Brother David Chancellor Wednesday Night 8/15/12

Brother David Chancellor Wednesday Night 8/15/12

Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

We can do all things through Christ.  Many religious people preach and live the teaching of, “I can’t.”  “I cannot live holy; I cannot be like Jesus with His graces in me.”  Jesus has a message of I can.  The world needs to be able to see Jesus in us.

Eph 4:11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

Eph 4:12  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Eph 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

When we hear this scripture read, most of the time the focus is on the evangelists, pastors, teachers, etc  the focus then goes to the work of the ministry, the edifying of the body of Christ.  As a pastor we want to edify the body.

The first part of verse 12 without the comma is read, “For the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry.”  The saints need to be perfected for the work of the ministry.  We all have a part in the ministry of Christ.  Each of us has a place in the working of Christ.  It is not just for a select few.  It is for all of us. 

Till we come in the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God.  This is a frequently misquoted verse.  People say, “Till we all come to the unity of the faith.”  When our faith and knowledge become one then the perfecting to the work is this: till we come unto a perfect man, “In the unity of the faith”. 

We are not infallible; that is not what perfect means, perfect deals with completeness or adulthood.  We want to come to this adult state where we come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.  In this state, we are going to be like Jesus. 

Look around you, most of Christianity is not even close to being like Jesus.  Jesus came to this earth and then died for our sins.  He lived a holy life and portrayed the graces of God.  This quality about Jesus, we should all possess as Christians. 

We can be like Jesus.  This was the original meaning of Christian, ‘like Christ’.  We see this attribute in the disciples: “They took note of them they had been with Jesus.”  It had an effect on them; it had rubbed off. 

The following reading speaks of Jesus, His working and His coming.  John described himself as the one that Jesus loved:  He was particularly touched by being with Jesus.

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Joh 1:2  The same was in the beginning with God.

Joh 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Joh 1:4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

Joh 1:5  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Joh 1:6  There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

Joh 1:7  The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

Joh 1:8  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

Joh 1:9  That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

Joh 1:10  He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

Joh 1:11  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

Joh 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Joh 1:13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Joh 1:14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Joh 1:15  John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.

Joh 1:16  And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

Joh 1:17  For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

This was John’s introduction to Christ.  He was saying, “Here is the word, Jesus Christ.” 

In him was life and the life was the light of men.  There was life in Jesus. 

John 10:10, I came that you might have life and that you might have it more abundant.  He came that we might have life in abundance.  This doesn’t mean that we have two houses and three cars.  What Jesus is saying is that that life that is in me you can have in abundance.

The life was the light of men.  In my lifetime we made a transition from light being life to light being knowledge.  The problem with this is that knowledge puffs up.  “I know this and that so I have abundance of light.”  What I want to ask is if you have life.

You say, “I cannot be the same as Jesus, Jesus was the Son of God.”  We are the sons of God too: “To as many as received Him, to them He gave power to become the sons of God.” 

Of His fullness have we all received.  There will be grace and peace in us. 

Grace for grace, if He had love, I got love; if he had compassion, I have compassion.  All of the graces manifested in Him can be manifested in my life. 

Some Christianity says, “I’m not perfect so I’m going to be unloving and unkind.”  This is not what Christ came that we could receive.  He came that we could be full of the Spirit.  On the day of Pentecost they were.

Act 4:33  And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.

This tells me that this was not only theoretic ally possible, they saw it happen.  They could have the great graces that were upon Jesus Christ. 

Some would say, “That is for the apostles, we are human.”  Jesus took upon Himself our flesh.  He was human.  He slept in a boat, a few hollowed out logs roped together.  That would have been hard to sleep in if you were not very tired.  He got tired.  He was human.

Some would say, “He was the son of God.”  To them that believe, He gave them power to become the sons of God.  John addressed the things that people might use to say, “It is not possible for us to be like Jesus.”

It is possible for a human being to have upon them the very graces that were manifest by Jesus Christ.  If it is possible, then this is what we ought to seek for, and these are the graces that we should desire.

1Co 12:1  Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.

They had a desire for the gifts.  They have their part to play in the work of God.  People think, “If I could go around healing people then that would be great.”  Paul ends the chapter saying, “Covet earnestly the best gifts, but I want to show you the most important thing:” 

He begins chapter 13:

1Co 13:1  Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

If I am a great speaker and lack the love and grace of Christ, what is the point?  If I can heal but cannot be moved with compassion what is the point?  If I have the gift of help but no patience what is the point? 

The Holy Spirit will work where the need is.  There are diversities of gifts but one God.  God has one operation and that is the salvation of mankind.  There is a diversity of ministry but one Lord.  God’s strategy is what is being done; The Holy Spirit is the one that gives the gifts where it is tactically needed. 

If we don’t have the graces of Christ then we will not have the impact on the world. 

As we look at it, first we realize that It can be, we can have the graces of Christ.  Then we realize that we need God’s love.  We think, “I want those graces upon me I want to see it on the Church.  I want to see the light shining like Christ intended.”  When people experience people that are just like Jesus is when the light shines.

You are the light set on a hill; let your good works show forth that men will glorify God.

The beatitudes, step by step, show the steps from a repentant sinner to down to the light of the Lord.  You can become the glory of God. 

The world may look on you and persecute you and treat you badly.  The beatitudes start with, “You are poor in spirit, yours is the kingdom of heaven” and continue with, “You are persecuted, yours is the kingdom of heaven.”  You still have the kingdom!

God wants to bring us to the place where we are the salt of the earth, the light of the world, like Jesus.  The prophecies have the idea that the light would transfer to the believer and shine forth to the world.  Let us seek Him, draw close to Him until the very graces of God are upon us in a significant way.

Eph 3:14  For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Eph 3:15  Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

Eph 3:16  That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

Eph 3:17  That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

Eph 3:18  May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

Eph 3:19  And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Eph 3:20  Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

Eph 3:21  Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

That is a prayer.  When the apostle said, I bow my knees, he is saying, this is my prayer.  I’m calling to God that he would grant you by the riches of His glory to be strengthened with might.  He wanted this for Ephesus and wanted it to still be that way today. 

Paul was saying, “I want God’s love to be in your heart so that you would be rooted and grounded in love, that you would know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, and be full of all the fullness of God.” 

This is my prayer: I want the people of God to be full of the fullness of God.  This is what will bring about an effectiveness of the saints in the work of the ministry.

It is not of ourselves. Jesus said, “Without me, you can do nothing.”  Without the presence of God upon them, they could not succeed.  We don’t want people to be left with the message of I cannot.  We want people to know that if they turn to God with all their heart they can. 

There was a work that happened on the day of Pentecost.  Paul’s prayer, “I want you to be full of the fullness of God.”  This should be our heart cry, “I don’t want just a little.  That is a start; He doesn’t quench a smoking flax.  He is glad that there is a little life there.  He wants you to have an abundance of life. 

Paul’s prayer for the people of Ephesus was that they be full of the fullness of God.

“Unto him that is able to do exceeding, abundantly above all we ask or think.”  He can produce a work in our lives that goes way beyond what we can take in.  This is a very positive statement about God.  Unto Him be glory in the Church by Christ.  This is my heart’s desire: glory in the church throughout all ages and world without end. 

He is able to do exceeding abundant above, He is able to do it, He is about to do exceeding abundantly above all that.  When they say, “You cannot.”  We can say, “You can.” 

It is by us receiving the fullness of God, the Work of the Holy Spirit in our heart.  You can.  Take this picture and show it to the world and say, “Yes, you can.” 

This puts us on the spot; people will look for the graces of Jesus in us.  It is ok to be on the spot, pray, “Lord, I want people to see and feel Jesus in me.” 

When you study the Bible, you find that the teaching of holiness is all over the Bible.  Most Christians say they are just like everyone else.  “We needed a savior, we were lost in sin.”  If you’ve found Jesus Christ then you are different.  If you are different than you were, then you are different then the world.

This is the difference: they have the working of Jesus in their heart.  The real answer is Jesus.  America will not be a light to the world until they find Jesus.  Politicians say that they have the answer, but it will not be brought back with politics.  What needs to be done is for God’s people to lift up Jesus so that He can be seen and so that others can be drawn by God’s working in people’s heart and lives.