Coming of Age - Me vs Us

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This is Week #4 of our series “Coming of Age”…
 
Ephesians 4:14-15
we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ--
 
In week #1 we looked at being “18” in 2018 and growing up or “Coming of Age” as Christians more this year than years in the past…
 
In week #2 we looked at “Man to Man” things that have to be done if we are going to “Come of Age”…
 
and in week #3 we looked at “HerStory” that has to be told by God and lived by our women if they are going to “Come of Age”…
 
At the center of our series is the idea that you and I out of the center and Christ being placed into the center is “Coming of Age” as an individual…
 
I am aware that nothing matters more to me than my own salvation and I preach that to each individual that comes into this church…
 
Philippians 2:12
work out your own salvation with fear and trembling
 
I am also aware that after my salvation the salvation of my wife and children is something God has called me and equipped me to ensure…
 
Proverbs 22:6
6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.
 
Acts 16:31-33
31 So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized
 
Ephesians 5:25-28
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 
 
1 Timothy 5:8
8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
 
So you out of the center and Christ into the center is “Coming of Age” as an individual…
 
It’s the idea that salvation and the kingdom and the will of God for your life and family is more important than your own will for your life……
 
But watch this… You out of the center and Christ into the center AND “the church” between you and Christ… is “Coming of Age” as part of the body of Christ…
 
It’s like being saved is becoming a "child" of God and being a healthy part of the church is “Coming of Age” and becoming a "man or woman" of God…
 
This can be very challenging for people but we are going to wrestle with it…
 
“The Church - Me vs. Us”…
 
Mark 3:28-35
28 "Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; 29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation"-- 30 because they said, "He has an unclean spirit." 31 Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. 32 And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You." 33 But He answered them, saying, "Who is My mother, or My brothers?" 34 And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”
 
I do not have to neglect my salvation or the salvation and provision for my family to understand that my salvation and my family are not more important than “the church”…
 
My salvation and my family are part of the church and what is good for the body is good for US…
 
What we sacrifice for the body is not a loss it is a gain for the kingdom that we are a part of…

God is not looking for perfection but He is looking for men and women to grow up and be the church…

The question of what’s best for “Me" begins to be replaced by the question of what’s best for “Us”… What’s best for “The Body”…
 
The crazy thing is that as we mature we realize that what’s best for the body is best for me because I am part of the body…
 
Let me give you a little more context for the theme scripture of our series…
 
Ephesians 4:1-15
1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men." 9 (Now this, "He ascended"--what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ--
 
Growing up as an individual is not complete until you grow up into the church…
 
One body and One Spirit…
 
A body that Jesus died in order to give life to…
 
Then it says Jesus… Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body…
 
It goes on…
 
Ephesians 4:16-32
16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. 17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 20 But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. 25Therefore, putting away lying, "Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor," for we are members of one another. 26 "Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath,27 nor give place to the devil. 28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.
 
Now is the time to “be the church”… to love and apologize and give and sacrifice and labor and help and go and change and forgive and study and pray and read and ask questions and test…
 
New life is the gift "OF" God… and the church is God’s gift "FOR" those living the new life…
 
So with this idea of the church in our minds and hearts  I want to look at 2 old testament stories…
 
One of a Man and the other of a Woman and in each of them you will see the focus has shifted from them as individuals to them as members of the church…
 
The first story is a “Man to Man” story between an earthly father and son and then between that same son and his heavenly Father…
 
1 Kings 2:1-4
1 Now the days of David drew near that he should die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying: 2 "I go the way of all the earth; be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man. 3 And keep the charge of the Lord your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn; 4 that the Lord may fulfill His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, 'If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul,' He said, 'you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.
 
As David dies he tells his son Solomon what it means to be a man…
 
keep the charge of the Lord your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written…
 
1 Kings 3:5-15
5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask! What shall I give you?" 6 And Solomon said: "You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7 Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. 9 Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?" 10The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.11 Then God said to him: "Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, 12 behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. 13 And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. 14 So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days." 15 Then Solomon awoke; and indeed it had been a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, offered up burnt offerings, offered peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants. 
 
7 Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child;……….
 
Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted……….
 
9 Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil……….
 
11 Then God said to him: "Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice……….
 
God loves when we act like Jesus… So check this out… When we care for the body we care for ourselves because we are part of the body…
 
13 I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. 14 So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”

I challenge you all to give your life to others and see if God won’t give you life beyond your wildest dreams…
 
John 15:13
13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.
 
The second story I want to look at is a “HerStory” that I’m pretty sure most men and sadly most women have never read…
 
God’s people were led by Prophet’s and Priests and they were ultimately a Theocracy which means to truly be led by God…
 
They would also have Judges amongst the people to help lead the people back to God when they would stray…
 
Later they would ask for a king like the other nations of the world but before that one of the Judges was a woman named Deborah and she led well…
 
Judges 4:1-24
1 When Ehud was dead, the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. 2 So the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth Hagoyim. 3 And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord; for Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and for twenty years he harshly oppressed the children of Israel. 4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 And she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6 Then she sent and called for Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, "Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded, 'Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor; take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun; 7 and against you I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude at the River Kishon; and I will deliver him into your hand'?" 8 And Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!”
 
So this woman of God is empowering and directing and challenging this man who leads an army to follow the word of God and go to battle…
 
He says I’ll go if you go with me…  again ladies don’t be afraid go with the men and even lead until they are ready to walk in the call of God for their lives…
 
9-17
9 So she said, "I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; he went up with ten thousand men under his command, and Deborah went up with him. 11 Now Heber the Kenite, of the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, had separated himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent near the terebinth tree at Zaanaim, which is beside Kedesh. 12 And they reported to Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor. 13 So Sisera gathered together all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth Hagoyim to the River Kishon. 14 Then Deborah said to Barak, "Up! For this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the Lord gone out before you?" So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. 15 And the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot. 16 But Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth Hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left. 17 However, Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
 
So there is a battle and Israel who had been captive for years was victorious and Sisera the commander of the Canaan army has fled on foot to a safe zone where a woman named Jael is coming out to meet him…
 
I don’t know if you guys are ready for “HerStory”…
 
18-24
18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, "Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; do not fear." And when he had turned aside with her into the tent, she covered him with a blanket. 19 Then he said to her, "Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty." So she opened a jug of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him. 20 And he said to her, "Stand at the door of the tent, and if any man comes and inquires of you, and says, 'Is there any man here?' you shall say, 'No.' "21 Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. 22 And then, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, "Come, I will show you the man whom you seek." And when he went into her tent, there lay Sisera, dead with the peg in his temple. 23 So on that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan in the presence of the children of Israel. 24 And the hand of the children of Israel grew stronger and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.
 
So these two women Deborah and Jael did things that many men were unable to do but the important thing is that it wasn’t about them or a women’s empowerment movement…
 
It was about the people of God being set free and delivered and able to live lives that honored God…
 
We know because of the victory song they begin to sing…
 
Judges 5:1-9
1 Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying: 2 "When leaders lead in Israel, When the people willingly offer themselves, Bless the Lord! 3 "Hear, O kings! Give ear, O princes! I, even I, will sing to the Lord; I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel. 4 "Lord, when You went out from Seir, When You marched from the field of Edom, The earth trembled and the heavens poured, The clouds also poured water;5 The mountains gushed before the Lord, This Sinai, before the Lord God of Israel. 6 "In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, In the days of Jael, The highways were deserted, And the travelers walked along the byways. 7 Village life ceased, it ceased in Israel, Until I, Deborah, arose, Arose a mother in Israel. 8 They chose new gods; Then there was war in the gates; Not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel. 9 My heart is with the rulers of Israel Who offered themselves willingly with the people. Bless the Lord! 
 
2 When leaders lead in Israel, When the people willingly offer themselves, Bless the Lord!

AND

9 My heart is with the rulers of Israel Who offered themselves willingly with the people. Bless the Lord!
 
The idea is that Deborah was focused on leading with people in mind and fighting with the people who were fighting and dying…
 
This is the church!…
 
1 Corinthians 12:12-27
12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free--and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For in fact the body is not one member but many. 15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body?16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. 19 And if they were all one member, where would the body be? 20 But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you."22 No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. 23 And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, 24but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, 25that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.
 
Put Christ in the center…  AND put the body between you and the Lord and see what He might do…