The People of The Spirit
Notes
Transcript
Matthew 16:18 (NIV)
“on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”
Responsive Reading; Eph. 4: 11-16.
Jesus Christ is the architect of our salvation. He is the builder of our souls.
Jesus Christ is the architect of our salvation. He is the builder of our souls.
Do not think of the church as here nor there. The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
Many believe the church is where they worship.
Most people see local the church as a human institution, made by men and women. Most of you would say, “I go to Morning Star Baptist Church on Blue hill ave,” instead of saying “Yes, I am a part of the church called, Morning Star, who meet on Blue Hill Ave.”
The church struggles with gravity; We are to seek things above, yet we are vulnerable to carnal activities. If we are not deliberate Local assemblies can be in competition. Pastors can covet people like trophies. Congregations can be torn. “Who has the better preacher, the better choir, the better programs…” The church is not a human institution; it is the purchased possession of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, upon this rock I will BUILD MY CHURCH. What did Jesus mean by “My church?”
What is the church?
What is the church?
For all my early Christian life and ministry, I gave the common answer, “The called out ones.” The Greek word for church is ekklesia. Kaleo means,”Called;” Ek, means out. Ekklesia. I since learned in Jesus’ day this word could be used for any group of people assembled for a specific reason.
Our baptist articles of faith say…
“The visible church of Christ is a congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the Gospel.”
Jesus spoke of a new Israel.
Jesus spoke of a new Israel.
The church Jesus presented was a reflection of the twelve Tribes of Israel. He called 12 disciples to reflect the 12 tribes of Israel.
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Matt. 19:28.
Abraham’s descendants were slaves before the exodus. When Moses assembled the 12 tribes at Sinai to receive God’s law, the children of Israel became a spiritual community. Moses declared,
The Lord gave me two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God. On them were all the commandments the Lord proclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly. Deut. 9:10.
Jesus confined his first followers to remain in Jerusalem. This means the church was very much Jewish.
On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
After Pentecost, The church continued to gather at the temple courts and in various homes in Jerusalem.
Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
As the church began to grow, It did not change from this first impression. Stephen, one of the seven deacons preached a message to explain how the church reflected Moses and the children of Israel.
He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to pass on to us.
The word Stephen used is ekklesia. Then something happened!
A god-fearing Roman named, Cornelius, obeyed the angel of the Lord and called Peter to his home. When Peter saw was moving among non-Jewish people, he declared, “Now I realize God is no respecter of persons.”
When Paul began preaching Christ, along with Barnabas, he continued to gather in the synagogues until the opposition rejected him. After this Paul preached to the gentiles. Paul addressed his Jewish persecutors.
Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “ ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” Acts 13:46-47
The first followers of Jesus were called Christians in Antioch. The early church did not have a name. It was called, THE WAY.
THE WAY
THE WAY
THE EARLY CHURCH WAS CALLED THE WAY.
The church was made up of a chosen people with one governing belief, JesusChrist. The church became a nation, a priesthood, a family, and a living organism with many members in many places.
It could not be defined by one practice, one ethnic, racial, or religious identity then or now. It abides in any location, attends to any need or conflict. It survives because Jesus Christ cannot be limited. It is constantly adapting. God’s grace grows out of persecution. Jesus’ love outlasts heresy. The gospel endures by hope. The Holy Spirit still draws the elect in spite of scandals, failures and abuses.
The Church was not and is not about a physical temple or specific location. The church became something radically different. Graham Twelftree wrote a book called, the people of the Spirit.
People became itself became the structure:
What they all have in common is The Spirit.
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;
God’s temple became God’s followers.
1 Cor. 6:19 “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;”
The people became the structure and God’s habitation.
1 Pet. 2:5 “you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
The church was not a structure made of cement or steel, but souls. It’s foundation the apostles and prophets.
Eph. 2:19-20 “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.”
The righteous are the pillars in his eternal temple.
Rev. 3:12 “The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.”
Jesus’Church is [we are] God’s household. A family with a bloodlines stronger than any human bloodline.
1 Tim. 3:15 “if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.”
Jesus’ Christ is [we are] a spiritual government with a hierarchy, led by anointed leaders.
Jas. 5:13-15 “Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.”
Jesus’ church is [we are] The church of God- God ordained, God protected, God designed. Jesus is addressed as God
Acts 20:28, “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.”
Jesus’ church is [we are] his body, he ascended but he now exists on earth through the people of the Spirit.
Eph. 5:23, “For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.”
Jesus’ church is [we are[ his bride. “husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her.” The apostle John said, “I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven and a bride adorned for her husband.”
Jesus’ church is [we are] made of new born individuals who succeeded Jesus, the first one born into eternity. Heb. 12:23, “to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,”
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, meaning God’s plan for salvation is summed up in Jesus Christ.
What they all have in common, no matter how strong or weak, Jesus walks in the midst of them.
Rev. 1:13 “and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.”
We are all called to unity: Jesus prayed we may be one.
John 17:21-23 “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
Mysteriously chosen
In light of all He knows
In spite of all you’ve done,
Because of who he is, God chose you to ascend the hill of the Lord. He laid his hand on you.
Left others, found you and ordered death to flee, and ordained your name be written in the lamb’s book of life.
The world stands by God’s mercy and the presence of the church. You are the salt…
Without the Holy Spirit, you only have a gathering of people with similar interests and a pseudo-religion; With the Spirit, the church is present.
Evil could be worse in the world, but for the church. The spirit withholds the abomination until the church is taken away…
We are the continuation of those who were first called on the name of Jesus. God in Christ calls from generation to generation, on land and sea, rich and poor, bound and free, make and female, living and sleeping until the trumpet blast.
No matter where they meet, in a home, a school, a storefront, a cathedral or an arena, whether they are black or white, red or brown… whether they have musicians or dancers or only a hymnbook; whether they follow a liturgy or worship as an underground community, as long as the Spirit of Christ is present, they are the church and the church is still growing because the Holy Spirit is still moving.
People who believe they have the right to adoption did they have any eternal inheritance, and they possess the power of the one who gave them life
God has a plan to add others. Finally to reach the entire world, Matt. 28: 19-20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.””