Marks of a Biblical Church

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• Marks of a Biblical Church
• John 17 13-26

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John 17 13-21

• "But now I come to You and these things I
  speak in the world so that they may have My joy
  made full in themselves. "I have given them Your
  word and the world has hated them, because they
  are not of the world, even as I am not of the
  world. "I do not ask You to take them out of the
  world, but to keep them from the evil one. They
  are not of the world, even as I am not of the
  world.

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John 17 13-21, cont.

• "Sanctify them in the truth Your word is
  truth. "As You sent Me into the world, I also
  have sent them into the world. "For their sakes I
  sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be
  sanctified in truth. "I do not ask on behalf of
  these alone, but for those also who believe in Me
  through their word that they may all be one
  even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that
  they also may be in Us, so that the world may
  believe that You sent Me.

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John 17 22-26

• "The glory which You have given Me I have
  given to them, that they may be one, just as We
  are one I in them and You in Me, that they may
  be perfected in unity, so that the world may know
  that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You
  have loved Me.

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John 17 22-26, cont.

• "Father, I desire that they also, whom You
  have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that
  they may see My glory which You have given Me,
  for You loved Me before the foundation of the
  world. "O righteous Father, although the world
  has not known You, yet I have known You and
  these have known that You sent Me and I have
  made Your name known to them, and will make it
  known, so that the love with which You loved Me
  may be in them, and I in them."

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Six Marks of a Biblical Church

• Joy
• Sanctified/Holiness
• Truth/Word
• 4) Sent Out/Mission
• 5) Unity
• 6) Love

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1) Joy (John 155-11)

• "I am the vine, you are the branches he who
  abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit,
  for apart from Me you can do nothing. "If anyone
  does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a
  branch and dries up and they gather them, and
  cast them into the fire and they are burned. "If
  you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask
  whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

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1) Joy (John 155-11)

• "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear
  much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
  "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also
  loved you abide in My love. "If you keep My
  commandments, you will abide in My love just as
  I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in
  His love. "These things I have spoken to you so
  that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may
  be made full.

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2) Sanctify/Holiness v.17

• Sanctify them in the truth
• Your word is truth.

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Sanctify/Holiness

• To be set apart.
• B) Is the progressive work of God and man that
  makes us more and more free from sin and more
  like Christ in our actual lives.

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1 Cor. 6 9-11

• Or 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 effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor
  thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor
  revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom
  of God. Such were some of you but you were
  washed, but you were sanctified, but you were
  justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
  and in the Spirit of our God.

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Eph. 5 1-8

• Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved
  children and walk in love, just as Christ also
  loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering
  and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. But
  immorality or any impurity or greed must not even
  be named among you, as is proper among saints
  and there must be no filthiness and silly talk,
  or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but
  rather giving of thanks.

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Eph. 5 1-8, cont.

• For this you know with certainty, that no
  immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is
  an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of
  Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty
  words, for because of these things the wrath of
  God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
  Therefore do not be partakers with them for you
  were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in
  the Lord walk as children of Light.

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Sanctify/Holiness v.19

• For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they
  themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

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Our Joy and Sanctification

• V.13
• But now I come to You and these things I
  speak in the world so that they may have My joy
  made full in themselves.
• v.17
• Sanctify them in the truth Your word is
  truth.

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3) Truth/word v.17

• Sanctify them in the truth, Your word is truth.

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John 146

• Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the
  truth, and the life no one comes to the Father
  but through Me.

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Truth in our Age

• Modernism truth can be found in reason and
  science.
• Existentialism truth can not be found in
  reason and science but only be found within the
  individual. Truth is a personal matter. Its not
  what one searches for but something in which one
  creates.

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Truth in our Age

• Postmodernism truth is not found it is
  created (indeed it is not capable of being
  found). Absolute truth is a fable. It is not
  possible to find universal truth that is
  applicable to all people. Such truth does not
  exist and should not be sought. Truth is
  constructed communally, is subject to change and
  is highly subjective.

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John 1714

• I have given them Your word and the world has
  hated them, because they are not of the world,
  even as I am not of the world.

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4) Sent Out/Mission v.18

• As You sent Me into the world, I also have
  sent them into the world.

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Matthew 28 19-20

• Go therefore and make disciples of all the
  nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
  and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
• teaching them to observe all that I commanded
  you and lo, I am with you always, even to the
  end of the age."

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Acts 18

• but you will receive power when the Holy
  Spirit has come upon you and you shall be My
  witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
  Samaria, and even
• to the remotest part of the earth."

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5) Unity v.21

• that they may all be one even as You,
  Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also
  may be in Us, so that the world may believe that
  You sent Me.

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John 17 6,8,20

• I have manifested Your name to the men whom
  You gave Me out of the world they were Yours and
  You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your
  word(v.8) for the words which You gave Me I have
  given to them and they received them and truly
  understood that I came forth from You, and they
  believed that You sent Me(v.20) "I do not ask on
  behalf of these alone, but for those also who
  believe in Me through their word.

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John 1721

• that they may all be one even as You,
  Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also
  may be in Us, so that the world may believe that
  You sent Me.

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6) Love v.26

• and I have made Your name known to them, and
  will make it known, so that the love with which
  You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

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If we remove love, then

• Joy gt Hedonism
• Sanctification gt Self Righteousness
• Truth gt Cold Orthodoxy
• Mission gt Colonialism
• Unity gt Legalism

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When we express love for God the Father what
flows from that?

• Joy you cant love God and recognize who he
  is and what he has done for your salvation in
  Jesus Christ and not be filled with joy.

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What flows from Holiness?

• John 1415
• Jesus said, If you love Me, you will keep My
  commandments.
• You will grow in righteousness.

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What flows from the love of the word?

• Truth, because if you love the word, you will
  read it, study it, memorize it, and act upon it
  and your life will become the living book. Youre
  life will be characterized by the truth.

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What flows from the love for the world?

• Missions, our concern will be for the lost and
  a desire to bring them the truth found in the
  word.

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What flows fromthe love for other believers?

• Unity, found in the clear revelation of Jesus
  Christ of who he is and the work
• he has done.

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What then are the Marksof a Biblical Church?

• 1) Joy that stems from knowing that the penalty
  for our sins has been dealt with and satisfied on
  the cross, and the joy that follows from our
  obedience to Jesus Christ and the Word.

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What then are the Marksof a Biblical Church?

• 2) Sanctification knowing that we have been set
  apart from the world and unto service for Jesus
  Christ, and that the process of sanctification is
  one of no longer allowing sin to master over our
• lives but instead becoming more and
• more conformed to Jesus Christ.

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What then are the Marksof a Biblical Church?

• 3) Truth a love for Gods Word and allowing it
  to be the basis and source for our lives, both
  in what he believe and how we live out our
  beliefs.

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What then are the Marksof a Biblical Church?

• 4) Mission a passion to proclaim the truth of
  to a dying world and to reach the lost with the
  only hope they have, which is found in Jesus
  Christ.

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What then are the Marksof a Biblical Church?

• 5) Unity in our purpose, love and action as we
  submit to the revealed Word of God. Our unity
  must be centered around the works and teachings
  of Jesus Christ.

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What then are the Marksof a Biblical Church?

• 6) Love all of the previous marks of a biblical
  church must proceed in love. For true love binds
  the believer to his Savior and to the body of
  believers.

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How do we measure up?

• How does the Church?
• How do we?