The Church Rediscovering its purpose II

Review:

Matthew 24: 4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. 9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

The Church is called first of all to be a world changing people

• The Church The living body of Christ, not a government, structure, religion.
• Those that have separated themselves to follow and serve God in real life
• Rediscover? Have we lost sight or maybe not stayed up with the Holy Spirit?
• Purpose? Never Changes!

This week

The Church

• The Church The living body of Christ, not a government, structure, religion.
• Those that have separated themselves to follow and serve God in real life

The church has certain attributes or Characteristics, privileges, and promises pertaining to Christ’s kingdom belong, is a spiritual body consisting of all true believers,

• Characteristics (something that identifies the Church)
• Fruit of the spirit, changed life(new creation), Holy Spirit power, love for one another, grace, mercy, meet regularly (the assembly)
• Privileges (What we are allowed to do because we are the Church)
• Know God, live in his presence, be free from Sin, belong to the family of God, Have authority and power over the Devil, Faith (a gift), be led by the Spirit of God, Have the word of God, partakers of his provisions (Health and healing, peace of God,)
• Promises (What we can expect from God to fulfill because we are the Church)
• Eternal life, new body, heavenly home, everything new, rewards in Heaven, blessing for those that faithfully give, tithe, and sow.

Continue this week.

• Commands (things we must do) fulfill God’s laws
• Preach the Gospel and make disciples, Love on another, do not judge, forgive one another,

God’s true family

Mark 3: 33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. 34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Love fulfills the law

Romans 13: 8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Pleasing God and turn from evil

Galatians 1: 10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

2 Timothy 2: 19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

The people of Israel owned all the land, but they didn’t possess all of it; and therefore they couldn’t enjoy all of it.

• What we do not remove and what we allow into our lives will eventually stop us from fulfilling and receiving all that God has for us to receive and do.

Judges 2: 1 The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, 2 and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? 3 Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.” 4 When the angel of the Lord had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud, 5 and they called that place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.

Bochim —  weepers, a place where the angel of the Lord reproved the Israelites for entering into a league with the people of the land. This caused them bitterly to weep, and hence the name of the place

That’s not what God wants, he wants obedience!

Judges 2: 10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. 11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. 12 They forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the Lord to anger

What we mix with and do not remove we will eventually serve.

What stopped the worship of Baal? The captivity!

Why does God require obedience? Because it stops us from receiving what he has for us.

Matthew 3: 1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”

The danger: In this day of “pluralism,” when society contains people of opposing beliefs and lifestyles, it’s easy to get confused and start thinking that tolerance is the same as approval. It isn’t.

In a democracy, the law gives people the freedom to worship as they please; and I must exercise patience and tolerance with those who believe and practice things that I feel God has condemned in His Word.  But we do have the obligation before God to maintain a separate walk so we won’t become defiled by those who disagree with us (2 Cor. 6:14–7:1). We must seek by prayer, witness, and loving persuasion to win those to Christ who as yet haven’t trusted Him.

• The Jews eventually became so accustomed to the sinful ways of their pagan neighbors that those ways didn’t seem sinful any more. The Jews then became interested in how their neighbors worshiped, until finally Israel started to live like their enemies and imitate their ways.

 2 Corinthians 6: 14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” 17 “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” 18 “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

Separation is not elitism. It is not as much positional as it is the contrast of behavior,  good works, obedience to God, faith, Love, Hope, Joy….

For believers today,

• The first step away from the Lord is “friendship with the world” (James 4:4),
• Which then leads to our being spotted by the world (1:27).
• The next step is to “love the world” (1 John 2:15) and
• Gradually become “conformed to this world” (Rom. 12:2).
• This can lead to being “condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:32)

Prayer

Lord help us to take our place in the world today. We are different; we should be separate in our hearts and have a sinless lifestyle. You are a Holy God and you want us to be that way.

Give us your Holy Spirit and guide our daily choices and steps. Remind us of who we are because you have saved us and brought us into your family. Remind us of our true purpose here on this earth till you return.