Last time we looked at the global nature of the Universal Church. Today we are going to zone in a little to how we function as individuals within the global family. We will then look at why we meet together. This will also help build a foundation fro our August talks on The Ministry of believers.
1 Peter 2:9-10: 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
1. You Are Special
We are chosen by God:
Chosen means selected by God for a special purpose, we are not an accident nor did we choose Him.
No one is an accidental birth in the Kingdom of God; we are all born agin intentionally by the Holy Spirit through the blood of Jesus.
Each one of us is unique. We have unique features, characteristics, personalities, opinions and so on. Each one of is loved as though we are the total object of God’s affections.
In that uniqueness there is a sense of belonging.
- We belong firstly to God:
Romans 8:15: The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’
1 Corinthians 7:23: You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings.
- We also belong to each other:
Romans 12:4-5: For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
We are not called to be lone rangers but to belong somewhere; a local church. Belonging to each other includes accountability for what we should be doing, not heavy shepherding.
It also means when one part hurts, all parts hurt. When one rejoices, all rejoice (1 Cor 12:26).
2. You are of Royal Blood!
…a royal priesthood…
When we accepted Jesus as our Saviour we became a part of God’s family and a joint heir with Jesus. We literally will share in His inheritance and He desires to freely share it with us:
Romans 8:16-17: The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Being of Royal blood is about sacrifice, not about instant gain. Paul balances this by say that we share in His sufferings first, then share in His glory. This is not going to be popular amongst some who hear or read this online, but the truth is the gospel works best where there is adversity; if there is no cross there is no crown!
- Adoption with Christ involves suffering with Him.
This is not merely a text for people that are in affliction, but for all of us. It does not merely contain a law for a certain part of life, but it contains a law for the whole of life.
"Yes, our sufferings are His," but "His sufferings are
ours.” (A. Maclaren, Sermons in Manchester, 1st
series, p. 68.http://biblehub.com/commentaries/
sermon/romans/8.htm)
- Present suffering prepares us to handle glory.
“God puts us to the school of sorrow, under that stern tutor and governor here, and gives us the opportunity of suffering with Christ, that by the daily crucifixion of our own nature, by the lessons and blessings of outward calamities and changes, there may grow up in us a still nobler and purer and perfecter Divine life; and that we may so be made capable—more capable, and capable of more—of that inheritance for which the only necessary thing is the death of Christ, and the only fitness is faith in His name.” (A. Maclaren, Sermons in Manchester, 1st series, p. 68.http://biblehub.com/commentaries/sermon/romans/8.htm)
- The inheritance comes as a promise of suffering
The suffering results from our union with Christ.
The inheritance is sure because Christ possesses it now.
Trials have no meaning unless they are means to an end. The end is the inheritance; and sorrows here, as well as the Spirit's work here, are the earnest of the inheritance. (A. Maclaren, Sermons in Manchester, 1st series, p. 68.http://biblehub.com/commentaries/sermon/romans/8.htm)
3. You are Priestly
When Jesus dies the need for priests in the OT sense was abolished. A new priesthood was instigated. The veil was torn, from top to bottom, in the Holy Place, showing that God was going to meet with all the people and not just a chosen few (Luke 23:44-46).
This priestly function has three aspects to it:
- Direct Access to God
We all (as priests in God’s sight) have access to God’s presence.
In the Old Testament there was initially a tent where God lived and then later a Temple. Now of course we all understand that God didn’t just live in a tent, or in a Temple. Rather the idea was that God’s presence was in a special way in this tent / Temple.
They knew that God is everywhere (Psalm 139:7-9). God was everywhere but He was especially present in the temple.
The way the Temple was laid out was that they had a general place, a holy place and a really holy place. In the general place all God’s people were able to go there. In the holy place, where God’s presence was in a more special way, only the priests could go there. In the really holy place, where God’s presence was in a really special way, only the high priest could go and only once a year.
He would go in through a large curtain and have a rope tied to him and bells on, so that if he wasn’t acceptable to God, if he was in sin, he would just die and people would know because the bells would stop ringing and they could pull him out.
Now we have a high priest – Jesus. Jesus is in the really holy place. Not just once a year – but always. He is in heaven, a place where there is no sin. A place where there is none of the effects of sin. He is completely in the presence of God. Nothing held back.
Even though we live in a world where everyone could access the presence of God if they chose, most do not. We though can enter into God’s presence boldly, not arrogantly, but not in fear of our lives:
Hebrews 4:16:Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Hebrews 10: 19-22: Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
- Ministering to God
The priesthood wasn’t just about coming close to God. It was also about bringing things to God that please God.
In the Old Testament this largely involved sacrifices but it also involved keeping fires going before God, keeping the bread of the presence there as well as praying.
What sacrifices are we to bring before God as priests?1 Peter 2:4-5: As you come to him, the living Stone – rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him – 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
What are those ‘spiritual sacrifices’?
Worship - gratitude and thankfulness - repentance. Ultimately, the sacrifice we bring is ourselves:
Romans 12:1: Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship.
- Ministering to the Community
Priests also have a role in bringing God’s love, God’s blessing and His desire for relationship to others in the community.
There were a number of functions that the priests performed in the Israelites system of worship of the Old Testament:
- Sacrificing on behalf of others for the forgiveness of sins, for cleansing people from being unclean so that people could again enter into God’s presence (Lev 12),
- Involved with making decisions to keep out disease to keep people in good health(Lev 13),
- Involved in making decisions in court cases to keep people in good relationships with each other (Deut 17),
- Encourage the army before they went out to war and so help people take or keep the land which God had given them (Deut 20).
There were lots of ways in which the priests were to minister God’s blessings to people of God, the people of Israel.
The thing was that it was only the priests that could do these jobs. You couldn’t do them unless you were a priest, unless you were born into the right priest family.
There are a number of examples of people trying to do the things that priests should do when they weren’t priests and paying the price. King Uzziah is one example (2 Chr 26:17-20).
When we talk about the priesthood of all believers we aren’t saying that everybody can do everything.
We can all serve others both inside and outside our community. What do we bring? We bring God’s love. We Bring God’s blessing. We bring Jesus, that is, the restoration of God’s relationship with people.
We can all serve. But we don’t all serve in the same way. We can all serve though.
This royal priesthood cannot exist in a vacuum. God has decided that this priesthood, this new nation, would be expressed across the world in the local church. I am constantly amazed that He would choose to do it this way, but He’s God and He has chosen to use the local church as a catalyst of change in the world.
The local church was God’s idea. In the NT we have numerous references to local church (Acts 11:19-22; Romans 16:1,4-5; 1 Cor. 1:2 & 2 Cor.1:1; 2 Cor. 8:19; 12:13; Gal. 1:2, 22; Col. 4:16; 2 Thess. 1:1; Philemon 1:2; Rev. 1:2 et al)
This new holy nation, that meets around the world, finds its expression in local churches for the following reasons:
It is great worship Hod within the confines of our homes, in our quiet times. There has to be a corporate expression of worship too. God loves it when His people worship Him!
Colossians 3:16: Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
(see also Hebrews 10:25; Ephesians 5:19: Acts 2:42; 1 Timothy 4:13; Psalm 95:1-11 et al).
This holy nation is commissioned for worship together:
1 Peter 2: 9b…that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light
II. The Local Church is a Place of Hope
The local church is the hope of the world (Hybels).
We saw last time how we are part of something bigger than the local church.
We are a hope-filled people. When we speak of hope we are not talking about wishful thinking! The biblical view of hope is certainty! That there is some thing better coming and that the new reality is found in Jesus!
Romans 5: 1-5:5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
The local church is the place that declares all sinners are welcome, that change is possible through Jesus, that there is a new life, a new way, a fresh way of living. Abundance and joy.
No wonder some versions of the Bible call us peculiar! (1 Peter 2:9 KJV).
III. The Local Church is a Place of Encouragement
It is in being part of the local church that we model forgiveness, family, and encouragement:
2 Cor. 13:11: Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
Philippians 2:1-4: Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
V. The Local Church is a Place of Outreach
(a Place of Outreach and Service)
Last week Rejesh Guthie reminded us of our mission to world, particularly looking at the work of GEMS. For whatever reason, God has chosen to fulfil this global mandate through a multiplicity of local churches
around the world.
When we leave this building we are entering our mission field. The ones to whom we are priests before God! The ones we are to win and love into the Kingdom.
Luke 10:1-3: After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.
How many of us became Christians because someone, a friend or preacher, told us about Jesus? Some come to faith through epiphany’s, most through personal witness (see Acts 1:8; 1 Peter 3:15)
That’s why our OneplusOne initiative is so important.
To pray for a lost friend once a day,
Talk to them once a week,
Meet them once a month,
Bring them to church once a year.
If you need a new OneplusOne card then get them on reception.
Wrapping this up:
The local church is vital for the believer’s life and the life of the city in which it is placed. To not meet together is actually an unbiblical thing. Let’s not give up being together:
Hebrews 10:23-25: Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
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