Treasuring Christ Together

At FBCC, we exist to spread the supremacy of God by treasuring Christ together and building laborers in the local church

The 1998 movie What Dreams May Come portrays heaven as a beautiful but lonely place for Chris Nielsen (played by Robin Williams) because, although his children were there, his wife wasn’t. Remarkably, someone else is entirely absent from the movie’s depiction of heaven: God.

The 1998 movie What Dreams May Come portrays heaven as a beautiful but lonely place for Chris Nielsen (played by Robin Williams) because, although his children were there, his wife wasn’t. Remarkably, someone else is entirely absent from the movie’s depiction of heaven: God.

That movie’s viewpoint mirrors numerous contemporary approaches to heaven which either leave God out or put him in a secondary role.

“Heaven without God would be like a honeymoon without a groom or a palace without a king.”

God is Glorified by the way we experience Him and not simply by the way we think about Him.

God is Glorified by the way we experience Him and not simply by the way we think about Him.

The devil thinks more true thoughts about god everyday than any saint will in a life time. Satans problem isn’t theology but desires.

The 1998 movie What Dreams May Come portrays heaven as a beautiful but lonely place for Chris Nielsen (played by Robin Williams) because, although his children were there, his wife wasn’t. Remarkably, someone else is entirely absent from the movie’s depiction of heaven: God.

Deuteronomy 28:47–48 ESV

Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you.

Deut 28:47-48

God threatens terrible things if we will not find our delight in Him and treasure Him.

So, it is not just that we dutifully follow Christ because that is what we are suppose to do but rather God has a higher bar for HIs children. We are to treasure Christ. Find our joy in God. To be Happy in God.

“Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.” —Saint Augustine

The 1998 movie What Dreams May Come portrays heaven as a beautiful but lonely place for Chris Nielsen (played by Robin Williams) because, although his children were there, his wife wasn’t. Remarkably, someone else is entirely absent from the movie’s depiction of heaven: God.

Samuel Rutherford said, “O my Lord Jesus Christ, if I could be in heaven without thee, it would be a hell; and if I could be in hell, and have thee still, it would be a heaven to me, for thou art all the heaven I want.” To be with God — to know him, to see him — is the central, irreducible draw of heaven.

That movie’s viewpoint mirrors numerous contemporary approaches to heaven which either leave God out or put him in a secondary role.

“Heaven without God would be like a honeymoon without a groom or a palace without a king.”

This is a portrayal of a heaven that isn’t about God and our relationship with him, but only about human beings and our relationships with each other. A heaven where humanity is the cosmic center, and God plays a supporting role. The Bible knows nothing of this pseudo-heaven.

The best part of heaven on the new earth will be enjoying God’s presence. He’ll actually dwell among us (). Just as the Holy of Holies contained the dazzling presence of God in ancient Israel, so will the New Jerusalem contain his presence. The new earth’s greatest miracle will be our continual, unimpeded access to the God of everlasting splendor and perpetual delight.

What is the essence of eternal life? “That they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (). The best part of heaven will be knowing and enjoying God.

Article by Randy Alcorn

Director, Eternal Perspective Ministries. DG 4/21/18

“The redeemed will indeed enjoy other things . . . but that which they shall enjoy in the angels, or each other, or in anything else whatsoever, that will yield them delight and happiness, will be what will be seen of God in them.”Jonathan Edwards

We may imagine we want a thousand different things, but God is the one we really long for. “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (). God’s presence brings satisfaction; his absence brings thirst and longing. Randy Alcorn same article from DG

Why Jesus is the Best Treasure You Have

Heather Holleman

1. Why Treasure Christ? 1 Pet 2:4-5

1.1. Why should we treasure Christ?

1.2. Are we treasuing Christ?

2. How do we Treasure Christ ? 1 Pet 2:2-3

2. How do we Treasure Christ ?

Our Desires and not just our decisions matter.

However, C.S. Lewis

2. Together:

3. How doe we Treasure Christ Together? 1 Pet 2:5-12

2.1. Holy Temple- Written to the church and not individuals. 1 cor 3:16 God dwells in us

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Why Should we Treasure Christ?

The phrase “through Jesus Christ” carries more meaning than meets the eye. Paul said in , “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” What you see with the eyes of the heart when you become a Christian—when you are born again and have a new nature—is “the glory in the face of Jesus Christ.” Christ “is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (). Two verses earlier () “the glory of God in the face of Christ” is called “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” The place we see the glory of God most clearly is in the glory of Jesus Christ who is his image, his radiance, his exact nature. And the place we see the glory of Christ most clearly is in the terrible and glorious events of the gospel—the death and resurrection of Christ, the pinnacle of his strength and wisdom and obedience and love.

Underlying much of modern evangelism is the heretical idea that anyone can and will respond to the gospel if it is presented in an ingenious enough way.

That view sees unbelievers as consumers, for whom the gospel must be cleverly packaged in order to make the sale. Roy Clements writes perceptively of this trend:

b. Look with me at verse 4: “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious.” Note carefully the word “precious.” Then look at verse 6, “For it stands in Scripture: ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’” Again Peter gets our attention with the word “precious.” Very simply and very amazingly think of the implications that God almighty with infinite knowledge and infinite wisdom and infinitely perfect capacities to see and savor what is infinitely valuable and beautiful—this God values Jesus Christ as precious. This is simply another way of saying he treasures Christ. Treasuring means feeling the preciousness of what you value or what you prize.

A preacher( Don’t think “preacher as me or what I do but think of the preacher as any christian sharing the gospel with someone who is not a christian) … is a herald, and a herald is precisely a one-way communicator; he does not dialogue, he announces a message he has received. But if our communication experts are correct, announcements do not change anybody. Where is the flaw in their reasoning?… It lies in the theology. For people who argue like this are assuming that Christian preaching is analogous to a marketing exercise. You have your product: the gospel. You have your consumers: the congregation. And the preacher is the salesman. It is his job to overcome consumer resistance and persuade people to buy.

According to Paul, there is one very simple but overwhelming reason why that analogy is not a good one. The preacher does not overcome consumer resistance. He cannot. Consumer resistance is far too large for any preacher to overcome. All the preacher does, Paul says, is to expose that resistance in its formidable impenetrability. If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded their minds and “they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.” … The preacher does not save anybody. He is an instrument whereby people who are being saved become aware of the fact. Evangelism has to be proclamation because preaching is a sacrament of the divine sovereignty. (The Strength of Weakness [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995], 75–76)

MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2003). 2 Corinthians (pp. 130–131). Chicago: Moody Publishers.

So “Through Jesus Christ” We begin to see spiritually through the saving work of Jesus Christ.

John 14:6 ESV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Illustrate: Right after my own conversion, rebirth I was driving down the road with my older brotehr listning to the radio and a song came on that i had heard my whole life and loved. As it played we both sang along and drove happily down the road. As I continued to sing all the sudden it was dawning on me that the words we were singing were really dark and outside the boundary of

Philippians 4:8 ESV

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

I began to see with spiritual eyes for the first time. There is more going on here than just music. Why do they have to make that their lyrics.

Salvation is not possible without the sacrifice of Jesus! Seeing with spiritual eyes is imposisble without salvation. Being Born again.

Salvation is not possible without the Work of the Father drawing

John 6:44 ESV

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

b. God Treasures/ Values Christ above all things. Look with me at verse 4: “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious.” Note carefully the word “precious.” Then look at verse 6, “For it stands in Scripture: ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’” Again Peter gets our attention with the word “precious.” Very simply and very amazingly think of the implications that God almighty with infinite knowledge and infinite wisdom and infinitely perfect capacities to see and savor what is infinitely valuable and beautiful—this God values Jesus Christ as precious. This is simply another way of saying he treasures Christ. Treasuring means feeling the preciousness of what you value or what you prize.

So my argument is very simple: if God, who sees all things as they truly are and feels all things as they truly are, treasures Christ, so should we. In fact it is clear that God treasures Christ above all other things. There is nothing more valuable in the universe than Christ, because he is God and he is the manifestation of God precisely so that we might see him and savor him—that is, treasure him. God embraces Christ as infinitely precious. So should we. Know and feel Christ as precious—that is, treasure him. Treasure him! Treasuring Christ Together is first and last an act of the heart—seeing and prizing Christ as our greatest treasure.

c. Treasuring Christ is more than simply knowing He is Precious but it is also feeling He is Precious.

Psalm 37:4 ESV

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

2. How do we Treasure Christ

Treasuring Christ is more than simply knowing He is Precious but it is also feeling He is Precious.

Look at verses 2-3. Long for the pure milk of God’s word. Taste and see that he is good. These are experiential words involving affections and senses.

Are senses can evoke strong emotions. When I was in college we would go to a Christmas conference every year and Gatlinburg Tenn. When we would be released out of the meetings we would go to the shops area and inevitably I would smell the funnel cakes being made. That smell of fried dough mixed with the sweet smell of powdered sugar would waffle under my nose. If I smell a funnel cake today it reminds me of those years in college and how sweet the time with the Lord was in my earliest days as a new Christian. I can in a moment feel those warm close to God emotions again simply my smelling a funnel cake. Treasuring is more than knowing it is feeling. It is delighting

Psalm 37:4 ESV

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Our call is more than simply duty. We are commanded to delight in God. This involves are affections.

The argument should be made here.

Can one be a Christian and not delight in Christ ? Not treasure Christ and see Him as Precious?

Samuel Rutherford ) was a Scottish Presbyterian pastor, theologian and author, and one of the Scottish Commissioners to the Westminster Assembly.)

“O my Lord Jesus Christ, if I could be in heaven without thee, it would be a hell; and if I could be in hell, and have thee still, it would be a heaven to me, for thou art all the heaven I want.” To be with God — to know him, to see him — is the central, irreducible draw of heaven.(Rev Prof Samuel Rutherford c. 1600 – 29 March 1661

Could someone really have a relationship with the greatest being in all the universe and not value them more than all other things.

3 Types of people in 1 Corinthians

1. 1 cor 2.6 The Spiritual person is the mature person.

2. Christians who are fleshly or carnal.

3. The natural man

And so the first of my concluding admonitions is,

1. Don't drift in the Christian life. The current of the flesh and the world will always carry a drifter downstream toward the falls of destruction.

2. Let us be like Paul and hope for God's best in people. Let us not be quick to write off a struggler, but instead measure just what food would be best for them to help them grow.But let's not treat continued immaturity as unimportant. It could be a sign that no true spiritual life was ever present and that the professing Christian is only a natural man after all. This is very rarely for us to decide.

3. But it is our responsibility to warn the careless drifter, as Peter says, to make his calling and election sure, by trusting in Christ TODAY and following him in the obedience of faith.

4. Finally, if you have never trusted in Christ, you should be much encouraged by all this that he is very patient with beginners. One of the men who knew him best (Matthew) said, "He will not break a bruised reed, or quench a smoldering wick, till he brings justice to victory; and in his name will the Gentiles hope." JP Desiring God Feb 21,1988

3. How do we Treasure Christ Together?

3.1. Living Stones

To be living stones means that believers have the eternal life of Christ. They are united with Him, which is their first spiritual privilege. They do not just worship Him, obey Him, and pray to Him; they are united with Him as stones in a spiritual building of which He is the cornerstone. Christians become partakers of the divine nature: “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory”

MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2004). 1 Peter (p. 106). Chicago: Moody Publishers.

3.2. Holy Priesthood =

The New Testament sets forth seven basic, acceptable spiritual sacrifices for Christians: their bodies, their praise, their good works, their possessions, their converts, their love, and their prayers.

MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2004). 1 Peter (pp. 114–115). Chicago: Moody Publishers.

There have been times when I think we do not desire heaven; but more often I find myself wondering whether, in our heart of hearts, we have ever desired anything else.

Gospel Doctrine - Gospel Culture = Hypocrisy

Gospel culture - Gospel doctrine = Hazard

Gospel Doctrine + Gospel Culture = Healthy

We accept the truth that Biblical Doctrine is essential but do we accept that the beauty of human relationships is equally essential?

If by God’s grace we hold the two together, people of all ages will not just come to our church but come with great joy. Thinking to themselves I have been looking for this my whole life.

We have come full circle to God.

God is Glorified by the way we experience Him and not simply by the way we think about Him.

God is relational and therefore we are relational. God receives great joy when we live graciously with one another and a lost world takes notice. There is a deep longing for authentic community that is Gospel Saturated.

John 13:35 ESV

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Take note this is not just so our church will grow. There has to be a bigger grander Objective than Our church growing.

The Objective needs to be that Jesus Christ be made known in all the world as the all powerful, all wise, all rightoues, all merciful, all satisfying Treasure of the Universe. He will be magnified most at the moment we christians suffer great loss and say “To live is Christ, and to die is gain”

This will happen when Christians don’t just say that Christ is valuable, or sing that he is valuable, but truly experience in their hearts the unsurpassed worth of Christ. They become deeply satisfied in Christ alone. Overflowing with gratitude and joy for their knowing and being known by God Himself.

Application:

Are you trying to dutifully follow Christ or is there real desire and delight in following Him?

How can you treasure Christ more fully and help build a gospel culture @ FBCC?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For further study: Not to be preached

The apostle Paul’s familiar and practical exhortation to the Romans says,

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. ()

God-honoring spiritual sacrifice begins when believers offer God all their human faculties, including their minds and every part of their bodies. The unregenerate yield the members of their bodies to sin, but the redeemed yield their members as instruments of righteousness (). In , Paul emphasizes that God wants the believer’s body to be “a living … sacrifice,” not a dead one. Like Abraham was willing to do with Isaac in , it is only when saints offer God everything they are in life, everything they possess, and everything they hope for that they truly present Him with a living sacrifice. That is the total commitment He requires of spiritual priests.

A second spiritual sacrifice that is acceptable to God is praise, or worship. “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name” (). Offering praise to God involves much more than merely mouthing the words “Praise the Lord.” It more completely entails gratefully declaring God’s attributes (e.g., ; , ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ) and His works (e.g., , ; ; ; ; ; ; ; , ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ).

commends a third and fourth acceptable sacrifice: “Do not neglect doing good and sharing” (v. 16, emphases added). “Doing good” involves doing what is righteous and what honors God (cf. ; ; ). Any good work—whether it is reproof that restores a brother, loving and helpful action toward someone, studying God’s Word, listening to the Word preached, or speaking a righteous word—is a spiritual sacrifice in Christ’s name that glorifies God (2:12; ; ; ; ; cf. ).

Four Closing Admonitions

“Sharing,” or generosity, is a specific good work the writer of Hebrews names. It involves sacrificially giving up one’s resources to meet someone else’s need (; ; ; ; ; cf. ; ). The apostle Paul illustrated for the Philippians many of the aspects of genuine sharing and commended them for their example of true sacrificial generosity to him:

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction. You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone; for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. ()

Fifth, converts—reconciled sinners—constitute another sacrifice offered to God. Paul described this spiritual sacrifice to the Romans:

But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. ()

He saw the souls of those God had enabled him to influence savingly for Christ as spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God.

Christ’s sacrificial death, stemming from His love for sinners, suggests a sixth spiritual sacrifice for believers—their own sacrificial love for one another (4:8; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; , ; ). Paul encouraged the Ephesians: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma” (). Love demonstrated in selfless humility toward one another is well pleasing to God.

Finally, the New Testament portrays prayers as suitable spiritual sacrifices (4:7; ; ; ; ; , ; ). The apostle John, at the beginning of his vision of the seventh seal, identified the saints’ prayers as offerings:

Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand. (; cf. )

Those offerings, supported by divinely supplied incense, demonstrate that God honors the properly offered prayers of believers. Prayer is often overlooked or undervalued as a spiritual sacrifice, but the ancient church had a high view of it. The church father Chrysostom, archbishop of Constantinople in the early fifth century, declared this about prayer’s necessity:

The potency of prayer hath subdued the strength of fire; it had bridled the rage of lions, hushed anarchy to rest, extinguished wars, appeased the elements, expelled demons, burst the chains of death, expanded the gates of heaven, assuaged diseases, repelled frauds, rescued cities from destruction, stayed the sun in its course, and arrested the progress of the thunderbolt. Prayer is an all-efficient panoply, a treasure undiminished, a mine which is never exhausted, a sky unobscured by clouds, a heaven unruffled by the storm. It is the root, the fountain, the mother of a thousand blessings. (Cited in E. M. Bounds, Purpose in Prayer [Chicago: Moody, n.d.], 19.)

MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2004). 1 Peter (pp. 115–117). Chicago: Moody Publishers.

Four Closing Admonitions

And so the first of my concluding admonitions is,

1. Don't drift in the Christian life. The current of the flesh and the world will always carry a drifter downstream toward the falls of destruction.

2. Let us be like Paul and hope for God's best in people. Let us not be quick to write off a struggler, but instead measure just what food would be best for them to help them grow.But let's not treat continued immaturity as unimportant. It could be a sign that no true spiritual life was ever present and that the professing Christian is only a natural man after all. This is very rarely for us to decide.

3. But it is our responsibility to warn the careless drifter, as Peter says, to make his calling and election sure, by trusting in Christ TODAY and following him in the obedience of faith.

4. Finally, if you have never trusted in Christ, you should be much encouraged by all this that he is very patient with beginners. One of the men who knew him best (Matthew) said, "He will not break a bruised reed, or quench a smoldering wick, till he brings justice to victory; and in his name will the Gentiles hope." JP Desiring God Feb 21,1988