Sermon on Sunday 15 March 2020 by Pastor Paul
Colossians 1:24-29 - I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness - the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory. So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. To this end I labour, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
It is the promise of God that the riches and glory of God is with us if we can also participate in the sufferings of Christ.
What is fresh work for the church?
A church is not a place for social gathering. All of us is the temple of the living God. Every day is the Lord's day. Every day, we need to honour God.
There are 3 roles for you:
1) Tell others about Christ
All have sinned. Romans 3:23 - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
We are all created "very good" by God but we all have sinned. We will be cast out from His presence because of sin. But Christ came to save. Only He can save us.
John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 14:6 - Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Only in Christ, we are saved by grace through faith. God doesn't save just one group of people. It is His desire that all are saved. Salvation is for everyone.
Romans 10:13 - for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
We are commissioned to tell others. Romans 10:14-15 - How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
2) Warn everyone
When we need to tell the truth, it can be difficult. People do not like to hear hard truths. We have to warn about sin. Sin causes us eternal separation from God because God cannot allow sin to enter into His holy presence.
Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We have to preach repentance. Both Jesus and John the Baptist warned people to repent.
Matthew 3:2 - and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
Matthew 4:17 - From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
We have to be prepared to face rejection and even persecution. A proud person will not admit that he has sin and that he needs salvation. But do not lose heart.
Matthew 5:10-11 - Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Do take note that even as we warn others, we should do so with a compassionate heart. Jesus' warning was out of love, so that people would repent and return to the Lord.
3) Teach everyone
It is the Lord's commission for us to teach new disciples to obey all the commands He has given. We have to change our sinful ways and follow the Lord's way.
Matthew 28:20 - "and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Paul also taught Timothy to teach the truth to other to pass them on.
2 Timothy 2:2 - And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.
A good teacher must first be a good follower. Only then can he be a good teacher. We need to be humble and submit to authority. Live a holy life.
1 Timothy 4:12 - Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believes in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
One of Jesus' role was that of warning others about their sins - to change their ways and go back to the Lord. Jesus established good work for us to learn and follow. We are made holy in Christ so let us be obedient.
Matthew 9:35-38 - Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
We can't do these by ourselves. Remember that we have support:
1) Christ lives in you
Our old self has been crucified with Christ.
Galatians 2:20 - I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I wive by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
We are the temple of God.
1 Corinthians 3:16 - Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's spirit lives in you?
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body.
God yearns to live in us. We need to be set apart from unrighteousness, for Him.
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 - Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."
2) Wisdom from God
Ask God and He will give you wisdom. Do everything according to God's will rather than our own human will.
James 1:5-8 - If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom.
Proverbs 9:10 - The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
God gives us the right words at the right time. When we are sharing, we do not have to worry about what to say, because when we submit to God, He will give us the right words to say. The words will be words of life.
Matthew 10:19-20 - But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
3) Christ's mighty power that works within us
We are nothing and Jesus is everything. All things are possible because of Jesus. Christ has demonstrated He was fully dependent on God the Father.
Matthew 19:26 - Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 - But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
1 John 4:4 - You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
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