04-30-2019 – Terry Joe Kee – Gospel Meeting (PM Sermon)

It makes me mad. And so I just want you to know that the a hour and a half long sermon you’re going to have, I’m not gonna mention max by name, but it’s because of max. So just so you know, you think people would be nicer to you when you visited, but y’all, don’t play cards that way here. You,

you, I mean, you just, you don’t, but I had a good time with them and was glad to visit with them today. Last night, we talked about the fact that you cannot, you cannot preach Jesus and not preach the kingdom. You cannot preach about Jesus because Jesus left heaven and came to this earth with a purpose in mind. And that purpose was to establish,

to build his kingdom. And so the very idea that we could somehow preach Jesus and not preach his kingdom is just ludicrous. It’s it’s, it’s foolish to even think so, and it certainly cannot be done. And so tonight I want to go a little further in that study and I want to ask us why we need the church. You know, people act like the church is not necessary.

It’s not needed, you don’t need the church. And from time to time, I’ll have someone that will tell me that they don’t need the church. They don’t have to have church to go to heaven. That all they need is Jesus. And they’ve got Jesus and they have Jesus in their hearts. And so they don’t concern themselves with the church. And so they go through life thinking that church isn’t necessary.

Isn’t needful. I would begin tonight by telling you that the church was important to God, because it was from his eternal purpose that the church has come into existence. If you’re reading Ephesians chapter one, God says that it was his eternal purpose that in Christ men would be saved. So from the beginning, God had determined the means by which he was going to save the world.

And that salvation was going to come through his son. And those who were saved were going to become his kingdom, his church. When you read in Genesis three 15, he said, I will put enmity between the, and the woman between the seed and her seed. There’s only one time in all of the scriptures when the seed is said to be in the woman.

And that’s the Virgin birth of Christ, no other occasion, no other time. And so from the time sin entered the world, God began to tell man, and to focus, man, on a coming kingdom, you don’t even read very much further before you find that Eve herself is looking for that seed because she names that third son, she named him Seth,

because she says, God’s given me another Seed. She’s looking For a seed. That’s what she’s longing for, what she’s expecting. And so she’s looking for that. She’s anticipating that. And so from that point forward, you begin to look at this seed. When you get to Genesis chapter 12, you’ll read how that, how that Abraham is promised a seed.

He was promised a land. He was promised a great nation, but he was also promised a seed. And I don’t know what all that means, but if all y’all start running, Oh, probably follow you. But Abraham was promised to seed. He was so important that Abraham rehearsed that promise to his son, Isaac and Isaac, to Jacob and Jacob to Judah.

And one by one, they began to prep, provide this seed and they began to point and keep that focus on them on that seed that was coming because that seed is Christ. I know that because Paul told the Galatians in Galatians three, that that seed is Christ. And so there’s no doubt as to who the seed is that they were expecting with that seed was coming a kingdom.

You have those two things connected throughout the pages of the old Testament. You read Isaiah chapter two or Micah chapter two, and you read it where that God talks about in the top of the mountains, he’s going to establish his kingdom, how it all nations would flow into it and how there would be salvation that would be coming from that place in the law of God will be preached from that place.

And so you have the coming of that seed and the coming of that kingdom and the long for that kingdom, the preparation for the coming of that kingdom and looking for it and anticipating it. And so one by one, you start seeing all of these passages that are pointing us to the coming of this kingdom and to it coming into existence for us preparing our sales and being ready when that kingdom would come.

And so you get to the new Testament, it’s not unusual that you should see that kingdom and you should see it as the focus of what Jesus is here to do. And it is at the focus of Jesus and of his word and of what he’s here to prepare and to plan for. And so we look for, we anticipate that coming kingdom, we’re longing for that coming kingdom,

but he comes and it has come and has been established. And most of us, if not all of us that are here this evening, we have been taught. And we know that max chapter two, you have the beginning of the church. And so when that first Pentecost, after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Christ has now ascended back to the father and having ascended back to the father,

you have the kingdom coming into existence and acts chapter two, verse 47, praising God and having faith with all the people in Lord added church, such as should be saved X two in verse 47. The church there is the kingdom, keep reading. And you’re reading about the growth of that kingdom and how it expands and how it begins to have an influence in the world.

And you see that as you continue to read through the pages of the new Testament. Now that kingdom having been established, there’s a reason God gave us this kingdom bread, and God didn’t give us the kingdom because he needed it. He did not give us the kingdom because it was something he was, he gave us the kingdom and cause we needed it.

You see, there are three things. I want you to note tonight, three reasons why you need the kingdom. Number one, because it’s the only place you can find. Salvation. Salvation is found in the kingdom. It’s not found in the world, not found anywhere else. If you want salvation, it’s only found in Christ and there are, there is no salvation outside of him.

So you start reading through and looking through the pages of the book and Jesus himself says, I am the way the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the father, but by me, John 14 in verse six. And so Jesus says, I am the means by which you have to come and be a part of those who are saved. Like the passage we read last night in Ephesians five and verse 23,

where he says the husband is head of the wife, even as Christ the head of the church. And he is the savior of the body. Jesus came and his purpose in coming was to save us. And those who are members of the church are numbered among the save. They are the save that’s who we are. And one of the things, and one of the reasons why it’s so imperative that we be in the church,

but also so imperative that we do everything we can reach our neighbors and friends and family members is because we want them to be in the place where they’re safe, where they’re saved, and that’s the church you’re not saved up there in the world. You’re not saved in men. The religions of men, you’re not saved anywhere except in the church, in the church that Jesus built.

There is no other place where you can find salvation except, and him and in him alone. And wherever you may look at, however, you may look, salvation is only found him in his church now and acts four in verse 12. He says that neither is your salvation in any other for there, none other name under heaven. Given among men whereby we must be saved.

We must be saved brother. And he shed his precious blood that we through that blood might have forgiveness of our sins. But with that blood, he purchased us. He paid for us. He paid for our sins. He paid the price that our sins might be forgiven. So the means of having that kind of forgiveness comes from those from, from that sacrifice having been made and the blood being shed.

And because of that, we do have that forgiveness, that reconciliation, that salvation, that is ours in him, 20 and verse 28, he says, take heed their foreign Digger sales to all the flock over the which the Holy ghost has made you overseers to feed the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood. He purchased us.

He paid for us with his own blood. We’ve not been redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold. Peter said in first Peter one 18 and 19, but with the precious blood of Christ lamb, without blemish and without spot, the price has been paid for us. Now, the Hebrew writer tells us in Hebrews nine in verse 22, that without the shedding of blood,

there is no remission. And so there had to be a sacrifice. There had to be a price being paid for our sins to be forgiven, and that price was paid in the blood of Jesus. And so one of the first things I would tell you is the reason that we need the churches, because this is where the side door salvation is found in.

Christ is not found anywhere else. And so one of the first reasons you need the church you need the church is because the fact that salvation is found in Christ. It’s the only place you can find it. And it’s not to be found anywhere else. If you want to get into the church. Isn’t it interesting that to get into the church, there’s only one way and that’s baptism,

not baptism alone, but I’m telling you, that’s the final step that puts one into Christ. It’s what puts you into Christ in first Corinthians 12 and verse 13, he says from a one spirit are y’all baptized into one body. You’re baptized into one body. And when you read those passages, what you find is that we are indeed made one in him in that mod.

And so that’s where we seek to find ourselves where we seek to be is in that one body. And so that’s what we seek, where, where we seek to be and who we seek to be. When you read in Romans six, three and four, he says, no, you’re not this immediate bus. And we’re baptized into Christ, baptized into his death.

That like as Christ was raised from the dead to the glory of the father, even. So we also should be raised to walk in newness of life. It’s three 26 and 27. He said for y’all children of God, by faith in Christ, Jesus, for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ Christ. Now I think those of you that are here tonight,

you know, the difference of into an unto unto brings you close. It puts you in there in a percentage. It, it, it brings you to Christ, but he doesn’t put you in Christ until you, until you do what is necessary to get into Christ, just being brought unto him will never save anyone. Faith brings you unto Christ. Repentance will bring you under Christ.

Confession will bring you unto Christ, but only baptism, but you into Christ. And like I said, not baptism alone. It’s not a matter of just taking some one and being sure that we put them under the water, because if we did that, if that’s all it took, then we can take folks in by force. We can put them under the water.

Wouldn’t say, wouldn’t have anything to do with saving them. Because if it’s not preceded by that kind of faith and repentance and confession, that leads one to that burial. Then one cannot be used and would not be saved. And so the first reason why you need the church is because this is where you find safe people, safe. People are found in the church.

That’s who we are. Now, the second thing, second reason why you need the church is not only a salvation found in the church, but all spiritual blessings are found in the church. Were there not any spiritual blessings out there in the world? There aren’t, they’re there every spiritual blessing that God provides, he is found only in the church, not found in the world.

It’s not found in the religions of men. It’s only found in one place in Ephesians, one in verse three, he said, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ with blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, all spiritual blessings in Christ. You know, as well as I do that, if all, if all spiritual blessings are found in Christ,

how many does that leave outside? And he doesn’t leave eating. So if all spiritual blessings are found in Christ and only in Christ, then in order for me to have access to the spiritual blessings, where do I have to be? Well, I have to be in Christ because it’s the only place I can find any spiritual blessing. If I want forgiveness a spiritual blessing,

where’s it found in Christ. If I want reconciliation, where is it found? What’s only in Christ. If I want all of these blessings, where are they all found in? The only place they’re found is in Christ, all spiritual blessings are found in him. There are no spiritual blessings outside of him, none, but you also ought to consider the,

the blessings that we have in Christ breath. And we, we have the wonderful blessing of being able to gather together in worship. Like we do and enjoy the fellowship of one another. Like we do and enjoy the encouragement of one another. Like we and included in that is because I am in Christ. And because I have access to all spiritual blessings,

I can pray to my father and knowing that he hears me. Now, someone says, well, you think God doesn’t hear centers. I don’t believe God is intent on responding to centers. Someone says, well, do you think he hears rhythm? God hears everything. The fellows down here on the street corner, cussing a blue streak. God hears every word he says.

So if someone is speaking, God’s hearing, but God’s not expected to respond. I think I’ve used this example before, but it’s, but it’s applies. If I’m at Walmart. And the lady in front of me in a card has a little child. And that little child is calling out to me and saying, buy me this candy, buy me this candy,

buy me this candy. You know, I hear them. I hear exactly what they’re saying, but I’ll tell you something else. I’m not responding. I’m not expected to take care of the child. That’s not my place, not my child. And so I don’t do that. God hears the God’s not expected to respond to those cries. God hears everything from every one,

but having heard it doesn’t mean that God responds to it, but he responds to the Christian breathing. When a Christian praise, God hears him. And one of the blessings of being a Christian is knowing that whenever I pray, God hears me. We baptized a girl back several years ago. And you know, when the reasons that she came and told me that she had to be baptized,

she said, because my mom is so sick and I know God doesn’t hear me. When I pray. She wanted to be sure God’s going to hear her. And she knew she knew what she needed to do. And she did. And she’s been faithful since then, but she knew that God, wasn’t going to hear her prayer, that God wasn’t going to be responding to her in the way she wanted to be responded to.

And so she’s praying Brendan, when you’re needing strength and courage to carry on, who do you lean on? When you have Paul saying in Philippians four 13, I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me. You see your strength. And if he’s not, it’s because of the fact you’re not in him, because if you’re in him, he gives you strength.

He’ll be there for you. Let me quickly give you the third reason why you need the church is because of the edification that’s found in it. Rather than I know that tonight, we’re sitting here and we’ve got all kinds of distractions going on, but you know, the reason you’re here is because of the folks that are sitting around you and because of the fact that you believe in God and trust him,

one of the wonderful blessings of being in Christ is having one another brethren. What’s a greater blessing that we have. And I know there are, there’s the salvation and reconciliation, but I’m talking about generally speaking from day to day, we have that blessing of being able to assemble together with those of light, precious faith, and to be able to worship together,

be able to, to cry out together, to call out together, to be together. And It’s one of the blessings that we have. You also understand that the wise man said in Ecclesiastes chapter four, that a threefold cord is not easily broken. You know, it’s good to know. You’ve got other people that are going through the same struggles and fighting the same battles.

It helps to encourage you because we need to know we’re not in his battle by ourselves. We’re not fighting alone. And you’ve got others that care about you and are interested in you and love you. And so when you’re sick, they call on you. They check on you. They want to know how you’re doing. And if they don’t see you,

they want to know if everything’s all right. They Want to know what they can do to help you. And they don’t just use that as words. I know, sometimes we say to people, we say, what can I do? Is there anything I can do for you? And sometimes you’ll have those that’ll answer. And they’ll commonly answer by saying no,

I’m okay. And we may go on our way. But at the same time, we may also look around and see what they do need and we’d do anything for them because we love them because they’re brothers and sisters in Christ, rather than you realize what a blessing it is to be able to sing together. See, one of the things that I never have understood about denominationalism is why they think it’s such a grand thing to have a chorus Or acquire.

I mean, to have 20, 30, 40, 50 people up here singing while I’m out here, just going. I love the fact that we can join our voices together. And it goes up as one voice before the throne of God. It’s one of the blessings that we have is being able to sing together. And when we sing and when we sing these songs,

the messages of these songs, we’re teaching. Sometimes I have breath, no say, well, I’m not much of a teacher. Every time you sing a Psalm Hilmar, spiritual song, you’re teaching you’re admonishing one another. You’re encouraging one another and you never know how much good that does when we sing those songs and hymns and spiritual songs. It’s one of those great blessings that we have being able to study together rather than I,

I never have understood why some Braven don’t come to Bible class and I, that tonight, I’m talking to people that are here every time the doors are open generally. But I don’t understand. I don’t understand people who you don’t see the need to come to Bible study. I don’t, I don’t understand those who do not see the need to be present on Wednesday night or on a,

on a Sunday morning at Bible class hour. I never have understood that because of how much we get out of it, how much encouragement it gives to us, how much help it gives to us. And I never have understood people that don’t do that. You know why those Bereans more noble than those intestinal Anika. They searched the scriptures daily to see if what they were being taught was so great.

It’s a wonderful thing to be able to join ourselves together. One with another, as brothers and sisters in Christ, and open up the word of God and studied together. And yes, sometimes we learned something because we have a teacher that has taught us something that maybe we didn’t know before. Maybe we didn’t save it for her. Also he is as a preacher and a teacher,

there are a lot of times that I’ve been taught things. I didn’t, I hadn’t seen, I didn’t realize. So I’m going to bring up something that I hadn’t thought of. It’s an opportunity for us to gain from one another further, as we study together and bread, what better way for us to encourage one another and then to study together, to take the word of God together and study it together.

The idea of us praying together for the night. I know God hears my prayer individually. Every time I pray, but I’ll tell you something else. I love being able to be together with my brothers and sisters in Christ, praying because all of us are joining our hearts and minds together in one thought that goes before the throne of God, we all put that before his throne.

And I love when there are those that pray. And I especially appreciate those who pray for me. I appreciated brother Keith praying for me tonight. And I appreciate anyone that ever prays for me. I’ll tell you this preacher’s off and get more prayers than anybody else. And all of us need prayers. All of us need praying for, and all of us need to be aware that,

that there are those that appreciate that, that appreciated pray for us. I’ll also tell you this, that makes the church so valuable. It’s just our being able to associate with one another breathing. It’s such a blessing to be around people that you can talk to and laugh with and cut up with and have a good time with and not have to worry about the world and the influences of the world.

I love being able to be with my breath and laugh and cut up like we did today. I just love that. And I’ll tell you this, when certain ones weren’t doing so well in a certain wife had her husband that wasn’t helping her whole lot. She didn’t start cussing him. No, it was just, it was just, it was wonderful banter back and forth.

And it was just a wonderful time of being together rather than what’s better than that. I tell you, I don’t find that out in the world. I get out in the world and you get around the per people in the world and you listen to the language, the things that they’re interested in, the things they’re talking about, those are things that are of interest to a Christian.

It’s a, one of the wonderful blessings that I have is being able to associate with people like you, Britain, you don’t know what a wonderful blessing it is to be invited to come to mountain Grove, Missouri and preach. Not because I’m here and you know, somehow I’m able to do. You just don’t know how much good it does me to have you invite me up here to be with you brother.

You don’t know how much more preachers get out of these occasions than what they can ever deliver in sermons written. It’s a wonderful occasion when we can be together. And when we spend time together, when we associate with one another, you got some of y’all that are going fishing right now. If you don’t come back with some fish, we’re going to think,

you know, we’re going to wonder where you went, but you going fishing I’ll guarantee. You’re going to have big time. I’ll guarantee. You’re going to enjoy. If you don’t catch a fish, you’re going to enjoy it because I’ve been on those fishing trips. I’ve been on those times when we’d be together. And it wasn’t what you were doing.

And the fact that you were accomplishing some great something, it was just the time that you spent together. And when you come back showing pictures of somebody that’s afraid, his tennis shoes are going to get messed up. And he’s got bags over his shoes, and he’s doing all this. And listen, not only do you laugh about it then, but y’all made a picture and brought it back.

So everybody else could laugh, right? Because we love that time together. And it’s precious to us. It’s meaningful to us. We, as Christians have that, I’m going to tell you, the world talks about having fun and they don’t know what funny is. They don’t breathe. There was a gentleman sitting at a table, Mark, and I went out to eat one night and there was a gentleman sitting at a table and they were talking about how much fun they’d had last weekend and talking about how drunk they got,

how is that fun? Do you know? One of the ones at that table was saying they had to tell me what all I did. Cause he said, I don’t remember. Well, you know, I always look back at life and there are things. And occasionally times when I don’t remember something, but it’s never been because I was drunk and it won’t ever be,

unless I lose my mind written, those are precious occasions. And we ought to rejoice in those times that we can be together and we can spend time together. It’s one of the blessings of being in Christ. It’s one of the blessings that we have. One of the blessings that we have also is the ability in the church of being able to help one another,

help one another overcome sin rather than when a brother stumbles and breath and often do. When we stumble, there’s nothing better than being able to have a brother or sister in Christ who cares enough about us to come to us and help us and to be there for us in those times, Braedon, we’re working together this week. And it’s a good thing that we’re together this week,

working together to build up the cause of Christ. It strengthens us, it, it helps to evangelize. It gives us an opportunity to have friends and neighbors that would come and be with us breathing without the church. Where would the save to be without the church? Who would the saved be without the church? What spiritual blessings would you be able to have access to?

Because they’re all found in the church and without the church, how would we be edified and strengthened and built up and made stronger if you’re here tonight and you’re not in the church, do you realize how precious it is and how, what a blessing it is to be in the church to be in Christ, to be one with him, to enjoy the blessings that are found in him,

where that it’s not only that Christ and the church, but it’s also our need for the church. We need the church because of what all it is for us and how beneficial and helpful it is to us. If you’re here tonight and you’re not a member of the body of Christ, we beg you to become one and through faith, repentance, confession,

and baptism, you can, and if you’re one of God’s children, then you wandered away. We’d beg you to come home while you have time and opportunity. So you can be forgiven. And so when life here is over and we’re called to stand before him, we can hear him say, well done now, good and faithful servant. And we can enter into the joy that waits.

If you’ve gotten yourself out of step, come home, come home. While you have time and opportunity, you may not always have time and opportunity. As a matter of fact, you won’t always have time and opportunity. A lot of things can happen and a lot of things can happen quickly. Even as tonight, things can happen quickly and they remind us of how brief life can be.

And so if there’s anything you need to make right with God, whether it’s becoming a Christian or whether it’s coming home, we beg you to do so well together. And we stand in