Sunday 9 November 2008

Sermon Summary

Same heart in the Lord

Paul wrote 3 letters to the churches when he was in prison, in the letter to Ephesians, he says the church is the body of Christ, in the letter to Colossians, he said Christ is the head of the church, and in the letter to Philippians, he wrote that the church must live like Christ.

It is sad to see the church, before the church is starting to fight the enemies, the church splits. Brothers became enemy! They had depression. It is hurtful. So that is why Paul wanted the Philippians to rejoice in Christ, because they were sad. The church had problems even in the beginning.

Paul remembered them, day and night, and he prayed for them. And he wrote there is one way to rejoice. There is only one way, it is to return to the Lord, focus only on Him. Without Him, we cannot rejoice.

There were chaos and confusions in the church. When the body of Christ, had problems, they are not small problems, but they had the most terrible problem in the world, sins, and they, the sinner lived together, and they had prayed, and they had taught the truth, and then they had believed the truth, but there was still the problem of sin.

The Lord wanted the whole church, not one or two leaders, who are serving the Lord. The church is not just of the leaders, one or two theologians, but the whole body is the body of Christ. When we had the problems, we must look to the Lord.

There are some theologians who taught doctrines, but beyond that, they gave impression that degree is everything in serving the Lord, not so, the training is a part of training, but there is another important part in the training, the heart.

What kind of the theologians had in them, then what kind of hearts they will produce in theirs follower. Lord looked heavily on the witness. But Christ must live in our hearts. Not just degree, but heart in Christ, Christ living in our heart or not?

God never withheld any spiritual goodness for His children. He never withheld any of the perfect Word from His children. There were the good words the Lord had given to His children, and they lived by every word proceed from the mouth of God.

It is very sad, to see that the theologians are doubting the Word of God, even come to put doubt in the heart of the young believers about the CUV, and they are pursuing the perfect underlying text, and they step on the good witness of the church. And they forget that the church is one, the one body of Christ. Dear friend, one day, the Lord will come, to receive, the bride, the church.

Rev 1:8
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and
which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Rev 1:11
Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in
a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus,
and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto
Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

Rev 21:6
And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the
end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the
fountain of the water of life freely.

Rev 22:13
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

Christ is the Alpha and Omega, these two letters of Greek speaks louder than all the doctrines those theologians put together! Alpha and Omega! 2 perfect words stand forever, Amen, Amen, Amen!

Alpha is the first, Omega the last, letter of the Greek alphabet, and as such they enclose all the rest. Christ calling himself the first and the last, that is, the first cause and the last end, (as nothing began before him, so nothing can outlast him,) he does hereby discover his divinity to us.

All begins with God and he closes the drama of earthly history.

And then, at the end of the earth, not just pastors and theologians, the church is not only friends, but brothers.

The fellowship in the Gospel, must have same heart and same mind, believing the same gospel.

Philippians 1:5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

They must have same heart and same mind in preaching Christ, telling the salvation for the sinners, saying forgiveness for sins. This not about a company, but Paul said they are a fellowship.

A Fellowship in Christ is better than a Bible College which is teaching wrong doctrines!



Paul wanted them to know what is right and what is wrong?

He prayed, Philippians 1:10, That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;

3 things for us to start to work on in the fellowship, let us be united in the fellowship of the Gospel.

1. Loving the truth is very important.
2. Loving those things are good,
3. Living in a blameless life, this is the hardest part.

There are people getting famous because the achievement and wealth they have, and the Lord said they had received the rewards.

Matthew 6: 2, 5,16.

Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before
thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that
they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their
reward.

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for
they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of
the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They
have their reward. Moreover when ye fast, be not, as
the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their
faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you,
They have their reward.

We are called to bear fruit by connecting to Christ. Before we can bear any fruit we must grow up first, if we can bear fruit, then God will be glorified. Pursue this life changing, life growing, fruit bearing life, and lastly we have the glorifying life.

I hope the Lord may grant us joy and power in our life. Amen.

The Lord is Alpha and Omega !

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