Part 2 - 05-20-19
May 20, 2019, Fortifying our Foundation pt. 2 Brother Bennett.
Opening Prayer: Heavenly Father, You are holy and just in who You are and all You do; we thank You for being merciful with us, for Your loving kindness and forgiveness, we thank You for leading us in Your ways and for teaching us Your truth, showing us how to live lives pleasing in Your sight, for giving us the strength by grace to follow Christ Jesus. Holy Spirit helps us be mindful of our flows, give us a desire to love You Lord God, to hate sin as You do and to be loving yet bold in confronting it, give us a deeper humility that we may receive admonishment from one another, a greater understanding of why we are called to admonish and encourage one another. Holy Spirit, open the ears and eyes of those within the sound of this message; we ask all these things in the precious name of Jesus Christ, let the body say Amen.
Benediction: N/A
Title: "Fortifying our Foundation" Part 2
Teacher: Brother Bennett
Date: May 20, 2019
Attendance: 6
Premise: How we strengthen and sanctify the body to be the light in the darkness.
Opening Prayer: Brother Bennett
Heavenly Father, we thank You for this blessed day and the opportunity to come together to worship. We humbly come before You this morning with all reverence and reception, that we may search Your holy Word as Holy Spirit continues to explore each one of us here now. Lord God, I pray that each person within the sound of the Words Spoken here today may be arrested in the power of your lovingkindness, mercy, and grace. We thank You for Your guidance, Your strength, and Your willing sacrifice at the cross on Calvary; we love You and honor You with our very lives, Lord Jesus, let the body say. Amen.
Sermon: Good morning, everyone! I pray we are all well rested and ready to get into God's Word. It is truly a great blessing of joy to be gathered with You all today. We have quite a bit to talk about, so let us get to it.
Last week we began a message titled, Fortifying our Foundation. This message is all about the body of Christ; we, as believers in Him. This message is all about how we, as believers, members of the body, can continually and effectively encourage, edify, and equip one another in Christ, who is the Head.
Last week in part 1, we talked about what I consider the offense port of the message, ultimately how we can encourage one another. Hebrews 10:24-25; say "…and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our assembling together, as is the habit of some but encouraging one another; and all the more, as You see the day drawing near." Dear brothers, the closer Jesus comes the worse this world will get. Notice in verse 25 it says, "and all the more," the state of this world should not only grieve us but should compel us to encourage one another more so that we may continue to stand for Jesus Christ. The worse it gets, the more we must encourage one another.
In the first part of Your message, we went over four ways we can be an encouragement to one another and those around us. We used Barnabas as an example to show what this looks like. Does anyone remember what the name Barnabas means? That is correct, Son of Encouragement. Before we get into part 2 of our message, I thought it best to go over the four points in part 1 briefly.
The first point was, we are an encouragement to others by practicing good stewardship. By practicing good stewardship, others may see us reverencing God. They can see us trusting in him, they can see the blessings of his promises in our lives, and lastly, they can gain a proper perspective of how the body of Christ functions.
The second way we can be an encouragement to others is by extending friendship. We do this by making ourselves available by spending time with one another, helping and growing with one another in relationships.
The third way we can be an encouragement to others is by building a partnership. By coming together as believers in Christ to do ministry, whether to help put sermons together, helping in service to others, in coming together to advance the gospel, we not only encourage others, but we ourselves will be encouraged.
And lastly, we are an encouragement to others by building leadership. We encourage others by pouring into them, building them up, entrusting one another with responsibility, helping one another become the leaders we are purposed in Christ to be. All of these are ways we can encourage one another in the body. The more we are encouraged, the more we will be able to encourage. It begins with us. Like with all things, it starts with a strong foundation.
So that is essentially what the first part of our message was about. And as I said earlier, it is best described as the offense part of the message. This week we will focus on the defense. Let us turn to Joshua Chapter 7, Joshua Chapter 7. We will be reading the entire chapter. Let us begin Joshua Chapter 7, Verse 1,… (read).
We could unpack a lot here, but the points that pertain to the message are where our focus will be. The first thing I want us to notice is the responsibility for the sin of Achan. Achan is the only person that acted unfaithfully regarding the things under the ban. But see in Verse I the Word tells us. "But the Sons of Israel acted unfaithfully…" then in the latter part of Verse one it says… "therefore the anger of the Lord burned against the Sons of Israel." We also see this in Verse II, the Lord holding all of Israel responsible. By the way, the things under the ban were the things they took from Jericho's city in Joshua chapter 6.
What we see here in verse 1 is the responsibility of Israel as a whole as the body, if you will. Joshua 22:20 says, "Did not Achan the son of Zerah act unfaithfully in the things under the ban, and wrath fall on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity." This verse, as does Verse I, conveys essentially the same point being made in Matthew 5:29-30; And that is not only the threat of sin but also the responsibility placed on the body in addressing it once noticed. And exposing it when hidden.
An excellent way to illustrate this is with a plant. When a plant becomes infected with a disease, the plant can go into defense mode. The plant may resort to destroying some of its cells near the infected area, therefore depriving the pathogen of water and nutrients. The loss of some of its leaves and branches protects the rest of the plant from the disease. This is precisely what is implied in Matthew 5:29-30; The consequence of not doing this is what we see in Joshua 22:20; This is precisely what we see in Joshua 7. Just as the responsibility was on the Sons of Israel, so were the consequences. The cost of Achan's seemingly small sin hidden in the camp was a lost battle, the lives of 36 men, and the lives of all the people in his family.
The Lord told Joshua that they could not stand against the enemy until this cursed thing was removed. Let us read Verses 12-13 again, "Therefore the Sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst. Rise up! Consecrate the people and say, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for thus the Lord, the God of Israel, has said, 'There are things under the ban in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you have removed the things under the ban from your midst." The body of Christ is called to operate the same way; the body of Christ must function this way. Tolerating open sin will dim the light of Christ, cause others to stumble, and gradually lead to the spiritual demise of the body of believers. But if we put away sin, continuing to grow, building up one another in the holiest faith, we will be the light in Christ we are purposed to be. And unlike the story of Achan and Israel's defeat, we will be able to stand firm against the enemy.
Let's read verses 24-26; (read) As severe as the punishment is, the lesson is clear, sin defiles the whole camp, and as the plant does, we must cut it off. But why hold the family responsible? One of the reasons I will point out will help us transition to our next point. The people of his household knew about the items Achan stole. Verse 21-22 tells us these items were in his tent. And aside from this, they must have known about his activities. Again the things were in the tent. Maybe some of his children even participated in his sin. I want to make this; even if they did not know about it, they should have. We know about not just a close-knit family, but also people living or confined in close quarters; there are not a lot of secrets. Whether willingly or because of the close quarters, the good, the bad, and the ugly are shared. And if something is going on with a family member living around you, more than likely, you will know about it. You may not know precisely what is going on but will be able to tell something is different.
This is true of any family or close-knit community that spends time with one another. So if they didn't know about his sin, they should have, given they saw the signs. There are usually signs the question is, are we close enough in the relationship to notice them? And once we do notice, how do we proceed? What do we do? Let us turn to Romans 15:13-14. Everyone there says, Jesus! Let's read, "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. And concerning you, my brethren, I also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to admonish one another."
Here we learn one of the primary Words of our message, "admonish." The Word "admonish comes from the Greek word "noutheto," which means to put in mind, to caution, or reprove gently. This Word means to counsel, advise, steer, or warn. We find the same Word in Colossians 3:16; "Let the Word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another…" When we read, we are to admonish one another it means we are to counsel, guide, and caution one another. We are to admonish and help those in the realm of influence. Especially our brothers and sisters within the body.
The Word admonishes to do with providing corrective or intentional guidance to prevent something that could go wrong or direct toward something that could be right. This includes directing away from sinful Choices, as well as those that may be unwise. To admonish is to counsel, whether formally or informally. The goal in why we admonish, the objective dear breathers, is spiritual maturity. Colossians 1:28; "And we proclaim Him admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ."
The goal is to help one another be complete in Christ. We do this by first learning Biblical truth and wisdom ourselves and then helping one another do the same. Admonishment is not us running around pointing fingers and making people look bad. Admonishment is constructive counsel, direction, and teaching, based on God's Word under the lead of the Holy Spirit. As Christ's body members, we are called to encourage, develop, and invest in one another's spiritual growth. This responsibility and privilege rest on all of our shoulders. We are to reflect Jesus to one another, offering wisdom, insight, and counsel when and where it is needed. When we do this, we are exercising love, and as we exercise in his love, we grow in strength. When we see our brother or sister growing cold or worldly, we are called to admonish them. Again, the objective is to help one another become mature in Christ. Someone should have admonished, Achan. Let's turn to Hebrews 5:12-14 (read); The Word of God clearly describes levels of maturity. The Hebrews are reminded that they had been receiving instruction long enough; they should be teaching others by now. But sadly, like so many Christians today, they were still in Gospel 101.
God's order is that all believers should grow to the level of maturity to teach others. And if you are studying the Word obeying the Word, you will grow, you will mature. Christians who stay on a milk diet, who are still in elementary, are unskilled in the word of righteousness. They are hearers but not doers. It is true what they say. "We will lose what we do not use." Let's turn to James 1:22-25 (read); By obeying the light we receive from God's Word, we can form and use spiritual discernment and save ourselves from moral dangers. Mature Christians consistently make choices based on God's view as defined in his Word. Maturity is about consistency, not perfection. Maturity is measured in the small decisions we make according to God's view, not our limited and blurred points of view. As followers of Jesus, "followers of who?!" (assembly shouts, "Jesus!") As followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, our goal is to reflect God's viewpoint in all we do and to empower others to do the same. When this consistently occurs in our lives, we are living as mature Christians. And to achieve this, one of the things we have to do is admonish one another. Turn back to Romans 15:13-14.
Maturity, Spiritual growth, does not happen in a vacuum, nor does it happen because we attend church service. Spiritual maturity in Christ is an ongoing development process that includes aligning our minds and hearts to God's perspective and ways. In Romans 15:14, we are shown two qualifications for admonishing one another. Let's look at the first qualification. Romans 15:14 says, "And concerning you, my brethren, I also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness…" To effectively admonish others, one of the things we must be is full of goodness. The word "goodness" here comes from the Greek Word "agathosune, and it means the virtue of disposition and character; it signifies that moral quality which is described by the adjective, the first part of this word, "agethos," which means good, morally honorable and pleasing to God. What does this mean for us as Christians? It means we are to live good lives, lives that are ethically honorable and pleasing to God. We are to be godly, learning how to please him, aligning ourselves under His Sovereign rule and His Divine and Holly instruction. We do this to grow in Christ and also to help others do the same. Does this mean we will be perfect? No. When we become Christians, we do not become sinless. However, as we mature in Christ, we do sin-less. None of us will ever be sinless on this side of heaven. Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:10, 23, Being spiritually mature in Christ, living an upright lifestyle, means we are continually seeking to move closer to the character of Jesus Christ.
Before we get into the second qualification, we need to talk about judging. Jesus warns us in Matthew 7:1; "Do not judge lest you be judged." We also told in Romans 14:1; not to pass judgment on someone still weak in the faith concerning matters of opinion. If the Bible doesn't call on something, then we should not judge someone on their opinion. We have no right to do that. Well, someone will say, "the Bible doesn't say anything about masturbation; do I have the liberty to do that?" True, the Bible doesn't say anything about masturbation, but it does say something about lusting, Matthew 5:28. As masturbation is the product or act of gratifying lust, it is therefore sinful. In Romans 14, Paul is not talking about moral issues or foundational issues of the faith. He is addressing matters of secondary importance, like holidays and foods.
Back to Matthew Chapter 7; on judging. As we discussed earlier, in Verse I, we are told not to judge. But later on in this same chapter, Jesus tells us to use our judgment. Let's read Matthew 7:2-6; (read). There are several indications in these verses showing us that God is not forbidding judging one another. He is showing us the measure by which we are to judge. His holy Word; and how we are to judge. Verse 5 refutes the understanding that we are not to judge one another within the body. Understand that Jesus is speaking to believers. Notice Verse 5 Says, "Brothers eye…"
Look also at verse 6, "Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine…" To obey this, we must use spiritual perception to judge these people. The same can be said of Verses 15-16 (read) unless one makes a judgment call; it is impossible to know them by their fruits. Without a doubt, we are to judge whether peoples' lives conflict with the Word of God. Spiritual maturity gives us the ability to judge between right and wrong. Again Hebrews 5:14; (read); It always amazes me when I hear people say, "don't judge me." Because you can rightly assume, or judge, that it is because you have pointed out something wrong. Has anyone ever said, don't judge me when you said? "I think what your doing is good!" of course not. Interestingly, the people telling us not to judge are making judgment calls on what they consider good judgment. That is too funny.
Must we understand the context of Matthew? Again Jesus is talking to believers. We are called to judge one another in the body of Christ. God's Word has a strong rebuke for those that do not use proper judgment. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; (read); It's not hard to see Paul's disappointment with the believers at Corinth. They should have not only judged this brother's actions, but without repentance, he should have been excommunicated. Let's read 1 Corinthians 11-13; again (read) This corresponds with the Word of Jesus in Matthew 18:17; Translation, he must go! Like the Sons of Israel, we, Achan's family, and Joshua, we have a responsibility to our brother and sister, the body, ourselves, and ultimately to the Head, Jesus Christ, to rightly discern and judge sin. We see Paul doing this in Galatians 2:11-14; (read) Peter was wrong and Paul, his brother in Christ, checked him judging, rebuking, and admonishing are not new responsibilities for the believer. As we see from Joshua 7, it was the responsibility then. In 2 Samuel 12:1-3, Nathan, being led by God, rightly judged and rebuked King David, who had committed a great sin, who was still practicing the sin of lying before Nathans rebuke. This is not a new responsibility, dear brothers.
Today, the problem in the body is why we do not rightly judge or admonish one another, why Pastors do not preach on specific sins, it is because they, we are still living in these Sins. Let us turn back to Matthew 7:1-5; (read) what was the first qualification for admonishing someone, "that you be full of goodness." Is this not what Jesus is teaching us in Verses 3-5? The point Jesus is making is before we judge others on a particular sin, make sure you are qualified. What qualifies us is our own alignment under Christ. If I am a glutton, if I am practicing fornication, I will not judge you about overeating and shacking with your girlfriend. This is called being a hypocrite. Hey, these aren't my words; this is what Jesus calls it.
"Judge not lest you be judged." First, we are under the rule and judgment of Christ, then the measure we receive, we attempt to help others. Jesus, through his Word and Holy Spirit, straitens us out so that we may help others. The problem is we do not want to align under Jesus's rule and judgment.
Let us turn back to Romans 15:14; so we can learn the second qualification for admonishing others. Let us reread verse 14 (read)… "filled with all knowledge." The second qualification for admonishing others is being filled with all knowledge. The first qualification, "goodness," pertains to our lifestyle in the area we are addressing. We do not need to be, nor can we, admonish our brother for using profane language if we are doing the same. The second qualification, "being filled with all knowledge," pertains to the information we deliver. The question we as believers must ask ourselves is, "on this particular matter, do I have God's perspective on it?" Am I communicating God's divine Word and Knowledge, or just society's view and personal opinion? Remember, Paul warned us against this in Romans 14; The standard of measure is God's Word.
In Colossians 3:16, we read Paul's exhortation, "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you…" Holy Spirit uses God's Word in our lives so that he can transform lives when we do admonish others within the body. This is why the Word of Christ must first dwell in us, must first teach and transform us, before we can admonish and judge one another's behavior. Holy Spirit is released to do His work when our admonishment comes from a good life and the knowledge of God's Word. When these two qualifiers match, the Holy Spirit uses our admonishment to convict the believer and deliver them. Just like He did, you and I. But when our lives and the Word are not matching, the convicting power of the Holy Spirit is reduced. God's Holy Word, combined with a good life, provides a fortified foundation where others can grow and nature to do the same.
These are the ways we can fortify our foundation continue to build up the body of Christ; we are a family, and as a family, we must love one another, encourage one another, and even then, it can cause discomfort, we must admonish one another and rightly judge sinful behavior. If we do not stand on God's Word together, we will fall apart. Dark days are quickly approaching. In some ways, they are already here. If we want to stand firm, we must continue to set ourselves apart from the world.
In closing, let us read 2 Timothy 2:19-21 (read). Do we desire to be useful to the Master, prepared for every good work? Then let us continue to fortify our foundation in Christ so that we may be just that. God bless you. Let us pray.
Benediction: Brother Bennett
Father God, we thank You for Your endless mercies and eternal grace; we thank You for our confidence. Jesus Christ, we thank You; Lord God, we give You all honor and praise for continuing to lead and teach us in righteousness and for giving us Holy Spirit to help us find Your way; you are an awesome God, and we do not deserve the favor You have bestowed upon us, Father we are grieving right now as we had to let one of our brothers go his own way, we pray You will arrest his heart and help him find the way back to You Lord. Father God, I am thankful for my brothers here today, and for all who share in Your inheritance Lord, I pray that You bless us with a new measure of faith, strength, and love this day, that we may draw closer to You and one another, that we may be Your light set upon a hill. We thank You for hearing and answering our prayers in Jesus' holy name, let the body say. Amen.