Acts will be very familiar to
you in Acts chapter 20 in verse 28. I've entitled this message, The Church,
The Church of Christ. Paul says, take heed, therefore,
unto yourselves and to all the flock, over the which the Holy
Spirit, the Holy Ghost, hath made you overseers, to feed the
church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. And the apostle here in this
text is addressing the pastors of Ephesus. not necessarily Ephesus
as one church in Ephesus. Most likely there were a majority
of churches around this city and all of the pastors and elders
of that region were gathered together and Paul was addressing
them because he was about to die. The Apostle Paul was told
of the Spirit of God that he must go into Jerusalem and suffer
many things and be killed, persecuted. that he must die, and they would
never see his face again. It was a solemn time. It was a time of great sorrow
for this church, but Paul determined to address them, and he said,
I want you to take note that I did this for you. I preached
the gospel to you. The three years there the Apostle
spent preaching to these men and to this church. And now he was going his way
and they wouldn't see him anymore. I want you to see this, that
he didn't spend time discussing their dinners together. He didn't spend this time discussing
fond memories of how they shared their time or their families
or their memories that he had. I'm sure he had those. I'm sure
he had joyful times with these men in fellowship, but that's
not what he focused on. That's not the important issue
that Paul brings here. He says, no, you remember this. that I spent three years, night
and day, declaring nothing but this, the
gospel of Jesus Christ. So, take heed to yourselves and
to the flock of God, to his church, because God has made you overseers
of his church. Pastors, Pastors. These men were called of God
to be overseers of his church. Pastors are not made by academic
institutions. Pastors are not made by seminary. Pastors are not made by the determination
of a man's desire for the office of pastor. That doesn't make
a pastor. He said this, over which the Holy Ghost have made
you overseers. Pastors are made called and sent
of God. They are sent and they run with
one message. Now I tell you, there are many
today who are running who have not been sent. Many claim to
be pastors of God who are not sent of God. How do we know when
a man's sent of God? Because he has one message, the
message of the gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Many
are running today with the message of free will works religion.
They're not sin of God. Many are running with the message
of family values. Those are not sin of God. Many
are running with a message of moral living or civic responsibility
or political things. Those are not sin of God. Those men who are sin of God
are like Paul. They testify of one thing, one
person and His work, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. We don't have
a message, we have the message. The message. Paul in Corinth. Listen, that church of Corinth
was messed up. They had a lot of problems. But
you know what Paul's remedy for that, right? Paul's remedy. He
begins in Corinthians in chapter 2 to tell them what he determined
to do. He said, I determined not to
know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now what is Paul saying by that?
Does he not want to know their families or their issues? No,
that's not what he's saying. He's saying, look, this is the
remedy for all your issues. This is the remedy for the mess
you've gotten yourself into. This is the remedy that the church
needs. It is Jesus Christ and Him crucified
and nothing else. That's the message men need to
hear. That's why Paul says here, take
heed. Be warned. Take heed. Be aware of your responsibility
to the Church of God, which is what? To feed the Church of God. That is the responsibility. We're
not counselors. That's not what God called us
to do. We're not here to be marriage counselors or psychologists. We're not here for that purpose.
We're here to do one thing, preach the gospel, because that is the
remedy God's people need. It is the only remedy that helps
in all matters of life and practice and faith is the gospel of Jesus
Christ. We're to take heed to feed the
flock of God. Listen, I'm to take heed to myself. I'm to take heed to myself that
I study and prepare a message of God for you. I make sure that
this message is by the Word of God. I must take heed to myself
that I let nothing distract me from this. I tell you, we're
tempted as pastors always by other things to enter in. Our
family's a temptation just like yours. The distractions of the
world are just as much tempting to us as they are to any other
man, but we must take heed to ourselves and take heed to you. Take heed to feed you the gospel. Paul said, you bear me witness,
that's what I've done. And every faithful pastor should
be able to say that to everyone in the church that he preaches
to. I take you to record that I have
done nothing but preach Christ to you. point you to Jesus Christ. Pastors are sent to take heed,
to feed the flock of God. Why? Because this is the food
that we live by, the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Jesus said that, didn't he? He said that he that eateth my
flesh and drinketh my blood, they shall never hunger, never
thirst. What does this mean? They shall never hunger or thirst
for righteousness. They shall never hunger or thirst
for acceptance with God. Those who eat my flesh and drink
my blood. This is faith in Christ. This
has nothing to do with the cracker or the wine. This has to do with
faith. Believing in Jesus Christ alone. That is to eat his flesh and
drink his blood. And what do we do every time
we hear the gospel? We eat that flesh and drink the
blood of Christ by faith. This is the food that the sheep
are fed by. So pastors are to take care of
this. And Paul, he uses himself as an example again. He said,
listen, in verse 24, he said, none of these things move me.
He said, I'm going to die, but this doesn't deter me. This doesn't
discourage me that I'm going to die. None of these things
move me. Neither count my life dear to
myself, so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry
which I have received of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is
the ministry. to testify of the gospel of the grace of God. Don't you see we have one message?
The gospel of the grace of God, and nothing moves us from this.
We must be determined, we must take heed to ourselves that we
preach none other gospel than what was given us. Why? Because there is no other gospel.
There is no other gospel. So Paul says in verse 27, I have
not shunned to declare the whole, all the counsel of God. Now,
the apostle, as a pastor called and sent to preach the gospel
of God's grace, he's called to take heed to the
church. The church. To care for the church,
the flock over which God has made us to be overseers. So I want us to see four things
then about this church. That pastors are made to be overseers. What is the church? What is the
church? What does it mean? You said this
morning, we're going to church. You meant you were going to a
building, but that's not a church. Church is not a building. So
what is the church then? Second of all, who does the church
belong to? Third, what is the purpose of
the church? And fourth, what is the destiny? Where is the church going? Where
is its end? Its purpose and its end. So,
what is the church? First of all, the church is made
up of people. is the people, it's not the building.
Who then is the church that the pastors of the Holy Spirit had
overseen? Now, in the Scripture, the church
is used in two different ways. It's used in a universal sense. There is a universal church. And secondly, there is a local
church. That's how the Scriptures use
the word church. First of all, this church is
universal. Universal. Paul, in the book
of Hebrews, writes and says, to the general assembly and church
of the firstborn. Now who is he talking to? Is
he talking to specifically a local church? No, the general assembly
speaks of a universal church. The church of the firstborn,
listen, which are written in heaven. This is speaking to all
the church. Now this term is not like the
papist would say the church, they say the holy catholic church,
they mean that that denomination, they presumptuously assume that
that denomination is the whole church. If you're outside the
catholic church, then you're not a part of the church. Well,
that's a lie. I don't believe none of that.
Matter of fact, those who are in the Catholic Church are not
part of the Church at all. Some would believe that the Church
is universal and that everybody is. Isn't that what people say? Well, everybody's a child of
God. Well, the church are made up of the children of God. And
they say, well, everybody's a child of God. They're saying everybody's
part of the church. No, it's not. If you come and
join the church and you sign a card or something, you become
a member of the church, that does not mean anything. That's
not a universal, it's not part of the universal church. What
does God mean by this? simply those whose names are
written in heaven. That's who's part of this universal
church. All of the elect of God are part of this universal church. This is the General Assembly
and Church of the Firstborn. In this church, it doesn't matter
what location you're in or what century you were born. David, Abraham, and Isaac are
all part of the same church. And they're part of the same
church as every believer in Jesus Christ. Every believer in Jesus
Christ is the church of God. No matter where you were born
or when you lived, those that Christ's blood and righteousness
is their only hope and only grounds for their membership in the universal
church, faith in Christ. But there's a second kind of
church the scripture mentions, and that's the local church. This brings it more to us now.
because the local church, you remember Paul wrote the letter
to Corinth, he said, to the church which is at Corinth, or to the
church which is at Rome, the church that is at Philippi. When
Jesus speaking in Revelation spoke to those seven churches
which are in Asia, those were all local assemblies, local assemblies
of Jerusalem, local churches. Each local church is independent
of one another, And each church has these members, and they're
all joined together for one common purpose, to worship God. The local church are made up
of believers in Christ who are part of the universal church,
but yet they meet together for one purpose, and that is to worship
Christ, to hear the gospel of God's grace. We at Redeemer's
Grace Church are a local church. an assembly made up of believers
united together for the glory of God and the good of each other.
That's what we're here for. Come together to be fed this
morning. You want to be fed, don't you? Spiritually, you need
to be fed. Your soul's hunger and thirst
for the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that's what we're here for.
So what constitutes a local church? I know some men have written
this, that there must be ten. They assemble this because of,
you know, well, you've got to handle disputes, you've got to
have more than this many and this... Jesus said, where two
or three are gathered together in my name. There's a church.
There's a local church, wherever two or three are gathered together.
And listen, what makes them up is this, one of them is a pastor
and the other is the congregant. That makes up a local church.
One to preach and one to hear. One to take heed of that person
and that other person is to take heed that they hear. The gospel
of Jesus Christ makes up a local church. On our day, believers have been
confronted and confused about this matter of the necessity
of the church. They've been duped into a lie. They've lost sight of the importance
of the local assembly of believers. They've come up with this hell-born
idea that they can worship God without public worship. They say, I can worship God in
my home and with my family. I have no need of a local assembly. And now the internet has made
it so much easier for people. They can listen to any pastor
they want to. They can go online and there
are hundreds and thousands of sermons by different men. They
say, well, I can just listen at home. What need have we of
the local church anymore? It is obsolete. Friends, if it is so obsolete,
then why did God send pastors? Why does God call men to take
heed to themselves and to the church over which God had made
them overseers, if there is no need for a church? Why does God
command to feed the church, to be faithful, if there is no need
for it? Make no mistake, the neglect
of public worship is a sign of a much greater problem. I think that people who will
not faithfully attend the service, there's something greater and
more destructive going on than just their not being here. It doesn't start that way, does
it? There's something greater. God's
people are commanded to assemble together in the local church
for many reasons. First of all, we're the only
manifestation of God's church in the world. When we come together,
we are identifying and testifying to everyone around us that this
is the gospel of Jesus Christ. I've told you this story many
times, but it's always stuck with me. A young pastor at that
time was preaching and an elder in the church was going deaf
and he couldn't hear. And he could barely hear if you
were to yell in his ear, but he couldn't hear anything of
the sermon. But he was always faithful to come. Never stopped
coming. The pastor's curiosity got a
hold of him. He said, Brother, why do you come? You can't hear. And he said this, I come to be
identified with God's people. If there's no other reason, then
that's a good reason to be faithful, to attend, to hear the gospel. To identify with God's people
that this is the Christ. The message that man is preaching
is Christ. The Christ he is preaching I
believe and I trust. The second reason we are to be
faithful is this is the place where Jesus himself is present. Is that not reason enough? I've heard this so many times
and yet people still don't get it. Even when they say it to
me, they still don't get it. They say, you know, well, I hear
the messages online that you're preaching and I'm blessed. But I tell you, it's not the
same as when I'm with you. You know why? Because Christ
is here in a very special way that He's not there. He's here. Now Christ, His Spirit is always
with you. But this is the manifestation
of His presence is here. Just like he was in that tabernacle
in Jerusalem, he is here among us in a very special way. You
remember the sin of Jeroboam, wasn't it? The sin of Jeroboam
was to say this, well, we can worship God over here just as
well as we can in Jerusalem. Wasn't that the sin of Jeroboam?
And this is the sin of many, that we can worship God just
as well in our homes as we can there in that church, in that
building with you. No, you can't. This is a special
place. It's a special time because Christ
says He'd be here. That's why we should be here.
And there's another reason why we should be faithful to this. God has chosen this place to
preach His gospel. And it's only through the means
of preaching that sinners are saved. First Corinthians 121, for after
that the world, that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew
not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save
them that believe. Is that not reason enough for
us to bring all of those who we love that are not saved? Is that not a reason enough to
bring them Do you suppose it's easy for me to bring my children?
No. No, there's always certain difficulties
that accompany having to bring people who don't love this gospel
into this place. I'm sure that they would rather
be someplace else. But as long as they're under
my roof, they don't have any choice. Because this is the place
of hope. This is where Christ comes and
manifests his presence and saves sinners. This is the reason we
should not forsake it. This is the church. And I'll tell you this, those
who believe the gospel desire to be here. You mark it down. A man does not desire the gospel
and he does not desire to assemble among the flock of God that's
either one of two reasons. He is either sick or he's lost. He's either spiritually sick
or he's lost. There's no other reason why.
God's people desire public worship. Go over to Acts chapter 2. Look
at these people and tell me, is this not God's church? Acts chapter 2, the apostle just
preached and 5,000 men, I believe, the Lord had called at that one
time. Look at verse 41 of Acts chapter
2. Then they gladly received his
word and were baptized. You didn't force any baptism,
didn't need a big spectacle, didn't need a bunch of entertainers
to get them down there, did you? You didn't need to force them
or make them feel guilty or anything. They just came and gladly received
it. They gladly were baptized and
the same were added to them, I'm sorry, 3,000 souls. And they
continued, listen, steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine and
fellowship. And in breaking of bread and
prayers and fear came upon their souls and many wonders and signs
were done by the apostles and all that believed were where? Where were they? Together. Together. And they had all things common.
And they sold their possessions and goods and parted with them
with all men and every man had need. What did they do? They
took care of one another. And they continued daily with
one accord in the temple, breaking bread from house to house, did
eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising
God. See what the church does? That's the church! That's the
manifestation of the local church. They believe in Jesus Christ,
they worship Christ, they attend to hear. Now then, who does the
church belong to? Here at Redeemer's Grace, we
do gladly own this church to be our responsibility to care
for. We supply the necessary means
to sustain this place where we worship. We gladly own those
duties and responsibilities, but this church doesn't belong
to us. This church does not belong to
us. Who does it belong to? Let me ask you this, who do you
belong to? Since you are the church, to
whom do you belong? Remember, we are to take heed
to the flock of God that he purchased with his own blood. You and I
are bought by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. The church belongs
to God. And what are the distinctions?
How then does the church belong to God? First of all, it belongs
to God by sovereign election. Look at 1 Peter chapter 1. Look
how Peter addresses the church. 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
listened to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadonia,
Asia, and Bithynia. Who are these that are scattered
among the nations? The Church of God, he says, the
elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father Through sanctification
of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Christ, grace and peace be unto you." Peter is speaking of the
general church, the elect, the elect of God. Does this not make your heart
sing? That you were specifically chosen
of God. loved of God from eternity. There are many who hate this
gospel, but we don't, not the church, because the church is
God's elect. They're made up of all the elect
of the Father. We, by nature, were sinners,
weren't we? By nature, we were undone and
unclean, unholy, and without hope, without God. And yet, before
the world began, God chose us to be His only church, His bride,
His sheep. I know many people hate this.
They say, Pastor, you mean that God chose some and passed by
others? Absolutely, that's what I mean. You mean that he passed by my
children, my wife, my friends, my loved ones? Well, if they
continue in unbelief till they die, yes, he passed them by. The only evidence of our election
is this. Do you believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ? Faith is the evidence of our
election. It's the only evidence of election. If you believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, you are the elect. Now your faith did
not make you the church of God. You were the church of God by
election and faith is just the manifestation that you are the
church of God. So faith has nothing to do with
your being part of this church. Faith is the manifestation that
you are. Secondly, we are Christ we are
belong to this church by the redemption of our Lord Jesus
Christ when God chose us He chose us and he planned and purposed
our salvation He planned and purposed the salvation of all
his church by one means and one means only by Jesus Christ According
as he had chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the
world that we should be holy and without blame before him
in love having predestinated us unto the adoption of children,"
listen, by Jesus Christ, unto himself. That's how he would
reconcile us to himself. Therefore Christ, when he came
into the world, he took not on him the seed of angels, the nature
of angels, but the seed of Abraham. Why? that he might be a merciful
and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation
for the sins of the people." He came to make reconciliation. Can you consider for a moment
how low Christ stooped to be made a man? He suffered in the body all of
the pains of the flesh and deserved none of them. He took upon himself, willingly,
the form of a servant. And in this life, he willingly
obeyed and became subject to the law of God. For who? His church. His church
needed the righteousness of God that they could not provide and
Christ provided all the righteousness His church needed. Not only this, He bore our sins
in His own body on the tree. By His one offering, He has perfected
forever His church. Listen, He did not make salvation
possible. He actually accomplished the
redemption of His church. Wasn't this the prophecy? He
shall save His people from their sins. When did that take place? The
moment He said, it is finished. It is finished! It's done! Redemption
accomplished! So then see that God purchased
us by His blood. His church is purchased. And
we know this, all His church shall be called. This is the
work of the Holy Spirit. All of His church shall be called.
You know that none of us were born saved? We were born lost, undone, without
God or His Son. And I know this is true. No one
will be saved who's not lost. This world has come to the point
where nobody's lost. I go to my kids' sporting events.
They attend this so-called Christian church. It's just a private school.
But they go to this school, and every event I go to, every time
I listen to someone speak, they're always talking about these children
serving Christ. Well, these children out here
serving Christ. Look at it. We sent them on a
mission trip. They're serving Christ. I said they need to know
Christ before they serve him. They just assume because they
go to a Christian school that they're all saved. They're not.
That's a lie, friends. That's a lie. I tell my children
that all the time. They're not saved. They've made
no profession of faith in Christ whatsoever. That's a problem with this generation
is nobody lost so nobody hears they need to hear the gospel
anymore Nobody needs to hear of salvation Nobody needs to
hear being regenerated being quickened from the dead because
nobody believes they're dead. I like this hymn Sake is sinner
is a sacred thing for the Holy Ghost has made in one if God
ever make you a sinner. He'll save you if God will ever
when I say make you a sinner what I mean is show you that
you're a sinner and If God ever shows you you're a sinner, thank
God He'll save you. You'll have a need. This is what
He does to the whole church. Everyone who belongs to Him,
He calls them. Jesus said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. This is the church. Those who
are the elect, those who are the redeemed, and those who are
the called. Now what is the purpose of the church? Listen, Jesus said this, I pray
Father that you take them not out of the world. Why is it when we were saved
that God didn't just take us to glory? Why? Why did He leave
us here in this world, His church? We have a purpose. We have a
purpose here. We were left in this world for
a purpose. Here it is, go you into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature. That is the purpose
of the church. He says in that prayer in John
17, as thou has sent me into the world, even so I send them
into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify
myself. I go to the cross. I sanctify
myself. For their sakes. That they may
also be sanctified through the truth. Remember when Jesus said
this? Other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them I
also must bring. How will he bring them? Preaching
of the gospel. This is the purpose of the church,
to preach the gospel. What is the purpose of the church?
To preach the gospel. Take heed to yourselves and to
all the flock of God over which you're made overseers. To what?
Feed them. Preach the gospel to them. The church is not here to entertain
people. We're not here to amuse people. We're not here to try to please
men. That's not what I'm trying to
do. If that was what I was trying to do, I'm a miserable figure.
I am just... I am a horrible... I'm not here
to win friends, influence people, if you haven't figured that out.
I'm not here to do that. I'm here to just plainly tell
you what God said. I'm here to preach to you the
gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm here to tell you look to
Jesus Christ and believe on Him. Sinners must hear the gospel.
And that's our purpose here. Because God has elect people
out there. We are to preach the gospel in
here. And then send that gospel out there. That's what we do.
The second reason is this, the second purpose of us, of the
church, of preaching the gospel in the church is this, for those
who are saved. I not only preach the gospel
to those who are not saved, but I preach the gospel to you who
are saved, to feed the flock of God. Ephesians chapter 4, Paul said
this, When he ascended on high and led captivity captive, he
gave gifts to men. He gave some apostles, some prophets,
some pastors, evangelists, some pastors, and teachers. For what?
For the perfecting of the saints, the maturing of the saints. For
the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ
until he comes again. Now then, you see the purpose
of the church? That's what we're here for. One purpose. God always deals in number ones
of things. You know that? One Lord so you
don't mess it up one Lord you count the one you got Jesus Christ One work him crucified as all
our salvation One faith one baptism one listen body the church It is always my intention that
you be able to grow. I want these things that you've
heard so many times before to flourish in us. To bloom inside
of our minds and our hearts so that they overflow into our bodies
and spill out on other people. That's what my desire is for
you. is that these truths so affect your soul that it affects
every part of your life and your thinking. This is what we do
by assembling together here. I want you to grow in the grace
edified. I want you to be edified, nourished,
comforted. Who doesn't need comfort? In
the times of trouble, you've got plenty. You need comfort. You need assurance that these
things are so. Pastor, is it so? Did He really
choose me? Did He really bleed for me? Did
He really call me? That's what He says. I just tell you what He says
over and over and over again and you grow in these things. Don't you see the purpose of
the church? Don't you see the necessity of the church in this
world? I do. The more I grow, the more
I need it. I tell you, the more I grow,
the more I love you, the more I am one with you as I am with
Him. This is the purpose of the church.
So don't let that evil lie fester in us that we can do this by
ourselves. Our Lord said this through the
Apostle Paul, forsake not the assembling of yourselves together
as a matter of some is. Can you get any clearer than
that? Is there any more clear message than that? Can you find
any excuse for not doing that? Listen, if God's people are capable
of being here, they'll be here. That's just so. They need it and they need each
other. That's the purpose of the church.
Now the fourth thing is the destiny of the church. This is the last
point. The destiny of church. What is the destiny of the church?
Listen. Heaven. You get a destiny. Where are
you going? Where are you going? Where is
the church of God going? What is our destiny? What is
our destination? If we could keep this in mind,
I'm sure we'd be more faithful. If we could just keep this in
mind. Usually when we're not faithful to the assembly or hearing
the gospel or the worship of Christ, you know why? We say,
well, you know, I've got this. I've got that. And all this life,
all this job, all this family, all these things are just, they're
just too much. And I just don't, I don't have
the energy, I don't have the time for this." Well, you misunderstand
where you're going. You're not looking where you're
going. All these things that we're so
wrapped up in are going away. going away. I see this every day I look at
my children. Every day they get older. Every
day they get closer to going out on their own and pretty soon
all of this time, all of this energy that I wrap up in them
is gone. It's gone. Never get it back. And so if we're too busy wrapped
up in this, and we're not focused on where we're going, surely
then the church will become less important. But if we see where
we're going, then the church becomes altogether important.
Joanne, I'm going to be with you forever. Scott, I'm going
to be with you forever. You're my family. You're my friends. And it is my duty and privilege
to take heed, to care for you, to encourage you along the way, to help you. And it's your duty
to help each other. That's the church. Our Lord says, whosoever will
save his life will lose it. But whosoever shall lose his
life for my sake shall find it. Lose whatever you must for Christ's
sake. You know why? Because eternal
life is yours. I beseech you, because of the
mercies of God, present your bodies for living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable unto the Lord, which is what? What is
it? It's your reasonable services. If you don't think this is reasonable,
then you're too focused on things that are passing, and you're
not focused on your destiny. Who is a church? We are the elect
of God, we are the redeemed of Christ, we are called of the
Holy Spirit. What is the purpose of the church? The purpose of
the church is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost and
to the saved and the destiny of the church, the destiny of
the church is glory itself, eternal life with Jesus Christ our Savior. So then let us spend our time
sojourning here in fear, reverence, and love and faith. I pray God will help us to love Christ and His church. I pray He will.