SERMON #1
THE CHURCH CHRIST IS BULIDING
1. WHEN YOU BUILD A BUILDING YOU HAVE TO BUILD IT ON SOMETHING, BUT ON WHAT?
A.MATTHEW 7:24 27
24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock.
25 "And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock.
26 "And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand.
27 "And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall."
YOU BUILD UPON A ROCK. THE GREEK WORD HERE IS THE SAME WORD AS IS USED IN MATTHEW 16:18, PETRA; IS A LARGE MASS OF ROCK LIKE BED ROCK
B. MATTHEW 16:13 20
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He began asking His disciples, saying, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"
14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets."
15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. "
17 And Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
18 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it.
19 "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
PETER IS PETRO, A ROCK. PETRA; IS A LARGE MASS OF ROCK LIKE BED ROCK
C. WHAT OR WHO IS THE ROCK? IS JESUS THE ROCK?
a. Luke 20:17
17 But He looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written, ’The stone which the builders rejected, This became the chief comer stone’?
b. EPHESIANS 2:19 22
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,
20 having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the comer stone,
21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
THE APOSTLES AND THE PROPHETS TAUGHT WHAT? THAT JESUS WAS THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD AND THAT IS THE FOUNDATION UPON WHICH THE CHURCH IS BUILT AND JESUS IS THE CORNER STONE OF THAT CHURCH. THE CORNER STONE IS VERY IMPORTANT, BECAUSE IT IS THE STONE ALL THE OTHER STONES ARE LAID TOO, IF IT IS NOT TRUE THEN ALL THE OTHERS WILL BE UNTRUE.
2. SO WHAT KIND OF CHURCH WOOD, BRICK, CONCRETE OR NONE OF THIS?
A. I Peter 2:4 10
4 And coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God,
5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6 For this is contained in Scripture: "Behold I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious comer stone, And he who believes in Him shall not be disappointed."
7 This precious value, then, is for you who believe. But for those who disbelieve, "The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very comer stone,"
8 and,"A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
10 for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
THE WORD CHURCH IN GREEK IS EKK LISHA IT IS MAKE UP OF TWO
WORDS EK; FROM OUT OF, AND KA LAYO; TO CALL. TO CALL FROM
OUT OF OR AN ASSEMBLY OF CALLED OUT PEOPLE
(THE CHURCH IS NEVER A PLACE, BUT ALWAYS A PEOPLE; NEVER A SACRED BUILDING, BUT ALWAYS A BELIEVING ASSEMBLY) THE CHURCH IS YOU WHO PRAY NOT WHERE YOU PRAY. A BUILDING OF WOOD OR BRICK CAN NOT BE THE CHURCH ANYMORE THAN THE CLOTHES THAT YOU WEAR CAN BE WHO YOU ARE.
3. LIVING STONES IN THE BULIDING OF CHRIST CHURCH. CALLED OUT OF THE DARKNESS INTO THE LIGHT.CALLED OUT TO BE WHAT?
A. ROMANS 1: 1 7
1 Paul, a bond servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures,
3 concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh,
4 who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,
5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles, for His name’s sake,
6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;
7 to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
PAUL WAS CALLED TO BE AN APOSTLE, BUT ALL ARE CALLED TO BE SAINTS. THE WORD SAINT IS USED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT WHEN REFERRING TO BELIEVERS. THE WORD SAINT IN THE GREEK hagios; Set apart for God, to be, as it were, exclusively his.
4. SO WHO IS CALLED? IN OLD TESTAMENT TIMES IT WAS JUST T14E JEWS, BUT WHAT ABOUT NOW?
A. MATTHEW 9:10 13
10 And it happened that as He was reclining at the table in the house, behold many tax gatherers and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples.
11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, "Why is your Teacher eating with the tax gatherers and sinners?"
12 But when He heard this, He said, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.
13 "But go and learn what this means, ’I desire compassion, and not sacrifice, for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
B. ROMANS 9:22 26
22 What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?
23 And He did so in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,
24 even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.
25 As He says also in Hosea, "I will call those who were not My people, My people,’ And her who was not beloved, ’beloved."’
26 "And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them,’ you are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God."
4. WHY ARE WE CALLED?
A.1 TIMOTHY 2:3 4
3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
B. 2 THESSALONIANS 2:13 17
13 But, we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.
14 And, it was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15 So, then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace,
17 comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.
WE ARE CALLED OUT BECAUSE GOD WANTS ON ONE TO PARISH BUT ALL TO BE SAVED AND SO WE MAY GAIN THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
5. WE WERE CALLED FIRST HOW?
A. COLOSSIANS 3:12 17
12 And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.
14 And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
5. AND, HOW SECOND?
A.EPHESIANS 4:1 6
1, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,
2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love
3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
IN CLOSING EACH OF US HAVE BEEN CALLED, SOME HAVE
ANSWERED THAT CALL SOME HAVE NOT. IF YOU HAVE ANSWERED ARE YOU LIVING UP TO THAT CALL? IF YOU HAVE NOT ANSWERED NOW IS THE TIME.
PLAN OF SALVATION
ROMANS 10:17
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
HEBREWS 11:6
6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
Acts 2:38
38And Peter said to them, "Repent,
ROMANS 10:9 10
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; 10 for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
Acts 2:38
38 And Peter said to them, "Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
MATTHEW 7:21
21"Not everyone who says to Me, ’Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.
