Spiritual Authority in the Body of Christ

I was thinking, did you meet any weary ones this week? I hope you did. They're there. And the question is, did you know what to say? That's what our memory verse for this week was. He has given me the tongue of disciples. A discipled tongue. A tongue that's under the control of the Holy Spirit that doesn't just say whatever it wants. Most people in this world live by speaking whatever they're thinking. And cultured people will get a little bit better at being slower to speak. Where you think, well, probably don't want to say that. But it's going to come out. You'll blurt it out at some point in that moment of pressure. If your tongue is discipled, as we said he would do, then he will give us a word. Dear family, we've heard, been hearing a lot, we hear a lot in this church about the importance of not being passive Christians. Unfortunately, most of Christendom has been directed in a path where their church experiences, I don't even want to use the word church for it. I'm not here to judge anyone, but where going to church, first of all, it's not a biblical term. My dad used to say when we were kids, if you're going to church, you better hurry up and get there. Because you need to be a part of it. Church is not a building. It's not a gathering of people. It's the living body of Christ whose head is in heaven. Who's constantly nourishing and strengthening his body and strengthening them to be used here on this earth. And as important as it was for Jesus, the first time he came in the body, for him to have strength in his body. Why do you think Jesus needed to eat well and develop his mind well? It's so that he could fulfill the purpose for which he came down to this earth. And now he's come in a body again, a spiritual body. It's comprised of all who are truly his, who have repented of their sins and are born again and have been integrated into his body, spread out across the world, integrated into local expressions of his body and integrated ultimately into the head. It's important that those members of that body are being used. So, as I was saying, it's important that we don't backslide into being passive Christians. That we're not passive Christians. Even if you look around and you see that most people, for them, Christianity is going to a certain place on a Sunday morning and listening to some music, putting a little bit of money in the bag that's passed around, hearing a good pep talk and talking to some friends that they meet and then going back and living the same defeated passive life. Passive children is just inactive, lazy. That means God's not able to use you on Monday or Tuesday because you say, well, I'm not the pastor. How is he going to, why does he need to use me? Of course he does. This is what it means to be in the new covenant that we're all members of his body. That means God's given us a relationship with him and a knowledge of him that he wants to use during the week. And the gifts may be different, but it's important that we're all being used. And so I hope there were weary ones that you met for whom you knew exactly what to say because it started, like we said in that verse, with your ear being opened in the morning. He awakens my ear. Some years ago when I was meditating on this verse, I had this question that I asked myself, which part of your body wakes up first? What do you think? Is it your eyes? Is it your mind? What is it? According to this verse, it should be your ear, your spiritual ear. Opening your ear. So think about that. I've tried to do that almost every day. I don't know if I've done it faithfully every day since then, but since that time, some years ago, three or four years ago, when the Lord made this verse a reality for me, Isaiah 50 verse four, not this one, but last week's verse. Every morning I try to say, Lord, I want you to open my ear. My physical ears are open. They're always listening, but I want you to open my spiritual ears. They tend to get blocked with stuff that I've listened to, gossip or news that I've read or music that I've listened to and earthly centered things clogs my ears. So Lord, take out that earthly earwax that prevents me from being able to hear you. Let me turn off all the other social media and media and help me to listen to your voice. And then as you do that, make that a habit, you'll find somebody will text you and just say, Hey, can you pray for me? I had that happen to me this week. Two people that I haven't heard from in years randomly reached out to me this week. I don't know we haven't been in touch, but I just, the Lord brought your name to my mind and I want you to pray for me. It's like, Lord, this has nothing to do with being an elder or a preacher or anything like that. This is being a member of the body of Christ where your faith is, is, is proudly proclaimed. And by that, I mean, it's, you're not ashamed of your faith that you're, whether you have a Facebook account or not, or whether people talk to you or not, they know that, yeah, you're not hitting them over the head with the Bible, but there's something that you're living for that controls your life. The love of Christ compels you and it's there for them to see and you're not ashamed of it. And on top of that, even if they don't know you, like this one person, I don't know if they know me much, but they, the Lord is able to tell that person, go contact Santosh, contact your name, put your name there, because they see, God sees that you've been opening your ear every morning. And so he says, Santosh has been opening his ear, I've been able to disciple his tongue, now I know whom I can send that person to. And that's true for my circle of friends, of, of contacts. What about yours? There are contacts that only you know for children, there are friends that you have in your circles that only you know, quite likely, who would only feel comfortable coming to you. Can God, through the Holy Spirit, lead that person to say, hey, go talk to that child? Because that child memorized a verse and sought to live it out, and that child prayed, Lord, give me the ear of a disciple every morning, and in so doing, disciple my tongue also, Lord. And the Lord says, I can send this child at school to so-and-so. I don't like talking about current events, but you know, even you think about what happened in Texas this week, and what's happening even in schools, I'm not here to make a political statement or conversation about it, but there's one thing I believe we ought to take from this, and that is, Lord, if there's a hurting child anywhere, or a hurting person anywhere, I ought to be somebody, whether they're bullied or not, or what they're going through, I ought to be somebody that they can come and talk to, because you can give me a word for them. No matter what they might be going through, what mental oppression, physical disability, what their home life is like, whether they've been abused or not, don't you believe that Jesus we sang about, who set us free, can set them free as well? Of course he can. Don't you think he wants to? And perhaps the greatest hindrance to the power of God moving in the world is lazy Christians, who say it's up to the pastor to reach them, or some counselor, or a chaplain, or a priest. We are all priests in God's kingdom, and if you're a part of this church, dear brother and sister, and children, I believe, I want to be sober in how I say this, I believe that God will one day play back these very words I spoke, and the words you heard in this church, and say, you were told that you had a responsibility to be a witness for me. Why weren't you? And I hope that won't be the case, but that he'll be able to say, well done good and faithful servant, I gave you one. You were only eight years old, but at the age of eight, I gave you a little word. You know that person who got one talent? What was that one talent? I think of it like one word, one phrase, one sentence, that you said to some friend in school, or some friend in the team that you play on, or something like that, and that one sentence was the one talent God gave you, and you invested it. And he says, well done good and faithful servant. So, let's follow, let's set good examples for them, parents. We said, Lord, give us homes that, where the Bible is read, prayer comes first, not, oh what are we going to do? Prayer comes first. That's our default. Something new came into our life, some news we got, or something happened, what shall we do? Let's pray. I learned something from my wife some years ago, shortly after we were married, that has become a habit in our home. Anytime we hear an ambulance or a fire vehicle passing by, it used to be that I was just curious, I wonder what's going on, and you look out the window and see if you can see what's going on. Now we pray. Somewhere, somebody is in need, Lord. Meet their need. Most importantly, use whatever they're just facing right now, whether it's a heart attack, or a car accident, or something, they can't find their child, use it, Lord, to draw them to you. Now, you could pray a dead prayer, like, I don't know if that was actually answered, or you could pray a prayer of faith, and say, Lord, I believe you actually heard my prayer, that I don't know how, I don't even know who it is, or where that ambulance is going, but I believe that you have placed me here on this earth to be an agent of change, whether it's to people I know, or to people I don't know. And think, what a heritage we can leave our children, that their default is, we gotta pray. I don't know how God's gonna answer. I'll tell you, prayer is a mystery. It is a mystery for me. The more I pray, the more I think about prayer, the more I meditate on it, the more I realize it's a mystery. Because God knows what the future is, he knows what's gonna happen, and yet he says, I want you to pray, and I want you to move my hand through prayer. Now, you might say, well, Santosh, how can you explain that to me logically, and I say, I can't. It's beyond my human capacity to understand how prayer works, but it does. I've seen it work. More importantly, he says it will work, and that's enough for me. And so, if we can lay a hold of prayer, and pray for situations that seem outside of our control, and no matter how long God takes to answer, will you pray? We all know people who are not walking with Christ. We all know that there are people who are bound in addictions, whether it's alcohol addictions, sexual addictions, divorces all over in Christendom, and broken homes, and parents that are abusing their children. All this is going on in so-called Christian homes. God is saying, where are my people who will intercede for them, who will partner with me, who will hold the hand of Jesus, and be filled with his spirit of intercession for the world in which we live. So, that is the introduction. The last few weeks that I've been speaking, I've been speaking about the marks of the presence of God in his church, and last, a couple weeks ago, I spoke about spiritual authority. And one of my fears with speaking about things like this, or even when we preach here, is that it could just be a theory. It could be some doctrine that we understand intellectually, and say, oh yeah, that's right doctrine. And we stand for right doctrine. We must always stand for right doctrine. We will continue to do that by God's grace. But, if we don't know how to practically apply that in our lives, it's no good. We'll become exactly like the Pharisees, who had all the right doctrines, but if you look to their lives, you'd say, no, they're not living it. That's why our home lives are so important. You know, brothers and sisters and children, Monday through Saturday is more important than Sunday. For most Christians in the world, Sunday is the big day. For new covenant Christians, true new covenant Christians, every day is the same. Monday through Saturday especially. Why? Because, why do I say it's more important? Because that's the days when nobody sees you. Nobody sees how you speak to your wife, or your husband, or your children. Nobody sees the thoughts you have in your life, but that's what God sees. And it's those secret hidden areas that one day God will, it says, he will judge the secrets of men. The outward stuff, he says, yeah, I don't need to judge it, because you're already judged. But those secret things, nobody knew what you were actually thinking. Nobody knew that little secret sin that you successfully hidden all these years, I'm going to bring it into the light. And knowing the fear of God, we appeal to men, Paul says. Knowing the fear of God, we say, live in the reverence of God. He's not somebody you have to be afraid of. He loves you. He's made a way of salvation. He can set you free from all sin, even if it's a 60-year-old sin. He can set you free, but be sure one day God will judge the secrets of all people. And when we live in the light of that, it says, Lord, I'd rather be judged now when I can be set free from it, than at your coming when there will be no more opportunity for repentance. That time is coming when there will be no more opportunity for repentance, but now God overlooks the times of ignorance. Now, he says, repent. Wherever you are, however you are, however long you've been that way, repent, and he will set you free. I'd like to pull up one slide. That is, sometimes people ask, what is our vision for our church? We don't have a vision statement. You can see what we believe on our website. There are certain things we believe and stand for. But I want you to see here in essence what it is. And it's very important, if you're a member of this church, that you know this is what we are striving for. This is the direction in which we've headed. It has not changed, at least as long as I've been here, this has been what it is. We may not have actually put these words up on the screen, but this is why I came to Colorado, to experience this vision. This was the vision the Lord planted on my heart almost 20 years ago, at a time when I was at my lowest, I'll tell you, I was in the horribly backslidden condition. And the Lord showed me a little bit more of the glory of his church, something that I had been taught. And it's not like he showed me something new. It just opened my eyes to truths that I had been shown when I was a kid, but was too blind to see. And I thank God that he's preserved that vision in my life and preserving it in this church. And by God's grace, we'll remain in that vision until his coming. That vision is this, to demonstrate and to proclaim. First of all, to manifest and then to preach. Paul told Timothy, pay attention to your life. 1st Timothy 3, 16 or is it 4? 1st Timothy 4, 16. Pay attention to your life and then to your teaching. That means, let Sunday be the overflow of what Monday through Saturday has been like. Let me ask you, is the singing and the listening and the spirit that you're here today, just an overflow of what Monday through Saturday has already been like? If not, set it right. At least from this week onwards, say, Lord, my week begins on Monday, actually. I want you to demonstrate in my life, through your Holy Spirit, the life of Christ, where nobody can see me, like I said. And then let me proclaim it by how I sing. It says, glorious freedom, wonderful freedom. Otherwise, it's hypocrisy. If Monday through Saturday, you're still driven by your own lust and your own self-centered thoughts, but you sing glorious freedom, wonderful freedom. Okay, the times of ignorance God overlooks. Now he says, repent. Now let it begin with, Lord, give me the reality of freedom in my life. Freedom from all bad moods, freedom from bad attitudes, freedom from an unforgiving attitude towards anybody. Give me that freedom, Lord. Help me to demonstrate first and then to proclaim it. To demonstrate and proclaim what? First of all, the new wine. Jesus used the phrase, the new wine. I think it was in Matthew 9. The new wine in new wineskins. The new wine is the life of Christ, his divine nature. So what we're manifesting is not that Santosh has figured out how to be a better human being. No, Santosh realized he couldn't be a better human being, no matter how much he tried, and he finally died and gave up. And then he was brought back to life, a newness of life in Christ Jesus. And now it is Christ living in me. And like we heard in that story of, I think it was Major Ian Thomas, right? That this Santosh is just the clothing for Christ. My body, my tongue, my eyes, my ears, it's just the clothing for Christ living in me. Paul said that. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of him who died for me and gave himself for me. Galatians chapter 2. So it's no longer I who live, but this life, Christ is actually in me and you can see it. If you come into my home and you listen at the door and I don't know that you're listening there, you ought to be able to hear the voice of Christ. It sounds like me, but it's Christ speaking through me. That's what it means to be a part of this church. Demonstrating the life of Jesus, the divine nature. And that life must be manifest in a new wineskin. Jesus said, you don't put new wine in old wineskins. You don't take this wonderful life of Christ and then put it into an old covenant church where the practices are still like it was in the old covenant. That new life of Christ must be manifest in new wineskins, which is the local church as an expression of the body of Christ. We are not the entire body of Christ, but we are an expression of it. And that's why we emphasize so much on fellowship and unity within that. The love that I have for you, because God has placed me in this local church. And the way I give up my own ideas, I would rather do this, but I'm going to do this. Comes from that love for Christ, first of all, but it's evident in a local church. That's an expression of the body of Christ according to the new covenant pattern. That means we're shown in the new covenant, what the church actually looks like, how it should be, what are the practices in the church. And as I look around at Christendom, I see that so much of the practice in churches today is not found in the New Testament at all. They might talk about the New Testament, but the practices, if you look at it, are Old Testament. For example, paid salary, paid pastors is an old covenant practice. Pastors who are paid a salary is not anywhere in the new covenant. I don't care how many times you might try to, how many churches there are that do that. That's just not found in the new covenant. Gifts. Peter was given gifts. Paul was given gifts. Paul took it to another level and says, I'm going to really follow Christ and work hard to provide my own living. But salaried pastors, you'll never find it anywhere in the new covenant. I could go on and on. I don't really want to spend too much time on that. So that is our goal, is that the life of Christ will be manifest in us, the divine nature, and that we as a local church will be an expression of that. We will be planted in that body, in a body. If you haven't read that booklet we have in the back, The Congregation, The Club, and The Church, or if it's been a while since you read it, please read it again. I believe the Lord will speak to us through that. So you can leave that on if you want, or take it off. It's fine. Speaking about spiritual authority, I want you to see what does this, today I'd like to speak briefly at least, on what does that spiritual authority actually look like. Because if we talk about spiritual authority and the authority of Christ in the church, let's turn to Matthew 28 firstly. It's one thing to talk about authority, but it's another thing to actually experience the practical reality of it. That would be like the police department of Loveland saying, we have the authority, but there's no cops around. You know, if there was only signs that said 35 miles an hour here, and 55 miles an hour there, and 65 miles over there, and 75 on the freeway, but there was nobody to enforce it, what do you think would happen? All hell would break loose. I mean, everybody would be speeding. They'd know. In fact, it happened in a town recently, I won't name it, just because you probably know where there was some problems in the police department, so they abandoned the police department. And so what happened as a result was there's a lot of people speeding through town, because they know there's no cops around here. And if we understand or think about the authority that Jesus Christ has, but there's no real practical expression of it, the authority is not actually evident in some way, then you get a you get Christendom that's full of rebellion, full of chaos, and that's why the devil is able to come in and wreak havoc in many churches, is because there aren't people who are expressing and living out that Christ in their lives and in the church. Matthew 28, Jesus said in verse 18, first of all, verse 19, let's start there. He says, go therefore and make disciples of all nations. This is what it means to build a church. You're making disciples, not just getting somebody to say a prayer, because they want to go to heaven. No, maybe it starts there, but do they want to be disciples? He explains what disciples means when he says, continues to say baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. This is what it means to be a disciple, teaching them to observe, to obey all that I commanded you, teaching them to observe. But you know the verse I skipped was verse 18, because verse 19 begins with the word, therefore, or go therefore. That word therefore is important. What is the basis? What is the authority by which we want to build a church, or to be a part of the church that Jesus is building? It's the authority that Jesus has. He says, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth, therefore go and build a church, make disciples. But if you're making disciples without realizing that Jesus has all authority, think about it. Sometimes I'm challenged by the life of missionaries who've gone into places where there was no church, where they knew they were going to be persecuted and likely be put to death. What took them there? The authority of Jesus Christ. You know what Thomas did after he heard these words of Jesus? He went to India. You know what Andrew did after he heard these words? He went to the Middle East, Persia, I think. All these disciples said, okay Lord, I'm going to go. Why? Because I'm afraid or I feel some kind of burden. You have all authority. There you are in heaven and here on this earth, you have all authority. Everything is going to be okay. If I die, so be it. You still have all authority. So Jesus has that authority. Now go to the last book of the New Testament, the book of Revelation. Look at Revelation chapter 1. These are the last words of the first book of the Bible, of the New Testament, Matthew 28. Look at what happens right away in Revelation chapter 1. John, who also heard these words of Jesus, he actually sees Jesus in Revelation chapter 1. We read in verse 12, Then I, John, turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. The seven golden lampstands. And in the middle of the lampstands, I saw one like a son of man, he's seen Jesus himself here, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet and girded across his chest with a golden sash. His head and his hair were white with white wool, like white wool, like snow. And his eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze when it has been made to glow in a furnace. And his voice was like the sound of many waters. So there's Jesus and these lampstands around him. He's in the middle of them, these lampstands around him. And in his right hand, he held seven stars. And out of his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword. And his face was like the sun shining in its strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet. This is verse 17, Revelation 1 verse 17. I fell at his feet like a dead man. And he placed his right hand on me, saying, Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last and the living one. And I was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore. And I have the keys of death and of Hades. Therefore, write the things which you have seen and the things which you are, which are, and the things which will take place after these things. And what about these lampstands and these stars? As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw on my right hand and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, the messengers you see in the next few chapters, the messenger, those whom God has placed in these local churches. Notice, not just one lampstand and one star. It's seven lampstands representing the seven churches. And it's not just seven. It's just a symbolic number. It's every local church. Again, the mystery of the local churches all over the New Testament. And unfortunately, the devil has blinded many people's eyes to it. It doesn't really matter if I'm a part of a local church, right? I'm a part of Christ's body universally. You'll miss out on something. Here you see these seven lampstands and seven stars which are representing the messenger, the one in that church to whom God has given the message, the messenger. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. So here, throughout the New Testament, you'll see that Jesus is in the midst of his church. He's got the lampstands there. He's in the midst of them and he's holding these messengers. Notice, it doesn't say that he's holding all the people in the church. Yes, he is. But here, there's a wonderful picture we're given about how those messengers, those whom God had called, Jesus has appointed in the church, certain ones to me as messengers and different gifts. He's holding them in his hand. This is the picture of authority that we're given. Now, it's interesting that, to me, it's significant that Jesus, that God uses human agents to exercise his authority. Let's turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. You might think, well, does Jesus really need apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers? Probably not. God can do anything. He doesn't really need us to perfect his work of salvation, and yet he chooses to. And before we get proud and thinking, well, Lord, I'm so good at me that you can use me, whatever gift it might be, even if it's being a father or a mother or whatever. Before we get proud, let's remember this. 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 7. Paul says, we have this treasure, this life of Christ, this authority, this calling, this purpose that God has called us with, this treasure is in an earthen vessel, in a human body, so that, not that so that I can get greater glory out of it or feel proud of myself, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. So, when you see God using human agents, whether it's an elder in a church, somebody with the gift of being an apostle or a gift of prophecy, the gift of tongues, the gift of interpretation of tongues, the gift of an evangelist, all these gifts, when you see God using you in whatever capacities called you to be used, you ought to be able to say, God picked me to prove how great he was. How? Because I'll say, he could use even me, horrible me. That's what Paul is saying, that it's almost like I'm going to think of the worst possible thing I could think of to demonstrate my power. I'm going to pick Santos. Do you see yourself that way? If God gives you a gift to be a godly husband or godly father, godly mother, a brother, God gives you a gift of an evangelist, a prophetic word on your tongue, after you share that and somebody says, brother, thank you for sharing that. That's exactly what I needed. What should go through your mind? I'm such a horrible person. God could still use me. He is so great. You see how different this is? It's the exact opposite of the world where you've got preachers who sit there on their thrones and act so in their nice suits and all that and are so impressed by their love, the attention that they get from people and on TV and they're looking at the camera and all this junk that's going on in Christendom. It's a dishonor to the name of Christ and God is looking for those who when God is able to use them, they want to go down and say, Lord, I'm such a horrible person. I'm such an earthen vessel and yet you could use me. Thank you that you used me the worst so that you could say I can even use that. That's why he had to use a donkey one time because like I can even use a donkey. I mean a donkey is, have you ever heard a donkey braying? I'm not going to try to imitate it just not to be irreverent in this room. I've heard it sometimes. It's not pleasant. Have you pictured you're being used by God to say something even to your children as a donkey braying and God says, I'm going to use that. That little braying sound, hee haw, hee haw is going to be the word that they, so they'll think God even spoke to me through my dad, fallen person that he is. Do you have such humility brothers and sisters with your, with our children that I fall in my face and that my children know of me as a humble, useless, worthless person and they say, God can even speak to me through my dad, not because he's a sinful person or anything like that because he puts zero confidence in his ability that the surpassing greatness will be of God. So now as we think about God using us in his church to be a vessel of for his glory, when we pass the mic around and we ask that you share something and keep it brief. Why? Because we want the surpassing greatness to be of the Lord and that you know that's part of, I mean, the next time you feel like you want to share for five minutes instead of the two minutes, imagine that you had to listen to five minutes of a donkey braying. You know, we've had people in this church who complain I've even left the church because they said I don't like that you limit us to only two minutes. I have much more to say. These are not people that you can build a church with because they don't see themselves as donkeys. I tell you, I speak for more and I have a burden on my heart. I try to express it and I don't know how long the Lord typically has me speak for but whatever it is, I tell you more and more, I think of myself as a donkey braying. I say, Lord, my human wisdom is as annoying to you at least and I hope it will be to you as well as a donkey braying and help me to only say that which I ought to say. So when we pass the mic around, Lord, this donkey is going to say something. Let me keep it short because I don't want to add any of my human wisdom to it. Let it be prophetic. Let it be your words, Lord. Let me first have disciplined my ear to hear what you have to say. So God uses human agents. Let's turn to Ephesians chapter 4. God uses human agents. He appoints apostles. He appoints elders. He appoints, he's given to the church, we'll read here in Ephesians 4, all these gifts. He didn't need any of them. God doesn't need evangelists to preach the gospel. So if he uses you as an evangelist, don't let your head get too big. If he allows you to share something in the church that's a blessing to others, don't let your head get too big. He didn't need to use you. He chose to so that the surpassing greatness will be of him. This is how he uses the body. In Ephesians 4, we read in verse 7, to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Every one of us, each means everybody. Children, God has given you a gift. My prayer, our prayer as elders is that you will see that gift, what it is, how he wants to use you in his kingdom. To each, to everyone, no exception, no exclusion. If you're a member of Christ's body, you have been given a gift according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says, when he ascended on high, he led captive a host of captives. I think we all know that. We spoke about freedom. He led captive a host of captives and he gave gifts to men. You see the two-fold ministry as a result of Jesus Christ ascending to heaven. I don't know if you've seen this verse before, but it's very important. Because Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth, he has brought captive, he's taken captive a host of captives and he's given gifts to men. Given gifts to you, to each, to everyone. Then he goes on to say, now this expression, he ascended etc. Let's go down to verse 11. Having ascended, he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, again all earthen vessels, all donkeys, apostles, prophets, evangelists, some as pastors and teachers. Pastors just means shepherd. And the purpose of this is that I could use that donkey so that it would equip all the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ. So my function as an elder in the church and as a preacher of God's word is not that I will be more important, but I will go down so that you all, brothers and sisters in this local church, especially in any others listening, will be equipped for your gift. Christendom on the other hand has made it about the pastor and about the song leader. These days if you want to start a church all you need is a good speaker and a good musician. Again it's a dishonor to the name of Christ. The purpose of singing, the purpose of preaching, the purpose of exhortation, the purpose of the gift of prophecy is to build up everybody so that that little child who thinks that they don't have a gift heard what I had to say and they were encouraged to exercise their gift as well. This is the new covenant body of Christ. So God has placed these agents that he uses in a body, the body of Christ. See it's not, it's a kingdom in a sense, but the expression that's unique to the new covenant. See under the old covenant they had the kingdom of Israel. In the kingdom of Israel the most important person was the king, King David. How he went is how the nation went. You know I've been reading, if you're following our reading plan, you're reading through all these kings, right? Ahaziah, Jehoram and all these, some good, some bad. As the king was so was the kingdom. But now in the new covenant Jesus is the only king and we are all members of the body and the new word that we're given, the new picture that we're given is not the kingdom, it's the body and you know that in the body every member of the body has a function. Even the skin on my body has a function. Even the fingernail has a function. In the kingdom of Israel you could be a lazy person, you could just be one who carries water. Remember those people they only cut wood and carry water. In the body there's no such thing. There's no dead member that's just being dragged along and I want to tell you in all soberness as an elder here in this church that you're really a function, you're a member of Christ's body, of this church, if you're really functioning as a member of Christ's body. Nobody at RLCF should just be coming along because well I guess this is the place where I warm a chair for a couple of hours on a Sunday morning. There's no such thing. Now we can't force that, we can't impose that on you but I hope that in listening to these things and as you hear our heart, you are gripped with a burden to know what is your calling. Lord why did you place me in this church? Not just to warm that chair and feel like okay that's where I'm known. Membership comes from that care, that loving expression of care. That care is, you can read about it in 1st Corinthians chapter 12. Let's look at that. 1st Corinthians chapter 12 verse 25. Let's begin reading there. So that there may be no division in the body but that the members may have, here's a mark of membership in Christ's body and what if you, any of you, those of you who became members of RLCF and expressed that, the verse that we all took, all of you to I believe as far as I know was this, that membership at RLCF is what membership in Christ's body is, how it's described here and again let me clarify before you misunderstand what I just said. Being a member of this church doesn't mean that you're a member of Christ's body. Only God knows that and not being a member of this church does not mean that you're not a member of Christ's body. I hope that's absolutely clear. There's no doubt in our minds about that because God has his people all over the world but we talk about membership and we live out membership in the way that it's described here, the way Paul told them what membership should look like. Otherwise if you just say well membership in Christ's body and there's no, there's no tangible evidence of that membership. So the tangible evidence of membership in a local church because Paul is addressing a local church, you can see that in verse 27, you are Christ's body. He's telling the local church in Corinth, you are an expression of Christ's body, this local church. Paul was not a member of that church, he was an apostle over that church but he was not a member of that church and that's why he's using the word you compared to what we read in Ephesians, we are Christ's body. He's talking about the universal body of Christ. Here he's talking about the local church which is why in first Corinthians you read about different practices in the local church like women covering their head when they pray or prophesy, men not covering their head when they pray or prophesy, the breaking of bread, etc. and first Corinthians 14 gifts of prophecy, etc. So there may be no division in the body but that the members may have the same care for one another and if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. If one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. You know it doesn't take a smart person to know that in order to really obey verse 26, you have to be connected with a body. But if you're just sitting at home and not integrated into a body and you hear about your other brothers and sisters in some other part of the world suffering, you can't really suffer with them. Yeah, I pray as if bound with them but you know when I really get to obey verse 26 is when you share with me something that you're going through. You're walking through a dark time in your life or there's something that you need help with and you say Santosh can you pray with me and I love you and I care for you and I'm invested in your life and you're invested in my life and I take on that burden and say I'm going to pray with you. I'm suffering with you brother. I'm going to walk with you through this. Or if you get honored, God gives you a blessing and something goes well with you. I'm not jealous of you. No, I rejoice with you that you got that blessing and I might not have got that blessing. It's perfectly okay. Why? Because I have a care. You know the best example of this is me is when your children are honored. If you find that your child got honor roll or some award, do you ever get jealous? You think man I never got that when I was a kid. Not even once. You don't have to be taught to rejoice for your kids. Why? Because you care. You care for your child so much that even if that was an award that you would never have come close to getting when you were their age, they got it and you rejoice and you get these stickers on the back of car honor roll and you know my child was successful. It doesn't matter if I was or not. My child is. You see how that you don't have to be taught that because there's a care. There's a love for your child that's in you and will you allow the Holy Spirit to put that that love for your brother who's not related to you by blood. For your sister who's quite different from you who even rubs you the wrong way but they are made one with you in Christ. They are your brother. They are your sister. This is the body of Christ. Can we exemplify that even more? I believe we do family. River of life. We do. Let's do that even more where we can truly rejoice in the blessing and somebody else gets without a little bit of jealousy. I was like well Lord why is it going so well with them and I've got this. You can rejoice in the healing that somebody else got that you don't have yet. I'm not I'm not trying to be super spiritual either. Please understand I'm not talking about emotion. Yes we will feel sadness. Yes there may be emotions we feel but we can say Lord I want to experience this life. You are Christ's body and individually members of it he says and then he says God has appointed in the church and he talks about an order. First apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles etc. He goes on to say so he says first second third not because we are more important. In fact Paul says when he says apostles are first it means that we were actually the worst of the worst least and he says the apostles were the least of all and I'm the least of the apostles. That's the one that God used the most. The worst of the worst as it were. So don't think of it as this apostles, prophets, teachers like that. No and you've probably heard me talk about this so that the the picture in the church of spiritual authority, the picture of the new covenant of spiritual authority is not Jesus at the top and then you know apostles, prophets and everybody's like I want to be an apostle so I'm just going to call myself apostle. That's going on in Christendom too. Apostles so-and-so, prophets so-and-so, pastors so-and-so. No nobody wants a title. Even Jesus said don't take those titles. Let it be for the other old covenant people. The picture in the church is an inverted triangle an upside down triangle where Jesus lowered himself where he exercises authority underneath everybody. He humbled himself even to the point of death lower than anybody could ever possibly humble themselves and therefore God has given him a name which is above every other name at the name of which every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and then he says now I'm going to appoint first apostles. Where's the first? It's there the bottom. First in the church is the bottom. That's what it means to be an apostle. Jesus said if you seek to be whoever seeks to be the greatest in the kingdom of all must become the servant of all, must go all the way to the bottom. Apostles, prophets, evangelists. You see how God if you want to the Lord to fulfill your ministry in the church he's going to put you underneath everybody else. Zach has a term for us elders. He calls us toilet cleaners, spiritual toilet cleaners. If you came to the church and said hey we'd like you to be the elder in this church. Yeah great. Most people in the world think yeah I get to be an elder. Yeah you get to clean the toilet. That's exactly what Jesus meant. Now I'm not trying to be irreverent in Jesus day the equivalent of cleaning toilets was scrubbing dirt out of people's feet and that's what he did in John 13. He says you call me Lord and teacher and so I am but let me show you what that means. I'm going to get down and get that dirt out of between your toes. Why? Because that's what it means to be Lord and teacher. He who wants to be the greatest must be the servant of all. The son of man came not to be served but to serve and when you get to heaven what do you think is going to happen? What if you get to heaven and say and God tells you you're the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. You get to serve everybody. Would you be disappointed? Say Lord I served you on earth now serve you in heaven too. We've missed it. We misunderstood it. If serving Jesus is the greatest joy of our lives we'll say Lord I don't care if it's for all eternity. That's all I want to do. I want to be near you. I want to serve with you. So it's going down and that going down, that apostleship, that care. You can read so many you know what does it actually look like? For Paul he says in 2nd Corinthians 13 I'm going to come to you with a rod. Should I come and give you a spanking? Sometimes that that's what it takes. But you look at what he tells about Timothy. That Timothy had, let's turn there Philippians chapter 2. He says verse 20 Philippians 2 verse 20 I have no one else except Timothy, like Timothy of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. Genuinely be concerned for your welfare. I'll give you an example that I was reminded of this week. In this in this very building years ago long before any of you were here. There was a situation shortly after I'd become an elder. Around the time that I became an elder at least. And I was new to 2008. And I was sitting here. I actually was used to sit on this side. And there was a man that somebody else had was a guest was here. And somebody else had asked him to speak for a little bit. And he proceeded to dishonor the name of the Lord. Not by anything he said. But just the spirit in which he said it. And I was sitting there. And I was grieved. This man didn't know any of the people here. Again none of you were here that time. And I just my heart was burning. I said Lord this is dishonoring you. And he was scolding the people who were sitting here. And went on for a long time. Much longer than he we had asked him to. I didn't ask him. But somebody else had asked him to speak. And he went on much longer. And I sat there. And I was like Lord what do I do? I'm a new elder. What do I do? And I sat there and allowed him to go on. Because I didn't want to rock the boat. It's like you know if you have to ever stop somebody from speaking. It's just like everybody's sort of uneasy. And it's like bring you know just like awkwardness. And yeah I'm not I'm not a confrontational kind of person. At least I wasn't then. And I'm not in my flesh. I'll tell you that. And then the Lord spoke this to me so clearly. I can still picture myself sitting right over there. And the Lord said Santosh do you care? What if this was happening in your house? If somebody came into your house and started to scold your children. And berate your children. And tell them how naughty they were. And how bad they were. What would you say? I said Lord I want two minutes. And I'd ask him to stop and leave. He says will you learn to care for my family as much as you care for yours? I said Lord okay. I said sir it's time for you to sit down. That's all it took. I had to see Lord I'm more protective of my own family. I don't care what people think about me. And I think you've seen us. Me as an elder have to deal with situations sometimes in the church. Sometimes strictly. And I say that not because not to defend myself. Honestly it doesn't matter what people think about me. But God wants to give us all a sense of care for his family. And if you have to deal with something radically. You as fathers and mothers know what that looks like. And I've never forgotten that. Anytime I faced a situation where I have to deal with something. I said Lord if this was my home. I know without a doubt what I would do for the protection and the care of the family that you've entrusted. And now I want to do that for your family Lord. And the Lord has since then over the last 14 years. Since that incident strengthened and allowed that care for his for his family. This is the Lord's family to grow in me. Where I'm not looking to exercise my authority over others. And control others. Or you know lay heavy burdens on others. And lord it over others. No. No. Not at all. There's not even a part of me that wants to do that. But I say Lord I want to care for your body. And if there's something dirty. A dirty job that you need done. And you're looking for somebody to do it. I'll say Lord here I am. The elder. That's why us elders sometimes have to address things in the church. That none of you will have to. Why? And we might look like the bad guys. And people call us the bad guys. And accuse us of being cult leaders. And all these things. I'll tell you why. They haven't seen the body of Christ. They don't really have a care for Christ's body. But when you do. When you allow the Holy Spirit to fill you with a care for his body. All of a sudden you'll go into places that your flesh doesn't want to go. That you're uncomfortable doing. And you as fathers and mothers know that. So that's that's what it means. Is Christ's family important to you? I want to just briefly talk about this. Maybe take a couple a few minutes here yet. If you'll bear with me. He talks about apostles. Now there are some people who say I'm not going to make this a doctrinal issue. Some people who say the apostles ended with the first apostles that Jesus appointed. The reason I don't believe is true. Is because of what we read in Ephesians 4. It says he ascended and then he is given apostles. You read that. We read that right. Ephesians 4. 7. And then later on 10. 11. He says he ascended. 9. Then he's given apostles and prophets. And so I believe that to deny any of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is to deny all of them. There's some people who say there's no such thing as the baptism of the Holy Spirit at all. Because that was on the day of Pentecost. It was for them and now it's not needed anymore. We know that it's not true. Some people say there's no need for gift of tongues anymore. And deny different gifts. And so I don't seek to deny any of them. I do believe that it's possible for this these things like oh apostles so and so. Prophets so and so. Pastors so and so. To get abused where it becomes a title and a position. But very simply for me I've seen that the gift of an apostle. Such a person will never take the title first of all. That's why we don't take title pastor or anything like that. But I've seen in function and in reality in my own life. In my life as a disciple of Jesus. In my life as an elder in this church. And in the functioning of this church and other churches that we're connected with. That God it's a blessing to have somebody who can function in that ministry of overseeing elders and overseeing churches. You know that my dad brother Zach has had a significant influence on this church and continues to. And for some people that is an opportunity for them to say oh you guys are too dependent on Zach. You listen to a lot of his teachings and all that. And I'll tell you years ago I used to be a little defensive of it. I'm like oh yeah you know. But try to explain and clarify what his relationship with the church is like. I don't even waste my time with that anymore. Because I see that God has given us. It's a tremendous gift that he has been to us. And most of you don't know how he has guided us elders. Guided me personally. But as elders and guided churches around the world. Not for any. Not to promote himself. He gets zero money out of it. Not to make a name for himself. But because he has a genuine care for us. And I'll tell you that because I happen to be related to him also. I probably receive more correction than any of the other elders have. I don't think of that as a bad thing. I say Lord that's great. Now I want to be take it seriously. If he feels free to correct me and rebuke me stronger than anybody else. That's that's for my good. And you know I thought about it like this. That let's say you met a bunch of kids that were you know let's say young teenagers living in a home. And they they're by themselves. There's no parents in the home. They make their own food and their lawn to themselves. And then my kids tell them hey we have a dad and mom. And they like they tell us when we have to go to bed. And they tell us when to do this and do that. And and imagine if those kids says oh you poor things you actually have parents. The kids would say no my parents are a good thing for us. That authority that God has placed over me is for my good. And for people and I see it exactly the same way that God is. I consider RLCF tremendously blessed that God has given us the opportunity to have a relationship with a brother like Zach. Who is functioning in that overseer role. I know you know I don't want to call him an apostle or anything like that. Because it's not about the title. But that function. That gift that he is to us as a church and to many churches. I've seen God bear witness to it. Talk about us elders. First of all the office is not pastor. You know what what the what Paul told the apostles to appoint was elders. You read that in Acts 14. You read that in Titus chapter 1. Go into every place and appoint elders not pastors. And again it's because most people don't read the New Testament carefully. That we still have even churches that think they are new covenant churches with titles of pastor and things like that. Again I don't want to make it a big issue or to judge them. But let's be biblical. That's all he said. And what the apostles sent out people to do was to appoint elders. You read that for example. Let's turn to Acts chapter 11. I want you to see an incident here. You know Barnabas was an apostle. You see his function as an apostle. Even though he was not one of the twelve. Paul himself was an apostle. I believe Titus and Timothy were apostles. Sylvanus. Paul talks about him in I think Titus 1 or one of the other episodes as an apostle. In Acts 11 you read here in verse 19. This is you know it says at the end the disciples verse 26. The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. The first place where the word Christians came was in Antioch. And in the context of this see what happens. Those who were scattered because of the persecution. So they were all in one place and then got scattered. And you see how God even uses persecution to build his church. He saw all these people coming into one town. Maybe it was Jerusalem or yeah. And he says I got to get these people not just to be stuck in Jerusalem. That's why my prayer is not that all the other people around the country will move to RLCF and be part of this church. No. Because God wants them to be scattered. You see how that persecution caused these people who probably thought well Jerusalem's a nice church. Let's all move here. No. God says okay I got to bring some persecution. And that persecution resulted in them being scattered. The persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen. And so they went to Phoenicia, Cyprus, Antioch. Speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone. But there were some of them men of Cyprus and Cyrene who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also. So these men they were not even told their name. And the hand of the Lord was with them and a large number who believe turned to the Lord. And the news about them reached the ears of the church of Jerusalem where the apostles were. And they sent Barnabas. See the ministry of an apostle going now. He says oh there's a group of people meeting there. Let's send Barnabas over there. God has given him to the church in this function. Sent Barnabas off to Antioch. And when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord. For he was a good man full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord. And then he says okay now this is getting beyond my measure of gift. I need to get Paul. See Barnabas was a humble man. He didn't think well this is good Lord continue to use me. He says Lord I've realized that you're using me beyond my gift. I need somebody who's got a greater gift. Somebody lower than me. So he left for Tarsus to look for Saul. And when he had found him he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. You see the function of apostles there. The group of believers and they needed guidance. And so I see that the gift of an apostle in that function to churches is to guide them to give them oversight to appoint elders in different places. So I'm thankful that as a church. Now if there are churches that don't have it that's fine. But I thankful that I'm thankful that the Lord has allowed us to have somebody somebody with that gift. Talking about prophets he says apostles prophets and teachers. Speaking about prophets let's turn to first Corinthians chapter 14. What is a prophet? You know we've we heard we've heard many times and we say often in this church let all prophesy. Earnestly seek to prophesy. But there's a difference with those who are prophets. And prophets I believe are those who God has given to the church to have the prophetic word of teaching. It's different from a teacher but a prophetic word. It could be short. It doesn't say how long it could be. But it's a prophetic word. Again most people think that a prophet in the church is one who says thus and thus saith the Lord this is going to happen. That's all covenant prophets. You know it will not rain or it will rain. Occasionally you see Agabus for example saying Saul's going to be bound and things like that. But the prophetic word the prophetic word to build up exhort edify and encourage the church that God has given to certain ones to have that consistent gift. You read in first Corinthians 14 verse 29 for example. In the meetings of the church again if you wonder the reason I want you to see these verses is because you want I want you to know we want you to know that when we make certain decisions about how things are done in the church it's not just okay we'll try this. We go to God's word and sometimes it's things we haven't seen before and we realize oh we need to change that because it's so plainly written in God's word. One of those is here in verse 29 it says in the meetings let two or three prophets speak and then let the others speak after that. Let two or three prophets speak and then let others speak after that. So that that and let's continue reading in verse 37 if anyone and then we've had persons say well how do you know I'm not a prophet. Verse 37 answers that question. If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord's commandment but if anyone does not recognize this he is not recognized. Therefore my brethren desire earnestly to prophesy and do not forbid to speak in tongues but all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner. So it's clear that God has given two or three prophets that consistent word we seek to practice that may not be perfectly. Again I said it we said in the vision that we're seeking to obey the new covenant pattern that's shown us in this book. The prophets were also called seers in the Old Testament and I think King James used that word seer. What's a seer? Somebody who's able to see ahead not somebody who just sees what's going on right now and I pray I don't know if we are that but I pray that for especially for us elders that God will give us the seeing ahead of what's coming ahead against us as a church. What way will the devil try to deceive us or lead us astray? If we don't have that we'll just go ahead and find the catastrophe there and fall into a pit. If I'm just walking along my merry way saying what a wonderful church and then we find ourselves in a pit. God needs watchmen he needs seers and I believe that is what it means to have the gift of being a prophet. Those who can see ahead and say watch out this is coming the path that you're headed there's a trap ahead. You might have to change course or it might be be ready when that comes and finally teachers. Teachers are those who explain doctrine and James says in James chapter three don't be many teachers and that's why we're careful that that we don't all go on speaking for too long because the more you speak the more you're likely to stray into that realm of teaching and what does he say in James 3 verse 1? Don't be many teachers because you will incur the greater judgment. So if you feel like I need to speak for five minutes that's five minutes worth of judgment that God will give on you. Better speak for 30 seconds or two minutes so that you only get two minutes worth of judgment according to your gift and finally evangelists. He talks about evangelists now I believe I believe you see that in the scriptures that let's turn to Acts 8. This is the last thing I wanted to see and then I'll close. Acts chapter 8 evangelists you see them functioning in connection with the church. I think of an evangelist like the hand that takes a piece of food and puts it into the mouth. A hand that takes a piece of food and puts it in the mouth now we eat with forks and spoons of course. The same analogy an evangelist is one who's part of the body. There's no these isolated evangelists just traveling evangelists that go around and just have a bunch of meetings and then those so-called converts are left to die spiritually. These evangelists are functioning as members of a church and whether they function within that area where the church exists or go elsewhere they are seeking to plant those particles of food into a body right. Otherwise if it's just a hand by itself where's the mouth into which it needs to put the food and so I pray and I thank God that he's given us some evangelists in this church. I gift of evangelist is to integrate them into the body of Christ where they become disciples whether it's here or if they're in somewhere else to be a part of another church but the function of evangelist is ultimately to make to see that that person that convert is made a disciple through the other gifts the apostles the prophets the teachers where they receive good teaching and they're integrated into a body. This is exemplified here through Philip and Peter. Philip was a had the gift of an evangelist Peter was the gift of was the gift of an apostle and you see the two and you know the story probably but let's quickly look at it there was a man verse 9 acts 8 verse 9 there was a man named Simon who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria claiming to be someone great and they all from smallest to greatest were giving attention to him saying this man is what is called the great power of God. They said this is the power of God this is the move of God because he's doing all these wonderful things and they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts and I believe he was preaching something about Christ something about God. Yes he was using divination and magic but he was talking about God they said this is the power of God but when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ they were being baptized men and women alike even Simon himself believed and after being baptized look at what it says here he was with Philip so Philip being the evangelist not being one who had been given the gift of being an apostle lacked discernment because his gift was just to tell people about how to receive Christ and to be baptized. Thank God Philip was connected with an apostle Peter because Simon came along with Philip and says hey I want to be baptized too and I'll receive Jesus and this practicer of magic was sitting in the church that Philip the evangelist was gathering and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place he was constantly amazed but when the apostles verse 14 in Jerusalem heard that this was going on in Samaria they says we need somebody with discernment to make sure that that things are in order like we read in first Corinthians 14 they sent Peter and John the apostles who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen upon any of them they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus let's skip down you know what happens and then verse 18 now Simon I don't even think he was born again he was still a practicer of magic but he was sitting in the church and Philip didn't have the discernment to recognize this let's not blame Philip his calling was to be an evangelist but thank God he stayed within his boundary and he was an evangelist that was connected with a church that had apostles and the apostles came now when Simon who had discernment saw that the spirit was this no sorry Simon this is Simon the other Simon the bad Simon saw that the spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles hands he offered them money thinking man I need this power this is something more than what my magic can do so he comes to Peter now I don't know what would have happened if he came to Philip but he sat in Philip's church for a while until Peter showed up and he says he offered them money through the and saying give this authority to do me as well so that everyone on whom I lay my horns on may receive the Holy Spirit and look at Peter the ministry of an apostle a seer something Philip couldn't see Peter could see earlier you read how Philip saw through the unction of the Holy Spirit Ananias you're lying I know that's not the whole amount and I should say what what do you mean it's not the whole amount did you see where I signed Philip's Peter says I don't need to see I'm an apostle I am a seer and he could see that about Sapphire here comes Peter he can see into Simon the magician's heart says this man is not even born again and all you other people that are fooled by this person getting up and doing miracles and all that he says may your money perish with you because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money you have no part or portion in this matter for your heart is not right before God the gift of an apostle the gift of spiritual authority practically lived out in the church now I could go on you if you study this is just an appetizer as we always say and I've probably spoken longer quite a long time so we'll end there please meditate on these dear brothers and sisters even if you don't understand all of it much of this may not be something that you're called to have decide on but you must know why we are if you could pull up that vision again why this is our vision that we have the new covenant life of Christ the new wine and it's expressed and it's contained in new wineskin the local church where these gifts that God has given are manifest in a real way practically visible