A Church with a Mission
Matthew 28: 18-20 (NKJV)
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Build the church of Jesus Christ – the Lord has given us the task of building His church. As John Wesley said, “The whole world is my parish”.
I have an amazing word spoken over me by the word of God, Jesus spoke the word over his church, he said to go as my ambassador to this world, preach my Gospel. The Gospel is the good news.
Romans 3:23 says “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. Three chapters later in Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We all have sinned, so the judgment of death is upon us. We are not eternal creatures as God, even though we were created to be eternal creatures. We will die.
You cannot find life on the entire planet, I see what life is in! We don’t have a hospital where you can get life, there is not a factory where you can get life. I see the living, I see where life has been, but life has never been found.
John 1:4-5 (NKJV)
4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
The lives I am looking at today… Jesus gave you life; the devil didn’t give you life, he’s given you death.
There is no life form on this planet that can give itself life, the plant life dies, the animal life will die, the human life will die. We consider a good life span to be 70 to 80 years. Let me talk to you. Jesus came into the world to give us life, not just life, but eternal life. Spiritual life comes from Jesus. Religion cannot produce life, it actually produces death. Religion cannot save only Jesus can save.
Jesus said (Luke 19:10), “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
I am building Jesus’ church one soul at a time. When you die, everything dies. Where will you spend eternity? Will you be with Jesus and his church or will you eternally be separated from Jesus and live with the dead? Not just the dead but the spiritually dead, those who never knew Jesus, those who have not been born again.
As long as you are walking in death you have the curse of death upon you, Jesus went to the cross as a sacrifice for your life. He died in our place so we can have his life.
John 11:1-44 (NKJV)
The Death of Lazarus
1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”
4 When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. 7 Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”
8 The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”
12 Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.” 13 However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.
14 Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.”
16 Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”
I Am the Resurrection and the Life
17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. 19 And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. 21 Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
I’m counting on a resurrection to happen this morning in this house. you came in dead, but you’re going to leave saved Alive unto Jesus.
24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
27 She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
Jesus and Death, the Last Enemy
28 And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” 29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the town but was in the place where Martha met Him. 31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”
32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. 34 And He said, “Where have you laid him?”
They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”
35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”
37 And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”
Lazarus Raised from the Dead
38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”
Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”
41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying.
I see a stone rolling this morning. Jesus has commanded your stone be rolled away. Life is standing at the door of your death.
And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
Our mission, the church’s Mission is to preach the Gospel. Roll the stone of unbelief, loosen the grave clothes they wear.
I cannot leave you in the condition you’re in. I cannot turn a blind eye to your spiritual condition.
Romans 6:16-18
16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were [e]delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
Get up out of that grave! Jesus is calling you. I am speaking life to you, you have been a slave to the flesh, repent of your sins, ask Jesus into your heart. You will be born again!