So I am Gloria and today's scripture reading is from Acts 1 1 through 8 page
938 in the Bibles in the back of the pews. I wrote the first narrative
Theophilus about all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken
up after he had given instructions through the Holy Spirit to the Apostles
he had chosen. After he had suffered he also presented himself alive to them by
many convincing proofs appearing to them over a period of 40 days and speaking
about the kingdom of God. While he was with them he commanded them not to leave
Jerusalem but to wait for the Father's promise which he said you have heard me
speak about. For John baptized with water but you will be baptized with the Holy
Spirit in a few days. So when they had come together they asked him Lord are
you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time? And he said to them it's not
for you to know the times or the periods that the Father has set by his own
authority but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem in all Judea and Samaria and to
the ends of the earth. This is God's Word. Amen, amen. So what is the first thing
that you think of when someone says the word church? Is it the building? Is it the
property? You know a lot of you grew up around here and here at what was
formerly known as First Church and now Village and for you it might be church. Oh
we're going to church. Church is 4458th Street. It's the building. It's the
property. It's that place that we go. Sometimes we'll use that word to mean
the service right? I'm going to church and we mean the church service that
you're in right now. We're here having church right? Or maybe it's the
fellowship. It's the time spent with one another in fellowship and maybe you know
the right answer right? The quote right answer which is that church is not the
building. The church is a people. It's the people. But which people? The people at
the building or which service? Which people are the church? Well the Greek
word for church is this word ekklesia. You can go and put that up. Ekklesia and
it means something like being called out or assembled and so we can say it's
something like called out or gathered up ones. The church as defined by the word
that's used in the New Testament, ekklesia, is the called out or gathered
up ones and that's going to come into play throughout our sermon. The called
out gathered up ones.
Called out of what? The kingdom of darkness. The kingdom of this world.
Called out to be separate from the value systems and the priorities of this world
where self is the object of worship. Called into or gathered up into a new
kingdom. A new value system. A new set of priorities. A new people. The called out
gathered up ones. The church. As we look at how the Bible kind of lays out what
the church is, there are three prominent powerful metaphors or images that are
used to tell us what the church is like. What are the called out gathered up ones
like? And those three are the people of God, the body of Christ, and the temple
of the Holy Spirit. The people of God, the body of Christ, and the temple of the
Holy Spirit. So we're gonna spend our time looking at those three metaphors or
images from the Bible. We began with the people of God. There is one sense in
which everyone who has ever lived on this planet, by virtue of the fact they
were created by God, are people of God. All of humanity, we are told in the word
of God, bears the likeness of God. The image of God. But because of sins
corruption, we've all moved away from God, our creator, in whose image we were made.
And we've rebelled against that benevolent creator and no longer are at
peace with him. Instead the Bible tells us that we are enemies of God because of
our sin. Enemies don't live at peace with those that they are enemies against, do
they? We know that all too well with a war that's going on halfway around the
world.
God chose to recreate a people for himself. Sin had marred God's good
creation, now we're told this in Genesis, and as such the likeness and image of
God was marred and corrupted in humanity and becoming enemies with God by virtue
of our sin. We no longer could have relationship or dwell with God and so
God chose in his infinite wisdom to recreate a people for himself, deciding
that all who by faith believe in the accomplishments in the work of Christ in
his life, his death, and his resurrection, all those people would be his people. And
in that unique sense of the idea of being God's people is what we're talking
about as it relates to the called out gathered up ones. Not the original, yes
we're all God's people by virtue of his creation, but sin has corrupted and marred
that and so God chose before the foundations of the earth that he was
going to choose a people for himself from among all people and those people
would be whoever trust and believe in the work of Christ in his life, death, and
resurrection. And God chose that he would grant those people who believe in
Christ a new birth into a new hope and a new life in a new kingdom. This is the
coming out and being separate. This is when we say the Ecclesias, the called out
gathered up ones, the called out from among the rest of humanity into a new
kingdom. The way Peter says this in 1st Peter chapter 2 verse 9 through 10 is
but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for
his possession, a people belonging to God so that you may proclaim the praises of
the one who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light. Once you
were not a people but now you are God's people. You had not received mercy but
now you have received mercy. So what does it mean to be his people? What does it
mean to be God's people, his called out ones? How many of you guys know? How can you
tell if someone is into CrossFit? Well the joke is don't worry they'll tell you.
Now that can be used of vegans as well but how can you tell if someone's in
CrossFit? Don't worry they'll tell you, they'll let you know. Well how can you
tell if someone has entered into the culture and the way of life of CrossFit?
It's more than just what they say which that's a big part of it. They will
evangelize it. It's kind of like people who want to listen to Joe Rogan. Oh you
gotta listen to Joe Rogan man, you gotta listen to Joe. I don't have four hours to
spend on Joe Rogan in his podcast. You gotta listen to him though man. There's
this new drink man. You take mushrooms and you put this other stuff in there
and you spin around and you'll experience God. You hear all this kind of
stuff. If you saw some of the clips from his most recent one it was it's weird.
But these people they go out they evangelize it. They speak about it. For
those in CrossFit their life begins to reflect it. They're there every day, their
time is consumed by it. They're there at the gym. These are now their bros and
their sister or whatever their ladies are. They're hanging out with their
pumping iron. They're flipping tires. They're jumping up and down. They're all
in and you should be too. You should be too.
When people move from outside of CrossFit to inside of CrossFit into CrossFit
their life changes. I've got a few cousins whose life changed and their
Facebook posts and their Instagram posts begin to populate with all things
CrossFit. That was their people. That was their new kingdom that they entered into.
To be God's people is to be changed though in an even more foundational way
or fundamental level. To be God's people is for God to do something inside of us.
For God to be the active agent working within us more primarily than us are
once in desires. CrossFit is oftentimes drawn into it to be a part of
something. Drawn in it to get physically fit. Drawn in it for the community,
whatever it is, to meet my own needs. But we see with God's people it's about God's
work, what he's doing, who he's drawing out, who he's calling out. Come join my
people through the gospel message.
In the book of Ezekiel chapter 36 we read, for I will take you from the
nations and gather you from all the countries and will bring you into your
own land and I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. I will
cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. This is God through
prophetic vision speaking to the people of God who had gone astray and we're
going to go into exile and he's saying I've saved some people for myself and I
will call them out from among the nations, from among the world and draw
them to myself. In the next set of scripture which we'll get to in a few,
the next two verses he says what he's going to do and this begins to become a
New Testament reality in the work of Christ. That he is calling out a people.
And so I'll tell you on this first point of this first image the people of God.
It's not simply that we're called out and then we all get together in a room
and we get to high-five each other and call ourselves the called out ones. But
Nick pointed it out earlier in a scripture that he read, we're called and
chosen because God has prepared things for us to do. He has prepared good works
for us to do to bring glory and honor to him, to advance his kingdom here in this
world and so to be the people of God is to be a people with a job. We cannot sit
on the sidelines. We don't get to check out. We don't get to go it alone but we
are the called out gathered up ones for a purpose. And I'll tell you this, what a
joy. What a privilege to be called his people from among all people. What a joy
to be God's people. We used to sing a song right? I'm so glad I'm a part of the
family of God. I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by his blood.
Join heirs with Jesus as we travel this song. For I'm part of a family, the family
of God. We are the people of God. What a joy and a privilege to walk this world
as a people of God doing the work he's prepared for us. If you are in Christ,
you are not individually alone the people of God but the gathered up ones,
us together, the church, we are the people of God. The second image and metaphor
that is used throughout the Bible is the idea of the body of Christ. The body of
Christ. In the book of Ephesians chapter 1 beginning in verse 20 we read Paul
writing to the church in Ephesus, he exercised this power in Christ, he being
God. God exercised this power in Christ by raising him from the dead and
setting him at his right hand in the heavens, far above every ruler and
authority, power and dominion and every title given not only in this age but
also in the one to come and he subjected everything under his feet and appointed
him as the head over everything for the church which is his body, the fullness of
the one who fills all things in every way. Did you get that last part? He
subjected everything under the feet of Jesus and appointed Jesus as head over
everything for the church which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills
all things in every way. Whenever the Bible employs this image of the church,
the image of the church as a body of Christ, it always does it in
relationship to two things, A, the Christ's headship and authority and then
B, the function of the individual members and parts of that body. That the body has
a head that acts as an authority for the rest of the body and the rest of the
body is made up of parts and members that is you and I and our churches in
relationship to other gatherings and those how do we relate to one another? So
how do we relate to God and how do we relate to one another? That's the metaphor
of the body of Christ is how it's always used. So as the body, as the body of
Christ, the church, we submit to Christ its head. It is the church of Jesus
Christ. Matthew 18 tells us that it is his church and you know what that means?
That means it doesn't belong to any one individual and it doesn't belong to any
corporation and it doesn't belong to any political party. The church does not
belong to anyone except Jesus. It's his, his and his alone. And the church
depends every single day, every Sunday, every Monday, every Tuesday. The church
depends upon the loving direction and provision of the head, Christ. An
application of this line of thinking within the church might be something
like this, especially among its leaders, is that its leaders would seek
constantly to discern the will of the Lord Jesus on how we are to move forward
at every step. We want to be in step with the head. We want to be submitted to our
authority to Christ and receive his loving direction and so we are dependent
upon him to discern the will of the Lord for, for not just our church as a whole,
but for our ministries. How many of you guys have been a part of a church only
and really had this ministry that you loved? But the leaders decided through
prayerful thought and consideration to end that ministry. When we're submitted
to Christ, that happens. It happens that ministries run their course and Christ
the head says, you need to move and direct yourself here now. Here is where I
want you to put yourself and your work. That happens when you're directed by the
head because it's not about individuals. It's not about what our own personal
preferences are, what we want out of it. It's about submission to Christ. This
model of the body with the head also halts ministries that are no longer
fruitful. It modifies ministries that need overhaul. It starts new ministries
to meet changing challenges. It reignites connection with the community
that we've fallen out of favor with. Being connected to Christ means making
difficult decisions to obey and follow him all the time because where Christ
leads we must follow. He is the head. We don't get to determine. It's not our church.
It's not my church. It's not your church. It's Christ's. The church is to repudiate
any and all agendas other than those that correspond to Christ's will for it.
We should put to death and push back on all things.
A.W. Tozer has a quote. It says the lordship of Jesus Christ is not quite for
gotten among Christians, but it has been relegated to the hymnal where all
responsibility toward it may be comfortably discharged in a glow of
religious emotion. Or if it is taught as a theory in the classroom, it is rarely
applied to practical living. The idea that the man, Christ Jesus, has absolute
final authority over the whole church and over its members in every detail of
their lives is simply not now accepted as true by the rank and file of
evangelical Christians. We love to sing Christ as Lord. We love to crown him with
many crowns until he starts meddling in our lives, in our churches, or dare I say
country clubs. Crown him with many crowns. The Lord Christ. It begins with the head.
It begins with submission to the loving head, Christ who wants good for his
people, his called out gathered up ones. His way is better than our way
infinitely. His ministries and work that he's prepared for us are infinitely
more better and fruitful than we could ever dream, but it requires us to lay
down arms and submit to his loving leadership to allow his authority to
lead us. And as he leads us, that leads us to the second part. The first part
being submitting to the head. The second part is then how this image demonstrates
to us the function and relationship that we have with one another as members of
the body. We are parts in a body. We belong to one another. We belong to one
another. Drawing on the image of family, we're told that that makes me your
brother and that makes you my brothers and sisters. We're family. We're family
and we're told that being a part of this, we belong to one another. We're
like family and then only when we function as family can we obey the
commandment from Jesus to love one another. You cannot obey the commandment
to love one another out there away from there or with indifference towards one
another. This is why reconciliation and right relationship and living right with
one another is so vitally important because you are in disobedience. We're in
disobedience as a church and maybe individually if we are not in right
relationship with one another and as a body this puts us side by side. One part
next to another part and we must function.
Greg Allison has a book out on the church and in it there's this quote. He
says only when church members are characterized by siblingship
can they engage in the one another's that are so prominent in Scripture. Prayer,
harmony, acceptance, patience, burden-bearing, confession of sin, service,
truth-telling, like-mindedness, humility, hospitality, unity, and more. Imagine not
being able to fulfill all of those scriptures that command us in all of
those ways because we are not like family. To be the body of Christ is to be
brought into a family. He continues on only when the church denounces and
refuses to be characterized by hyper sexualization can its male and female
members stop being suspicious of one another and stop treating one another as
sexual predators and seductress. Only when the church embodies the reality of
being brothers and sisters in Christ can it actualize this vision that there may
be no division in the body but that the members may have the same care for one
another. If one member suffers all suffer together. If one member is honored all
rejoice together.
The body, the whole body cannot function without all its parts. If one part is
sick or injured, you know what it's like if you've ever been injured or sick. I've
heard myself, I there was once, we still don't even know what it was, but out of
nowhere this skin thing shows up on my arm and it opens up and it's it's gnarly
it's oozy it's gross. Don't know what it was and you think well that's that's just
your forearm. Get over it move on with life. You know that thing affected the
whole life. Every every way I felt everything that I did even the medicines
I was taking were affecting it like having that one part of my body injured
affected every part of my actions and daily life. My brother Ben just recently
got surgery on his neck and I'm sure you would tell it right that without that
surgery and the hope that it has actually healed something as you went
about the last few years it was painful all the time. You didn't even realize how
painful it was because your body becomes numb to it and you operate at such a low
level. When one part of the body is sick it affects the whole body. If one part of
the body is selfish and self-centered it drains away resources from the what
we're intended for the whole body's health.
If one part despises or hates another part it brings dysfunction and division
into the body and so that leads me to the question should this be true of
Christ's body? Should Christ's body be limping around a despicable sight?
Should the exalted one of heaven have a lame crippled dysfunctional presence
among his creation? No! No! And so the Bible gives us from the word of God
himself wisdom to love one another to reconcile. If you have something against
your brother or sister go to them. If you despise them in your hearts go and ask
for forgiveness. Be healed. Keep it on a small level. Cover one another's sins.
This is the wisdom of God to us so that we don't go around as his church limping
a despicable sight in creation. Oh that's God's church. That's his people.
That's the body of Christ.
We're invited into this body as the called out gathered ones and we're given
the wisdom of God on how to operate so that we might be something glorious in
this world. At the end of Romans chapter 11 Paul after giving some discourse
cannot contain himself any longer and he explodes in a hymn of praise and then it
leads into chapter 12 which is so well known. He says oh the depths of the
riches and the wisdom of the knowledge of God how unsearchable is his judgments
and how untraceable his ways for who has known the mind of the Lord or who has
been counseled by him or who has been his counselor and who has ever given to
God that God should be repaid or that he should be repaid for from him and
through him and to him are all things to him be the glory alone forever amen.
How oh the depths of the riches of the wisdom and the knowledge of God how
unsearchable his judgments and untraceable his ways for from him and
through him and to him are all things to God be the glory alone forever amen
therefore brothers and sisters offer your bodies as living sacrifices holy
and pleasing to God in view of his mercy for this is your true worship and don't
be conformed to this age but be transformed by the renewing of your mind
so that you may discern what is good pleasing and perfect will of God for by
the grace given me I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly
than he should instead think sensibly as God has distributed measure of faith to
each one now as we have many parts in one body and all the parts do not have
the same function in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and
individually members of one another according to the grace given to us we
have different gifts if prophecy use it in accordance to the proportion of one's
faith if service use it in service if teaching in teaching if in exhorting in
exhortation giving with generosity leading with diligence showing mercy
with cheerfulness
we are the body of Christ the one body in Christ in individually we are members
of one another we belong to one another a little bit further down in Romans Paul
instructs us to never lack in zeal never lack in zeal but to keep our spiritual
fervor serving the Lord in other words his body the body of Christ should be
white-hot with passion white-hot with love for God white-hot love for his word
white-hot conviction of truth including in our confession when we sin and we
fall it's because we are white-hot in love with our God we fervently seek to
submit to and to serve the head which is Christ and he's more than just some
distant authority he is the church's Savior he's her Savior
Charles Spurgeon once said I don't think the devil cares how many churches you
start if only you have lukewarm preachers and people in them white-hot
zealous fervent passion for God's glory that's the kind of body that should be
present in all of creation pointing to the head giving glory to the head
worshiping Christ the final image that we receive from the word the final
metaphor for the church is that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit the
scripture I was read today by Gloria comes out of Acts chapter 1 and it's
Luke writing to Theophilus continuing on with his work that he started in the
book of Luke and now beginning to tell the acts of the Holy Spirit through the
Apostles of Jesus Christ and he begins by saying that Jesus preached and
appeared to them over 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God and while he
was with them he told them something he basically said it's ain't gonna work out
once I'm gone unless you have something unless my presence is dwelling among you
and with you this isn't going to work out you need something you need power
from on high he said John baptized with water but you will be baptized with the
Holy Spirit in a few days and they said Lord are you restoring the kingdom of
Israel at this time and he says that's not for you to know that's not for you
to know but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you
will be my witnesses in Jerusalem Judea Samaria into the ends of the earth
whatever is going to happen from here on you will need the power of the Holy
Spirit to accomplish it it is not possible any other way the Holy Spirit's
power at work within the individual believer if you are in Christ and you
have experienced this as an individual believer you have experienced the work
of the Holy Spirit through the conviction of sin regeneration new birth
you have been united with Christ you are justified with God you have been adopted
as sons you have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit which is a seal and a
down payment a deposit on the glory that is to come for you when you enter his
kingdom you have received assurance of salvation through the Holy Spirit and
you are undergoing a process of a sanctification to make you more like
Christ that is the Holy Spirit's powerful activity in your life if you
are in Christ well the Bible also says that the Holy Spirit not only acts in
the individual's life but the Holy Spirit is active in the church and in
the church the Holy Spirit is active giving birth to new churches the Holy
Spirit is active empowering the church for missional engagement when the Holy
Spirit spoke and said set apart for me Paul and Barnabas for the work that I've
prepared for them the Holy Spirit is active in the church we're told in the
book of Acts with the leaders from Ephesus the elders from Ephesus that it
was the Holy Spirit who chose the elders so whenever we by natural regular means
prayerfully consider our elders we rely and hope and trust that God is
ultimately the one at work God is ultimately appointing and positioning
the people for are the work of Christ here when we prayerfully consider that
and we weigh and we wrestle with that and we're also told that the Holy
Spirit's activity in the church is to distribute empower the spiritual gifts
of the members and to distribute the right gifts to the right gatherings for
his purpose the Holy Spirit is necessary it is these two works that the
individual ones who are called out and gathered together that puts that the
the epicenter of the spirits power and work is right in the church we are the
individuals who are gathered up and the Holy Spirit is both working in your life
as well as in our life in the Old Testament the presence of God was
directly connected first to the tabernacle kind of a traveling temple a
tent and later Solomon built a temple to the Lord the Ark of the Covenant was
placed there and we're told in the story of the dedication of that temple as they
began to worship and dedicate the temple that thus the presence of God fell upon
it and that the glory cloud of God was so thick that they fell down on their
faces in worship in the tabernacle as they went through the wilderness before
the temple the tabernacle whenever they camped was always set in place and the
people of Israel would set up their tents by tribe around the tabernacle so
that the presence of God would be at the center of the camp and the people
working out from there truly God was dwelling among them in the
tabernacle and then in the temple at Solomon built but Israel the people of
God the chosen ones of the Old Testament they became idolatrous they
worshiped other gods they began to intermingle their their worship in their
religion and their exercises with paganism with idolatry and in doing so
after many many patient warnings and calls to return to God in the end it was
proclaimed by prophetic word that they would be led into destruction and exile
and that the temple would be destroyed Jerusalem would be destroyed and in the
book of Ezekiel chapter 10 there's this powerful image that's communicated
through a prophetic vision that Ezekiel sees where he sees the temple of God in
Jerusalem and he sees the glory of God depart and leaves the temple and then
coal or yeah coal is spread all over to symbolize judgment and destruction
pretty soon they're taken off Judea is taken off into to slavery into exile the
temple is destroyed and you know what the temple is rebuilt multiple times
after that point but never are we told that the glory returns the glory of God
never returns to the temple yes they engage in all kinds of religious
activity there but there is no glory and so that leaves that left God's people
wondering will God ever dwell among his people again how could God dwell among
his people and that set the stage for Jesus who is the ultimate temple if the
temple is about this this connection point where things of the earth meet
heaven the place where God in his fullness dwells among his people then
what if anything is the ultimate temple is Jesus in his incarnation coming and
dwelling among his people and so Jesus steps from heaven the ultimate temple
the fullness of deity in bodily form and what did he say in John chapter 2 verse
18 through 21 well the Jews talked to him he said what sign will you show us
for doing these things and Jesus answered them destroy this temple and I
will raise it up in three days therefore the Jews said this temple took 46 years
to build and you're gonna raise it up in three days and then a little side by the
author says but he Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body why did the
son become incarnate he became incarnate to offer himself as an atoning sacrifice
for sinful people which would accomplish the work required so that God could once
again dwell dwell among his people
God again would dwell with his people and he would do it as the individual
ones that are gathered up and called out and the glory of the temple of old would
be re-established as a testament to God's power but this time it wouldn't be
a fixed building this is we're back to that building is the church the building
no this time the glory of God the presence of God would dwell among all
believers the Holy Spirit would be at work within every believer and would be
at work when the believers are gathered up together the Holy Spirit continues to
make a people who denounce sin who keep away from all ungodliness who confess
and repent when they stumble and who walk in purity because God is among us
that next part of Ezekiel that we read earlier says this I will give you a new
heart and I will put a new spirit within you I will remove your heart of stone
and give you a heart of flesh I will place my spirit within you and
cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances as a
temple of the Holy Spirit we the church the called out gathered up ones we
become Christ's witnesses as we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to live in
a way we could live we could never live on our own when we are empowered by the
Holy Spirit to walk in holiness in unity and in love my final words today are
this treasure Christ treasure his body look around look look around look at
your neighbors look behind you make eye contact we are the people of God we are
the body of Christ we are the visible representation of Christ the exalted one
here on earth treasure Christ treasure his body love God's people and let your
life be a living sacrifice on the altar in the temple the Holy Spirit that is
your body and ours we are members of one another let's live it out let's make sure
that the body of Christ the representation of Christ here on earth is
not limping is not a despised despicable sight for the world to see but instead
it brings honor and glory to Christ our head amen