The Cry of Christ

The Cry of Christ

This sermon excerpt, "The Cry of Christ," centers on Jesus' prayer in John 17, revealing His passionate desire for the church to achieve glorification. It highlights Christ's role as High Priest, showing His concern for His followers and His unwavering confidence in God's protection. The text emphasizes that Jesus, even in the face of the cross, was focused on the ultimate joy and the manifestation of God's glory on earth through His people. Furthermore, it asserts that unity within the body of believers is crucial, serving as both a protective mechanism and a powerful instrument to demonstrate Christ's identity to the world, ultimately leading to the full revelation of His glory.

Scripture: John 17

The Lord is passionately desirous that the church aligns itself to complete the intended process of glorification that Heaven wants.

Christ' Prayer reveals:

1. Alignment with the will of the Godhead. Vs 8

2. The heart of Christ in His function as High Priest. Vs 9

3. The concern for His people but His confidence in His Father to keep them. Vs 15

4. The ultimate objective of the glorification of the believer. Vs 24

   
   

   In this prayer Jesus seems to look past the immediate danger to befall Him of the cross and is focused on the ultimate bliss.

Hebrews 12:2 KJVS Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The Glory is defined as: God's inherent worth, splendor, and majesty; His manifested presence and power; abundant wealth or possessions; human honor, dignity, and fame; and even the bliss of heaven, the kingly majesty which belongs to Him as supreme ruler, majesty in the sense of the absolute perfection of the deity

Revelation 21:23 KJVS And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

• The final claim of Christ is that the expression of the Father in the earth through His life is complete. Vs 4.

  
  

• The prayer of Christ was to bring the same glory that operated heaven and manifest it in the earth. Vs 5

  
  

• The qualification for the glory in our lives is the word of God. Vs 6-8

  
  

• The protective mechanism that guards the life of the believer and the relationship we have with God is His word. Vs 14 & 17

  
  

• The unity of the body is intended to replicate the glory of the triune God and manifest Him in the earth. Vs 21 & 22

  
  

• The unity of the body is the instrument God uses to prove that Christ is who He claimed to be to the world. Vs 23

  
  

• The unity of the body is the prerequisite for the ultimate revelation of the glory of Christ. Vs 24

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Partnering With Each Other - The Blessing of a Caring Community

Partnering With Each Other - The Blessing of a Caring Community

Acts 6:1-7 KJVS And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. [2] Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. [3] Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. [4] But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. [5] And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch: [6] Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. [7] And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.

1. The Challenge of Growth - Care

- One of the signs of growth is the emergence of challenges the response to which determines growth or death.

2. The Collective Deliberation - Care

- The key to addressing communal challenges must be based on an acknowledgment that we all have an interest and a contribution to make in the space.

3. The Concern of Leadership

- leadership must address issues while simultaneously articulating core functions.

4. The Character of Support

- The desire for support is not driven by the urgency or severity of the need but must equally focus on the quality of support presented.

5. The Commitment to Priorities

- Divine wisdom dictates that we guard the foundational elements without compromise.

6. The Confirmation of Ministers - Care

- Support must view themselves as an extension of leadership and not an entity on their own.

7. The Conditions Changed

- When the priorities that create lasting value is connected with deliberate care for temporary pains growth is the result.

Evidence of the presence of God in our lives is presented by how we treat people.

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Partnering With Each Other - Unity

Partnering With Each Other - Unity

The Blessing of the Corporate Anointing - Unity

Psalm 133:1-3 KJVS Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! [2] It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; [3] As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.

Unity is established in a very interesting context here as it positions it as a place that can be inhabited. Using the word dwell speaks to a place of constant mutual abode.

The text qualifies the individuals that can create the condition for this to occur as “brethren”.

This is beyond agreement but requires a deep connection that is created by forces outside of my own will and decision.

It speaks to a relationship that is built on a common heritage with reciprocal actions.

This circumstance is described as being good and pleasant.

That unity is described “as” an ointment or oil utilizing the example of the anointing of Aaron.

This scripture describes what the anointing of Aaron as high priest was like. It was a complete anointing that covered his entire being.

The description of the ointment is that it is precious. Precious ointment carried a sweet aroma that radiated from the one wearing it.

Unity is not just seen but it presents an aroma that attracts the world.

“What a sacred thing must brotherly love be when it can be likened to an oil which must never be poured on any man but on the Lord’s high-priest alone!” Charles Spurgeon

The submission here is that there is no independent personal anointing but it is given by God, intended to benefit the entire body.

• Dwelling together must transcend physical presence and include spiritual purpose. Acts 2:1

• Spiritual unity is accomplished when spiritual order is achieved. 1 Corinthians 14:40 KJVS - 40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

• Spiritual unity facilitates the flow of God’s anointing.

• Corporate anointing impacts the head first before it flows to the rest.

• The head is a number of gifts and competencies working together for the leadership of the body.

• The anointing is in adequate measure to affect the entire body.

Application

1. Vs 2 expresses the idea that as Aaron needed this anointing that gave him access to function effectively in the priesthood, unity is required to access the presence of God.

   
   

2. Vs 3 expresses the idea that as the dew moistened the otherwise parched earth of Zion making it green and fruitful so unity produces the conditions for the heath and abundance of the body.

The dew came at nights to refresh the earth after the brutal beating of the sun to prepare it for the day ahead.

• So unity refreshes us from the harshness of the environment we live in and prepare us for what is to come.

• It is God’s enriching and refreshing agent for His people.

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