Amen. Ephesians 3 and verse number 20 the Bible says 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 Let me just read that again. Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Thank you so much. You may be seated. Praise God for the church. I'll tell you what, I love the church. The devil hates the church, but that's another reason I love it. The devil's mad at it, then I'm glad about it. Amen. And I thank God for the church. You know, when we talk about the church, maybe people that are a little bit unfamiliar with the doctrine of the church in the Bible, they may think we're talking about the building. We're not talking about the building when we talk about the church. Truth be known, this building could burn down tonight and we could go out and meet in a cow pasture somewhere and still be Temple Baptist Church. The building is not the church. I'm not talking about some specific organization. I'm talking about an organism. I'm talking about the living body of Christ. The Bible makes it very plain and clear that that's what the church is, is the body of Christ and He is the head of it. And I'm just thankful to get to be a part of it. What's so great about the church is the fact that it's all about Jesus, past, present, and future. Jesus Christ is, he is interlinked with the church. He's inseparable from the church, the right kind of church. And I mean, we're going to look at that today. We're going to look about what Jesus did for the church in the past, what he is doing for the church now in the present. and what he has planned for the church in the future. And I'm just thankful that we get to be a part of it. First of all, can I say this this morning that in the past, Jesus bought the church. That's why I love the church so much because it was bought and paid for by the Lord Jesus Christ. In Ephesians chapter five, And verse number 25, the Bible says that Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. I'll tell you what, if Jesus Christ loves the church, then I want to love it too. I want to love what he loves. And it says that he loved the church and gave himself for it. The Bible kind of expounds a little bit in the book of Acts chapter number 20 and verse number 28 about what that price was that he paid. In Acts chapter 20 and verse 28, the Bible says, take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." Bill Rice went over to Africa and he said when he was there, he said that the going price of a bride in Africa was eight goats. And that particular tribe that he would go in, he said, if a young woman happened to be particularly beautiful or strong or healthy, the dad might even up the price to nine or ten goats and maybe even a clay pot and a handful of fried ants thrown in to sweeten the deal. And so the dads would offer their daughters as a bride for that price. Well, he said there was a certain man, his name was Paula. I know here in America that's a woman's name, but in Africa that was a man's name, evidently. And Paula had gotten saved. Austin Paul, the missionary, had won him to Christ, and he was a blind man. But he wanted a wife and he needed a wife. And so come to find out, Paula was so poor he couldn't afford a wife. He couldn't scrape together eight goats and he couldn't afford a wife. But there was a man there in the village that had a daughter that was so ugly that he could not sell her. Nobody wanted her. True story. I've got the picture of the people in my office. And so anyway, he couldn't sell his daughter. Nobody would come up. So he lowered the price. He brought it down, I guess, to seven goats, then six goats, then five. Still no takers. Nobody was willing to part with some goats. I think he was almost ready to pay somebody some goats to take her off his hands. But nobody wanted to do it. Well, this blind man, Paula, found out about it. And he said, you know what? I can't see her anyway. I don't care what she looks like. I just need a wife. And so the price finally got low enough that Paul has scraped together enough goats and he went and he offered those goats to the man But when the man saw that he was blind, he said oh no, he said I'm not gonna sell her to you for that price He said you can't tell what she looks like. Anyway, I'm up in the price back up again and And so the problem actually went to the chief of the village, and the chief decided in favor of Paula and said, it's not right to penalize him just because he's blind. Besides that, he probably needs a wife more than other people do. And on top of that, obviously, ain't nobody else going to marry that girl. Nobody else is going to pay goats for that girl. And so he decided in favor of Paula, and they got married, and Bill Rice went there, and that lady got saved, and they became a Christian couple that loved the Lord together. Isn't that crazy? But I'm telling you what, that's how they do it in Africa. But you know what? There was a price that was paid for the Bride of Christ. Again, if you're not familiar too much with the terms from the Bible, the church, those that have been born again, that have been bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ are called the Bride of Christ. I'll tell you what Jesus paid a price for us when we were ugly when we were undeserving spiritually Hey when nobody else would want us I'm telling you what when we've been chewed up and spit out by the world and nobody else should want us Aren't you glad when we were unlovable? Somebody loved us and Jesus came it was willing to pay a price for us and it wasn't a low price Hey, it wasn't a price of goats. It wasn't a clay pot. It wasn't a handful of fried ants I'm telling you what he paid was the precious blood that flowed in his veins and I'll tell you the price he paid they took the beard of Jesus and ripped it out of his face They blindfolded him and pounded him and hit him over and over again They took a cat of nine tails and they grant and they tied him up and stretched his torso tight And then that Roman soldier beat him with that cat of nine tails and ripped open his body until you could see his bones and his intestines exposed many people died from the beating alone back in those days and Then they took him and they led him up Calvary's Hill after they'd put a crown of thorns upon his head and they laid him on that cross and he stretched out his arms and for six hours he hung there naked in shame before the whole world and suspended between heaven and earth as people walked by and they mocked him and they made fun of him. Hey, he didn't deserve to die. Jesus never sinned one time, but you know what he was doing? He was paying the price for the church. He was paying the price for his bride. He wanted you to be his bride. And he was willing to pay the price in full. And I'll tell you what, today if you're here and you say, I don't know for sure if I'm going to heaven, I don't know for sure if I'm part of that bride of Christ. Listen, you can be today. You may have walked in here not sure about it, but you can leave this place today knowing that you're on your way to heaven. And I want to just tell you today, if you can get today, if you'll put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and get born again, Hey, that's better than winning the Super Bowl any day, brother. I'm telling you what, you got a home in heaven, a place where the walls are jasper and the street is gold and the gates are pearl and there's no hospitals and no funeral homes and no doctors. I'm telling you what, a place where nobody ever gets sick, where there's no sorrow, nor crying, nor pain. I'm just simply telling you today, Jesus Christ bought the church with his own blood on the cross. And that's why the church is so great. He bought the church, he paid for it. Not only that, but secondly, the church is so great today because Jesus in the present is building the church. The Bible says in Matthew chapter 16, Jesus said this in his own words in Matthew 16 and verse number 18. Peter had just testified that Jesus Christ was the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus looked at him and in Matthew 16, 18, he said, and I say also unto thee that thou art Peter and upon this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Now, some people get all excited about that and say, see, Peter was the one that was the head of the church. Jesus said he was going to build the church on Peter. As a matter of fact, the Catholics say that Peter was the first pope. Well, if that's true, he was a pretty sorry one, because the Bible said, because popes aren't supposed to be married. And the Bible says that Jesus came and healed Peter's mother-in-law. He'd be a pretty dumb guy to have a mother-in-law without the benefit of having a wife to go with it, don't you think? Not only that, but he denied Christ three times. Now, thank God he got forgiven for it. God used him in a great way afterwards. But truth is, Peter was not the first pope. As a matter of fact, Peter was always sticking his foot in his mouth. He wasn't the cream of the crop, really. But the truth is, what Jesus was saying is a play on words. The name Peter means a stone, like a little stone. And what Jesus is saying, if you picture it, he looks at Peter and he says, thou art Peter, you're a little stone. Then he points at himself and it says, upon this rock, I will build my church. Jesus wasn't saying he's building the church on Peter. If a church is built upon a man, if a church is built upon a promotion, if a church is built upon some worldly thing, that church will eventually fall, that church will eventually fail. But if a church is built upon the Lord Jesus Christ, that church is gonna go on, that church is gonna thrive, That church is gonna be here alive and well when the rapture happens and we go to be with the Lord Because it's built upon the church now. I love what he says here. He says upon this rock. I will build my church He doesn't end it right there. He said and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it I'll tell you what, God has been doing some great things here at Temple Baptist Church, and I believe we're on the cusp of God doing some even greater things. But that saying has never been more true than when God starts blessing, the devil starts messing. The devil hates what's going on here, and the devil's a liar. And I'll just tell you this, the devil has really been fighting, and the devil has really been attacking. But I'm glad to say this, when the devil pops up his slimy, sleazeball, scumbag head, and he says, hey, I'm gonna take over this church or whatever, you can look right back at him and say, oh no, you're not, because this church is not built upon any man. This church doesn't belong to you, Satan. This church belongs to Jesus Christ. And he said, I will build the church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The devil's not going to have his way. I mean, it doesn't matter how much he fights. He's not going to have his way because he hates the church because Jesus loves the church. But aren't you glad Jesus is a whole lot more powerful than the devil is? Yes, he is. Amen. And so he said, the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Listen to what it says here in Ephesians chapter 1 and verse number 22. The Bible says, and hath put all things under his feet, talking about Jesus, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church. which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. There it plainly says the church is the body of Christ. And then in Colossians chapter number four, we find these words in Colossians four, I'm sorry, Colossians one and verse number 14. Talking about Jesus again, it says, in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. There's no other way to get redemption through His blood. Like they just sang, it's all about the cross. It's not about our baptistry. It's not about our church pew. It's not about putting money in the offering plate. It's not about saying, I'm a member of Temple Baptist Church. No, it's all about having your sins washed away by the blood of Jesus. It's the only way to get to heaven. The only way to have redemption is through his blood. And then it says, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. And then it says, and he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things, he might have the preeminence. That word preeminence just means he's above everything else. I'll tell you what, any church where Jesus is not above everything else, that church is on the wrong track. But I want to just encourage you and I want to encourage myself today. Let's never get to the place where we try to make it all about us. Yes, we should appreciate each other. We ought to be thankful for each other. And I'm thankful for you. And I thank God for those that tell me you're thankful for me. But I'll tell you what, it's not about me and it's not about anybody else here. He might have the preeminence. He's the head of the body. The church, it's his body. And you know what? He's building the church today just like he said he would, and it's his job to build the church. I'm not trying to nitpick, and I know they mean well, but there's a lot of people sometimes that will have these seminars and conferences, and they say, here, we're going to teach you how to build a church. Truth is, there's no man that can build a church. It's not our job to build the church. He never told us to build the church. Jesus said, upon this rock, I will build my church. It's Jesus' job to build the church. It's our job just to obey and do what He told us to do. And if we will obey and be where we're supposed to be and do what we're supposed to do, we can watch Him do a work that no man could ever do by trying. It's His job to provide for the church. It's our job to give. In 1 Corinthians 16, in verse number one, the Bible tells us to bring our offering to the Lord. And as a result of that, he says in Philippians 4, 19, but my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. And so he promised he would provide for the church. Some of you may remember me telling some time ago about the little church in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. And one of the church members had died and had willed a piece of property to that church. And they were excited about it, man. They had gone through the hoops they thought they had to go through, and they had built this brand new auditorium, and they were 10 days away from dedicating this auditorium. But the local building inspector came. You can almost hear the music, wah, wah, wah. I mean, man, the building, you have to jump through so many hoops and go through so much red tape now, it's crazy. But he came, and he came in and told the pastor, after he'd inspected everything, he said, Reverend, he said, I'm sorry, but you're not going to be able to meet. He said, well, what's wrong? What did we do wrong? He said, well, you've got a little parking lot back here, and your building looks fine. But he said, that parking lot is right up against that mountain coming down there. And he said, your parking lot's not adequate for the size of the building. He said, you're not going to be able to meet in this building until somehow you figure out a way to move part of that thing and double the size of your parking lot and pave it. Otherwise, I can't clear you to meet here. Isn't that crazy? But that's what he told him. And the preacher was undaunted. He got up that next Sunday morning, a week before they were supposed to dedicate that building. He got up and he said, folks, here's what the building inspector said, but I think we've got a God that led us to build this building and we're gonna meet here next week, Lord willing. He said, I want all of you with mountain-moving faith to meet me here tonight and we're gonna pray that God will somehow move part of that mountain back there and help us to enlarge this parking lot in time for the service. A lot of people thought he'd lost his mind because only 24 of the 300 members even showed up that night. And they came and they prayed for about three hours. At 10 o'clock on that Sunday night, the pastor, probably wiping some tears away, he got up and thanked the people for coming. And he said, all right, folks. He said, God's never let us down, and I don't think he's going to let us down now. We will dedicate the building at the time we plan next week. Well, the next morning, Monday morning, the pastor was in his office and he heard a door shut and he looked up and he saw this man that had dirt all over him in a hard hat walking through the office door there. He looked up and said, yes, sir, what can I do for you? The man took off his hard hat in respect for the house of God. He said, Reverend, He said, I'm from the Acme Construction Company over the next county. And he said, we're putting in a new shopping mall over there. And he said, we've run out of field dirt. We have got to have some field dirt, and we can't do anything till we get it. He said, would you be willing to sell us part of that mountain back there at the back of your parking lot? He said, we'll pay you for the dirt, and we'll pave the rest of the parking lot free of charge if you'll do that for us. I think that preacher probably said, let me pray about it. He said, yes. And probably started having a shout and fit running around his desk is my guess. But I'll tell you what, folks, long story short, they dedicated that thing the next Sunday at the exact time they said they were going to. And there was a lot more people than 24 that had mountain moving faith that next Sunday. I'm just simply saying it's God's job to provide for the church and aren't you glad he does it my he knows how to do it But he doesn't just provide materially. He doesn't just provide financially. He provides the manpower that's needed He provides if we'll be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and obey when he tells us to do something He provides all the other needs of the church, too You know in Acts chapter 2 and verse 47 the Bible says and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved The Lord's the one that adds, if we'll simply do our part. 1 Corinthians chapter 12 goes into the different kind of people that there are in the church. But in 1 Corinthians 12 and verse number 12, the Bible says it like this. For as the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of that one body being many are one body, so also is Christ. And if we had time to read it, he goes on through the next several verses, and he talks about how every single member of the body is equally important. As a matter of fact, everybody compliments parts of the body that you can see, and we all major on parts of the body you can see. But the parts of the body we can't see really sometimes are even more important. Because you can live without an eye. You know, people say, oh, you have beautiful eyes. But you can live without your eyes. But nobody says, oh, you have a beautiful spleen. But you can't live long without a spleen. You have the most gorgeous liver I've ever seen. I mean, who says that? But how long are you going to live without your liver? See what I'm saying? And God says those parts that people don't brag on, the parts that people don't see, the part that are behind the scenes, so to speak, down deep inside, they're the things that make it work. Thank God for those that are seen thank God for those that have the visible part But I'm telling you what folks don't ever think if you're a member of the church don't ever think that you're insignificant Don't ever think that God doesn't need you don't ever think that it doesn't matter if you're here or not Let me tell you something just like the body can't miss miss can't miss many members or it's gonna hurt the church can't either we need every member of the body of Christ here the Bible says now you are the body of Christ and members in particular and then he says this In Ephesians chapter number four, here's another wonderful one here. Ephesians chapter number four, and let's look here at verse number 11. I'll read it to you. Ephesians chapter four and verse number 11. The Bible says, and he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. "'Til we all come in the unity of the faith "'and of the knowledge of the Son of God "'unto a perfect man.'" That means complete. "'Unto the measure of the stature "'of the fullness of Christ.'" So he says that God puts people in the church and provides for the church where it's needed and how it's needed and when it's needed. And it's our job just to say, Lord, I believe that's what you want me to do and to respond and yield to the Holy Spirit when God would have for us to do it. Let me just give you one more here. Ephesians chapter number two and verse number 18. The Bible says, for through him we both have access by one spirit unto the Father. It's talking about anybody can be saved. It doesn't matter if you're black, white, Asian, Hispanic, Jew, or Gentile. It doesn't matter. Jesus died for you, and he would have died for you if you were the only person on earth. That's how much he loves you. And in Ephesians 2, in verse 19, he says, now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God. and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are builded together for inhabitation of God through the Spirit." Brother Paul was talking about this on Wednesday night. He was mentioning this. Truth is, he says here that we, as members of the church, it's almost like they put these bricks. There was a foundation laid. By the way, the Bible says, for other foundation can no man lay, and that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. He's the foundation. He's the chief cornerstone. Can't build anything without Him. When the church is built upon Him, then, after they laid the foundation, there was some bricks they started laying. And then they put all everything else in here and now we have a beautiful place to meet today. But the truth of the matter is, we're the same way. We as members of the church, we are built, this church is built upon Jesus Christ. But like Brother Paul said on Wednesday night, he said, look, I'm just a brick. And lest we should all start getting puffed up and say, boy, church couldn't make without it. We're just bricks. And we're bricks stacked upon one another and God is using us to build his church. Jesus said, upon this rock, I will build my church. I don't know about you, but I'm just happy to be a brick in that church. Aren't you? Hey, I'm happy to be part of that. It's his job to provide for the church. It's his job to protect the church. Remember Peter in Acts chapter number 12 we're talking about the Lord building the church and what he does for it in Acts chapter 12 Peter had been Arrested and Herod had already killed James one of the other disciples with the sword now he goes and arrests Peter And boy, I'll tell you what it looked like it was over for Peter. He was probably next I mean Herod had seen his poll numbers go up man. His popularity was skyrocketing those Jews around there didn't like the disciples They didn't like Jesus and they were hoping that Herod would destroy Peter just like he destroyed James, but God had other plans And the Bible says that prayer was made for Peter of the church without ceasing. Boy, I'll tell you what, Herod may have thought he was hot stuff, but he wasn't nothing compared to the prayers of the church. I mean, when those people began to pray, prayer is what moves the hand of God. Prayer is what activates the power of God to work miracles. And to make a long story short, because the church prayed, an angel of God came in that place where Peter was, and he was chained between two soldiers, slapped him on the side and said, Peter, get up. Let's get out of here. Peter thought he was dreaming. And he goes walking outside. suddenly goes outside in the fresh air, hits him in the face, and the gate opens, and he pinches himself and says, good night. This is real. He set me free. I'm out of here. Hey, you know why that happened? You know why God protected the church? Because the church was praying. And it's God's job to protect the church. It really is. I mean, I'm telling you what, if we're in the center of God's will, we're invincible till God's done with us. This is a, oh my goodness, I'm running out of time here. I was going to read that to you here, and that's good. But I'll tell you what. I've seen God protect the church over and over and over again quickly here as we're talking about God building the church It's his job to provide for the church. It's his job to protect the church. It's his job to purify the church Ephesians chapter 5. We just read it earlier where it says husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and and gave himself for it. But then it says that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. I'll tell you what, the Corinthian church had some problems creeping. They had some sin creep in and the apostle Paul wrote him a letter and said, look, you need to purge out that old Levin because that Levin, a little Levin, Levin at the hole up, that stuff can spread like cancer. Remember in the old Testament there in the book of Joshua, when they weren't, they beat, they defeated Jericho, the walls of Jericho came tumbling down, but they went against AI, that little bitty city and they got defeated. And God said, there's sin in the camp. Those there was 20-something men of Israel that got killed and the Israel lost a battle that day because of one man's sin in the camp Well, let me ask you today. Is there some kind of sin that God would convict your heart about that? You need to get right today Well, I'll tell you what all of us have seen to come short of the glory of God all of us stumble at times We all fall at times But I'll tell you what wouldn't you hate to be somebody that God was wanting to bless and God's wanting to send revival? And God's wanting to do a mighty moving, but he can't because of sin in the camp It's his job to purify the church and he convicts us about that. We need to make it right. You know, sometimes God brings hard things in our lives so that he can purify us. He talks about that in 1 Peter 1 and 1 Peter 4, the trial of our faith being much more precious than gold. They say the goldsmiths, whenever they would mine that gold out of the ground, it had all kinds of impurities on it. And that goldsmith would heat that furnace up hotter and hotter and hotter. And those goldsmiths knew when that gold was as pure as it needed to be because they would look in there and sweat would be pouring down their faces. They're looking through that glass into that furnace. And then a smile would break across that sweaty face because they could see their reflection in that gold. Sometimes God lets the heat be turned up in our lives. You're going through some hard times today some fiery trials I'll tell you what God may be turning up the heat in your life so that he can make you more pure So he can make the church more pure. I'll tell you what Job said this when he went through all the heartaches He said when he had tried me I shall come forth as gold Wouldn't you love it for God to be able to say Temple Baptist Church is a golden church? Sometimes he has to purify us, doesn't he? And sometimes he puts us through the fire. I'm done with this. We said that Jesus bought the church. Jesus is building the church. And I'm glad to say this, that Jesus is going to bring the church out of this world. Hey, I'll tell you what the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we, who's that? The church. We which are alive and remain shall be called up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever. Be with the Lord. Aren't you glad this world's not our home? We're just passing through. We need to be ready to meet him. The great explorer Shackleton, he was trying to reach the South Pole and he kept on going and he couldn't get through and kept having to turn. He turned back. And so he left a bunch of his men on a nearby island called Elephant Island. And he said, I'm going to come back and get you when I can. It's not good weather right now. The ice is all over the place. But he said, I'm going to leave, and I'm going to come back and get you. They had no idea when he was coming. But at one time, even though it was the wrong time of year, the season wasn't right, Shackleton came back. And after he had made several attempts to go back and get his men, he finally saw where the ice had separated just enough. And he took a great risk, but he went straight and zipped in between that ice, got his men, and took off back out of there right before the ice crashed together. It all, the whole thing took about 30 minutes and as they were sailing away, Shackleton turned to one of his men and he said, how did you guys know to be ready so fast? You had no idea when I was coming. How did you know to have everything ready? And in 30 minutes I got you and we were out of there. That man looked up and he said, Mr. Wild, your second in command told us every single day there was a chance that you might come back. He said, boys, roll up your packs. The boss may come back today. And he said, we had our packs rolled up because we thought you might be coming. Folks, I'll tell you what, Jesus said, if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again. We don't know when he's coming, but one thing we know is that he is coming. We better have our packs rolled up. Hey, we better be looking for the skies, listening for the trumpet because Jesus is coming back for the church. Aren't you glad? Hey, I'm glad to be part of the church, aren't you? Thank God for the church. I love the church. I love the church that Jesus bought with his blood. If you're here today and you're not a member, I'm not talking about a member of specifically Temple Baptist Church. That won't make you go to heaven. I'm talking about a member of that blood-washed band that's been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. Why don't you trust Jesus today and know that you're going to heaven? If you're here today and you've been saved and baptized, maybe you've been praying about it and you say, you know what? There's no perfect church, but I believe God may would have me to unite in membership with this church. Why don't you do that today? Just join up with us here. There is no perfect church. We're just preaching about a perfect savior.