Resurrection Sunday:The Liberty of the Saints As Made Known in the Victory that is The Resurrection of Christ: That Love & Charity Shall Henceforth Govern Our Lives And No Longer Fear & Merit - This Being the Great Principle to Preserve Truth Over Falsehood
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Call To Worship
Call To Worship
Welcoming Prayer_David Foster
Special Music _Amazing Grace_ Erin Williamson
Children’s Choir_ Christ Jesus Has Risen Today
Call To Remembrance
Call To Remembrance
Call To Communion
Hymn_It Took A Miracle_Eddy Arnold
Hymn_The Old Rugged Cross_Roy Rogers & Dale Evans
Scripture Reading
Scripture_...._Dennis WIlliamson
Hymn_Tell Me The Story Of Jesus_Eddy Arnold
Hymn_Sunshine To My Soul_George Beverly Shea
Children’s Prayer
Children’s Prayer
Sermon Prayer
Sermon Prayer
John Foster, Sr.
Sermon: The Liberty of the Saints As Made Known in the Victory that is The Resurrection of Christ: That Love & Charity Shall Henceforth Govern Our Lives And No Longer Fear & Merit - This Being the Great Principle to Preserve Truth Over Falsehood
Sermon: The Liberty of the Saints As Made Known in the Victory that is The Resurrection of Christ: That Love & Charity Shall Henceforth Govern Our Lives And No Longer Fear & Merit - This Being the Great Principle to Preserve Truth Over Falsehood
In Matthew 16:18 you have Christ declare to Peter that upon the truth that Jesus is the Christ - Christ will build His church by overpowering Hell itself.
18 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.
We just witnessed this through remembrance on Friday.
This morning we recognize the perfect victory in the resurrection of Christ.
The resurrection is necessary, as it demonstrates that Jesus is in fact the Christ and the good and perfect will of God has not been thwarted.
Jesus after His resurrected appearance would ascend to Heaven to further fufill what was spoken in Matthew 16
19 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.
This takes place in Acts chapter 2 with the day of Pentecost. What opens this door…the key…is the message that Peter preaches, which is the foundation that Jesus is the Christ…so..repent…that is turn…change your mind…recognize this truth.
That is what the crowd does as the Holy Spirit is poured out from Heaven. Then…this new body (the church) spreads…or grows like crazy…it is unstoppable.
But lets go back to Matthew for a moment to understand why this is...
Lets go to chapter 28:9. We find ourselves now in Matthew at post resurrection…notice the first words of Jesus...
9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. 10 Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.
You see when truth and love arrives on the scene…fear is gone.
Remember that. When people preach fear to the church - they don’t preach the resurrected Christ.
Ok…lets go down to verse 16...
16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Jesus is with the eleven disciples...
Some were doubtful…doesn’t matter because it’s true (doubt doesn’t make Jesus still in the grave).
Jesus in verse 18 declares:
All authority on Heaven and Earth is given to Him.
Two things here:
This is a spoken truth
Jesus is about to speak from this point of authority and His addressing will include Heaven and earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
So, lets review:
Jesus is speaking to the disciples (11) - not the church.
From chapter 16 (and confirmed by Acts 2) we know that the church/ the body will be begun to be formed together on the day of Pentecost
Now go to Acts chapter 1:4…This is post resurrected Jesus again…and again He is with the disciples or apostles at this point…whom HE had CHOSEN.
4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. 6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Jesus speaking to His apostle tells them that they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes and that they will be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the remotest part of the earth.
You remember now when we studied the book of Acts that this is actually a blueprint for the book of Acts.
In other words, this is fulfilled. The church has gone world wide.
Now…don’t miss hear what I am saying.
I am not saying that the church ought not greatly desire even now to be a light unto all nations. That is after-all who I am saying the church has been from the beginning. The far reaching and ever growing impact of the body of Christ unto all is the natural effect of light amongst darkness. But that is just the point...
With the church having spread so greatly - what then is the sustaining growth of the church? Or the nourishment. What keeps the lamp burning or the wicks trimmed…or simply put, what comes next? What does the body look like? What does the body do? How does the body operate?
What am I trying to get to here?
I am trying to say that Matthew 28 and Acts 1 are the starting point of how Christ is building or has built His church or His assembly or how He has assembled the body…if you recall the Greek word for church is assembly.
What we then have after the book of Acts are the Epistles. That is the Holy Spirit authored, Apostle written letters to the church - the body - the assembly…which we know is world wide…meaning its identification is Christ and not location or physical lineage or wealth or merit. The assembly is world wide because it is made up of the children of God, the sheep of the good shepherd and the good Shepherd has told us that He has His sheep throughout the world…throughout the ages (speaking of years).
Now, when we get into the epistles we have spoken to us the directives of Christ (the authority) for His body (the church/assembly).
In all of what is given in the epistles it is built upon - reaffirming and giving testimony to Jesus being the Christ. It is all a walk or a calling of love - not law. It is a laying out of how love governs, how Heaven operates, so that you - his church - a royal priesthood - might remember that you are Heaven (represented) here on earth.
This is where we come to Ephesians that we have been spending so much time in, learning to walk circumspectly.
This is where we read earlier in Ephesians:
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
That hope is in Christ. That hope is in the finished work of Christ, thus the established authority of Christ. Our hope is lost to us (in regards to our walking in hope) if we walk not in the authority or calling of Christ.
Meaning your hope is known - not by walking strategically in this world, nor by walking good or cautiously…but by walking according to the authority, the spoken word, the very power by which you were originally called: that is Christ - the Word - The Hope.
Thus we read in another epistle in 1 Timothy 6:
12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
This is where it’s getting interesting. The constant calling of the church by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God is mindfulness to the calling. Not a brainstorming of what the calling might be, but a understanding of the invite.
The resurrected Jesus, by the authority and power invested in Him, has called or invited His children everywhere to come. To come and walk in the very truth, hope, purpose, light and life of the resurrection. He has invited His children to come right now and live as strangers and pilgrims (aliens) in this world. (1 Peter 2:11)
Now there is a crazy thought. How can you, while in this world (the only world that you have known) live like you are just passing through - like you don’t belong here - like your allegiance is to a different world? Not just how, but why?
In short: THE RESURRECTION
Follow everything that we have just traced out. Jesus left Heaven to come to earth to seek and save the lost. The lost are those who have been prior His…You cannot loose something that you do not have. So He came to lay down His life, and that He did and He that laid it down took it back up again. We call this and rightfully so…the greatest act of love ever seen by Heaven and Earth. In doing this, Jesus has brought back to Himself all that are His - He has redeemed us through His completed work so that now we might identify with Him in full assurance.
To identify with Christ is not to walk in law, nor in self, but in love. That is charity. It is the same walk that makes up all of what Heaven is (get it…strange to this world…but the very essence of another). So now, when I say walking in love and that being the love of Christ, I have to clarify:
I don’t get to tell love how love looks or works. I don’t paint my own picture and show love what love looks like. God is love. Heaven is a World of Love…I don’t create Heaven, I represent Heaven and one day I dwell in Heaven. When I observe God, I observe love. When I obey God, as is the case perfectly in all of Heaven...I walk in love…that is, I love God (thus, I obey from love). When I create what I think is looks loving - I prove myself incapable of love in as much as it is contrary to the call of God. I fail to represent Heaven - you might say, I forget the invite of Christ.
This is why the epistles keep bringing us back to, “be mindful”, be circumspect, remember, fight the good fight, lay ahold of truth, know who you are…and so on.
Every part of our lives, no matter how badly we have messed up or what others tell us, we have the liberty in Christ to govern all of our lives as we shall govern them in Heaven or in perfect love. That is from our families to our jobs to whatever various circumstances may occur.
No matter what I by the power and authority of Christ have the opportunity to love Christ or to live as I shall in Heaven even while upon earth. No earthly authority can trump that great liberty. Yes they can attempt to. The world can lure with promises and lust, it can seek control through fear and lies and it can even attempt to act as a tyrant over me, but in Christ I live and love what Christ loves. This is why I preach according to Romans 10, so that you might know this great liberty and believe in the hope that is Jesus the Christ and thus not submit yourselves to another form of enslavement or law, but rather rejoice and live in the liberty of the love of God.
Allow me to bring this close to home.
When man compiles loads of statistics and give out numbers and identify invisible threats (perhaps very real threats) and proclaims fear because of death - check the spirit.
When man tries to control the masses through fear, a lack of information or even mis-information - the Christian need not fear
When man tells the Church of Christ, that we need to fear for your life, that you need to not do the very things which Christ in His Word have told you to do in love for Him and one another, and the world paints this disregard as loving - you can be certain that it is not.
The very reason that we assemble this morning in the midst of what or how the world is operating is because of the Resurrection, it is because of who we are, because we are not of this world and most importantly, it is because of love. And friends, love always conquers fear.
The government is out of bounds when it tells the body of Christ not to assemble as Christ in His authority has invited us and given us the liberty to do. And to not gather would be to turn down the invite of Christ for love and take up the governments invite for fear. - no thank you. - I identify with the Resurrection. - I live, by the grace of God as unto Christ.
Let me read you one more passage. This is where we come out of the epistles into a book of prophecy. But in this portion of this book of prophecy we have the spirit of God addressing the church.
14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
The spirit of God is addressing the entire church here, and He is doing so in love. That loving rebuke is purposed within His children to emphasize there true belonging to God and cause a zealousness within them - for God.
That is to say…the church is all comfortable with who they are, and they see no need to hear anything from God. They see themselves as the spiritual elite. They are the blessed ones living in all of there creative ways, but get the picture -
It’s a church that has shut the door to Christ. They have so much that they can’t hear Christ knocking. Do you hear what I’m saying church. The church doors are shut.
Well, what about you? Do you hear Him knocking? Do you hear His invite to be a pilgrim unto Heaven? A royal citizen? To step out of the comforts of world identity and be identified as the body of Christ, as the assembly?
The resurrection
The day of pentecost
The church assebled
The church preserved
This is all simply evidence of the love of God through the ages, and in each age it is shown forth by His remnant who identify in His resurrection, live by His Spirit, take His invite as His assembly and dine with Him, overcome in Him and finally sit down with Him, on His throne just as He also overcame and sat down with His Father on His throne. And as chapter three of Revelation concludes:
22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
It’s all about love my brothers and sisters. That why we are assembled, and why we do assemble how we assemble.
I can’t put myself in the shoes of other pastors or church buildings - I simply seek for your benefit to explain the liberating love which is the reason that I stand before you in full confidence today.
In light of the resurrection - in light of the Word of God - in light of the authority and invitation of Christ - in light of the love of God, all that I can say is...
15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.