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The Model Church
Sermon at Three Angels SDA Church – Owasso
December 3, 2005
David Qualls

Introduction

We have begun a journey together recently. It’s hard to believe that we’ve only been together for four Sabbaths. But it’s been a good journey. We sense that God is leading us.

But today we want to learn what it is that will make or break us as a church. What is it that will make this new venture a success?

And so we ask the question: What is the ideal church? What is the model church? What kind of a church do you want to be?

You know when you get older, and you look back over your life, you realize just how much you would have done differently if you had the foreknowledge that hindsight affords you.

We now have the opportunity, by God’s grace to do things the right way. As we turn a new page over, it is a clean slate. There are no black marks or splotches on it. There is no record of shame, of needless controversy, of backbiting, gossiping, unkind criticisms, of truths rejected, friendships neglected, of God’s voice unheeded. There is only a blank page, clean and white.

Now what are we going to do?

God has called out a group of people for a special purpose. Today, we want to examine God’s purpose for the church. What is it, according to God’s word, that we as a church should be focusing on? What is it that we should strive for? What is it that we should be like? What is an ideal church, a model church?

As Terri would tell us, in the real estate business, the top three things that determine the value of a piece of property is: location, location, location.

Well, for a church, it’s members, members, members. I’m not talking about quantity so much as the quality of the members. And by that we don’t mean beautiful, wealthy, highly educated, smart members. No. It’s something else we are looking for. It’s something else that God is looking for. It has to do with the word character, of attitude, of willingness to serve, of a surrendered heart.

What will make a church successful?

Maybe we ought to define success first….

The world defines success by numbers and outward appearance, by the level of emotional feelings generated, and excitement produced.

But while man looks on the outward things, the worldly and temporal things, God looks on the heart, on the things of eternal value.

Success in God’s eyes means faithfulness to Him in every particular. If we are faithful to Him, He will take care of the results. Listen to this quote:

“If you lower the standard in order to secure popularity and an increase of numbers, and then make this increase a cause of rejoicing, you show great blindness. If numbers were evidence of success, Satan might claim the pre-eminence; for in this world his followers are largely in the majority. It is the degree of moral power…that is a test of…prosperity. It is the virtue, intelligence, and piety of the people composing our churches, not their numbers, that should be a source of joy and thankfulness” (Ellen G. White, Testimonies, vol. 5, pp. 31-32).

Friends, the sooner we learn that lesson, the better off we will be.

So what is the primary mission and purpose of the church?

“But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15 ).

What does a pillar do? It supports and upholds something.

What is a ground or foundation do? It provides something solid, unmovable, a platform upon which you can build something. It is unchangeable. It is sturdy.

The church, first and foremost is to provide a place where the truth is lived, preached, spoken, preserved, promoted, upheld, honored, taught, and modeled.

Listen to this quote from the book Acts of the Apostles. This sums up the purpose God has for His church very well.

The church is God’s appointed agency for the salvation of men. It was organized for service, and its mission is to carry the gospel to the world. From the beginning it has been God’s plan that through His church shall be reflected to the world His fullness and His sufficiency. The members of the church, those whom He has called out of darkness into His marvelous light, are to show forth His glory. The church is the repository of the riches of the grace of Christ; and through the church will eventually be made manifest, even to "the principalities and powers in heavenly places," the final and full display of the love of God. Ephesians 3:10 (Ellen G. White, Acts of the Apostles, p. 9).

What can we notice from this paragraph?

  1. The church is God’s appointed agency for the salvation of mankind.
  2. The church was organized for service.
  3. The mission of the church is to carry the gospel to the world.
  4. Members of the church are called out. Called out from worldliness.
  5. Members of the church are to show forth God’s glory.
  6. The church is the repository of the riches of the grace of Christ.
  7. The ultimate purpose of the church in the end will be to make manifest the final and full display of God’s love. That is the privilege that the last generation has.

Now, another paragraph on page 11 of the same book is packed with truth. Let’s hear what it says.

The church is God’s fortress. His city of refuge, which He holds in a revolted world. Any betrayal of the church is treachery to Him who has bought mankind with the blood of His only-begotten Son. From the beginning, faithful souls have constituted the church on earth. In every age the Lord has had His watchmen, who have borne a faithful testimony to the generation in which they lived. These sentinels gave the message of warning; and when they were called to lay off their armor, others took up the work. God brought these witnesses into covenant relation with Himself, uniting the church on earth with the church in heaven. He has sent forth His angels to minister to His church, and the gates of hell have not been able to prevail against His people (Ellen G. White, Acts of the Apostles, p. 11).

What do we learn from this passage?

  1. The church is God’s fortress or city of refuge in a world that is in revolt.
  2. Any betrayal of the church is treachery to God.
  3. In every age God has had His watchmen who have borne a faithful testimony to their present generation. What does that mean?
  4. God unites His church on earth with the church in heaven. Did you know there was a church in heaven?
  5. The gates of hell have not been able to prevail against the church. And they will never be able to.

But notice that the church is made of up of individuals. These faithful sentinels are brought into covenant relation with Christ.

The strength of the church is dependent on the strength of its members. That is where you and I come in. And it’s not just the leaders or the wealthier or the stronger. It’s everyone.

So, what kind of members will make a church successful?

We are going to look at several qualities that will help to make our church successful. We will look at 21 biblical words (or mostly biblical) that will define success. Each of these words begins with letter 'S'.

Members who are willing to have the 21 S’s will be the ideal member that will make a church succeed. Notice the operative word is willing. Are we willing today? Let’s look at the 21 words that will make us successful.

  1. Willing to submit.
    • “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7)
    • “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5).
  2. Willing to surrender.
    • “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
  3. Willing to sacrifice.
  4. Willing to seek.
    • “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).
  5. Willing to save.
    • “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever” (Daniel 12:3). Of course, we don’t save, but we cooperate with God in saving others.
  6. Willing to sow.
    • “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him” (Psalms 126:5-6).
  7. Willing to speak.
    • “But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ” (Ephesians 4:15).
  8. Willing to sigh (and cry).
    • “And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house” (Ezekiel 9:4-6).
  9. Willing to sing.
    • “Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints” (Psalms 149:1).
    • “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19).
  10. Willing to shout.
    • “And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city” (Joshua 6:16)
    • And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout” (Joshua 6:10).
  11. Willing to soldier.
    • “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3).
  12. Willing to spend.
    • “And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved” (2 Corinthians 12:15).
  13. Willing to be spent.
    • Same as above.
  14. Willing to be small.
    • “Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come” (Acts 26:22).
    • For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth” (Zechariah 4:10). Don’t ever let anyone tell you that a small church is an unsuccessful church or that a fast-growing, large church is the gauge of success. Just remember Gideon’s band of 300. Whittled down from 32,000.
  15. Willing to be stable.
    • “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you” (1 Peter 5:10).
  16. Willing to be sealed.
    • “And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea…. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel” (Revelation 7:2, 4).
    • “Just as soon as the people of God are sealed in their foreheads—it is not any seal or mark that can be seen, but a settling into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually, so they cannot be moved—just as soon as God’s people are sealed and prepared for the shaking, it will come. Indeed, it has begun already” (Ellen G. White, Last Day Events, p. 219).
  17. Willing to stand.
    • “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness” (Ephesians 6:13-14).
  18. Willing to strive.
    • “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” (Luke 13:24).
    • Why will so few be able to get in? Because they are trying to bring too much with them. Too much of self; too much of the world; their likes and dislikes and personal opinions and their bad habits. That is the biggest challenge we face in bringing people into the church—they want to bring their worldliness and worldly culture with them. It will take much grace, patience, persistence, and love on our parts to help these people.
  19. Willing to study.
    • “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
    • “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children” (Hosea 4:6).
  20. Willing to suffer.
    • “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:17-18).
    • “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).
  21. Willing to succeed.
    • “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Romans 8:37).
    • “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21).

So if we are willing to submit, surrender, sacrifice, seek, save, sow, speak, sigh, sing, shout, soldier, spend, be spent, be small, be stable, be sealed, stand, strive, study, suffer, succeed, then we will be a successful church. I believe that it is possible don’t you? Not in our own strength, but in the strength of Christ. I can do all things through Him that strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:13.

Now, there is one more thing that we must have to be successful, and that is our last S word: We must have Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. Savior is our last word that begins with 'S'. Without Jesus, it is all in vain. That is what we seek for in our church. To lift up a crucified and risen Savior.

If we accept Him unreservedly, if we are willing to submit to Him and all that He teaches, we are safe to save; we are in a position to where He can allow us to succeed. He will bring us off more than conquerors through Him that saved us. May this be our resolve from this day forward.