We're working through a series we just called Welcome to Trinity. And what we're using for a table of contents, we've begun with our name, Trinity Bible Church. We've got three messages, one on the Trinity, knowing our triune God. One on the Bible, there's nothing more important than knowing our God and the only way you can truly know him is through the scriptures. And then a third message on the church, we come together as people who believe that we know the Lord based on what we have seen in his word. And by repentance and faith, we have become followers of Jesus Christ. So that's the first half of the six messages. Tonight we're working on the first of the second three messages that come from our mission. And our mission is exalting Christ, encouraging those who know Christ, and evangelizing those who need Christ. And so this evening we're on that fourth message of exalting Christ, and that's what I'd like to talk about tonight, the fourth of these six messages. Now I want to do a disclaimer real quick, just a couple things to think about. We're focusing on exalting Christ And I will be suggesting that because of that, we apply it this way rather than that way. So it'll be a message that says, we would believe this, not that. I'm not implying that every church can be easily fit into this way, not that way. No doubt many churches, you would say, I'm not sure exactly where they would fall. I also want to make the point that for some of the items I'm mentioning, there will be other churches that would say we would see it differently. and we're not necessarily condemning them. We're just saying that's not how we would think it's best, but that doesn't mean other churches are necessarily wrong. So what we're talking about this evening is exalting the Lord Jesus Christ. And what does it mean to exalt Christ? Well, first of all, we have, I think, nine things to go through. I'll try to move quickly. Number one, it has to do with our purpose because we want to exalt Christ. Our purpose as a church is doxological. And that's from a Greek word that just means glory. Our purpose is glorifying God. And you might say, well, that's obvious. Wouldn't every church have that as its key purpose? Well, actually some would say, and I put the second idea in brackets just to make it clear. Some would embrace what's called an attractional model rather than a doxological model or purpose. And their whole goal is appeal to the lost and appeal to seekers. So they very intentionally work hard to get as many unchurched people in as possible. and then the whole service, the whole experience of what happens would focus on appealing to lost people, seeker sensitive, you've all heard that phrase, and then to attract them and to make them want to come back. What we are doing is actually different than that. And we are focusing on glorifying God and we want visitors to come, but that's not our goal. And if visitors would come and not get it, you know, I don't know what to say except that would be okay. I kind of think of it like if I had a birthday party for my mom. If you know my mom, you come to the birthday party and say, this is awesome. If you don't know my mom, you might say whatever, okay? And we are focused as people who know Jesus, that we want to glorify God, a doxological purpose to our ministry here. And just a text that maybe would support that or two, Romans 11, 36. For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Or maybe Philippians chapter 4, verse 20. Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen. and maybe one more that'll seem somewhat similar 1st Timothy chapter 1 verse 17. So here we are and we are focused as a church that we would wanna have a purpose that is doxological. And you know that, I'll just give you a simple illustration of that. That's even clear from our name. And I was not involved in selecting the name of this ministry. You know, we're Trinity Bible Church. If your goal is to get people to visit, wrong name, okay? First of all, you don't use the name church, okay? Because people don't generally wanna come to a church. Secondly, you pick something edgy. and you would call it the edge, for example. Or you pick something lofty, like summit, or the peak, or vertical. And I actually read an article, if you're going to use a theological word, it's not cool unless you put the word point on the end. So you want to be Grace Point or Cross Point. And if you really want to be cool, put an E at the end of the point. And that is a very hip spelling. I was thinking of this when I was just downtown. There's a very large complex of shopping centers being built right now. And I think it's called something like North Point or similar. And there you go. So, we aren't doing well, even beginning with our church name, but maybe that's okay. I would be the kind of person, just me, that if I were looking for a place to worship, visiting a town or whatever, Trinity, yeah, I mean, I believe in the triune God. Bible, that's what I want to hear preached in church, God's people. And our purpose being doxological. Let's hit a second point. If our mission is exalting Christ, then our goal, would be to worship the Lord, right? And again, you might say that's obvious. Our goal is to worship the Lord. Maybe that would be different. Will this help? It's in brackets. We would not, many churches would say no, our goal is to meet people's needs. And then I put in parentheses their felt needs. There was a gentleman who mastered this in Chicago, many of you know the name Bill Hybels, and he went door to door and just asked people, what do you want from a church? And he gathered all of his data together, and he thought if we want to get people in, then we need to meet their felt needs. And people like to be entertained, and so there would be a lot of entertainment implications to that, right? And so what would we do? We would do things that people would find entertaining, and then there would be many ramifications to that as well that I think will be more clear even as we go on. You say, why do we focus on worshiping the Lord? Again, just a few texts to consider. Colossians 116, by Him, that's Christ, all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through Him and for Him. so we exist for Christ so in some churches what they would do is I'm standing now on the stage you would be the audience and we would want to make sure that you're pleased with what we're doing and you sense your needs are met that would be different than saying no this is not a stage this is a platform and we're here to worship the Lord Now, there's different texts I can go to. The song of Revelation 5.12, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. So the song is worthy is the lamb. You say, what's the point? We're singing to the Lord. He is our audience. And again, these are just illustrations. It doesn't mean everyone would have to agree with how I do life. But I still remember there was a long time where I would just sit up here. And you know, choir sings, I'm here, we all sing, and I'm here. And I'm thinking, why am I here? I mean, I'm supposed to be here to worship the Lord. I ought to be down here standing next to my wife with my church family, worshiping the Lord. And that, to me, would just be something to think through. because the goal again is not to try to help the people hear the audience, but the sense of the whole congregation worshiping the Lord in a sense. I hope that makes sense, okay? So our goal would not be meeting felt needs of people, what sense they have, but to come together with the purpose, number one, doxological, two, the goal of worshiping the Lord. Let's go to a third point. So what is the focus? And I would suggest our focus would be Christ, and our leaders magnify the Lord. So in every ministry that's part of Trinity, whether that's me preaching, whether that's a song leader, whether that's a Bible study teacher or a truth trackers worker, that all of our leaders would be focusing on magnifying the Lord and revealing his character to people, that would be a little bit different, right, than a focus on a man where celebrities promote self or maybe their ministries. And it's unfortunate, and I'm not gonna use negative examples tonight, but many of you know there are people who have built incredible ministries And if you're really good, you not only fill a building, then you can put yourself on different screens at multiple buildings. And people get very well known and they become celebrities. And it's just an interesting idea where people are asking them for their autographs, right? Maybe they're even television characters or on different television shows. And the idea is just like in golf or sports, If you're awesome, you rise to the top and be a celebrity. That's what happens in a church context. And of course, what's unfortunate, not always, but sometimes, in this type of megachurch situation, that somebody falls, and they fall hard. And again, my goal is not to use negative examples. What I would hope our ministry, that a church should focus on, is that the leaders, and you may be in a leadership position, it's all about magnifying the Lord, it's about bringing attention to Christ. And none of us are celebrities, nor would pretend to be. And I hope you guys, you guys who know me know well enough, if you want to get big and you want to be hip, I'm not the guy, okay? that I'm old school and talk to my girls and they'll help you understand that, okay? Our focus is on Christ and it shouldn't be that anyone, me or another pastor, preacher, would be the focus of the ministry. We want to magnify the Lord. Which takes us to 1st Peter 4.11, I think, right? Whoever speaks, that would be speaking in a church context, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God. not not just what he thinks whoever serves us to do so is one who's serving by the strength with God supplies so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever amen first Peter chapter 4 verse 11 Galatians 6 for but may it never be that I would boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ so we do bust but it's in Christ and his work on the cross So if number one, our purpose is doxological, and two, our goal is to worship the Lord, and number three, our focus is on Christ, then if we're a church that exalts Christ, I'd like to talk about worship. And you say, didn't we already talk about worship? Number two is the goal is to worship the Lord. That's true. I'm talking here more about style, and I would emphasize that we take a reverent approach to worship. we're actually doing something where we're going to worship somebody who's incredibly important and so we take it seriously and that would be different than casual and I'm not speaking primarily of dress I'm talking about a heart attitude no doubt there are dress implications but the idea that we're going to see someone talk to someone worship someone very very high and lifted up and we would want to go with hearts that desire to worship him in a way that's reverent I not again words are challenging I am not suggesting at all being casual is wrong. It is not. And I am not suggesting you can't do things casually that honor Christ, right? I could go for a walk in my backyard and be very casual and be praying as I do that. But when we come together as the body of Christ that we would take it very seriously and maybe a text like Psalm 211 would come to mind. Worship the Lord with reverence. Or maybe another song just a few pages over in most Bibles of Psalm 5 7 but as for me by your abundant loving kindness I will enter your house at your holy temple. I will bow in reverence for you So it would be an attitude of what we're doing here is different than watching a ballgame, right? It's different than just hanging out and having fun, even though I think it's fun to be with God's people. I It's the idea of, in our hearts, it's, Lord, we're here to worship you and we want to do that in a way that would demonstrate reverence because you're worthy of that. And there are all kinds of ministry applications for that. So purpose, number one. Goal, two. Focus, three. Worship, four. Number five, let's talk about ministry. I would suggest that we then would have, as I believe we do, or at least strive to do, we have a word-centered ministry. And the goal would be, in all of our different ministry venues, communicating God's truth, all right? So even as our children get together, and grandchildren get together tonight, and they have their children's church, that there would be a presentation of God's truth. It's not just fun for the kids, even though I hope they have fun. And is we have youth group activities. There would be our youth group young people coming together, and I hope they enjoy it very much. But it's not just about fun. I have a friend of mine who became a believer, oh, I don't know, probably five years ago or so, had some teenage children and started attending a church that a friend of his invited them to. And he said, you know, Greg, my kids like going there because they go to the teen wing, and in the teen wing are all kinds of video games and screens. I'm not saying that's wrong. And he's asked the kids, what do you do? He says, we have a blast. And does anybody stand up and talk about Jesus? Well, not really. We just have a lot of fun. They want to make sure coming to church is a good experience for the teens. Well, that certainly would not be a word-centered ministry. That would be more what we might call an experience-centered ministry. Making sure that everyone has a positive experience. And so there would be a lot of effort spent on making sure that everybody feels really good about what's happening. And I think we realize sometimes preaching the Word does not lead to a good experience. Because there are times, no doubt, when we hear God's Word preached, God's Word taught, that we think, oh, and I'm convicted of my sin, and we leave thinking, oh Lord, and we're struggling in our hearts. See, that would be a word-centered, communicating God's truth, ministry-focused, rather than experience-centered, providing a positive experience. But again, even though we hope people come, and we would like them to think, yes, I was glad to be there. Certainly we don't want them to hate being here, but I hope exalting Christ makes sense. A text that comes to mind right here, Colossians 128, we proclaim him, that's Jesus. admonishing every man, and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we present every man, may present every man complete in Christ." What's the goal? To present every man complete in Christ. Another text that would be similar in in intent, 2 Timothy 3.16. All scripture is inspired by God, profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequate, another translation would be mature, or complete equipped for every good work and so our goal is to encourage people as they go through progressive sanctification to continue to change and grow to be more like the Lord Jesus Christ in Acts chapter 20 verse 20 and then I jump ahead to verse 31 The Apostle Paul says, I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you publicly, that would be tonight, that would be public ministry, and then from house to house. that very well may be going to a person's house, maybe talking over coffee or whatever. I'm not suggesting they had coffee shops then, but you get the idea. And then he says in verse 31, therefore, be on the alert, remembering that night and day So night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. Admonish has a sense of warning to it and he's saying I didn't shrink back from declaring anything to you and my burden was that you would know Christ and follow Christ And that would be what we would hopefully embrace as a church that has a word-centered ministry. So our purpose number one, doxological. Two, our goal to worship the Lord. Our focus number three, on Christ. Number four, worship that would be reverent. And let me quickly add, I don't think I've mentioned this, and I am fully aware that people will disagree on what reverence is, and I understand that. And yet I would like to think that we at least would agree on this is how we should worship, even if some would apply it differently than others. A ministry that is word-centered, let's get narrow then and talk about the preaching ministry, which is what's happening from the front of our church, even from this pulpit typically, okay? I would suggest that an exalting Christ would include, I have three words, preaching that is central, expository, and comprehensive. And to help us understand what I mean by those three words, let me put the opposite or at least a different approach up. Central, not secondary. If the goal is to get as many people as we can into this building and give them a very positive experience, then what we're going to do is we're going to make the lights really dim, and we're going to make the music very, very popular to what the average unbeliever would like, and we're going to make the experience very cool, okay? And we're going to want to do definitely better on AV. We want to have lots of lights. A smoke machine would not hurt. And to have people that are just kind of grooving through the morning, That's a good thing that they would like. And I want to be careful because there are many people that are doing that and they're very purposeful in that. That's because then once people are relaxed and they're there, then you have an opportunity to present a brief gospel message. And so you would pick a topic, you would want to stay brief because they're not going to stay long with you, and you have an opportunity to present the gospel, to teach a little scripture, and that would certainly not be central in the worship service. It would be secondary. And then the messages I'm suggesting would be expository. So I'm opening up Romans, and I'm saying the best I know, here's what it means. And I know enough to know and talk enough to realize that here we are, now we're past it. And there may be chapters we get to, i.e., 9, 10, 11. And some people are going to struggle, and we're even going to lose families. And they did, and we have. And I do not in any sense say, and who cares? I care deeply when people leave. I am committed to expository preaching and even if what's being preached means some people will tend not to come anymore see that's different than motivational preaching which would be you know you can have your best life ever and just take this nugget from God's truth and in a very select way that takes us to our third word I would believe in comprehensive rather than select preaching going through whole books not just selecting portions of scripture that are very motivational, and then presenting them as part of a package, a very feel-good-we're-glad-you're-here package. I am not suggesting that people who do this don't love Jesus, and they are oftentimes very frequently burdened for reaching out with the gospel even though I would see exalting Christ as different so as I look at 2nd Timothy 4 1 and 2 I solemnly charge you Paul says in the presence of God and Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead by his appearing in his kingdom preach the word be ready in season and out of season notice what's part of the preaching reprove rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction. Now, if you preach in a way that reproves and rebukes, that is something that's not typically well-received. And again, yet I see Paul saying that in 2 Timothy 4, 1-2. Maybe something similar is back in 1 Timothy 4, 3-5. Paul says, the time will come they will not endorse sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers, in accordance to their own desires, will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths. But you be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." So the goal is not to craft the message in a way that people will find more palatable, but the goal is to have a conviction that preaching should be central, it should be expository, it should be comprehensive. That's our sixth point. Seventh, in exalting Christ. And what is the emphasis? Well, the emphasis would be on what Christ has done. And we keep going over the gospel again and again and again. And that's not just for unbelievers, right? You never outgrow the gospel. So you don't just say, you know, I was unsaved, I got the gospel, okay, now I got it, so let's move on. You don't move on beyond the gospel. And we continue to understand better and apply to our lives what Christ has done. And I want to be careful, but a different approach would be a what you must do type of emphasis. That, you know, you're a Christian, you gotta do this, you gotta do this, you gotta do this, you gotta do this, you gotta do this. And what has Christ done can kind of, you know, just kind of float to the back burner, if you will. Now, depending on what passage you're in, in Romans or wherever, there's going to be different emphases. But I would like to continue to emphasize what Christ has done, 1 Corinthians 1, 23 through 24. We preach Christ crucified. To Jews, a stumbling block, and to Gentiles, foolishness. And that's true. And many people will say, I don't buy it, stumble. That's foolishness, reject it. but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God, and the Lord calls people to believe the gospel, and when they hear the gospel, they say yes, and they put faith in Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 2, 2, Paul again says, I determine to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. So the emphasis number seven, what Christ has done, that takes us to number eight. You say, then what is the invitation? Well, the invitation would be radical. The invitation is a radical call to repent and follow Jesus. Every person is walking, apart from Christ, the wrong way. And every person is a sinner a sheep that has gone astray, as we read in Isaiah. And what Christ calls us to do is to repent, to turn, and follow Jesus. That's radical. That's different than a non-offensive invitation to accept Jesus. Don't you want to accept Jesus? You say, well, am I sinful? Well, you know, I don't want to really get into that. And then, do sinners need to be judged one day? Well, you know, yeah, let's not really talk about that. That could, like, be so offensive, you know? Can't you just accept Jesus? And that type of easy believism message would be different than a radical call to repent believe the gospel and follow Jesus Christ you say where would you see that maybe Matthew 16 24 through 26 Jesus said to his disciples if anyone wishes to come after me he must deny himself take up his cross and follow me For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, forfeits his own soul? What will a man give in exchange for his soul? So we become followers of Jesus Christ, denying self, taking up cross, following the Lord Jesus Christ. That's a radical idea. Not just, well, maybe I could accept Jesus, but I'm repenting of my sin and becoming a disciple of Christ, which is what happens at conversion. And then as a person puts faith in Christ and follows Christ, there is a definite expectation. And this is our last point tonight. What's the expectation? It's great. It's sacrificial living. It's living a life that is for the glory of God, not your own glory. And that's different than an expectation that's minimal, where the message is one of toleration. We are seeking to honor Christ in all that we do. We've been going through Romans, right? 12, one and two. I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. So present your body. I'm gonna broaden that out to self. Present yourself as an offering to God. And don't be conformed to this world, age. Don't let this age push you into its mold, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you might prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Our lives should be quite different than lives of people who don't know Jesus Christ, because we're not living like them. We're following Jesus Christ. And He's changing us as we go through progressive sanctification. 2 Peter 3.18, I think, is a great text that would encapsulate this. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And we all, by God's grace, will be growing to the day we see Christ. You say, why? To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. How seriously should we take this? that if there's a professing believer who is not seeking to live a holy life and refuses to repent and continue in sin, then the Bible would discuss church discipline. And every faithful ministry would exercise church discipline in such a case. But I end with this text tonight. Why are we growing in grace, following Christ? To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. In our hearts, as followers of Jesus, we say, Lord, we love you, and we just want to exalt Christ in all we do. And so as we look at that this evening, nine things in exalting Christ, Our purpose, doxological, our goal, worship the Lord, our focus, Christ. Our worship, reverent, our ministry, word-centered. Our preaching, thus central, expository, and comprehensive. Our emphasis, what Christ has done. The invitation, a radical call, repent and follow Christ. The expectation, great. It's living a life that would please the Lord. I hope, I trust, that when you hear this very simple presentation this evening, that within you there is a yes. Yes. That's the way I want to live. I want to exalt Christ. And I want to be part of a church that seeks to do that. Did you notice? I didn't say that does that. I'm not in any way suggesting we've arrived. But by God's grace, as we continue to worship together as Trinity Bible Church, that our heart would be to seek to exalt Christ. Let's pray.