The Church: Its Meaning - The Praise to the Glory of God

Today, we come to the end of our series on the church that we began 10 months ago. It really was eight months ago because I didn't preach in August. And in December, we did a whole thing on the birth of the Messiah. So really, it was only eight months ago if you wanna look at it literally.

And yet we have covered over these last eight months those things that pertain to the church, its mission, ministry, and its meaning. Behind me on the screen, inside your Bolton, we have those points for you. We began way back in June by telling you that the church is the plan of the Son of God. Matthew chapter 16, he said he would build his church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. Then we told you that the church is the possession, the assembly of the redeemed, those who gather together, who have been called out by God are the possession of the living God.

1 Peter 2.9, we are his special chosen possession. And then we told you that the church is the pillar of the truth of God. The Bible tells us in 1 Timothy chapter three that the church is the foundation and the pillar of the truth of the living God. And then we went from there to talk to you about the fact that the church is a picture of the love of God because it was of his great love that he saved us. And then we told you that the church is the product of the grace of God. It's only by God's grace are we saved to begin with.

And so it's a product of the grace of God. Then we said that the church is a priority, the people of God. It's the number one thing in our lives because we are the assembly of the redeemed.

We gather together to celebrate our Redeemer. Then we told you that the church is a place of the worship of God. It's where the people come together and lift up the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. The church is the protector and proclaimer of the gospel of God. The church is the pathway to the knowledge of God, the protege to the spirit of God, the platform for the gifts of God, the promise of the return of God, the playground for the enemy of God. And today the church is the praise to the glory of God.

This is not a study on ecclesiology. It's just a study to help stimulate you to study more and more about the assembly of the redeemed, the people that God has called to himself that we might worship and glorify his wonderful name. If someone was to ask you why Christ Community Church exists, what would you say? We would probably get a variety of different answers. Some would say, well, Christ Community Church exists so that we could preach the gospel. Or someone else would say, well, Christ Community Church exists because we wanna equip the saints for the work of ministry.

Others might say, well, Christ Community Church exists to pray for those in need, or maybe to minister to the poor, or maybe just to gather together and to fellowship together. Well, those are all reasons, but they're not the reason. It's like, why do you exist? You exist to be born, to grow, to get an education, to get a job, to get married, to have kids, to grow old, to retire. Is that why you exist? No, you exist for those things, but not the reason for your existence. The reason is simply to give glory and honor to God.

That's why we exist. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10, 31, that whatever you do in word or deed to all to the glory of God.

Paul says in Ephesians 3, verse number 21, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. In other words, there's to be glory in the church individually, there is to be glory in the church corporately, and there's to be glory in the church perpetually from generation to generation. And of course, he says, amen to that. So the church exists for the same reason you exist, for only one reason, it's for the glory and honor of God. And so the question would be, and so many times we use words that we really don't understand the meaning of them.

We just throw them out there. Like we give glory to God or we wanna glorify God. Well, what does that mean? Well, if you go back to the Old Testament, you realize that the common word for glory is rooted in a word that means to be heavy, to be heavy. A man's glory was determined by how heavy he was. That is how heavy he was in his riches, how heavy he was in his possessions, how heavy he was in his reputation, how heavy he was in his position. The heavier his possessions, the greater his possessions, the heavier he was.

And so man was known by how heavy he was actually. In other words, a man's glory is determined by who he is and what he does. That's how it was originally designed. And so when Moses says in the book of Exodus, the 33rd chapter, he says, Lord, show me your glory. He literally says, Lord, show me how heavy you are. I wanna know how much you weigh. I wanna know everything there is about you. He wants to be able to determine what makes God weighty, heavy. And that was all about his attributes. And of course, the Lord tells him, I can't let you see how heavy I really am because if you do, I'm gonna crush you.

You're gonna be destroyed. Why? Because our Lord dwells in unapproachable light. And we've told you at Christmas time, when the shepherds were in the fields and the glory of the Lord would shine all around them, we've told you and expressed to you that the glory of the Lord is the presence of God manifested in brilliant light. And when he returns in Matthew chapter 24, there'll be a sign of the Son of Man. And what is the sign of the Son of Man? It's that the Lord returning in great clouds of glory, Matthew chapter 24.

And so we realize that the Son of Man is the fulfillment of Daniel 7, 13 and 14. And when he comes, he comes in brilliant, dazzling lights. That's why, that's how the whole world will see him. Every eye will see him. When he came the first time, he was veiled in flesh.

But when he comes the second time, the whole world will see him. Why? Because the brilliance of his glory will shine all throughout the planet and everyone will see him. And so you begin to understand that God's glory is who he is. It's his character. It's his nature. It's his position. He is the king of all kings. He's the Lord of all lords. He is the possessor of heaven and earth. How heavy is the Lord? He is the possessor of all that there is, all that the universe contains. He is holding all of that together by the word of his power.

So Moses says, I wanna see your glory. I wanna see your splendor. I wanna see how heavy you really are. And the Lord says, I can't let you see that, but I'll hide you in the cleft of the rock. I'll pass by you and I will proclaim the name of the Lord. That's exactly what he does. He proclaims his name because Moses need to understand that who Christ is is revealed in his name. And he tells us in Exodus chapter 33, as the Lord passes by, the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness and truth, who keeps loving kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin.

Yet he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.

Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship. He went to see something, but instead of seeing something, he heard something, the voice of the Lord. And the Lord proclaimed to him who he was, his glory, his character, his name. And Moses made haste to worship, to bow down. You see, that's what happens to someone who comes face to face with the character and nature of the living God. They bow before him in worship. Remember what it says in Jeremiah 9, 23 and 24, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom or the rich man glory in his riches or the mighty man glory in his might.

He literally says, don't let the rich man be heavy with his riches. Don't let the wise man be heavy in his wisdom. Neither let the mighty man be heavy in his strength or in his might. But if you're going to glory, if you're going to boast, if you're going to be heavy, be heavy in the fact that you know me. Be weighted down with the fact that you know who I am. Let not the rich man glory in his wisdom, his might or his riches, but let him glory in this. Let him be heavy in this, that he knows me, that I am the Lord who exercises loving kindness and justice and mercy on the earth.

The question today is, are you weighed down with God? Is he heavy in you? We lift up the name of Jesus, right? In other words, we are spiritual weightlifters. We lift up the weight, the name, the glory of Jesus because he is all weight, all heaviness. We lift up his heaviness for all to see. So we, in essence, are spiritual weightlifters. We're all exercising every single day spiritually to lift the name of Jesus so that everybody can see his glory. So everybody can see how heavy he really is because he is the King of all Kings and Lord of all.

So when the Bible says, give him glory, it doesn't mean that we're adding to his weight. It doesn't mean we're adding anything to him. We can't give God more strength. We can't give God more wrath. We can't give him more justice. We can't give him more love because you see, he is all glory. That means he's all love, all holy, all justice, all mercy, all patience. He's all of those things. And so because he is self-sufficient, right? He needs nothing from us, but he wants glory from us, but he will receive that glory.

He will not give his glory to another. He will not give his heaviness to another. Why? Because he is all glory. He is all weight. He is everything. So the church, the body of Christ, the assembly of the redeemed is to lift up his name, to give glory to God, to praise him for who he is, to make sure that he is honored above themselves. And this is the culmination of our study. It's point number 14. And there's probably more things I could tell you about the church's mission, meaning and ministry. But I wanna end with this one because the church is the praise to the glory of God.

So the question comes, how is it you and me give glory to the Lord? Now I could spend weeks on this. We're not going to do it. I'm gonna give it to you rapidly, but this is how we give glory to God, all right? Number one, there's always needs to be a celebration of his identity, a celebration of his identity.

We gathered together today to celebrate the character and nature of God. We are here to celebrate Christ. We are here to put Christ on display. We don't celebrate people. We don't celebrate ministries. We just celebrate Christ and all that he is and all that he does. We want you to see only Christ. Psalm 50, verse number 23, whoso offereth praise glorifies me, magnifies me, whoso offereth praise lifts me up. And so we gather together to celebrate the identity of Christ. And when we come together and we sing praises to his name and we look into the word of God and examine the character and nature of God, all we see is God.

We've come to celebrate Christ. If you've come for another reason, you're gonna be disappointed. If you come for another reason other than the Christ, you will be discouraged. But if you come together to celebrate Christ, that's what we're about. That's what the church is about. It's all about the celebration of the king of all kings. And so whenever you celebrate his identity, you give glory to God, you lift up the name of God. Number two, whenever there's salvation from your idolatry, you give glory to God.

Salvation from your idolatry, you give praise and glory to God. Remember in 1 Thessalonians 1, verse number 10, that those in Thessalonica, they turned to God from idols in order that they might serve the true and living God. Do you know that when you're saved, you are saved from that which you worship other than God? You're an idolater. You're either worshiping someone else, something else, or you're just worshiping yourself. Remember the rich young ruler? He wanted to know how to inherit eternal life.

And so Christ quotes the second half of the Decalogue. He said, well, I've done all that. So instead of quoting the first half of the Decalogue, the 10 commandments, he tells them go and sell all that you have, give to the poor, come and follow me.

But he couldn't do that. Why? Because he was an idolater. He had another God. All of his possessions were his God. All of his riches were his God. That's what he bowed down to. That's what he worshiped. And so when you're saved, you're saved from your idolatry. You're saved from worshiping another God. And the Thessalonian church is a prime example of that. They turned to God from idols because they wanted to serve the true and living God. They had served other idols. They had served other gods, other things that were more important to them than the one true God.

That's who they served. But when they got saved, oh no, things turned around. That's why I love what the book of Ephesians says. Ephesians chapter one, when the Lord says, 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. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the kind intention of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace.

Then he says in verse number 12, that we would be to the praise of his glory. Then in verse number 14, to the praise of his glory. Everything about our salvation, everything about the security in our salvation, and everything about being sealed unto salvation is all through the praise and glory of God. Because we are saved by God. There's nothing that we do to inherit eternal life. There's nothing that we can say or nothing that we can do that will cause the Lord to love us more, like us more or accept us.

It's by his chosen predestined will. And so when he saves us, we are saved from worshiping other gods. And usually that God is ourself. We worship ourselves, we love ourselves. How do we know that? 2 Timothy chapter three. Tells us that in the latter days, men will be lovers of themselves. Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. But when you're saved, you become a lover of the one true God. So you give glory to God when there's a celebration of his identity, when there's salvation from your idolatry.

And then number three, when there is a demonstration, I'm sorry, a confession of my iniquity. A confession of my iniquity. Whenever I confess my sins to God, I give glory to God. Perfect illustration, book of Joshua in the nation of Israel. And Israel had just conquered Jericho and they were going to conquer a very tiny little city called Ai. So they said, we can only send two, maybe 3000 men, that's all we need. Small city, not a problem. But they go. And all of a sudden they flee in fear. And 36 Israelites are killed.

And Joshua was distraught. He's thinking, what is going on? We just destroyed Jericho, a fortified city, but we can't deal with Ai. He begins to tear his robes and begin to cry out to the Lord. The Lord says, get up, Joshua. You got sin in the camp. Because someone had taken something that was under the ban that was set aside for me, they took it from Jericho. And because there's sin in the camp, you were defeated. Let this be a lesson to every one of us. Whenever there's sin in the church, the church is hindered.

The growth of the church is hindered. Everything about the church is hindered. Why? One sinner, Ecclesiastes 9, 18, destroys much good. Much good. In Israel, had one man take things that were under the ban. And so his name was Achan. And Joshua says these words. So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel near by tribes. And the tribe of Judah was taken. And he brought the family of Judah near. And as he goes on, it says in verse number 19, then Joshua said to Achan, my son, I implore you, give glory to the Lord of God of Israel and give praise to him and tell me now what you have done.

Do not hide it from me. You wanna give glory to God? You wanna give praise to God? Joshua says, tell me what you did. Confess your iniquity. So Achan answered Joshua and said, surely I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. And this is what I did. When I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar and 200 shekels of silver and a bar of gold, 50 shekels in weight, that I coveted them, took them and behold, they're concealed in the earth inside my tent with the silver underneath it.

Confess the sin, give glory to God, give praise to God, confess your iniquity. He does. So they go to his tent, they dig up the stuff that's there, they take out his wife, his kids, and they stone them. And after they stone them, they burn them. I mean, is it stony enough? Nope, you gotta burn them too. So they did. One sinner destroys much good. The next time you think about sinning, don't just think of yourself. Think of the church, the assembly of the redeemed. It does affect every one of us. Although we might not know what your sin is because you do it in private, it does affect the condition of the church to some degree.

So make sure you confess your iniquity. Make sure you go to the Lord and confess your sin because it gives glory to the Lord. That's why he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Our God is a forgiving God. Just need to confess your sin for it gives glory to the Lord. So celebration of his identity, salvation from your idolatry, a confession of your iniquity all gives glory to God. How about this? A demonstration of your spirituality gives glory to God.

John 15, verse number eight. In this is my Father glorified. In this is my Father lifted high. In this all will see my Father in the manifestation of his attributes and his beauty that you bear much fruit. Much fruit. Not just some fruit, but much fruit. When you demonstrate the spirituality of your life, you're giving glory to God. When you bear fruit, when you exemplify Galatians chapter five, the fruit of the spirit. Remember, it's not the fruits of the spirit. It's not plural. It's singular. The fruit of the spirit, the love, the joy, the peace, the gentleness, the meekness, the kindness, the patience, the self-control.

All those things are a demonstration of one's spirituality. And when you're walking in the spirit, you don't fulfill the lust of the flesh, but you manifest the fruit of the spirit. And so when you demonstrate your spirituality, you give glory to the Lord. How about this? Submission to his sovereignty brings glory to the Lord. Remember John chapter 21? We talked about it on Wednesday night for those of you with us about how do you know you love the Lord. John 21, Christ says this to Peter after he questions him about his love.

He says, truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you and bring you where you do not wish to go. Now this, he said, signifying of what kind of death he, Peter, would glorify God. Peter, you love me? I want you to give glory to me. In order for you to give glory to me, you must submit to the sovereign will of the living God. You must follow me. And in submission to my sovereignty, you realize that you're going to go and you're going to die.

Stretch out your hands, they're gonna gird you. It's a symbol of crucifixion. And sure enough, historians tell us that he was crucified upside down because he didn't feel like he should be crucified right side up as the Savior was. And so he was crucified upside down. But there was submission to his sovereignty. The Lord let him in on a secret. Listen, I know where you're going. I've got it all mapped out for you. It's all been planned. When you were young, you did whatever you wanted to do. But you know what?

When you grow old, guess what? You're gonna go my way. You're gonna follow me and you're gonna die. You're gonna die a horrible death. You're gonna be crucified for me. You follow me. Of course, he wanted to know the same thing that was gonna happen to John. And Christ said, no, don't worry about John. I'll take care of him. You follow me. And Peter did. Just read the book of Acts. But submission to his sovereignty. You know, that gives glory to God like probably nothing else. Sit back and say, you know what, Lord?

I don't know what's happening. I don't know what's going on. I don't know why things are happening the way they happen. I don't know why my physicality is the way it is. I don't know what's happening with my family. I don't know what's happening with me emotionally. Lord, but you're in charge. You're in control of everything. So I'm just gonna submit myself to you in your sovereign will. And I'm gonna magnify your name. That gives glory to the Lord. That's just such a great attitude. And as believers, we can trust that our Lord is gonna cause all things to work together for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

So there's a submission to a sovereignty. It brings glory to the Lord. If you're counting, number six is this. You give glory to God when there is a participation in our ministry, when there's a participation in our ministry. Peter says it this way. First Peter four, verse number 11, or verse number 10.

As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. You have a gift. It's been given to you by the grace of the living God. It's called a grace gift. It's something you did not earn. It's something you did not deserve, but God graced you with a gift, a spiritual gift. Verse 11, whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God. Whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified.

Through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs glory and dominion forever and ever, amen. If you have a speaking gift, you speak the utterances of God. In other words, if you have a gift of teaching or the gift of exhortation or the gift of word of knowledge, right, you have a gift that is a speaking gift. And therefore, make sure that you speak the utterances of God. Make sure that when you speak that gift, you are speaking God's words, not your words, God's words. If you have a serving gift, make sure you're serving under the control and power of the living God, because you need to have his power moving in and through you.

But when you participate in this, you give glory to God. Listen, if you are gifted, and you are, if you're a believer, and you are not serving the body of Christ, you are not giving glory to God. Why would you not do that? Why would you not give glory to God? Participate in the ministry, serve. Use your gifts for the glory of his name so you can put them on display. Because when the body operates to its fullest capacity with everyone exercising their giftedness within the body of Christ, then it becomes a composite picture of who Christ is.

He's magnified. He's lifted up. He's glorified through the church. So whenever there's a participation in the ministry, God is glorified. Next, whenever there's a contribution of my money, God is glorified. Second Corinthians chapter nine.

Paul tells the church of Corinth, who had given liberally to the churches in Jerusalem, these words, verse 13. Because of the proof given by this ministry, they, that is the churches in Jerusalem, will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all, while they also, by prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. In other words, because of your contribution to the churches in Jerusalem, because you have given liberally and sacrificially to those in need, God is glorified.

Think about that. Whenever you give to the Lord, he's honored. Nobody has to know what you give. That's irrelevant. Well, we know, because the Lord knows what you give. And that's why the Bible says in Proverbs chapter three, these words.

Verse number nine, honor the Lord from your wealth and from the first of all your produce, so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine.

In other words, honor the Lord is to glorify his name. Give glory to God with the first fruits of your increase, with the very first thing off the top, the choicest fruits you give to the Lord, and the Lord will reward you significantly.

But everybody forgets to read verse number 11. That's a problem. It says, my son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord or loathe his reproof. For whom the Lord loves, he reproves, even as a father corrects a son in whom he delights. Do you know that the Lord doesn't put things in the Bible haphazardly? He puts them there very systematically. When you honor the Lord with the first fruits of your increase, he promises to bless you immensely.

But if you don't do that, do not despise the discipline of the Lord. You will be disciplined by the Lord. When people come to me and they ask me, you know, I just never have enough money at the end of the month. I just never, I'm not making enough. My very first question is not how much you make, it's how much do you give to the Lord?

Very first question, how much do you give to the Lord? Because that dictates everything about your financial situation and condition. If you withhold back from the Lord, he withhold back from you. He disciplines you. And he says, despise not the discipline of the Lord, nor loathe what he does, because whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, he chastens. And a lot of people go through financial difficulty because the Lord is chastening them. He's disciplining them because they refuse to give glory to his name.

How? By contributing to the ministry where God has placed them. Contribution of your money gives glory to the Lord. We must hurry, time is fleeting. The sanctification of my body, 1 Corinthians 6, 18 to 20. Glorify God in your body. Do you not know that your temple is the, your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which you, it's not your own, you've been bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body. When you set your body aside for the glory of the Lord, when you sanctify your body for his purposes, because he dwells within you, right?

You give glory to his name. So many people defile the temple in which the Holy Spirit dwells. We should not do that. We can defile it sexually. We can defile it by the things that we eat or drink. The things that we do to our bodies, we can defile our bodies. But he says, you know what? Your body is not your own. Why? He says, I bought your body. I bought you. I dwell within you. I want you to set that body aside for my glory, for my honor, so others will see me through you and how you live your life.

The sanctification of my body brings glory to the Lord. Acts 13, 48, the proclamation of my authority gives glory to the Lord. What's my authority? The gospel. And everybody began to glorify the Lord because they had heard the gospel and believe the gospel. So when I proclaim my authority, God is glorified. The manifestation of my responsibility. Matthew five, verse number 16, let your light so shine before men that they may glorify your Father who is in heaven. When you shake the salt and shine the light, God is glorified.

The manifestation of my responsibility. And that is I'm to be salt and I'm to be light because that's who I am. The adoration of his majesty. Philippians two, nine to 11. Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Everybody will adore the majesty of the king, believer and unbeliever. As believers, we've already adored his majesty. We've already bowed before him. But one day at the resurrection, the second resurrection of all those who do not believe, they one day will bow before him at the great white throne judgment because of his majesty.

Why? Because God will not give his glory to anyone else. He will receive his glory. The adoration of his majesty gives glory. Romans 15, verse number five, seven, the preservation of our unity with one voice and with one body, the body comes together to glorify the Lord. So when we preserve the unity of the body of Christ, endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace, Ephesians four, we give glory to the Lord. And lastly, whenever there's a persecution for our testimony, we give glory to the Lord.

Because when you're giving glory to the Lord in every area of your life, you'll receive persecution. And the Lord says through the pen of Peter in 1 Peter chapter four, if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in his name. In other words, whenever you suffer persecution for the name of Christ, praise him, lift him up, glorify his name. Because Matthew five tells us that you're persecuted for righteousness sake. It's all for the glory of the living God. The church is the praise to the glory of God.

We exist for one reason, to put God on display, to magnify his name, to lift him up, to show everyone around who Christ is. And we do that by submitting to his sovereignty. We do that by demonstrating our spirituality. We do that by celebrating his identity. We've done that through the salvation from our idolatry. We do that when there's a participation within the ministry. We do that when there's a contribution of our money. We do that when there's a manifestation of our responsibility. We just lift up the name of Christ.

That's what we do. Why? Because that's what we've been designed to do. And may God give us the grace to always put our Lord on display. Let's pray together. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for all that you do. Thank you for a chance to magnify your name on this day. And pray, Lord, that you go before us this week, that, Lord, we would live for you, live to lift the name of Christ, to put you above ourselves, to honor you for all that you've done and all that you are. Because, Lord, you are worthy of all glory.

And pray that you'd be glorified through your people in Jesus' name, amen.