Members are Saturated in the Gospel

Josh Clink

Clarify, Unify, Glorify • Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

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ME: Intro

I had gone back and forth on whether to share this story,

But I just could not resist.

So, I will give a preemptive warning,

What I am about to say,

May be icky to some of you.

So, if you are grossed out easy,

You may want to plug your ears.

Speaking of ears,

A couple weeks ago,

I was q-tipping in the morning.

As I was,

I noticed the wax in my left ear was a little dark and crusty.

In trying to get it cleared out,

I clogged my ear with the q-tip.

So, I tried putting some peroxide in my ear to loosen it up,

But I could not get it out.

The whole day,

I could hardly hear anything out of my left ear.

It was frustrating but tolerable.

But as soon as I woke up the next morning,

The pressure in my head was excruciating.

So, I called and went to the doctor that day.

They peek in my ear with that little ear light thingy,

And as soon as they did,

I recoiled in pain.

The provider said he saw the wax,

But also noticed that my ear canal was very sensitive,

Red, and inflamed.

Because it was infected.

In fact, his theory is that my ear was infected for a long time,

Potentially even years!

I had this infection inside of me,

Slowly building up unhealthy wax deep down in my ear,

Until a reached a point that it inhibited my ability to hear.

So, he brought in another provider at the office to perform what they called a lavage.

I thought,

“Lavage? What’s that?”

It sounds like some sort of French spa treatment.

Its not.

They take warm water and a softening agent and just saturate the wax.

I was holding a little bucket,

And the provider had a little squirt bottle,

And was just squirting and squirting and squirting the mixture in my ear,

Saturating the wax until...

It fell out of my ear,

And into the bucket.

Sweet relief!

I could hear!

The pressure was instantly gone!

I actually have a short video of the moment it came out if you want to look to the screen.

Slide

Okay, so that was not actually what happened,

But that is what it felt like!

In reality,

It was only about this big.

But I have a point to this story,

And it is not just to gross you out.

When you think about the ear,

Its purpose is simply to hear,

But because of an internal infection that I could not see and did not know about,

My ear’s entire purpose was hindered,

Because I could not hear!

And, on top of that, it was causing me pain.

But by saturating my wax with a softening agent,

I both felt relief,

And was able to address the root of my problem with medicine.

Similarly, our purpose as human beings is to worship God and enjoy Him forever.

However, we all have an internal affection called sin,

And naturally we do not see or even know about our sin.

As a result, our entire purpose is hindered,

Because we do not worship God or enjoy Him,

Instead, we have the pain of separation and death.

So, like infected wax,

We must be saturated with a softening agent,

To address the root of our problem.

God says that softening agent is the gospel.

We must be saturated with the gospel,

To soften our hearts,

And address the root of our sin problem,

With the medicine of trusting the grace of God given in the gospel.

So, this morning,

We are clarifying how Members are Saturated in the Gospel in four parts.

Slide

By...

Knowing the Gospel

Applying the Gospel

Sharing the Gospel

Keeping the Gospel

Jesus calls His members to saturate ourselves with His message.

These four steps lead to progressively increasing spiritual health.

WE: Know the Gospel

Slide

The first step is knowing the gospel.

This may seem so obvious,

That it is almost silly to even make a point of it here.

But we cannot overlook this step.

Because there are many who consider themselves a member of Christ’s body,

Yet have a shallow understanding of the gospel, at best.

And as a result,

Feel awkward or uncomfortable talking about the gospel.

So, the first step is to be sure we know the gospel!

Think about the things you know.

If you know farming,

You can talk about farming.

If you know boats,

You can talk about boats.

If you know design,

You can talk about design.

If you know hunting,

You can talk about hunting.

If you know sports,

You can talk about sports.

If you know movies or TV shows,

You can talk about movies or TV shows.

If you know politics,

You can talk about politics.

If you know cars,

You can talk about cars.

If you know about food,

You can talk about food.

If you know about antiques,

You can talk about antiques.

Whatever it is,

If you know about something,

You can talk about that something.

So, if you know the gospel,

You can talk about the gospel.

And I am not just talking about evangelism.

I am talking about the gospel being a normal part of your conversations.

Slide

Thus, the question is,

Do you know the gospel?

Do you know that the gospel is not just...

That we are okay,

That God is love,

That Jesus wants to be our friends,

Or even that we should live right.

Yes, there is an element of truth to each of these ideas,

But they are only partially true,

And certainly not a sufficient summary of the gospel.

The gospel literally means “the good news.”

For something to be news,

It must contain statements derived from facts.

And what makes the gospel good,

Is that it holds out hope on the basis of God’s promises,

Grounded in the historical facts,

That vindicate His promises.

To word it in a more clear and direct way,

The gospel of Jesus Christ is...

The good news that God the Father,

Who is holy and righteous in all His ways,

Is angry toward sin,

Which He will punish.

Humankind, disobeys God,

Separating us from God’s love,

Leaving us in danger of an eternal and agonizing condemnation.

But God!

Who is rich in mercy,

Because of His great love,

Sent His Son,

Born of a virgin,

To die as a payment and a substitute for the sins of us rebellious people.

Therefore, now, through the perfect obedience of God’s Son,

And His willing death on the cross as the payment for our sins,

All who repent,

And trust in Jesus Christ,

Confessing Him as Savior and Lord,

Will be saved from the wrath of God,

Declared as righteous instead,

Receive eternal life,

And be indwelt with the Spirit of God as a foretaste of the glories of heaven with God Himself.

So, even this is a summary of the gospel.

Do you know the gospel?

GOD: Apply the Gospel

As members of Christ’s body,

We must first know this message.

And secondly, we must apply it.

Slide

This is done in three ways:

By cultivating a desire to hear the gospel,

By preaching the gospel to yourself,

And by taking the gospel to its conclusion.

First, you cultivate a hunger for hearing the gospel,

By plumbing the depths of the gospel,

Increasing not only your knowledge of the gospel,

But your affection for your Savior,

And thus, your ability to apply the gospel.

This means you must listen actively for the gospel,

And it’s implications,

Especially during this time every Sunday.

I seek to preach the gospel in almost every sermon.

The temptation, if you have heard it before,

Is to tune out during that part of the sermon.

Don’t!

Listen to the gospel anew every time you hear it.

Reaffirm your trust in the promise and power of the gospel.

Apply it specifically,

To any sins that you become conscious of,

Perhaps from the sermon,

Or through self-examination.

Picture those sins being nailed to the cross as you hear the gospel once again.

Consider if there are perhaps any new promises or aspects to the gospel,

You may have not rightly understood.

Listen for the gospel so actively,

So longingly,

That you feel impoverished or hungry,

When it is missing from a sermon.

And if you know the gospel,

When you find yourself with that hungry impoverished feeling,

You can then apply the gospel secondly,

By preaching the gospel to yourself.

The gospel is a message not only given to you,

But it is a message given for you.

So, take ownership of it.

Rather than merely listening to what others say,

Or what the world says,

Or what your internal voice that plagues you with doubt, worry, or fear, says,

Listen to God,

And the gospel He has given you,

By proclaiming it to yourself whenever the need arises.

In the book, Living the Cross-Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing,

Author, C.J. Mahaney suggests that we memorize the gospel,

Pray the gospel,

Sing the gospel,

Study the gospel,

And continuously review how the gospel has changed us.

As we do this,

We apply the gospel thirdly,

By taking the gospel to its conclusion.

When reflecting on the events and the promises of the gospel,

We must never stop short of its conclusion.

We must continue forward to the end of the gospel,

Which is,

God Himself.

The gospel is a message about God,

Giving Himself to humanity,

In love.

So, the gospel ends with God getting you,

And you getting God for all eternity.

Slide

John Piper writes a devotional about this,

He says,

“Until the gospel events of Good Friday and Easter and the gospel promises of justification and eternal life lead you to behold and embrace God Himself as your highest joy, you have not embraced the gospel of God. You have embraced some of His gifts. You have rejoiced over some of His rewards. You have marveled at some of His miracles. But you have not yet been awakened to why the gifts, the rewards, and the miracles have come. Slide

They have come for one great reason: that you might behold forever the glory of God in Christ, and by beholding become the kind of person who delights in God above all things, and by delighting display His supreme beauty and worth with ever-increasing brightness and bliss forever.”

YOU: Share the Gospel

As a member of Christ’s body,

Your aim must be to know the gospel so deeply,

So intimately,

That you apply the gospel by growing a hunger to hear the gospel,

By preaching the gospel to yourself,

And by taking the gospel all the way to its end,

Understanding the promise and prize of the gospel is God Himself.

Then, when you know and apply the gospel,

Slide

The natural outcome is to share the gospel.

Sharing the gospel is not just about speaking the gospel.

It starts by ordering every area of your life around the gospel.

The gospel must be central to the way you communicate with others,

To how you encourage or correct one another,

To your career decisions,

Relationship decisions,

To every decision we make as a body.

It must be central to every habit of your life.

The gospel,

And more specifically,

The God of the gospel,

Must take priority in every area of your life.

This is how members saturate in the gospel.

And there are a variety of ways you can organize your life around the gospel of Jesus Christ.

For example,

You can intentionally frequent the same store or restaurant.

Purposefully building relationships,

O even just familiarity,

To eventually open up opportunities for gospel conversations.

Or you could use your vacation for a short-term mission trip,

Or even a staycation where you use time you don’t normally have to do mission or gospel work right here in Afton.

Or instead of using vacation time,

Just regularly volunteering in the community,

And leveraging your opportunities for the gospel.

You could find, or create, open platforms to discuss religion or philosophy.

You could simply invite your neighbors to have dinner,

Building that relationship to be able to talk with them about Christ.

Hosting a prayer time or a Bible study at your work place during a break time or before the start of the work day.

You could join a club right here in Afton;

Friends of Afton, Sertoma, Parade or fair organizers, Yoga, community theater, just to name a few.

Join a club,

Or start a club,

Build relationships,

And open up gospel opportunities.

And the most basic example,

Is to simply invite friends, neighbors, coworkers, or family members to church.

Or something with the church;

A connect group, volleyball, one of our upcoming Easter services,

Anything where the gospel takes center stage.

The Bible is clear that you are not measured by conversions,

Rather, you are rewarded for faithfully sharing the gospel.

The success or receptivity of the message is up to God.

Therefore, you must simply always be prepared to give the reason for the hope that is in you,

You must be ready with the message of life,

The gospel of Jesus Christ.

Do not just lock it away in a vault to keep for yourself.

Jesus taught this is Matthew 25:14-30,

Slide

Where He said the Kingdom of Heaven is...

Matthew 25:14–30 (ESV)

“...like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, [beginning with his excuse] saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Jesus’ point is that sharing the gospel is more than just living a good moral life.

Because living a good moral life does not bear witness to the cross of Jesus Christ.

You good deeds alone do not effectively point to the Savior.

Sharing the gospel must brilliantly display of the glory of God,

Redeeming sinners through the sacrifice of His Son.

Therefore, a gospel-saturated member must be committed to not only soaking up the gospel for themselves,

But having it flow out of them to be soaked up by others as well.

As the Apostle Paul says,

You and I must do the work of an evangelist.

With urgency and love,

Tell those who do not yet know the gospel,

Of the hope that is in you.

That they must confess and repent of their sins,

Turning to trust in Jesus Christ.

And don’t sugarcoat it,

It does not mean life suddenly becomes easy.

But it is a worthwhile decision nonetheless.

Because our souls naturally long for a forgiveness that can only be satisfied by the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Brothers and sisters,

You and I have the opportunity to plant and water gospel seeds all throughout Afton and the surrounding area.

Starting right here at church.

Plant and water...

By greeting and talking with everyone who comes to church,

By inviting those who do not know the gospel to come,

By following-up with people after church,

To have spiritual conversations,

Asking if there was anything about church they did not understand,

Or directly asking if they accept or reject the message of the gospel.

A gospel-saturated member,

Just oozes the gospel out of every crevice of their life,

Splashing those around them with the good news of the gospel.

And a healthy body is made up of healthy gospel-saturated members.

WE: Gal. 1:6-9

So, because the gospel is so important,

Slide

We must responsibly keep the gospel from being both corrupted and abandoned.

The NT places this responsibility on the entire body of Christ.

The churches in Galatia seemed to be allowing the gospel to be corrupted,

By false teachers who were adding circumcision as a requirement of the gospel,

So, as a result,

The gospel was then at risk of being abandoned by the Galatians.

So, Paul opens his letter to the Galatian body with a dispute.

It is quite abrupt.

Immediately after his formal opening to his letter,

It is almost like he can’t control himself,

It just explodes out of him.

Saying in vs. 6, that he is astonished!

He is amazed that these members are so quick to desert Him,

God, who called them in the grace of Christ.

Slide

God’s grace has come to His members by His own initiative,

His call,

His election.

Not by anything we deserve,

Or anything we have done.

As Paul says a little later in vs. 15,

God set him apart before he was born,

God called Paul by His grace.

Slide

So, Paul is baffled that these members in Galatia would be so quick to turn away from God,

And the grace He has shown them as He calls them to Himself.

That they would abandon the gospel of grace,

Turning to a different gospel,

A corrupt gospel.

Paul’s point is that rejecting the true gospel is the same as rejecting God.

This is painful for him,

Because he had originally gone to Galatia in Acts,

Spreading the gospel,

And planting churches.

Then after leaving,

The Galatians start hearing a different gospel,

A false gospel,

That they somehow thought sounded better.

But this “different gospel” Paul talks about is not a true gospel,

There is no other gospel, Paul says.

This different gospel is a distorted, corrupt gospel.

It has taken the truth and turned it into something different.

And it is being spread by troublesome false teachers.

These are most likely Jewish Christians from Jerusalem,

Who were insistent that Gentiles must not only believe in Jesus,

But must also accept circumcision and convert to Judaism to get saved.

Slide

These are probably the certain men Paul refers to in Gal. 2:12,

Where he says,

Galatians 2:12 (ESV)

For before certain men came from James, [that is, from Jerusalem,] he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.

Slide

Paul then describes this group again in Gal. 6:12-13 as...

Galatians 6:12 (ESV)

...those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised...even [they] do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.

And this was not just a Galatia problem.

The NT shows that various shades of this idea were widespread among early Jewish Christians.

Slide

Acts 15:1 says,

Acts 15:1 ESV

But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Acts 21 says there were thousands of Jewish believers,

Who were zealous for the law.

Slide

So, Paul pulls no punches in Phil. 3:2-3,

When he writes,

Philippians 3:2–3 ESV

Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—

Paul’s point is that we who are truly of the circumcision party,

Are we who have the Holy Spirit,

And worship God by His grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

Not by physical circumcision,

Or any other work of the law.

Slide

Because the NT is clear,

There are no additional requirements for salvation beyond God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

That is the gospel.

Let me say that again.

There are no additional requirements for salvation beyond God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

You know what,

Let’s say it together,

“There are no additional requirements for salvation beyond God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ.”

Slide

Anyone who says otherwise is wrong.

It does not matter how great their credentials might be,

If they twist the gospel into something other than salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ,

Then they are wrong.

Paul says, even if they are an angel from heaven,

It does not matter.

Anything other than salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ is not the true gospel.

The purity of the gospel is so important,

That those who preach a false gospel are accursed, Paul says.

Meaning, they are under God’s eternal condemnation for preaching a false gospel.

Paul reiterates this in vs. 9,

Saying, if anyone is preaching a gospel contrary to salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ,

Then they are accursed.

Normally, Paul would give a blessing or thanksgiving for his readers at this point in his letter.

In Galatians, however,

Paul gives a curse,

Not once,

But twice,

For emphasis.

The Greek Word he uses is anathema.

He also uses the same word regarding himself in Rom. 9:3,

Slide

Where he said,

Romans 9:3 ESV

For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.

Anathema does not express a vengeful or passionate reaction,

Like we tend to think of cursing someone in our context.

No, it is a prediction that nothing but death is to be expected.

An accursed person is condemned by God.

So, Paul is telling all members of the church to keep the gospel from corruption and abandonment.

And he is using strong language to reinforce this command.

Brothers and sisters,

We all must be careful with what we consider gospel preaching.

Slide

The apostle John warns in 2 John 1:10-11,

2 John 10–11 (ESV)

If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching[, the gospel], do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.

Slide

Then Jude commands us in Jude 3,

Jude 3 ESV

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

Why?

Slide

Because, Peter warns in 2 Pet. 2:2,

2 Peter 2:2 (ESV)

...many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.

The shameful ways of false teachers corrupt the true gospel.

Thus, it makes perfect sense for Paul, John, and Jude to command us to keep the gospel that has been given to us.

Healthy local bodies have healthy individual members who fight to keep the gospel that has been given and preserved in the Bible.

When we reject this responsibility,

It is because we are not truly saturated in the gospel.

Thus we do not know the gospel,

We are not applying the gospel,

And as a result we certainly are not sharing the true gospel.

Instead, we leave the gospel to be corrupted and abandoned.

This is not something we can be idle about.

Because there is a real and active enemy,

Working through the world, false teachers, temptation, and every force of evil,

To try and corrupt the gospel,

So, that as many people as possible will abandon it.

Slide

Thus, we are commissioned by Jesus,

Through His Word,

To saturate ourselves with His message as His members.

How do we do this?

By knowing the gospel,

Applying the gospel,

Sharing the gospel,

And keeping the gospel.

Jesus specifically gave the great commission at the end of Matthew to,

Matthew 28:19–20 (ESV)

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

Lord willing, next week,

We will continue our series,

Clarify to unify to glorify,

By obeying the third part of Jesus’ commission here,

Teaching His disciples to observe all that He has commanded.

So, the plan is to begin going verse by verse through the gospel of Matthew,

To learn everything that Jesus has taught about being His disciples.

And since, being a disciple of Jesus Christ is synonymous with being a member of His body,

We are specifically looking to learn what Jesus teaches in Matthew,

Through the lens of clarifying biblical membership.

But the second part of Jesus’ commission here is to baptize disciples,

Baptize members of His body.

It is so appropriate that we have been talking about gospel-saturated members this morning,

Because baptism is a visual representation of that.

Baptism demonstrates the gospel of Jesus Christ.

That God,

Offers Himself for sinners,

Making us aware of His love,

Our depravity and need for redemption,

And the possibility of eternal joy,

Worshiping Him.

Knowing this gospel,

Applying this gospel,

Sharing this gospel,

And keeping this gospel,

Saturates Christ’s members with His message.

And Gospel-saturated members strengthen His body.

So, let each of us saturate ourselves with this message!

Pray.

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