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Sabbath, April 9, 2005 Newark Seventh-Day Adventist Church
Pastor Tom Hughes

“THE PEOPLE OF GOD”


The symbolism of “laying on of hands” goes back to Bible days when people were anointed with oil and asked to go forth to ministry. We as a church have a mission and, as in anything, if you don’t know who you are, there will be confusion in your life. If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re never going to get anywhere in your life.

And so we have to ask ourselves the question today and explore the concept of the church as the people of God. A small group of people who meet in homes and out in the open.

You see we like to talk about this building as being the church. We come into this beautiful building we call it “the sanctuary.” We worship here and we think of this as the holy place dedicated to God which it is. I think probably on the earth there’s no holier place than a sanctuary and that’s why I’ve asked you as you sit here and as you leave not to just chit chat idly but remember that we’re in a sacred and holy place and we need to have that respect for the Spirit of God.

However, because of the way the church has handed down our worship style; our services, we don’t even realize as Seventh-Day Adventists that we have actually gotten many of the tenets and the teachings that we take for granted from the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church that handed them down to the Episcopal church and the Methodist Church. And so, in many ways, we have wandered from the Bible path and have accepted the worship style of an organization that we believe is teaching systematically things that are not Biblical and not true.

And so our only solution to these dilemmas when we look at a church…you know in the Adventist Church, there have been some rather silly arguments over the years that I’ve stayed away from, frankly. I’ve chosen not to waste my time on the devil’s wedge issues.

Do you know what a wedge issue is? That’s what they do in politics. They say, “Well, you know those Christian conservatives; you know, they really are against homosexuality and the Democrats are in favor of it mostly. So you know what we oughta do? We ought to really push that issue because that will drive a wedge between the Republicans and the Democrats, and then they’ll fight! And we’ll be able to carve off our voting block.”

Well, you know the devil uses that same technique in the church. I remember when people were arguing over Women’s Lib. Remember that, way back in the 70s? I remember many a wife ran off from her husband and children because she had to “find herself.” Did you ever hear that? J And sadly many of them wandered off and never came back thinking that that was liberation. Let me tell you what, that argument is long gone. That’s an ancient argument that happened a million years ago.

The most liberated woman of all is a born again Christian woman that loves Jesus and walks in God’s Spirit. Nobody can tell her what to do not even her husband, who is her head, biblically. Because the Bible says that if he abuses his wife God will hinder his prayers and not answer his prayers!

So guys, I hate to say it but the lady does always get the last word. That’s why if you’re an intelligent man just learn how to get the last word in the way I do – just say, “Yes, dear.” Really though if you think about it our ladies who have put up with us over the years have paid the cost to be the boss! J That’s just the way I look at it!

But when Jesus sets you free, are you liberated? You’d better believe it! And we want every man, every woman and child to have a ministry in this church and to feel that they are free to do what God calls them to do and be what God calls them to be. And I don’t even get into that argument.

Seventy percent of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church is female. We have much work to be done. You know to be honest with you, I don’t care whether you’re a man or a woman if you’re going to give a Bible study to somebody that wants to know Jesus I could care less. Just give it!

I’ll tell you what –
You bring them in here,
You give them a Bible study,
You show them what the truth of the Bible is all about, and you prepare them for baptism.

When they’re ready to give their heart to Jesus, I’ll get up in that tank. I don’t care whether they took Bible studies from a man or a woman. That doesn’t matter to me. That baptistry doesn’t ask which sex you are before you get in it.
Don’t even bother wasting your time arguing about those silly things. Let’s just get the job done! Jesus is coming soon! We don’t have time to argue about some of the silly things we argue about; the dumb stuff: Celebration music,
Traditional music
This one’s good J
That one’s bad L
Let’s have a wedge issue.
Let’s write a book. Let’s make lots of money; stir everybody up!

Doesn’t the Bible say, “From even unto even shall ye celebrate your sabbaths”? Is there anything wrong with celebrating your birthday? You people who are so against it, is it wrong to say “Happy Birthday” like I did today?

Is the Sabbath a day of joy?
Is it a day of celebration? Yes.
Do we have to swing from the chandeliers? No.
But can we be joyful?
Can we be happy?
Can we sing some uplifting songs like those kids did today and enjoy them? Amen!

I’m not going to let people tell me that I can’t enjoy the blessings of God just because they put some false definition on a word that God never intended. My Bible tells me to celebrate God’s Sabbath day and to be happy in Jesus. And I don’t care whether they like the word or not. And I’m not going to let any Christian contemporary person tell me that I can’t enjoy the beautiful traditional hymns that I have been enjoying for forty years. I’m sorry you can write all the contemporary Christian songs you want; you’re never going to get any better than The Old Rugged Cross or Amazing Grace! Now I’m sorry, I’m not giving them up! I like ‘em!

You see these expensive hymnals? We paid a lot of money for these: we’re using them! I like these books. They’ve got some great songs in them! Have you ever heard a better song than How Great Thou Art? Have you ever heard a better praise song? Man, talk about “how great Thou art”? That’s about as good as it gets.

Now the thees and thous, you know the kids just can’t…you know. If I go up to a young person today and say, “Where withal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to Thy word?”

You know the kid just goes, “Say what?” Is it okay with you if instead of that I say, “How can a young person find guidance and truth in their life: by reading the Bible! It’s really cool.” Is it okay if I say it that way? Am I saying the same thing?

Back in the days of the Roman Catholic Church, only the Latin Mass was acceptable. And the common people had no right to have the Bible in their language because it would denigrate and lower the beauty and the language of the book. Do you agree with that? Well then, why should we say that only the hymns that have “thee” and “thou” in them are holy, and we can’t do hymns in the common language of the young people? Isn’t it saying the exact same thing if we take that attitude?
What does the Bible say about worship?

What does the Bible say the church is?
How should we relate to the church Biblically?
What is our model?

Okay, I like traditional Be Still And Know That I Am God. We need to be reverent and respectful. But beloved, let’s not call this (the church sanctuary) the most holy place. This is not the most holy place. And technically, this isn’t even the sanctuary. There is no earthly sanctuary anymore. We’re not Biblical in the way we relate to these things.

If you want to call the church something that the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy call it, call it “the house of God.” Now it’s also a sanctuary of refuge, but it’s not the sanctuary, that’s in heaven. Amen? There’s only one sanctuary; that’s in heaven. So if we call this the most holy place and try to act like you can’t breathe in here; it’s a sin, and unless you have a tie on you can’t even come to church, we’re not being Biblical, people.

Now it makes you feel good if you came out of the Catholic Church or if you came out of the Methodist Church ‘cause that’s the way they did it. And guess where they got if from? They got it from back in the Dark Ages and Roman Catholicism.

Have you ever heard of the Mark of the Beast, or the prophecies about these denominations that fell away from the Biblical truth and began to teach things that weren’t Biblical and weren’t right? And we are warned against accepting those doctrines? Have you ever heard about that? Should we accept their method of worship and their style of worship, and should we build our worship service as a church on something that comes from paganism and idolatry? Or should we go to the Bible and see what the Bible says, and do it God’s way, the way God says in His Word?

Let’s look at a few texts.

Matthew 16:18…

“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.”

Let me preface my remarks today by saying I’m an admirer of Pope John Paul II. I have his biography in my library. He is a man who has stood up against Communism; he helped defeat the Communists in Russia, and Poland, and around the world. He is a very pious, spiritual person. I find him very personally appealing; I like him as a man. I think he’s a really neat guy. I totally disagree Biblically with everything the man teaches and stands for that is not based on the Bible. And the whole system of worship; not the people – not the priests, not my mom, not my grandmother, the people in the Church that I love that are Catholics – I love the Roman Catholic people. Many priests, even popes and regular members will be saved, I believe, because they have true faith, they love God, and they didn’t understand what I’m about to share with you.

I think our God is loving enough to accept someone’s faith in Jesus based on their personal relationship with Christ whether they’re a Catholic, a Buddhist, a Baptist, or an Adventist. There are Seventh-Day Adventists, who don’t know Jesus as their personal Savior. They have good theology and a bad relationship with their God and they will be lost. And there are some Roman Catholics who have bad theology but they have a good relationship with Jesus and they will be in heaven. There’s no doubt in my mind about that.

Having prefaced it there is a system of truth that the Bible teaches. And then there was a false system of religious worship that would rise up during the Dark Ages after the days of the apostles that would mislead the world and they would teach things that are Biblically untrue. And today, all this week, we have seen a papal idolatry unparalleled in the history of the world. The Bible says all the world would wonder after this false religious system.

When you bow down before a man who is, not God, but a man – especially a man who has on the inside of his crown “God on earth,” and you bow down before that man,
and you kiss his ring,
and you call him “Father,”
and you worship him,
that is one of the worst forms of idolatry there is.

And I have to say to you, in the Bible in Revelation 13, it says that all the world would wonder after this false system of worship. And when three United States presidents, 12 senators, and 24 congressmen take an entire delegation at the cost of billions of dollars and go to Rome and bow down before the head of the Roman Catholic Church; when people from all over the world go there, when millions upon millions go, bow down before, kiss, basically adore and worship a man, prophecy is being fulfilled before your very eyes.

Now what I will say to you is this man, John Paul II, that was pope who really knew how to pope! He knew how to use the newspaper and the TV, and how to really do what he did well.

Now the problem with him is he sincerely believed, I think, something that wasn’t true. Can you sincerely believe a lie? And when you sincerely believe that lie and work very hard to push that lie and propagate that lie, you’re even more dangerous – because you’re sincerely doing something you don’t even know is not true, and you’re working very hard thinking you’re doing God’s work. And so, again I say, I love the man but the system of theology is totally and Biblically in error. And if you go that route it is not wise.

Now the reason I go through all that, in this verse 18, they take this verse and they say that is the grounds upon which they build their church, the Roman Catholic Church. They say Jesus made Peter the first pope, and that Peter is the Rock that church was going to be built on.

Beloved look in there, in Matthew, and if you go back Jesus says in verse 15 of chapter 16, “Who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ the Son of the living God.’”

Christ, the Son of the living God was the Rock Jesus was referring to, not Peter. Now if you could read Greek, like I can, you would see that the word there is “rolling stone” He uses for Peter. It means “a stone that moves.” And Jesus said, “You are Peter the rolling stone. But upon this Petra, the solid granite rock that doesn’t move, that I am the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, and upon that Rock I will build my church.”

Matthew 16:18…

“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 a few weeks later when Peter was confronted by a young maiden before the fire, did she make him run? Did he roll out of there or did he stand like a rock that did not move? He rolled. He rolled right out of there because he was afraid. He was a coward and he ran. Now it is true that Peter later did become a rock just like his Savior. But Jesus Christ is building His church; not on Peter, He built His church on Himself. He is the Rock.

He has always been called “the Rock of my salvation.” You go back and look all through the Old Testament and whenever the Rock (!) is mentioned, it’s talking about God is our Rock, our resting place, our hiding place, under the shadow of the mighty Rock! And Masada, that great big, huge rock formation in the desert is referred to in the Bible as the rock, and Jesus is symbolized by that rock, not by some little rolling stone like Peter. So Christ is the foundation of the church, not Peter. In Ephesians 5:23, it says that Christ is the head of the church.

Now I want you to open your Bibles to Acts 11:22.

See, what I’d like to do is really look at what the church is. And I’d like us to look at the church the way God does in His Word. I don’t want you to be foolish enough to let the devil stick those Adventist wedge issues in there and twist them and get you arguing amongst yourselves about things that don’t really matter. The most important thing is that Jesus Christ is preached and lifted up and that sinners are saved before it’s too late.

Some of the things we sit around, and argue about and fuss about are minors. We need to major in the majors and not allow the minors to occupy our attention. It’s okay to study those issues as well but we always have to put Christ first and make Him the center of everything we teach and everything we do. And I mean do that in reality not just give lip service to it.

Acts 11:22…

“Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.”

Now is this church a building that we’re in or is it “the church”? Do you see in here any ears? The church has ears in the Bible. Our problem is like the Roman Catholic Church, and the Episcopal Church, and the Adventist Church and all the ones how they worship and how they serve God – we look at the building as the church. That’s not what the Bible says. Let’s look some more. Let’s look at verse 26…

“And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”

Did you have to assemble this building

So the church assembled. That doesn’t mean you have to put it together every Sabbath does it; come in here and build it? No.

When you got together today and you all crowded in here…and, by the way you look marvelous today! It’s so good to see each and every one of you. I can’t help it, I get happy when I look at you guys. You are the beautiful people of God!

No matter what your age,
your size,
your weight,
the color of your skin,
your race…you look beautiful today and God loves you, and He is here to welcome His church! You are the church! You assembled, this building didn’t. You have ears, this building doesn’t.

And we, kind of, buy into that “high church,” you know, the church: the fancy choir, the big, fancy this and that. That all came out of the Dark Ages straight out of paganism. Those pagan temples were brought right into the church. And that’s where we got a lot of the candles, and all the rituals, the sunrise service (like the one I had J) – it all came from that! Now the service I had was an “S-o-n” rise service, which was about the Resurrection and that came from the Bible.

Acts 14:27…

“And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.”

Does that mean they went out and got the building materials and brought it here so they could put it together? No. It means they gathered the people together, doesn’t it? The people of God are the church, people. You’re the church. This is just a building. Now it’s a lovely building, it’s a beautiful building, it’s a holy place, we’ve dedicated it to God, we have absolute respect for it. But we are the church. This building isn’t the church. And the traditions of paganism that are so relished in some churches, the high and holy churches, where they talk about making this recent Pope, who has just recently passed away a Saint? I hate to break the news to them, he already is a saint if he’s a member of the church.

The Bible does not talk about church members as being perfect and only if they’re really exceptional do we canonize them as some sacred person. The Bible says every single member is a saint. If you’re a member of this church you’re holy. And your holiness comes from God, it comes from Jesus. It doesn’t come from your traditions and the power and authority of some central office with a great big, huge building with all kinds of gold leaf on the walls. That’s not the church! You’re the church!

Has it been good to be in the house of the Lord! From the kids getting up here singing, all the way through to the deacons and deaconesses being set apart for their special ministry; all the way down the line. This has been a good day today. God has been here. His Spirit is here and I’m so happy to be part of it with you. We are so lucky, so fortunate. I like the word “blessed” better. We are so blessed to have a God who gives us such a beautiful family to be part of! This is our church –not this building, but you!

Now I love the building. I’m going to ask you to give it a facelift. I’m going to be talking about carpeting and all sorts of things. I like this place, okay? I want to spruce it up! I’ve got no problem with the building. I love this church! It’s a great church. It’s a wonderful place. But I’m using that word lightly. What happens in it is what’s more important than just the building itself.

Acts 2:46, 47…“And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”

Were they arguing about all those Adventist wedge issues? Were they arguing about all these different points of view? No. They had one accord. They all had different opinions and different ideas. It says they were of one accord in the temple breaking bread, having food. Are we going to break bread today? Amen! From house to house they ate their food with seriousness, and soberness, and sorrow. They ate their food with gladness! Gladness! Happy! Joyful! Praising God with simplicity of heart.

Do we have simplicity of heart?
Are we like a little child?
Do we love the Lord?
Do we put first things first?
Is God first in our life?

Then it says, “…praising God.”

Now one of the things I like about my wife is she doesn’t care who’s in the room, when she comes to church it’s between her and Jesus. She’s read in the Bible where it says “holy men of God need to lift holy hands and praise the Lord.” And the Bible tells her to do it, so she doesn’t care, she just does it. Now I don’t do it as much as she does. I might do it like half-like ‘cause I’m not really into the (raises hands high). That’s okay.

Some of you are into quietly worshiping, okay? And that’s okay. We need to all be comfortable with each other and happy with each other. If she wants to raise her hands or I want to do my little half thing you ought to let us do it and not (let it) bother you a bit. If you want to sit there and just praise the Lord quietly ‘cause you’re a quieter person or maybe a more timid person, that’s fine. God loves timid people. Remember Joshua? Joshua was a very timid man. Did you know that? That’s why God kept saying to him, “Joshua, don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid, go ahead, go forward.”

Timid people make great leaders if they get their courage from the Lord. Amen?

So they were praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

Are we adding to the church daily? No. You know why? Because we have allowed the devil to isolate us and separate us, and make us feel like we’re all lonely and nobody loves us and nobody cares about us. We never call each other. We never talk to each other on the phone. Now some of you do and, if the shoe don’t fit, don’t put it on. But for a lot of us the shoe fits. How did we let the devil get us to the point where we’re so isolated, so lonely, where we’d rather spend time watching an “idiot box” than talking to real people and fellowshipping with our brothers and sisters in Christ? These things ought not to be.

Are we the church of God? Do we gather together? Are we of one accord? Do we love one another? Are you willing to have somebody come over to your house? “Oh, no! I can’t have anybody come over to my house! I might have a little dust on the table!”

Please! Is that what we’ve turned into: perfectionist people who, unless everything’s perfect, we can’t ever have fellowship with anybody? Man, that’s sad if the devil’s succeeded into getting us to feel that way.

Now I want to ask you a question. If the church is supposed to be fellowshipping and getting together and meeting in homes, and informally, how did it get so formal to where we feel like unless we have high church we’re not really being reverent, or unless we have high church, we’re not really doing what God wants us to do? How did we get to that point?

Look what it says in Romans 16:5…

“Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well-beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.”

Where do they meet: in houses. Beloved, for centuries the church didn’t have any fancy buildings. They met in each other’s houses. They would get together, ten or twelve of them, in a house. They’d have a little meal together. Everybody would bring some food and they’d have a meal.

In Philemon 1:2, it says the church met in Philemon’s house.

“And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house.”

In Acts 16:13 it says that they met by a river on the Sabbath and had a prayer meeting.

“And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.”

They would either meet outside or they would meet in somebody’s house. And when they met they didn’t have to dress up in a silk tie or a fancy dress. They went in the common clothes of the people. When Jesus hung out with people He didn’t make them dress up, He let them come just as they were in the garment of the day.

There are a lot of men who don’t even have a suit and don’t go to church because they think unless they have a silk tie and dress up in a fancy way we’re not going to accept them. And there are kids that maybe they wear T-shirts and don’t even own a collared shirt who might feel like “I can’t go to that church they’re a bunch of clothes horses there. They think more of what they wear than they do of me.”

I watched a lady one time in one of my churches who came to the church four Sabbaths in a row, sat in her car outside for four Sabbaths. On the fifth Sabbath, she came in. I welcomed her. In a quiet moment I said, “You know I noticed you came up here several weeks.”

She said, “I was sitting outside the church to see what the people wore and to see if they would accept someone like me.”

She said, “I’m so overweight. I don’t have a lot of clothes and I can’t afford to get them custom made. So, you know, I just have to come the way I am.”

Now where have we gotten to where a person would do something like that before they would come to a church? Shouldn’t people feel like they can come just the way they are? That’s why sometimes you’ll see me – I don’t wear a tie all the time. Nowhere in the Bible does it say you have to wear a tie, people. It doesn’t say that. And if you’re sitting there and you’re in a shirt, like my brother here; believe me, I’d like to get this knot off! As soon as I can I will! This is a noose to me! J

But what I’m trying to say to you is: the church was a group of close-knit people that met in there homes! It wasn’t about the building or how fancy your house was, or much money you had or how fancy your clothes were. The church was a place where we could all get together no matter how much money you had or didn’t have. Nicodemus who was rich would meet with the people who were poor! And they would share their goods with each other and their food, and there was a spirit of love and comradery. In this day in age, the devil has successfully succeeded in isolating us and making us feel lonely and detached from our brothers and sisters in Christ.

I beg of you: Let’s put the church to work by doing the ministries God has called you to do! Let’s shake it off, people! Let’s shake off the lethargy that the devil has, his web, his cobwebs that he’s put in our brain! Let’s shake ‘em off! Christ is coming soon! Satan’s rockin’ the cradle while the church is asleep! We can’t just go along on auto-pilot and do the minimum we need to do. We have so much talent and ability in this church but we’re going to need every bit of it because we have a huge job to do.

The devil is attacking our members, breaking their kneecaps, putting them in the hospital. As soon as Marie W. began to work and minister with me, and work with me on organizing the church and getting things off the ground – her family is attacked. People, there is a spiritual warfare going on.

Every Sabbath, fifteen minutes before I’m supposed to preach, I get a knot in my stomach. I get sick, physically, to my stomach. That is not normal, okay? Not every single Sabbath – fifteen minutes before I preach, in both churches. That’s not me. It’s not psychosomatic. There is a spiritual warfare going on here. You need to pray for your pastor. Pray for your elders. Pray for yourself.

The radio station is having a hard time getting on the air for a reason! We are wrestling powers and principalities that we cannot see. You think I’m just being dramatic. I’m not!

…Have we got the card back yet? Workin’ on it. He lost his job. Now he has to drive all the way across Columbus just to get work. What a coincidence! You think it’s just a coincidence?

When you were watching the news this week, did it get your attention? Did you think these are Bible prophecies! Two weeks from today I’m going to be preaching on the little horn of Daniel 7 and talking about some of these events and prophecy.
We are on the edge of eternity, people. I have a sense urgency about me. There are things I’ve got to say. Things we’ve got to do and I can’t play “Church As Usual.” I can’t. I hear an alarm bell going off. I hear it ringing and it’s ringing loud. And I just can’t act like it’s not there. No more business as usual.

Let’s stand and bow our heads.

Father in heaven, thank You for this church that You have built upon Jesus the solid Rock. Thank you that the truths of the Bible are there for us to build our church upon. Thank You that the Bible has much to say about who the church is and what our mission and ministry is.

Father, if our elders can’t do what God has called them to do, if our deacons and deaconessess can’t do what God has called them to do, then what else is there to talk about in our church, Father?
We have to start here. We have to talk about the people that we’re not seeing —
the people that need our ministry. We have to get organized so that we can reach each and every precious soul and not leave one floundering on their own with the devil to beat them up. We need to have a system of contact and a way to minister to each and every member of this church.

Help us to do that this afternoon: to make progress in our work. And guard our church and protect us, Lord, because Satan surely is angry at the Newark Church. Give us safety and protection as we try to get this church going in the direction You want and to really reach out and win many souls for You.

We ask all this in Jesus’ name…Amen.

Beginning of today’s service: LayingOn of Hands Ordination Service for Elders, Deacons, and Deaconesses

All Scriptural References: King- and New King James Versions

Ellen G. White References: www.whiteestate.org

Transcription: Wendy J. Riebel

This sermon is also available on cassette tape.

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