51. CovenantCommunityLivinga

Covenant Community Living Pt 1

Introduction: A few years ago, during the holiday break at Belhaven, Noah brought a South Korean student home to stay since he was unable to fly home for the holidays. ManYou speaks English very well for the most part but has difficulty understanding some of our idioms. It was an education observing him and hilarious watching Noah and his interactions. One Friday night they were playing Scrabble and I thought, ‘Really? Noah, is going to play scrabble with a guy who speaks English as a second language. Saturday morning Noah told me that ManYou won and I was surprised. He went on to say that ManYou planned his moves 3 or 4 steps ahead. He was intentional in his playing the game.

It is this text that reflects the same thought of intentional living in the covenant community of the church.

We live in a time where church membership and attendance were declining. With the lockdowns during Covid that has only accelerated. There is no conviction of the need to be in the local church. Why is it important. The importance is implied in the fact that most of the letters in the NT were written not to individuals but to local churches. It is explicitly stated as a command Heb 10:24-25  and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,  (25)  not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.

Such commands are reasonable in light of the description Paul gives of the local church.

Eph 4:15-16  but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ,  (16)  from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

Within the local body of Christ there is an organic union - the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

Remember that this entire letter is wrapped in the theme of suffering and persecution. While we are not undergoing persecution for our faith the same way these churches were, we certainly have suffering within this community of saints. What is the best way, the God ordained way of bearing up under such conditions? It is within the context of the local community of the saints which is called the church.

1Pe 4:7-11  But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.  (8)  And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "LOVE WILL COVER A MULTITUDE OF SINS."  (9)  Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.  (10)  As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.  (11)  If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

There is a general observation of this text. The focus is action among believers within the covenant community of the saints. What this means is that the current trend of Christian thinking that there is no need to be a part of a local church is simply just another of Satan’s lie to deceive and weaken individual believers and the church as a whole. For the local church is the visible expression as the body of Christ.

Act 20:28  Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood..

Paul made these remarks to the Ephesian elders. He could have made the same remarks the elders at the church in Corinth, or Philippi, or Colossae, or here at Hillcrest Baptist Church in Yazoo City, MS. And it is the local church that God has ordained as a means of adding to and building up His kingdom. For Paul says in Ephesians 4 that He gave gifts to the church, pastors, evangelists, etc for the equipping of the saints for the works of service. It is in the church that we are bound together by the blood of Christ as living stones for a spiritual temple to serve as priests serving God and proclaiming the excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. And so, we must also give this church, the attention and respect in all aspects of our service to and worship in this local expression of the body of Christ. We gather together not informally as we would a common fellowship, but we draw together at this time and in this place particularly to worship the Living God and the Lord Jesus Christ who has bought and purchased us with His own blood. So let us lay aside common thoughts and our common conversations and fix and focus our attentions on the things above. And let us be intentional in our being together for the purpose of stimulating one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our assembling together as is the habit of some encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

There are 2 Pts in this text.

The Motive – the end of all things is near.

The Actions. Four are listed here.

Intentional in Personal/Public prayer

Intentional in Fervent love for one another

Intentional in Hospitality to one another

Intentional in Serving one another.

Our Motive for Intentional Living in the church. V7. The end of all things is near.

Verse 7 begins with the word of contrast ‘but’. What is it contrasting? It is contrasting the mindset of the lost living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, and lawless idolatry. Living like there will always be a tomorrow. Peter reminds these churches of the reality of the times they live in.

The Greek word for END is Telos. It refers to a consummation, a goal that is accomplished, an end result achieved, completed, perfected. It does not just mean the end but the beginning of something new after. Here I believe Peter means it in the positive sense as opposed to the negative in the previous verses concerning the suffering and persecution by the wicked. What is this end? It is the consummation of our ultimate and final salvation. What do I mean by that? There is a threefold aspect of God’s salvation. We were saved from the dominion of sin, we are day by day being saved from the power of remaining sin, and finally and ultimately we will be saved from even the presence of sin. What a glorious thought! God created the heavens and the earth in 6 days. He spoke and it was created. But in this, His salvation of His people is the consummation of all His covenants and of His choosing us before the foundation of the world and the working out of His redemptive history, establishing kings and kingdoms and bringing them down, laying the foundation for just the right time that Christ would clothe Himself with humanity and dwell among us, that we would behold His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth. Christ having been crucified, dead, and buried to be resurrected according to the eternal decree of God and ascending into heaven sending us the Holy Spirit as a sign and seal of our inheritance and preserving us until that final day.

Imagine, if you will, suffering from an illness that wracked the body with pain day in and day out. Then one day you are sitting in the doctor’s office and the doctor proclaims that the day of tormenting pain that is endured day after day will very soon be gone. It’s not only that the pain will be gone but it is also the start of a new life.

Example of Bekah after her last chemo. A party was thrown because there was no more treatment, and she was in remission from her cancer. There were no more cancer cells in her blood. She could live without the fear of this cancer coming back. It took a while for that truth to sink for us but as the years passed, we worried less and less. When the end of all things comes there will be an immediate understanding on our part that it is a new beginning. What a day that will be.

Here is out reality, though we are free from sin’s dominion we still struggle with the power of remaining sin and the consequence of the fall in our bodies. We get tired, we ache, we get sick, and a host of other things that will one day be laid to rest. These tired bodies will be something altogether different.

The phrase ‘of all things’ indicates the broadness of the end. It is all things. There is nothing left behind, nothing preserved, there are no exceptions. All of creation is affected in this ‘end’. But it is affected in a positive way. Rom 8:19-22  For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.  (20)  For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope  (21)  that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  (22)  For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.

Creation is a violent place, difficult place. We are at times overwhelmed by it. We have all watched documentaries of a pride of lions or a pack of wolves taking down their prey. We have seen wildfires ravage forests, droughts that have dried up rivers, and starvation. But there will be a day when that is no longer the case. There will be a new heaven and a new earth.

A new creation free from the corruption of sin. It will not bear any marks of its former corruption, but all things are new. Isa 11:6-9 And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the kid, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them.  (7)  Also the cow and the bear will graze; Their young will lie down together; And the lion will eat straw like the ox.  (8)  And the nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den.  (9)  They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.

‘Is Near’ or ‘at hand’ speaks to immanency which speaks to an event that is going to happen very soon without a specific reference to time. It speaks to an event which is going to happen rather than immediate which speaks to an event happening right away. The end of all things is near is also a reference of the return of Christ. From the gospels through the New Testament the immanent return of Christ is taught. Jesus said, Repent for the kingdom of God is near, or at hand. Paul spoke of it to the Corinthians and the Thessalonians and Peter speaks of it here.

Dwight Edwards writes that "The first century church was gripped by the reality that Christ could invade their timetable at any second. No other generation has come close to having the same impact on their world… No wonder they were called, "These that have turned the world upside down" (Acts 17:6). May we each regain this purifying perspective of the first century church.

Alexander Maclaren described the perspective of the early church writing "The primitive Church thought more about the second coming of Jesus Christ than about death or heaven. They were not looking for a cleft in the ground called "the grave," but for a cleavage in the sky called "glory." They were not watching for the "undertaker" but for the "Uppertaker." So passionate about sharing the gospel of Christ and proclaiming salvation they lived intentionally in societies and cultures that were persecuted but these who were persecuted were so convinced of the truth of the gospel happily endured it for the sake of Christ.

1Th 1:2-8  We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers,  (3)  remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father,  (4)  knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.  (5)  For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.  (6)  And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit,  (7)  so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe.  (8)  For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything.

We must ask ourselves an important question. How are we living in light of this truth that the end of all things is near?

Mat 25:1-13  "Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom.  (2)  "And five of them were foolish, and five were prudent.  (3)  "For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,  (4)  but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.  (5)  "Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep.  (6)  "But at midnight there was a shout, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.'  (7)  "Then all those virgins rose, and trimmed their lamps.  (8)  "And the foolish said to the prudent, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'  (9)  "But the prudent answered, saying, 'No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.'  (10)  "And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut.  (11)  "And later the other virgins also came, saying, 'Lord, lord, open up for us.'  (12)  "But he answered and said, 'Truly I say to you, I do not know you.'  (13)  "Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.

Mat 16:1-3  Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.  (2)  He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red';  (3)  and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.' Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.

The end of all things is near. How we currently live our life is the measure of how much this is our conviction. Whenever we are having company over to stay or even just for dinner we prepare. And depending on the company and how they are staying it is not just the house we ready but also the yard as well. We dust, vacuum, make sure everything is clean and in order. We do this without fail. If we go through such preparations for human company. How do we prepare for the coming of the Lord?

When the return of Christ is spoken of in the Scripture there always follows a command to action. Doesn’t this run counter to our culture today? If the end was made known to the world work would stop, anarchy would erupt, but for us, we are to keep doing the things that God has commanded.

1Co 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

The context of this verse is where Paul is talking about the coming of Christ and the resurrection of believers. We are not called to idleness but to labor.

It is this that Peter calls us to. How we apply the reality we live in today is in the 4 actions he calls us to: Prayer, Love, Hospitality, and Service and all of these are within the context of the church. Peter uses ‘one another’ three different times. All pointing to the community of the saints. Over the next several weeks will be addressing each of these individually. But a good practical application is how are we living now? Is it intentionally, engaged in our walking with God and one another or are we letting our days stream by us while we are on the cruise control of life. Day after day rolls by until we wonder where the week, month, and year have gone. Let me encourage you to mediate on “the end of all things is near” and what it means for you and your loved ones. Love those who do not know Christ. Love them deeply and sacrificially because this apart from God saving their souls this will be the closest to heaven they will ever be.

But also, as a reminder to ourselves to remain steadfast in the faith. I will close with the following verse.

Luk 21:34-36  "Be on guard, that your hearts may not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day come on you suddenly like a trap;  (35)  for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth.  (36)  "But keep on the alert at all times, praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."

How do we cultivate the attitude that the end of all things is near? Employ the spiritual disciplines of Bible intake, memorization, and meditation. The NT is full of references concerning Christ’s return. But if you still have difficulty grasping that consider your own mortality. How would you live your last days upon the earth? It would be an immediate adjustment on priorities wouldn’t it. Would your priorities be the same as those that Peter has laid our for these churches in Pontus Galatia Cappadocia Bythina and Asia Minor? They should be the same. May the Lord work in our hearts to build a fresh determination to leave off the current attitude toward the church and embrace the community life of the saints in the local church which is the visible expression of the body of Christ.