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Empowering multimedia ministry for bold Christian living: Weekend Messages, Deep End Podcast, Deep Dive Bible Study. Tim Hatch, Lead Pastor, Waters Church, 26 years of pastoral ministry, book author.
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0:00 We're in a message series called Maranatha, and we're in part 2. Now the word Maranatha means come, Lord Jesus. Let me see if you're paying attention. Say, come, Lord Jesus. Come, Lord Jesus.0:11 Amen. I'm assuming you said that well. If you don't have a paper notes in front of you, go to waters church dot guide on your phone. It looks like this. Part 2 of Maranatha, you can click on the, online0:23 waters church dot guide message tab, and it looks like that. Fill in the blanks digitally and follow along with me. Part 2, I wanna talk to you on the topic of looking0:35 for a church for the end of the world. Few years back, there was a movie starring, Tina Fey and Steve Carell called Looking for a Friend for the End of the World. The premise is 2 people,0:47 met and sort of fell into a great friendship when, a meteor or some kind of cataclysmic event was coming for Earth. And and instead of doing all those crazy things, they found each other. And I0:59 didn't watch the whole movie, I'm gonna be honest with you. But I was thinking this week about the idea of all the events of our world was happening in Israel, was happening in America, was happening maybe in your life1:10 and you think, come Lord Jesus, I'm ready for it to end. And we talked about that last week. But this week, I wanna encourage you. And I wanna strengthen your faith. And I want you to be ready for Jesus' return. You1:22 know, we don't know the day or the hour, but we are commanded in scripture to be ready. And that's what today is all about. I pray and I'm trusting that God is gonna encourage your heart, strengthen your1:34 faith, build you up, and make you prepared like never before for God's coming, for Jesus' returning. So looking for a church. What kind of church1:46 should you have when Jesus comes back? Because like I said last week, there's there's 10 virgins in Matthew 25. In the parable by Jesus. 101:57 virgins are waiting for the Lord's or the the bridegroom to show up. 5 are foolish. 5 are wise. I wanna be in that wise group. That means that means a lot of the church is not really in the church. That means2:09 a lot of the church is not really ready. I wanna be ready. I wanna be ready. How about you? Can I get a good amen at every location? Amen. Stand with me for the reading of God's word. Wherever you are, stand and read2:21 together the word of God with me, from Hebrews chapter 10, and we're looking at verse 19 to 25 and it's or 26, depending on your bible. No, 25. Wherever you are2:33 in your bible, Hebrews 9, 10 19 and 25. It says this, therefore, brothers, since we have confidence and could somebody give me a good confidence? Confidence.2:45 Confidence. Yeah. We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain,2:57 that is through his flesh. And since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full3:09 assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering. For3:20 He who promised is, what? Is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up 1 another to love and good works. Listen to this last line. Not3:32 neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging 1 another and all the more as you see the day3:44 drawing near. This is God's Word. Let's pray together. Father in heaven, we thank you that we have the opportunity to hear your voice. Through this word, through3:56 my voice, may may you guide your people with the words that I say. Give us faith. Give us strength. Give us hope. And may we walk in the assurance4:08 that the writer of Hebrews talks about here that we can come into your presence to know you, to find you, to see you, to be strengthened in you. God, we ask, most of all, that4:20 we will see Jesus, Him and Him only. In His mighty name, we pray. And everybody said a good Amen. Amen. God bless you. Have a seat in the presence of the Lord. Last week, I said4:31 about how to approach the the end times, and and we talked about how not to. But before we get that into your notes, I want to just put on the screen Hebrews 10 25 1 more4:43 time, and read it 1 more time. It says, not neglecting, not forsaking in some translations. By the way, the word forsaking or neglecting there is the same word that Jesus uses on the4:55 cross when He says, My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me? In other words, there's an idea of you're just cutting off the church from your life. He says, don't neglect, don't forsake, don't give up5:07 on meeting together as the church, as is the habit of some. The word habit is ethos. That that's the word we get ethics from. So this is the ethic of some people. They they believe in Jesus, but they5:19 don't gather in His church. He says, don't do that. Don't be like that. And then he and he flips it right after the comma. He he says, but encouraging 1 another. And look at these next words,5:31 and all the more. Say those 3 words all the more with me on the count of 3. 1, 2, 3. All the more. You mean you mean to tell me that I should be more engaged in church the closer Jesus5:43 comes? Yes. Because he says, all the more as you see the day drawing near. Day is capitalized in your bible for a reason. That's not just any day. That's not Sunday. That's the day,5:55 the day Jesus returns. Here's what the Bible is saying through the book of Hebrews. He's saying, I want you to be more engaged in the body of Christ the closer Jesus' return comes.6:07 And we are seeing in our world a need, a need to find Jesus like never before. Muslims are coming to faith. I shared that with you on the deep end this past week. Hamas leaders have6:19 come to Christ. Palestinians have come to Christ. Jews Jews are coming to Christ. Oh, nations are coming to Christ. And you might say, well, I heard that the church was declining. That's in America. That's in the West.6:30 And that's the nominal church. But under the surface of the headlines, I got news for you. The church is growing. People are coming to Christ like never before. We're seeing Jesus do something new in our day. And I'm6:41 excited to be a part of it. And it needs to happen before He comes again. I believe that Jesus is in a hurry to gather His church for His return. And I'm excited. I wanna encourage you with that. And6:53 here's the writer of the Hebrews talking in the first century to first century believers. And he's saying, look, you know, the world's gonna fall apart. The world's gonna go to hell. The world's going to come under7:03 judgment. And as you see that happen, as you see all the darkness rise, you know what that means? That's just, that should be a prod. That should be a prod in your back. Just pushing you into the7:15 body of Christ. I'm glad to report, Waters Church, that we're now officially over our pre COVID pandemic attendance numbers. We're seeing more people come to church now than ever before7:27 in our history. God is on the move at Waters Church. We're seeing more baptisms than ever before. We're seeing people con connect through LifeGroup and small group and action group like never before. We're seeing7:39 children hungry, youth hungry for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It's a great day to be part of God's great church. Amen. Amen. Amen.7:50 Amen. Now last week, I gave you 3 wrong ways to approach the end times, but I wanna give you a fourth. So the 3 from last week, 3 wrong ways to approach the end times. Predictions, we talked about that. Panic and8:02 disregard for the end times. Okay. Here's the fourth way I want to give you today. Write this down. Disengaged from Christian community. This is the problem that the writer of8:14 Hebrews is talking about here when he says to the first century church, look, don't neglect. Don't neglect the meeting together of the church. Okay. By the way, the building that8:26 you're in right now is not a church. The building that I'm in right now, that's not a church. That's a that's a building that we call church, but the church is not a building. The church is the people of God, the people8:36 who love Jesus. You, if you are a member of the family of God, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, if you walk with Him and you fellowship with Him and you have a belief that He rose from the grave and He's your Lord8:46 and Savior, I got news for you. You are the church. And so the the Christian community is necessary, according to Hebrews, for us more and more as the day of Christ's8:58 return comes closer. A lot of people have excuses why they're not in church. I gotta tell you, they're all bad excuses. They're they're not engaged in church. I'm talking about engaged in church. Not anybody can9:10 come to a building. I'm talking about engagement. You have friends in church. You have community in church. You have fellowship in church. You serve in your church. You partner with your church to reach others9:22 for the church, for Jesus Christ. And a lot of people have excuses. I'm too busy. Or my kids, you know, they got me going everywhere. Some people say, I was hurt by the church. You don't understand9:34 my past, my history. The church really, you know, did a number on me. Some people, they say, well, you know, it's something I I really don't need the church. I I got Jesus and me, and, you know, He's He's kinda like my9:44 personal, personal Lord and Savior. I don't like those terms. I don't like personal Lord and Savior. He's not a personal Lord and Savior. He's a global Lord and Savior. He's a communal Lord and Savior. He didn't come to9:55 save a person. He came to save a people. Even when he was on the earth, he didn't call 1 person. He called 12. 12 disciples, ministered to him. And then he made he built a church. He said, I will build my church. The10:07 church the word church in Greek is ekklesia. It means assembly. It means a gathering of people. How can you possibly be part of the church when you never get assembled with other people who believe10:19 in Jesus? And this is what Hebrews is talking about. He says again, verse verse 25, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some. Let me tell you about the original10:31 hearers of this book of Hebrews, the book of Hebrews. By the way, the book of Hebrews, classic pastor joke. Are you ready for it? Alright. The book of Hebrews is the Bible's proof that the man of the house10:43 must brew the coffee. Because it's not she brews, it's Hebrews. Now if you are laughing at that, you are easy prey for a comedian. If you're not laughing at10:54 that, I feel you. Okay. Anyway, let me move on from that. Hebrews, the people of Hebrews' original audience were Hebrews, Jewish people. They had come to Christ,11:06 and their coming to Christ had caused a lot of conflict in their life. Firstly, they left Judaism behind.11:18 And they they they they still, you know, probably celebrated the feast. They probably practiced Sabbath. I'm not saying they left everything apart. But what I am saying is that because they followed Jesus, they were kind11:28 of excommunicated from their from their synagogue, from their family, from their religious community. In fact, when you read the book of, Revelation, that's what Jesus is talking about most often11:40 when he talks about the persecution of his people. They will kick you out. They will throw you out of the synagogue. And, in every synagogue, there was a role of names of people who were members of that synagogue. A lot11:52 of churches, a lot of Baptist churches have membership roles. We don't have a membership role. We're not Baptist, but we're not we don't have a membership role. If you come and you're engaged, we consider you a member.12:02 But in the but in the first century church or synagogue, they had membership roles. Here's what they did with Jews who became Christians. They would blot out their name. That's where that phrase, blot out, I12:13 will blot out your name, comes from. They would blot out their name off the roll. So these were Jews, listen to this, who had been excommunicated from their religious community.12:25 And they were struggling with that. You didn't have a spiritual home anymore. And they were a little bit tempted to go back to Judaism. Here's why. Because not only were they hated on by their12:37 Jewish brothers and sisters, but the Romans also hated them. The Romans had made, at this point anyway, Christianity was a illegal12:49 religion. And so they were hated by their family, their natural, you know, ancestry, kicked out of their synagogues, and they were hated by their nation. They were kicked out. All13:01 you gotta do is look look at Romans 10 Hebrews 10 32. Just skip down if you got your bible, but skip down to verse 32. It says this, recall the former days when after hard struggle of sufferings, sometimes being13:12 publicly exposed to reproach and affliction and sometimes being partners with those who were treated, you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property. You knew that you yourselves had a better possession and13:22 abiding 1. Interesting little tidbit about Roman history. We talked about the Jewish synagogue history at this time. Roman history. The Romans had a rule. And at this time, the Romans had conquered the whole world,13:34 and they had conquered what we call now Palestine, really Israel. And they were overlords over the community. And here's how the Romans operated when they conquered a people. Little this is very interesting to me. Maybe13:44 it'll be interesting to you. When they conquered a people, they made it a rule. If you worshiped certain gods when they conquered you, you were allowed to worship those gods13:57 continually even after being conquered by the Romans. Because they didn't want to rob you of your spirit, and and they wanted to give you a little place in the in the empire. And they weren't threatened because after all14:06 they had conquered you, so your God can't be that strong. So who cares? Worship whoever you want. Well, guess which religion fell under that category? The Judaism religion. The the religion of the Jews, second temple14:18 Jews. And so they had been conquered. And the Romans were like, worship wherever you want. We don't care. If you worship when we conquered you, we don't care about that. Okay. But what the Romans did not allow, and this14:29 is very interesting, they didn't allow any new religions, and they didn't allow any new gods. Well, guess what? The birth of Christianity, the birth of this new14:40 faith, some people would call it a religion, but it's really a new faith, happened in the Roman Empire. So here was how a Jewish person got caught between a rock and a hard place in14:52 the first century under Roman rule, in a Jewish context. Number 1, they were kicked out by their family, kicked out of the synagogue. And number 2, they were illegal according to the state. And so they suffered.15:04 Now you can imagine under that kind of pressure, the temptation for almost every Jewish Christian would be, maybe I should go back.15:17 Because if I go back to Judaism, you know, I don't have to deny Christ outright, but I could go back to, like, the Jewish, you know, sacrificial system and the laws and all that. And I go back to that. Number 1, my15:28 family will accept me again. And number 2, the Romans will get off my back. So so here they had a real easy path to peace in their life.15:40 And so that is the original context, the original audience of this beautiful book we call Hebrews. And the theme of the book is don't go back. Don't 1 of15:52 the things that he repeats in the book is, don't neglect your salvation. Don't walk away from Jesus. Don't go and continue in deliberate sin and unbelief because16:04 there's no going back. That's not the way. That's not the truth. That's not the life. Jesus is the way, and the truth, and the life. And the whole theme of the book is press on, that16:16 great passage from Hebrews 12. Let us throw off everything that it entails and the sin that so easily holds us back. And let us look to Jesus, to run our race, the author and the perfecter of our16:27 faith. That that that's the theme, right? That's the idea. Don't go back. Hey, wherever you are in Waters Church, just turn to your neighbor and just say, Don't go back. Yeah, don't go back. That's the16:39 theme. That's the idea. And the reason why the church is so necessary in the end times. Do you know why? Because you're gonna feel more and more like those first century16:50 Jews. You're gonna feel estranged from your culture, from America, from your may and maybe you're gonna feel kicked out or ostracized by your17:02 family. You might be like those first century Hebrews. Your family doesn't want any part of you, and your nation seems more and more crazy every day. And so here you are, spiritual no man's name. You don't know where you17:13 belong. I got good news for you. You belong in the church of Jesus Christ. And more and more and more than ever before, we need to get connected and engaged. Key word there,17:24 engaged in the church of Jesus Christ. Do you know why? Because it is our home. This is our home. The church of17:36 Jesus Christ is a refuge for every stranger to this world, for every outcast of the community, for every person who17:48 feels lost and undone. The church of Jesus Christ is home. And Jesus is saying, come home. I got a home for you. I got a place for you. I'm gonna write your name,18:00 not in some synagogue's book of membership. I'm gonna write your name in the Lamb's book of life, and no 1 can blot it out of that book. Oh, I'm excited to be part of18:11 Jesus's church. I hope you are too. But I wanna give you 3 reasons. 3 reasons in your notes today why you need to be engaged in the church now more than ever. Okay. Number 1, here's why. And according to the Bible's18:23 according to Hebrew's writing here. Number 1, we have access to the presence of God in the community of Christ. We have access to the presence of God18:35 in the community of Christ. Okay. Yes, you can come into the presence of God on your own. You can experience the presence of God in your car,18:48 at home, in your office. Yes, at any point, anywhere, we can experience that. But there's nothing better than the presence of God in the19:00 community of faith together. Now look at verse 19 and 20 again with me. He says, Therefore, brothers. Circle brothers in your notes. Notice that it is plural, and you could put brothers and19:12 sisters there. Therefore, brothers. And then the next words, since, what? We. Circle the word we. I'm telling you, do this on purpose because I'm gonna make a point.19:23 Since we have confidence to enter the holy places. Circle holy places because it's not singular. It's plural. That's important. He says, by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that19:35 he opened for circle the word us. Oh, I got you writing a lot today, but it's for a purpose. But that he opened for us through the curtain that is through his flesh. Notice all the plural terms.19:47 Brothers, we, places, us. What commentators say this about Hebrews chapter 10 verse 19. At Hebrews chapter 10 verse 19, a radical shift in19:59 pronouns happens. Here's the radical shift. It suddenly starts using, in the original text, all of these second person plural pronouns, first person plural20:11 pronouns. Plural pronouns are everywhere from Hebrews 10 19 right through to the end of the book. Because for the first 10 chapters, he's been talking about theology of who Jesus is. Jesus is better. Jesus20:23 is better. Jesus is better. But then he gets to verse 19 of chapter 10, and he's like, all right. Now since this is true for us, let us, we, Jesus, has a people, a body, a community of faith. And I love the20:35 lines he says this. We have access to the presence of God, the holy places. Look what he says. By the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way, that he opened up to us through the curtain that is through his20:47 flesh. Okay. Here's what's what that means. When Jesus died on the cross, his flesh was pierced. His body had been whipped with the catenine tails, ripped open like ribbons of flesh were20:58 hanging from his body. It was it was a bloody horrible punishment for our sins. But but it was also a picture of of of the way being opened into the person21:10 of Jesus Christ. Now here's why he says, through the curtain. And that word in in the in the Hebrew text is important, in the Greek text. Through the curtain. The writer is referencing21:22 something that literally existed in the first century. In the holy place, the temple, there were 3 sections. The Old Testament temple, there were 3 sections. There was the outer21:34 court, where everybody could come into. There was the inner court, or the holy place. That's where the priests offered their sacrifices. That's where they put the showbread and the lampstand and the altar of sacrifice21:44 and the washbasin. And then inside, there was a cube structure called the Holy of Holies. And only 1 priest, 1 day a year, could go into that Holy of Holies and offer a sacrifice for the sins of the community. Okay.21:57 Between the holy place where the priests ministered and the holy of holies, there was a curtain. And you can read about it. Actually, it's written about in Exodus. But it was a reality22:09 in first century Israel in the temple. And this curtain was 1 foot thick, and it was monstrous. It was probably 20 some odd feet high. And it shrouded,22:21 it kept separate the holy of holies where God's presence literally dwelt, and the place where the priests ministered. Now here's what happened when Jesus died. Matthew, Mark,22:33 and Luke, and John even records this. But Matthew says something specifically about this moment. When Jesus dies, Matthew 27, verse 50 says this, And Jesus cried out with a22:45 loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And look at this, look at this, this is so good. And behold, the curtain, that 1 foot thick, 20 foot high sheet that separated the holy22:57 of holies from the holy place. The curtain of the temple was torn in 2, and don't miss the next line, from top to bottom. Oh, I love that. Do you know23:09 what happened? When Jesus died, God the father took the curtain and ripped it open so that you and I could come into the presence of almighty God.23:21 We can enter, as Hebrews chapter 10 19 says, into the holy places. Oh, I love it. I love it. That's the gospel. The gospel message23:34 is, no, you're not good enough to get to God. But guess what? Jesus was. And He He offered a sacrifice for your sins so that your sins could be washed away. God could call you23:46 righteous in Jesus Christ. And through faith in Him, you have access into the presence of God. Period.23:59 Praise God for His grace to us. It was ripped from top to bottom because God did it. It was torn because it was over. The old system was annulled.24:11 And a new system of grace was inaugurated. And here's the best part. Are you ready for the best part? Anybody can come. Anybody. Can you can you24:23 walk through an open curtain? You can come. You don't have to make a way for you to come. Jesus has made that's what Hebrews 10 19 is talking about. He24:34 made a way, a new and living way. And anybody and everybody who's coming, who wants to, can come. John 3 16, God so loved the world that that He gave His only begotten son that24:46 who so ever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. You can come into the presence of God. By the way, that's why the word24:58 places is in plural here in Hebrews 10 19. Because through Jesus's blood, any time we gather as the church, we create a holy place. Isn't that25:10 cool? When you're wherever you are in your location, you are in a holy place. And listen to me. This is very important because I'm coming to you by video. So let me put it right on your nose. Are you ready? This place is25:21 not holy because I'm there. Because I'm not even there, am I? I'm on video. And it's okay to admit that. This place is holy because you're there. Because you're the church. And wherever the church gathers, the25:33 presence of the Lord is there. And you gather as the body of believers. And what makes it special is not the presence of a preacher, but the presence of the Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus Christ25:45 as you gather together as his church. Amen and amen. I got ahead of myself. Let me back my let me backtrack. The best part of this whole thing is that anybody can come. Whoever25:57 believes, John 3 16. How about first Timothy 2 4? God desires all people to be saved. Some of you say, I don't think I could come to church. I'm not a good enough okay. Wrong. God26:08 desires all people to be saved. How about second Peter 3 9? The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness slowness but is patient towards you. Love this line. Not wishing that any should perish,26:20 but that all, all should reach repentance. God, you might feel like you're not good enough. God wants you to know that through Jesus Christ, you can still come. In fact, in order to come,26:32 you have to admit you're not good enough. That's the flip, right? I'm not good enough to go to church. Yep. Come anyway. Jesus has made a way. Then he says in verse 21, and since we26:44 have a great priest, I love this, we have a great priest over the house of God. Okay. What that means is we don't just have access into the presence of God. Are you ready for this? We have26:56 assistance. We don't just have access, We have assistance. We have somebody who's gonna help us. In the old covenant, the priests helped the people meet with God by27:07 offering their sacrifices. Well, in the new covenant, in the New Testament of God's grace, Jesus becomes our final high priest. In fact, this kind of ties back to what Hebrews chapters 1 through 10 is27:19 all about. Write this down so that you know it for for later. The theme of Hebrews, the whole book, is Jesus is better. Jesus is better. Now, this is not in your notes, but let me run it27:31 down for you. Hebrews Chapter 1 to 2. Jesus is better than the angels. Hebrews Chapter 3. Jesus is better than Moses. Hebrews Chapter 4 to 7. Jesus is27:43 better than the great high priest of ancient Israel. Hebrews Chapter 8, Jesus is better as Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant with better promises in himself.27:55 Chapter 9, Jesus entered a better temple in the heavenly places and offered, chapter 10, a better and final sacrifice in the heavenly temple. And28:06 all that Hebrews is talking about is don't go back to dead religion. Don't go back to empty Judaism. You don't have anything in that place for you anymore. Jesus is better than Moses.28:18 By the way, he's better than David who beats Goliath and sets God's people free from the enemy of death. He's better than Noah who provides an ark of safety, who delivers God's people from the28:30 coming wrath of God. He's better than Job who suffered innocently and then prayed and interceded for his friends. He's better than Joseph who was betrayed by his brothers and cast into a pit of death and28:42 raised on the third day to write to the right hand side of God the Father. And he provides grain and food for the world. Jesus is better than all the Old Testament ways and persons because He's the Son28:54 of the Most High God. And He's made a better way for you and I to come into His presence. But listen very carefully. We do this together.29:06 Together. Brothers, since we have access, since we have a great priest over the house of God, let's enter29:18 in. Amen. Number 2, be engaged more than ever in the church because we are inspired through the church to a closer walk with Jesus. We are inspired through the29:30 church to a closer walk with Jesus. I don't know about you, but this is what church does for me when I gather with the church. And I'm a pastor, and I need it just as much as you. I'm inspired by other people29:42 to get close to God. Look at how the writer of Hebrews says it in verse 22. Because of these realities, he says, let us draw near. Let us come closer to God. That's what he's29:54 saying. And then he says, with heart I'm sorry. With a true heart, in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.30:06 There's a practical side to this point, and then there's a spiritual theological side to this point. Let me deal with the practical side. Okay? And and I might I should have done it maybe the other way, but I'll do it30:16 this way. The practical side is simply this. And you know this from experience. When you go to something with someone who's really into that thing, and then you experience30:28 that thing with other people, you can't help get a little bit more excited about that thing. Now, it could be anything. It could be a concert. It could be a comedian, a show, a play.30:40 It it could be a sports stadium. I'll never forget the day that I first walked into the old Boston Garden. Oh, I'm talking about the old school, no air30:51 conditioned, hundred degrees in June, watching a Celtics game, Boston Garden. It was a small intimate setting. You felt like you were right next to the players no matter where you sat in that place. It was also smelly31:02 gross and old. Thank God they destroyed it. But I'll never forget, the first time I walked in and I saw in person Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parrish. Oh, old school. Back when31:14 back when the boss at Celtics were the bosses. And there they were on the court in front of me. And I was just a little kid. And I really I didn't go because I wanted to. I went because someone brought me. And, actually,31:26 they brought me and my whole family, and it was a nice gift, and we went. But I, previously to that, was not really interested in the Boston Celtics, not really into south into sports at all. But my 10 year old31:37 self, when I when I walked out of that place, man, I was I was spiritually or sports wise born again. I suddenly31:49 I walked out of that place inspired for the Boston Southern. And to this day, I love the Boston Celtics. I love Boston sports teams. It it had an indelible impression on me. Why?32:01 Because I got myself into the, quote, unquote, congregation, the gathering of the Boston Celtics. Okay. This is why you got to come to church now more than ever before. It will inspire you to get closer to God.32:13 You're drawn in through the excitement of others. That's why we worship God in the beginning. We celebrate him. We sing to him. It's it's encouraging. It's inspirational. It it reminds me that I belong32:25 somewhere. And that's why now more than ever, as you see what's happening in Israel and when in the world, now more than ever, you gotta be connected physically in the body of Christ. Online viewing doesn't32:37 do it. You need to be in the presence of God's people. Now that's the practical side. Let me get into the doctrinal side. What does he say in the verse? He says, with hearts sprinkled. First, he says, a true32:49 heart full of assurance of faith. That's a reminder that you're saved. And then he says, with hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. Okay. Here's why you come to church. Now I understand that some of you went to other33:00 churches before you came to Waters Church. And there's a good chance, like me, in my you know, the church that I grew up in, you came to church and and you left. Just nod your head if this is true for33:12 you. You left feeling worse than you did when you walked in. Can I tell you that that church was doing church wrong?33:23 They were doing church wrong. Because I've already discussed, we're not good enough to come to Christ. That's point number 1. We talked about that. We don't come to Christ on our goodness. We come to Christ33:35 because of His goodness. Okay. And any church, when you come to it, and all they do is get up on stage and tell you how bad you are, and how awful you are,33:47 and you need to do better, and you need to be more religious, and you need be more committed, and what's wrong with you? Okay. Let me just tell you something. They're doing it wrong because that's not the gospel. The33:57 gospel is not to do. Here's what you need to do. The gospel is good news. Here's what's been done for you. And that's the difference. When you come out of our church, our prayer is that I have34:09 made it more more accessible to you, that Jesus is more real to you, that you realize that, yes, you may have blown it all week. You may have blown it last night. You may have blown it this morning. I don't34:20 know. But I got good news for you. Where sin abounds there, grace abounds all the more. That God will wash away our sins. He'll cast them into the sea of forgetfulness. That as far as the east is from the west, so far he34:31 has removed our sins from us. And if you are in Christ Jesus, you are made righteous before God, and nothing in all creation can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. And that is the truth.34:43 And what you need, and this is so true, and I said this on my deep dive bible study this week, you need Sabbath. You need Sunday, this the Christian Sabbath, because you need to stop what you're doing,34:55 come to the gathering of God's people, and you need someone outside of you to remind you that that is done. It's finished. Jesus has saved you and35:06 forgives you. You need you know, the Catholics, they call it absolution. You need somebody to remind you you're accepted in the beloved.35:18 That's what Sunday is for. So you have a heart sprinkled clean from an evil conscience. Write this down so I know you're getting it. We don't gather at church to do God a35:30 favor. We gather to be reminded God gave us a savior. I love when I can make my points rhyme. We don't gather to do God a favor. We gather to35:42 be reminded he gave us a savior, and that savior has washed us clean inwardly. Our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. Then verse 22, the last part he says, and our bodies washed with pure35:54 water. Now some people believe that's talking about baptism, water baptism. And while you absolutely should be baptized if you are a believer in Christ, I don't36:06 believe that that text is talking about them. And the reason why I don't believe that is because the Bible interprets itself. Scripture interprets scripture. So when he says, your body's washed with pure water,36:17 No matter how much we filter our water, it's never pure. There's always some kind of impurity in our water. So that's why I don't think it's bapt the physical act of baptism. Let's go to Ephesians chapter 25 verse 25.36:29 Look what it says. Christ loved the church, gave himself up for her that he might sanctify her. That means purify or make holy. Makes make her holy, having cleansed36:41 her by the washing of what? Water with the word. So so here's what that36:52 means. We get we get saved when we believe in Jesus Christ, but come on. We're still a little bit dirty. We still need old ways and old habits and old emotions37:04 and old feelings to go. And here's what God does through his word, through Jesus. He washes us with the word. He the word is preached, and we are cleansed. We are our our our spirit is cleansed. Our hearts are37:16 cleansed. When the word of God is preached, hatred is washed out, and love is poured in. Resentment is washed37:28 out, and acceptance and compassion is poured in. Greed is washed out, and generosity is poured in.37:39 Lust is washed out and love and holiness is poured in. Unforgiveness is washed out and forgiveness is poured in. You get the point?37:51 That's what the word does. It doesn't mean you're always going to do it. But it means, yes, I need to get this out of my life. I need Jesus to wash this clean. And when we come into the church, when we come and gather38:03 together as the church, and the word is preached, that's what God is doing. He's literally washing you right now. Number 3, be ready for the end times. Be be engaged in the church now more than ever38:15 before, because when we come together, we are emboldened in a stronger walk with Jesus. I don't know about you, but I wanna be stronger in the Lord the closer we get to his38:27 return. And, I have been personally just absorbing more scripture than ever before. I've been, you know this teaching more than ever38:38 before, preaching more than ever before. I just I just see it that that's that's what we gotta do. We gotta do more more church con more congregational gathering38:50 than ever before. And when we do, I believe we get stronger. You come to church. You gather with God's people. It will strengthen your faith. A lot of Christians, they want stronger faith, but they're never in church.Show more
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