'd like to just say this. It does matter what we do today. It does matter. How we build the church. If the Lord should tarry for a while yet, [00:40:29] So, we will have an impact not only on today and how we respond, but on the future. Our children need to know what the church should look like. And what's your point of reference in your heart when you think about something? What you've been taught is what you, that's my point of reference many times anyway. Let's be very careful. Let's ask ourselves, are we a builder? Are we part of the building crew? Or part of the wrecking crew?