The Quest for Today's Church, Part 1

We are going to look today, in the next several weeks, at the quest for today's church. A number of weeks ago, we looked at the ministry and message of Christ to seven churches in Asia Minor, seven churches that were literal churches that are representative of all the churches that have ever existed in the church age. So beginning with Ephesus all the way to Laodicea, we addressed those seven churches and saw what Christ said to them. And five of the seven churches he condemned, two he truly commended.

And so from that, we began to look at the question for today's church. Are we the kind of church that God would commend or God would condemn? If he wrote us a letter, what would it say? So we gave you seven principles that would help you understand the kind of church that God commends and doesn't condemn. I'm not going to review those for you. Hopefully, you were here with us to receive that. Well, after you answer the question for today's church, you must then determine the quest for today's church.

What is our quest as we embark on this century, as we embark on this year, as we embark on this ministry in this society? I'm going to give you over the next several weeks some principles that will help us understand what our church should seek after, the kind of things that should characterize our church and its ministry. I'm not sure how long it's going to take us, but I'm sure it will be done sometime before Christmas because I have a special Christmas series planned beginning in December, so I'll have to finish before then.

So I'm going to give you principle number one this morning. I have 12 of them I'm going to give you over the next several weeks, but this is what we call the quest for today's church. Having answered the question, are we the kind of church that God condemns or commends, what now becomes the quest for our church? Quest number one is this.

There must be an integrity that permeates our leadership, an integrity that permeates our leadership. Every journey, every quest that a church is on begins with its leadership. It must begin with leadership because the principle of Hosea chapter 4 verse number 9 is very clear. Like priests, like people. As the priests go, so go the people. As the parents go, so go the children. As the preachers go, so go the people. That's just a biblical principle. So it's imperative that integrity permeates the leadership of the church.

Listen to what the Lord said in the book of Lamentations about Israel and why it was destroyed. He says, because of the sins of her prophets and because of the iniquities of her priests. God says, I want to let you know what your problem is.

It's because of the sins of your prophets and the iniquities of your priests. They led you down the primrose path of destruction. If you go to the book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter 5 verse number 30, the Lord God says, an appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land.

What could be appalling to God? He says, the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests rule on their own authority and my people love it so. In other words, the prophets don't speak the truth and the priests do whatever they want because they are ruled by their own authority, not by my authority. And believe it or not, the people love it that way. Then the Lord God says in verse number 13 of chapter six, for from the least of them, even to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for gain.

And from the prophet, even to the priest, everyone deals falsely. They have healed the brokenness of my people superficially saying peace, peace, but there is no peace. Why? Well, if you go back to Jeremiah chapter two, Jeremiah chapter two, verse number eight, God says, the priest, remember the priests were the spiritual leaders of Israel.

The priest did not say, where is the Lord? And those who handle the law did not know me. They didn't know who I was. The rulers also transgressed against me and the prophets prophesied by bail and walked after things that did not profit. Verse 11 has a nation changed gods when they were not gods, but my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled though heavens at this and shudder. Be very desolate declares the Lord for my people have committed two evils. They are forsaken me, the fountain, the living water to hue for themselves, cisterns, broken cisterns that hold no water.

The Lord God says, can you believe this? Try to understand this, oh heaven, that somehow my people have moved away from me to go after that, which does not satisfy. And the appalling thing is, is that they somehow have been deluded into thinking that what the world has to offer satisfies and what the word gives them does not. God is appalled at that, astonished at that, that they would forsake him, the well of living water to dig for themselves cisterns, wells that have no water. Why would anybody in their right mind do that?

But Israel did. Why? Because the prophets and the priests were greedy for gain. They set aside the law of God. Integrity did not permeate the leadership of Israel. God would set Israel aside for a while after he came in the flesh, died for their sins. He would set them aside for a while and he would establish the church. And throughout the church age, the church would be the vehicle by which the world now would come to know the living God. After the church is translated into heaven, Israel then will take center stage once again.

Because God is not done with Israel. But the time being, the church is the light, the church is the salt, and the church is the testimony to a lost world. And so for the church to be what it needs to be, the leaders of the church must rule in a way that honors and glorifies the name of God. Integrity must permeate the leadership. And so when Paul gives the qualifications for elders in the church in first Timothy three, and in Titus chapter one, he says this, it is a trustworthy statement.

First Timothy three, verse number one, if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.

And overseer then must be above reproach. In other words, he must be blameless. Titus says the exact same thing. The leader of the church must be blameless. There's nothing you can hold to his account. There was no habit. There was no attitude that if brought to light would disqualify that man from leading in the church. And that's why personal integrity leads the list, because he gives a list in first Timothy three, verses two, down to verse number seven.

It deals with personal integrity above reproach. And then it goes on and tells you what it means to have personal integrity. He talks about marital fidelity. He must be a husband of one wife. It talks about the relational maturity. It talks about familial authority. It talks about spiritual credibility. It talks about universal acceptability. It speaks about the things that characterize one's integrity. Very important. Remember Daniel. This has been the way God has always designed it. Back in Daniel chapter six, verse number four, he had universal credibility because he had personal integrity.

It says on no ground of accusation or evidence of corruption in as much as he was a faithful man, and there was no negligence or corruption to be found in him. So when they looked to find something out about Daniel, there was nothing about his life, nor was there nothing in his life that would disqualify him so that they could bring an accusation against him to the king. It wasn't that he was a sinless man because Daniel was a sinner like everybody else, but there was no habit or activity or action in his life that would disqualify him in any way.

The same was true of Job, by the way. Job one, verse number one, there was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job.

And that man was blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil. Blamelessness is defined as upright, fearing God, and one who continually turns away from evil. So whether it was Job, or whether it was Daniel, or whether it was the qualifications for leadership in the church, or whether it was Noah who found favor, found grace in the eyes of God in Genesis chapter six. And then in verse nine it says, and he walked in a blameless way. So there was something about Noah as well, because God requires of his men who lead in the church and in the home personal integrity.

And that must permeate the leadership of your home and your church, your workplace, because if it doesn't, it affects everybody you come in contact with. That's why Paul would say in Philippians 3, verse number 17, brethren, join in following my example. In Hebrews chapter 13, verse number seven, it says, remember those who led you considering the result of their conduct and imitate their faith. So leadership is crucial because the people follow leaders, and if integrity doesn't permeate the leadership in the church, then what you do is you reproduce in the lives of your people compromise.

You can't afford to let that happen, because Titus 1.7 says that the elder in the church or the pastor in the church is a steward of God's household. Leaders in the church are household managers of God's bride, of God's treasure. And there is no king on the earth who would allow anybody who was unfaithful to be the caretaker of their most priceless treasure, let alone the king of the universe. And so the king of the universe requires that those who lead in the church lead in a way that brings honor and glory to his name, so that those who follow them will be able to imitate their faith and follow their conduct because they live a life that's blameless.

Why is this important? Because God requires every believer to live a life of blamelessness. If the leaders don't live that way, the people won't. Let me say it to you another way.

Go back with me, if you would, to the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 17. And let me show you how this affected the life of Abraham.

He was the father of a great nation, right? Well, to be a father of a great nation, God requires certain things that must happen in your life. So God is going to reveal himself to Abraham, okay? With the revelation always comes an obligation. With the revelation doesn't come reservation on your part, nor is there to come hesitation on your part. There is an obligation to respond to the revelation of God. So God's going to reveal himself. It has been 13 years since Genesis chapter 16 when God last spoke to Abraham, okay?

Did I say 16 or 13? I meant 13 if I said 16, sorry. 13 years. It's been 13 years since God last spoke to Abraham. Remember, Abraham couldn't open his Bible and read what God said. He had to wait for God to show up and speak to him. And remember, 13 years ago, what happened? There was a whole instance with Hagar and the birth of Ishmael, okay? But he wasn't the promised son. So they're still waiting. Abraham now is 99 years old and Sarah is 89 years old. And God comes and speaks to Abraham. He's going to use a phrase to describe himself.

First time it's used in the scriptures, El Shaddai, the almighty one. In Genesis 15, he told Abraham, listen, I am your shield. I am your protector. I am your great reward. I am your prize. Now he tells them, I am your power. I am El Shaddai, the almighty God. So Genesis 17 verse number one says, now when Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abraham and said, I am God almighty.

48 times El Shaddai is used in the Old Testament. And 31 of those 48 times it's used in the book of Job. Why? Because Job, who suffered greatly, had to know that the all powerful God was the one who allowed to happen to him what happened. So 31 times El Shaddai is used in the book of Job, but 48 times altogether in the Old Testament. He says, I am God almighty. Walk before me and be what? Be blameless. Be blameless, Abraham. You are a father of a great nation. You have to lead this nation. Any father needs to understand he is to walk in blamelessness.

He is to be a person of personal integrity that permeates his entire life. And the church now has to be led by those kinds of individuals. That's why leadership in the church isn't for everybody, but the leaders in the church must model the way for everybody. And Abraham was the father of a nation. And God says, walk before me and be blameless.

Walk with me, commune with me, live with me, be intimate with me. And at the same time, you need to be blameless. You need not to be sinless. Blamelessness is not sinlessness. Blamelessness is a word that describes someone who truly does not continue in sin. They ask forgiveness of their sin, they deal with their sin, and they move on from there, okay? But there's no act or no attitude that can be held against them or charged to their account that would disqualify them from living a life of integrity.

And so therefore, God says to Abraham, you walk before me and be blameless. Now, let's talk about that for a second.

Because God desires blamelessness in all of his people. If the father of the nation was to be blameless, if Noah, who began a new generation after the flood, was to be blameless, if Job, who was the most upright and most blameless man on the face of the earth, and God requires the leaders of the church to be blameless, what does that mean, and how does that apply to us? Well, know this, that blamelessness is the position of every believer. It is the position of every believer. Listen to what the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 1, verse number 3 and verse number 4.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before him in love. In other words, God chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we would be holy, set apart unto him for his purposes, and because we are set apart unto him for his purposes, then we are blameless. So how does a believer become blameless?

Simply because it was the shed blood of a blameless, spotless, unblemished lamb that was shed for us, that we might receive the forgiveness of sins. We now become partakers of his divine nature. So we stand in Christ, holy and blameless before him. That's why we can approach the throne of grace with boldness, because we've been forgiven of all our sins. And so it is the position of the believer. But not only is it the position of the believer, it is the promise for every believer. Ephesians chapter 5, verse number 27, Colossians chapter 1, verse number 22, Paul says these words, Colossians 1, verse number 22, verse 21 says, And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet he has now reconciled you in his fleshly body through death in order to present you before him holy and blameless and beyond reproach, irreproachable.

So not only are you positionally made blameless before Christ, but the promise for every believer is that he will present you irreproachable, spotless, and blameless before him. That's why Jude said this in Jude 24, Not to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory blameless with great joy. So think about this. The position of every believer is that he is blameless before God. The promise for every believer is that he will be presented irreproachable.

So the question comes, if that's true, why is it we see so many blemishes on the blameless? Why is it we see so many spots on the spotless? Why is it there is so much sin that runs rampant in those who have been positionally made blameless and will one day have the promise of complete blamelessness? Well, that's why you need to understand what the Bible says when the Bible speaks.

Number three, of the prayer of every believer. Blamelessness is the position. Blamelessness is the promise, but blamelessness is the prayer of every believer. Listen to what the Bible says.

Philippians chapter one, verse number 10. Paul says, verse number nine, and this I pray that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment so that you may approve the things that are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ. Paul says, I'm praying for this. I'm praying that your love will abound. It will abound in knowledge and real discernment so that you may approve the things that are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Jesus Christ.

So in other words, the prayer of the believer is that he would be made blameless, that he would live a life of personal integrity, where his words would match his walk, his life would match his lips, that the way he lives his life is truly manifested every single day to everybody he comes in contact with because everything he says matches what he does. And so Paul says, my prayer is that your love would abound in knowledge and discernment and that you might truly be sincere and blameless until the day of Jesus Christ.

It is a prayer of the believer. That's why we pray, Lord, help me love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. Lord, help me to present my body a living sacrifice wholly acceptable unto you. You see, listen, if you have been set apart unto God for his purposes, you are positionally blameless. You one day will receive the promise of complete blamelessness. But if that's the case, you truly do pray that you be blameless every day because you know that sin mars the image of God to a lost world.

And so you pray for blamelessness, that you might live a life and you do this for how long? Until the day of Christ, until you stand face to face before the living God. This should be a prayer that permeates your lips every single day. It should be what you pray for your children, what you pray for your husband, for your wife, for your friends, that they would be blameless, that they would not have anything held against them that would mar the image of Christ to a lost world. Number four, blamelessness then becomes the practice of the believer.

If it's the prayer of the believer, it now becomes the practice of the believer. Look at Philippians, Philippians chapter two, Philippians chapter two.

Paul says these words, verse number 14, do all things without grumbling or disputing so that you will prove yourselves to be what? Blameless. Whoa. Whoa. Think about that. Now you're grumbling and you're disputing is one thing that hinders your blamelessness. If you're a chronic complainer, if you're a belly acher, if you're a mumbler and a grumbler, this is going to hurt you in terms of blamelessness because it says, so you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent children of God. You are children of the living God.

Listen, of all people who should be content, it's the children of the living God. It's the discontent that mumble and grumble because there's something not working out for them. So they're irritated with that. But those who are the children of God want to prove themselves to be blameless and innocent above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you are, you appear as lights in the world. What's the best way that you can appear as light in the world by having a great attitude and attitude that truly exemplifies a child of the living God, because what makes the generation so perverse and so crooked is that they are so discontent with God and what is before them.

And they become jealous and envious and bitter and angry. And yet we who are children of God, we don't mumble and grumble because we are content with what God has done in our lives. And we are to appear in the world as lights because a dark crooked generation needs to know the way. And so not only is blamelessness the prayer of the believer, it is the practice of the believer. We are to live lives without attitudinal defects. That's how we're to live our lives. And mumblers and grumblers have bad attitudes.

And the believer should have anything but that because they're children of the living God. So blamelessness is the promise to every believer because it's the position of every believer. And yet it should be the prayer of every believer, not only for himself, but for those around them. And it should be the practice of every believer. It also should be the pursuit of every believer. It should be that which you pursue. Turn with me to 2 Peter chapter 3 for a moment.

I want to show you something. 2 Peter chapter 3, blamelessness is the pursuit of the believer. Peter says this, verse 10, but the day of the Lord will come like a thief in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. In other words, this is how it's going to end. It's all going to burn, okay? So much for global warming, okay? God's going to heat it up. He's going to incinerate it. And then it says, since all these things ought to be destroyed, in other words, since the earth and since the heavens are all going to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, okay?

Now listen carefully. Everybody look this way. That little phrase, what sort of, maybe here it says, what manner of, it's a phrase used seven times in the New Testament, okay? It's a phrase, potten, which means otherworldly, from a different dimension, alien, foreign, from another nation. For example, it was used in Matthew chapter 8, when Christ calmed the storm on the sea, and the disciples said, what sort of man or what manner of man is this that even the winds and the waves obey him? Translation, what other dimension is this person from that even the winds and the waves obey him?

What alien-like creature is this that with a word he can calm the sea? Because that's not natural to America or to Israel or to anybody else. It's not natural to this world. So it's otherworldly. That's the phrase that's used. Phrase that's used in 1 John 3 verse number one.

What manner of love is this or what otherworldly kind of love is this that the Father bestows upon us that we should be called the children of God? What kind of foreign, alien kind of love is this? What otherworldly kind of love is this? Because it's not from this world, it's from another world that the Father would bestow upon us that we now should be called the children of God. So Peter, having spoken those words on a boat in Matthew 8, is now going to use that phrase to describe you and me when he says, what sort of people, what manner of people, what otherworldly kind of people, what alien-like creatures are you to be?

Because everything's going to be destroyed in this world and we are not citizens of this world because this heaven is going to be destroyed in this way, then we have to be from another dimension, another world, living holy, godly lives. And then he says this in verse number 14, therefore, because that's true, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by him in peace, spotless, and what's the next word? Blameless. It is the pursuit of the believer. Be diligent. Man's most precious possession, Proverbs 12, 27, is what?

His diligence. That's the most precious possession a man has, the ability to be diligent, to stick at a task and not quit. Peter says, because you are to be from another dimension, otherworldly-like, living holy, godly lives, and because everything is going to be destroyed, you need to be diligent in terms of your pursuit to be blameless and spotless because that makes you from another world. This is why it is absolutely imperative that those who lead in the church be above reproach or be blameless because they have to set an example and a model for those in the church to follow.

They need to be able to see it in action. It is the position that we have in Christ. It is a promise that we will one day receive when we are complete in Christ, in glory, and yet in the meantime, it is a prayer of every believer as well as a practice of every believer because it is a chief pursuit of every believer, but it is also the highest pleasure for every believer. Turn with me to Psalm 119.

Psalm 119. Psalm 119, verse number one, how blessed are those whose way is what? Blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. Now, remember, that's the exact same thing that God said to Abram in Genesis 17, verse number one.

Walk after me. Walk in the law of the Lord. Be blameless. Abraham, you are a father of a great nation. You are a father of the greatest nation to ever exist. You are the father. Therefore, you walk with me. You commune with me, and you live a life of blamelessness because you must lead the way for the nation. Now, the psalmist says, blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. That's the blessed man. That's the one, listen, that God, to bless means to speak well of. God speaks well of the man who walks in the law of the Lord.

God speaks well of the man whose way is blameless. This is the highest pleasure a man can attain for the God of the universe, the creator of the world, to speak well of him. That's why the Bible says in the book of Proverbs, the 20th chapter, the seventh verse, these words, a righteous man who walks in his integrity, how blessed are his sons after him.

A righteous man who walks in his integrity, how blessed are his sons after him. The quest for today's church begins with the men of the church. That's where it begins. Integrity must permeate the leadership of the church. God says in Titus 1, verse number 7, that the leader of the church is a caretaker of God's household.

Why does he say that? Because the church is a family. That's why the requirement for any leader in the church is that he must be able to manage his own household well. He must, because a church is like a family. It's like a family. And if he can't rule his own household well, he cannot rule in the church of God well, because the two are so similar. They're so intertwined together. Therefore, he must walk in integrity, walk in the laws of God. So, go back to Genesis 17 now.

The Lord appears, a revelation of God to Abram. God speaks to him, okay? Remember, he had to wait for God to show up and speak. You don't, because you have the word of God in your hand. Every time you open the word of God, these are the God-breathed words. Abraham did not have that luxury. He had to wait for God to show up. So, God shows up. He tells him, I am El Shaddai. I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.

And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him. Listen, when God speaks to you through his word, you must always have a proper response. You must always have a prompt response, because if you do, you will always have a productive result. There must be a proper response. Abraham fell on his face. God is speaking. How many times do we read the word of God, close the book and get off and just do what we've always done? There must be a proper response to the word of God. Integrity must permeate the leadership.

We must live a life of blamelessness. We must walk before God and be blameless. That is a requirement for every believer in the church, especially for those who lead, because they have to model the way for the people in the church. And Abraham had a proper response. And not only was it proper, it was prompt. It was immediate. The revelation did not bring hesitation. The revelation did not bring a reservation for Abram. The revelation produced an obligation, and that was to respond promptly, respond properly.

And when you do, listen to what happens. And God talked with him. God always communicates with those who respond to him properly. Those who don't, he doesn't. But when you open the word of God and you read what God has said, and you have a proper and prompt response, the result of that is so productive, because in John 14, verse number 21, the Lord God said these words. Let me read them to you so you understand them.

John 14, verse number 21. He said, He who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my father, and I will love him, and I will disclose myself to him. I will let you see me for who I am. I will manifest myself. I will disclose myself to that one who loves me and keeps my commandments, that one who responds to me properly and promptly. I will allow them to see me and my glory, that they might come to understand and know me, the God of Israel, the God of the universe.

The quest for today's church begins with an integrity that will permeate the leadership. Men who walk with God and are blameless. Same is true in your home. The home begins with men who walk after God and be blameless, because Proverbs 27 says that how blessed are the children of those who walk in integrity. Let me pray with you.

Father, we thank you for this day, this glorious day, a chance to be in your word and to listen as you speak to us through this word. We thank you that the God-breathed words are written down, that we might understand them. We are so much more blessed than Abram was to be able to pick up the word of God and read it at any time, to know what you have to say. He had to wait 10 years, then 13 years, and then longer after that. But Lord, we don't have to do that. And we thank you that, Lord, you have used your word in our lives this day for your glory.

In Jesus' name, amen.