THE PLACE AND POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE EARTH REALM
I. THE POWER OF IDENTITY
1. Do You Not Know… 1 Cor 3:16; 1 Cor 6:19; 1 Cor 6:2-3
1 Cor 6:15
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the
members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not
Romans 6:3-4
Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were
baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism
into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the
Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life
II. THE PLACE AND POWER OF THE CHURCH
1. The Body of Christ
1 Corinthians 12:27
“Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.”
Ephesians 1:22–23
“And He put all things under His feet and gave Him to be head over all things to
the church,
which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”
2. Citizens of Heaven
Philippians 3:20
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ.”
3. The Called-Out Ones (Ekklesia)
Matthew 16:18
“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church,
and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Matt 18:19
“Again, I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that
they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.
Matt 16:19
And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on
earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in
heaven”
4. Ambassadors of Christ
2 Corinthians 5:20
“Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading
through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”
5. Those Seated in Heavenly Places with Christ
Ephesians 2:4–6
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ
(by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit
together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
6. A Royal Priesthood
1 Peter 2:9
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own
special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of
darkness into His marvelous light.”
Revelation 1:6
“and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and
dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
7. Joint-Heirs With Christ
Romans 8:17 (NKJV)
“and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”
8. The Light of the World
Matthew 5:14
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.”
9. The Salt of the Earth
Matthew 5:13
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be
seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled
underfoot by men.”
10. The Temple of the Holy Spirit
1 Corinthians 6:19
“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in
you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?”
Ephesians 2:21–22
“in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in
the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in
the Spirit.”
11. Those Who Will Judge the World and Angels
1 Corinthians 6:2–3
“Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be
judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not
know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this
life?”
III. WHEN WE DON’T KNOW WHO WE ARE WE LIVE LOWER THAN WE SHOULD
Any time identity becomes unclear, behavior becomes unstable.
When identity is low, the Church lives low. When identity is restored, the Church
rises to its calling.
1. Favoritism
1 Cor 3:1-8
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to
babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were
not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal.
For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and
behaving like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of
Apollos,” are you not carnal? 5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers
through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos
watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor
he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who
waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor
2. Lawsuits
1 Cor 6:1-10
Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous,
and not before the saints? 2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?
And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest
matters? 3 Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that
pertain to this life? 4 If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this
life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? 5 I say this
to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who
will be able to judge between his brethren? 6 But brother goes to law against
brother, and that before unbelievers! 7 Now therefore, it is already an utter failure
for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept
wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? 8 No, you yourselves do
wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren! 9 Do you not know that
the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor
thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the
kingdom of God.
3. Trying to Earn Salvation by Works
Galatians 3:3
Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by
the flesh?
Gal.4:9–10
“How is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements…You observe days
and months and seasons and years.” 11 I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you
in vain
4. Letting Culture Define Our Morality More than The Word
1 Thess 4:3-5
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual
immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in
sanctification and honor, 5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know
God.
1 Cor 5: 1-2,6-7
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual
immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s
wife! 2 And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done
this deed might be taken away from among you… 6 Your glorying is not good. Do
you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. 7 Therefore purge out
the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened.
5. We tolerate things we can easily shift
Luke 10:17-19
Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to
us in Your name.” 18 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all
the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
6. We easily buy into the lies of the enemy
2 Cor 11:3
But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your
minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
IV. CHURCH IS STRONGEST WHEN IT’S:
1. Heaven and Kingdom Focused
Col 3:1-4
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where
Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on
things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
2. Walking in Unity
Eph 4:1-3
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.
Psalm 133:1-3
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard, The beard
of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments. 3 It is like the dew of
Hermon, Descending upon the mountains of Zion; For there the LORD
commanded the blessing—Life forevermore
3. Being Salt and Light
2 Cor 5:18-19
Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ,
and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ
reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has
committed to us the word of reconciliation.
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