1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:13,760 We open our Bibles together to the New Testament book of Acts, and the second chapter, where 2 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:20,960 again today we will be examining this paragraph that talks to us about the heart of God's 3 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:21,960 new community. 4 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:28,960 It begins in verse 41 of Acts chapter 2. 5 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:36,080 To look at this paragraph is to study the essence of what the Newborn Church was becoming. 6 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:46,000 It is to get a glimpse of the heart of this new community of God, which made it so uncommon 7 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:51,360 and so vibrant and so impressive. 8 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:59,680 People present on that day, you see, changed the world in their generation. 9 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:07,220 The church at the end of this age desperately needs to recapture the vitality and the intensity 10 00:01:07,220 --> 00:01:12,080 of the new community at its beginning. 11 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:21,440 An examination of Scripture informs us that a dispensational change had just occurred 12 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:26,960 as the Spirit was poured out on Pentecost Sunday. 13 00:01:26,960 --> 00:01:30,960 Now you notice the word that I used there, a dispensational change. 14 00:01:30,960 --> 00:01:37,920 In other words, there was a change of ages or eras. 15 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:43,520 There had been a band of believers, of course, up to this point, and at the time that the 16 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:49,840 Spirit was poured out, they little realized the change that had taken place in that moment. 17 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:54,720 But when the Spirit came on Pentecost Sunday, the old covenant had been replaced by the 18 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:56,600 new covenant. 19 00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:04,160 The law had been superseded by grace, and Israel, as God's community, had been displaced 20 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:09,000 by the new community, the church. 21 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:14,720 It might be good just to talk about the word dispensation for a second, and to define that 22 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:21,720 word, I take this definition from the Schofield Study Bible, which says, a dispensation is 23 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:31,720 a period of time during which man is tested in respect to his obedience to some specific 24 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:35,720 revelation of the will of God. 25 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:42,560 And so a dispensation is a period of time in which man is tested with respect to his 26 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:50,720 obedience to some specific revelation that God has given us regarding his will. 27 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:57,040 It goes on to say the dispensations are a progressive and connected revelation of God's 28 00:02:57,040 --> 00:03:04,240 dealings with man, given sometimes to the whole race, and at other times to particular 29 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:09,840 people, Israel namely. 30 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:15,760 And so if you understand that on the day of Pentecost, when these events took place, there 31 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:18,600 was a change of dispensation that will help you. 32 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:21,240 It will help you understand what takes place. 33 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:26,680 Now there's a debate that is taking place in our day regarding dispensations, and how 34 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:32,240 many of them there have been in history, and how distinctly they can be defined, etc., 35 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:33,240 etc. 36 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:38,200 But whichever side of these debates you come down on, there is one thing that seems to 37 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:45,080 me to be very clear, and that is if one takes the Bible literally, that is if one is concerned 38 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:52,880 about the historical and literary context of the Bible, he will see in his study that 39 00:03:52,880 --> 00:04:00,480 God relates to man in different ways in the progress of time. 40 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:02,880 I can illustrate that very simply. 41 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:07,040 Why is it that we do not have sacrifices in our church this morning? 42 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:10,920 Or call this a temple? 43 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:17,560 It's because that belonged to the old way in which God was related to man, in the law. 44 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:23,040 We're related to God in a different way. 45 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:31,440 Now in every age, salvation is by grace, through faith, in the promises of God. 46 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:39,440 And salvation is based upon the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. 47 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:43,160 In every age, that is true. 48 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:52,240 But in the progress of these ages, or these dispensations, God has related to man differently. 49 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:58,360 I think we should be very excited about studying Acts chapter 2, because it records for us 50 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:07,320 the beginning of this current era, in which God is calling out a people for his name among 51 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:11,660 all the nations of the world. 52 00:05:11,660 --> 00:05:18,160 Depending on this day that we read about, God creates a new community. 53 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:23,320 And in verses 41 to 47 of Acts 2, we have the essence of that new community. 54 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:25,840 We have its heart. 55 00:05:25,840 --> 00:05:30,440 Even though it's not fully developed, the heart of it is there. 56 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:36,840 So then when those who had received his word were baptized, and there were added that day 57 00:05:36,840 --> 00:05:43,640 about 3,000 souls, and they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching 58 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:49,000 and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayer, and everyone kept feeling 59 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:55,800 a sense of awe, and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. 60 00:05:55,800 --> 00:06:00,360 And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common, and they began 61 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:04,400 selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all as anyone might 62 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:05,400 have need. 63 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:10,560 And day by day, continuing with one mind in the temple and breaking bread from house to 64 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:15,880 house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising 65 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:19,600 God and having favor with all the people. 66 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:26,720 And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. 67 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:33,000 Now as we look at this heart, as we look at the essence of what the new community was 68 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:39,880 about, the first thing that leaps out to me from the text is that the new community has 69 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:44,120 a heart for obeying. 70 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:47,320 A heart for obeying. 71 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:51,200 What was the problem with the old community? 72 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:59,320 You remember our studies in the summer in Jeremiah chapter 32? 73 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:09,480 The problem that Israel faced with that covenant was its heart. 74 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:12,360 It needed a new heart. 75 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:18,800 And God said, one day I am going to establish a new covenant with you, and I will give you 76 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:23,160 a heart that will obey. 77 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:30,360 Well that new covenant is based upon the work of Jesus Christ. 78 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:33,680 Israel rejected Jesus Christ. 79 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:36,960 God began a new community called the church. 80 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:47,040 And in this community, God has given us the changed heart that can obey God. 81 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:54,480 The new community at its heart is a community of obedience, implicit in being a member of 82 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:57,480 the community is this changed heart. 83 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:03,520 If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. 84 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:07,380 The old things have passed away and all things have become new. 85 00:08:07,380 --> 00:08:11,000 There is a new nature, a new heart. 86 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:20,600 And so one who is a member of this new community has the capacity and the bent to obey. 87 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:25,280 I want us to think about this aspect of the heart of the new community, this aspect of 88 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:28,200 obeying. 89 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:32,760 And to do that I want to break it down into three questions that I want to pose this morning. 90 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:36,520 The first question is, what is obeying? 91 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:38,700 What does that mean? 92 00:08:38,700 --> 00:08:41,340 What is obedience? 93 00:08:41,340 --> 00:08:50,640 One definition of obedience is this, doing exactly what I'm told when and how I'm told 94 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:54,360 to do it. 95 00:08:54,360 --> 00:09:00,180 You're hurrying around trying to get your house ready for the cell meeting that night. 96 00:09:00,180 --> 00:09:04,640 And there are some things that are on the floor in the family room where the cell group's 97 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:06,200 going to meet. 98 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:08,320 And there's some garbage that needs to be taken out. 99 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:09,600 And you've got to go to the store. 100 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:14,200 And so you say to the kids, hey kids, clean up this room and take the garbage out. 101 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:17,640 Okay, mom, we'll do that. 102 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:20,940 And so you go out to the store to get whatever you wanted to get for refreshments. 103 00:09:20,940 --> 00:09:24,440 You come back to the house, the cell group's to be there in 15 minutes. 104 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:27,320 And guess what? 105 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:30,320 Nothing's happened yet. 106 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:33,840 And you walk in and you see the garbage still sitting there. 107 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:36,640 You see the floor still cluttered with things. 108 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:41,320 And you say, kids, I told you to take this stuff out. 109 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:45,000 And so they jump up from watching television or whatever they're doing, probably their 110 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:46,960 homework more likely, right? 111 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:49,880 And they grab the stuff off before they take the garbage out. 112 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:50,880 Is that obedience? 113 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:57,400 Well, it's accommodation. 114 00:09:57,400 --> 00:10:00,400 It's delayed obedience. 115 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:05,460 But it's not the kind of obedience we're talking about here. 116 00:10:05,460 --> 00:10:14,360 Sin resistance is doing exactly what I'm told when and how I'm told to do it. 117 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:16,320 Sin resists being told what to do. 118 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:21,120 Have you ever noticed that? 119 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:26,840 Within our changed nature, sin still operates. 120 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:31,300 It operates within our bodies. 121 00:10:31,300 --> 00:10:39,480 But when we are told to do something, that sin tends to resist it and say, no, I don't 122 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:40,640 want to do that. 123 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:42,200 I don't want to do it now. 124 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:50,000 I don't want to do it that way. 125 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:58,120 But that righteous new nature is there to say, who is telling me to do this? 126 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:01,120 Is this person an authority? 127 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:05,800 Then I will do it. 128 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:07,880 And I will do it now. 129 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:13,080 And I will do it as I was told to do it. 130 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:17,000 Obedience is sometimes viewed negatively. 131 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:20,280 Some say, well, it's legalistic to have to obey. 132 00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:24,520 If I have to do it, that just grates against me. 133 00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:29,960 Yes, it grates against part of all of us when we're told to do something. 134 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:36,400 A part of us that is still sin. 135 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:38,240 Someone else says, well, it's confining. 136 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:40,960 It's restricting to have to obey someone. 137 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:44,280 Yes, it is that. 138 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:50,160 But let me ask you, would you feel that way if you were told to help yourself to a gourmet 139 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:51,160 meal? 140 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:55,280 I mean, would you have a problem obeying then? 141 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:57,400 You walk into this lavish banquet. 142 00:11:57,400 --> 00:11:59,320 The food is on the table. 143 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:02,400 And someone says, I order you right now to sit down and eat. 144 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:05,960 You say, boy, you're not going to tell me what to do. 145 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:09,000 You think you'd respond that way? 146 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:11,280 Or let's suppose someone brought you into an office. 147 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:14,480 And in this office, there was a desk. 148 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:21,920 And on that desk is stacked, I mean, stacked deep, $100 bills. 149 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:26,680 And this friend of yours said, look, I order you to go over there and stuff as many of 150 00:12:26,680 --> 00:12:32,440 those dollar bills in your pocket right now as you possibly can get in there. 151 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:34,720 You think you would say, oh, really, I don't want to do that. 152 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:37,280 My pockets, really, I've got a lot of my pockets right now. 153 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:39,280 Anyway, I don't need that stuff in there. 154 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:41,280 Is that what you'd do? 155 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:42,320 Of course not. 156 00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:48,920 You see, we don't look upon obedience negatively when it's perceived as bringing benefit to 157 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:55,000 us or pleasure to us. 158 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:56,880 That obedience is fine. 159 00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:03,000 And that's the kind of obedience that I'm talking about in the New Community. 160 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:08,640 I'm talking about obedience that brings good to you. 161 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:14,720 Not harsh, restrictive obedience. 162 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:22,360 But obedience that at its very root is intended for your good and for mine. 163 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:30,000 Everything that Jesus Christ would command us to do has to be for our good. 164 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:34,160 He does have a yoke, and he does have a burden. 165 00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:37,200 But he says, my yoke is what? 166 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:38,560 Easy. 167 00:13:38,560 --> 00:13:40,760 And my burden is what? 168 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:43,560 It's light. 169 00:13:43,560 --> 00:13:50,480 Because the things that he commands us to do are things that are for our own good. 170 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:58,040 But that brings a second question to mind, and that is, why is Christ to be obeyed? 171 00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:03,120 And of course the answer we would all give is, because he is Lord. 172 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:05,720 And that's correct. 173 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:10,040 You see, his kingdom is not a democracy. 174 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:13,500 We don't get a vote in his kingdom. 175 00:14:13,500 --> 00:14:17,420 A kingdom has a king. 176 00:14:17,420 --> 00:14:20,160 And Jesus Christ is sovereign in his kingdom. 177 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:22,800 He is the absolute ruler. 178 00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:29,760 Now we can praise God and thank him that Jesus Christ is wise in his ruling. 179 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:35,720 And he is benevolent, and he is good, and he is loving. 180 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:41,240 But he has no equal in the community who can overrule him. 181 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:46,760 Authority is his by right of ownership. 182 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:55,160 As we said last week, he has purchased this new community with his own blood. 183 00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:56,920 And so he owns the community. 184 00:14:56,920 --> 00:14:59,680 It belongs to him. 185 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:07,260 And he has the right to do whatever he wants to do in this community. 186 00:15:07,260 --> 00:15:15,760 And whatever he wants to do is always for our good. 187 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:26,800 Can someone be a part of this new community without accepting this idea of lordship? 188 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:30,620 The answer to that is no. 189 00:15:30,620 --> 00:15:42,080 One cannot receive Jesus Christ as Savior and reject him as Lord. 190 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:48,400 One cannot accept Jesus Christ as Savior and at the same time reject him as Lord. 191 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:58,800 Now that raises the issue that is often debated in our day about lordship salvation. 192 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:03,420 And in some circles this debate becomes even bitter. 193 00:16:03,420 --> 00:16:08,760 There are those who say, well if you talk about Christ lordship in connection with salvation, 194 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:14,440 then you are introducing works. 195 00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:21,520 And it's no longer by faith alone, but you have to work in making Christ Lord. 196 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:28,800 Someone else says, but how can anyone make Christ the Lord of his whole life at the very 197 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:32,720 beginning? 198 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:35,280 Here's my response to that. 199 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:40,020 To receive Jesus Christ as Lord is not a matter of works. 200 00:16:40,020 --> 00:16:44,200 It is a response to grace. 201 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:53,680 God calling us to recognize who he is and to surrender to his lordship. 202 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:57,720 There's nothing of works in that. 203 00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:06,480 It is only a response, an obedient response on my part, to God's summons. 204 00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:21,000 In convicting the sinner of his sin, the Holy Spirit always exposes some matter of the heart, 205 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:28,280 of behavior, of attitude that is wrong, always. 206 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:33,120 That's what conviction of sin is about. 207 00:17:33,120 --> 00:17:37,420 It may be covetousness. 208 00:17:37,420 --> 00:17:40,600 It may be unfaithfulness. 209 00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:42,160 It may be lying. 210 00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:48,300 So my point is that when the Holy Spirit convicts the sinner of his sin to show him his need 211 00:17:48,300 --> 00:17:59,440 for Christ, he always exposes some specific area of the life. 212 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:09,800 The sinner must, in order to be saved, repent of that sin and surrender that area of his 213 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:15,520 life to the lordship of Jesus Christ. 214 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:20,640 If he rejects the lordship of Jesus Christ in that area, he cannot make a legitimate 215 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:22,000 decision to trust Christ. 216 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:25,480 It's a false faith. 217 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:32,320 Now there may be 50 other areas where the Spirit has not exposed sin yet in his life. 218 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:41,880 There may be 50 other areas that are as bad or worse than the area that has been exposed. 219 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:46,720 That sinner cannot know to present all of those areas to Christ. 220 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:50,000 He's not even convicted about them yet. 221 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:52,920 He may not even know they're wrong yet. 222 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:59,140 He's not responsible for submitting those areas to Christ's lordship. 223 00:18:59,140 --> 00:19:04,360 But in that area where the Spirit has shined the spotlight and shown the sin, there must 224 00:19:04,360 --> 00:19:11,400 be surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ. 225 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:19,520 That's why the new community is characterized by obeying. 226 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:24,920 Because when one comes into that community by faith in Jesus Christ, there is implicit 227 00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:34,440 in that faith obedience and surrender to the lordship of Christ. 228 00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:38,120 Why is Jesus Christ to be obeyed? 229 00:19:38,120 --> 00:19:43,680 Because he has a claim on the life. 230 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:48,880 Because he owns the right to the life of everyone he's redeemed. 231 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:53,800 Because he is worthy of being obeyed. 232 00:19:53,800 --> 00:20:00,520 And in obeying, what we're really doing is following his example of obeying the Father 233 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:04,360 in all things. 234 00:20:04,360 --> 00:20:11,080 That brings me to a third question, that is what does obedience look like in this age? 235 00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:13,160 What does obedience look like? 236 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:19,960 We've already talked about the fact that obedience means repentance. 237 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:25,320 At the point when we are convicted of our sin by the Holy Spirit, we must change our 238 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:31,920 mind about that sin and turn from it, repent of it. 239 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:36,720 So that's part of what obedience looks like, but is there more? 240 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:43,800 Well the answer is both simple and difficult to give. 241 00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:48,560 It is difficult because I can't necessarily tell you what Christ's lordship will look 242 00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:54,000 like in your life in every respect. 243 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:58,720 And in fact, Christ's lordship in this person's life may look somewhat different than Christ's 244 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:06,320 lordship in this person's life. 245 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:11,240 There are some things where believers have different convictions and Christ is Lord in 246 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:13,000 both lives. 247 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:21,560 1 Corinthians 8, Romans chapter 14, speak to those kinds of issues. 248 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:27,860 So I cannot tell you exactly what obedience will look like in every life. 249 00:21:27,860 --> 00:21:31,680 That allows for some diversity there. 250 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:41,080 But there are two commands, two commands that Jesus has given the new community that are 251 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:53,640 directly related to salvation and which are visible expressions for this age that one 252 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:57,360 is an obedient member of the new community. 253 00:21:57,360 --> 00:22:00,960 Two commands. 254 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:07,000 One command is to be immersed, to be baptized. 255 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:17,920 And the other is to observe the Lord's Supper and communion. 256 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:23,280 Those are two commands that are universal. 257 00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:27,640 I can tell you in those respects what obedience looks like. 258 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:30,400 It must look like. 259 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:35,520 The believer must be immersed in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy 260 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:39,240 Spirit. 261 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:44,360 And he must observe the Lord's Supper. 262 00:22:44,360 --> 00:22:49,480 It doesn't make any difference what culture one is in, what language he speaks, what race 263 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:56,680 he is, whether he lived in the first century or the 21st century of this age. 264 00:22:56,680 --> 00:23:03,360 One who is an obedient member of the new community is one who has been baptized and who obeys 265 00:23:03,360 --> 00:23:08,160 the Lord's Supper, who follows it and observes it. 266 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:15,760 Now I would compare these commands to circumcision in ancient Israel. 267 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:20,920 Or for that matter, bringing sacrifices to the temple. 268 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:29,200 Neither circumcision nor the bringing of sacrifices saved anybody anytime. 269 00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:32,900 That was the false teaching of the Pharisees. 270 00:23:32,900 --> 00:23:37,860 That doing those things saved. 271 00:23:37,860 --> 00:23:41,840 And they do not. 272 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:52,000 However, to be a member of the old community, an obeying member of that community, the males 273 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:57,600 had to be circumcised. 274 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:00,520 And they had to bring sacrifices to the temple. 275 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:01,520 Period. 276 00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:05,440 That's the way it was. 277 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:09,720 So are baptism and the Lord's Supper. 278 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:17,520 They do not save, but they give expression that one's faith is genuine. 279 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:24,960 And when one rejects them, one has to examine the faith of that individual to say, is it 280 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:25,960 true? 281 00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:26,960 Is it genuine? 282 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:29,600 Is it real? 283 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:34,920 Because one who is a member of the new community has a heart to obey Christ's Lordship and 284 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:42,480 Christ clearly, clearly commanded baptism and the Lord's Supper of all of us, without 285 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:44,680 exception. 286 00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:50,220 And so even here in the new community you notice that when they had received His Word, 287 00:24:50,220 --> 00:24:53,220 they were baptized. 288 00:24:53,220 --> 00:24:56,080 Just that simple. 289 00:24:56,080 --> 00:25:00,840 And you see this pattern through Acts, all the way through it. 290 00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:07,480 People who were genuinely saved were immediately baptized. 291 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:18,040 And it also says that they broke bread from house to house, which suggests communion. 292 00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:20,800 Baptism followed receiving the Word. 293 00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:26,160 It witnessed to everyone else in the whole city, the whole region, who observed it, that 294 00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:31,240 that person was entering a new community. 295 00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:36,960 It was sort of the welcoming ritual into the new community. 296 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:43,800 It was the signifying act, the inauguration of one officially into the fellowship of the 297 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:46,440 new community. 298 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:52,560 And so the first step of obeying in the new community is baptism as a new believer in 299 00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:57,920 Jesus Christ. 300 00:25:57,920 --> 00:26:03,000 And so as we look at the new community and we talk about the fact that we need to have 301 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:09,680 a revitalization of the community of God in this age, this end of the age. 302 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:16,480 That we need to return to some of the principles, some of the ideas, and the heart of the new 303 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:18,120 community when it was born. 304 00:26:18,120 --> 00:26:23,740 I want to begin here with obeying. 305 00:26:23,740 --> 00:26:26,560 The heart of the new community is obedience. 306 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:31,160 And obedience means, number one, being baptized. 307 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:36,040 And then observing the Lord's Supper. 308 00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:43,480 And so I ask you, are you an obeying Christian? 309 00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:47,860 Are you an obeying member of the new community? 310 00:26:47,860 --> 00:26:51,960 Have you been immersed as a believer in Jesus Christ? 311 00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:57,640 Well, you say no, but I have been sprinkled as a baby. 312 00:26:57,640 --> 00:27:00,960 You have not been baptized. 313 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:10,000 In the first place, you were not in faith at that point. 314 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:16,680 After one has believed and received the word, then he is a candidate for being baptized. 315 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:26,040 As an expression of obedience to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. 316 00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:27,400 Have you obeyed in this first step? 317 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:28,880 You say, well, it's just been too long. 318 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:30,880 I mean, it's been years and years. 319 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:34,040 And I just feel embarrassed to do it now. 320 00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:40,720 Well, I go back to the illustration I used at the beginning. 321 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:46,720 The children who didn't pick up the floor, take the garbage out, ultimately did what 322 00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:48,920 they were supposed to do. 323 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:50,360 It wasn't perfect obedience. 324 00:27:50,360 --> 00:27:55,240 It was delayed obedience, but at least it was obedience. 325 00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:58,880 And it may be decades since you became a Christian. 326 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:06,200 And you have had one excuse after another for not being baptized. 327 00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:11,520 Or you have thought that you had been, and now you realize you haven't, but you don't 328 00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:13,320 know what to do. 329 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:19,640 It may be a long time, but there is still time to obey. 330 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:24,280 There is still time to follow the Lord's command. 331 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:28,120 Obedience is doing exactly what the Lord says. 332 00:28:28,120 --> 00:28:35,160 When and how, he says, to do it. 333 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:42,200 This morning I call upon all of us to examine our hearts, if we claim to be members of the 334 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:48,680 new community, to find out if we are really obeying. 335 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:53,200 Because to be a part of the new community of God means to have a new heart that desires 336 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:55,680 to obey God. 337 00:28:55,680 --> 00:29:00,600 And because we still struggle with sin within, it won't be a perfect obedience. 338 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:04,900 And we confess our sins to the Lord and go on. 339 00:29:04,900 --> 00:29:07,720 But the bent of the heart is obeying. 340 00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:14,240 And the very first step is baptism. 341 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:17,600 I'm going to have prayer in a moment, and after I pray we're going to sing a verse or 342 00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:20,160 two of a song. 343 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:24,260 And as we sing, I'm going to ask you to come forward. 344 00:29:24,260 --> 00:29:30,900 If today you want to say to the Lord, and before others in the community, I've not been 345 00:29:30,900 --> 00:29:38,560 walking with the Lord, but today I want to indicate my decision to renew my obedience 346 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:39,800 to Christ's Lordship. 347 00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:47,720 And for some of you, that's going to mean backing up to the first step and being baptized. 348 00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:53,480 And for those of you in that case, I want to have a special word with you afterward. 349 00:29:53,480 --> 00:30:05,160 This morning I call us to be an obeying people, to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, and to submit 350 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:15,120 our lives in every respect to doing what he says to do, when and how he says we're to 351 00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:16,120 do it. 352 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:21,880 Let's bow our heads in prayer. 353 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:29,280 As I said in a moment, I'm going to ask for your response by the Holy Spirit. 354 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:37,520 And if the Holy Spirit has convicted you of disobedience, of not doing what Jesus has 355 00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:46,180 said to do, I invite you to come publicly and to stand before others and say, I determine 356 00:30:46,180 --> 00:30:59,320 in my heart to begin walking again in obedience to the Christ who bought me. 357 00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:06,480 And particularly I invite you to come if you've not been baptized as a believer in the name 358 00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:11,880 of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 359 00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:31,440 And Jesus, I pray that you will accomplish bringing us further under your Lordship. 360 00:31:31,440 --> 00:31:40,200 Thank you for enlightening us from time to time of new areas, new decisions that we need 361 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:43,760 to submit to you. 362 00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:48,560 And I especially want to pray that if there would be someone here without you at all, 363 00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:57,080 who's never been saved, who's never genuinely, savingly believed, that even today they would 364 00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:02,240 do that, and they too would come. 365 00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:04,040 Amen. 366 00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:11,920 Would you take a hymnal please and we're going to sing number 349, which links together 367 00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:18,240 two critical words in the New Testament, trust and obey. 368 00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:22,860 You cannot separate those two. 369 00:32:22,860 --> 00:32:28,960 To believe is to obey, and to obey is to believe. 370 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:37,320 And there's no other way to be happy in Jesus or to be an obedient citizen of his new community, 371 00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:42,360 but to believe, to trust, and obey. 372 00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:46,040 Let's stand together as we sing and I invite you to slip out quickly and join me here in 373 00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:56,360 the front as God has directed your heart. 374 00:32:56,360 --> 00:33:11,640 When we walk with the Lord in the light of his word, what a glory he sheds on our way. 375 00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:22,240 While we do his good will, he abides with us still and with all who are. 376 00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:23,240 Hi, Dale. 377 00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:24,240 Hi, Mike. 378 00:33:24,240 --> 00:33:27,240 How are you coming today? 379 00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:34,240 We need to get baptized. 380 00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:47,440 We've had two come for baptism. 381 00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:48,440 Would you join them? 382 00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:49,440 Would you join them? 383 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:56,440 Let's sing the second verse. 384 00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:43,400 Obey, just the chorus, please. 385 00:34:43,400 --> 00:35:10,800 I'm tempted to have all of those who have been immersed as believers to sit down. 386 00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:13,720 I'm not going to do that. 387 00:35:13,720 --> 00:35:17,880 I was tempted. 388 00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:24,520 I'm reluctant because I don't want to embarrass anyone, but my friends, understand what we 389 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:27,680 preached this morning from God's word. 390 00:35:27,680 --> 00:35:32,720 And if you've not been baptized as a believer, you should be able to explain to Jesus Christ 391 00:35:32,720 --> 00:35:37,840 right now why you have not. 392 00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:44,280 But if you can't, then why aren't you obeying? 393 00:35:44,280 --> 00:35:46,400 Why not? 394 00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:53,400 Why not? 395 00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:59,520 So we're done singing, and I'm not going to have people who have been baptized sit down. 396 00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:07,120 But I urge you, I urge you to obedience to Christ's Lordship. 397 00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:12,040 For you really cannot be a member of the new community of God unless your heart is one 398 00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:13,040 of obedience. 399 00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:14,040 That's implicit. 400 00:36:14,040 --> 00:36:15,040 It's just part of it. 401 00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:24,040 And obedience means being baptized and obeying the Lord's Son. 402 00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:26,640 Let's pray. 403 00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:35,520 Father, I pray that you will take this very confrontive and challenging message, which 404 00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:44,360 some are resisting, and enforce the Lordship of Jesus in our lives. 405 00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:51,240 Because that Lordship is only for our good. 406 00:36:51,240 --> 00:36:53,960 It's only for our good. 407 00:36:53,960 --> 00:36:58,880 Help us to realize that and to put away the resistance within and to realize where that 408 00:36:58,880 --> 00:37:08,160 comes from and to submit. 409 00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:15,680 And this we pray in the name of the one who gave himself for us and was obedient unto 410 00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:16,680 death. 411 00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:17,680 Amen. 412 00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:33,560 Good night, now.