“What The Church Needs Now”
Part III
Matthew 28:18-20
“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 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.”
[Prayer]
Introduction
As we continue with the series, ‘What The Church Needs Now”, I hope and pray that you have been blessed by what the Lord has done these last few weeks. Obviously, this subject matter is needed for such a time as this.
Nonetheless, more than ‘hearing’ is needed. We need ‘doers of the word’ to step forward and make a change in their reality.
· Ph.D.’s are fine. But, Ph. Do’s are better.
As we consider yet another area in which the church is lacking, I would propose that this area is one of the greatest.
· Although we have many programs, they lack power!
· Although we have many choirs, they lack power!
· Although we have many sermons and lessons, they lack power!
How do I know? Look at the lives of the hearer.
· When Christ preached, people changed.
· When Christ taught, people changed.
Yet, today, we have a house full of hearers and very few “Ph.Doers”. The only change people have to offer is what they put in the offering plate.
Today, more than ever, the church needs power. Holy Ghost power. Wonder-working Power. Power to bring about ‘change’ that will shape our eternity.
Christ knew this. For 3 ½ years, the Son of God, walked among man.
· Teaching.
· Preaching.
· Performing miracles.
He talked the talk, and walked the walk. Why did He do this? Because the world had fallen from grace. It had plunged head first into a life of sin. It had become separated from its Creator.
So, instead of ignoring the problem; instead of pretending there wasn’t a problem, God sent His only begotten Son into the world, to face the problem, that, apart from Divine intervention, the world and all its inhabitants would perish.
For 3 ½ years, the Lord Jesus Christ walked among those that He created. He ate their food. Slept in their beds. Worshipped in their synagogues. And, changed their world.
How did He do this? Through the power, that Almighty God had given Him.
· Power that was used when God spoke the words, In the beginning…”
· Power that cast a rebellious angel from the presence of God, and lifts up a repentant sinner to the throne room of the Same.
· Through wonder working power, that touches and shapes the natural, as well as the super natural.
· The Holy Ghost power that was not, is not, and will not be constrained by the limitation and frailty of man.
Christ knew that even He needed the power of God on His life, if He were to do the Father’s will. And, so do we!!
And, do you want to know how important this power is? When asked by His disciples to teach them to pray, Christ concluded this model prayer with the words, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” Power, dunamis in the Greek. This word is where we get our English word Dynamite!
The power that Christ wanted His disciples to have was the constructive, as well as destructive, ‘Dynamite’ power of God. Constructive to build up the broken hearted and set the captive free. Destructive to break down the strong hold of the enemy, Satan.
We see it…
· At His first miracle, Jesus turned water into wine, by the power I speak of today!
· When the disciples fretted on the wind swept sea, Christ spoke the words, ‘Peace. Be still’, by the power I speak of today!
· When the father of a demon-possessed child came to Jesus, the demon was cast into a herd of swine, by the power I speak of today!
· When the masses hungered, having followed Jesus all day… and when the disciples tried to turn them away with a simply, “I’ll be praying for you…” Jesus fed the five thousand with 5 loaves and 2 fishes, by the power that I speak of today!
· When a woman with an issue of blood, was healed of the ailment that had tormented her for 12 years, it was by the power that I speak of today!
· When life had ceased, and three days had past, in the life of Lazarus the friend of Christ, he was raised from the dead, by the power that I speak of today!
· When forsaken, beaten, mocked, crucified and buried, the Lord Jesus Christ took up His life again, it was by the power that I speak of today!
So, when Christ speaks the words, ‘All power is given unto me…’ He knew what He was talking about.
· The power of death!
· The power over life!
· The power over sickness!
· The power over disease!
· The power of the natural!
· The power of the supernatural!
The power that I speak of today is available today, for the problems that you face today:
· The problem of despair
· The problem of anxiety
· The problem of poor health
· The problem of poor finances
· The problem of poor self esteem
· The problem of poor relationship
All power has been given unto Him. And this power is available to us. If we want it! And with this power, Christ has commanded us to make disciples:
· Yet, the church has been too busy trying to make ‘members’, instead of disciples.
· The church has been too busy trying to make money, instead of disciples.
· The church has been too busy trying to make programs, instead of disciples.
· The church has been too busy trying to make friends with the world, instead of disciples.
· The church has been too busy trying to make buildings, instead of disciples.
And we wonder why the church is Powerless. Impotent. And, Spiritually Weak.
· Jesus didn’t give us power to build the church… that His job. He said, ‘I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.’
· Jesus didn’t give us power to make money. He said, ‘I have the cattle on a thousand hills.’
· Jesus didn’t give us power to make friends with the world. Because the friend of the world is an enemy of God.
Jesus gave us power to make disciples. Followers of Christ. Students of the Most High God.
· For you see, church members will come and go, but disciples are faithful ’til the end.
· Buildings are built and torn down, but a disciple of Christ will stand forever.
· Money is here today and gone tomorrow…or in some cases gone today. But a disciple of Christ, a follower of Christ…a student of Christ will be found faithful to the very end.
As I see it, What the church needs now is …”power, power, wonder-working power”.
· Power that can change a sinner into a saint.
· Power that can take someone from the gutter most to the uttermost.
· Power that can tear down the strongholds of the enemy.
· Power to give service unto the least of these, my brethren
· Power that can put the enemy to flight.
· Power that speak those things that are not as if they were.
· Power that can face reality and change it through prayer.
When Jesus spoke these words in Matthew’s Gospel, He was telling us what we need: power, and He telling us how to get it.
First, He’s telling us to ‘Go’. For far too long, the church has been telling people to ‘come to church’, all the while we should have been taking the church to them!
On July 8th, terrorist set off several bombs in London. I’ve read that more than 50 people lost their lives in these bombing. When the casualty reports first started coming in, a wise police officer said, ‘the worst is yet to come. Why? Because, minutes after the bombing, those that could walk to the hospital did just that. They walked in.
Now, don’t get me wrong. If a person was injured in the blast, I am certain that their injuries were real. But, be honest. There were some people who couldn’t walk in. They couldn’t crawl in. Why not? Their injuries were too severe. Their legs may have been injured, even blown off in the blast. Yes, the worse was yet to come.
You see Christian Friend, those that ‘walk into church’ are usually the least injured by life. They’re the ones least injured by church. I believe that those that have been hurt the most, are those that can’t walk in…won’t walk in. And, there injuries aren’t physical. They’re emotional. They’re spiritual.
So, what is the church to do? Only minister to those that are emotionally and spiritually strong enough to bring themselves to church? No! We must obey the words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and ‘GO’ to them.
And, when we go, we are called to ‘teach, baptize and teach’. Teach them that they need to be born again. Baptize them, to show that they have been born again. And teach them how to live like they’ve been born again.
The reason so many churches are filled with people who don’t look like they’ve been born again is because these people haven’t been taught!
· We’ve taught them how to become a member.
· We’ve taught them how to tithe.
· We’ve taught them how to sing in the choir.
· We’ve taught them how to give to the building fund.
· We’ve taught them how to serve on a board or committee.
We’ve taught them how to do anything and everything, but live like they’ve meet Jesus.
What the church needs now is power to teach people how to be saved…power to baptize people to show that they’ve been saved…and power to teach them how to live like they’ve been saved.
· The lack of knowledge in churches is evident of a lack of power.
· The immorality in church is evident of a lack of power.
· The apathy in church is evident of a lack of power.
What the church needs now is power. Holy Ghost power. Wonder-working power.
· Power to defeat sin.
· Power to break strongholds.
· Power to change our reality.
· Power to love the unlovable.
· Power to do the impossible.
· Power to see the invisible.
· Power to understand the incomprehensible.
· Power to do that which has never been done.
· Power to do that which needs to be done.
And, before He returned to Heaven, Christ spoke these comforting words, ‘Lo, I am with you always. Even to the end of the world.’
· So, no matter what you must face, Christ is with you always!
· So, no matter what you must do, Christ is with you always!
· So, no matter where you must go , Christ is with you always!
Conclusion:
Today, as you hear the word of the Lord, do you have that kind of power in your life?
· If so, praise God. Use it for His honor and glory.
· It not, you can…by doing things His way.
Number one, accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Number two, follow the Lord in believers baptism. And number three, allow us to teach you how a saved person lives a saved life.
What the church needs now is the wonder-working power of Almighty God, that will enable us to live a saved life, in a lost and dying world!
