The Church, the local assembly, is the place where God allows His gifts to come together to do their work in His people. Great liberation to understand that we have the Savior, the Son of God, who speaks for us at the right hand of the Father. We have the Shepherd King who cares, who sent the Spirit into us. (Ephesians 4:10-13; Isaiah 40:11)

Speaker(s): Pastor Thomas Schaller, Pastor Glen Cannon
Sermon 11888
6:30 PM on 5/17/2020

P. Schaller –

I feel like this is a day of celebration. I feel it in my heart and spirit that we have gone through something
together that has been extraordinary. I said this morning to somebody if in January someone
stood up in our assembly and gave a prophecy and they said I prophecy that within some weeks
you will not be meeting in this room but you will be meeting out in the parking lot and you P.
Schaller will be preaching from the rooftop, I would say, security! Security! Take this man out!
They would continue in their prophecy and behold he is coming soon! It happened. President
Trump and his group, team, and I know you heard a lot about this and maybe you have a lot of
opinions, but I want to say our Governor Hogan had followed those guidelines of having a
decrease in a two-week period.

He made an announcement Wednesday and jumped on that and we looked forward to meeting. This pandemic started in China, Europe. We canceled Eurocon because we were serious about not being part of the problem but part of the solution because of love. We love the brethren, our neighborhood, old people, weak people. We were
obedient to the authorities and done that. But now after 8 weeks and we are looking at the
numbers and the governor saying so we could meet with 50% of our capacity of maximum
capacity. We can meet in here with 550 and we are well under that. We will be counting that all
the time. That being said, we should be respectful of how we enjoy our services and continue to
understand there can be clusters of outbreak and contagious persons. Feel free wearing a
mask.

I think Pastor T. J. said you don’t need a mask to worship God. Amen. But we can have
one and worship God. I know he didn’t mean that. If you are sick, don’t come. If you have a
fever, don’t come. That’s your responsibility for us here. We will do everything we can to keep
ourselves clean and not having any breakout. I think I already had it back in December. I think P.
Scibelli has been saturated with it for a couple years! That being said, there is the reality and
that being said we don’t want to be careless and want to be part of the solution. Here’s a good
word on the other side of things. It’s from Martin Luther King.

Martin Luther King was a civil rights leader. He believed in democracy and the rights of individuals. He was a grandson of a pastor, the son of a pastor. He was a preacher, pastor and had it in him this sense of what was
right and wrong. In our society, this is important that individually, personally you have a sense.
We individually are to be led by God. As a pastor and with a team that’s the most incredible
team I have ever worked with, this team we have in Baltimore. I also was on the phone with P.
Renaldo Brown this afternoon as we were talking about some of these things. One of the things
he mentioned is there might be some churches that won’t survive this thing. I was thinking of a
pastor who hasn’t seen his congregation.

They kind of fall apart and can’t pay their rent. We want to come alongside our sisters and brothers as much as we can. We that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak in Romans 15:1 and pray and help and encourage. Here is the quote: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” What
matters? Our healthy assembly. Our fellowship. Of course, we have it online. Praise God. Yes,
we do visits and outreach and missions and so on. Absolutely but unfortunately, I feel and to
say this as a point of interest and thought, nobody is self-righteous about it. Nobody is a hero in
any of this. Nobody is saying it’s the people working to save lives. But our spiritual life and our
ministry is not for sale. It is a God given right to us. Jesus bought the church with his blood.

When we assemble, safely and wisely and fervently caring for people that is our privilege.
That’s what we love so much. Let’s go to this part. Honor other’s room and leave space. If you
are family, sit together. Feel free to spread out in the room. Honor other’s room. Restrooms are
available and will be cleansed constantly. John Neilson does an extraordinary job. Sanitize your
hands as you enter and exit. Masks are available and be encouraged in the Lord. We are having
our services like this and it’s kind of confusing I know. The outdoor services are awesome, and
we are reaching new people. When something is not broken, let’s not fix it.

Stay tuned if our service Wednesday night is indoors or in the parking lot. I can see on a beautiful evening we be
in the parking lot, on the hillside, and new people coming. If it remains indoors, following the
rules of the parameters that Governor Hogan gave. P. Cannon is going to give an intro for us.
Before he comes, let’s do some shout outs. The guy quarantined for the most weeks and
months is P. Mike Plunkett. How many? About a month. Count China. That could be three
months! Give him a hand!

P. Cannon –

Hi everyone. Good to see you. Great to hear from our pastor. This is a real privilege
for me. P. Schaller once at a staff meeting said as long as we exalt Jesus Christ, we will be okay.
That’s always blessed me. That’s our focus and when we gather together if Jesus Christ is
exalted, we’ll be okay. Isaiah 40, I’ve been studying the heart of God. I wanted to get into the
heart of Jesus Christ. I’m using Puritans. Puritans were great. They knew how to take one verse
and write a whole book on it. They would suck the honey right out of the Bible. They would look
at a verse from so many angles. This has been my meditation. I’ve been seeing how important
to know the nature of God.

The Puritans when they got saved rather than saying receive Christ,
they said “I have been seized by the power of a great affection.” You think of different ones, the
heart of God, the love of God, the nature of God being manifest. One phrase they had when
someone was struggling, they said you need Christ to be “unbosomed” on you. They were
saying you need to get alone with God and let God love you and open your heart and see his
heart. I thought this morning was classic. I don’t want it to end out there. I think it’s a revelation
of what is happening.

P. Schaller’s message was so crucial and important, and we saw Christ in
Psalm 22, 23, 24. He mentioned this phrase that he is a shepherd king. I love that. Isaiah 40:11,
what a sweet tender verse that is. I don’t know about you, but I like to think of myself as a little
lamb. We are part of Jesus’ flock. Because we are part of his flock, it’s going to be okay. We are
winners. We have such a great future. We couldn’t have a better shepherd, a more loving. We
are so well fed. Don’t you feel like that in this ministry. I think of how father-like he tends us. He
knows our frame. I love that the Bible is so real. It’s realism. It doesn’t spare us when comes to
correction. One of the greatest liberating understanding I have is how much of a sinner I am.

In the finished work it’s like – one of the morning devotionals P. Schaller had, he was talking about
Psalm 32 and the blessed man whose sins are completely forgiven. I was thinking how naturally
we are wired to constantly drift from finished work realities. We are very either excusing
ourselves…for giving it to ourselves, either whipping ourselves or saying there is no problem. We have an advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous when we sin. Naturally, when we are
challenged or corrected, we start to advocate for ourselves. Like a foolish person says I don’t
want a lawyer. It’s a foolish thing to do. It’s great to say and know that I do have, I’m an
ongoing sinner but I have a Savior whose blood, who died on the cross and he is risen.

He’s coming back again. He is the king. Jesus once in the gospel exposed his heart to us in Matthew
11:28-30. He said my heart is meek and lowly of heart. Meek is that word gentle. He gently
leads those with young. He gathers the lambs with his arm and carries them on his heart. If we
could like John the Apostle, park there on the heart of Jesus and listen to his heart. I saw the
series, The Chosen. It so moved me. To see Christ like a real man but who is God with real
people who are sinners and the compassion he has. This is our God. He gently leads us. He’s
such a gentleman. He does what we could never do. Praise the Lord for that. Let’s continue to
have him lead us to the end with his love. We want to focus on that, the love of God.

P. Schaller –

To the folks at home. Let’s turn to the camera and talk to them. Let me give you a
hint on the iPad. We said Jesus is on the cross. 2) Where is he? At the right hand. He ascended.
3) Jesus is coming back. We’re speaking about this. He’s at the right hand of God. Have a prayer
with your neighbor or say a word of encouragement to them. So much better to preach to
people. I didn’t know you were out there! Ephesians 4, when we see Jesus on the cross, we can
imagine it because there are artistic visuals, movies, and paintings. We read about it in detail
and Jesus is on the cross. That’s how many people think of Jesus in his body and suffering on
the cross. Then he ascended and he’s gone into the clouds.

He’s at the right hand of his Father. We read about it in Revelation 4 and 5. There he is, and he takes the scroll. There is no man that can take the scroll and I wept much John said. Nobody was really in charge of this whole
thing. When John went to heaven, he realized there needs to be somebody and he saw the
throne. There needs to be somebody in charge of the whole thing. There wasn’t any man, but
the earth is given to man and then the Son of God. The angel said he is worthy to take the
scroll. Who oversees the whole thing of the good, the bad, and the ugly? Who is in charge of
what is happening on the earth? Who is in charge of this whole thing? Vs. 3. We weren’t even
close. We couldn’t look on. Vs. 4-5.

We see him at the right hand of the Father with this authority. The new head of the human race, Christ the Savior. What does he do now? This is Ephesians 4. He that ascended first descended, vs. 10-11. Great to have somebody that is anointed of God to do that service and keep our churches in prayer in the U.S. as we said at the
beginning and for our brothers and sisters. The devil would like to shut down and there’s no
message and no ministry. But there is a ministry. Tonight, at the rap – is P. Ray here? P. Jason
and a group of a team that works with the homeless will do the rap tonight. There needs to be
people that care. It happens by the Spirit just as you are sitting here. You start to think about it,
and you see it.

There are people and you see more, the ministry of the Spirit, the gifts of the
Spirit. You hear the wisdom. You see the faith. You see the answers. You see it. You catch it. You
realize it’s real. You realize it’s important. You realize that it works. You realize God is here. He
is in our midst. He is walking in the candlesticks. He is on the cross. He is at the right hand. But
where is he now? He’s in the ministry. He is the ministry. He has sent the Spirit and there is work that is happening. In a world where there is resistance against God and faith against
investment, against caring, prayer, grace. There is resistance against activity, faith, love, and
vision. There is. There is resistance against it.

These people amongst us and thank God for many of them around us, vs. 12. “Perfecting.” It’s not the best word. A better word is “maturing” of the saints. We aren’t perfected in this life not until we leave our body. We are maturing. Do you feel that or see that or recognize there is something happening in my heart like the maturing of
the body, the maturity of fruit on the tree? It’s a long time. It grows weeks and weeks and
becomes ready to eat. God is making a bride for himself. There is a maturing, a washing, Ephesians
5:26. Maturing. Cultivating, investing. I remember Dr. Stevens saying to us – I just jotted it down
– when you are in trouble, preach Christ. When you are pushed backward, on purpose go
forward. When you are losing, you do more to gain.

You live by faith. I learn this because the ministry of the throne is given to the church, the Body and in the Body, we realize love. Love doesn’t quit. Love doesn’t back off. Love cares. That’s been seen through these weeks in many
ways by many people. I can’t believe it. In a good way, I’m proud of the people of God I have
seen. I have seen people of God in GGCA teaching their classes faithfully. My grandchildren are
students there. All the work that goes on, P. Barry. You know it. Paul Nye and his team and
Sebastian. When the going gets tough, they get going and they are tougher. You know what I’m
saying. Where did that come from? Where did that Spirit come from? Where is that love
coming from? Where did that hope come from?

The throne. The right hand of God is the Savior who is the Shepherd who feeds the flock and cares about us, who fills us with the Spirit every day. Luke 11:13, ask for bread and doesn’t give us a stone. We ask in simplicity and he answers us and encourages us. He perfects or matures the saints. A lot of maturity. Second thing there
in vs. 12. For the work of the ministry. How can you get people to work for nothing? God. How
can you get people to do things by faith? God. How can you get somebody who is ready to go to
college on a scholarship to say, no. I’m going to Bible college. I want to be a missionary. Being
led by the Spirit by God in something different. It’s the throne of Christ, the presence of Christ
in our hearts. What happens when the throne ministry happens?

The epistles happen. The apostle Paul understood about Jesus in heaven. Jesus is in heaven and we are with him. Jesus has authority and he gives gifts. Jesus is interceding and he’s speaking from his Father and
speaking to us and preparing us and maturing us to face what God has for us in the future. That
is something that is so precious that has to grow. When something in my heart is so precious,
that it’s important. It’s like the pearl of great price. I heard of someone at a yard sale found a
crummy picture and found in the frame a very rare document behind the picture in the frame
folded up and it was worth a fortune.

He bought the picture for three dollars. When I find the pearl of great price, when I find the very key to the essence of life, when I find the message that changes the person’s heart, when I find the ministry that is fundamentally, instrumentally important for someone’s survival. He that turns a man from his sin, saves a man from death and
covers a multitude of sins. James 5:20, Luke 15 it says when a sinner is converted, it’s kind of
like heaven explodes with thunderous praise and joy. Yeah! Huge deal. Big deal when someone
is saved. It’s a huge deal when someone is saved. How can they be saved without the preaching? How can there be a preacher without being sent? How can you be sent without a
church? Acts 13:2-3, Ephesians 4:12, edifying of the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ, the immune
system.

We’ve heard a lot about that in the last couple of months. Your immune system. It’s
great. Your immune system. The body. That’s the analogy. We are the Body and we need an
immune system to fight off infection, so we don’t get sick. We may every day get a little sick
and our body fights it off. That immunity is important, and that fight is important. A doctor said
if you jog it puts stress on your bones and bones send messages to your body that you are alive.
If something happens in your body to build you up in a healthy way. You become healthy by the
stress. We are talking about something spiritual.

The stresses and the trouble are a good thing. The challenges we have. The stresses and the troubles. Here is a little nugget for you. Absalom wanted to meet his father David. He sent a message to Joab. I want to meet my dad; I got to talk to him. Joab ignored it because he didn’t want to get involved. Absalom sent it a second
time. Joab ignored it so Absalom set his barley field on fire. He sent someone to Joab’s barley
field and set in on fire. After the fire, Joab went to talk to him right way. In there is a message.
Has God set your barley field on fire because he wants to talk to you? Has God caused trouble
in your life because God wants to talk to you? Something going on in your heart maybe is from
God. God is saying I have to have a talk with you.

Your life is slipping by day by day and you are paying no attention to me. Humble yourself before me and I will teach you, save you, forgive you, give to you, show you, heal you, fill you, and satisfy you. What is happening at the right
hand of God? The most important person in the universe is caring for you and me. When your
barley field goes up in smoke, don’t get offended. What is it Lord you have to say to me? He
says you will be empty if you go your way. If you follow me, you will be where I am. I will enrich
you, give you character, show you my way and show you who I am on the throne before you
get to heaven. Before you get there. Vs. 13. What is he going to do? Edify the Body. He’s going
to show us and mature us.

We’ll grow up into him. All the Body around the world and all our
sisters and brothers we love and care about daily and there are many of them. Many of them
we say in our prayers. Many of them that are on the telephone. Many of them here in
Baltimore and other parts of the world. We are saying, have you found Jesus lately? Have you
found Jesus lately? Have you met Jesus? Has Jesus visited you? Has he been a soft touch, a kind
word, a tender Holy Spirit visitation? I met Steve today. See that young man, we talked to him
and he came to the Easter play. He has been coming here and I got to meet him in the parking
lot. He said I want to make more time in my busy schedule.

I need what is happening here. Is that correct? Please say it is! That’s what we talked about. I agree. I got to put it in my life. I got to have it as a priority, and we do. It’s been happening and I’m thankful for that. That’s the
thoughts for tonight. Hold it! I’m closing! Don’t push me! You’ll regret it if you push me! That’s
going to happen. We’re going to be just like him. Many varieties and differences but we will be
like him. Our character, our spirit, our nature and that’s such an honor. One day very soon we
will be out of the flesh and in your presence.

One day, our flesh comes up out of the ground.
Hallelujah! I have to tell you a funny story, true story. In Latin America, a guy was driving a
truck. There was a coffin there. He picked up the hitchhiker and he’s riding in the back of the truck and it starts to rain. He gets in the coffin and he falls asleep. The driver picks up two more
hitchhikers and they are riding in the back of the truck. After a while, the guy opens the coffin
and he sat up and he said, is it still raining out! Would you pray with me right now!

Please enjoy these sermon notes from the messages preached at Greater Grace Church in Baltimore. These notes are provided to aid in your study and understanding of the Word. Note that these notes do not represent complete, word-for-word transcriptions. Also, they may contain omissions as well as some errors in spelling and structure, etc., as we attempt to provide them as soon as possible. Our hope is that these notes serve as a way to help you search and connect with messages on related subjects and passages. Thank you for your interest in the ministry of Greater Grace.