WHO AND WHAT DETERMINES WHAT YOU
DO IN YOUR CHURCH ON SUNDAY
MORNING? STOP AND PONDER FOR A MOMENT WHO PUTS TOGETHER THE
SERVICE. HOW DID YOUR CHURCH DETERMINE THAT'S THE WAY THAT WE
ARE GOING TO DO IT? WHO IS THE SOURCE OF AUTHORITY WHO GIVES
THE FINAL RULING, "WE'RE GONNA DO THIS BUT WE'RE NOT GONNA DO
THAT?" MAY I ASK YOU TO PONDER THAT WHILST YOU COVER YOUR
KIDNEYS. WHY? BECAUSE PAUL WASHER WAS PREACHING AT THE G3
CONFERENCE-THIS GOES BACK ABOUT A YEAR-ON THE SUFFICIENCY OF
SCRIPTURE AND ECCLESIOLOGY. AND THE TWO OF THEM GO TOGETHER
PERFECTLY. WHY? BECAUSE WE NEED TO ASK OURSELVES THE QUESTION,
HOW DO WE DETERMINE WHAT WE'RE DOING SUNDAY MORNING? AND THE
ANSWER IS, THE BIBLE. THE BIBLE SHOULD DETERMINE EVERYTHING THAT
YOU AND I DO IN A WORSHIP SERVICE. YOU AND I DO NOT GET TO
MAKE IT UP. YOU AND I DON'T NEED TO COME UP WITH ALL KINDS OF
REALLY COOL, CLEVER, CRAFTY IDEAS. INSTEAD, WE MUST BE
GUIDED BY THE BIBLE. COVER YOUR KIDNEYS NOW. >> GOD IS THE OWNER
OF THE CHURCH. IT IS HIS CHURCH. IT IS NOT YOUR CHURCH. IT IS NOT
MY CHURCH. IT IS GOD'S CHURCH. THE PEOPLE, TO WHOM DO THEY
BELONG? THEY BELONG TO GOD BY RIGHT OF CREATION. WE SEE THAT
IN THE INTRODUCTION TO THE LAW IN EXODUS CHAPTER 20. HE IS THE
LORD GOD, AND THEN HE GOES ON, WHO REDEEMED YOU FROM THE HOUSE
OF SLAVERY. SO THE PEOPLE IN YOUR CONGREGATION-THAT
CONGREGATION, THOSE PEOPLE, THEY BELONG TO GOD BY RIGHT OF
CREATION AND THEY BELONG TO GOD BY RIGHT OF REDEMPTION THROUGH
THE BLOOD OF HIS SON GOD INCARNATE. AND WHAT ARE YOU IF
YOU ARE A MINISTER? WHAT AM I IF I AM A MINISTER? IT SAYS HERE I
AM AN OVERSEER. I AM A SHEPHERD. A SERVANT LEADER TO FEED, GUARD,
AND PROTECT. I AM NOT TO BE CLEVER. I CAN'T EVEN FIND WHERE
I'M CALLED TO BE A GREAT LEADER. ALL THIS NONSENSE ABOUT
LEADERSHIP. I AM CALLED TO BE BIBLICAL, AND TO LEAD GOD'S
CHURCH ONLY ACCORDING TO WHAT IS WRITTEN. ALL THIS NONSENSE
TODAY. SOMEBODY GOES OUT IN SOME DENOMINATION AND IN A FEW YEARS
CREATES A MEGACHURCH, AND THEN WRITES A BOOK ON HOW HE DID IT.
IF YOU HAD ANY DISCERNMENT AT ALL, YOU WOULD KNOW THAT IS
WRONG. IT'S WRONG, BECAUSE WHAT THAT MAN IS DOING IS BUILDING
HIS OWN KINGDOM ON THE BONES OF UNCONVERTED CHURCH MEMBERS. WE
DON'T NEED TO HEAR FROM CLEVER MEN. WE NEED TO HEAR FROM THE
INSPIRED SCRIPTURES. >> IF YOU'RE HURTING RIGHT ABOUT HERE,
DON'T SAY THAT YOU WERE NOT WARNED. DO YOU SEE HOW
ECCLESIOLOGY, CHURCH THEOLOGY, WHAT WE DO-WHETHER IT'S SUNDAY
MORNING OR ANY OF THE OTHER DAYS OF THE WEEK-HOW WE CONDUCT
BUSINESS IN THE ENTITY THAT JESUS IS BUILDING, HIS BRIDE THE
CHURCH, IS SO CONNECTED WITH SUFFICIENCY. NOW PERHAPS YOU'RE
THINKING, "COME ON, LET'S NOT PUT GOD IN A BOX. LET'S NOT
LIMIT WHAT HE CAN DO AND WHAT WE CAN DO," GOT TWO QUESTIONS FOR
YOU. NUMBER ONE, HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF SOMEONE HAD THAT
ATTITUDE WHEN THEY ENTERED YOUR HOUSE, AND QUESTION NUMBER TWO,
ARE YOU COVERING YOUR KIDNEYS YET? >> WHEN IT SAYS THAT THIS
IS THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD, FIRST OF ALL IT, REVEALS THAT THERE IS
ONLY ONE LORD. ONE MASTER. THERE IS ONLY ONE HEAD TO THE CHURCH,
TO THAT LOCAL CHURCH, AND IT IS JESUS CHRIST. IT'S HIS HOUSE,
AND HIS RULES. NOW I'M SOMEWHAT HOSPITABLE. I LIKE HAVING PEOPLE
OVER IF THEY CAN BEAR WITH MY WILD FAMILY AND ALL THE WILD
THINGS WE DO. LOVE TO HAVE PEOPLE OVER. TRY TO BE EXTREMELY
POLITE. BUT IF YOU WALK INTO MY HOUSE AND YOU START DIRECTING MY
WIFE, AND YOU START ORDERING MY CHILDREN, AND YOU START MOVING
THINGS AROUND, LISTEN VERY CAREFULLY...THERE IS A SENSE IN
WHICH I WILL, IN THE OLD-FASHIONED USE OF THE TERM, I
WILL DESPISE YOU. I WILL SAY TO YOU, "WHO DO YOU THINK THAT YOU
ARE, COMING INTO MY HOUSE? THIS IS MY HOUSE." >> AND THE CHURCH
IS THE HOUSE OF GOD, AND WHEN WE ENTER INTO IT AND ARRANGE THE
FURNITURE THAT WE SEE FIT, IS IT POSSIBLE, JUST AS WE WOULD
DESPISE A GUEST LIKE THAT, THAT IS PRECISELY HOW HE FEELS?
PERHAPS THE HOUSE ANALOGY DIDN'T HIT YOU WHERE IT COUNTS. WELL
THEN, MAYBE A BUSINESS ANALOGY WILL DO THE TRICK. >> SEVERAL
YEARS AGO THERE WAS A VERY WEALTHY, WEALTHY BUSINESS
PERSON, OWNED A HUGE MEDIA CORPORATION. NOW THIS PERSON
THAT I AM DESCRIBING IS BRILLIANT, HAS BUILT AN EMPIRE
AND HAS WORKED VERY, VERY, VERY HARD. NOW IMAGINE THAT ONE DAY A
BRAND-NEW EMPLOYEE-IT'S HIS FIRST DAY AT WORK-HE WALKS INTO
THE CENTRAL OFFICE AND, ALL OF A SUDDEN, HE TAKES OVER! AND THIS
BUSINESS MAGNATE WALKS OUT OF THE OFFICE AND GOES, "WHAT? WHO
ARE YOU? YOU DIDN'T BUILD THIS. YOU WEREN'T EVEN HERE WHEN I
STARTED. THIS IS YOUR FIRST DAY. HOW DARE YOU BE SO AUDACIOUS?
ARROGANT? THAT YOU WOULD COME IN HERE AND THINK THAT YOU COULD
RUN THIS COMPANY BY YOUR RULES?" THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT'S HAPPENING
WHEN PASTORS AND MINISTERS OF CHRIST ARE NOT RUNNING THE
CHURCH ACCORDING TO SOLA SCRIPTURA, WHAT IS WRITTEN, BUT
ACCORDING TO THEIR OWN CLEVER PLANS, OR THE CLEVER PLANS OF
SOME SUCCESSFUL MAN IN THEIR DENOMINATION WHO HAPPENED TO
BUILD THE CHURCH BY NOT DOING THE WORD OF GOD. >> OOOOH OH!
