Romans 11:36 says it best "For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen."
Unfortunately, due to some audio difficulties of our first service, only part of the sermon was recorded, however, as with all mishaps that will be bound to happen, we will have Pastor Trevor's notes for you to read and catch up on! Enjoy!
The Unstoppable Church- The Mission
Introduction
We are starting a 6 week series today titled the Unstoppable Church. There is a church that is unstoppable. A church that will never be defeated. A church that is growing in numbers and in depth of maturity. A church that is having a daily impact on this earth. A church that is seeing people taken from death and brought to life. A church that is bringing hope to a lost and dying world. A church that is seeing lives changed and altered for eternity. A church that is not just having an impact in North America, but around the world in every nation. This church will continue to have an impact until Christ returns.
Sound like the kind of church that you would like to be a part of? I know I want to be part of a church like that!
It is this church the unstoppable church that we want to study this next 6 weeks. This church is THE CHURCH and it is Christ’s church.
Turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew 16:18.
Context: Jesus has asked His disciples what people are saying about who Jesus is. They give a litany of names…some say John the Baptist, some were saying Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Jesus then says but who do you say that I am. Peter replies you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”
Peter got it. He understood who Christ truly was…that He was the Messiah and deity being the Son of the Living God. However, it wasn’t because Peter was the best student in the class, but rather because the Father had revealed it to Him.
Which brings us to vs18. READ
Unfortunately, this morning we don’t have the time to camp on this verse and talk about all the different interpretations as to what Jesus is meaning when He says you are Peter and upon this rock. Is Peter the rock, is Peter’s confession of Jesus the rock or is Jesus the rock. One thing that I hold to in Bible Interpretation is that if the literal sense makes common sense then seek no other sense. Eph.2:20 tell us that the church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets with Jesus being the chief cornerstone. So I believe that Jesus is making a play on words here and is telling Peter that He is going to use him to build His church.
Note the key phrase to this verse though. Jesus says I…will… build…my…church. If we get caught up in who the rock is we miss the whole point of what Christ is saying. Jesus will build His church. He began 2000 years ago and He will continue building His church until He returns to rule.
So we want to look at how it that Christ builds His church. We see that in His grace He chooses to use common men and women like you and I to do that. Jesus fully knowing that Peter was about to deny Him on the day of His arrest still told him that Peter would be a part of Christ building His church. Jesus chooses the foolish, the weak, the low and despised to build His church so that no man may boast 1 Corinthians 1:27-29.
Turn with me to Matthew 28:18-20.
CONTEXT: Jesus has risen from the dead and He has directed the eleven remaining disciples to go to a mountain that He has directed them to so that He can give them some instruction. When the disciples saw Christ they worshipped Him but even then there were some who doubted. We’re not told who, but there were some of the disciples who were having some doubts. Their faith was still weak, could this truly be Jesus.
READ vs 18-20
Jesus first makes clear His authority that He has before making His demand of the disciples. You will note that in this passage the word ALL is used several times. Here Jesus says that He has all authority. Not some, not part, it is not shared…all authority has been given to Christ. Where… in heaven and on earth. In other words there is no place that Jesus does not have complete authority. What does it mean to have authority?
What are they to do? They are called to make disciples. Those who have been called disciples while Christ walked the earth are now being told to make disciples. This was to be the mission that they were to fulfill. The unstoppable church that Jesus is building is one where disciples are being made. This is what the disciples were commissioned to do. How does one make a disciple? Jesus tells us.
First, we need to go to all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Baptism is a symbolic act that testifies of a person’s salvation. This brings us to our first point. The unstoppable church sees Lost people saved.
Luke 19:10 says that the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
What does it mean to be lost? Many of you can relate to the idea of being lost. You may have been lost trying to find the church this morning.
I have one occasion that jumps to mind when I think about being lost.
Mozambique/ Remote/ Pitch Black/ Unable to find my way
Matt.7:14 “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (maybe)
What did Jesus mean when He said that He came to seek and to save the lost. There is a sense that there are many people who are lost in the direction of their lives, but the Bible shows us that this lostness goes beyond that. It is not simply that the lost need a little help or that they need a hand. The state of the lost is much more desperate than that. They are not only lost, they are not even seeking directions. Speaking of the state of the lost in
NO ONE SEEKS GOD
Romans 3:10-12 Paul writes, None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
Isaiah seeing the Lord wrote, Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts!” he recognized that his sin made him lost.
ALL HAVE SINNED
We can see that all men and women were born into this lostness. This state of being lost is caused by sin. Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Ps.51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Another way of stating the state of being lost is to say that you are dead.
DEAD/ Children of Wrath
Eph.2:1-3 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
Rom.5:12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned
DARKENED IN THEIR UNDERSTANDING
Eph.4:18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart
DISOBEDIENT TO GOD.
Rom.11:30 For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience,
SLAVES TO SIN
Rom. 6:20,21 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death
This is what the Bible is referring to when it speaks of being lost and everyone one of us was born lost.
BUT there is good news…there is great news. Christ came to seek and to save the lost! Many of you here know what I am talking about. You know what it was like to be enslaved to sin, to be disobedient to God, to be a child of wrath…to live only for your self and the passions of your flesh.
There are others here today who are still lost. As I have read these Scriptures you have realized that this is you. This is your current state. Take heart there is hope found in Jesus Christ.
JESUS CHRIST – OUR SAVIOUR
Rom.6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death…this what we all deserve BUT the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
God is a God of love but He is also a God justice and holiness. Someone must pay the price for our sins. Without Christ we are all under His wrath it is our just punishment for our rebellion against Him.
Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. He became our substitute, He became the atoning sacrifice for us. He paid the price.
IF THE PRICE HAS BEEN PAID WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO RECEIVE THIS FREE GIFT.
YOU MUST REPENT AND BELIEVE
Jesus said that He came to call sinners to repentance in Luke 5:32.
Peter in his first sermon after Pentecost said to the people that they should repent and be baptised. (Acts 2:38)
Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out (acts 3:19)
The call to repent is for all people (Acts 17:30)
There is not a person in this room who has not been called to repent.
What does repentance look like?
Illustration
Picture of repentance prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32)
- The Bible gives us this picture of a young man who was totally living for himself and for the pleasures that this world can give. He was so consumed with this that he asked for his inheritance early. In essence saying to his father that he wished he was dead. The father granted his request and he spent all he had on reckless living. He blew it all and when tough economic times hit he found himself working on a pig farm and longing to eat what the pigs were eating. He had hit rock bottom. It is here where we see a picture of repentance. First we see that he came to his senses. He realized that there was hope in going to his father and humbling himself. So he goes to his father and he humbles himself confessing that he had sinned against the father and that he was unworthy of forgiveness and asks that he might at least be hired on as one of his fathers servants. He has stripped himself of all his pride. He comes humbly asking for mercy. He doesn’t come with excuses, he comes admitting that he is unworthy to be forgiven, but humbly asking that he might be forgiven and granted grace and mercy from his father.
This is the picture of repentance…confessing sin and unworthiness and coming humbly to the father asking for mercy and grace realizing that there is nothing you can do to earn his favor, but believing and trusting that the Lord is a merciful father and that he will forgive you through what Jesus Christ did on your behalf of you on the cross.
Romans 10:9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (If you agree that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead you will be saved)
Then you walk in the opposite direction that you once walked. You are no longer living for self you are living for God for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Everything changes at the point of salvation. You are no longer a child of wrath, you are a child of God. You are no longer a slave to sin, you are a slave to righteousness, you have passed from death to life, 2 Cor.5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Everything changes and you pass from being lost to being saved.
Are you lost this morning? You don’t need to leave here lost. Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and leave here saved!
Jesus Christ is building His church and people all over the world today will move from being lost to being saved all because of Jesus Christ and His work on the cross.
Many of you here this morning sit in the saved category but we know that the Lord doesn’t leave us there.
SAVED PEOPLE MATURED (vs 20)
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
The unstoppable church is seeing people maturing in their faith on a daily basis. Jesus commanded the disciples to teach their disciples all that He had commanded them. They had been taught by Jesus for over three years and now He is telling them that this now their task was to go and teach others all that He had commanded them. Please note though that this is not just like studying for an exam. This teaching will result in changed lives. They were to observe all that Christ commanded. So not just a head knowledge but a knowledge that changes lives.
James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
A great passage to look at when it comes to Christ’s process of maturing believers is
Eph.4:11-16
Eph.4:11-16
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Things to NoTE:
1. Jesus gave a variety of leaders in the church for the purpose of equipping the saints for the work of the ministry (LEADERS GIVEN)
2. For the building up the body of Christ…until we attain mature manhood, measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (SAINTS EQUIPPED)
3. Why? So that we are not tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, human cunning and craftiness of deceitful schemes. (SPIRITUALLY ANCHORED)
4. Rather, speak truth in love, we are to grow in every way to Him who is he head (BODY GROWING)
5. Christ is holding it together and equipping the body (CHRIST FORTIFIED/FASTENED)
Col.2:19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
Not a quantity of disciples but a quality of discipleship. Christ is building church through seeing lost people saved and saved people matured.
God doesn’t leave us where we are at. He grow us and uses us.
The unstoppable church that Christ is building not only sees people taken from being lost to being saved but it sees them being discipled to maturity for the work of the ministry.
Lost people saved, saved people matured and then this.
Mature People Multiplied
Let’s Return to Matt.28:18-20
Demand– Go
Remember the demand is given after Jesus makes clear that He has all authority in heaven and on earth.
Matt. 9:37,38 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Remember that we learned earlier that no one seeks God, not even one so it is our call as the church to go to the lost and tell them the good news. If this church wants to be a part of the unstoppable church we must go.
The idea of going infers that we are to leave where from where we are at. Where are we to go?
Direction- ALL nations
The unstoppable church is not limited by borders or governments. The unstoppable church is to go into all nations preaching the Gospel and making disciples. We want to be obedient to the call and we will be actively involved in sharing the good news not only here in Calgary, Airdrie, Cochrane but across Canada and the US and around the world. Harvest currently has churches planted in 3 continents with plans in place to plant in 2 more.
Luke 24:45-47 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem
Duration- Until – The end of the age.
How long will this go on. When should we change the mission statement about making disciples. At the end of the age. When Christ returns then we will no longer need to be about making disciples for we will be with Christ.
When we look at the early church we see that God was continually adding the number of those who were being saved.
Acts 16:5 says , So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.
Acts 2:47 And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
The unstoppable church sees people being saved daily and it is our desire to join Christ in seeing people saved in our cities and the process continues on to seeing those people matured in Christ and then repeat. That’s why we say mature people multiplied.
ALL to the Glory of God
As we have seen as we have gone through the mission of the unstoppable church. It is all about Jesus Christ. He is building His church. We see in Matt.28:18 that He is His power and authority that enables the church to obey to the call. We also see in verse 20 that His presence reassures us that He is with us always. He who calls us also enables us. It is all for His glory.
Romans 11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen
Remember our first passage we looked at Matt.16:18. Christ is building His church and note what it says And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Some of your Bibles will say gates of hades. Some believe that this is referring to death’s attempts to thwart the church while other’s think that this is referring to hell’s attempts to thwart the church. While we could debate both positions the point is this…there is nothing that will prevail against the church that Christ is building. Nothing. There is no government that can overcome Christ’s church. There is no religion that can overcome Christ’s church. Hollywood will not overcome Christ’s church. There is no philosophy or education that will overcome Christ’s church. For 2000 years Christ has been building His church and it will not be overcome. It is unstoppable!!
We’re not here today to begin anything new in a sense. We only want to join Christ in the work that He is doing. So the mission of Harvest is His mission…to make disciples. Christ is looking for faithful believers to build His church through. He does not need us, but in His grace He chooses to use us. What about you? Are you willing to be used by the Lord to build His church? Jesus is building His church here in this city and we have the privilege of being used by Him. Whether or not you decide to make Harvest your home it is our prayer that you would join Christ’s unstoppable church!