Edify one another #edify #edification #baptistchurch #biblebaptist #biblestudy #doctrine

[0:00] Looking at the subject of edification, edify, the Bible says, it's a biblical mandate for every believer to edify one another.

[0:11] ! And it's been said that our brains are really good at focusing on what's going wrong. And also whatever anyone else is doing wrong. It's kind of human nature apparently.

[0:23] They say it's been evident that this is the case. And we're living in this world that's filled with pessimism and despair. And when you think about the Christian life, we're living in this world that doesn't have the hope that we have, does it?

[0:43] But you think even in the church we ought to be a people with hope and encouraging one another, edifying one another. Really it's much easier to be part of the wrecking crew, isn't it? I know there's a qualification called a certificate in construction.

[0:58] People start that course of a trade, of working in construction, the construction industry. But I haven't heard of a certificate in deconstruction or demolition.

[1:11] Yet some people are really skilled at that, aren't they? I know a friend of mine, his son is very good at demolition. He's really good at that. He's really skilled at demolition.

[1:21] And it's like a lot of people have got those kind of skills in a human way too. They're good at wielding the sledgehammer, smashing things and being a demolition expert.

[1:35] And that's what the world can be like, isn't it? It's full of this pessimism where it's knocking things down. And it's almost like we need to rewire our brain to not be like the world that wants to smash things up, but rather we want to be the people that build things up.

[1:52] And to rather be people that have got hope and that can encourage our brothers and sisters and others to find the hope that is in Christ, to have that focus that is more hopeful and more grateful.

[2:03] And really the Bible talks about this truth of edification. It's really a biblical mandate for every one of us to edify.

[2:15] It's really a crucial aspect of the Christian life. And of course this word edify, it might seem a bit of a word you're not familiar with, but really simply put, it speaks about building a house.

[2:28] That's what it is. When we think of a building, they call it an edifice, don't they? It's something that is built, a built form. It's called an edifice. And edifying, edification is really simply put, it's building a house.

[2:43] And in a spiritual sense, we're all building, aren't we? We're building things. And we should be building our house, our spiritual house, our lives upon the foundation who is Christ.

[2:56] And of course then edification is much bigger than just the me. It's about edifying one another, which is what we're going to unpack a little bit tonight.

[3:07] So edification is that process of spiritually uplifting and encouraging one another. That's the biblical meaning. Building up, building up one another.

[3:20] And how do we build up one another? In faith, in love, in grace. Building up one another by encouraging, building up one another's faith and character and godly living.

[3:32] What does the Bible teach us about edification? So we're going to look at a few different Bible verses that talk about this doctrine of edification. How can we practically apply this truth of edifying within our own lives?

[3:45] And really it's a very practical kind of thought. Because all of these things are very practically oriented. So we see for our first scripture here, 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 11.

[3:55] 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 11, Paul exhorts the Thessalonians, he says this. Wherefore comfort yourselves together and edify one another, even as also ye do.

[4:07] He's saying comfort and he's saying edify. Edify or in other words build up. He's saying comfort one another, encourage one another. And he's saying edify, build up one another.

[4:20] So when you think about the application of this, it's talking to you and me as well. How can we do this? How can we encourage one another and build one another up?

[4:33] When you think about building, who's ever seen a building site and you had something built that you built for yourself? It takes work, doesn't it? It takes time. People have got to put labour in.

[4:43] It takes intent. People have got to start moving wheelbarrows and shifting materials and constructing walls and putting bricks together.

[4:55] And there's a certain intent to it. And when you think about it too, for you and me as really God's builders, it's going to take some intent from us.

[5:06] A certain determination to do it. In other words, a certain intention to be constructed. For all of us to have that heart to be constructed. Now notice here that the encouragement in this verse, it's not just a suggestion.

[5:21] It is a command. It is a command. It says edify one another. It's very clear. It's three words there, isn't it? Edify one another. It's a command from God.

[5:32] And so we're commanded by God to edify. In other words, we're commanded by the Lord to build one another up. It's something that he wants for us to do. He commands us to do it.

[5:43] And we're called to build one another up. Build one another up continually. It's the kind of sense of it here. To do it continually. Notice edifying as well.

[5:54] It's not something we do for ourselves. But it's something that we do for others. And this is the heart of really Bible Christianity, isn't it? That we are here for one another.

[6:06] And that's church. That's why we're here. That is what we get from church. We get by giving. We edify one another. When we come to church, we're not only receiving the word, but we're encouraging.

[6:18] We're edifying one another. In the fellowship time, before the service proper, and after the service. I kind of love it when there's some of you that are more inclined to be chatty. You love that time of chatting together, don't you?

[6:31] Because you're edifying one another, aren't you? That's a good thing. I commend that. I think it's wonderful to have time to edify one another. Take that time. And notice edifying is what we do for others.

[6:43] So it happens to others. As we do our part, how do we do it? By encouraging, by caring, by sharing, by ministering. You might hear of a need. You might say, can I pray for you, brother?

[6:53] Can I pray for your sister about that need? Now, if you're a selfish person, you're probably going to struggle with this concept of edifying. If you're a narcissist, you probably don't care much for edifying.

[7:07] You just come to church to get something, and you don't really care about the others that are round about you. And that really is a selfish-hearted thing, isn't it, really, to be that way.

[7:19] And I know I need to guard against that at times where it's all about the me, me, me world. But we're here for one another. That's church. And it's got to take Christ in you to affect that heart, for you to care, for you to even want to edify one another.

[7:34] For you to actually step outside of your little shell and say, I'm actually going to reach out to someone today when I'm at church. Because church isn't about you just coming here and singing some songs and hearing a message and opening your Bible and praying.

[7:49] And it's actually about one another, which we want to explore that. The Bible talks very much about one another as we'll get to. And so this Bible model for how we ought to do church is very much about edifying.

[8:03] And we see in Acts 9.31, it says that the church was edified and then it was multiplied. We see that there in Acts 9.31. We see the church of God. It says the church has had rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria and were edified.

[8:18] Notice that we're edified, number one, and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost were multiplied. They were edified. They were multiplied. So they see the building process here.

[8:29] The building up process is part of the dynamics of what makes the church work. That's what makes a dynamic church, a church that's growing, a church that's...

[8:42] reaching and ministering and thriving is that we care for one another, that we edify one another. And edifying is about really that nurturing of spiritual growth and maturity within the body of Christ.

[8:57] It's so that the younger ones spiritually can be encouraged by us who are older ones spiritually, so that we can look out for one another, so we can minister to one another, we can disciple one another.

[9:08] That's why church matters. That's why it's good. Whenever the opportunity comes to fellowship, take it. Don't miss it. And so we see this edifying, this building up.

[9:18] It's about growing. And really, we never stop growing. You might say, I'm an older Christian. I pretty much know everything. Actually, we've only just scratched the surface, haven't we, of all the wonders of what we can learn and know.

[9:34] And so, if you boil it all down, this verse here, to a simple equation, you could say these things here. Edify, multiply. If we can edify one another, we'll see God multiply.

[9:47] We'll see the church grow. We'll see growth happens. Not only in ourselves. As we minister and we reach out, as we edify, we'll get a blessing.

[9:57] And the ones we edify get a blessing too. We know the Bible talks about growing, doesn't it? Growing in grace, growing in that wisdom, that love, that affection. And the blessings flow as we strengthen one another.

[10:10] The church will be stronger as you edify. Take that time to minister while you're here. The ministry is not just the person who stands here and delivers a sermon. The ministry is about every one of us.

[10:22] For the work of the ministry, that's the body, isn't it? That's the work of the ministry. And that involves the edifying. And so we see this growing, this increasing of spiritual relationships.

[10:34] Romans 15 talks further about how the edifying is putting others ahead of ourselves. It's the whole concept, really, of the Christ-like life is that we care about others.

[10:48] It's not about the me-me. It's about the body. And so we see Paul in Romans 15, he talks about this edifying and he unpacks it as kind of like a putting of others first before ourselves.

[11:01] He says in Romans 15, verse 1, So notice here, it's not about pleasing yourself.

[11:17] Really, that's the world, isn't it? That's the flesh. Pleasing yourself. What's in it for me? Me, me, me. It's not about pleasing ourselves, but pleasing our neighbours.

[11:27] It's about pleasing others, reaching others, blessing others for their good to edification. Acting for the good of others, imparting to others.

[11:38] And that's the kind of Christian we want to be. Some have said, well, some are a bit like they're a kind of dead sea Christian. That it's all, you know, they're taking things in and in, always receiving information and getting lots of head knowledge and information about how to be a Christian, but they're not flowing out.

[11:56] It's like a dead sea. It becomes salty and bitter and it doesn't, it's pretty useless. The dead sea is pretty useless. But we should rather be flowing out, receiving in and imparting out.

[12:11] Imparting to others, supporting others. Think of that. So when you fellowship, when you're amongst other believers, how can I be more concerned for others? How can I care about others? And as Paul's saying here, it's almost like denying yourself.

[12:24] It's not about pleasing ourselves, he says. It's sacrificing my own desires and it's rather serving others. So how are we to do that? Let's look at the how now. We've seen the what is edification.

[12:35] We've kind of explored that. It's the building up. And now we're going to see how can we make that happen? How can we do it? How can the church be edified? We see in Romans 14, 19, it talks about how, let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace.

[12:50] And the things wherewith one may edify another. Let's look out for those things. So that's what we're going to look at in the next little bit here tonight. What are the things with which we can edify one another?

[13:03] How can we do this? So tonight you're going to get a crash course in a certificate of construction. All right. I'll give you a certificate after the sermon tonight.

[13:13] You're going to have a certificate of construction. Christian construction. All right. So let's look at how, what are some of these tools that we need to be these construction workers for God. All right. Clearly, number one, we need the word.

[13:25] We need the word of God. It says there in Acts 20, 32, that the word of God is such that it edifies, it builds up God's people. It says, as Paul tells, and now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all of them which are sanctified.

[13:45] He says that the word of God, the word of his grace is able to build you up. That's why it's good to fellowship where you can get to study, get to services, get to where you can hear the word.

[13:57] But tune into the word in your iPod or whatever they call it. Tune into every means that you can access the word because the word of God is able to build you up.

[14:10] The more of the word we have, the more we're going to grow. And I know some people love to memorize scriptures and hide them in their heart, recite them to themselves, speak it to yourselves. The word of God is able to build you up.

[14:22] So the more of the word that we have, the more our faith can grow, the more we can edify. Another way of edifying, that edifying flows, is love. Paul talks to the Corinthians.

[14:32] He says, now as touching things offered unto idols, 1 Corinthians 8.1, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. Now we can get knowledge such that we might feel like we know everything, but knowledge can be sometimes a source of pride.

[14:51] And it can be not really the emphasis. We can know stuff that we don't actually practice. You know, we know some people, they don't practice what they preach.

[15:03] They might have the knowledge, but they don't live it. And so we need to live it. We need to have that love, that charity edify. So Ephesians 4 talks about the edifying of the body in love.

[15:16] Love is a really key principle for edifying. It's ministry, isn't it? Edification is ministry. It's helping others grow. So we're not being selfish. We want others to grow.

[15:28] So when we come to church and we see others that might need ministry, we see others that might not know the Saviour, we want to reach out to them. We want to edify them. We want to build them up.

[15:39] Edifying happens by brotherly love. It's through relationships. As we interact with one another, we get to know one another and we can foster that relationship. We can grow and mature in our own faith.

[15:52] We can cultivate those relationships with one another. So love is a very important truth here. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edify. Now we can get all inflated with knowledge that we don't actually apply, but charity, actually loving it, living it, and loving others is what will see God work.

[16:11] And it's that kind of team player thing, isn't it? When we're in church, when we're in a fellowship of God's people, that love is very demonstrated. And we can stir up one another.

[16:23] We see in Hebrews 10, as the writer of Hebrews talks of the reasons to fellowship, he says, Consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.

[16:34] There's a provoking unto love and to good works. He talks about not forsaking that, assembling, but exhorting one another so much the more as you see the day approaching.

[16:44] So we see love there. That's one of the reasons why we fellowship, why we assemble, that we can provoke one another unto love and to good works. So love is very important for edifying, for uplifting other people in our lives.

[16:58] It's uplifting and encouraging our brothers and sisters in the Lord. And we've all got a responsibility to do that. He says, edify one another. It's a command.

[17:09] So we should know how to do it, and we should be doing it. Another way to grow and edify is the right use of spiritual gifts. We see that in 1 Corinthians 14. It talks about edifying by spiritual gifts.

[17:21] 1 Corinthians 14 verse 12. It says, Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church. Paul's saying here, yeah, you're zealous of spiritual gifts, but make sure you excel with the purpose of edifying.

[17:39] That that's the purpose of spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts aren't for us to big note ourselves or to show off or to blab on and brag on about what we can do or what God's helped us to do.

[17:51] And all glory to God for anything such as that. But the reason he's given you a spiritual gift is that you edify one another. That you excel to the edifying of the church. And so if God's enabled you to do something, he's gifted you, excel in that for the purpose that you can contribute to the edifying of the church.

[18:11] And God has given every one of us, every one, every believer, some ability, some gifting. Use those gifts to build up, to build up others, to strengthen the church.

[18:23] A like scripture here, 1 Corinthians 12, 7, talks about the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit with all. In other words, for the common good, for the profiting of everyone.

[18:36] When you get given some ability from God's Spirit, it's given so that you can benefit others, so you can edify others. So let's encourage fellow believers.

[18:47] Here's another one along the same line. 1 Peter 4, 10, it says, As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

[18:58] So when you've got an ability, some ability to serve, to minister, he says minister to one another. Use that gift to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace.

[19:10] Edification through spiritual gifts. Here's another way, another tool in your toolbox as spiritual construction workers is the very words that you speak.

[19:24] The words that you speak can bring edification. Now, of course, our words can pull down and criticise and condemn and slander and gossip. Our words have got tremendous power.

[19:35] They can either tear down or build up. What will it be that's coming out of our lips? Will it be words that tear people down and do damage and sow discord and sow hurt?

[19:48] Or will it be words that bless and minister and encourage? Words of prayer, words of comfort, words of cheer. Our words have got tremendous power.

[19:59] So let's be mindful of that, the impact of our speech. Instead of gossip, criticism or negativity, let our words rather be words of grace, of encouragement, of love.

[20:11] As we read here, Ephesians 4.29, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good. So the use of edifying, notice that? So that it's words that will edify, that will build up, that they minister grace unto the hearers.

[20:26] Notice that here it says, to let no corrupting talk come out of our mouth. Rather words that encourage and comfort and support. No corrupt communication.

[20:38] Notice that, there's zero tolerance. Now sometimes we say, oh, I let that word slip. Actually there's zero tolerance. Let zero corrupt communication. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth.

[20:51] Try by God's grace not to utter words such as those, but rather words that will edify. Amen? Words that will minister grace. Words that will minister.

[21:03] Words that will not tear down, but words that will build up. Don't let unwholesome talk come out. Avoid destructive communication. Choose words that edify. Think about what words can I speak to others?

[21:15] Because really the words that you speak, people remember them. I can remember as a young lad where the principal of my school, I think I was in grade five or so, and he said something to me, and I still remember the words that he said.

[21:31] And even those little words, you think the power of your words, even the words that you say to a little child could stay with them for a lifetime. So we want to make sure they're right words, don't we?

[21:43] And we see that the words that we speak, they minister grace. Think of that grace in the life of the believer. It's been described as the will, the desire and power to do God's will, to minister grace, to minister as God would have you to minister, to minister words of grace, not words that will tear down, but words that will build up.

[22:05] Do our words centre on grumbling, criticising, murmuring? Let's rather choose words that are helpful. Amen? Let's determine that. Hey, I'm going to actually speak words that will minister grace, that will edify and uplift.

[22:18] Words that bless, that benefit, build up others. We see another scripture like that, Colossians 4, verse 6. It says, Let your speech be always with grace, always with grace, seasoned with salt that you may know how.

[22:32] You ought to answer every man. So we call it to gracious speech. Minister grace. Let your speech be always with grace. Another edification channel is really our actions.

[22:47] We see that in Galatians 5, 13. We see that we should, by love, serve one another. You know, the saying goes, actions speak louder than words, don't they? We can speak words that bless and edify.

[23:00] That's good. But more so, let your words translate into action too, so that you'll actually put your faith into your feet, and you'll be known for acts of kindness and generosity and service, humble service.

[23:14] And whether it's lending a helping hand to people in need, showing compassion, it says, By love, serve one another. And there's practical things. I know there's folk in our church that have been doing practical things to help people in need.

[23:26] That's what we should be doing, isn't it? We should be doing that. We should be just talking about it. We should be putting our faith into action. That the love of Christ will be seen by the deeds that we do.

[23:38] Not just in word, but in deed and in truth. To put our faith into practice. And also it talks about, as far as our actions, it says that we should be a peacemaker.

[23:50] That we should pursue that. We should follow after it. It's got the sense of chase after this. That the things which make for peace, the things we're with, one may edify another.

[24:03] Let's make every effort, is the sense of it here. Follow after the things that make for peace. The things that will edify, mutual edification. Let's make that our culture, that we'll be peacemakers.

[24:16] Amen? Sometimes it's easier to foster conflict, but rather let's be peacemakers. Let's try to be peacemakers, that God's peace would prevail. Even when there might be some difference amongst us, that God's peace would prevail.

[24:31] Let's take that philosophy of, whatever that we do, we want to edify. Whatever that we do. We see that here in this scripture here. As Paul again talks about spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 14, 26.

[24:44] He says, when they get together, He says, how is it then, brethren, when you come together? Every one of you have a psalm, have a doctrine, have a tongue, have a revelation, have an interpretation.

[24:55] And He says this, let all things be done unto edifying. So whatever you do, when you come together, when you serve, when you minister, when you fellowship, He says, let all things, all things be done unto edifying.

[25:10] So what does this principle mean? How can we practically apply this principle in our daily lives? Really, it's saying that it's all-encompassing, isn't it? It's comprehensive.

[25:20] He's saying, whatever you do, let it be done unto edifying. And there's power here. When we think, we have that culture, that building up others will build His church.

[25:33] I like to think that's kind of got a snowball effect. When we edify another, it builds that encouragement, doesn't it? It's powerful. And again, it says in 2 Corinthians 12, 19, it says, we do all things, we do all things for your edifying.

[25:52] We could just have that thought, whatever I do, all things, we want to do it with that purpose, to build, to build the church, to build up others. Would it be great if we evaluated every single action that we ever did as to whether, is it edifying or is it not?

[26:11] Well, if it's not, then maybe we shouldn't be doing it. All right? So edification. Another thing about edification is it's in the unity of the church. It's strengthening the church body.

[26:24] That instead of division or discord, we've rather got this oneness of the Spirit. We've got a unity of the faith. And it's interesting, when you look in the Word of God, there's some 59, one and others.

[26:39] And these are just some we could reflect on. And really, it's all tied in with this edifying, this concept of edifying. Edifying happens when we enact the one and others.

[26:52] All right? The one and others. We spend time together. We spend time with one another. And here's just a few of them, just a selection, really. Love one another. And he says, as I have loved you.

[27:04] That's huge, isn't it? And this command occurs at least 16 times. Apparently, love one another. So it's emphasised, love one another. And then it says, serve one another. By love, serve one another.

[27:16] It says, encourage or comfort yourselves together. Edify one another. So these are just a sample, really. Think of these things and think, how can I make this such that I implement this in my life.

[27:31] Pray for one another. It's another thing we can do, isn't it? Confess your faults one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed. It says, bear one another's burdens.

[27:42] Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ. Has someone got a burden? We can edify one another by bearing that burden. We can pray for them. We can do something practical to help.

[27:54] We can minister, minister to one another. That's all about the edifying, isn't it? We see another one here, another couple here. Forgive one another. Forgive one another. You know, that goes a long way, doesn't it?

[28:06] Forbearing one another, forbearing one another and forgiving one another. Think of that. Sometimes we think, oh, that person really rubs me up the wrong way. They get on my nerves. They get under my skin.

[28:18] The Bible says, forbear one another. Forbear one another. You might have to do a lot of that with me. You know, forbear with the pastor. Forbear one another. You mean, it's kind of got that sense of, just be gracious.

[28:28] In other words, be gracious, all right? Forbear one another. There might be times in a church setting where some people grate against you and they're a bit different from you, different culture, different way of thinking or talking or acting and it doesn't, we don't always gel together, but we can forbear one another, all right?

[28:52] Because we're family, aren't we? It's like, you don't always get on with your sister or your brother at home if you're still at home with them but there's that sense where we forbear one another because we're family, all right?

[29:05] And it talks about there also teach and admonish one another. In Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, there's a sense where even our worship is about teaching and admonishing or warning and instructing and encouraging one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

[29:22] Here's another set of one another's. Show hospitality to one another. Use hospitality one to another without grudging. Let's be generous with each other.

[29:32] Let's love one another without grudging. Don't be mean. Just be overflowing with that one another, that hospitality to one another.

[29:45] Be kind and compassionate to one another. It talks about be kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another. Think of how can I be more kind? How can that kindness come?

[29:57] You know, again, if you're like a narcissist, you don't care about what others feel, what your actions might have on others' feelings. You're just all about yourself and it can be a trap, can't it?

[30:08] To be that way inclined. But rather, as God's people, to edify one another, kindness should come from us and love and forgiveness and tender-heartedness should flow out from our life.

[30:23] And we see the next one. It says, submitting to one another. Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. There's a healthy sense where we defer to one another, where we put ourselves in the servant place, where we find ways to serve others and care about others and put ourselves out for others.

[30:46] And we see, bearing with one another in love, with long-suffering, forbearing, that word again, forbearing one another in love. So bearing with one another. There'll be tension.

[30:56] There'll be difference. There'll be different scope amongst us. There's a variety of us. We're a cosmopolitan bunch, aren't we? And yet, we have the common saviour, don't we?

[31:10] We have that common love. We've got that unity of the faith. So we should bear with one another. Here's just another set again. Care for one another. Paul tells the Corinthians, the members should have the same care one for another.

[31:25] Do we care about each other? We should, shouldn't we? We should care for one another, just like a family would care, such that a family cares when one of their number is not here, that we should care about them.

[31:37] We should care enough to reach out when we think about others, when we hear someone's not well, that we care enough to pray. We might send some message of comfort and put ourselves out such that we care for one another.

[31:50] This is the church. This is the instruction. This is God's instruction for us, that we should care for one another. And then we see Philippians 2 verse 4, we should look to the interests of one another.

[32:02] So it's not all about what I want and what I can get out of things. It says, Paul says, look on the interests, look to the things of others, look on the things of others. What do others need?

[32:13] What are the needs of others in our fellowship? Of course we have that from time to time. We hear there's a certain need, there's a certain call for help. Let's respond to that. Let's be big hearted people.

[32:24] Amen? Let's be generous hearted people. When we hear there's a need, we say, yes, how can I help? We jump in and I know some of you do. I know numbers of you, it jumps out to me that I know who to call if there's a need.

[32:37] I know who to get on the phone to because they'll say, yeah, I'll come over right away because they've got that heart. They've got that heart. Now, of course, we've not all got that same availability that you can take a call and immediately jump to action.

[32:51] But if we can just have that heart, if you can respond, respond. If you see there's a need, meet that need. Bloom where you're planted. See the need of others and take action.

[33:03] Paul tells us, look on the things of others. Have that eye to, actually, there's people hurting here. There's people who've got some needs here. And we know amongst us there's some people who've got practical needs, situations that are challenging.

[33:17] Let's look on the things of others and care about each other. And really, it all boils down to really this kind of concept of one another. And as I say, there's some 59 of them.

[33:30] You can make that your homework tonight to look it up on the internet. Look at the one another's in the Bible, some 59 of them. I guess, depending where you source that from.

[33:40] And some of them might be repeated as well, like love one another is repeated some 16 times. And the Bible talks about being members one of another.

[33:52] Romans 12, verse 5. Ephesians 4, 25. Actually, we're members one of another. It's a beautiful thought, really, isn't it?

[34:03] What the church is meant to be. That we're meant to be so connected, so interconnected, that interrelationship, that we really are. We're brothers. We're brothers. We're sisters.

[34:14] That there's something special and it's a spiritual thing. And it's even more, we're more kinfolk than our blood relatives, truly, aren't we? That we are the family of God. And so we should have that sense of members of one another.

[34:27] And then we read on, Romans 15, 5. Paul talks about, now the God of patience and consolation, grant you to be like-minded one toward another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may, with one mind and one mouth, glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[34:44] Have we got that heart, that we have got one mind and one mouth, that we're so like-minded, that we have that thought of one another. That church isn't just a meeting that we show up to, maybe once a week or more, if we're keen, but it's actually more than just a meeting.

[35:01] It's about the family of God, isn't it? We can look out for one another, we can lift each other up, and such that it's not confined to the Sunday, not confined to the Sunday meeting, but it's actually, this is our life, we're like-minded, we're one family of God, and we should be lifting each other up in daily prayers, in that reaching out to each other where we can, as we can respond, we'll meet needs.

[35:28] And we see Hebrews 3.13, it talks about, exhort one another daily while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. So this exhorting, this edifying, is such that it should be day by day by day, daily.

[35:43] Exhort one another, it says daily, every day. According to the word of God, we're to do this every day. So again, we can have the mindset sometimes, oh, we switch on to church on the Sunday, for the Sunday meeting, for the time period, whatever the time of that meeting is, and then we switch off for the rest of the week, oh, I'll see you next Sunday.

[36:04] Sunday. It's like, and of course that is the reality in our world sometimes, where we might not see each other through the week, but wouldn't it be good to have more of that, to have more of that heart, that every day we can exhort one another, and to consider one another, to strengthen one another, to support one another, to work together.

[36:27] Now I guess in modern schemes, there's ways we can message one another through the week, there's such means, now as we know Facebook and such, there's ways we can keep in touch with one another through the week, or maybe it's just a phone call, or an email, or just some way that we can connect with one another.

[36:46] And of course there's people, I usually every Sunday, I keep a track of who's here, and I tick off, yeah, they're here, they're not here, and I can see numbers of people are not here. Now we had a good number that are here this morning, but I always think, the ones who were not here, the ones who were not here, what can we do?

[37:06] It'd be good to have some kind of system, a follow-up system, and I was thinking that too, of folk that have trusted the Lord on the doorstep, how can we follow them up? Because they're, they might be going to heaven, but they're not coming to church, so they can't grow, they can't be discipled if we don't follow them up, it's a very important need, and I know some of you got that heart for discipleship, there's people out there who have trusted the Lord on their doorstep, and I've tried to reach them, I've sent them messages, but really there's something more, we need to go onto their doorstep and talk to them again, and encourage them again, and the ones who aren't fellowshipping, is there a need that we don't know about?

[37:48] Have they suddenly gone sick, or they're backslidden? How can we care enough? This is the church, these are our brothers and sisters that might need an uplift, they need an encouragement, they need that building up.

[38:01] As we talked about this morning of Nehemiah, the construction work, this is the work of the church, it's construction, isn't it? It's the building up, it's that we should be constructive Christians, and so can we think, personally think, I challenge you, how can I be more a part of that?

[38:19] How can I be a part of that? And exhorting one another daily. Maybe we need some kind of, I was kind of joking around, and I've kind of thought about it before, of like a telemarketing system, where we actually, if someone had the time to make those phone calls, look, I'm just ringing on behalf of the church, we've noticed you've not been here.

[38:39] I mean, I could do it, but I've got about 300 people on my list at the moment. So, you know, just to have some help, to make a call, hey, we missed you at church, and we're here to help, can you tell us how we can support you?

[38:51] How can we pray for you? You know, that would be good to have help like that, because how can we exhort one another? How can you be a part of that kind of ministry? So, think about it for yourself.

[39:02] What can I do? Romans 15, 6, it says that, with one mind and one mouth, we might glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[39:14] How can we have that oneness of spirit, that we'll have that one mouth, we'll have that one mind, that we'll have that one godly unity, that sweet spirit, that sweet spirit of fellowship, that ultimately all will be to the praise of our God and King, our great God and Saviour.

[39:31] So, what will you do with this information today? The doctrine of edification. Are we just going to file it away in the mental filing cabinet of our minds?

[39:43] Or will we translate it into action? Into our shoe leather? We're actually going to do something about it. Will we walk it and talk it and make it happen?

[39:56] Will our words, our actions, our relationships be about that? Edifying. That building up of others. Actually stepping out of your shell and thinking, how can I actually minister to the others?

[40:14] The other brothers and sisters and some of whom might be backsliding. Or maybe they're scarcely saved, maybe they're not saved. People that have fellowshiped, people that have attended meetings. There's a plethora of people, there's a whole band of people.

[40:28] And of course, we don't want to spam people or annoy people, which I get accused of sometimes by multiple text messages and I get people saying, we don't want to know, we don't want to hear from you anymore.

[40:40] Well, that's fine. We'd rather be annoying them than neglecting them. How can we be known as an edifying church? That people will know, yeah, this is a church that cares about people, wants me to build my faith.

[40:56] This is a church that's helping me to grow. This is a church that's giving me opportunities to encourage others to grow, such towards that goal that we're going to be more like Him, our Lord. And are we fulfilling the command, let all things be done, all things be done, unto edifying.

[41:13] So every ministry of our church, everything that we do, every dimension of the dynamics of our church, that the edifying factor is there, that all things will be done unto edifying.

[41:29] So let's think about that. I urge you tonight to personally reflect on that. How can I be a part of the building program? How can I be a constructive Christian?

[41:40] Let all things be done unto edifying. That all things will be done to the glory of God and that He will be glorified as His church is multiplied, as the people of God are edified, as His blessing happens.

[41:54] And we are part of transmitting that, of relaying that blessing. So let's heed this biblical command here in Jude 1. But ye beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

[42:15] Notice that, there's a building up of yourselves. Build up yourself and build up others. Alright? It's that thought that you should build up yourself. So, being a growing Christian, make application of your time, get some good Bible material, buy yourself some good, solid Christian books, get yourself a good study Bible, get yourself material that will help you to grow, build up yourselves on your most holy faith, build up your prayer life, build up yourself on your most holy faith, you are building a house, your house, building up yourselves.

[43:00] And let that foundation be faith. Build up yourselves on your most holy faith. So, make sure that foundation is there that you are saved. You might be hearing this today and saying, preacher, I don't know that I'm even a Christian.

[43:15] Well, it's faith, it's trust, it's believing on Christ, it's that foundation that is Christ your Saviour, it's Jesus is the foundation for your life, that you know him as your Lord, that you have trusted him and you're building your house on the rock.

[43:33] It's interesting, this word edifying, building, it's the same word that the Lord used of the man, the wise man who built, built his house on the rock.

[43:44] See, there was a foolish man who built his house on the sand. But we see the wise man built his house on the rock which represented the word of God, faith in Christ. And so, we should build ourselves on that to know the Saviour, to be saved, to know that Jesus died for your sin, he paid every bit of it, that you can have complete forgiveness of all your sin by virtue of his saving power, that you can know his saving grace, that you can be saved, born again, eternally saved by virtue of his grace through faith as you've trusted him, as you've seen the full sin debt, the exceeding sinfulness of your sin was paid, Jesus paid it, he paid it all and you can trust him as your Saviour.

[44:30] So let that foundation be faith and then build up yourselves, it says, on that most holy faith and then we see as we talked about building up others too. So, friends tonight, you are fully qualified tonight.

[44:43] You are fully qualified, you've completed this crash course in the certificate in construction and so you can join the building crew, amen? You can join the building crew.

[44:53] There's no waiting period, you can just jump straight in now because you're fully qualified, you heard what the word of God says about edification, you have the building tools, the word, love, spiritual gifts, what are you to do with them?

[45:08] Aim to edify in your words, in your actions, having a heart for one another and think of all those one and others and keep on building, keep on building, amen. Let us pray.

[45:19] Lord, we thank you that you are building your church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Lord, we pray that each one here tonight might know what it is to build their life on that solid rock, not on the sinking sand of this world but Lord, to build their faith on that solid rock that you are the one we can found our life upon, we can be planted on, we can have that sure foundation that is our salvation by grace through faith.

[45:48] Lord, and help us to be such that we're building on that most holy faith. Help us to be such that we're growing in our walk with you and help us Lord to not be just about ourselves, to be minded just about ourselves but rather to have that heart that we want to build up one another, we want to edify one another, we want to obey your command Lord that says edify one another.

[46:11] Help us Lord to have that heart for one another in all those aspects that we heard about tonight Lord, that we'll be such a people all for your glory and for your praise. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.