Understanding the Body of Christ

Well, from last week, we'll just go straight into the teaching this morning. As a recap of what we learned last week, it was as a fallout of the teachings that we've been having since the month of March, late March, on the series, Partakers... how to be partakers of the, how partakers, being partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. Apologies, please. And then from there, pastor went into the teaching about the preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ over his church. And I said to us last Sunday that One of the things that we must trust God to help us with this season is that even as we are the church of the living God, we need to rise in this hour as we have been challenged by the series of teachings that have come to us, that there is a need for the true church to arise in our days and that we will find those who will be able to stand. in the defense of the gospel. This morning, we're going to continue from where we stopped last Sunday. We talked about looking at the building and the body of Christ. That as the building and the body of Christ, what is our responsibility as part of that body if things are not going right as they should? As we see today in the body, what are we supposed to do as being part of that body of God, of being part of the body of Christ? And then we started by looking and examining the building. The Bible says we are God's building, we are also his body. And so in order for us to be able to understand what our roles and responsibilities are within the sphere of this Two metaphors that are used in the Bible to describe the church. We looked at the foundation, which is the most critical part of the building, as we all know. And we arrived at a conclusion that for everyone who is going to be part of the church, has first and foremost to be saved. If you are going to be part of... the body of Christ, if you are going to gain any form of entry into this kingdom, the first port of call is your salvation. And that we should not take it for granted that because we have been within the spheres or the periphery of the church for so long, we have the language, we can speak Christianese, we are even part of the missionary force. And all of that. At the end of the day, if you truly have not encountered Christ, then you are not part of the body. There must be that encounter that you will have with Jesus Christ that will put a stamp on your life. There will be a 360 turn around and that your life will never remain the same again. One other thing we learned last Sunday is you can never truly know your identity until you encounter Christ. Without your encountering Christ, you cannot truly know who you are. It is when you come to meet with him that he unfolds to you who you truly are, what your assignment is, what your role is in the body. And so, except we come to that place where every one of us has truly encountered Christ, we understand what he has called us to do in his body, then and only then can we effectively participate and be part of what God is doing. And so, this morning, we are going to go a bit further in our teaching. I want to look... So let me just give us this. For those, I don't know if there's anyone here present this morning who probably by the reason of the teaching last Sunday. gave his or her life to Christ. But I want to share this with you briefly, quickly, as I take home. There are three important possibilities that our new birth experience affords us. Number one, it affords us to enjoy God's life and to enjoy a relationship with him. If we go to John chapter 14, verse 6, we would see it there. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes unto the Father except through him. And so we begin to enjoy life with God. We begin to enjoy fellowship with God. The second thing that we gain is that we gain new perspectives. We can now see the kingdom of God. The word becomes clearer to us so that every time pastor is teaching, You will not complain that the word was flying over your head, that you would understand spiritual things. They become more clearer to you and you have a better understanding of what is going on within the body. Faith is also activated in your heart because without faith you cannot truly please God. And then thirdly, we are introduced to a new realm of God's kingdom order. Such kingdom order, such that everyone who comes into the kingdom understands and begins to learn the values of the kingdom, the virtues of the kingdom, the constitution of the kingdom, because it's a different world, a different kingdom completely from where we are coming from. Our whole being is opened up to the possibilities of the supernatural dimensions of life, so that you're normal. God's super comes upon your normal and you begin to live a supernatural life. I also want to encourage you that you should join the ATS even as you have chosen to go with Jesus. May the Lord bless you in Jesus'mighty name. So let's quickly go to our text of scripture, Matthew chapter 16. Can we quickly go there? Can you give me that scripture? Matthew chapter 16. Okay, 13. When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples saying, who do men say that I, the son of man, am? So they said, some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, another Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He said to them, but who do you say? that I am. Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus answered and said to him, blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church. and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Now, from last week, we also confirmed that Jesus is the foundation of this church that he is building. I want us to go further into that by looking at one or two scriptures to buttress what we are saying. The deity of Jesus Christ can never be truly known except through divine revelation. Without divine revelation, the best that men will attribute Christ Jesus to be is one of the great prophets. As you have today in many religions, they don't believe that Jesus actually is the Son of God and you can never truly encounter him or know him as his true Son of God except that he is revealed to you. So Jesus is alive forevermore. He is God in the flesh who took away the sins of the world. He rose from the dead and is seated at the right hand of the majesty. We give him all the glory and praise this morning in the mighty name of Jesus. Here Jesus turns to Peter. After Peter, After the revelation God gives to Peter about the true identity of Jesus, and Jesus himself now turns to him and says to him, and I say to you, You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail over it. There are people in the church today who believe that Peter is that foundation that Jesus was talking about, that he is the foundation of the church. That is not true, or far from the truth. I want us to go to 1 Corinthians 1, 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 11. I want us to quickly buttress that point that Jesus is the foundation of the church. It is upon him that everything regarding the church will be built. 1 Corinthians 3, can we start from verse 10? demands that only he, only he can be the foundation of the church. There is no man that can carry or that is sufficient enough to be the foundation of the church because Jesus paid the price for it. The church is built upon the revelation of the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus. Peter did not die for the sins of the world. So there is no way and no man died for the sins of the world except Jesus. And so he has the right, the full authority, to be the foundation of what he is building. And as we will see as we go on this morning. The raw material for the foundation of the church, like I said, is the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus. In that lies the power for salvation. Paul said in Romans chapter 1 verse 16, For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto the salvation, for the Jew first, and then for the Greek. Praise the Lord. It is a powerful salvation for everyone who believes. And so, what truly is the gospel of Christ? Why is that gospel so important? Why is the revelation of Jesus as... The revelation of Jesus'death, his burial and resurrection, the foundation upon which the church is standing today. I want us to go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Read from verse 1 to 4. This is the gospel that Paul outlines here for everyone. Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved if you hold fast that word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. He's going to the foundation. For I deliver to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the word of God. to scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures and that he was seen by Cephas then by the twelve. Please go on. After that, he was seen by over 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some are falling asleep. After that, he was seen by James, then all the apostles. Verse 8. Then the last of all, he was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. Here, Paul again is trying to... He's going straight to the foundation. How the Corinthian church even came to believe in the first place. How they became part of God's church. He had to deal with the very roots. Because of everything that was going on within that church at that time. And so he tells them about the burial, the death, the burial and the resurrection of Jesus. As the foundation upon which their faith resides. If you go down within that scripture, you will see where he talks about if Jesus did not die and he did not rise again. then our faith is hopeless and we are of all men the most miserable. So the foundation of who we are as a church today is what Jesus Christ did for every one of us. And building on this show and tried foundation requires patience and endurance. There are no quick fixes in God's kingdom. It will require discipline, painstaking efforts. giving ourselves to the study of the word of God, to obeying the word of God, to prayers, to practicing righteousness, for us to build anything that will be lasting and enduring. Every stone that will be part of this building has to go through the same process of testing as the foundation stone went through. In Isaiah chapter 28 verse 16, God here introduces to us Jesus as that foundation of the church that he's going to build in the future. Now we're talking about the Old Testament, so this was a picture of what was going to happen when Jesus was going to show up on the face of the earth. He says in Isaiah 28 verse 16, he says, therefore, thus says the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion a stone. For a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation, whoever believes in him will not act hastily. And so in this kingdom, for you to be part of it, you have to be cut out from that same nature of that stone that Christ is made of. And in you being part of that stone, which is part of the building, You also will have to go through the same process of trials. Because it is through that process of trials, it is through that process of pruning, that we become more and more like Jesus. And so, with the foundation, if we're ever going to be part of that foundation, or we're going to be laid upon that foundation, then it requires... That we will exercise discipline, we will exercise as much restraint, and we will give ourselves to much of the word of God in obeying his word, in prayers, in practicing righteousness in order for us to be part of that body that he is building. This same scripture you will find in 1 Peter. Apostle Peter also, you know, mentions this scripture or quotes this scripture in 1 Peter 2, verse 1 to 6. But you will find out that in this scripture, his emphasis really is on the chief cornerstone. There is no mention of the foundation here. So in 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 4 to 8, it says, Coming to him as a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious. You also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. There's in verse 6 there. No, in verse 4. Verse 5, sorry. Something struck me while I was reading it. It says, you also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through who? Through Jesus Christ. Have you discovered that when you... When you go through the scriptures, especially the New Testament, when the mystery of Christ is being unveiled, whether by Paul or any of the apostles, everything they talk about when it concerns us and Christ says, in Christ, through Christ, in Christ. with Christ. Everything about our faith revolves around him. There is no getting away from Jesus. And so what that scripture is trying to tell us that even for us to be able to offer acceptable sacrifices to God, it must come through who? It must come through Christ. He is the only one through which the Father is seeing us. Outside of him, you and I cannot stand. You and I cannot offer any sacrifice that will be acceptable to the Father. And so, through Jesus, our sacrifice as the church, as the body, as the temple that he is building is acceptable because we are offering it through Jesus. There is no aspect of our Christian life that is or should not be impacted by Christ. There is no Christian life... outside of Jesus. No matter how awesome your testimony is, we must be able to trace it to Jesus. I hope you heard what I said. No matter what your testimony is, we must be able to trace that testimony to Jesus. That you hit jackpot. Let us trace it to Jesus. Whatever it is that our testimony will be, so that when others hear it, they will be able to say, yes, indeed, God is great. There are some testimonies we cannot share in church. There are testimonies that you know. that the way you came about it does not have Christ in it at all. May the Lord help us. So that everything that we do, every aspect of our lives, that is why he must have preeminence. That is what it means. That when he has preeminence in every area of our lives, he is the one in charge. And because he is the one controlling things, it will not be difficult when... Because of your obedience, something beautiful comes out of it. You can boldly come before your brethren and say, this is what the Lord has done. So this morning I want to encourage you, if you are still changing numbers at work, or doing any of those sort of things, please. I beseech you by the mercies of God, put an end to it today. And so we also find Apostle Paul in writing to the Ephesians, he refers to this church that God is building as the foundation of the apostles and prophets and Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone. Can we quickly go to Ephesians chapter 2 verse 19 to 22. Paul here says that we are being built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone. So does it mean that the apostles are the foundation of the church also? Are the apostles the foundation on which the church is built? As some believe that Peter is the rock on which the church is built. If as Paul himself affirms in 1 Corinthians 3, 11, that there is no other foundation that anyone can lay other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ, then what foundation is he referring to here in Ephesians? Third, what does it mean when the scripture refers to Jesus? as the chief cornerstone. I don't know if you have ever asked that question. What does it mean when the scripture says that Christ is the chief cornerstone? We'll go back to 1 Corinthians because the revelation of Christ, God's anointed one, he is the one and the only true foundation upon which the church is built. as we read in first corinthians chapter 10 chapter 3 verse 10 to 11 as first-hand witnesses and to those whom christ the mystery of christ was revealed The foundation apostles and prophets of the church bore the doctrinal and spiritual oversight of the church. Since they were the ones who received firsthand the revelation of the mystery of Christ, they were the ones who were given the responsibility to lay that foundation. And so in laying that foundation, They were laying the foundation and they are not necessarily the foundation. The foundation is Christ. The revelation of that Christ which they received, they are not, their responsibility was to lay that foundation which is Christ Jesus and to ensure that the church was being built according to pattern. They were the ones who received the living oracles from God. And so therefore, they were the ones who were given, they were the custodians of what Jesus Christ had paid for and had purchased. And they had the accurate picture and the accurate pattern of what the church was meant to look or is meant to look like. And so when the scripture says there that they were built on the foundation, of the apostles and the prophets and Christ Jesus being the foundation. It is that revelation of Christ that he received, that he laid as foundation for the church. Ephesians chapter 3 verse 1 to 5 we'll find Paul here also saying or emphasizing this truth when he says in Ephesians chapter 3 verse 1 to 5, it says, for this reason I hold the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles, if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation he made known to me the mystery, as I have briefly written already, by which when you read you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ. which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets. And so you will see Paul saying there how they came about, or how he came about the mystery of Christ Jesus, and how he began to lay that foundation in every church where he established or had the opportunity. to be part of. Let us quickly go to Jesus as the chief cornerstone of the church because he refers to Jesus there in that scripture as the cornerstone. For us to understand this very well, we must understand the way buildings were. were constructed in the first century, they normally would use stones for the construction of buildings. And so when they get to site, the first stone that is laid on that site, that stone is called the corner stone. It's positioned in one of the four corners in which that building will be constructed. And that cornerstone becomes a standard, a measurement for every other stone that will be built on it for that building to be constructed. It was the most important part of that building. And we discovered that why is it so? That that cornerstone, if for any reason the cornerstone is skewed in any way, If that cornerstone has any form of, is angulated in any way that is not proper, everything that is built on that building, by the time you finish that building, that building will not be what you intended for it to be when you started constructing it. And so everything that was going, every other stone that will be built on that stone has to take its, what? Its shape. has to take what its alignment from that first stone that he set. What is he saying to us this morning? Jesus is the standard of measurement for every living stone that is to come to him. Our lives must be conformed to him. If we are the living stones in which God is building a spiritual house that will be filled and will become the temple in which we offer up unto him. offerings, our sacrifices that will be acceptable to the Lord, every one of us must find our standing, our positioning in Christ Jesus. The reason why this issue of foundation and the cornerstone is very important, if your foundation is not correct, there is nothing you build on that foundation that will last. And this also goes into speaking into those who came into the kingdom with the wrong type of gospel. The manner of entry into the kingdom is very important. That you were sold a lie. That once you come into the kingdom... All your problems will disappear. You are going to live a life of bliss, a life of happiness, joy. Everything is going to be rosy. Whoever preached that gospel to you has defrauded you. Because the gospel in itself is a total package. And the Bible says, in the book of Philippians, that it is not only given to you to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, it is also given to you to suffer for his sake. So any gospel that tells you that you are not going to suffer, that gospel is lying to you. Whoever taught you that is a false prophet. And the problem the church is having today, while we are having all manner of things going on in the church, is because of issues like this. When a church begins to emphasize one particular strand of the gospel, and they emphasize it, and they stay on it, and that is what they are pushing, it becomes a problem. Because whatever it is that we are teaching, as ministers of the gospel, as members of the body of Christ, it must be complete. It must be the total package. There is nothing that you can take out of it. There is nothing you can add to it. What Jesus has done is complete. Will you be blessed? Definitely. For your sake, he became poor, so that by his poverty, we all can become rich. So there's that aspect there for us. But we don't now make it the pillar or the focus of what the church is all about. That is error. Matthew chapter 7. Just to buttress this point. If the foundation is faulty, you will need God to help you. Matthew chapter 17. Sorry, Matthew chapter 7, verse 21 to 27. Jesus says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me that the old Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who did what? Who built his house on the rock. And the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house and it did not fall for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house. On the sand, and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house, and it fell, and great was its fall. Every foundation that is built on man, every foundation that is built on the philosophies of men, that foundation, if what they sold you is philosophy in church, cerebral Christianity, no encounter with Christ, and you begin to build on that foundation, it's a question of time. Because the weight of what is coming upon it, the superstructure that will come upon it, The foundation will determine whether or not it can hold. And anything that is not built on Christ will eventually what? It will eventually crash. Praise God. Let's quickly go into looking at the building materials for this church that Christ is building. The building materials for the... for this edifice that Jesus is building. I want us to go to 1 Corinthians 3. I'll be reading from verse 5. Here Paul addresses the church in Corinth. At this point in time, they had set up different camps in relation to their preferred man of God. Are we here? He attempts here to clear... the lack of understanding, their lack of understanding, and warns them against their carnal tendencies by explaining to them what the roles and responsibilities of the ministers of the gospel in the building of the church, what their roles are. He says, after all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God's servants through whom you believed the good news. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. That's very critical. The work you are doing, is it the work that the Lord gave you? Or you are doing something else? I planted a seed in your hearts and Apollos watered it. But it was God who made it grow. It's not important who does the planting or who does the watering. What's important is that God makes what? Makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded. for their own hard work. For we are both God's workers and you are God's field, you are God's building. Paul had an accurate perspective of what the church is, his role in the church, and he said to them, we are God's fellow workers, you are God's field, you are God's building. He uses the illustration of a cultivated land as workers who go to plant and to water the seed. And he tells them in the church here that, look, whatever it is that you are getting as results today is not because of what I and Apollos have done. Yes, we have done our own part. The only reason why we are having results is because God has added his own. There is no man of God anywhere on the face of the earth except he is helped of the Lord and sent of the Lord. If you are getting results outside of what Jesus has given you as a template, it's a question of time. We will soon find out in this scripture now that you will discover that it's also important what you build on this foundation that because God has given us the responsibility and the privilege to be co-laborers with him in cultivating this land, which is the church. We are putting the seed of God's word. Another is watering it. In another translation, Paul says there that I planted the church. Apollos came to care for it, but it is God that brought the increase. So if there is any increase at all, it's because God is involved in it. And so Paul is trying to also say here, when emphasis is placed more on the minister of the gospel than God, who causes growth and increase, the people shall change themselves and they remain immature. Because you now begin to create camps. Paul, I'm for Paul. I'm for Apollos. I am for safers as though they were the ones who died for you. At the very best, every minister of the gospel is a fellow worker. And so they have nothing to boast about since God is the one who gives the increase. Number three, they will not receive rewards based on their individual work. It is what you have put in that you get as a result. And be sure that what you are putting in is what God has said you should put in. Because you will not get a result for what God has not ordered for you to do. And so in terms of purpose, and the gold. They were supposed to work as one. There was a level playing field, but what you put in it in terms of hard work, in terms of effort, that is what you get as reward. Praise the Lord. The other illustration he uses here, you are God's building. Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. We'll read from verse 9 to 17. 1 Corinthians 3, 9-17. I want to read from the TPT translation from verse 12. The quality of materials used by anyone building on this foundation will soon be apparent, whether it has been built with gold, silver, and costly stones, or wood, hay, and straw. Their work will soon become evident for the day. The day will make it clear because it will be revealed by blazing fire. And the fire will test and prove the workmanship of each builder. If his work stands the test of fire, he will be rewarded. If his work is consumed by the fire, he will suffer great loss. That is his own reward. The loss is his reward because he's not getting it. In fact, by the time he says... If his work is consumed by the fire, he will suffer great loss. Yet he himself will barely escape destruction, like one being rescued out of a burning house. Don't you realize that together you have become God's inner sanctuary and that the Spirit of God makes his permanent home in you? Now, if someone desecrates God's inner sanctuary, God will desecrate him, for God's inner sanctuary is holy, and that is exactly... who you are. What is Paul saying in this scripture? Every leader who God has set over the church must understand their role and responsibility in the building process and they must remain faithful to it. And you are only permitted to build on the foundation that you are giving. You are not permitted to become creative. And so there is only one foundation you are building on, and that is the foundation of Christ Jesus. And each one of us should be careful what material we use in building upon this foundation. To build with precious materials is to teach sound doctrine, and to live a life of faithfulness to the truth, in which it turns... which in turn helps build believers to maturity. I'll take that again. To build with precious material is to teach sound doctrine and to live a life of faithfulness to the truth, which in turn helps build believers to maturity. Four, to build with perishable material is to teach on sound doctrine or to compromise the truth and to live a lifestyle that contradicts. or fails to model it. The quality of each man's work will be tested by fire. Every builder will eventually become accountable to Christ, who himself is the builder of the church. So he hired every one of us, and he gave us our portion. And so as we take on that portion, at the end of the day, whether we now build on that foundation with... Quality material, the fire will test it. And when the fire tests it, whether it remains or not is a question of time. Because there will be no hiding place. And it is such churches that are built on unsound doctrines that have challenges. They scatter at the end of the day. But we thank God for this house. We thank God for the grace that is upon... the life of our serving overseer, how... Without fail, he has continuously taught us the whole counsel of God's word so that each and every one of us will be able to stand and that we will be able to build upon that foundation something that is worthwhile and that will be lasting. As I round off this teaching this morning, because of time, I want to give us... A snapshot of what is sound teaching in a church, what it produces. And Paul gives us an example. One of the major problems facing the church today is the lack of sound ministers who teach sound doctrine. You know, and Paul warned Timothy. He says, I charge you therefore, 2 Timothy 4, 1 to 5. I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead that is appearing and his kingdom, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and teaching, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. Are we in that season? Are we in those times? But according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they have heaped for themselves teachers. You will see some people, they will do... What God cannot in the morning, in the next one they will do, they just, I don't know, by the time they finish, they are confused because they take everything, drink from every fountain, both polluted, pure and everything, and they get messed up at the end of the day. In the book of Titus chapter 2 verse 1 to 11, we are given the picture of the qualities of a sound church. which is a result of sound teaching. Titus 2 verse 1 to 15. It says, but as for you, he emphasizes whatever might be happening, whatever others may be doing, whatever may be going on within the church as a whole, but as for you, if everybody is involved in things that are ungodly, it is not you, Titus. But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine, that the older men may be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience. These are the qualities we must trust God for in the CGCC. The older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not giving too much wine, teachers of good things. That they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded in all things, showing yourself to be a pattern. Because God is no longer building, they are no longer buildings as patterns. They are human beings as patterns. And he says to him here, In all things, showing yourself to be a pattern of good works, in doctrine, showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you. Exhort born servants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well-pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may have done the doctrine of God. our Savior in all things. For what? For the grace of God that brings salvation as appeared to all men, teaching us that denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live what? Soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Lord, of our great Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ. who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people zealous for good works. The grace of God has appeared to us. That grace came in the person of Jesus and that grace also teaches us. That is why as good as it is for every one of us to sit under this kind of teaching, let Jesus himself also teach you. That is because second-hand revelation is powerless. If you cannot stand and you do not have what it takes to stand in the evil day. God forbid, can we rise this morning and thank God? Can we ask for the grace to be able to stand, the grace to be able to do God's will, the grace to be able to teach? Because all of us are teachers, all of us are pastors, all of us, whatever it is that God has given to you, you must be one that teaches sound teaching, sound doctrine in the mighty name of Jesus. Can we thank God and bless his holy name this morning that Lord we commit we thank you for your word this morning. Thank you oh Lord for what Lord you have sent to us as your will and your mind this morning. We pray that every one of us will truly align. Our lives oh Lord will be in alignment with yours. We will become more and more like Christ and our lives oh Lord will be transformed together as one body. Lord we will be we will be become a spiritual house that is built, oh Lord Father, a holy temple where we can offer to you spiritual sacrifices that is acceptable to you, oh God, in the mighty name of Jesus. Thank you, Father. In Jesus'mighty name, we have prayed.

And then from there, pastor went into the teaching about the preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ over his church. And I said to us last Sunday that One of the things that we must trust God to help us with this season is that even as we are the church of the living God, we need to rise in this hour as we have been challenged by the series of teachings that have come to us, that there is a need for the true church to arise in our days and that we will find those who will be able to stand. in the defense of the gospel.

This morning, we're going to continue from where we stopped last Sunday. We talked about looking at the building and the body of Christ. That as the building and the body of Christ, what is our responsibility as part of that body if things are not going right as they should?

As we see today in the body, what are we supposed to do as being part of that body of God, of being part of the body of Christ? And then we started by looking and examining the building. The Bible says we are God's building, we are also his body.

And so in order for us to be able to understand what our roles and responsibilities are within the sphere of this Two metaphors that are used in the Bible to describe the church. We looked at the foundation, which is the most critical part of the building, as we all know. And we arrived at a conclusion that for everyone who is going to be part of the church, has first and foremost to be saved. If you are going to be part of... the body of Christ, if you are going to gain any form of entry into this kingdom, the first port of call is your salvation.

And that we should not take it for granted that because we have been within the spheres or the periphery of the church for so long, we have the language, we can speak Christianese, we are even part of the missionary force. And all of that. At the end of the day, if you truly have not encountered Christ, then you are not part of the body. There must be that encounter that you will have with Jesus Christ that will put a stamp on your life. There will be a 360 turn around and that your life will never remain the same again.

One other thing we learned last Sunday is you can never truly know your identity until you encounter Christ. Without your encountering Christ, you cannot truly know who you are. It is when you come to meet with him that he unfolds to you who you truly are, what your assignment is, what your role is in the body.

And so, except we come to that place where every one of us has truly encountered Christ, we understand what he has called us to do in his body, then and only then can we effectively participate and be part of what God is doing. And so, this morning, we are going to go a bit further in our teaching. I want to look...

So let me just give us this. For those, I don't know if there's anyone here present this morning who probably by the reason of the teaching last Sunday. gave his or her life to Christ.

But I want to share this with you briefly, quickly, as I take home. There are three important possibilities that our new birth experience affords us. Number one, it affords us to enjoy God's life and to enjoy a relationship with him. If we go to John chapter 14, verse 6, we would see it there.

Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes unto the Father except through him. And so we begin to enjoy life with God.

We begin to enjoy fellowship with God. The second thing that we gain is that we gain new perspectives. We can now see the kingdom of God. The word becomes clearer to us so that every time pastor is teaching, You will not complain that the word was flying over your head, that you would understand spiritual things. They become more clearer to you and you have a better understanding of what is going on within the body.

Faith is also activated in your heart because without faith you cannot truly please God. And then thirdly, we are introduced to a new realm of God's kingdom order. Such kingdom order, such that everyone who comes into the kingdom understands and begins to learn the values of the kingdom, the virtues of the kingdom, the constitution of the kingdom, because it's a different world, a different kingdom completely from where we are coming from. Our whole being is opened up to the possibilities of the supernatural dimensions of life, so that you're normal. God's super comes upon your normal and you begin to live a supernatural life.

I also want to encourage you that you should join the ATS even as you have chosen to go with Jesus. May the Lord bless you in Jesus'mighty name. So let's quickly go to our text of scripture, Matthew chapter 16. Can we quickly go there? Can you give me that scripture? Matthew chapter 16. Okay, 13. When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples saying, who do men say that I, the son of man, am?

So they said, some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, another Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He said to them, but who do you say? that I am.

Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus answered and said to him, blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church.

and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Now, from last week, we also confirmed that Jesus is the foundation of this church that he is building. I want us to go further into that by looking at one or two scriptures to buttress what we are saying.

The deity of Jesus Christ can never be truly known except through divine revelation. Without divine revelation, the best that men will attribute Christ Jesus to be is one of the great prophets. As you have today in many religions, they don't believe that Jesus actually is the Son of God and you can never truly encounter him or know him as his true Son of God except that he is revealed to you. So Jesus is alive forevermore.

He is God in the flesh who took away the sins of the world. He rose from the dead and is seated at the right hand of the majesty. We give him all the glory and praise this morning in the mighty name of Jesus. Here Jesus turns to Peter. After Peter, After the revelation God gives to Peter about the true identity of Jesus, and Jesus himself now turns to him and says to him, and I say to you, You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail over it.

There are people in the church today who believe that Peter is that foundation that Jesus was talking about, that he is the foundation of the church. That is not true, or far from the truth. I want us to go to 1 Corinthians 1, 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 11. I want us to quickly buttress that point that Jesus is the foundation of the church.

It is upon him that everything regarding the church will be built. 1 Corinthians 3, can we start from verse 10? demands that only he, only he can be the foundation of the church. There is no man that can carry or that is sufficient enough to be the foundation of the church because Jesus paid the price for it.

The church is built upon the revelation of the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus. Peter did not die for the sins of the world. So there is no way and no man died for the sins of the world except Jesus. And so he has the right, the full authority, to be the foundation of what he is building.

And as we will see as we go on this morning. The raw material for the foundation of the church, like I said, is the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus. In that lies the power for salvation.

Paul said in Romans chapter 1 verse 16, For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto the salvation, for the Jew first, and then for the Greek. Praise the Lord. It is a powerful salvation for everyone who believes.

And so, what truly is the gospel of Christ? Why is that gospel so important? Why is the revelation of Jesus as... The revelation of Jesus'death, his burial and resurrection, the foundation upon which the church is standing today. I want us to go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Read from verse 1 to 4. This is the gospel that Paul outlines here for everyone.

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved if you hold fast that word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. He's going to the foundation. For I deliver to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the word of God.

to scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures and that he was seen by Cephas then by the twelve. Please go on. After that, he was seen by over 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some are falling asleep.

After that, he was seen by James, then all the apostles. Verse 8. Then the last of all, he was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. Here, Paul again is trying to... He's going straight to the foundation. How the Corinthian church even came to believe in the first place.

How they became part of God's church. He had to deal with the very roots. Because of everything that was going on within that church at that time.

And so he tells them about the burial, the death, the burial and the resurrection of Jesus. As the foundation upon which their faith resides. If you go down within that scripture, you will see where he talks about if Jesus did not die and he did not rise again.

then our faith is hopeless and we are of all men the most miserable. So the foundation of who we are as a church today is what Jesus Christ did for every one of us. And building on this show and tried foundation requires patience and endurance. There are no quick fixes in God's kingdom.

It will require discipline, painstaking efforts. giving ourselves to the study of the word of God, to obeying the word of God, to prayers, to practicing righteousness, for us to build anything that will be lasting and enduring. Every stone that will be part of this building has to go through the same process of testing as the foundation stone went through.

In Isaiah chapter 28 verse 16, God here introduces to us Jesus as that foundation of the church that he's going to build in the future. Now we're talking about the Old Testament, so this was a picture of what was going to happen when Jesus was going to show up on the face of the earth. He says in Isaiah 28 verse 16, he says, therefore, thus says the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion a stone.

For a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation, whoever believes in him will not act hastily. And so in this kingdom, for you to be part of it, you have to be cut out from that same nature of that stone that Christ is made of. And in you being part of that stone, which is part of the building, You also will have to go through the same process of trials. Because it is through that process of trials, it is through that process of pruning, that we become more and more like Jesus.

And so, with the foundation, if we're ever going to be part of that foundation, or we're going to be laid upon that foundation, then it requires... That we will exercise discipline, we will exercise as much restraint, and we will give ourselves to much of the word of God in obeying his word, in prayers, in practicing righteousness in order for us to be part of that body that he is building. This same scripture you will find in 1 Peter. Apostle Peter also, you know, mentions this scripture or quotes this scripture in 1 Peter 2, verse 1 to 6. But you will find out that in this scripture, his emphasis really is on the chief cornerstone. There is no mention of the foundation here.

So in 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 4 to 8, it says, Coming to him as a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious. You also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. There's in verse 6 there.

No, in verse 4. Verse 5, sorry. Something struck me while I was reading it. It says, you also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through who? Through Jesus Christ.

Have you discovered that when you... When you go through the scriptures, especially the New Testament, when the mystery of Christ is being unveiled, whether by Paul or any of the apostles, everything they talk about when it concerns us and Christ says, in Christ, through Christ, in Christ. with Christ.

Everything about our faith revolves around him. There is no getting away from Jesus. And so what that scripture is trying to tell us that even for us to be able to offer acceptable sacrifices to God, it must come through who? It must come through Christ.

He is the only one through which the Father is seeing us. Outside of him, you and I cannot stand. You and I cannot offer any sacrifice that will be acceptable to the Father. And so, through Jesus, our sacrifice as the church, as the body, as the temple that he is building is acceptable because we are offering it through Jesus. There is no aspect of our Christian life that is or should not be impacted by Christ.

There is no Christian life... outside of Jesus. No matter how awesome your testimony is, we must be able to trace it to Jesus.

I hope you heard what I said. No matter what your testimony is, we must be able to trace that testimony to Jesus. That you hit jackpot. Let us trace it to Jesus.

Whatever it is that our testimony will be, so that when others hear it, they will be able to say, yes, indeed, God is great. There are some testimonies we cannot share in church. There are testimonies that you know. that the way you came about it does not have Christ in it at all.

May the Lord help us. So that everything that we do, every aspect of our lives, that is why he must have preeminence. That is what it means. That when he has preeminence in every area of our lives, he is the one in charge. And because he is the one controlling things, it will not be difficult when...

Because of your obedience, something beautiful comes out of it. You can boldly come before your brethren and say, this is what the Lord has done. So this morning I want to encourage you, if you are still changing numbers at work, or doing any of those sort of things, please. I beseech you by the mercies of God, put an end to it today. And so we also find Apostle Paul in writing to the Ephesians, he refers to this church that God is building as the foundation of the apostles and prophets and Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone.

Can we quickly go to Ephesians chapter 2 verse 19 to 22. Paul here says that we are being built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone. So does it mean that the apostles are the foundation of the church also? Are the apostles the foundation on which the church is built?

As some believe that Peter is the rock on which the church is built. If as Paul himself affirms in 1 Corinthians 3, 11, that there is no other foundation that anyone can lay other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ, then what foundation is he referring to here in Ephesians? Third, what does it mean when the scripture refers to Jesus? as the chief cornerstone. I don't know if you have ever asked that question.

What does it mean when the scripture says that Christ is the chief cornerstone? We'll go back to 1 Corinthians because the revelation of Christ, God's anointed one, he is the one and the only true foundation upon which the church is built. as we read in first corinthians chapter 10 chapter 3 verse 10 to 11 as first-hand witnesses and to those whom christ the mystery of christ was revealed The foundation apostles and prophets of the church bore the doctrinal and spiritual oversight of the church.

Since they were the ones who received firsthand the revelation of the mystery of Christ, they were the ones who were given the responsibility to lay that foundation. And so in laying that foundation, They were laying the foundation and they are not necessarily the foundation. The foundation is Christ.

The revelation of that Christ which they received, they are not, their responsibility was to lay that foundation which is Christ Jesus and to ensure that the church was being built according to pattern. They were the ones who received the living oracles from God. And so therefore, they were the ones who were given, they were the custodians of what Jesus Christ had paid for and had purchased.

And they had the accurate picture and the accurate pattern of what the church was meant to look or is meant to look like. And so when the scripture says there that they were built on the foundation, of the apostles and the prophets and Christ Jesus being the foundation. It is that revelation of Christ that he received, that he laid as foundation for the church. Ephesians chapter 3 verse 1 to 5 we'll find Paul here also saying or emphasizing this truth when he says in Ephesians chapter 3 verse 1 to 5, it says, for this reason I hold the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles, if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation he made known to me the mystery, as I have briefly written already, by which when you read you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ. which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets.

And so you will see Paul saying there how they came about, or how he came about the mystery of Christ Jesus, and how he began to lay that foundation in every church where he established or had the opportunity. to be part of. Let us quickly go to Jesus as the chief cornerstone of the church because he refers to Jesus there in that scripture as the cornerstone. For us to understand this very well, we must understand the way buildings were.

were constructed in the first century, they normally would use stones for the construction of buildings. And so when they get to site, the first stone that is laid on that site, that stone is called the corner stone. It's positioned in one of the four corners in which that building will be constructed. And that cornerstone becomes a standard, a measurement for every other stone that will be built on it for that building to be constructed.

It was the most important part of that building. And we discovered that why is it so? That that cornerstone, if for any reason the cornerstone is skewed in any way, If that cornerstone has any form of, is angulated in any way that is not proper, everything that is built on that building, by the time you finish that building, that building will not be what you intended for it to be when you started constructing it.

And so everything that was going, every other stone that will be built on that stone has to take its, what? Its shape. has to take what its alignment from that first stone that he set. What is he saying to us this morning? Jesus is the standard of measurement for every living stone that is to come to him.

Our lives must be conformed to him. If we are the living stones in which God is building a spiritual house that will be filled and will become the temple in which we offer up unto him. offerings, our sacrifices that will be acceptable to the Lord, every one of us must find our standing, our positioning in Christ Jesus. The reason why this issue of foundation and the cornerstone is very important, if your foundation is not correct, there is nothing you build on that foundation that will last.

And this also goes into speaking into those who came into the kingdom with the wrong type of gospel. The manner of entry into the kingdom is very important. That you were sold a lie.

That once you come into the kingdom... All your problems will disappear. You are going to live a life of bliss, a life of happiness, joy. Everything is going to be rosy. Whoever preached that gospel to you has defrauded you.

Because the gospel in itself is a total package. And the Bible says, in the book of Philippians, that it is not only given to you to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, it is also given to you to suffer for his sake. So any gospel that tells you that you are not going to suffer, that gospel is lying to you.

Whoever taught you that is a false prophet. And the problem the church is having today, while we are having all manner of things going on in the church, is because of issues like this. When a church begins to emphasize one particular strand of the gospel, and they emphasize it, and they stay on it, and that is what they are pushing, it becomes a problem.

Because whatever it is that we are teaching, as ministers of the gospel, as members of the body of Christ, it must be complete. It must be the total package. There is nothing that you can take out of it. There is nothing you can add to it. What Jesus has done is complete.

Will you be blessed? Definitely. For your sake, he became poor, so that by his poverty, we all can become rich. So there's that aspect there for us.

But we don't now make it the pillar or the focus of what the church is all about. That is error. Matthew chapter 7. Just to buttress this point.

If the foundation is faulty, you will need God to help you. Matthew chapter 17. Sorry, Matthew chapter 7, verse 21 to 27. Jesus says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me that the old Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?

And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who did what? Who built his house on the rock.

And the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house and it did not fall for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house. On the sand, and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house, and it fell, and great was its fall.

Every foundation that is built on man, every foundation that is built on the philosophies of men, that foundation, if what they sold you is philosophy in church, cerebral Christianity, no encounter with Christ, and you begin to build on that foundation, it's a question of time. Because the weight of what is coming upon it, the superstructure that will come upon it, The foundation will determine whether or not it can hold. And anything that is not built on Christ will eventually what?

It will eventually crash. Praise God. Let's quickly go into looking at the building materials for this church that Christ is building.

The building materials for the... for this edifice that Jesus is building. I want us to go to 1 Corinthians 3. I'll be reading from verse 5. Here Paul addresses the church in Corinth. At this point in time, they had set up different camps in relation to their preferred man of God.

Are we here? He attempts here to clear... the lack of understanding, their lack of understanding, and warns them against their carnal tendencies by explaining to them what the roles and responsibilities of the ministers of the gospel in the building of the church, what their roles are. He says, after all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul?

We are only God's servants through whom you believed the good news. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. That's very critical. The work you are doing, is it the work that the Lord gave you?

Or you are doing something else? I planted a seed in your hearts and Apollos watered it. But it was God who made it grow.

It's not important who does the planting or who does the watering. What's important is that God makes what? Makes the seed grow.

The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded. for their own hard work.

For we are both God's workers and you are God's field, you are God's building. Paul had an accurate perspective of what the church is, his role in the church, and he said to them, we are God's fellow workers, you are God's field, you are God's building. He uses the illustration of a cultivated land as workers who go to plant and to water the seed.

And he tells them in the church here that, look, whatever it is that you are getting as results today is not because of what I and Apollos have done. Yes, we have done our own part. The only reason why we are having results is because God has added his own. There is no man of God anywhere on the face of the earth except he is helped of the Lord and sent of the Lord. If you are getting results outside of what Jesus has given you as a template, it's a question of time.

We will soon find out in this scripture now that you will discover that it's also important what you build on this foundation that because God has given us the responsibility and the privilege to be co-laborers with him in cultivating this land, which is the church. We are putting the seed of God's word. Another is watering it. In another translation, Paul says there that I planted the church.

Apollos came to care for it, but it is God that brought the increase. So if there is any increase at all, it's because God is involved in it. And so Paul is trying to also say here, when emphasis is placed more on the minister of the gospel than God, who causes growth and increase, the people shall change themselves and they remain immature.

Because you now begin to create camps. Paul, I'm for Paul. I'm for Apollos.

I am for safers as though they were the ones who died for you. At the very best, every minister of the gospel is a fellow worker. And so they have nothing to boast about since God is the one who gives the increase.

Number three, they will not receive rewards based on their individual work. It is what you have put in that you get as a result. And be sure that what you are putting in is what God has said you should put in.

Because you will not get a result for what God has not ordered for you to do. And so in terms of purpose, and the gold. They were supposed to work as one.

There was a level playing field, but what you put in it in terms of hard work, in terms of effort, that is what you get as reward. Praise the Lord. The other illustration he uses here, you are God's building. Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. We'll read from verse 9 to 17. 1 Corinthians 3, 9-17.

I want to read from the TPT translation from verse 12. The quality of materials used by anyone building on this foundation will soon be apparent, whether it has been built with gold, silver, and costly stones, or wood, hay, and straw. Their work will soon become evident for the day. The day will make it clear because it will be revealed by blazing fire. And the fire will test and prove the workmanship of each builder.

If his work stands the test of fire, he will be rewarded. If his work is consumed by the fire, he will suffer great loss. That is his own reward.

The loss is his reward because he's not getting it. In fact, by the time he says... If his work is consumed by the fire, he will suffer great loss. Yet he himself will barely escape destruction, like one being rescued out of a burning house.

Don't you realize that together you have become God's inner sanctuary and that the Spirit of God makes his permanent home in you? Now, if someone desecrates God's inner sanctuary, God will desecrate him, for God's inner sanctuary is holy, and that is exactly... who you are. What is Paul saying in this scripture?

Every leader who God has set over the church must understand their role and responsibility in the building process and they must remain faithful to it. And you are only permitted to build on the foundation that you are giving. You are not permitted to become creative.

And so there is only one foundation you are building on, and that is the foundation of Christ Jesus. And each one of us should be careful what material we use in building upon this foundation. To build with precious materials is to teach sound doctrine, and to live a life of faithfulness to the truth, in which it turns...

which in turn helps build believers to maturity. I'll take that again. To build with precious material is to teach sound doctrine and to live a life of faithfulness to the truth, which in turn helps build believers to maturity.

Four, to build with perishable material is to teach on sound doctrine or to compromise the truth and to live a lifestyle that contradicts. or fails to model it. The quality of each man's work will be tested by fire. Every builder will eventually become accountable to Christ, who himself is the builder of the church.

So he hired every one of us, and he gave us our portion. And so as we take on that portion, at the end of the day, whether we now build on that foundation with... Quality material, the fire will test it.

And when the fire tests it, whether it remains or not is a question of time. Because there will be no hiding place. And it is such churches that are built on unsound doctrines that have challenges. They scatter at the end of the day. But we thank God for this house.

We thank God for the grace that is upon... the life of our serving overseer, how... Without fail, he has continuously taught us the whole counsel of God's word so that each and every one of us will be able to stand and that we will be able to build upon that foundation something that is worthwhile and that will be lasting. As I round off this teaching this morning, because of time, I want to give us... A snapshot of what is sound teaching in a church, what it produces.

And Paul gives us an example. One of the major problems facing the church today is the lack of sound ministers who teach sound doctrine. You know, and Paul warned Timothy. He says, I charge you therefore, 2 Timothy 4, 1 to 5. I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead that is appearing and his kingdom, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and teaching, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. Are we in that season?

Are we in those times? But according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they have heaped for themselves teachers. You will see some people, they will do... What God cannot in the morning, in the next one they will do, they just, I don't know, by the time they finish, they are confused because they take everything, drink from every fountain, both polluted, pure and everything, and they get messed up at the end of the day. In the book of Titus chapter 2 verse 1 to 11, we are given the picture of the qualities of a sound church.

which is a result of sound teaching. Titus 2 verse 1 to 15. It says, but as for you, he emphasizes whatever might be happening, whatever others may be doing, whatever may be going on within the church as a whole, but as for you, if everybody is involved in things that are ungodly, it is not you, Titus. But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine, that the older men may be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience.

These are the qualities we must trust God for in the CGCC. The older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not giving too much wine, teachers of good things. That they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded in all things, showing yourself to be a pattern. Because God is no longer building, they are no longer buildings as patterns.

They are human beings as patterns. And he says to him here, In all things, showing yourself to be a pattern of good works, in doctrine, showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you. Exhort born servants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well-pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may have done the doctrine of God. our Savior in all things.

For what? For the grace of God that brings salvation as appeared to all men, teaching us that denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live what? Soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Lord, of our great Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ. who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people zealous for good works. The grace of God has appeared to us.

That grace came in the person of Jesus and that grace also teaches us. That is why as good as it is for every one of us to sit under this kind of teaching, let Jesus himself also teach you. That is because second-hand revelation is powerless. If you cannot stand and you do not have what it takes to stand in the evil day. God forbid, can we rise this morning and thank God?

Can we ask for the grace to be able to stand, the grace to be able to do God's will, the grace to be able to teach? Because all of us are teachers, all of us are pastors, all of us, whatever it is that God has given to you, you must be one that teaches sound teaching, sound doctrine in the mighty name of Jesus. Can we thank God and bless his holy name this morning that Lord we commit we thank you for your word this morning. Thank you oh Lord for what Lord you have sent to us as your will and your mind this morning. We pray that every one of us will truly align.

Our lives oh Lord will be in alignment with yours. We will become more and more like Christ and our lives oh Lord will be transformed together as one body. Lord we will be we will be become a spiritual house that is built, oh Lord Father, a holy temple where we can offer to you spiritual sacrifices that is acceptable to you, oh God, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Thank you, Father. In Jesus'mighty name, we have prayed.

Transcript for:Understanding the Body of Christ

Transcript for:
Understanding the Body of Christ