11 JANUARY 2018 BODY OF CHRIST NEWS HEAR YE! HEAR YE! HEAR YE! What the LORD has to say to His Church. “… my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, STAND FIRM IN THE LORD in this way, dear friends!” Philippians 4:1 “And to the ANGEL [messenger] of the church of the Laodiceans write, … I KNOW YOUR WORKS, that you are neither cold nor hot. … So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are WRETCHED, MISERABLE, POOR, BLIND, and NAKED— … I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” Rev. 3:14-20 John 13:13-15: “You call me Master, and Lord; and you say well, for so I am. If then I being your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an EXAMPLE, that as I have done to you, so you do also.” Since our LORD and SAVIOR “Jesus, who is called the Christ,” had the spirit of a Servant [or slave who washed the guest’s feet], the highest honor/func- tion of “ALL” in the church is to be that of a “SERVANT.” “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then NEITHER HE who plants is ANYTHING, nor HE who waters, BUT GOD who gives the increase.” I Cor. 3:6-7 Also, let’s consider: “… not many wise men AFTER THE FLESH, not many mighty, not many noble, ARE CALLED: … That NO FLESH should GLORY in His presence.” I Corinthians 1:26-29 - God is the ONLY ONE worthy of this GLORY!!! “Feeding Sheep or Amusing Goats?” by Charles Haddon Spurgeon 1834-1892 (but it could as well be today) QUOTE "The need of the hour for today's ministry is believing scholar- ship joined with earnest spirituality, the one springing from the other as fruit from the root. The need is biblical doctrine, so understood and felt, that it sets men on fire". “An evil is in the professed camp of the Lord, so gross in its impudence, that the most shortsighted can hardly fail to notice it during the past few years. It has developed at an abnormal rate, even for evil. It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments. The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them. From speaking out as the Puritans did, the church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her bor- ders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses. My first contention is that providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a func- tion of the church. If it is a Christian work, why did not Christ speak of it? "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15) That is clear enough so it would have been if He had added, “and pro- vide amusement for those who do not relish the gospel." No such words, however, are to be found. It did not seem to occur to Him. Then again, "He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some evan- gelists; and some pastors and teachers ... for the work of the ministry" (Eph. 4:11-12). Where do entertainers come in? The Holy Spirit is silent concerning them. Were the prophets persecuted because they amused the people or because they refused? The concert has no martyr roll. Again, providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching and life of Christ and all his apostles. What was the attitude of the church to the world? Ye are the salt" (Matt. 5:13), not the sugar candy---something the world will spit out not swallow. He was in awful earnestness. Had Christ introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into his mission, he would have been more popular when they went back, because of the searching nature of His teach- ing. I do not hear him say, "Run after these people, Peter, and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow, something short and attrac- tive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it. Be quick Peter, we must get the peo- ple somehow." Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them. In vain will the Epistles be searched to find any trace of this gospel of amusement! Their message is, "Come out, keep out...!" Anything approaching fooling is conspicuous by its absence. They had boundless confidence in the gospel and employed no other weapon. After Peter and John were locked up for preaching, the church had a prayer meeting but they did not pray, "Lord grant unto thy servants that by a wise and discriminating use of innocent recreation we may show these people how happy we are." If they ceased not from preaching Christ, they had not time for arranging entertainments. Scattered by persecu- tion, they went everywhere preaching the gospel. They turned the world Feeding Sheep Or Amusing Goats? By Pastor Al Combs Al Combs Continued on Page 15 SERMON