You are called to imitate God by holding the church in the same honor He does. Embrace your identity as a forgiven member of the body of Christ and join us in this new series to explore these truths. Visit Real Church online to see if you align with our vision and become part of the family.
*Father*, thank you. Thank you, Lord, for your goodness. Lord God, that we get to "run the race" that you've called us to run. Not just me and Courtney, but everyone in this room, if they're surrendered to you, they're surrendered to the lame of the race you've called them to run for eternity. You've given them the grace for their race.
I pray they they run it with faith. And the way that they run it causes the world around them to glorify God, to give honor where honor is due, to Jesus who called them and set them apart and anointed them. Thank you for the amazing purposes you've created them for. And once again, thank you that I get to be their pastor. In Jesus' name, I pray.
Everybody said Amen. Amen. Well, I'm excited about today because we are starting a series. And I I I just think it's appropriate because this is our 7 year anniversary coming up next week, but we're starting a series for the month of September titled *Church*. The Church.
Or maybe maybe we'll title it The Glorious Church. I'm not real sure yet. Which 1 you guys like? Church? The glorious church?
It's it's kind of a it's kind of a big deal. There's a lot that's going to be in this message today. So I pray that you take away 1 thing, and then go back and listen to it. Maybe take notes or listen to it again. Take notes.
Look in scripture. I I think the Lord's going to unveil for you aspects of the church that maybe you've never seen before. Or maybe it's going to remind you of things that you've forgotten about. But I will tell you this. I will tell you this.
*Ephesians-5:1*. I say it a lot. I'm gonna say it again. It says, be imitators of God as dearly loved children. To unpack that a little bit, if God, the heavenly father gives you a revelation of himself that's new to you, not new to scripture.
Right? When I say revelation, it's he's revealing himself to you in a way that maybe you've never seen before. That revelation of the heavenly *father* is an invitation by the heavenly father to imitate the Heavenly Father as empowered by the Holy Spirit. That revelation of the Heavenly Father is an invitation by the Heavenly Father to imitate the Heavenly Father as empowered by the Holy Spirit. So when you see today aspects of the church that maybe you've never seen before, or you see how the Heavenly Father values the church in a way that you've never thought about before, that revelation takes you from ignorance to knowledge.
Ignorance mean not knowing, to now you know how the heavenly Father values and honors the church, which is an invitation for you to participate in doing the same thing, be an imitator of God as a dearly loved child. If you see it in scripture, and that's to repent is to change from the way that you were doing it, to turn and to follow the way that your heavenly Father invited you to. Amen. That's repentance. It's it's changing your mindset to be in line with what God says about it.
So my prayer is that we begin to hold with honor the same type of honor that God holds the church at, the same type of value. You guys ready? Let's dive in. Ephesians-3. I wanna I wanna share with you something that just every time I think about this scripture, it blows my mind.
Like flabbergasted, dumbfounded, how in the world type of thoughts when I think about this scripture. We're gonna get there. So Paul is writing to the Ephesians in Ephesians-3. He talks about in verse 2, the stewardship of grace, God's grace that was given to him for you. Meaning, God called Paul to equip the Ephesians *church to be disciples of Christ*.
God gave him a specific grace for the race that God had called him to. Grace simply means God's power empowering you to do what you can't do on your own and to be what you can't be on your own. Whatever race God's called you to, you live by grace through faith. Believing what he said about it and taking steps of obedience, and in your step of obedience, his grace empowers you to do what you can't do on your own and to be what you can't be on your own because God's called you to supernatural things. Amen?
Alright. So that's Paul's talking about. And Paul's calling, Paul's race is laying his life down to equip the church to be who God's called it to be. That's his race. And he goes on to say, verse 3, how the mystery, everybody say the mystery, was made known to me by revelation as I have written briefly.
When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ. There's a lot of people in a lot of different religions that are searching for some secret knowledge. Scientologists are paying money to get the book so they can have some kind of a secret knowledge. Am I right or am I wrong? Yeah.
This look, the mystery, guys, is revealed in Scripture, and the Holy Spirit reveals it to you, and and it's clear. It's been written out. I wanna reveal the mystery to you. You don't have to search for some secret knowledge. Although as you seek after him, he reveals more and more of himself to you.
Amen? Alright. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ. Verse 5, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles apostles, and prophets by the capital s spirit. That's the Holy Spirit.
This *mystery* is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partake partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. What does that mean? God called Abraham? You guys have heard father Abraham had many sons, and many sons have father Abraham, and I am 1 of them, and so are you. So let's just praise the Lord, right hand father Abraham.
Anyway, back in my Sunday school days 25, no, 35 years ago. Long time ago. Anyway, so God called Abraham and his children, the Israelites, as his special people through which he would reveal his glory and his goodness and invite the whole world into a relationship with him through them. But they kinda rejected. Right?
And God still was faithful, chose and and *Jesus* really born born of Abraham, but fully God yet fully man. And now, when we follow Jesus by faith, we become grafted in to that as children of Abraham by faith. So we get to now participate in the blessing of Abraham along with the Israelites that followed Jesus by faith as well. Amen? So we're grafted in.
We get to participate. What does that mean? In the promise, we get to participate in the Holy Spirit, the spirit of God living in us, and us being a blessing to all the nations of the world. We get to participate in relationship with the God of the universe as our Father. *Colossians-1:27* says, the mystery is this, **Christ in you**, the hope of glory.
So as you get to know who Jesus is, you get to know who he is in you, and you get to understand how he wants you to reflect his glory to the world so that the world sees your life and glorifies God in heaven. That's the mystery, guys. Christ in you, the hope of glory. You give your life to Jesus. Jesus gives you his life, puts his spirit inside of you so you could know him in a real way and reflect his goodness to the world.
It's basic. It's simple, but it's infinitely deep. You never you never stop learning more about who Jesus is because if he's really God, then he's really infinite. For the rest of your life, it's growing to know the depths of the meaning of the cross, of his love on the cross, of his resurrection life that he placed inside of you, and the depths of what that looks like for the rest of eternity on how you live what God's called you to live, how you live out purposes he's called you to live out for the rest of your life, growing in that. If that's not enough, sorry.
It's enough for me. It's enough for me to give my life for. Amen? But we haven't even got to the thing that blows my mind. I mean, that's mind blowing.
But there's more. But wait, there's more. Of this gospel, I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all of the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the **unsearchable riches** of Christ. By the way, that word unsearchable is the Greek word.
It's it's also can be defined as unfathomable. Right? Unknowable. Like I can't incomprehensible. Like the riches of Christ to the world are incomprehensible, but I got good news for you.
When you give your life to Jesus, he puts the Holy Spirit, the spirit of revelation on the inside of you, gives you the mind of Christ, as it says in 1 Corinthians-2, so that you can fathom and know the unsearchable, incomprehensible riches of Christ as you get to know him. I mean, come on. That's great. That's what it means when you say we have the "mind of Christ". As I search him out, he he doesn't want to hide it from me, he hides it for me so that I can know him more and more, and he enjoys the chase.
He enjoys the process just like a father and a son. That's how much he loves you. You guys with me? You guys okay? Stick with me because there's a lot.
There's a lot here. And know that every *revelation* of him is an invitation to invitation. Amen? So how he views this thing is how we're supposed to view it. Let's keep going.
It's not even to the mind blowing part yet. And to bring to light, verse 9, for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things. So remember, the mystery is that we get to participate in a relationship with the father of the universe. We're grafted in to that same blessing of Abraham by faith in Jesus when we surrender to him as Lord. That's the mystery.
But then there's a plan for that *mystery* that was hidden in him, but is now revealed by the Holy Spirit. What is the plan? This is crazy. Watch this. Verse 10, here's the plan.
So that through the church, everybody say the church. The manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places. Now hold on. By the way, when I first read that verse and I heard manifold wisdom, I was like, what in the world does that mean? Manifold wisdom?
Looked it up, that word manifold just means multifaceted. I think that's more comprehensible. The multifaceted wisdom of God, his plan is to reveal the multifaceted wisdom of God through the church. I'd say the church is kind of valuable, Maybe that's a deeper revelation of how God values the church, and we need to repent for how we've devalued the church in our lives. And God, teach us to value your church in the way that you do because wait a second, you want to reveal it not just to people, but it says, might be made known to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places.
So even demons and angels, principalities and powers long to look into these things, and they're watching as God reveals his multifaceted wisdom through something he called the church. And then it says, this was according to the eternal purpose. Everybody say eternal purpose. That he was realized or that yeah. That he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So this wasn't just like some fly by night plan. He's like, well, I guess we're gonna do it this way now. No. This was his plan before Adam and Eve. Before the creation of the world, this was his eternal purpose to reveal his multi faceted wisdom through you guys.
Not just real church, but I'm talking about Jesus' church. We're a part of Jesus' global church. So my question is, if that's his eternal purpose, like revealing *Christ* in us, the hope of glory. Oh, by the way, that you, Christ in you, the hope of glory, you know, when Paul's writing this letter, it's not a singular you. As Americans, I know we're very individualistic.
I know we like to read everything when it says you. Oh, he's talking about just little old me. Like we're the center of the universe. You're not the center of the universe. *Jesus* is the center of the universe.
Okay? That you is a plural you. So he's writing to the collective body of Christ, the church. You play a part, but it ain't all about you. Amen?
That's hard for Americans, it's hard for individuals, people to realize. Like we have a personal relationship with God and that's important, but that personal relationship with God is an invitation into a greater plan that's much bigger than just ourselves. We need to play our role, run the race God's called us to run with the grace he's called us to run-in unity with his plan, which is the church. And he wants to use the church to reveal his multifaceted wisdom, the multifaceted wisdom of God. Like, is that as mind blowing to you as it is to me?
That's crazy. You better believe I'm gonna change the way that I speak about God's church. If you ever find yourself downing this church and that church, you better repent and stop. The church is God's plan to reveal his multifaceted wisdom through. So wait a second, maybe we need to speak about the church the way that Jesus did.
*Jesus washes the church* in the "water of his word". Amen? Let's keep going. You guys alright? So my question is, how do you become a part of the church?
Now, should you go through establish that established process we're talking about www.realchurch.us and get established in real church? Yes. I think you should. Absolutely. But that's not how you get a part, become a part of the church that I'm talking about.
You don't become a part by signing a covenant membership form. You don't become a part by attending every Sunday. You don't become a part by being a part of a serve team, whether that's real church or other great churches in the area, generation church, radiant church, whatever church you you want to name. If you can't say, well, I'm a part of the church because my grandmama went to church every Sunday and drug me to church. No.
You're not a part of the church because your mama's belief, your great grandfather's belief, your belief. You're a part of the church by 1 way only. Let's look. *Matthew-16*. Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked the disciples, who do people say that the "Son of Man" is?
And they said, some say John the Baptist, others say Elisha, others say Jeremiah, 1 of the prophets. And then he turned to them and said, now this is the most important question a person can ever be asked. It's the most important question you I'm about to ask you the most important question you can ever be asked. *Jesus* turned and said, but who do you say that I am? Who do you say that Jesus is?
Simon Peter replied, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus answered him, blessed are you Simon Bar Jonah, which just means son of Jonah in Hebrew. For "flesh and blood" has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the "gates of hell" shall not prevail against it. Let's let's break this apart just a little bit.
Did you see that that flesh and blood didn't reveal this to Peter, but the heavenly Father did? When God reveals himself, it's an invitation into deeper relationship with him or into a relationship with him. God has to reveal himself. We wouldn't find him without him revealing himself. But when he reveals himself, you have a choice to either choose him or not.
What did Peter do? Jesus said, follow me. Peter dropped his nets and followed Jesus. And the Father revealed who Jesus was to him and he confessed, you are the Christ. What does that mean?
You're the Messiah, you're the anointed 1, the 1 that was coming that's worthy to be worshipped. Why? Because he's the creator of all things. In him and through him, all things were created for him and by him. He's Jesus.
He's Lord over all. When you really recognize who Jesus is, not in a mental ascent, not just saying a prayer because you're you feel like you should in the moment. I'm talking about from a heart level, you recognize that Jesus is the Christ, you're going to follow him as Lord. When you really believe. I'm not talking about believing that he exists, even demons believe he exists.
No. When you believe that he's the Christ, you confess with your life like Peter did. You drop everything to follow him and his plan for you. Who do you say that he is? That's the entrance into the church.
*Jesus* said, I will build my church, not Peter's church. Jesus' church on this rock. What rock? Jesus is the cornerstone, it says earlier in Ephesians-2. It's on the rock of Christ.
And when we confess by faith, we're being conformed into his image to be a living stone placed on the rock of Jesus. Are you a part of the church? I'm not saying have you been coming to real church? Are you involved? Are you invested?
Are you are you tithing? Are you serving? I'm not saying that. That doesn't make you a part of the church. What makes you a part of the church is is Jesus the Lord of your life or not?
When he's the Lord of your life, everything changes. You become forgiven. He puts the Holy Spirit inside of you to lead you, and by that same Holy Spirit, you're unified with the rest of his church all around the world. And you grow in understanding what that means moment by moment, day by day. And I tell you this, the gates of hell will not prevail.
What does that mean? Gates don't attack, they hold back. The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. Jesus has conquered, and he's given all authority to his church. To what?
To change culture. To conquer. And the gates will try to prevent it, the gates of hell, but they can't hold back what Jesus is doing in this time. So your your your big question is, are you a part of it or not? Right?
Who do you say that Jesus is really? Do you really believe? Because if you really believe that he's good Let me let me tell you this. The Bible says *righteousness* and justice are the foundation of his throne. When you really believe that he's righteous, which means he's good, and just, which means he does only good things, that would mean he's good to you and only has good plans for you.
When you really believe that's the case, then you give him the throne of your heart. When you doubt his goodness and his willing his willingness, his justice, his willingness to make right decisions for your life, you take back the throne of your heart in that area. That makes sense? So who do you say that he is? Do you trust him?
Are you willing to surrender to his lordship in your life? And when you do, you become a part of his church. Then he develops you 1 step at a time to grow in maturity, to play the role that he created you for in his church. And that's not just a serve team on a Sunday morning or Friday night or whatever. That's part of it because you gotta be in relationship with the church and disciples are being made.
You're growing. You're looking more like him. You're being mentored in other things. But your purposes are much bigger than you could ever ask, think or imagine. And they're gonna impact the people that God's put you in the world to influence.
But that happens in connection and submission to Christ as the head of his church. You guys want to talk about it a little bit more? Alright. Let's talk about it. So the church is important.
It reveals the manifold or multifaceted wisdom of God. You're invited to be a part of the *church* by surrendering to Jesus as Lord, then he places you in a part of his church to play a role that he's called you to play, so that the church together in unity can reveal the multifaceted wisdom of God, which is pretty cool. But he goes further. God reveals how he feels about the church throughout scripture. And there's multiple different analogies that he uses to reveal how he feels about the church.
And that's what we're going to unpack for the rest of the series. The first analogy that we're gonna pack unpack for the rest of the day is the church as the *bride* of Christ. *Revelation* chapter 19. Remember, when the heavenly Father reveals how he feels about something, that revelation is an invitation to imitation in your life. So when we see how he values the church, it's an invitation for you to imitate that and raise the level of value.
I think we already have, but we're gonna keep going deeper. Amen? *Revelation* 19 verse 6, right before it it says, the "marriage supper of the lamb". It says, then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude like a roar of many waters, and like the sound of many peals of thunder. Hallelujah.
For the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exalt, and give him glory. For the "marriage of the lamb", Those of you that are wondering, exalt is like extreme praise, know. I was wondering. I figured somebody would be wondering.
Anyway, let us rejoice and exalt and give him the glory, for the marriage of the lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready. It was granted to her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure, for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. So the **bride of Christ** is the collective group of the saints. Who are the saints? I'm not talking about Mother Teresa.
I'm talking about those who have surrendered their life to Jesus as Lord of their life. Jesus forgave them of all of their sin, past, present, and future, washed them clean, and credited to them his righteousness, clothed in pure white robes. So if Jesus is the Lord of your life, that's you. You are a saint and Jesus calls you the bride of Christ. Let's go further.
*1 Corinthians-15*. Like this analogy of the bride of *Christ* is all throughout scripture from beginning to end, from cover to cover. It's pretty amazing. *1 Corinthians-15:45* says, thus it is written, the first man Adam became a living being. It's talking about like Adam and Eve, the first man.
The last Adam became a life giving spirit. Who's the last Adam? *Jesus*. So the first man, Adam. The first Adam.
The last Adam, Jesus. Living being, life giving spirit. Follow me. But it was not the spiritual that is first, but the natural and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust.
The second man from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of dust. And as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. Let's unpack it.
It's pointing to some things. Let's go back and look at what it's pointing to. Genesis-2. We see the creation of man. God created mankind in his image.
And then he found no suitable helper for him in all of the animals that he created. Verse 19. Now out of the ground, the Lord God, verse chapter 2 verse 19, had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was his name. The man gave names to all livestock and the birds of the air and the heavens and every beast of the field.
But for Adam, there was no helper fit for him. So the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man. Now let's talk about that deep sleep. When Christians in the New Testament died, the Bible says they fell asleep. Why?
Because death has no hold on us. We will be *resurrected* again. Amen? Adam, this deep sleep represents the sleep of death because he was going to be resurrected to walk the garden with his wife, Eve. You follow me?
That's important. The deep sleep represents the sleep of death. But for Adam, there was a not a found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on the man, and when he slept, he took 1 of his ribs and closed it up in its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man, he made into a woman and brought her to the man.
The man said, this at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of the man. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become 1 flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and not ashamed. So there was no helper that was found for man that was suitable because man was created in the image of God.
And so a suitable helpmate to help him accomplish the purposes needed to also be created in the image of God. So woman was in the man. God took woman out of the man. They were 1. God took woman out of the man, and now they had to demonstrate the love of God by laying their life down for each other to become 1.
Again, in unity. You follow me? Okay. So this is Adam and his wife, Eve. The first man, Adam.
As is those of Adam. Right? They're of the dust of the earth. Now, what happened next? Remember 1 Corinthians-15.
As was the man of the dust, so also are those of the dust. As is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. John-19:31, *Jesus* is on the cross. The second Adam or the second man, the last Adam. Verse 31, since it was the day of preparation so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for the Sabbath was a high day, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away.
Stick with me. We're going somewhere. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But 1 of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once, there came out **"blood and water"**.
He who saw it bore witness. His testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth that you may also believe. For these things took place that scripture might be fulfilled. Not 1 of his bones were broken. And again, scripture says, they will look on him who they have pierced.
So out of the side of the second Adam, when Jesus had died, out of the side of the second Adam, there flowed blood and water. What happens when something's birthed? The water breaks, both blood and water flow. The blood represents him cleansing his bride, the church, and the water represents the spirit, the Holy Spirit that gives life to his church. The Bible says in Galatians-2:20 that we were crucified with him.
It's no longer us who live, but Christ who lives in us. Why? Because we were in Christ on the cross, crucified in him. The bride of Christ was in Christ. And when Jesus died on the cross, the father, through the spear of the of the sinter or the spear of the soldier pierced his side and out came the bride of Christ.
The the church was birthed on the cross. Ain't that awesome? Thank you Jesus for that. The second Adam birthed the church. We were in him now by faith.
Right? When you give your life to Jesus, you surrender to him as Lord. He washes you clean and gives you his Holy Spirit to give you life, And you now are called the *bride* of Christ. And just like Eve and Adam in a marriage, you have to learn to love. You have to learn to lay your life down to unify with the husband.
1 step at a time, growing in unity. You follow me? Let's talk about it. Let's take it a little bit deeper. *Ephesians-5*.
I'd say if the church is called the bride of Christ, the church is pretty valuable. Yeah? I mean, it's kind of important. I don't wanna neglect what God calls his bride. So Ephesians-5:22.
Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as *Christ is the head of the church*. Here's the the comparison. Right? Husbands and wives, the church in Christ.
As Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its savior. Now, as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, how? As Christ loved the church, and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of the water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.
We were 1. We were taken out. We're still 1 with him, but we're learning to unify by choice. Love is sacrificing yourself for the sake of another. We love because he first loved us.
He first sacrificed himself for us. For no 1 ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it just as Christ does the church because we are members of his body. Now watch this. Verse 25 again, husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. This is seen throughout scripture, by the way.
You know where we get the tradition of a wife walking down the aisle? Many theologians agree with me on this 1. This is where it comes from. Genesis-15. God made a covenant with Abraham.
Marriage is what? A covenant. Abraham and walking down an aisle, what happened? Okay. God told Abraham when he made a covenant that he would be a blessing to all nations that all nations would be blessed through him.
Right? He told Abraham to get animals and slice them into lambs and pigeons and and I forget all the other ones, but they're sliced in 2. And this is how back in the day, thousands of years ago, an ancient covenant was cut. It was called "cutting a covenant". So Abraham had to cut these animals in 2.
It's a bloody mess. He puts an animal on this side, he puts an animal on this side. A lamb half on this side, and a lamb half on this side, a pigeon half on this side, and a pigeon half on this side. Now he knows what's happening. God is making a covenant with him, and in that day, when a king would cut a covenant with somebody, he would make the person walk through there, saying if they ever went back on the covenant that their body would be rent into like the animals that they were walking through.
It was an oath, and it was a covenant, and they walked down the aisle. Now, a generous king, a generous king would "walk down the aisle" with the person saying, not only if you don't keep your end of the covenant, but also if I don't keep my end of the covenant, may my body be rent into and the jackals eat my flesh. So when Abraham's doing this, he knows what's happening. He's about to cut a covenant with the God of the universe and he's probably gonna have to walk down this aisle. Go read Genesis-15, read what happens.
God put Abraham to sleep. God didn't let Abraham walk down the aisle. Instead, a theophany, which just means a representation of God, a smoking fire pot, which is a representation of his presence, the presence of God came down and walked through the aisle himself. Which is something that a king wouldn't do. Because the king, the God of the universe was saying, Abraham, not only if I go back on my word, may my body be written to and the birds of prey come and eat my flesh.
But I'm walking down this aisle making an oath to my future bride, the church. I'm cutting a covenant saying, even if you go back on your word, may my body be written to into and the birds of prey come eat my flesh for your sake. God was prophesying his death because Abraham was gonna go back on his covenant. So what happened 2000 years later? Jesus, the God of the universe became a man and his body was written to on the cross for his bride.
He didn't make the wife walk down the aisle, he walked down the aisle carrying the cross, paying the price for us. Ain't that amazing? He's good and He loves us. Crazy part is, He says, Men, love your wives like I love the church. Quit being selfish punks and learn to lay your life down for your bride just like Jesus did for the church.
Crazy thing is, right before he walked the aisle, *Jesus* said, if there's any other way. *Lord, if there's if there's any other way, heavenly Father*, if there's any other way, because his flesh knew what was about to happen. He was about to give his life up for his future bride. If there's any other way. But then he said this, nevertheless, not my will be done, but yours.
And he took the cup from the father. Now remember, the bride of Christ, how a marriage was done back in the day in Jewish culture, the father would take the son to the bride's house that he chose for it. Son didn't choose the bride, the father did. The father took the son to the bride's house that he chose for him. When he got there, the father of the groom, the potential groom poured a cup of wine and he handed it to the son.
If the son received the cup, he's saying, I'm accepting the bride that you chose for me. The son then offers the cup to the bride to be. The bride has the option of receiving the cup from the son or rejecting it. If the bride receives the cup from the son, the bride is saying, I recognize that you're pouring your life out for me, and I receive the fact that you're pouring your life out for me, and I'm also going to dedicate my life to you. It's communion.
When the *bride* to be received the cup and drink of it, it meant that they were betrothed, legally married in that day, but no consummation of the marriage. So then the son goes back with the father to begin to prepare a place for his future bride. That process took about a year on average. So the father's house has many rooms. What did Jesus say?
My father's house has many rooms. I go to prepare a place for you. And his laying his life down, *Jesus* accepted the cup from the father. I'm giving my life from my bride that you picked out for me. I'm laying my life down for her and then he offered the cup of his blood and his body to his bride, the church.
And you have the opportunity to accept it or deny it. If you accept it, what you're saying is, I'm *betrothed* to Christ. I'm a part of his church. I'm I recognize that you gave your life for me and now I'm surrendering my life for you to follow you and to submit to you, Jesus, as my *Lord*. What happens then?
The groom gives gifts to the bride to help her make herself ready for wedding day, for the marriage feast. And at the appropriate time, the groom will come, pick up the bride in a big procession, and take her back to a big celebration called the marriage feast. In the same way, Jesus has given the gift of the Holy Spirit to his betrothed. The Holy Spirit inside of us changed us from the inside and now is working out the salvation on the inside so that we can be made ready into a bride that is without spot or wrinkle. We are being, as Ephesians-5 said, washed in the water of his word.
So what do we do as we read in Revelation 19? We make ourselves ready. How? By continually allowing him to wash us in the water of his word, by getting in the word daily, by being around other Christians, by being an active part of his church, by valuing it in the way that he does, by receiving the fact that I'm a part of his church and remembering what that means, and that matters for me. By following the lead of the Holy Spirit day in and day out, as He makes us ready, conforming us into the image of our husband.
As we're choosing day in and day out to become 1 with him until he comes back and picks us up for the wedding day. The marriage supper of the lamb. You church are the betrothed. He's given you gifts, talents, and abilities, but ultimately, the gift of the Holy Spirit to lead you, to prepare yourself. Don't be like 1 of the 10 virgins that they're they weren't ready.
They were just playing like they had relationship, but they didn't really. Be like the 5 virgins that had relationship, that really believed the wheat and not the tares. The ones who are all in. Amen? Amen.
The multifaceted wisdom of God is revealed through his church. And his church are the ones that surrendered to him as Lord. They value the church like he values it. And they grow to unify with the church so that they can put on display his multifaceted wisdom. We're gonna take communion together.
Many who have come here today, you've been following Jesus for a long time. Maybe you just kinda forgot who you were as the bride of Christ. This is to help you remember. There's others that came here today, you just came to see church and experience what's here. You wanted to try something new or maybe, I don't know.
But you've never really joined *Jesus' church* by being surrendered to him as the Lord of your life. Today's your day. You came on purpose. So I wanna ask you, as you heard me talk about this, the bride of Christ, you heard me talk about who do you say that Jesus is? Maybe you believe that he really died and rose again, but you've never really surrendered to him as Lord.
You never experienced you being forgiven, the "weight of sin and shame" falling off for the presence of the living God coming to live inside of you, the Holy Spirit. You've never experienced that before. And you're ready for life change. You're ready to experience that. We're gonna take communion, but I want I want you to become a part of the church.
His church, surrender to him as Lord, so that when you take this, it matters. You're receiving the cup. Makes sense? So if there's anybody in here, that's you, you know, you've never given your life to Jesus. Maybe you've been to church your whole life because your grandmama prayed, but you've never really surrendered yourself as Jesus as a to Jesus as the Lord of your life and you're like, today's my day.
I know that's me. I'm not gonna make you come up here because we're gonna take communion together, but I do wanna pray with you right where you are at your seat. If that's you, be bold and raise your hand. I need to give my life to Jesus right now. You know what, I don't make everybody bow their heads and close their eyes every time because if you're not willing to stand for Jesus in front of the church, you're probably not gonna stand for him out there.
Right? This is not a private religion, this is a personal relationship that's lived out publicly. So I mean, this is this is a call to life change and it takes a confession of your faith. So what I'm gonna do when you raise your hand is I'm just gonna pray with you from here right where you are and you're going to surrender to Jesus as Lord in prayer. That's it.
And in that moment, you're gonna sense the weight of sin and shame fall off and the Holy Spirit come. Most of the people in here, many of the people in here have already experienced that before. They're gonna be praying for you as you do it. But I believe there's multiple people in here that need to give their life to Jesus for the first time or for real for real and they haven't yet. So I'm asking you to be bold.
If you know you need God in your life today, be bold and raise your hand. I'm ready. I'm ready to give my life to Jesus. Who's ready? I see you.
Praise the Lord. There's a bold 1. Come on, there's more. There's always a first. Who else?
Who needs to surrender to Jesus as Lord? Anybody else? I see you. Praise the Lord. There's 2.
There's always a bold 1. Anybody else? Raise your hand high. Come on. Alright.
Here's what I'm gonna ask you to do. I'm not gonna ask you to come up here. I want everybody to close your eyes. I want you to just to stand up so I can see you. You're gonna stay where you are, but stand up if you're serious.
Would you stand up? Stand up. Okay. Do you believe that Jesus died for your sin and rose again? Yes or no?
Yeah. Okay. Are you ready to surrender your life to him to follow him instead of yourself? Alright. Cool.
So just close your eyes and pray with me. You can just say this out loud where you are. Just mean it from your heart. Say this. Say Jesus.
You say it right after me. Jesus, I've been living for myself. I believe you died for my sin and you rose again. And right now, I choose to give you my life. Teach me what it means to live for you.
Thank you, Jesus. Holy Spirit, come live inside and teach me to follow you. Let me pray for you. Father, I pray for these 2. You would bless them.
That they would sense your presence and your peace even right now. That by doing this, they're not joining real church. They're joining your church, the global body of Christ. Hundreds of millions, maybe billions. But, Lord God, what an honor it is to get to walk them in that in here.
We love you. You guys can be seated. Give God a big old hand. Now, for all of you, for all of you, I'm assuming the rest of you have already done that. Okay?
For you too, but the rest of you too. When you take this, this is for you. And just re receive it as you're receiving the cup as the betrothed. Right? How he values the bride of Christ.
*Jesus* said, take this in remembrance of me. We're remembering what Jesus did 2000 years ago on the cross as if because it does, it matters for us today. He said, the Bible says his body was broken for our healing, for our wholeness. We've seen people physically healed. Many many people physically healed.
They're almost every week, not just on Sunday, but throughout the week. But not just physically, emotionally, solically, like in your mind, your will, your emotions can be healed and whole. Spiritually whole. He was broken so you could be whole. He took the curse of the law so you could experience his blessing.
It comes as you walk in surrender. Amen? So let's just just hold up the bread. *Lord Jesus*, we take this remembering what you did, that you were broken so we could be whole. And Father, when we look down, we see you.
Hold on before we take it. The Bible says that anybody who doesn't take this rightly, really without discerning the body of *Christ* drinks judgment on themselves. And that was always taught as fear. It's not biblical. It's not the way it's talking about.
We're supposed to discern the body of Christ. So by faith, when I look down, I see myself as a part of the global body of Christ. When I look down, I see his righteousness, not my own, not by faith. That takes faith. I mean, not not not by circumstance, but by faith.
He says I'm forgiven. So I look down and I see myself as forgiven. I'm not making light of my mistakes, but I'm making much of what his blood did for me. And this is a reminder of that. If you if you if you can only take this based on your performance, then your Christianity is based on your performance not Jesus's.
But when I take this by faith on what he did. Amen. Now, if there's some things that you've been willingly choosing to do outside of him, sure. Repent. When I repent, I I wanna turn and follow you.
But this is a step of faith discerning the body of Christ. And as you do that, your life lines up with what you see. Amen? Alright. For those of you that were wondering that.
Let's hold this up again. Lord Jesus, thank you for your body that was broken for us so we could be whole. We take this knowing that it matters and we get to be a part of the body of Christ. Lord God, because of you. Amen.
Let's take the bread. Now, we take this in remembrance. This is not blood. This is not the Kool Aid. Okay?
This is juice, but it represents what Jesus said to do in remembrance of him. Represents his blood that has washed us clean. The payment for sin is death. Jesus died for you to pay for your sin. So now you can be clean of a guilty conscience standing before him confidently as sons and daughters of God.
Amen? So you can approach him in prayer not, oh, piddle poor, pitiful, filthy rotten sinner me. He wouldn't hear your prayer that way. He hears the prayers of his sons and daughters who are confident in what God's done for them. I stand boldly as a son and daughter or I'm not a daughter, but you can as daughter.
Son of God before his throne, not in pride and arrogance, but in humble confidence in what he did for me. So Lord Jesus, thank you for your blood that was shed, that I'm forgiven, that we're forgiven, and counted as your bride, "part of your body". Thank you, Lord Jesus. Lord God, anybody that has a guilty conscience, let them remember right now that they are forgiven 2000 years ago and that matters for them today. What you did 2000 years ago was paying for their future sin, Not so that they could sin, but Lord God, that they could walk in freedom from it, "falling forward into you".
Thank you, Lord, that we are clean. We take this remembering that in Jesus' name. So that's the church part 1. Amen. Part part 2 Thank you.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for what you did. Part 2 is gonna be talking about the body. So the church as the body of Christ shown throughout scripture. Come next week, make sure you bring your friends and family. If you haven't become a part of Real Church, you haven't been through establish, we have that online now.
Go to www.realchurch, click establish. It's like 20 minutes of videos, 6 6 3 minute videos or something like that. Watch it. See if you align with the vision and mission and values of Real Church, and then become a part. We want you to be connected and serve.
We're an amazing, fun family that has a real good time. Amen? Amen. Thank you guys for coming. Let's end like this.
I'm a Real. Person living a Real. Life for a Real. Jesus having a "Real good time". God bless you.
See you next next week.