Sunday Morning Worship | Divine Reset | Worthless Christianity | 02.07.21

[Music] the kingdom good morning oak cliff bible fellowship and to those that are viewing all around the world we welcome you this morning to our online worship experience and as you can hear today is the first time that we've opened up the church to our congregation congregation are you here this morning come on somebody make some noise i told them this morning i'm ready to run around the building and we're so excited that they're here a portion of our congregation is here today and there will be week after week uh others that will join us and and pastors got a plan for us and but we're glad that god is here we're glad that you are here and we're so thankful for the presence of jesus being here and right where you are and so this morning uh we want to remind you at the end of service we're going to receive communion pastor is going to lead us into that time of fellowship with the lord so go to your kitchen grab some crackers juice water whatever you need so that the end of service you can participate with us but right now guess what the presence of jesus has come to invade your home and david said this i will enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise why don't you stand up with us as we give god the praise that he's due praise the lord oakland bible fellowship put those hands together this morning the bible says that we are saved by grace through faith come on put those hands together [Music] without your grace the grace of the father you gave me [Music] [Music] uh [Music] [Music] [Music] god's grace [Music] the grace of jesus christ [Music] the finished work of calvary has given me [Music] change of oppression [Music] [Applause] [Music] i'm saved by [Music] oh [Music] mercy your mercy new every morning new and every morning and it's amazing [Music] it's amazing [Music] his presence your grace [Music] new every morning morning by morning it's amazing follow your grace your grace [Music] [Music] hallelujah [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Music] jesus the same yesterday today and forevermore no other name that can save deliver and restore oh jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] wonderful [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] is [Music] yesterday [Music] we thank you for your worthy and we [Music] jesus [Music] uh [Music] jesus [Music] jesus oh thank you jesus hallelujah [Music] good evening or morning [Applause] it's good to see everybody not everybody everybody it's been a long time coming [Applause] i don't even know if i'm gonna get to the sermon i just want to look just look [Music] see people and to see folks gathered in a safe and respectful and responsible way but still gathered as we will continue each week doing this in a way that is uh takes into consideration the realities that we're in but at the same time knows that god is still worthy of our worship and our praise and so we're glad to be able to do that with you on uh on today's super bowl weekend i know you've chosen the team that you think is going to win i know the carnal christians are pulling for kansas city no i'm just just kidding but we are delighted to uh to be able to serve the lord together and to worship and to be able to worship together as we continue our series divine reset we want to see god reset some things as we have gone through and are going through these challenges that we all face in a moment i'm going to pray because so many people have been hurt physically or they know someone who's been hurting or financially or personally or even in isolation during this time and we want to pray for god's strength for you as will you work your way through this season we want to remind our members that this wednesday night we will have a program for men and women on zoom the ladies are going to be studying elijah with priscilla and the men will be dealing with the king's court we're going to go into the kings court as men and look what the what do princesses look like when they're functioning under the king and so i want to remind our members uh about that and if you live in the metroplex and you need a church home where folk love god but also love each other and who are pursuing making kingdom disciples who make a kingdom impact and who function as kingdom servants then we invite you to find out about our membership here at oakley bible fellowship you can go onto ocbfchurch.org forward slash membership and we have an online process and you can also find out whether this is the church for you and the beautiful thing is that god has been faithful to meet our needs as we've continued to serve him by the faithful giving of our spiritual family they have honored the lord through their tithes and offerings and we have honored the lord with only using it for kingdom business and so when the givers honor the lord and the folks who utilize it honor the lord then the lord gets honored his kingdom gets expanded people's lives get impacted and then the church is doing what the church is supposed to do so we bless the lord if you are not a part of our church please support your church but if this ministry is ministering to you then you can do an offering above that and give to one of the areas that are listed before you one of those areas that facilitates your giving so it's good to be with you in the house of the lord even during these tumultuous days and it is our hope that god's tomorrow in your life will use yesterday to empower today so that as you move forward to tomorrow you experience his special hand of blessing so i'm going to pray now it is what i want if you've gone through a special time of hurt of wound during this season either you personally or someone close to you even if you're at home i just want you to lift up your hand and by that raised hand you're saying god i need special help i need a special touch i need special encouragement dear lord you see the hands that are raised not only in the sanctuary but you see the raid hands that are raised in the home people who have had losses loneliness whose finances have been interrupted whose friendships have been delayed whose health has been challenged whose stability in light of all the conflicts have been eroded and they need not the regular they need the super unleaded version of god they need premium god we know that you're always with us but we need sometimes that shekinah presence that manifest presence where you and your glory become visible in our circumstances in our pain you said a bruised reed you would not break and for those who are bent over because of life's realities with you right now in a special way this week let them see hear and feel your special presence and may they be touched not only by you but through us through one another as another saint reaches out to them as a another church member reaches out to them or a spiritually minded family member do a reset for them because they need you in a special way and may we as a church [Music] never lose sight that we are here to serve people not to serve ourselves may we not come to worship selfish but worship service so that we are loving one another as you've told us to being the hands and feet of jesus do a divine reset lord if christ be not come in this church in the church of jesus christ and in the lives of each individual in it as we continue in worship we're going to give you the glory because only you deserve it [Music] in jesus name all god's people said amen and amen many times in life [Music] we are presented with two options either we exalt the situation we exalt the problem we exalt the circumstance or we exalt god we magnify god we literally enlarge his presence in the midst of whatever we're going through [Music] this morning as we stand before the lord [Music] our premier agenda is to exalt god [Music] nothing else matters and it is a conscious decision i will [Music] i will you are my god i know you have on mass but just sing that to the father this morning we sing i will [Music] i will you are my god one more time the voices sing i will i father we will no matter what's going on in our life [Music] father you [Music] you're my hiding place i say refuge my treasure lord you are my friend and king [Music] home [Music] oh you are my god as you walk through trial we don't have to fear because you're with me [Music] [Music] because [Music] because you're with i have me that passes all understanding because [Music] i have a blessed assurance and a blessed hope because you're will not fear safe refugees [Music] my hiding place [Music] hallelujah [Music] my [Music] oh [Music] is thank you jesus [Music] [Music] jesus you are my god lift up those holes in the room oh say oh [Music] father we are people who give you the glory [Music] we your children will forever worship [Music] you are you are my god you [Music] are my god [Music] father we love you we love you you are my girl [Music] all [Music] glory well [Music] this morning [Music] we don't exalt our problems we don't exalt our situation we exalt you we [Music] oh [Music] yes [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] we [Music] [Applause] [Music] we [Music] oh lord [Music] hallelujah [Music] you will never get to see god's providence at work in your circumstances until and unless god sees you move in accordance with his will most of the time when god was getting ready to do something big the people had to do something first the people had to do something first moses had to hold out the rod before god would open the red sea the priest had to step in the river before god would open up the jordan mary had to move the stone before god would raise up lazarus and god would not move until they moved he has to see you believe him not hear you talk about believing in [Music] faith is measured by footsteps by your feet by your walk not to talk by your life not your lips by your movement not your mouth you can't sit home and say god give me a job but i'm not going job hunting you've never seen a bird sitting on a bridge with its beak open waiting for worms to drop from heaven but they expect god to provide one when they go it's movement god must see faith because without faith it's impossible to please god and faith is measured by what you do not just what you talk about doing [Music] when our kids were growing up one of the places we went on vacation was to universal studios to see the sights and the attractions of that fun place one of the things that they did was they took us through where movies are made and as we were on the tram riding through the the various towns that had been constructed the gentleman on the tram said what you're looking at is a facade it says behind these constructs and construction is nothing but you would never know it watching the movie when it is filmed here because what we do is we put a face on it but behind it there is no reality it just seems real feels real and looks real but it is actually a facade in revelation chapter 3. jesus wants to talk to the church at laodicea and the christians in that church and by speaking to them he wants to speak to us the church today and warn us about worthless christianity christianity that is merely a facade christianity that has a good faith on it with limited or little reality behind it and how worthless that is to him this was written to a very interesting church full of very interesting christians and relevant to us today as we seek to emphasize the need for a divine reset of all the churches that are written to in asia minor carried a turkey in chapters two and three of the book of revelation this one is scathed the most criticized the most it is expressed uniquely about how worthless it is while having church we read beginning in verse 14 to the angel of the church in laodicea right to the angel that is the spiritual leader the pastor at the church at laodicea here's what i want you to tell these folk now let me tell you about laodicea so that you can understand and appreciate what he's about to say leo decia was a special town it was a major trade route in asia minor that was critical for people moving products from one direction to another direction it was about 45 miles away from the city of philadelphia one of the churches spoken of and it was a key location for three reasons and all three reasons are going to be brought up in this passage and relate to us today first of all it was a place of great fortune it was a banking center a lot of money exchanged hands because of all the trading that occurred in laodicea it was a place of great function and fortune it was also a special place in addition to its its fortune of clothing of a tire it made black wool there and that had become a like a couture kind of clothing so the folks who worshipped at laodicea were well dressed they had a major textile industry there the clothing factories were robust and people could get not only clothes but expensive rugs for their homes at laodicea the black wool especially then it was a place of medical science and pharmaceuticals it was known for its advancement in medicine particularly in isab when people's eyes were injured that would bring healing to them it was known for that people would come all over to laodicea for health reasons economic reasons and for how they would look textile clothing reasons and so this city was well known jesus says to this advanced profit-making good-looking and medically secure environment pastor of the church at laodicea here's what i want you to tell them he describes himself in a number of ways he says i'm the amen the true witness and the beginning of the creation of god briefly i am the amen now i know we we like to say amen at the end of our prayers and it's kind of a throw-in but amen means a little bit more than just tacking on and into your prayer amen means you got it hello amen means this is the conclusion of the matter it means so be it it means word up amen means there's nothing more to discuss the final word has been given so the next time you say amen make sure you're saying amen in other words make sure what you're saying amen to is what he's saying amen to because of you saying amen to something he's not saying amen to you haven't said amen why amen because he's the true witness he's the final decision maker he is the one to declare what the culmination of whatever the discussion is about he's the amen because he's the final testimony whatever anybody else says becomes irrelevant once the true witness speaks and he is the beginning of creation he got everything started as the alpha and he's going to bring everything to completion as the omega because he is the starting point with god god the son is the starting point of god the father and he says i'm i'm in charge here now the reason he has to say that is because of something i'm going to conclude with today that found in verse 20. behold i stand at the door knock if anyone hears my voice and opens the door i will come in and dine with him and he would me wait a minute he starts off by saying i'm the amen the final witness and i am where things get started from i am the beginning of all things i am the beginning of creation but hold it in verse 20 he says but i'm standing at the door and i'm knocking okay let's try this again jesus christ is all that but he can't get in the church he's standing at the door banging on the door wanting somebody to open the church door because it's the church of laodicea and he's all that up front and he can't go to church there so it is possible to have church and jesus not be in the building it is possible to be singing your songs preaching your sermons wearing your textiles the bank account be okay and the vaccine having been put in your arm and jesus not be in church see you want to make sure when you have church he having church or then you have in church by yourself he goes in a little deeper he says i know your deeds i may not be there but i know what's going on that you are neither hot nor cold or cold nor hot i wish that you were cold or hot so because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold i will spit you out of my mouth oh i felt that reading it he says y'all at your church have a problem and your problem is lukewarmness you are lukewarm you're neither hot nor cold now let me give you the the the reason why he uses this terminology leo decea is located between two cities colossae where you have the book of colossians and uh aeropolis one was 10 miles away from laodicea the other was six miles away from laodicea so they were close cities aeropolis was known for its hot springs like hot springs arkansas i went there one time and they have all these underground springs that bring up all this hot water for medicinal purposes people go to hot springs arkansas to go through all of these different baths in order to be to be healed of arthritic kinds of things and well that was aeropolis it was the place where you went to be soothed and healed through the hot springs and the underground uh tributaries from aeropolis flowed down to laodicea but colossae got its water from the snow and the ice melting flowing down from it from colossae into laodicea so that was cold so when the hot springs flowed down from aeropolis and the cold water came down from colossae they met and they met at laodicea but when the cold met the hot it's now lukewarm you know how it is when you turn on your hot water and it's too hot then you turn on your cold water to cool off the hot water and you kind of warm it over so it's neither hot nor cold it's kind of more warmish he says you're neither hot nor cold you're lukewarm referring to the location of laodicea and aeropolis hot water and colossae cold water meeting at laodicea he says you're lukewarm and his response to their lukewarmness based on their location was to spill them out of his mouth let me put it in everyday language he says to the church and the christians in the church y'all make me want to throw up y'all make me sick anybody got anybody in your life who just makes you sick don't answer that out loud they just they come around and they just make you want to throw up that's kind of harsh words y'all make me sick it's a word of rejection it's a word that i can't do nothing with y'all and y'all at church because you are lukewarm let me ask you a question have you ever gone to a restaurant and asked for lukewarm coffee no what you say is heat it up you ever go to the restaurant and ask for lukewarm cold tea iced tea you want some ice on a cold day you want something hot on a hot day you want something cold you don't see people ordering lukewarm have you ever seen a restaurant lukewarm no you want hot you want cold in other words you want clarity what you don't want is lukewarmness he says i will spew you that means vomit i will vomit you out of my mouth because you are worthless to me i can't use you and you are the church so i just want you to know just because you in the sanctuary don't mean you the church or you and i are the kind of christians that jesus christ wants us to be called us to be designated us to be and he says i am the amen i'm i'm going i'm going to decide whether you are right don't don't don't do self-analysis here because you are sicker than you realize because you can feel all right and not be all right so he tells them about his disgust this church was in a state of emergency they needed the emergency room they were unhealthy but they didn't even know it we are living today in our country and in our culture with a lot of laodicean christians going to a lot of laodicean churches the textile looks good they dress up for sunday morning in the west as usually for most people some money in the bank and our medical technology is second to none and all of that can be there and you make jesus we make jesus want to throw up with our fashion our fortune and our pharmaceuticals so what was it that made this church lukewarm what was it what was the problem what what made them worthless what made them want to vomit want to throw up jesus want to throw up folks say they're going to church and jesus is going on he says because you say y'all didn't open up your mouth verse 17 i am rich i have become wealthy and have need of nothing and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked you dress good and don't know you don't have clothes on you got money in the bank and don't know you're poor you think you understand what's going on and you're blind as a bat in other words you are a self-deceived christian going to a self-deceived church but you're still having church the problem is that this church measured their spirituality by their external benefits there was money in the bank good clothes they had good medical insurance put it in everyday word these christians were to go around and they would have been saying i'm blessed and highly favored that's what they would say i'm blessed and highly favored because because god is god has taken care of me and he says and you don't even know how bad off you are your physical looks good but your spiritual is emaciated in western culture particularly we have allowed the benefits that have accrued to us to trick us into thinking just because things are looking okay we're okay just because things seem all right i must be all right and so what you have are people looking for their blessing and almost every time a person says that they're wanting something in most cases physical more money better job nicer house not because those things are innately wrong in themselves but whenever the external defines the internal whenever the physical defines the spiritual then that means that things are backwards and that we have become lukewarm christians in lukewarm churches and we don't even know that jesus is not in the building externally they look good but when measured by the divine standard they fell way short i remember a commercial not too long ago where there were two dummies in the car two dummies and they were showing off the car and how the the bags worked that would show when you hit a collision and these two dummies are in a car looking good but headed toward a crash so they were looking good they were driving a nice car but they were headed toward a collision don't let how you look and what you drive and where you live and who you know and how much you have make you think you're all right because what jesus is going to say you headed toward a collision i'm going to tell you what i mean by that in a moment they had a warped view of themselves because the secular had defined them now where did they get this definition from it says but you say so you're talking to yourself so what are you saying to yourself self you okay how you doing am i right god's been good all the time all the time god is good i mean they they got so they talking they saying that to themselves they're saying that to each other but what what what was making them say this watch this remember i told you laodicea had fashion fortune and pharmaceuticals it was known for that so what did the people have fashion fortune pharmaceuticals in other words they took what was happening in the culture and brought it into the church they took the success of society and let that define whether they were a successful christian or whether they were a successful church they let the society define whether they're all right what we have done today in far too many places and what we must resist is letting the world define our spiritual condition letting the society tell us whether we're all right rather than the amen the true witness and the begin and the uh uh originator of creation defining our reality until jesus tells you you are right you ain't all right until jesus tells me i'm all right i'm not all right until the spiritual trumps the visible and physical we had we do not have the proper measuring stick and that's the problem when you have a prosperity emphasis that makes you think if you prosper physically or financially you must be spiritual nothing wrong with prospering legitimately in any of those areas everything is wrong with letting that define you to make you think because those things are okay oh those things are just okay because you living in a place that told you it was okay you didn't watch too much television been on too much social media and it's it's speaking into you you know and you know and we know people say this because they'd be taking pictures of themselves maybe they'd be maybe selling they'd be creating pictures they'd be they because what they're saying is let me show you who i am until the amen says you're good you're not good i'm not good until the spiritual defines the physical then what we're doing is borrowing from the culture so he says he says to them you've got the wrong view you're miserable poor blind and naked that's why you can have folk looking good on sunday who are miserable on monday you can find couples sitting together in church on sunday who are who are cussing each other out on monday you can find people singing victory in jesus on sunday who are addicted to something on monday because they're not that that fortune and fashion and pharmaceuticals all it is is camouflage it's a universal studio facade so jesus says we got to reset this thing this is we got to reset this thing because y'all making me sick he says what you're doing is you're shopping at the wrong store you're going to the wrong mall that's what he says because he says in verse 18 i advise you to buy from me so he's giving some advice he's saying i want you to go shopping but you need to shop at my at my store i want you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich with white garments so that you may clothe yourselves and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed and i save pharmaceuticals to anoint your eyes so that you may see i want you to get spiritual reality you need a spiritual reality check you ever been to the doctor thinking you were okay and he finds something that says you're not okay or you thought it was one thing and you discovered oh no it's deeper than that that's what he's saying you you didn't think it was this bad but the amen is telling you it's real bad it's real bad you have misdefined yourself because you've let the world dictate to you your status you've climbed this ladder you work in this job you make this money you drive this car you live in this house you wear these clothes and it seems like you're okay jesus says you are a hot mess you lukewarm i want to spew you out of my mouth because you make me sick he says you have to start with my definition my analysis we've got people changing all kinds of definitions of life of humanity of marriage of human identity people are creating hot rules out there and we bringing those rules in here jesus says no i'm the amen up in here i'm the true i'm the true witness in here they they not they're not defining stuff for you i define who you are i define how this works i define how you live i define what your value is i am the amen so if you're gonna say amen same amen on that it's i'm the definer here don't don't bring there in here cause you make me wanna throw up bringing that stuff in here you you got churches bringing secular thinking into the church and focus saying amen hallelujah when god's not saying amen to what they're saying amen too and it can come and come with money it can come with identity it can come with relationship it can come in any category but he says y'all a hot mess yeah y'all make me sick you need to reset this thing you need to buy from me you know what you need to start with me shop at my store find out what i'm offering in other words the spiritual must define the physical the social the relational the financial the the spiritual must define that not letting the culture laodicea and laodicean thinking come into the church you're not unique you're not distinct you're not kingdom people you're cultural people you're secular saints not biblical saints you're not disciples reminds me of a story of the lady who uh was a widow and she was alone and so she hated being alone so she wanted some company so she went to a pet store to get a pet to help her deal with her loneliness the proprietor of the pet store says you know what you're lonely i have just what you need a talking parakeet this parakeet can talk to you it can respond to you so you can hear a voice she said let me see and showed her the parakeet and the parakeet at the prompting of the proprietor begins spitting out some words polly wants a cracker again this would be a great thing to keep me company so she bought the parakeet took the parakeet home she began talking to the parakeet but the parakeet wouldn't talk back she kept trying and trying and trying for a week the parakeet is not talking back so she goes back to the store she says something's wrong this parakeet's not talking oh he said oh no you you you didn't by the mirror the parakeet needs the mirror before it can talk oh she said let me buy the mirror so she went and bought the mirror put the mirror in front of the parakeet tried to get the parakeet to talk the parakeet wouldn't talk tried for another week perky wouldn't talk she went back and she said i sure i put him in front of the mirror he went to oh you didn't buy the ladder the parakeet needs the ladder to go up and down before the talk so she went and bought the ladder bought the ladder put the ladder in the cage tried to talk to the parakeet parakeet won't talk parakeet just will not talk she's getting frustrated now she goes back to the proprietor and says after another week the parakeet is not talking oh the proprietor said i know what's wrong you forgot to get the swing parakeet needs to swing the swing back and forth the mirror the ladder the swing everything should be good she bought this way parakeet's on the swing but it's parakeet not talking a week later she comes back with a box to the proprietor with a dead parakeet in the box parakeet is dead she shows it to the proprietor this parakeet is dead he says wow what i can't figure out what happened he just fell over and died he just fell over and died did he say anything before he died she said yes he said one thing well what did he say he said don't they serve no food up in that store she was giving the parakeet everything [Music] except what the parakeet needed to live the mirror the ladder the swing the parakeet was getting stuff but dying all the time because he wasn't getting what it needed to live you can get more stuff you can buy more clothes you can get nicer cars you can get a bigger house you can get more money in the bank you can get a higher job but if your soul is not feeding if your soul is shrinking you're dying while you're being blessed that's all it took y'all a while to catch up with the parakeet but that's okay he says you must buy from me what really matters what really gives life that's got to come from me it doesn't come from the culture it doesn't come from the stuff not because the stuff is wrong but because the stuff cannot give you what you need to really live that is to have the life of god the abundant life so how do we do a divine reset from worthless christianity lukewarmness verse 19. now stay with me here those whom i love i reprove and discipline therefore be zealous and repent okay now we've already discovered that he wants to vomit okay that he wants to spit them out they are lukewarm and he doesn't go to church there we've already discovered that but notice what we just saw he tells them i love you you make me want to throw up but i love you and how do you know that i love you because i discipline you ah did you see that those whom i love i reprove and discipline verse 19 says the bible is clear that a parent that does not correct and discipline their child does not love them if the child can get away with anything and everything that's because you don't love the child love will always demonstrate in righteous just and appropriate discipline when i talk about brutality we talk about discipline and discipline is always designed to correct all right so let me bring you to today all of these pandemics we have been going through see we think it's just medical or social or racial or political you see we think we think that what the culture is going through is merely a secular situation not it is a corrective move of god he's uprooted the financial he's uprooted the medical he's uprooted the social he's uprooted the racial and what god is doing first and foremost in the church is creating discomfort closing the buildings reshaping the ministry because he is saying american church y'all make me sick american church you're too american than christian you're too secular than saved you you love money more than you love me you love popularity out there more than you love the popularity of me you're shopping at the wrong store and you've left the spiritual goal on the side and think because of the stuff you have see we have to and i'm talking to me and us too because god has given us stuff we got buildings we got the golf course we got the shopping centers we've got the the sanctuary we got the new seats we got the new screens we we got stuff but the danger is to think that you're okay cause the stuff looks good because the acreage expands nothing wrong with that in and of itself but everything is wrong with it if you're defined by it we are in divine discipline yes it's in the culture but he's talking to the church because the job of the church is to affect the culture so he's he says i'mma just rub all y'all ain't nobody going to church and i can do it with something you can't see so see he's trying to talk to us yes it's affecting everybody like the laodicean stuff was was just brought into the church it was out there with everybody but what he says is i am disrupting you for a reset he says do business with me and how do you do business with me he says be zealous and repent repent means to turn you got to go in another direction you have to change your priorities you you you've got to make the spiritual more important than the physical the sacred more important than the secular there's very few people that's not going to be watching television at 5 30 today the whole country all week long that's what everybody's talking about they talking about the game today they talking about the two quarterbacks they come that one event today has engulfed the passion of the whole nation that one event for three hours that one event owns the nation and then for hours and days after that it owns it on sunday but the only reason it owns it on sunday is folks have been working on it all year long they're not just showing up today all the days leading up to this has been pointed in this direction because they got a goal in mind to win the super bowl oh if jesus could get some of that love oh jesus could get some of that fire [Applause] we'll talk about the game we'll talk about the teams we'll talk about the quarter quarterbacks but mum's the word with jesus if somebody doesn't like the team you're voting for is that gonna stop you talking about that team bragging on that team supporting that team just because they don't agree that that's their team well why is everybody else's view okay in silencing us about our faith in jesus christ who's the amen the true witness and the beginning of creation [Applause] he says repent turn turn from what your secular thinking and defining your spirituality by the physical the financial the fashion the pharmaceutical he says in romans 13 verse 11 he says christians wake up and he goes to verse 14 he says shift your lifestyle shift your priorities wake up stop sleeping you're spiritually asleep sometimes i look out when i'm preaching and therefore physically asleep jesus says y'all are spiritually asleep while being wide awake leviticus 18 verses 24 to 28 he talks about don't be like those nations don't let their value systems their priorities define you that's not who you are don't misunderstand me he's not complaining that they had fortune that they had fashion that they had pharmaceuticals he is complaining they didn't have it in his right place they're not buying from him they were defining themselves by it not to be defined by facilities or clothes or or what our budget is that has its place but what should define us is our pursuit of god our passion for christ our love for one another our witness to the world that is what should define us and so he says i stand at the door not verse 20. if anyone hears my voice and opens the door i will come into him and i will dine with him and he with me you remember the sidney porter here movie don't you guess who's coming to dinner where a black man shows up at a white family's home dating his daughter that was one of the first movies that recognized interracial relationships guess who's coming to dinner jesus says behold i stand at the door and i knock if any man will open the door i will come in and dine with him guess who's coming to dinner jesus says i'm knocking on the door no now wait a minute he's knocking on the door of the church this is written to the church of laodicea women jesus why don't you just break the door down it's your church they're using your name they're preaching from your book i only come where i'm welcomed i only come where i'm invited you you you don't want a bunch of folks showing up at your house demanding entrance no behold i stand at the door and i knock but watch this if anyone opens up the door ah he's knocking on the door of the church but he wants to know what individual is going to come and open it you can't do anything about everybody else in the auditorium or in your house the question is what you going to do what am i going to do behold i stand at the door of the church and knock now i want to see which individuals answer it whoever opens up the door i will come in and sup with him hey all of us have had fedex come to our house with something that needed to be signed for if fedex comes with something that needs to be signed for they knock on the door boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom but then they leave if there's no answer and they take whatever they had with them you know why because if it's something that they're bringing that has to be signed for it's special it's only for you it's not for the general public and fedex has got a guarantee that you get it so they drive away and come back another day but they knock on the door to see if somebody will come and answer it jesus christ is special he's the amen he's the true witness he's the beginning of creation so he's going to knock on the door and if there is no answer he'll have to come back another day y'all just go on and have church without him but if you open up the door he says i will come in and i will dine with you that's intimate fellowship that's intimate connection that's intimate love that's intimate association and notice the last verse he who comes i will grant him to sit down with me on my throne whoa jesus says if you let me into your house i'll let you into my throne room if you let me into your house i will let you in to my throne room hebrews 13 13 says go outside the camp that means outside religion and let's enter into the pursuit of a relationship buy from me relate to me pursue me don't just come to church because it's sunday don't just dress up because you need to look good me make it about me closeness with me don't just visit me i want to come into the house the house of your life and of course the house of this church and until this church every church any church gets this right that american culture is not to define the church house or how christians live and what their value systems are then he says you can have me but i'm not gonna force my way i operate on invitation only a lady one day was uh with her husband at the gas station and when they used to do full service and they clean the windshield he said the windshield's still not clean the guy did it again the windshield still not clean did it again windshield still not clean he couldn't figure out what was wrong the wife looked over took off her husband's glasses wiped him he put them on the windshield was now clean see the problem was him he wasn't looking through clear glasses don't let the world fog up your view and so i close with this passage of scripture john chapter 6 and i want to read verses 53 to 57 saint john chapter 6 verses 53 to 57. i want to read these verses john writes so jesus said unto them truly truly i say to you unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood you have no life in yourselves he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and i will raise him up on the last day for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and i in him as the living father sent me and i live because of the father he who eats me he also will live because of me he says if you assimilate me my life body blood is life if you make my life your life if you live for me if you will assimilate me my value systems my goal my person my priority if you make your life about me then you will live and you know the beautiful thing about living is no longer a facade the bank account doesn't matter like it used to how you look doesn't matter like it used to because your life is not defined any longer by externals it's defined by a spiritual reality because the amen and true witness and originator of creation is now defining your and my existence so let's prepare to eat him that's what communion is all about eating him see that's what communion is it's eating his body represented in the bread eating his drinking his blood representative the juice and by eating and drinking it's christ in you that's the hope of glory not clothes outside of you and as we passionately pursue him he says i still love you i still love you i'm i'm upset with you and you're making me sick right now but i still love you i love you so if you'll turn and open up the door i will come in i promise i'm coming in because i'm at the door and i will sup we're gonna have dinner together intimate fellowship i'm gonna share my life with you because you shared your life with me so the bread is his body broken the cup is his blood shed and the eating and drinking is the assimilation of the principle of him sharing his life with us take a moment and just thank him for his life and if you need to repent of not putting him in the priority place of your existence because he loves you and he wants to dine with you take a moment and be with the lord before we eat and drink together thank you lord for dying on the cross for our sins and for offering us your life the eternal life the experience of god's reality in us thank you that we don't have to wait to heaven to get down payments on that but as we eat and drink we're reminded that this week you want to not only be in our life you want to be our life that is our point of definition help us starting with me but all of us to not let the culture define our value system but to do a reset as we repent of our independence and of our externalism of our failure to pursue the christ and as we eat your body and drink your blood that is assimilate your life spiritually would you awaken in us a new passion individually but also as you knock on the door of this church and any church that sincerely values you may each individual open up their door and open up open up our door so that you can go to church here and you're not blocked out of your own sanctuary so lord we eat now your body we drink now your blood we subsume your life you are our life our life receive us lord as a congregation as a community and as a nation of churches is being disciplined by god that we might return to you in jesus name all god's people said amen god bless you until we meet again you

Channel: Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship

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Length: 88min 31sec (5311 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 09 2021