I Will Build My Church Lesson 10

I Will Build My Church Lesson 10

Matthew 16:18-19 (KJV)  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

·         This series is about discovering God’s blueprint for building His church!

PRINCIPLE #14:  SHAKE OFF THE SERPENT

(Acts 28:3-5)

Acts 28:3-5  ³And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. ⁴And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. ⁵And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.

• Any time you build a spiritual “fire” the enemy will show up!  He appears because he cannot stand the heat you are applying to him!

SATAN IS REAL, AND HE HAS A KINGDOM:

·         It is a kingdom of DARKNESS.

Colossians 1:13  Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

Darkness vs. Light  /  Sin & Unrighteousness vs. Holiness & Righteousness  /  Deception vs. Truth  /  Sickness & Disease vs. Healing & Health  /  Sorrow & Death vs. Joy & Life

·         It is an INFLUENTIAL kingdom.

Luke 4:5-6 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

·         It is a COUNTERFEIT kingdom.

John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Since man was created to worship, Satan has developed a completely counterfeit religion, to draw this worship away from God to himself.  According to Scripture, Satan has: a throne (Rev. 2:13), great depths of doctrines and men who teach them (1 Tim. 4:1), a table of communion (1 Cor. 10:21), people who sacrifice at his altar (1 Cor. 10:20), the ability to pose as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14), spirit and human messengers (2 Cor. 11:13), a kingdom (Matt. 12:26), the ability to perform counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders (Rev. 16:14), false apostles, prophets and teachers (2 Cor. 11:13), a city (Mystery Babylon) to oppose the city of God (New Jerusalem) and a harlot church to counterfeit the Bride of Christ (Rev. 17:5)

·         It is a LIMITED kingdom.

Luke 11:21-22  When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.

Satan is a powerful opponent, but his domain is limited by God (like a dog on a leash).  And at Calvary, Jesus took away all of Satan’s power over those who are in Christ!  Satan has no power over you!

·         SATAN HAD THE POWER OF ACCUSATION, BUT ...

1 John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

·         SATAN HAD THE POWER OF OPPOSITION, BUT ...

1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

·         SATAN HAD THE POWER OF TEMPTATION, BUT ...

1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

·         SATAN HAD THE POWER OF AFFLICTION, BUT ...

Psalm 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.

·         SATAN HAD THE POWER OF DEATH, BUT ...

John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

Mark 16:17-18  And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

SO WHEN SATAN COMES “OUT OF THE FIRE” AND FASTENS HIMSELF TO YOU, HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:

1.     Ignore him.  Paul didn’t talk about the viper or seek sympathy from others. He gave it no undue attention. The devil loves attention, and wants us to focus on the vipers instead of building the fire!

2.     Shake him off.  The best way to shake off the devil is with praise, because your mouth is the center of spiritual warfare in your life!

Proverbs 18:21  Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

Joel 3:10  Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.

3.     Throw him in the fire. Paul threw the viper back into the fire – the very thing it was trying to escape in the first place. The fire is the Holy Ghost, so when the devil shows up just turn up the heat!

Isaiah 59:19  So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.

4.     Continue your ministry. Paul didn’t miss a beat because of the viper; in fact, his deliverance opened doors for him to pray for the sick on the island. Because Paul refused to be distracted, even the devil’s plan to destroy him became an opportunity for revival! Never retreat from him!

PRINCIPLE #15:  PRAY THE PROMISES

(Acts 29 … today!)

·         During this series, we’ve been studying the various principles that brought miraculous growth to the First Century Apostolic Church. When Peter first opened the door to the Gentiles at the house of Cornelius in Acts 10, he declared …

Acts 10:34  Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:

·         In other words, what God did for the early church, He will still do today!  We often mistakenly think that we are waiting on God, but in reality God is waiting on us!  When Israel was at a standstill facing Goliath, they all hoped God would do something.  But God did nothing until David did something.  God intervened, but He was waiting for someone to move!

·         We need to let the book of Acts become more than a book of church history to us – we need to pray it until it becomes reality for us!  Take the key verses of revival and growth and pray them until they happen!

WHY WOULD WE PRAY THE WORD OF GOD TOGETHER?

1.     The Word of God is a rich and effective prayer language.

So often when we pray, we pray the problem instead of the answer. But the Word of God is the answer, and praying back to God the truths He has given us increases our faith and teaches us to pray!

2.     Praying corporately promotes agreement.

Jesus said in Matthew 21:13 that His house is to be a “house of prayer” – that should be the number one activity of the church! His last command to the church in Luke 24:49 was to go and hold a prayer meeting. The early church was birthed in a prayer room and grew up in constant prayer meetings! An extraordinary power is released when a group of Christians pray in agreement over a period of time about the same thing!

3.     Praying Scripture helps us pray with a Kingdom Agenda.

Often our personal prayer agendas range from better jobs to new cars, but Jesus always prayed about “Kingdom things.” When we pray the Word of God, we can be sure we are praying in the will of God!

4.     Praying the Word of God invites the Spirit of God.

There is a “resident anointing” in the Scripture that brings the presence of God. As we make an effort to “pray God’s way,” He will lead us in even more effective levels of prayer.

John 14:26  But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

·         THE BOOK OF ACTS IS UNFINISHED BECAUSE THE ACTS OF THE HOLY GHOST THROUGH GOD’S PEOPLE ARE NOT FINISHED!

·         WE ARE WRITING “ACTS 29” TODAY – LET”S MAKE IT A GOOD CHAPTER!

I Will Build My Church Lesson 9

I Will Build My Church Lesson 9

Matthew 16:18-19 (KJV)  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

·         This series is about discovering God’s blueprint for building His church!

PRINCIPLE #12:  SURVIVING A SHIPWRECK

(Acts 27:9-15)

Acts 27:9-15 (NLT)  9 We had lost a lot of time.  The weather was becoming dangerous for long voyages by then because it was so late in the fall, and Paul spoke to the ship’s officers about it. 10 “Sirs,” he said, “I believe there is trouble ahead if we go on – shipwreck, loss of cargo, injuries, and danger to our lives.”   11 But the officer in charge of the prisoners listened more to the ship’s captain and the owner than to Paul. 12 And since Fair Havens was an exposed harbor – a poor place to spend the winter – most of the crew wanted to go to Phoenix, farther up the coast of Crete, and spend the winter there. Phoenix was a good harbor with only a southwest and northwest exposure. 13 When a light wind began blowing from the south, the sailors thought they could make it. So they pulled up anchor and sailed along close to shore.  14 But the weather changed abruptly, and a wind of typhoon strength (a “northeaster,” they called it) caught the ship and blew it out to sea. 15 They couldn’t turn the ship into the wind, so they gave up and let it run before the gale.

·         Paul had previously been in three shipwrecks (2 Corinthians 11:25), around the time of Acts 20. No details whatsoever are given about those events – why is such detail given here?  Why would Luke devote such a long section of Acts to this description of a shipwreck?

·         Principle:  “First the natural, then the spiritual” (1 Corinthians 15:46) –  there is a spiritual lesson found here!

·         Paul was finally on his way to Rome – although he had never expected to go as a prisoner.  They set out from Caesarea and began to sail along the coast of the Mediterranean.  However, the voyage became difficult because of strong winds.  They transferred to a large grain ship from Egypt, but strong winds again hindered (it took them “many days” to travel just 130 miles). Finally, they struggled into the port known as Fair Havens, on the south side of the island of Crete.  It is here that the centurion makes his fateful decision to continue the journey.

·         The word of God is filled with the tragic record of men and women who began well but failed to survive spiritually …

• The Spirit of the Lord came on Samson, but he squandered most of his life in sensuality.
• God chose Saul to be Israel’s first king, but had to cast him aside when pride ruined him.
• Solomon prayed for divine wisdom in his youth, but tolerated pagan evils in his old age.
• At one time Judas was an apostle!
• Even Paul said, “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” (1 Corinthians 9:27)

·         Storms you could not dream of may have come into your life or your family, or even into the church you attend.  Sooner or later, you will be tested – that’s the nature of life’s “voyage.”

·         And sometimes, THROUGH THE ERRORS OF OTHERS, THROUGH NO FAULT OF YOUR OWN, you can become shipwrecked along life’s journey. It is even possible for “church problems” to shipwreck you!

·         Matthew 24:10-13  ¹⁰And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. ¹¹And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. ¹²And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. ¹³But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

·         The Apostolic Church is built on those children of God who know how to survive the storms of life – EVEN WHEN THEY ARE CAUSED BY PEOPLE WHO RIDE IN THE SAME BOAT!

·       SAINTS WHO SINK THE SHIP …

1.     THEY CAUSE PROBLEMS BECAUSE OF THE WRONG DECISIONS THEY MAKE.

• Fair Havens was not the most comfortable place to spend the winter months, and a fair wind at the time of sailing made it look like they could quite easily get to the port of Phoenix.
• Paul admonished them to stay in Fair Havens because sailing was dangerous at this time of year, but they listened to the majority rather than the man of God.
• No one thinks their storm is going to be bad enough to shipwreck them!

2.     THEY STOP RESISTING AND END UP WAY OFF COURSE.

• If only they could have seen that their 50-mile journey around an island would take them 600 miles off-course across the Mediterranean Sea (like starting out from Saint John for Digby, NS and ending up in Chesapeake Bay by Washington, DC)!
• They hoped to outrun the storm and eventually get back on course, but the moment they gave up resisting the wind they lost control.  Very few storms simply blow over – so stay on course!
• Sin (especially sins of the spirit!) will take you much farther than you ever intended to go!

3.     THEY CONCENTRATE ON SURVIVING INSTEAD OF PROGRESSING.

• They used ropes and chains to wrap around the ship to keep it together, trying to reinforce the beams and plug the leaks.  They pulled in the sails and just concentrated on survival.
• Entering “survival mode” may make us feel like we are still accomplishing something, but it only prolongs the inevitable.

4.     THEY THROW OUT NECESSITIES IN A VAIN EFFORT TO MAKE THINGS BETTER.

• They cast out even the tackling of the ship – things they needed!  Many people think that as long as they are “religious” that they will be saved.  But we can’t save ourselves from the storms of life! 
• God doesn’t expect you to “throw out” your personality to please Him.  (And He doesn’t want you to demand that of anyone else!)  He wants all of you!  Christianity is more than just gritting your teeth in a joyless existence!

5.     THEY LOSE THEIR HOPE AND SIMPLY FALL APART.

• Once people lose their hope (definition: “to desire with expectation of fulfillment”) they just end up going through the motions of religion.  They no longer really believe that God will do it!
• But it was in the midst of failure that Paul stood with a message of hope:  “Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve.”
• Don’t get offended at the preacher who tells you that you made a wrong decision or that you are way off course; the only reason you are offended is that you know he is speaking the truth!
• The storm wasn’t over, BUT FOR PAUL THE STORM WAS AS GOOD AS OVER BECAUSE HE HAD HEARD FROM GOD!  There might still be damage to “the ship,” but his life was saved!

·         This is not the typical “happy ending” story!  In fact, the worst is yet to come!  That’s why many people never survive the storm – they expect the sun to shine immediately, but instead the waves sweep higher and the winds intensify.

·         When the ship hit the rocks, Paul had to jump in the cold, stormy waters and swim for his life.  BUT HE STILL HAD HOLD OF GOD’S PROMISE!  While the sailors mocked, the sails ripped off, and the boat fell apart around him, Paul paced the deck and encouraged the crew, “I believe God!”  He even believed God while swimming for his life!

·         Paul said, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”  (Philippians 4:11)  It didn’t matter what happened to him once he had heard from God.  God took the sting out of the storm!

·         When a local church hears from God, they may still go through rough waters, but the promise of God is still true!  DON’T LET OTHERS SHIPWRECK YOUR DREAM!

PRINCIPLE #13:  WITNESSING THROUGH WEAKNESS

(Acts 28:20)

Acts 28:20 (KJV)  For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.

Colossians 4:18 (KJV)  The salutation by the hand of me Paul.  Remember my bonds.  Grace be with you.  Amen.  (Written from Rome to the Colossians by Tychicus and Onesimus)

·         Rome was the greatest city Paul had ever seen, with more than a million citizens and about a million slaves living on its seven hills.  He was placed again under house arrest, constantly chained to a soldier, but able to receive friends, write letters and even preach.  Once again, he shared the truth about Jesus with the Jews first, but when most of them refused him he turned to the Gentiles.

·         For two years he had to pay for his own lodging, even though he was confined and waiting for his trial.  Luke’s book of Acts ends here since it was written as evidence for his upcoming trial before Caesar.

·         You might think that Paul’s constant imprisonment was a depressing thing for him.  It certainly could have been.  To the human spirit, there is nothing worse than chains.  And yet, when we get right down to it, everyone has chains of some kind.

·         Chains alter your perception of how powerful, intelligent and good you are; they make you feel helpless, dependent and conscious of your weaknesses.

·         In his first epistle, Paul introduced himself as “Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)  (Galatians 1:1)

·         After some suffering, he became “… the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.  (1 Corinthians 15:9)

·         After more suffering, he felt that he was “… less than the least of all saints … that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.”  (Ephesians 3:8)

·         After two years in chains in Rome, he finally realized “… that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”  (1 Timothy 1:15)

·         However, it is a common misconception that chains prevent growth and effective work, that the slightest difficulty in circumstances or drop in privileges is reason enough to simply quit.

·         Paul proved from his experience that this is simply not true, for while he was imprisoned in Rome he produced some of his best epistles, he preached and prayed, witnessed and worshipped while chained to an unbelieving Roman guard.  Talk about opposition!

·          “ … for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”  (Philippians 4:11)

·         I wonder which one of Paul’s guards inspired his writing which began, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil,” (Ephesians 6:11), or which one first heard the scripture, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end” (Ephesians 3:20-21). All of his guards were affected, and many of them became believers, even though the one who witnessed to them was in chains.

·         Paul described himself in one place as “an ambassador in bonds” (Ephesians 6:20), but that description could apply to most of God’s servants.  We all have chains of some kind, whether they be bonds of physical affliction, shackles of circumstance, or the fetters of a fiery trial.  The question is, will we still continue to work for God even when we don’t understand the chains?

·         REMEMBER MY CHAINS!  Paul won Onesimus to the Lord while he was bound (Philemon 10); his brethren developed boldness because of his prison term, “waxing confident by my bonds,” and spoke the word without fear (Philippians 1:14). 

·         This happened because Paul remembered that even while he was bound, “the word of God is not bound!” (2 Timothy 2:9).

·         Simon Peter and Paul were put on trial by the Emperor Nero along with many other Christians who were blamed for the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64.  After the trial, they were confined to prison together until finally being executed on the same day.  Peter was nailed to a cross as a public spectacle at Nero’s Circus, head downward at his own request since he did not feel worthy to die like his Lord.  As a Roman citizen, Paul was beheaded in a less public place.

·         REMEMBER MY CHAINS!  Perhaps all Paul could think about as he was being led to his execution was a single Scripture he had written much earlier:  “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”  (Romans 8:18)

·         REMEMBER MY CHAINS!  Any chains we must bear for Christ pale in comparison to the weight of the chains of sin He has delivered us from.

·         REMEMBER MY CHAINS!  Will you work for God in spite of YOUR chains?  PAUL DID!

·         Let’s determine to WITNESS THROUGH OUR WEAKNESS!