And today I'm preaching on what is a church and how the church functions.
! And to protect myself, I have to say this is not an exhaustive list.
! One sermon cannot exhaust what the church is.
I have 12 points, however, and each of these 12 points could be a sermon in themselves.
I was commissioned by Josh to do 15 points, but I cut it down a little.
However, this sermon serves as an overview of what Christ Church believes,
as we have some new people who are coming, how we function, and how we relate to one another in the body.
Before I jump into what the church is, I wonder, do you have a working definition of what the church is?
If you consider yourself, you know, maybe you've gone to the church for years, maybe, you know, a month,
maybe like today's your first church service. What is the church?
Do you have a working definition of what that is?
If you go into a random church, you're like, oh, this is a healthy church.
And throughout church history, the church has been called many things, right?
Including rapists, pedophiles, murderers, swindlers, master manipulators, greedy, harsh, and so on, right?
All of these things throughout church history and even now.
And if you're called and striving towards apostolic ministry or even eldership,
it's not optional for you to not have a definition of what the church is.
You must have a definition.
How can you govern God's church without knowing what it is and how it functions?
And this applies to all of us who are Christians, right?
And who don't know what the church is.
How can you give a defense for the church, a defense for your faith when the occasion arises?
You don't have a definition, right?
And so without further ado, my first point, which is that we are sons and daughters possessed by God, right?
And there's a lot of Bible passages for all of these points that I'm going to skip over.
And I've just selected a few for all of them.
These are not exhaustive, but just a few.
So the first is 1 Peter 2, 9-10.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession,
that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people.
So in other words, a people who is possessed by God is owned by God.
I possess this phone.
I own this phone.
My phone.
Do with it as I please.
And that's pretty self-explanatory.
But I want you to consider what that really means for who you are and who God is.
You are no longer your own.
You belong to God.
And you are to act in accordance to how God wants you to act.
Why?
Because he bought you.
He owns you.
You are his.
Paul often refers to himself as a bondservant of Christ doing the will of the master.
And it's not wrong for us to consider ourselves the same way.
But not as a slave, not as a servant.
But as a servant, that's not how our father relates to us.
He relates to us as sons and daughters.
And we get to share in the glorious inheritance of our savior.
Right?
We are sons and daughters who are possessed by God.
We are owned by God.
Yet he doesn't relate to us as mere property, but as sons and daughters.
Right?
Among the few that I've already named the heinous names the church has been given in church history.
So, you know, pedophiles, thieves, murderers, master manipulators.
The question we have to ask is, if that's what the church is being given, if that's a label of the church, are those people actually possessed by God?
Right?
Christ says, if you love me, you will obey my commands.
Right?
And in your life, if there's a pattern of sin in your life that's kind of defining, are you acting in accordance to how God would possess you?
You know, are you following the father of truth, his will?
Or the father of lies, Satan, his will?
Who are you possessed by?
Right?
If we are sons and daughters possessed by God, then what we are seeking is to follow his will and not Satan's.
My second point, keep chugging along here, is family.
There are lots of churches that talk a big talk about family and the family of God, yet there's no experience of family.
None whatsoever.
I've seen it firsthand.
I've been a part of it.
And what drew me to Bellicose, the church that helped plant Christ Church, was that there was family there.
Right?
Not just a mere talk of family, but it was palpable.
You could touch it.
You could experience it.
And it's a marker of Christ Church as well.
And so we don't want to just talk big about family.
Right?
We don't want to just hold hands and sing Kumbaya.
So what does that look like?
Right?
What does family look like?
Mark 3, 31 to 35 says,
And his mother and brothers came standing outside.
They said to him and called him.
And a crowd was sitting around him.
And they said to him,
Your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you.
And he answered them,
Who are my mother and my brothers?
And looking about at those who sat around him, he said,
Here are my brother, my mother and brothers.
For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.
Right?
Jesus says if anyone does the will of God.
Right?
Very familiar.
Right?
If anyone does the will of his father and his mother, they are his family.
The scripture says, test yourself to see if you are in the faith.
Right?
What does your obedience to God's will look like?
Right?
This is related also to the first point.
Right?
Are you possessed by God?
What does your obedience look like?
If you are doing the will of God, then you are considered Jesus' brother, his sister, his mother.
What does your obedience to God look like?
What does communing with God look like?
If you consider, when was the last time you picked up God's word and studied it?
Right?
What does your prayer time look like?
What does your intimacy with God look like?
Is it like relating to a family member?
To your father?
Right?
In other scriptures, like 1 Timothy 5, 1-2 says,
Do not rebuke an older man, but encourage him as you would a father.
Younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters in all purity.
Paul says in Romans 16, 13,
Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well.
The apostle Paul has someone who is related to him as a mother.
That's not his own mother.
She's commended for treating Paul like a son.
1 Peter 2, 17, Love the brotherhood.
Right?
These are all very familial languages.
And a family, especially a healthy family, is one that knows one another, knows their likes, knows their dislikes, how they're doing, what their struggles are.
They're open in heart and vulnerable as well.
Vulnerable to receiving correction.
And in the family of God, we must be in one another's lives so that we know one another.
Right?
I would have a very bad marriage if I didn't know my wife in that way, including with my kids.
Here's an example to think about.
Let's think about eldership.
Can you just be an elder in a vacuum?
Right?
No one knows you.
Right?
You must consult God's word and then consult the people of God.
Right?
If the people of God don't know you, who you are, what you do, how are you going to be able to tell if you're qualified or not?
We all have blind spots.
We must be in family.
Another example, if you're seeking marriage, you're a young man, but you're addicted to pornography and your finances are out of order,
right?
Right?
It is the burden of God's people to rebuke you and call you to Christ.
Right?
But you would not be able to know that if you're not in that person's life.
Sure.
You're so dull and so distant from the church and from the body and you're not enjoying anything right now.
It is the burden of the church to pray for you.
To question why you are so dull.
Why there's no joy in you.
It's the pro to understand, to commune with you.
To understand that maybe you haven't communed with God in the past five months.
And if you're celebrating an adoption or if you're having a birthday party and all things in life is going well, it is the burden of the church also to celebrate with you.
Right?
That is what a family does.
And in a family, it rings in Christ's church that the mission of our church is the kingdom of God in all of life together.
And it would be hard to do that mission if we're not rightly relating to one another's family.
I came from a very poor, very unhealthy family, a very abusive mother, very abusive father.
And we really don't communicate a whole lot.
And if we do communicate, it's very surface level.
And everyone just cares about their own interests.
That's not what we're pursuing.
Right?
A personal example at Christ Church is when Sarah and I were trying to buy our house in last November.
I got grilled so hard about all of my finances by different brothers.
Zamir, what happens if you lose your job?
How much do you have saved up?
What happens if your boiler goes out?
It's like 10 grand to replace those things.
Asking all of these questions, having multiple conversations.
And, you know, if all of those things were to happen, my finances were in order, I lost my job, my boiler goes out.
Do you know who I could rely on?
Those same brothers who were grilling me.
And that's the family of God.
That's the expression of the family of God.
To bear one another's burdens.
And remember, there's no perfect church.
Even if there's a strong family in a church, there's no perfect church.
And even if you found a perfect church, once you joined it, it would cease to be perfect.
Because you joined them.
Number three.
The church of God is God's bride.
Christ's bride.
Revelation 19, 17 says,
Let us rejoice and exalt and give glory.
For the marriage of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready.
Revelation 21, 2.
And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from the heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Revelation 21, 9.
Then come one of the seven angels who had seven bowls full of seven, the seven last blanks, spoke to me, saying,
Come, and I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.
This bride that is being talked about is the church.
Right?
The church of God.
As Seth preached two weeks ago, Christ is the head of the church.
And if you haven't heard that sermon, I would highly recommend it.
That the church of God acts in a feminine way towards God, towards Christ.
Right?
We are his bride.
Our affections are towards him.
We are to prepare ourselves for him.
Right?
Our desires are to be for him.
And that begs the question, where are our desires?
Right?
If we are his bride, if our affections are to be for him, if our preparation is to be for him, are we making ourselves ready?
Following the commands that he left for us.
You know, namely, the great commission that he left for us.
Make yourself ready.
Go and make disciples of all nations.
Have you considered that you are his bride?
Are you making yourself ready?
When Christ returns, he returns for his bride.
Right?
And those who are not founded in the church, and even those who despise his bride, must reconsider.
Because Christ returns for his bride.
Imagine this.
I have a group of friends who love me dearly.
Right?
Love hanging out with me.
Love talking with me.
You know, great friends.
I love talking to them.
But they hate my wife.
Or they think really ill of my wife.
What would I have to do with them?
Right?
My wife and I are one.
Right?
Yeah.
Right?
Yeah.
So Christ likewise loves his bride.
Do not despise his bride.
His bride is the church.
Point number four, fellowship.
The Greek word koinonia, bear with me, is meant to describe fellowship.
Right?
It's usually translated.
It can be translated fellowship.
It can also be translated partnership or joint participation.
Right?
So, Acts 2, 42.
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread,
and to prayer.
Right?
That fellowship there is koinonia.
It's partnership.
It's joint participation.
Right?
They devoted themselves, if you want to just say, they devoted themselves to fellowship.
The last word says,
I thank my God in all remembrance of you, always in the prayer of mine for you all making my
prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
2 Corinthians 6, 14 says,
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness?
Right?
As Josh is doing a series on partnership, suffice it to say that the kingdom of darkness rages
against the church, and we cannot stand isolated fighting by ourselves.
In this partnership that Paul talks of, we need to be joined together.
Right?
There are many who believe that they can just do church by themselves.
You know, I can just go fishing, spend time with the Lord and pray and be good.
If that were true, I wouldn't be here right now.
But don't take my word for it.
Listen to what I just read.
They devoted themselves to fellowship.
Right?
That is what the church did.
They partnered together with Paul for the gospel.
They did that together.
It's not in a vacuum.
That is not how God has set up his church to be.
Elsewhere in the Proverbs, it says,
The man who isolates himself is a fool.
That's what the scripture says.
Right?
We are not meant to be isolated.
We are meant to be yoked together in partnership.
Even the common phrase, no man is an island.
Right?
Brings that every man, even unbelievers, need community.
And the nature of God himself, the triune God is one of fellowship.
We would not have fellowship if our God didn't have fellowship.
So, on to one number five, flock.
The flock of God.
Church is the flock.
In the New Testament, usually when flock or the flock of God is mentioned,
it's usually in relation to leadership or shepherding.
Right?
Acts 20, verse 28.
Pay careful attention to yourselves and to the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God,
which he obtained by his own blood.
Peter, 1 Peter 5, 1-5.
So I exhort the elders among you as fellow elders and a witness of sufferings of Christ,
as well as a partaker in the glory that is to be revealed.
Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you,
not for shameful gain, but eagerly, not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.
And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders.
Close yourselves, all of you, with humility towards one another.
For God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
Christ is our head. He is our shepherd. He is the great shepherd.
He's the one leading us, ultimately.
And truly, we are stupid sheep. Right?
I'd admit that.
And we need his defense, and we need his guarding. Right?
Like David, before he fights Goliath, he talks to Saul, and he talks about how he protects the flock.
He fights the lion and the bear to protect his flocks.
And there's no difference in what Jesus does for us, in how he leads us, guides us, and protects us.
He defends us from the kingdom of darkness.
He guards us. He leads us in the paths of righteousness.
In the name, in his name, darkness must flee.
And for those who are considering eldership, overseeing an epistolic ministry, this is the labor of the shepherd.
Protecting the flock.
Fierce wolves are coming.
If you're thinking, I'll just kick my feet up, I'll preach a few sermons, breakfast here, dinner there, that's not it.
You protect the flock of God by ultimately looking to the head shepherd.
By praying, by fasting, weeping for the salvation of your flock's souls.
Doing meetings at 6 a.m.
After you've been up all night.
Showing up to people's houses when they're in the middle of sin.
When they've drunk, they're filled.
And it's midnight, and you're tired, and they're calling you.
Guarding the flock from stupidity.
A foolish young man who's about to make a stupid decision.
Mothers, sisters, brothers, old men in folly and need encouragement.
That is the task.
If you don't enjoy dwelling with the sheep, if you don't enjoy smelling like the flock, then you shouldn't consider being an older.
And you, flock, me, all of us, remember, the Lord is our shepherd.
We have what we need.
Number six.
Body.
For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ.
And individually members one of another, having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us.
Let us use them.
Seth again, which is a great sermon on Christ being the head of our body.
And a body without a head is dead.
And it's dead faith, right?
If you come to church and you do all the stuff, but Christ is not your foundation, he is not your head, then you have a dead faith.
And we cannot put Christ out of order.
And according to our giftings and according to how God has called us, we also must act in accordance.
I think, as I was preparing for the sermon, of the hilarity of the liver if we're trying to take the place of the hands.
Right?
Because it wanted to be seen more.
Right?
Liver is like, I really want people to see me more.
So I want to be the hands.
Like, no liver, that's not your function.
Your function is to filter.
It's to metabolize nutrients and produce critical protein.
To take out the toxins of the blood and filter those chemicals like red dye 40 and yellow 6.
And to make the body feel better.
Right?
And the body would implode and die without the liver.
If it tried to be a hand.
And in the same way, the question must be asked for you believers who make up the body.
Your giftings, your calling, are you acting according to how you are called, according to how you are gifted?
Are you prioritizing what the Lord has called you to?
How the Lord has gifted you?
Are you acting like how you must be acting?
If you're not, then you're hurting the body.
The body is not functioning the way it's supposed to be.
Because you are not.
Don't despise the giftings and the callings that the Lord has given to you.
Like how Jonah despised going to Nineveh.
Don't despise the Lord has called you to.
But look to your master and say,
You have redeemed me.
You have purchased me.
Your will be done.
Not my own.
So onto number seven.
House, building and temple.
First Peter says,
You yourselves.
I'm just going to read four scripture verses.
You yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Living stones is what I want you to take hold of.
Matthew 16, 18.
And I tell you, you are Peter.
And on this rock I will build my church.
And the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.
The confession that Christ is Lord.
Mark 11, 17.
And he was teaching them and saying to them,
It is written, my house shall be called a house of prayer for the nations.
First Corinthians 3, 16 to 17.
The you here is plural.
Plural.
Plural, by the way.
Do you know, do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's spirit dwell in you?
If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him.
For God's temple is holy.
You are that temple.
God no longer dwells in a house built by human hands.
He built, he dwells in houses bought by his blood.
Right?
His people, his possessions.
No longer do nations come to a temple to pray.
We are a house of prayer for the nations.
The greatest gift that God could have given to us is himself, which he did.
God has built his church.
And the blocks that are used for his church are living stones.
You are those stones.
And we are his temple, which leads to the next point.
Priesthood, which are, we are his priests.
Right?
We are God's house.
We are the priests in his temple.
And like I already read, we are living stones being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood.
To offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Christ Jesus.
Not only are we temple in the house of God, but in the service of the temple, we are the priests.
However, we don't rely on the blood of bulls and goats.
The one great man has already offered himself up as a sacrifice.
No more does one man have to go behind a curtain.
He has torn the curtain.
We have full access to God.
We can go before the throne of grace, the throne of God, and not die because of Christ Jesus.
He makes us priests.
Not just sons and daughters.
We are also priests.
Take care.
before obeying his commands and trusting them,
not leaning on ourselves, but leaning upon him,
leaning upon the everlasting arm.
Number nine, pillar of truth.
1 Timothy 3, 15.
If I delay, you may know how one ought to behave
in the household of God,
which is the church of the living God.
A pillar and buttress of truth.
I have no clue what a buttress is,
but it's kind of a funny word.
It's a support kind of for a wall.
It's like a triangle almost in architecture.
It supports the wall,
and it's what you'd see in really old cathedrals.
But it's a support.
It holds it up like a pillar, right?
Same word, pillar, buttress.
But the church of the living God is a pillar and buttress of truth.
John 17, 17 says,
Sanctify them in your truth.
Your word is truth.
John 4, 23.
The hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers
will worship the Father in spirit and truth.
For the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
God is spirit,
and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.
Do your best, 2 Timothy 2, 15.
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,
a worker who has no need to be ashamed,
rightly handling the word of truth.
We are a pillar of truth.
As a church, we hold truth.
We defend it.
Teeth and nail.
Our Father is truth.
His word is truth.
Jesus, our Savior, is the way, the truth, and the life.
We worship the Father in spirit and in truth.
This world with its woke ideologies and lies about so many things,
especially about who men and women are,
about how to find our value and dignity,
about how to find worth.
Search for work, not work possessions,
not possessions, riches,
not riches, go smell the roses.
Brothers and sisters, we hold the truth of the Bible,
which is the great sword to defend against these lies.
Right?
Do you recall who Satan is?
What's the name?
The Father of Lies.
If we're actively defending and fighting for truth
and holding on to what is truth,
the Father of Lies seeks to deceive us.
He seeks to deter us like Adam and Eve.
You're naive to think if he's not.
So how do we guard against Satan's schemes?
How do we safeguard against despair in the midst of temptations,
in the midst of believing lies?
We turn to God and His word,
and we worship Him in spirit and truth.
Very simple.
Where there's confusion,
where there's gray,
where there's deception,
we must turn to God.
Satan seeks to deceive,
but God seeks to bring clarity and truth.
We have to be strong in the Lord
and the power of His might.
That's the only way.
Number 10.
A holy nation.
There's three things.
A holy nation,
light of the world,
and salt of the earth.
Okay?
Three heavy hitters.
I put these three together,
mainly because I think they convey the same idea,
which is,
though we are in the world,
we are not of the world.
And first would be nations, right?
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ,
making His appeal.
God making His appeal through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ
to be reconciled to God.
An ambassador is someone from another country, right?
We are,
these churches are like little embassies.
Embassies of the heavenly kingdom.
Philippians 3.20
says the same idea,
but our citizenship is in heaven,
and from it we await a Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
No longer are we
just people of the earth,
people of heaven, right?
We are a new creation.
Born again.
We are in the world,
but we are not of the world no more.
And so,
being in the world,
and not of the world,
we seek
to fight against the darkness,
the kingdom of darkness,
which means that we are the
light of the world.
Right?
You are the light of the world.
A city on a hill cannot be hidden,
nor do people light a lamp
and put it under a basket,
but on a stand,
and gives light
in all the house.
In the same way,
let your light shine before others,
so that they may see your good works
and give glory
to your Father who is in heaven.
Right?
We are in this world
as ambassadors
to shine the light,
this new creation,
this gospel
that is inside of us,
to proclaim it
and bring light
to this kingdom of darkness
that Satan has corrupted.
And then on top of that,
we are also salt.
You are the salt
of the earth.
But if salt
has lost its taste,
how shall it
saltiness be restored?
It is no longer good
for anything
except to be thrown out
and trampled under feet.
Right?
There is nothing so good
as salt on a stake.
Right?
Like,
if I just had a stake
with no salt,
ugh.
Right?
But we are to be different.
We are not to conform
to this world.
We are to overcome this world.
Christ has already
overcome this world.
We are to be the light
of this world.
Right?
We are to God
and proclaim
His mercies.
His mercies are more.
Right?
Onward.
We are a field.
Number 11.
1 Corinthians 3, 5-9.
What then is Apollos?
What then is Paul?
Servants through whom
you have believed.
As the Lord assigned to each,
I planted,
Apollos watered,
but God gave the growth.
So neither he who plants
nor he waters
is anything,
but only God
who gives the growth.
He who plants
and he who waters
are one.
Each one will receive
his wages
according to his labor.
For we are God's
fellow workers.
You
are God's field.
God's building.
Right?
This field that
Paul and Apollos
and we also
are working in
is God's field.
Right?
And we are also
in God's field.
Right?
Planted by God.
By the use of our
someone who preached
the gospel to us
planted
and being grown
by the Lord.
Right?
You know,
that shows that
this field
that's being talked about,
it's God's field.
He plants the seed.
You know,
are you stuck
in despair?
Tired of the mundane
of lies?
And no longer
feeling joy
in your salvation?
Do you know
who gives growth
in that?
God.
Ask him to grow
you up in the faith.
Ask him to grow
your salvation.
Not salvation,
but your joy.
Ask him to grow
your pleasures.
If God's word
has been planted
deep in your heart,
then it takes root
everywhere.
Right?
There's no longer
a secret part of your life
that you want to keep.
Right?
It takes root everywhere.
And you must give
those secret things
up to the Lord.
Have you been
seeking to grow?
How have you been
seeking to grow?
Right?
Have you sought
discipleship?
Have you sought
to be father?
Have you sought
to prepare yourself
by listening
and receiving
teachings of doctrine?
Have you sought
to know God
and his word?
God is generous
to give growth.
I know.
He's given me
tons of growth.
And anything
that is healthy
grows.
He is the owner,
he is the gardener,
and he protects
the garden.
He guards,
but he also
prunes you.
The word says,
no discipline
seems pleasant
at the time,
but painful.
Later on,
however,
it produces
a harvest
of righteousness
and peace
for those
who have been
trained by it.
We need pruning.
We need discipline.
It's God
who prunes.
Do not despise
his discipline.
Number 12.
Almost there.
The church
is God's army.
Right?
I think it's way
cooler to think
of an army
like a Spartan army
like a Roman army
like a sword
and shields
than like an army
with guns.
I just think
it's way cooler.
Maybe I'm a romantic
of swords and shields,
but I just think
it's so much cooler.
And Paul agrees
because he's never
seen a gun before.
But there are
three foes
that we fight
against
in the army
of the Lord.
Right?
There's two external
foes
and one internal
which is our own
flesh.
Right?
Paul tells us
in Ephesians 6,
finally,
be strong
in the Lord
and in
the strength
of his might.
Put on the whole
armor of God
so that you may
be able to
withstand the schemes
of the devil
or stand against
the schemes of the devil.
For we do not
wrestle against
flesh and blood,
but against the rulers,
against authorities,
against cosmic powers
over this present
darkness,
against the spiritual
forces of evil
in the heavenly places.
Therefore,
take up the whole
armor of God
that you may be able
to withstand
in the evil day
and having
done all
to stand firm.
We are in
these evil days.
These days are evil.
Right?
And our battle,
we must remember,
is not against
flesh and blood,
but the cosmic powers.
We need to see that.
We fight against
Satan
and his lies
who tempts us
away from the
Father of Truth.
So what do we do
in his lies?
We fasten
the belt of
truth.
And we wrestle.
And as we wrestle
in the world
of unrighteousness,
we must wrestle
with the
breastplate of
righteousness.
Right?
The two foes
that are external
is the world
and the devil.
Right?
And then our flesh
loves
the devil.
Loves the world.
When Satan tempts
us,
our flesh is like,
oh,
bro,
just give it.
You know you want it.
That is your old man
coming out
and saying,
you used to be like this.
You can be like this again.
Remember how sweet it was?
But we must beat
that old man
in submission.
We must take up
our cross
and crucify our flesh
and follow Christ.
I recently read
The Old Man in the Sea.
Good book.
I dropped out of high school
so I didn't get to read
it in high school.
But most of you
have probably read it.
But there's
there's a
the scene
that I want to describe
is when
he's fighting
against
the marlin.
This great big fish
that's 18 feet long.
Right?
And
it's just himself
in a small skiff
and his left arm
is cramping
the entire time
and
his back
like
he has the cord
on his back
and he's wrestling
against this great fish
day and night
and he seeks
the glory
and the prize
of getting this fish.
So we must wrestle.
So we must fight.
But our prize
is not a great fish.
And the great fish
ends up being eaten.
Our prize
is an eternal crown.
Crown of glory.
And as the old man
wished
throughout the entire story
for
that boy
who would help him
a lot
we have
men and women
who must
link arm
with us
in this army
of God.
Right?
We are not
in this army
by ourself.
Right?
We must fight together.
We must be praying
for one another.
We must be communing
with one another.
That's why family
is so important.
Finally,
point number 13.
The ekklesia.
Sorry for all the Greek.
Ekklesia
is the word
that is
often translated
church.
Right?
And I want to
put in parentheses
legislative body.
Right?
But before
anything
I want to read
Acts 19
23
and 38
to 41.
And I want to read
this mainly
to show
that ekklesia
was a common
word that was used.
Right?
Acts 19.
Now some
cried out
one to another
some another
for the assembly
was in confusion
and most of them
did not know
why they had
come together.
If therefore
Demetrius
and the craftsmen
who are with him
have complaint
against anyone
the courts are open
and they are pro-council.
Let them bring
charges against
one another.
But if you are
seeking anything
further
it shall be
settled in the
regular assembly
the regular
ekklesia.
for we are really
for we really
are in danger
of being charged
with rioting today
since there is no
cause
that we can give
to justify
this commotion.
And when he had
said all these things
he dismissed
the assembly
the ekklesia.
Ekklesia
is simple
in definition
can be translated
assembly
which is what
it was there.
It is not a word
that was invented
by Paul
not a word
that was invented
by Jesus
but a very
common word
that was being
used already.
And in antiquity
the Greeks
would use the word
ekklesia
for political events
right?
It would mean
there
an event
that occurred
for the meetings
of citizens
where they would
vote on various
things.
I bring this up
because
the word
ekklesia
is also
translated
to mean
church
right?
But the word
church
truly didn't
start being
used until
about the
12th century.
And I've
met many
people
who have
used the
argument
that ekklesia
means assembly
right?
So where
two or three
are gathered
there Christ
is
right?
On a Sunday
morning.
So every
Sunday morning
you know
what I do?
at 9 a.m.
I go out
to the golf
course
with my buddies.
It's the
ekklesia baby.
But I really
want to fight
against this.
It's not just
assembly.
It's an
assembly
of people
who are
coming together
who are
common
and yoked
together
for the
body of
Christ.
right?
And even
if we
read
Matthew
18
15
to 20
which
also has
the word
assembly
in it
it says
if
if your
brother
sins
against
you
don't
tell him
his
faults
between
you
and
him
alone
if
he
listens
to
you
have
gained
your
brother
but if
he does
not
listen
take one
or two
others
with you
that
every
charge
may be
established
by the
evidence
of two
or three
witnesses
if he
refuses
to listen
to them
tell it
to the
church
the
ecclesia
the
assembly
and if
he
refuses
to
listen
even
to
the
church
let him
be to
you
as a
gentile
and tax
collector
truly I
say to
you
whatever
you
bind
on
earth
shall
be
bound
in
heaven
and
whatever
you
loose
on
earth
shall
be
loosed
in
heaven
again
I
say
to
you
if
two
of
you
agree
on
earth
there
are
two
or
three
gathered
in
my
name
there
I
am
among
them
this
text
is
giving
christ
is
giving
permission
for
those
two
or
three
to
what
is
bound
on
earth
shall
be
bound
in
heaven
right
he's
giving
authority
to
the
church
to
be
able
to
do
such
a
thing
as
expelling
a
brother
from
the
church
who
is
not
obeying
his
commands
and
it
says
if
he
refuses
to
listen
to
them
tell
it
to
the
church
right
the
assembly
one
thing
to
consider
here
is
that
it
means
that
there's
someone
who
knows
this
brother
right
it's
not
a
random
group
of
people
it's
people
who
knows
his
brother
who
knows
his
life
and
who
knows
these
other
brothers
that
are
coming
tell
it
to
the
regular
assembly
who
gather
together
they
know
one
another
right
it's
a
connected
people
and
they're
accountable
to
one
another
and
just
some
more
on top
of
this
in
the
book
of
Acts
there's
an
assembly
of
people
that
happens
and
there's
a
group
of
120
people
gathered
in
the
upper
room
they're
assembling
together
right
and
there's
some
way
that
someone
knew
that
there
was
120
because
they
knew
everyone
right
it
wasn't
just
a
random
gathering
even
more
when
they
were
meeting
in
the
temple
there
were
3,000
who
were
gathering
how
could
you
know
if
there
was
3,000
if
you
didn't
know
these
people
right
someone
is
keeping
track
of
who
these
3,000
are
right
if
people
belong
to
the
church
right
the
ecclesia
then
they
are
regularly
gathering
together
and
know
one
another
!
point
13
got to
the
conclusion
but
just
in
conclusion
I
have
a
quote
from
the
great
scholar
and
pastor
Brian
Pirtle
in
the
context
of
the
local
church
there's
clarity
there's
healthy
order
and
there's
a
shared
responsibility
none
of the
leaders
are
perfect
and
none
claim
to
be
but
they
are
grounded
in
the
gospel
aiming
to be
spirit
led
aiming
to be
bible
soaked
people
aiming
to be
clear
with
one
another
you
might
agree
but
have
your
labors
grown
dull
in
the
pursuit
of
the
church
do
your
labors
need
to be
refreshed
are
you
seeing
God's
church
the way
that
God
sees
his
church