welcome to the Believers Bible assembly welcome to the Believers Bible assembly today dr. Jackson

will begin a new series the truth about the church these messages will focus specifically on the identity purpose

role and function of the church in these messages he will expose the lies and distorted teachings about

the church with Biblical truth from the scriptures listen and be blessed I'm excited today because

the day we began a brand new teaching series the truth about the church and we're going to

answer the question what is the church if you ask other people about what the church

is you'll get 100 different responses but just like the other truth about series that we talked about we going

to answer this question what is the church from a Biblical perspective this teaching message is focused

specifically on the identity the purpose and the role and function of the church church

the church is God's instrument that he's using to accomplish his purposes here on the

earth the church has a purpose the church has a function and that's to accomplish God's purposes here

in the earth however in 2026 the church is all over the place in his Doctrine and his

practice and biblical understanding of what the church is and what is called to do they're all over the

place the purpose and function of the church has been distorted by many false teachers some

people they view the church as yes I'm building a place we go others see the

church as a business a way to make money other see the church as a platform for social justice

causes and other sees the church as a place to come to receive blessings and some has even turned

the church into a platform for at ease and celebrities but Jesus did not die

merely to create an organization he gave himself for a people Redeemed by his blood

and dwelt by his Spirit built together as his spiritual body and given a commission and assignment

to represent his kingdom here in the earth Matthew 16:18 Jesus said I will build build my church and

the gates of Hades shall not Prevail against it this is Jesus's church he says he's

going to build it and the gates of Hades the gates of Death Shall Not Prevail

against it so in this first teaching the truth about the church we're going to talk about

what the church is and what the church is not from a Biblical perspective and not understand the

church based on our individual Church experiences because they're all vary depending upon how you was brought

up in the church but what is the biblical perspective of what the church is and

where the church is not first let's define the church the church is defined as a spiritual union with Christ

rather than organizational structure and this is key the church is a spiritual body in

Union with Christ and not an organizational structure the second thing we need to know about

it is that the church includes both The Universal Church all True Believers across all time and

spaces that's the universal church and the local church the local Gathering of Believers committed to Fellowship worship worship and

instruction Bible teaching and we need to distinguish between the two because all True Believers are part of

the universal church when you were born again you were baptized into Christ you were baptized Into The Universal

Church all True Believers across all times and spaces where as the local church is local gatherings in your local

communities with local leavers there that are committed to Fellowship worship and instruction we defined the church now let's talk

about what the church is the church is referred to by many names in the New Testament it's called the

body of Christ what is it is a living spiritual body composed of all genuine Believers

with Christ as his head now put some emphasis on True Believers genuine Believers those who are born

again because what we know and what we're going to find out is that everyone that steps foot

into the church is not a True Believer a genuine believer we're talking about what the church

is is a living organic spiritual body composed of all genuine Believers with Christ as the head

we are a living spiritual body because we serve a living Christ who is the head of the

church all right let's get into some scripture this morning First Corinthians chapter 12 verse 27

says now you are the body of Christ and each of you is a member

of it this verse says that Believers right now form Christ Living spiritual body on the Earth where is

Christ according to the scriptures he's seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven and he told his

disciples that I'm not going to leave you as orphans I'm not going to abandon you I'm going to

pray to the father to sin the holy spirit in my place the holy spirit is here but the Holy

Spirit lives within each one of us each morning again believer each true genuine believer of Christ has the

Holy Spirit indwelling them and this spiritual and dwelling makes up the spiritual body of Christ here

in the Earthly realm and the spiritual body of Christ here in Earth realm is a growing body

is a single organism that's growing evolving under the headship and the leadership of Jesus

Christ as we continue to renew our minds we 10 you too grow in the

grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we are a living spiritual body on the

earth as a single organism growing under his headship and Leadership each individual in the body of Christ has

been given gifts and abilities that contribute to the body now already you seeing a difference

between the body of Christ and just sit in the pews any morning Jesus Christ did not die for

us to sit in the Pew on Sunday morning he's given us gifts and abilities to

contribute to his overall mission and plan but their spiritual the body of Christ is the spiritual body of Christ

here on the earth and we've been given gifts in this body and each individual in the body

of Christ matters let me say that again each jewel in the spiritual body of Christ matters there

are no big means and little use in the spiritual body of Christ now there's

different functions there's different giftings there's different Ministries but there's no big mean and little use in

the body Paul talks about this in First Corinthians chapter 12 how all the parts of the physical body work

together and use that as an analogy to teach about how the virtual gifts that Christ put in the body

should work together and when we understand how the body of Christ functions we will understand and know our

role and our identity within the body of Christ that's going to bring about Unity

purposeful service and confident a representation of Jesus Christ to the world now it says we are

the body of Christ and each each one of you is a member of it when you're born

again you automatically become a part of the body of Christ there is no membership intake you have to

be given the right hand of Fellowship we are a body but the body cannot function without the head Colossians

the body were United as one whoever Christ leaves we follow you want to talk

about confusion the head is going one way and the body's going another way that's not Christ

that's not the body of Christ that's confusion that's religion that's the nomination but Christ is the

living head of the church and he's Lord over everything that the church does so everyone

in the church should be submitted to the lordship if and Leadership of Jesus Christ

we should rely on his power rest in his resurrection what he did for us on the

cross and exalt his name when we do these things the church collectively and the church individually

will experience the fullness that God intends for us so we talked about what the body of

Christ is now let's talk about what the body of Christ was not it is not a physical building

made of brick and mortar that has a steeple on top the church is not a

physical building the building is simply the place where the body of Christ assembles it

is not the church this is a building this is a church and you see

the big difference the church is not a physical building is a place where we gather where we assembled but

it's not the church and we need to understand this difference because many people have

a relationship with a church building and not the builder of the church them said again many people have

a relationship with the church building Oh They'll brag about their Church our church is 400 years

old they all their brag about our church building and they're so focused on the building they don't have

a relationship with the builder of the church who is Jesus Christ because the church is not a building

it is his ex lesya his called out people and that's the second point I want to share with

you this morning the church is a called out people now this is a new testament

word for church ekklesia and it literally means a called out assembly a community gathered out

of the world unto God we are called out assembly when you were born again you

was called out from the world unto God and for his purposes so when you read the word

Church in the New Testament understand it from his Greek meaning ekklesia a called out assembly and

you see this many times in scripture Matthew 16:18 Jesus said on this rock I will build

my ekklesia the church he's going to build his church he's called out people know we're in

the scripture is Jesus talking about Building a Church of brick and mortar First Corinthians

from a 16:5 Paul wrote Greek also the church the Ecclesia in their house because

that's where they were meeting in in houses they had house churches you know why because there's no building so

they met wherever they can meet you had various houses where people gather together to worship to Fellowship

the church is a called out people we know it is now let's talk about what it's not the

church the Ecclesia Body of Christ is not a weekly event or meeting we have to get

out of this mindset gathering for Sunday service an activity of the church but the true church

the called out church is a continuous Community of Faith 24/7 you are never disconnected from

the church disconnected from the actual Sia the body of Christ why because you are never disconnected from Christ

who is the head of the church so the true church is a 24/7 Church meaning what

we do outside of our weekly Gatherings people have reduced the church to Anna Griffin event I gotta go

shopping I gotta get my oil change I got to go to church check check check I'm good but

in reality the church that Jesus Christ died for is a continuous Church a community of faith

that operates 24/7 outside of the church doing work and the work is what preaching the gospel leading people

to Jesus Christ in the workplace in the neighborhoods within their families that's the true church of the Bible

we are the body of Christ we're all called out people the ekklesia the Bible also identifies the church as

the household of God the household God is a spiritual family bound together by faith and the word word

with a shared life and adoption as Sons and Daughters of God we're a spiritual family that's what the church

is there can see a connecting and bound by our faith and the word we have shared experiences because we

all have to deal with this thing called life and we all have to deal with

this thing called spiritual warfare so we have shared experience in life and we were all adopted

as Sons and Daughters of Jesus Christ that means I went out of his way to make sure that

we can be a part of his family now that wasn't the case all the

time let's go to Ephesians 2:19 and it says therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow

citizens with the Saints and members of God's household there was a time that we

were strangers and foreigners we were outside the family without any rights of citizenship but because of

what Jesus Christ did on the cross and we believe and we were born again we are

no longer strangers we're no longer foreigners but we are fellow citizens with the Saints the other believers God's people

and we are members of God's household we were outside of the family now we're inside the

family because of what Jesus Christ did and we're members of God's household First Timothy chapter 3 verse

so that you will know how each one must conduct himself in God's household which is the

Church of the Living God the pillar and Foundation of truth that's what it is

when the people come to church they should be expecting the truth that comes from the word of God where

the household of God we're not a Human Institution that just gathers together on Sundays we are the household of

God now the church is not an organization but it should be organized but its primary identity and Mission

is divine in origin it has a spiritual purpose and a relational structure is called

Fellowship Koinonia that's why we gathered together because we are members of the household of God we are

the body of Christ we are called out people we are members of the household of

God and we are mission agents of Christ we have been sent into the world the church the

Ecclesia the household God to proclaim the gospel to make disciples to minister God's grace we are

mission agents of Christ Matthew 28:18-20 says that we have to go and make disciples baptizing them and

teaching them Second Corinthians 5:20 says we are Christ's ambassadors price Representatives here on the earth we were sent into

the world to represent Jesus Christ Acts 1:8 says that we'll be able to do that when the Holy

Spirit has come upon us and then can go throughout the world to be a representative to be a

witness of Jesus Christ proclaiming The Gospel and making disciples we are mission agents of Christ that is

the purpose of the church we are not isolated from the world Jesus said we're in the

world but we're not of the world Jesus prayed to the father that he keep us in the

world why to be Mission agents of Christ you're being his Representatives here on the earth proclaiming the gospel

and making disciples we have a mission and we are sent into the world to proclaim the gospel

to represent Jesus Christ to a loss Dying World just when you think the world can

get more corrupt as you get more corrupt day by day and we were sent into the world for such

a time as this to proclaim the gospel and to represent Christ to the world there's a lot of

people that know about Christ or they think they know about Christ but they don't know Christ of

the Bible as missing agents of Jesus Christ that's where we step in but how can we share and

teach somebody about Jesus Christ and we don't even know myself because incumbent upon us that we understand

and know the Christ that we're talking about so that we can share him with the

world so that the same Grace this upon us can be available to them as

well we are mission agents of Christ we're not social justice Warriors we don't have any

other agenda but Christ agenda and that's what we're supposed to teach that's what we're supposed to preach because we're

missing agents of Jesus Christ we represent Christ here in the earth realm we're also called the Temple

of the Holy Spirit the Temple of the holy spirit is a spiritual Dwelling Place what God's spirit

resides both individually and Believers and collectively will regather and symbol together in the Old Testament in the

gospels they worship in the temple a physical building now Christ Spirit dwells in us

we are where Christ's Spirit resides First Corinthians 3:16 do you not know that you yourself

self are God's Temple and that God's spirit dwells in you where does God Spirit dwell it dwells in you

guys Spirit doesn't dwell in the building it dwells in you so wherever you go

God is with you wherever you go you represent Christ why because God's spirit dwells in you but

we were taught God dwells we're in a building because the Testament gospel mindset that's

where he was matter of fact the Jewish custom was they had to go to the

temple three times a day at a certain time because that's where God's will he dwelt

in the temple after Christ's death and resurrection and his Ascension to Heaven he sent the Holy Spirit now the

Holy Spirit dwells in you not a building you and we have to understand this wherever we go

we represent Christ he dwells on the side of us Ephesians chapter 2 verse 21 and 22 describes

Believers being joined together in Christ to form a living holy spiritual Temple where God lives through the Holy Spirit

the church is not a building never has been a building and never will be

a building the Holy Spirit dwells in you you are God's holy spiritual Temple he resides in you visually

and he resides in US collectively when we gathered and assembled together the church is called

the Temple of the Holy Spirit but it's not a denomination there's no denominations in the Bible denominations

were created by man man created the Baptist Man created the Methodist Man created the Pentecostal Holiness with their

religious hierarchies and political allegiances that do not conform to what the church is that's what

churches have become now hubs for social justice political activism things that Christ never talked about people

go to churches to find Christ and they're talking about politics they go to the church of

turf and Christ and then on picked up some political agenda that has nothing to do with Christ but

it using Christ as a cover to support whatever agenda they're trying to support this

is not the church that Jesus Christ said he came to build the church is not a

denomination denominations were created by man when you can stand before the Lord in heaven he's not going to

ask you what denomination are you son are you a Baptist or Pentecostal he's not

gonna answer that question you know why they were man-made God had nothing to do with it it's spiritual

division we're supposed to be United as one one Lord One Faith one baptism but because

of man they created separation within the body with these different religious views and these different denominational

setups and each one of them has set up religious hierarchies no that's not how the body Christ Works everybody

in the body of Christ is equal in the eyes of God there is no

big means and Lulu's we have different functions we have different purposes we have different giftings God has set some

in the church the be pastors teachers evangelists that's his doing but they were set in

the body to equip the Saints to do the work of ministry not to Lord over them

these religious hierarchies you got somebody on top and he's the only one that has access to

God you don't because you were little you and he's a big me example of that would

be the Pope in the Catholic denomination the pope is God forget what the scripture says whatever the Pope

says it's the truth the Pope says something that's true and the Bible says that is not

true we're going to leave the word the Pope the pope is on top of the hierarchy he's

closer to God than we are that's not the church each individual in the church has

direct access to God through his son Jesus Christ you don't have to go to or through anybody

a lot of these denominations have become cult-like because now you've got to go to a pastor

you got to go Bishop to get approval to go to God what was that at the scripture my

prayer asked a spiritual body we can understand the true relationship that we have with Jesus Christ and

understand our role here on the earth the church is not a denomination or political movement political movement impact

the natural the church is here to impact the spiritual we're on a your mission from Christ the

apostles had the same question for Jesus in Acts chapter 1 because they thought that his

role was to be a political figure that would restore Israel back to his prominence they had been with Jesus

for three and a half years and that's what they conclude that Jesus mission was see just went over

the head that's why it's important that we understand the role of the church because we bring

all these external experiences that we have into Body of Christ we too will be confused about the mission of

the church and what our role is so that's my prayer when we finish this teaching series

all those questions will be answered so let's sum up this teaching today the roots of the church are

in Jesus Christ himself who is the chief Corner Stone a Cornerstone is that which is

placed and everything is built on that Corner Stone the church is built on Jesus Christ who is

the chief Corner Stone he's building his people his called out once into a living growing assembly that even

the gates of Hades cannot defeat because he is the head of the church he owns the church he builds

the church he protects the church his Spirit empowers the church so the ultimate purpose of

the church is to glorify God by Faithfully representing Jesus Christ Kinder Earth and advancing his kingdom through

the power of the Holy Spirit we are the church the body of Christ and Ministers of the grace

of God that's who we are thank you for listening to our Bible teaching today for

more Bible teaching like this please visit our site at www.bsmsphd.com be blessed