HIS Glorious Church
1 Peter 2:1-12
SELECTED READING 1 PETER 1:13-16
INTRO-
LAST WEEK WE LOOKED AT PENTECOST- THE HOLY SPIRIT COMING AND FILLING BELIEVERS. WE SAW HOW MUCH ALL OF US NEED TO BE FILLED AND REFILLED. HOW MUCH WE NEED MORE OF THE LORD IN OUR LIVES.
I AM GOING TO CONTINUE THAT TRAIN OF THOUGHT AS IT APPLY’S TO THE CHURCH. PETER, AFTER HE SPENT TIME WITH THE LORD WENT OUT INTO A HEATHEN CITY AND REACHED 3000 FOR CHRIST. THE WOW FACTOR FOR HIM IS THAT HE DID WHAT GOD CALLED HIM TO DO AND MANY PEOPLE WERE SAVED. WE NEED TO PREPARE OUR MINDS, BE SELF-CONTROLLED, SHOW PEOPLE THE HOPE WE HAVE IN JESUS. FOR THE MOST PART, THAT IS NOT THE CHURCH TODAY- THE CHURCH TODAY HAS A DIVORCE RATE AS HIGH OR HIGHER THAN THE WORLD. WE ARE NOT ABSTAINING FROM THE WORLDLY PLEASURES, WE HAVE BEEN FOUND OUT TO BE OF LITTLE DIFFERENCE ACCORDING TO THE BARNA GROUP THAN ANYONE ELSE. PETER SAYS; V 5- “BUT JUST AS HE WHO CALLED YOU IS HOLY, SO BE HOLY IN ALL YOU DO; FOR IT IS WRITTEN: BE HOLY, BECAUSE I AM HOLY. IF YOU BELIEVE THAT JESUS CHRIST IS COMING BACK, THAT HE DIED AND WAS RESURRECTED FOR EACH ONE OF US, AND IS LOOKING TO COME FOR HIS CHURCH WITHOUT SPOT OR WRINKLE. WE NEED TO BE READY AND PREPARING OUR MINDS AND BE SELF-CONTROLLED, SETTING OUR HOPE SQUARELY ON JESUS CHRIST. THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT EVEN THE ANGELS LONG TO LOOK INTO THESE THINGS OF GOD. THEY ARE AMAZED IN WHAT GOD IS DOING IN HIS PEOPLE.
1 PETER 2:1-12 READ
THEREFORE, WHAT IS IT THERE FORE? IT IS THE THINGS WE JUST LOOKED AT, IF WE ARE TO LIVE THAT HOLY LIFE, WE MUST GET RID OF A FEW THINGS.
JESUS IS COMING BACK FOR A CHURCH THAT IS SERVING HIM.
WE CAN ONLY BRING OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY WHAT GOD HAS FIRST WORKED IN US. JESUS MUST BECOME A REALITY IN HIS BODY BEFORE HIS BODY CAN TAKE THAT REALITY TO THE CITY HE CALLED US TO. THE CHURCH IS TO BECOME LIVING STONES, THE CHOSEN PEOPLE OF GOD. TO CARRY THE MESSAGE OF GOD TO THE LOST.
I. THE NATURE AND FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH
V4- PARAPHRASED
COME TO HIM(JESUS) THE LIVING STONE, REJECTED BY MEN BUT CHOSEN BY GOD THE FATHER. WE ARE TO BE THE LIVING STONES, BUILT IN TO A SPIRITUAL HOUSE(CHURCH) TO BECOME A HOLY PRIESTHOOD TO OFFER SPIRITUAL SACRIFICE.
TO SOME THAT IS A STUMBLING BLOCK, JESUS IS A STUMBLING BLOCK TO SOME. THEY CAN DO CHURCH, BUT THEY CANNOT GET PAST THIS JESUS., WHO TELLS THEM TO LIVE HOLY AND PLEASING LIVES TO GOD. ONE WHO SAYS NO TO THE FLESHLY DESIRES WE HAVE. AGAIN “ IT IS AMAZING HOW MUCH AMERICAN CHURCHES HAVE DONE WITHOUT GOD.”
NOT TO TAKE THIS OUT OF CONTEXT;
THE SURE AND PRECIOUS STONE IS GOD’S UNFAILING RELATIONSHIP TO HIS PEOPLE (ISRAEL) A RELATIONSHIP WHICH WAS TO CULMINATE IN THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH JESUS CHRIST. WE ARE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THAT! JESUS HAS ALREADY COME, AND THE EARLY CHURCH HAS APPLIED IT TO JESUS CHRIST AS THE PRECIOUS AND IMMOVABLE FOUNDATION STONE OF GOD.
TO THOSE THAT ACCEPT HIM- JESUS IS SAVIOR AND FRIEND. TO THOSE WHO REJECT HIM, HE IS JUDGEMENT AND CONDEMNATION.
JESUS SAYS TO PETER- UPON THIS ROCK I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH, AND THE GATES OF HELL WILL NOT OVERCOME IT. IT IS ON THE FOUNDATION OF JESUS CHRIST THAT THE CHURCH IS BUILT.
ILLUSTRATION-
THERE IS A FAMOUS STORY OF SPARTA. A SPARTAN KING BOASTED TO A VISITING MONARCH ABOUT THE WALLS OF SPARTA. THE VISITING MONARCH LOOKED AROUND AND COULD NOT SEE ANY WALLS. HE SAID TO THE SPARTAN KING, “ WHERE ARE THESE WALLS ABOUT WHICH YOU BOAST SO MUCH; HE JUST POINTED AT HIS BODYGUARD OF MAGNIFICENT TROOPS. THESE, HE SAID, ARE THE WALLS OF SPARTA, EVERY MAN A BRICK.
POINT:
AS LONG AS A BRICK LIES BY ITSELF, IT IS USELESS. IT BECOMES OF USE ONLY WHEN IT IS INCORPORATED INTO A BUILDING. SO IT IS WITH CHRISTIANS. TO ACHIEVE THEIR DESTINY, THEY MUST NOT REMAIN ALONE BUT MUST BE BUILT INTO THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH.
CHRISTIANITY IS COMMUNITY- CHRISTIANS TAKING THEIR PLACE AND BUILT INTO THE STRUCTURE OF GOD. THE FREE LANCE CHRISTIAN WITHOUT STRUCTURE IS IN DANGER OF BEING SWALLOWED UP BY THE WORLD AND IT’S TEMPTATIONS . ONE MAN , I CAN DO THIS MYSELF MENTALITY.
WE ARE TOLD TO BE A HOLY PRIESTHOOD V 5
THE PRIEST IS THE PERSON WHO HAS ACCESS TO GOD AND WHOSE TASK IT IS TO BRING OTHERS TO HIM. IN THE ANCIENT WORLD, THIS ACCESS TO GOD WAS THE PRIVILEGE OF THE PROFESSIONAL PRIEST, AND IN PARTICULAR OF THE HIGH PRIEST, WHO ALONE COULD ENTER THE HOLY OF HOLIES.
THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, THE NEW AND LIVING WAY, ACCESS TO GOD BECOMES THE PRIVILEGE OF ALL CHRISTIANS.
THE LATIN WORD FOR PRIEST IS PONTIFEX, IT IS WHERE WE GET THE WORD PONTIF, WHICH MEANS BRIDGE BUILDER. CHRISTIANS ARE TO BECOME BRIDGE BUILDERS SO OTHERS CAN FIND CHRIST.
THE FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH IS TO TELL THE EXCELLENCE OF GOD. WE ARE TO BE WITNESSES OF WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US.
II. THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH
V9- BUT YOU ARE A CHOSEN PEOPLE, A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE BELONGING TO GOD, THAT YOU MAY DECLARE THE PRAISES OF HIM WHO CALLED YOU OUT OF DARKNESS INTO HIS WONDERFUL LIGHT, ONCE YOU WERE NOT A PEOPLE, BUT NOW YOU ARE THE PEOPLE OF GOD.
HALLELUJAH
EPHESIANS 3:17-19- READ
CHRISTIANS ARE CALLED OUT OF INSIGNIFICANCE INTO SIGNIFICANCE.
CHRISTIANS ARE CALLED OUT OF NO MERCY INTO MERCY
CHRISTIANS ARE CALLED OUT OF FEAR INTO DISCOVERING THE LOVE OF GOD.
“ ALL IS WELL WITH OUR SOULS”
CHRISTIANS CANNOT STAY THE SAME .
CHRISTIANS SHOULD NOT BE QUIET.
JESUS TELLS US TO GET RID OF ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING THAT WOULD HINDER OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
TELLS US THAT WE SHOULD NOT STUMBLE OVER JESUS BUT BE IN A RELATIONSHIP THAT WOULD ALLOW US TO BE ONE OF HIS LIVING STONES
LOVE IS MUCH MORE POWERFUL MOTIVATOR THAN SIN AVOIDANCE.
GOD DOES NOT SEE 100’S OF DIFFERENT CHURCH NAMES- HE IS LOOKING FOR THE CHURCH UNIVERSAL TO BE IN UNITY. HE SEES VARIOUS CULTURES, STYLES, ACTIVITIES. HE IS LOOKING FOR ONE TO BE UNDER THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST.
WE ARE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT THE PLANS OF MEN THAN THE PLAN OF GOD, AND MORE CONCERNED ABOUT ATTRACTING PEOPLE THAN ATTRACTING GOD.
GOD CARES FOR OUR MINISTRIES, BUT IT IS SECONDARY TO OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM.
CLOSING:
AZUSA STREET CHURCH, LOS ANGELES , WHERE A MIGHTY REVIVAL WAS IN THE EARLY 1900’S. IN THIS BIG OLD CHURCH ARE PICTURES OF THE GREAT REVIVAL. CRUTCHES HANGING ON THE WALL TO REMIND THEM OF ALL THE HEALING THAT TOOK PLACE. TODAY, ONLY 20 PEOPLE ATTEND, SURELY THE GOOD OLD DAYS OF HIS PRESENCE IS GONE.
GOD HELP US, WE NEED HIS PRESENCE
IT IS NOT OKAY THAT OUR NEIGHBORHOOD HAS BEEN TURNED OVER TO THE ENEMY OF OUR SOULS.
“IF THE MOUNTAIN WAS SMOOTH, WE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO CLIMB IT”
OUR HORIZON OF HOPE IS JESUS CHRIST.
JESUS WILL BUILD HIS CHURCH, AND IT WILL REMAIN STRONG AS LONG AS WE STAY FOCUSED ON JESUS CHRIST, THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH.
“IF MY PEOPLE WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME, WILL HUMBLE THEMSELVES AND PRAY AND SEEK MY FACE AND TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS, THEN I WILL HEAR FROM HEAVEN AND WILL FORGIVE THEIR SIN AND WILL HEAL THEIR LAND.
