We all could use some encouragement, and we will find it together today in the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton with this message on The Rock. We really just scratched the surface yesterday, but we're headed back to Matthew 16 with Dr. Don Wilton, well-known author, evangelist, seminary professor, and the pastor for over 25 years of Dr. Billy Graham.
I mention that because there's a fresh new book coming out. You can take a peek and get a pre-order, as a matter of fact, on our website right now at www.tewonline.org. I'll tell you more about it later, but just drop by our website anytime to see great resources that will help you grow in your faith. www.tewonline.org, that's the website. You can also call for information at 866-899-WORD.
That's 866-899-9673. And now, today's message, The Rock Part 2 with Dr. Don Wilton. The church is the rock. If you were to ask me today, pastor, what shall I do? I'd say make sure you belong to the church. But I want you to listen what Jesus meant by that.
Jesus said, I want you to join the journey. Now, everybody else is going to say, no, no, no. This is the way I'm going to do it.
And there are obvious things. You know, I'm going to secure my financial investment. I'm going to make sure I've got enough social security. I'm going to make sure that I'm well and healthy. I'm going to make sure that my children are capable. I'm going to make sure all of these things are part of the fabric of life. Jesus said, the one thing you must do if you want to stand on a rock, you want to be solid.
You want to be panic free. Be part of my church. So let's look at this. The church is the rock.
Why? Number one, because of the headship of Christ. Because of the headship of Christ.
There are so many scripture verses. Psalm 118-22, the stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The cornerstone in the building is the very part of the building upon which everything else depends.
Holds everything together. In Colossians chapter one and verse 18, Jesus Christ is the head of the body. The church, he is the beginning. He's the first born from the dead, so that he himself will come to have first place in everything. Christ is the head of the church. That's what Jesus was saying to him right here. Peter looked at him and said, you are the Christ.
You're the one. It's all on you. We stand on you. How firm a foundation is Jesus Christ our Lord. The church, the church's one foundation is Jesus Christ our Lord.
Elect from every nation. We come together. The headship of Christ is the greatest statement. It's the greatest joy.
It transcends race, color, ethnicity, gender. It's the church. Jesus gave to us a rock. He said you take the rock away, you're going to squabble about gender until the sun comes down. You're going to be so filled with racial strife, hatred. You're going to fight tooth and nail over politics.
You're going to scramble. You're going to send each other horribly. You're going to cuss one another out. You're going to get in each other's face.
You're going to descend into such unkindness. It's the church. This is not just a Sunday morning happening. This is the foundation. This is the rock. And it's Jesus saying, come on, I invite you to join the journey. The church is the rock because of the headship of Christ, but it's also the rock because of the authority of the word.
The authority of the word. Regardless of trends, what are the trends that go on in any society? The trends are, listen, let's put on a show. People want a show. I want something moving. Action. I want chats. I want to just do something that's got something in it.
And folks, that's why soaping is so critical. Studying God's word together, reading God's word. Life groups. Word of God.
Talk about ball games and family, and it's all about relationships, isn't it? Yes. Yes. Word of God. What about the word of God? A lot of things you can say about the word of God. Jesus was teaching us this.
This is the church. The word of God is truth. You want to know truth?
Right there. The world's search for truth. Number two, it's absolute. It's absolute. It transcends our meetings, discussions. It transcends the discourse of public opinion. It's so much better than a preacher. It's the word of God.
Someone, a wonderful person, wrote to me this week, said, how do I respond? All of these theories going on, conspiracy theories, and this theory, and that person says this, and this is going to happen. Got a simple answer. The word of God. Test everything by the word of God. Let's go back to the word of God. Don't be unkind.
No need to be unkind or fob people off. Thank God for great teachers of the word. Thank God for your Sunday school teacher, for your life group leaders, for your pastors, people that get alongside you, moms and dads. Let's teach the word of God.
None of us have a corner on this market. God does. It's his word. Let's go back to his word. It's truth. It's absolute. But it's also sufficient. It is sufficient. The word is sufficient. What does that word sufficient mean in terms of the word of God and the church?
It's very simple. It's sufficient enough in all of its ways to restore through salvation even the most broken life. That's what it means, the sufficiency of God's word. It is sufficient to restore through salvation even the most broken life. It is sufficient.
It is sufficient to give reason to be thankful. All these things, Jesus was standing there in the midst of all this panic. He said, let me tell you something on my word, my church. That's what he's saying. Stand on the rock.
Stand on the rock. The church, the headship of Christ, the authority of the word. It's sufficient to meet every human need. There is not a single human need that this word is not sufficient to meet.
Not a single one. Meet every single human need. It is sufficient to equip every believer for every good work. This word. That's why God says our responsibility in the church is to equip us believers for what? For work of ministry, to do it.
You know what it does? It stops us yapping away and gets us down there and actually doing what we say we believe. That's what it means to be equipped. Otherwise, all you're doing is spewing hot air.
And there's a lot of hot air going around. It means you're a doer of the word. And the sufficiency of Scripture equips every one of us, all believers, to do the work of ministry. The church is the rock. That's what Jesus, here he is standing in the midst of all this obvious panic in this frightful condition.
He chose that spot. Why the church? Because of the headship of Christ, because of the authority of the word, but because of the application of the Spirit.
You know what's happening right now? The Spirit is applying the truth of his word. What does the Spirit do? The Spirit convicts us what of?
Three things. Number one, of sin. The church applies the Spirit. Why the church? Because the Bible says where two or three are gathered in my name, I'm right there in the midst of them, guaranteed.
The Spirit convicts us of sin, you and I, of sin. Before I walked out here today, I knelt down at my kneeling bench that my good friend, Dr. Huminski, made for me 25 years ago. I knelt at my kneeling bench before I walked out here. And I cried to God. And I said to him, oh God, I'm on my knees here.
There's nobody watching me. I'm in my little office and I'm just asking you, would you forgive me for my sin? Cleanse me.
How can I get up and say anything? The only way that I can be blameless is because you forgive me. The application of the Spirit. He convicts us of sin. He convicts us of righteousness. The word righteousness is right living. You and I got to live Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
What are you facing this week? The church. This is what God does for us in the gathered church, in our life groups.
That's why this is an invitation to join the journey. Convicts us on how to live. Convicts us of judgment.
Why of judgment? Because when we become convicted of the reality of God's righteousness, we become convicted of the reality that God cannot in any way tolerate or accept sin. Because folks, these in a pagan world, you'll hear everywhere, oh God, God doesn't really mind.
Yes, he does. He's righteous. Wow, you know, that's just a, God, you know, ah, you know. How can you say God loves us and say at the same time, God will never send anybody to devil's hell? Bible's clear, folks.
Isn't that how unpopular or popular it might be? We are not the measure of the rightness or the wrongness of the righteousness of God. Who says we decide that?
God has already decided that. The church, this rock, this is a rock, man. This is where we go. Where else would we go?
Where do we go to stand on a rock? Who are you turning to, who's got the answers? Who's answering our questions? Why don't you put on your TV tomorrow and see if you can find the answer? Who's telling us?
Where are we getting? Who, which, what, how, what, a question about everything. Jesus said, who do you say I am?
Well, you know, I want to know what you say. You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And then Jesus gave to them the three dynamics of the church. He said on this rock, I will build my church. On this rock, the gates of hell. Why? Because of the headship of Christ and the authority of the word and because of the application of the Spirit.
How about this one? Because of the role of every believer. Because of the role of every believer. When he talked to Peter, he was talking to me. He was talking to you. He was saying to Peter, you're right, Peter. You like Matthew and Mark and Luke and John.
Like William and like Mary. Every believer, you have me living in you. You have the rock in you. You got me. You are the temple of the living God. This is the church. He was saying you don't only come to church, you are the church. Don't just go to church, be the church.
Because that's who you are. This is the great commission. This is going out, coming in, being equipped to go out and to equip. It's an incredible statement.
It is, it's just, this is the rock. And it's the role of every believer. What is the role of every believer in church?
Well, you could list, I listed four or five things I was writing now. I wonder what our role is according to scripture. Well, our role is to be there.
Isn't that a good one to start with? To be there. Be in church. Be part of the church.
Do church, be there. Number two, to learn. This is God's school. This is where we learn. It's imperative to be in that life group.
It's not an option. It's imperative to be in these worship services. You need both. It's imperative to study the word. It's imperative to learn. Every day we learn on the rock, from the rock, as the rock. Every time we learn, as participants in the church, we ourselves solidify the rock, who we are.
It is the most incredible opportunity. Do you know yesterday I prayed for, by name, probably 15 of my neighbors in our neighborhood, by name. I did it sitting in my home. Can you do that?
I'm asking everybody to do that. That's the belief. That's the rock.
That's the rock. Our role is to share. The disciples did. Jesus said, get out there and share. Be a witness. Encourage. Our role is to be ministers of encouragement, not ministers of discouragement. You listening, church? It's a powerful challenge to be ministers of encouragement, and the world that we live seems to feed on discouragement and discourse that is always oppositional, instead of finding those opportunities to encourage one another.
Forgive the interruption. Dr. Don insists I remind you that we would love to encourage you. Either keyboard to keyboard on our website at www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org, a great place to sign up for our daily encouraging word email and discover other grand resources like the new book coming out on March the 20th called Saturdays with Billy. It's a brand new book written from Dr. Wilton's experiences every Saturday for over 25 years, just spending time with the remarkable, influential man, Dr. Billy Graham. Dr. Don mentioned it the other day. Dr. Don started going as somebody who thought he was somebody, talking to someone who believed he was nobody, but really was somebody. Dr. Billy Graham's influence on Dr. Wilton is profound, and as you read this book, you'll discover that Dr. Wilton and Dr. Graham can have an influence on you and me as we read To Be the Men and Women of Christ We're Called to Be. Again, more details are online at www.tewonline.org, and know that we're here to pray with you as well 24 hours a day at 866-899-WORD.
That's 866-899-9673. Now back to today's teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. There are so many things that I will agree with you I can owe me and owe my about.
You know my rollers? Come on now. We can do this. I can just see General Eisenhower, just before D-Day, gathering thousands of our men who are about to lay down their lives. Well, men, I just want you to know we're going to go across this little channel here, and I'm telling you, I doubt if any of you are going to get to the other side.
It's going to be the worst thing that ever happened to you. What kind of general is that? What kind of believer is that? It goes around, oh, ask God. Jesus was standing in the middle of all me, and he said, guess what? Gates of hell are not going to prevail.
You ready for this? Role of the believer, do the work of an evangelist. Church is the rock.
Why? Just sharing some thoughts with you, because the headship of Christ and the authority of the word and the application of the spirit and the role of the believer. Number five, because of the encouragement of the heart. Can I just tell you, you know what I'm praying today? You'd be encouraged.
Is that okay? I just want you to be encouraged. I want you to come out of this. I want you to go to your life group, be encouraged.
I want you to go home, go back, be able to get up tomorrow morning. You might be standing right there at the gaping hole of your Caesarea Philippi, but you're standing there encouraged. You're uplifted.
It's what Jesus was saying. This is the rock. You now just close with this.
It's the rock because of the invitation to join. Jesus did this for all of us. He said, come on, join the journey. So here's what I'm going to recommend you just ask the Lord right now. Ask the Lord for these three things. Number one, ask the Lord to let you really become a piece of the rock. That was Peter.
Become a piece of the rock. I can never be Jesus. Yo, I'm not Jesus. And I mean not even close. You and I can never measure up to him.
You know what? He invited us to be a piece. Lord, I want to be a piece of you.
I want to be a rock. Second, ask him if you could be a partner in the rock. Be a partner. Don't sit on the outside. I'm going to invite you in a minute to join.
Don't sit outside. Come on in. Be a partner in the rock. Number three, ask the Lord Jesus to help you be a participant of the rock. A piece of the rock, a partner in the rock, a participant of the rock. Can I tell you why God raises up participants?
Just go and look at the bridge. Think of all the participants of the rock ministering to people in need. Just think of all the life groups and Sunday school groups meeting today and all the teachers that have prepared.
They are participants. Just think of all the people welcoming others into the church, standing at doors. Think of those who are serving as deacons, those on teams, those going out, those going on mission trips. Think of your partnership in giving. You've been so wonderful as you've given to your church.
That's partnership. Oh, how we'd love to partner with you on the most important project, the most important mission, the most important reaching out to your community is reaching up to Jesus first and foremost as Lord and Savior. You've heard this great preaching from Dr. Wilton. As a matter of fact, some of you listened for the last couple of days, but our prayer is that you would open your heart to what Dr. Don wants to share with you next. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ?
I'm so happy to hear that. Why don't you pray this prayer with me today? Dear God, I know that you love me very, very much, and I know that the Lord Jesus Christ came and died on a cross so that I might be forgiven of my sin. Today, I repent of my sin. I confess my sin to you, and I invite you to come into my heart and into my life by faith. In Jesus' name I pray. If you prayed that prayer, let me be the first one to welcome you to the family of God.
This is wonderful. I hope that you know how much I'm going to be praying for you and how very important this is for me. Call us so that we can talk to you and connect you in the right place so you can begin this wonderful journey. If you just prayed with Dr. Wilton moments ago, perhaps to give your life to Christ for the first time or rededicate your life to Jesus Christ, we want to be a part of seeing God grow your faith. We'd love to encourage you. We'd love to pray with you.
Maybe there are questions you have. We'd love to help discover those answers in God's encouraging word if you'll call us at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. Or you can meet us online as well at www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org. There are so many remarkable things that God has brought our way to help encourage you, including one special new book by a good friend of Dr. Wilton, Jack Eason, called The Loneliness Solution. And now more than ever, God has a remedy for the loneliness that many of us feel. Again, the details are on our website at www.tewonline.org. I pray you'll take a look.
As a matter of fact, here's Liz with all the details about this very special book. Jesus said, you are the light of the world. God gives us so many opportunities to share the gospel. I believe today that America is weeping. Our friends, family and neighbors are weeping.
So what is God saying to us? We are the light of the world. Jesus brings hope. There is warfare, spiritual warfare going on like we've never experienced.
We'd had better wake up America. We need to encourage one another in times like these. Speaking of encouragement, I have a life changing ministry resource to send you from a good friend of mine this month for your gift of support to the encouraging word, The Loneliness Solution, finding meaningful connection in a disconnected world book by Jack Eason.
The Loneliness Solution is a great resource to encourage people on how to discover genuine friendships with others. I want you to get a copy for yourself and copies to keep on hand as you go about your day to give to others. You will never know how much a word spoken or a gift given at the right time can change someone's life. Call us today at 866-899-WORD to request The Loneliness Solution book for a gift of $15. Thank you for your prayers and continued support of The Encouraging Word as we share the gospel to deliver lost souls from the clutches of darkness around the world. It's a great resource, but our number one resource is the ability to pray for one another. If you want to meet with us online, TEWONLINE.ORG, we have resources that will help you walk through your prayer life and grow your prayer life like the daily encouraging word devotional from Dr. Don. Sign up for it. You'll have it in your email box every morning about 6 o'clock. It will supercharge your day, I promise you. Or maybe you just need to talk with someone and pray with someone now. The number is 866-899-9673. That's 866-899-9673.
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