======================================================================== I WILL DRAW ALL PEOPLE TO MYSELF by Astor Yelangueuzian ======================================================================== Summary: This sermon delves into the concept of how Jesus draws all people to Himself, particularly through the Holy Spirit, and how believers are intricately connected to Christ as His body on earth. It emphasizes the importance of being in fellowship with other believers, participating in the body of Christ, and the significance of community in worship and service. Topics: "Unity in Christ", "The Role of the Holy Spirit" Scripture References: John 12:32, Acts 9:4, 1 Corinthians 10:16, 1 Corinthians 12:12, Ephesians 4:4, Romans 12:4, 1 Corinthians 10:21, Hebrews 10:24, Colossians 3:15 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon delves into the concept of how Jesus draws all people to Himself, particularly through the Holy Spirit, and how believers are intricately connected to Christ as His body on earth. It emphasizes the importance of being in fellowship with other believers, participating in the body of Christ, and the significance of community in worship and service. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From the gospel of John chapter 12 verses 31 and 32 Jesus said, now this is the judgment of this world Now will the ruler of this world be cast out and I When I am lifted up from the earth Will draw all people to myself The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God So, what does this mean I will draw all people to myself How does that happen What does Jesus mean by myself to myself Well He's talking about his ascension if forgive me he's talking about when he is crucified but beyond that he's talking about those who come after His His time if you will and that's us everybody after the crucifixion resurrection ascension He will draw all people to himself by the Holy Spirit For the scriptures tell us that no one can confess that Jesus is Lord without the Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit initiates warms our hearts Draws us closer to the to this to the Father but through the Son, right? So the Holy Spirit is what draws us to Jesus But what does that mean myself now 2,000 years removed from those words I Think what's helpful is if we look at The Acts of the Apostles a book one of the books in the New Testament Here in chapter 9 where Saul a persecutor of the church who's been imprisoning Christians They are blasphemers. They are marring the name of God and he's out there Arresting and imprisoning those who say Jesus Christ is the Son of God and as a zealous very passionate Pharisee he's on his way on the road to Damascus and he's confronted with Jesus and Jesus says to him something very very interesting. He says Saul Saul. Why do you persecute me? What does he mean by that? Why do you persecute me? Well, Jesus at that point is really in heaven. He's ascended already What does Jesus mean by me? What he's referring to is his people his body you see Saul who later becomes Paul st. Paul Was persecuting the church the people of God? Jesus Connects himself and his people as one in the same That is his body on earth Jesus has a body of course We know he resurrected bodily resurrected and he ascended to the father 40 days later After his resurrection and he's there at the right hand of God and we await his second coming his return But Jesus also has a body in some way on earth Yes, that body is the church So there's a mystery to what we would call the incarnation when God became flesh and dwelt among us he tabernacled, right? Jesus is God in the flesh the enfleshment of God as some would say but Miss equally mysterious is The church the church is just as mysterious. It's it's quite odd. How does that happen? It's something that we believe because scripture speaks of this Jesus refers to the church as his body We are his body the Apostle Paul refers to the body having many parts and eye and ear a Hand a foot and Though there are there is one body there are many parts the word there for body in the Greek is soma Right, and this is always referred to as the body of Christ on earth There's something beautiful about that that we who believe in Jesus we who follow the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior as our King as our God in the flesh are part of his body on earth Elsewhere in 1st Corinthians chapter 10 The Apostle Paul st. Paul says because there is one bread we who are many are one body The bread there is a reference to the body of Christ as well as Jesus Prepared this whole theology at the up in the upper room the Last Supper when he took bread and he said this is my body Broken for you given for you Right and So there the beginning of that mysterious theology begins that yes that we're in the bread mysteriously that that becomes a great theology for the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist Thanksgiving, but also is a prefiguring or a fashion Foreshadowing of the theology and the teachings of st. Paul that we too are the body of Christ Right that we are in some respects the bread as well for the life of the world Right and so We are one body in the church What's the importance of all this is because? to have a relationship with Jesus Is to have a relationship within a community Right we can't be isolated. I believe in Jesus and I worship Jesus He is my Lord and my Savior, but we can't and at the same time be disconnected from the body his body on earth Right, and that's what it means to be in fellowship koinonia right to participate Another reference in 1st Corinthians chapter 10. He uses that language of participation if we drink from The cup of blessing we bless is it not sharing in the participation the koinonia in the blood of Christ and likewise The hand the the bread we break is it not a participation in the body of Christ Right koinonia in the fellowship. So we fellowship with Christ in his death When we partake in the bread and we fellowship With Christ in his death again in the blood When we drink that wine in the fellowship of his blood and his suffering, but we do this This language of koinonia is also fellowship within a community Right. We can't be disconnected from the body of Christ on earth and just have a solo relationship with God right Because that's not what scripture teaches us. I Who believe in God who worship the who believe in Jesus as Lord but are not in fellowship with other believers and I lament I lament for that why because They and we are missing out in one another's company in each other's encouragement in each other's prayers in each other's Loving of one another you see we we are many parts in the body We all need one another. We're all equally important in the body of Christ as The body of Christ the hand can't say to the foot. I don't need you or the eye can't say to the To the ear. I don't need you. We all need one another So if you believe and confess that Jesus is Lord Then you and I should be in fellowship with one another and worshiping God together corporately Coming together and praying for one another encouraging one another Helping one another serving with one another going out into the world with one another you see that's the mystery of the church the Ecclesia the ones who are called out plural Right Jesus didn't just pick one disciple he could have picked Peter and Only Peter if you wanted to know but he picked twelve disciples yes, that was a Reconstitution of the the patriarchs of the old or the twelve tribes of Israel But I think it's beyond that what Jesus is showing here in the picking of the twelve He's creating a community. And so we God wants us to worship him in community And so we celebrate and we practice certain if you will rituals that shape and form us equally together and and guide us together in the object of our worship together in a context of community So we are one in the Lord. There's one Lord one faith one baptism, right? And there's one church there's one body and So if I want to encourage you to be part of a fellowship and So so so you're not alone in this in this world And that you're not trying to carry all your burdens by yourself And as I've mentioned before if you've been hurt by the church the body of Christ forgive us And and that's the separation that's the difference between the body on earth versus the body in heaven the body on earth Can hurt can abuse and Forgive us for doing such whether in word or deed, but the body in heaven Will never hurt will never abuse will always love Will always be there But that's our job is to be obedient To practice what we preach to come together to sharpen one another to build each other up We are the project of God on earth for the sake of the world So I encourage you to come come and Be one So I can receive Blessings from you and the gifts that God has given you. I Need you just as much as you need me we need one another and All the parts make one body and Christ being the head to him be all the glory praise and honor ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/4AHm8EeNC20.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/astor-yelangueuzian/i-will-draw-all-people-to-myself/ ========================================================================