We are the Body of Christ Matthew 25:14-30

Transcription

1 We are the Body of Christ Matthew 25: God has given his church universal certain responsibilities to fulfill here on this earth. He also invests talents (gifts) to help accomplish these. We are responsible for how we invest them. - Let s discuss what these responsibilities are and evaluate how we are investing them. 1. Christ s Church Prays - When we pray we commune with God. It is how we seek to accomplish his will and not our own. Prayer is the source for knowing how and where to invest his talents. - If it wasn t important Jesus would not have done it so often and taught us to do it - The early church modeled it (Acts 2:42; 4:23-31) 2. Christ s Church Worships - The church is called to gather together regularly (Heb. 10:24-25) for the purpose of singing Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs and letting the word of Christ dwell in them richly (Col. 3:16). We gather to strengthen each other and glorify God through particular means. - Ordinances, singing, preaching and teaching, giving, baptizing, fellowshipping, and praying. - We see these elements in Acts 2: Christ s Church Preaches the Bible - The Bible is the revelation of God. It is our life source. It is our instruction manual on how we are to invest God s talents and fulfill our God-given responsibilities on this earth.

2 - Paul told Timothy preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching (2 Tim. 4:2). Paul told the Ephesian elders I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). Paul also told Timothy there is a right way to handle the word of Truth in preaching (2 Tim. 2:15). - We were not saved and gathered to do whatever we want or think is best. - The best way to accomplish this responsibility is through expository preaching. Going book by book and verse by verse allows the Holy Spirit to dictate our subject matter and guards from not preaching the whole counsel of God. 4. Christ s Church Makes Disciples - Mt. 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. - This is expressed in education programs within the church as well as pulpit preaching. - It is also expressed in evangelism through local and global missions - Jesus was a missionary who told us the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few, therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. (Mt. 9:37-38) - There is a sense in which all of these play off of each other. In Acts 2:42-47 the product of all that the believers were doing was that the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved (2:47). 5. Christ s Church Pursues Holiness

3 - We are not perfect and will not reach absolute perfection this side of glory, but we are called to pursue holiness investing every talent the Lord gave us in this area. 1 Peter 1:14-15 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, - Jesus said, You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect (Mt. 5:48) and that our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees (Mt. 5:20). We are being built up into a holy priesthood and a holy nation (1 Peter 2:5&9) by God and we are called to make every effort to support that work (2 Peter 1:3-11). - This effort expresses itself through preaching against sin, exercising discipline when necessary, supporting one another, and holding each other accountable. 6. Christ s Church Fellowships Together - It is assumed in the New Testament that the church does more than come together for corporate worship. Acts 2:42-27 demonstrates that they met in each other s homes and shared meals together in addition to meeting at the temple. The many commands on how to live in harmony together certainly implies more than a couple hours a week together. - True Christian fellowship must embrace the good times and the bad. It grows deeper with every challenge and victory. It is something that cannot be accomplished by simply singing songs together in the same room. It cannot be accomplished in 90 seconds during a worship service. - Christian fellowship is like marriage and parenting, it accomplishes a lot of things but through all of it, it sanctifies us. Through it we learn how to love like Jesus loved and we are conformed to his image. 7. Christ s Church Gives - Jesus implies that giving alms is not something to be debated; it is a reality of the Christian life. It is also understood in the epistles as a

4 Christian reality not up for discussion. In fact, it is not giving that is discussed it is with what heart and purpose we are to give. - We give joyfully and according to conscious (2 Cor. 9:7) for the purpose of meeting the needs of the saints (2 Cor. 9:12; Acts 6:1-6), propagating the gospel through the support of evangelists and pastors (1 Tim ; Philip. 4:10-20). 8. Christ s Church Serves - We are called to serve one another (Gal. 5:13). Everyone is gifted in some way so that they are able to contribute to the church accomplishing the responsibilities we are discussing. Serving each other is simply excercising your giftedness for the sake of building up the body (1 Cor. 12; Eph. 4:11-16). 9. Christ s Church Submits - First and foremost to Christ the Head (Eph. 5:22; Col. 1:18; 1 Cor. 12) and the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4). - Second, to its appointed shepherds - Third, to one another in the church and family (Eph. 5) - Fourthly, to appointed authorities in the world (Rom. 13:1-7 & 10. Christ s Church Grows - Ephesians 4:11-16 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint

5 with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love - Intellectually, spiritually, and physically. 11. Christ s Church Commits - Membership is a sign of commitment. Church hopping is a sign of selfcenteredness. Membership is like marriage vows. 12. Christ s Church Loves - Biblically and sacrificially Conclusion: Why it all Matters! - We are Christ on earth. We are the kingdom of God on earth. We are the living Gospel. We are the hope the on earth. We are the city on a hill. We are the salt of the earth. We are the testimony of the glorious grace of God to lost humanity as well as the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places (Eph. 3:10-11). Play We are the Body