While Scripture repeatedly emphasizes that those who are truly born again will persevere to the end and will certainly have eternal life in heaven with God, there are other passages that speak of the necessity of continuing in faith throughout life. They make us realize that what Peter said in 1 Peter 1:5 is true, namely, that God does not guard us apart from our faith, but only by working through our faith so that he enables us to continue to believe in him. In this way, those who continue to trust in Christ gain assurance that God is working in them and guarding them.

One example of this kind of passage is John 8:31–32: “Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” ’ Jesus is here giving a warning that one evidence of genuine faith is continuing in his word, that is, continuing to believe what he says and living a life of obedience to his commands. Similarly, Jesus says, “He who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 10:22), as a means of warning people not to fall away in times of persecution.

Paul says to the Colossian Christians that Christ has reconciled them to God, “in order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him, provided that you continue in the faith stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel which you heard” (Col. 1:22–23). It is only natural that Paul and the other New Testament writers would speak this way, for they are addressing groups of people who profess to be Christians, without being able to know the actual state of every person’s heart. There may have been people at Colossae who had joined in the fellowship of the church, and perhaps even professed that they had faith in Christ and had been baptized into membership of the church, but who never had true saving faith. How is Paul to distinguish such people from true believers? How can he avoid giving them false assurance, assurance that they will be saved eternally when in fact they will not, unless they come to true repentance and faith? Paul knows that those whose faith is not real will eventually fall away from participation in the fellowship of the church. Therefore he tells his readers that they will ultimately be saved, “provided that you continue in the faith” (Col. 1:23). Those who continue show thereby that they are genuine believers. But those who do not continue in the faith show that there was no genuine faith in their hearts in the first place.

A similar emphasis is seen in Hebrews 3:14 (NASB): “For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm to the end.” This verse provides an excellent perspective on the doctrine of perseverance. How do we know if “we have become partakers of Christ”? How do we know if this being joined to Christ has happened to us at some time in the past? One way in which we know that we have come to genuine faith in Christ is if we continue in faith until the end of our lives.

Attention to the context of Hebrews 3:14 will keep us from using this and other similar passages in a pastorally inappropriate way. We must remember that there are other evidences elsewhere in Scripture that give Christians assurance of salvation, so we should not think that assurance that we belong to Christ is impossible until we die. However, continuing in faith is the one means of assurance that is named here by the author of Hebrews. He mentions this to warn his readers that they should not fall away from Christ, because he is writing to a situation where such a warning is needed. The beginning of that section, just two verses earlier, said, “Take care, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God” (Heb. 3:12). In fact, in all of the passages where continuing to believe in Christ to the end of our lives is mentioned as one indication of genuine faith, the purpose is never to make those who are presently trusting in Christ worry that some time in the future they might fall away (and we should never use these passages that way either, for that would be to give wrongful cause for worry in a way that Scripture does not intend). Rather, the purpose is always to warn those who are thinking of falling away or have fallen away that if they do this it is a strong indication that they were never saved in the first place. Thus, the necessity for continuing in faith should just be used as a warning against falling away, a warning that those who fall away give evidence that their faith was never real.

John clearly states that when people fall away from fellowship with the church and from belief in Christ they thereby show that their faith was not real in the first place and that they were never part of the true body of Christ. Speaking of people who have left the fellowship of believers, John says, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out, that it might be plain that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19). John says that those who have departed showed by their actions that they “were not of us—that they were not truly born again.”

Grudem, Wayne A. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House, 2004.

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

Salvation is accomplished through what Christ did in history and by what He continues to do in believers by the Holy Spirit. The basis for our salvation is Jesus’ death on the cross (Rom. 3:25) and the righteousness He achieved for us in His active obedience. It is realized in our lives as Christ lives in us (John 15:4; 17:26; Col. 1:27) and we live in Christ, united with Him in His death and risen life (Rom. 6:3–10; Col. 2:12, 20; 3:1).  -R.C. Sproul

Salvation is a work that God does.  The success of His Gospel and the fruits from His ministry is not based upon how his ministers perform.  He has chosen to work in and through the foolishness of our words and the flawed efforts of our hands and feet to minister.  So for salvation to happen—for ministry to be fruitful, God has to be in it.  He has to do a work.  You could deliver a message with the intelligence of R.C. Sproul and the delivery of John MacArthur and the passion of John Piper and if God is not in it, nothing fruitful will come from it. 

God calls—He draws—He changes us from the inside out.  He sent His Son to accomplish salvation for us, He sends His people to share Christ with us, and He uses His word to instruct us and sends His Spirit to convict and convert us. 

There are so many places we find this in scripture.  Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-9,

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.   

We are saved by God’s Grace, not by our works.  And though he says that we are saved “through faith,” Paul follows that statement with, “…this is not your own doing.”  We can’t even say our faith is from us because God is the one who awakens us to faith.  He also says in Titus 3:5,  

(God) saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus also said in John 14:17, “The world cannot receive (The Holy Spirit).”  Why?  He says, “It neither sees Him nor knows Him.”  We are spiritually dead as Paul says in Ephesians 2 and there is only one who can bring a spiritually dead person to life and that’s God.

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

The central theme of the Christian gospel is salvation. The gospel proclaims that as God saved Israel from Egypt and the psalmist from death (Ex. 15:2; Ps. 116:6), so He will save all who trust Christ from sin and its consequences. This salvation from sin and death is wholly God’s work. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). “Salvation belongs to the LORD” (Jon. 2:9).  -R.C. Sproul

IS THERE A WRONG WAY TO APPROACH GOD?

There is a story of two men who went to the same place of worship to pray.  Both went, both prayed, but only one was accepted before God.  Though they both went to the same place before the same God with similar activity, but only one went away right with God. 

Why?  Well, we learn in the story that though one was viewed by many as this impressive spiritual leader and the other a despised and wretched sinner, we are told that the impressive religious leader stood before God and men and held his head up high and basically said, “God I thank you that I am so Great—not like these other men—not like this despised and terrible, ungodly sinner over here.”  He said, “I do all the right things spiritually—I meet all your requirements.  I fast twice a week and give my money away to the church and to the poor.  Thank you God that I’m me, a spiritual giant for you.”

And we are told that in that same place of worship the other man stood up and did not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but looking down at the ground he beat on chest  and said, “Oh God be merciful to me; for I am a sinner.”  And we are told that the miserable sinner was the one who left the place of worship on that day right with God.

This is a parable that our Lord Jesus told while he was surrounded by a group of self-righteous Pharisees and in this parable we learn that there is a right and wrong way to approach God.  We learn here that you could have two individuals going to the exact same place coming before the exact same God with similar activity and one could be in the right and the other in the wrong.  We are told they both went to the temple to pray and only one was accepted before God.  The reason is because more than being concerned with the actions of our hands and feet, God is concerned with the condition of our hearts—and the motives behind our actions.

Though both men went to the temple to pray, the Pharisee did so with a proud and arrogant heart.  He was bragging to God about all the things he had done instead of praising Him for His great mercy and grace.  The tax collector, on the other hand, refused to even lift up his eyes in God’s direction and with his head low he confessed his sin and pleaded for mercy. 

Two men…same place of worship…similar activity, and only one was accepted and the other rejected.  Scripture is clear that though it is essential that we follow God, there is a right and wrong way to approach Him.  The outward acts of our hands and feet (going to place of worship and praying to God) means little to God if the one carry out those activities has impure motives and an unchanged and calloused heart.

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

“The Pharisee relied on his own merits, not having discovered that no human righteousness is sufficient before a God who demands perfection (Matt. 5:48). The tax collector relied on God’s mercy and found it.”  –R.C. Sproul

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.  When the going gets tough, the tough get going.  Every cloud has a silver lining.  It’s not about the cards you’re dealt, but about how you play the hand. 

Each of these statements are familiar sayings in our society that have to do with making the best of a bad situation.  We have all had to do this at one time or another—we have all had to make lemonade when life has given us lemons.  And all of us know stories of people who have overcome great adversity and have made great work of the worst of situations.  There are many stories in our world of people who played a bad hand well—who found the silver lining in a tough situation.

We learn in Scripture that our God works in this way as well.  We learn all throughout His Word that he makes the best work of the worst of situations.  His book is filled with story after story of Him working in and through dark and difficult situations to bring about the best, most glorious and god-honoring ends.  This is the work that our God delights in doing.  He delights in taking broken and messed up situations and restoring and redeeming them and using them for good and for His purposes and for His glory. 

We are given a great example of this in Acts 8.  After God’s great servant Stephen is stoned to death and Christian persecution breaks out all over Jerusalem, we are told that God works in and through it to take His message of salvation out of Jerusalem and out into the world.  He makes great work of this horrible situation.  He uses persecution to spread His Gospel.  

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

“Satan was doing his best (to stop the spread of God’s Gospel) and God was just checking off point two in His outline."  (Acts 8:1-4) –John MacArthur

MISSIONS MONTH

Yesterday we had our missionaries from Nigeria--the Fretheims with us. They head up City Ministries which serves the people of Jos, Nigeria in a number of ways. Some of these include free medical treatments, expanded prison ministries, more than 500 film outreaches and the development of Genesis Farms, which trains people to care for large gardens that provide food and income for the people of Jos.

They have also been involved with several church plants and have trained thousands of Nigerians for evangelism and church planting.  To learn more about their ministry please click HERE.

"QUOTE" OF THE MONTH

"All of Scripture points to the fact that God is a missionary God, that the church is to be a missionary community and that God's people are to be missionary people." -Paul G. Hiebert

MISSIONS MONTH

Jim and Melanie Wilson live in Costa Rica where they serve as full-time missionaries.  Though they are involved in various ministries, their primary focus is upon leadership development.  Jim was with us yesterday and preached from 1 Corinthians and then met with our mission team going to Nicaragua in November.

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

 May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.  Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah  Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!  The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us.  God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!  Psalm 67

MISSIONS MONTH

Scott Yingling visited our church yesterday.  He is the director of the website obrerofiel.com.  Obrero Fiel means "faithful laborer" in Spanish. This site is designed to encourage, educate and equip Spanish-speakers around the world.  There are over 6,000 Christian resources available, and there is also an online discipleship school called Escuela Obrero Fiel which has over 3,000 students enrolled.  His son, Josiah, was also with us.  Josiah recently graduated from Moody Bible Institute and is starting at New Tribes Ministry in the fall.  There he will be trained for mission ministry.  To know more about Obrero Fiel, click HERE.  To learn more about New Tribes Missions, click HERE.  And to hear Scott and Josiah's message click HERE.

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

"We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God."  -John Stott

THE CHRIST-HATING MOB AND THE MAN OF GOD

Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.  And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”  And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.  Acts 7:58-60 

 

At the end of Acts 7 we learn that Stephen was put to death for his stance for Christ.  And as they were stoning him, we are told that he prayed for them.  He says, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”  In this passage, Luke makes a great contrast between this Christ-hating mob and this man of God. 

We see here in this passage that though this mob hated Stephen, Stephen loved and forgave them.  Christ did something very similar at His crucifixion.  We are told as he was being crucified, Christ prayed for His persecutors and said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Stephen prays the same thing.  While they are killing him, he prays that God would show great grace and mercy to them.  In Acts 6, we learned that Stephen was a man “full of grace.”  And he shows that here.   As he is being stoned he prays, “Father, please forgive them…show them mercy…show them your grace.”  Only a spirit-filled Christ-like man of God can love like that.

There was a reformer by the name of George Wishart who was to be put to death in the 1500s for his faith and history tells us that before his death he went over to his executioner and kissed him on the cheek and said, “Lo, here is a token that I forgive thee.” 

Jesus did the same thing and so did Stephen.  What a testimony!  There was all this hate toward Stephen and there is nothing in Stephen’s heart but love.  And though we don’t know what happened to most of the executioners after killing Stephen, we do know the fate of one.  In verse 58, we are told that the executioners laid down their garments at the feet of Saul.  This is Saul of Tarsus, latter to be known as Paul the Apostle.  He was there at Stephen’s martyrdom looking on in approval and may have even been one of the ones leading this mob who put Stephen to death. 

And in this book Luke tells us of the fate of Saul.  We learn Acts 9 that God answered Stephen’s prayer.  Stephen prayed at the end of Acts 7 that God would show great mercy and grace to His persecutors and we learn in Acts 9 that God shows mercy and grace to Saul.  Augustine, when commenting on  this verse, said, “The church owes Paul to the prayer of Stephen.”  

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

“The church owes Paul to the prayer of Stephen.”  -Augustine

MISSION NICARAGUA

This week I am with a team of pastors in Chinandega, Nicaragua.  We are teaching at a Bible Institute on preaching.  We have had over 140 pastors and church leaders attending this week.

"What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."  2 Timothy 2:2

THE STANDARD FOR PREACHERS

If you were to ask me, “What are the characteristics of a solid pastor teacher?”  There are several characteristics I would list.  First I would say that they must know the word of God.  They must know what it says and how it flows and how it points Jesus.  A great preacher knows how most every passage fits in God’s story and how it ties to Christ and God’s Gospel and how it applies to us.

Second I would say that they must know how to communicate God’s word effectively.  A good preacher not only knows God’s word, but knows how to communicate it in a way it can be understood by the common man/woman and knows how to communicate it in a way that is captivating and intriguing.  

I would also say that good preachers speak the truth in love.  They don’t shy away from difficult truths in scripture, but preach them with boldness, yet they do it respectfully.  Good preachers can also effectively defend and contend for the faith.  They know God’s word so well that they can defend it and fight for it against skeptics and critics. 

Good preachers are also missional.  They have a desire to make Christ known where he is not known and be His witnesses to the unbelieving and watching world.  I would say that great preachers also live what they preach.  They preach to themselves and apply what they preach to their own lives as well as preach to others.  They are men of great integrity and display great faith. 

Lastly, I would say their message stirs great emotions and results in great action—both positive and negative.  God uses their words to bring the hardest of sinners to repentance and the most resistant of believers to obedience.  And their messages also produce great enemies.  Some of my favorite pastor teachers are some of the most despised men by the world because they stand on the truth of God’s word, which is counter to the world.  They don’t shy away from the truth no matter how it offends, but they defend it and contend for it.

These characteristics, in my opinion, are what make for great preachers.  And in Acts 6 and 7, we see all of these characteristics bundled up in the person of Stephen.  Stephen lived what he preached.  He was a man of great integrity and faith.  In the first part of Acts 6, as the church was getting more organized to better deal with their issues, they appointed seven men of great faith and integrity and wisdom, and of the thousands to choose from, Stephen was at the top of their list. 

We also learn in Acts 6 that on top of being a great servant in the church, Stephen went above and beyond for the cause of Christ outside the church in ministry.  Not only did he help handle issues within the church, he took God’s Gospel message out into the world in hopes of growing His church and advancing His Kingdom. 

He was a man of great integrity, and faith and wisdom.  He was also a mission-minded minister.  He had a desire to see the lost come to Christ and was passionate about making Him known where he was not known. 

In Acts 7 we learn that Stephen also knew the word of God and knew how to defend it and contend for it.  He boldly spoke the truth in love.  Stephen was a great man of God and the reason why he was so great is because he looked so much like Jesus.  Jesus was full of the Spirit, so was Stephen.  Jesus was full of wisdom, so was Stephen.  Jesus was full of power, so was Stephen.  Jesus was full of grace, so was Stephen.  And Stephen was the way that he was because of Jesus. 

For more on Stephen, click HERE and listen to “A GREAT MESSAGE OF FAITH FROM A GREAT MAN OF FAITH.”  

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

"The emphasis in Stephen’s life is on fullness: he was full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom (Acts 6:3, 10), full of faith (Acts 6:5), and full of power (Acts 6:8). In Scripture, to be 'full of' means 'to be controlled by.' (Stephen) was controlled by the Spirit, faith, wisdom, and power. He was a God-controlled man yielded to the Holy Spirit, a man who sought to lead people to Christ." -Warren Wiersbe

THE GLOW OF GOD

Yesterday we looked at Stephen from Acts.  And of the many things I love about Stephen from Acts 6-7, one of my favorite details about him comes from Acts 6:15.  In this verse of Scripture, Luke tells us that while the Jewish religious leaders were trying to demonize Stephen, he simply sat  in front of them with the “glow of God” on his face.  Luke says,

And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.  Acts 6:15

These Jewish religious leaders hated Stephen, because he was traveling around to their synagogues preaching Christ and was doing great wonders and signs among the people (6:8).  And because Stephen was a disciple of Christ, these leaders of the synagogues charged him with being an enemy of Moses, of God, of the Law and of the Temple.  And we are told at the end of Acts 6 that as they are doing that, Stephen sits before them with a holy face.  What a rebuke!

Now what did his face look like?  We don’t know for sure.  We are not given a detailed description, but I picture something similar to what Moses’ face looked like when he returned to the Jewish people after spending time with God on Mount Sinai.  Stephen, like Moses, had the “glow of God” on his face.  Dr. John Polhill said this about Stephen’s countenance.  He said, 

Stephen’s face is described as being like the face of an angel. There was apparently a visible manifestation of the brightness of the glory of God on his face, as there had been with Moses (Ex. 34:29–30, 35).

We learn in Exodus 34 that when Moses came down from Mount Sinai carrying the Old Covenant, he had the “glow of God” on His face and in Acts 6, Luke tells us that Stephen had the same glow.  He was preaching on the New Covenant and about how the old is fulfilled in Christ and God puts that same glow on him.  Stephen was not Moses’ enemy, but was God’s man--same as Moses.  And he like Moses was delivering a message from God.  Moses' message was one of anticipation of Christ and Stephen's message was a message of fulfillment in Christ.

For more on Stephen, click HERE and listen to, “A GREAT MAN WHOSE MINISTRY MADE A GREAT IMPACT.”

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

Stephen’s face is described as being like the face of an angel. There was apparently a visible manifestation of the brightness of the glory of God on his face, as there had been with Moses (Ex. 34:29–30, 35).  -Dr. John B. Polhill

ORGANIZATION IS GODLY

 Have you ever heard someone say, "I believe in God—I’m a spiritual person, I just don’t like organized religion?”  Ever heard that or something like that?  I have heard professing Christians say, “I believe in Jesus—I’m a Christian, I’m just not a fan of organized religion.”

 

I had a friend I grew up with in church who got to the point where he was extremely critical of any sort of organization in the church.  He and a group of his friends decided to form their own group (which, by the way, sounds somewhat organized.)  They did not meet in a building--they did not have a pastor, did not have music, or adult bible studies or kids ministry.  They would just allow the meetings to go how the Holy Spirit led them to go.  Some meetings would last 30 minutes and others would go up to two hours.  Sometimes they would spend the majority of their time praying, at other times they would sing.  At times, people at random, when they felt led, would teach.  But their goal was to not plan or organize anything because they believed that anything organized was worldly and unspiritual.  They believed that anything in a system could not be of God.

One of my issues with this approach (and I have a few), is the argument that says formal organization is not from God—that it is ungodly.  I take issue with this and the reason why is because we learn from Scripture that our God is extremely organized.  He has created all that is and has ordered it a certain way.  

When you read the creation account in Genesis 1, you see that God is very orderly.  We are told in v. 21 that He created every living creature that moves, according to their kinds.  He created all these different species and made them in such a way that scientists can group them together by their physical features.  He is so organized that he brings the sun out each morning and the moon each evening (or keeps the earth revolving).  Everything goes on all the time as it should because our God is so organized. 

We see that He is organized in the way he has created and sustains us.  Think about our bodies.  God gave us bodies that are extremely organized in the way they function.  Now, because of the fall, we do at times experience malfunction in parts of our body, but our bodies were created to function and keep functioning in a very predictable and organized way. 

Think about God’s word.  Is it organized?  Yeah.  We learn in His word that he has chosen to use his people to write orderly accounts about who He is and all He has said and done throughout history.  Remember Luke tells Theophilus at the first of His Gospel, it seemed good to me to write an orderly account for you. 

So God’s Word is orderly.  And not only do we see that He is organized in creation and in His Word, but also in His church.  Remember he inspired Paul to write these words in 1 Corinthians 12,    

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

(VERSE 18) God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

You see, God desires for His church to be organized—one body with many parts arranged to function together in a cohesive and organized way.  

Now there are some who take this to the extreme.  Just like my friend's church was one extreme, there are others on the complete opposite end who say that the church is an organization and must be run like business and the pastor functions as a CEO.  They develop these complex organizational charts with various boards and committees and sub committees that oversee and monitor every little detail of church life and they provide five to six page job descriptions for everybody on staff and four times a year they have performance reviews.  And though they factor in the work of the Holy Spirit, He must work within this complex yet organized system. 

That’s the other extreme.  Both I believe are wrong.  You see the church is not an organization, it is an organism.  Now it is to be an organized organism—but it is an organism.  This is Paul’s point in 1 Corinthians 12.

The church is a body—it is an organism that it is alive—living, breathing,  growing and maturing because it is made up of believers who are alive, not just physically but spiritually.  They are living, breathing, growing and maturing in Christ.  And it is an organized organism with many parts functioning as one body, with one Spirit, under one head, with one mission—to make Christ know and advance God’s Gospel everywhere.

And for the church to do this—to function as one body with many parts under one head with one mission, the church must be organized.  The church must develop ministries to equip God’s people to function effectively in this way.  The church must have a designated place to meet and set times to do so and have capable and gifted people in leadership positions in these ministries to help them succeed.  The church must be organized to impact the world for Christ.

For more on church organization, click HERE and listen to "ORGANIZED TO IMPACT THE WORLD."

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

God is not a God of disorder.  1 Corinthians 14:33

If a church is going to impact the world for Christ it must strive to be pure.  If our message is that God has sent His Son to die for our sins and to make us new, than it better be visible in our churches and in our lives.  I’m not talking about being perfect because there is no perfect church.  I am talking about being a church that hates sin and is striving to be like Christ.  When we go around and share the message of how one can have new life in Christ and we live like the world we kill the message.

There are many churches today who do not like to talk about sin and judgment because they are afraid it will turn people away.  That was not the approach of the early church.  They focused on the seriousness of sin and sin was seriously dealt with.  They did not just focus on having the right message, but living a righteous life.  They understood that what made their testimony believable was that they lived a holy and righteous and transformed life. 

They did not water down the message of the Gospel, they were honest about the fact that giving your life to Christ means turning away from—forsaking your sin.  They taught that the life of a Christian is a self-denying, cross bearing life. 

That message has not changed.  That is the message of the Scriptures and that is the message we must share today.  Though I agree the church is the place where sinners are to come who are in need, it is also a place where non-believers are to be encouraged to repent and turn from their sin and give their life to Christ and where believers are to sharpen one another and push one another to grow in godliness.

The church will not impact the world if it looks like the world and adopts the message of the world.  A church like that fades into the background of the culture it is trying to mimic.  The church impacts the world for Christ when it looks like Christ and functions as a light to the world exposing sin and leading people to Him.  

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

"You don't impact the world by looking like the world, you impact to world by looking like Christ."  -from sermon notes on 4/26/15

SIN IS SERIOUS

But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet.  But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?  While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”  When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it.  The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.  And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.  And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.  Acts 5:1-11

Many of us, if we are honest, do not like this story—we do not know how to make sense of it and the reason why is because we don’t view sin properly and we fail to take it as seriously as God does. 

God is serious about sin—especially sin in the church.  He does not want us to be okay with it.  He does not want us to tolerate it.  He wants us to take it seriously personally, and in our world and in His church.  That’s one of the main reasons the majority of His epistles were written.  They were written to address various issues in church.  They were written to teach us how we are to handle these issues and to call for those who are struggling to repent and turn back to God.    

Scripture is clear that those who do not will be faced with some serious consequences.  At the very beginning of 1 Corinthians, Paul is writing to one messed up church in Corinth and He begins this book by calling them saints—he refers to them as those who are sanctified in Christ.  So he is writing to believers, but believers who have had some major issues.  And in 1 Corinthians 11 we learn that many were not taking the Lord Supper in a worthy manner and Paul tells them in v. 28 that when they do that—when they abuse that ordinance, he says, “they drink judgement on themselves.”  He says, That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 

Here we learn that God had taken some of the Corinthians out because of their wickedness and he does that here in Acts 5 with Ananias and Sapphira.  God is serious about sin—especially sin in the church.  He did not save us and set us apart for us to just drift back to where we were and live like the world and make a mockery of His church.  He saved us and set us apart to be a light in this dark and dead world.  

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

...sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.  James 1:15 

God really has spoken. And this Word is living and active. It is not a dead Word. He really speaks today through the inspired Scriptures. Not just with information, but with himself by his Spirit.

The Word in the Bible is more sure than anything you can hear outside the Bible. I base that on 1 Corinthians 14:37.

If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.

Paul is saying you can call yourself a prophet and get messages from God. You can call yourself spiritual and be tuned in to God, but if anything you say doesn’t accord with what I say, you are not recognized, which means that outside the Bible we have fallible, uncertain impressions and messages. Inside the Bible we have rock solid dependable messages.

There are treasures and wonders and glories and dimensions of God to be seen in the Bible that we have scarcely seen.  It seems to me to be folly to crave the lesser authority and the lesser riches outside the Bible than the riches and the greater authority that we have barely tasted, let alone digested inside the Bible.

http://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/does-god-verbally-speak-to-me

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

Beware of craving the sensations of a voice. Jesus warned against those who seek a sign. So here he is. He is standing there in front of the Pharisees and scribes speaking and they say: Give us a sign. What does that mean? It means that the voice of Jesus Christ the Son of God wasn't adequate. They needed something more. They needed to feel more, touch more, see more. They wanted more. And Jesus wouldn't give it to them. And I think we are in a situation today not unlike that. We hear more of the Son of God than anybody in Jesus’ day ever heard, because we have all four gospels and those people got it in snatches. Therefore we have the wholeness of the revelation that Jesus meant to communicate and it is speaking to us every time we read the Bible. And if we turn away from that and say: But I need a sign. I need a voice. I need a tree to fall down in the woods when I am talking. I need something. We are putting ourselves in the position of those who demanded a sign.

When discussing the evidences for Jesus’ resurrection, many often make mention of the empty tomb and the various appearances of the Lord Jesus, but very few if any make mention of the future church.  In John 20:29, after appearing to a skeptical Thomas, Jesus says there is going to be a future group of believers who are going to believe in Him without seeing.  He tells Thomas,

Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

And this group of future believers give strong evidence for Jesus’ resurrection.  Scripture is clear that those who have been saved—those who have taken a stand for Christ and continue standing for Him—those who are in Christ and live as Christ give strong evidence for His resurrection.

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.  And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."  Galatians 2:20

"TO PLEASE HIS HEAVENLY FATHER" by John Piper

Jesus did not wrestle his angry Father to the floor of heaven and take the whip out of his hand.  He did not force him to be merciful to humanity.  His death was not the begrudging consent of God to be lenient to sinners.  No, what Jesus did when he suffered and died was the Father’s idea.  It was a breathtaking strategy, conceived even before creation, as God saw and planned the history of the world.  That is why the Bible speaks of God’s “purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (2 Timothy 1:9).

Already in the Jewish Scriptures the plan was unfolding.  The prophet Isaiah foretold the sufferings of the Messiah, who was to take the place of sinners.  He said that the Christ would be “smitten by God” in our place.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities…All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  (Isaiah 53:4-6)

But what is most astonishing about this substitution of Christ for sinners is that it was God’s idea.  Christ did not intrude on God’s plan to punish sinners.  God planned for him to be there.  One Old Testament prophet says, “It was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief” (Isaiah 53:10).

This explains the paradox of the New Testament.  On the one hand, the suffering of Christ is an outpouring of God’s wrath because of sin.  But on the other hand, Christ’s suffering is a beautiful act of submission and obedience to the will of the Father.  So Christ cried from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).  And yet the Bible says that the suffering of Christ was a fragrance to God.  “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2). 

Piper, John.  The Passion of Jesus Christ.  Wheaton:  Crossway Books.  2004.  22-23.

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

“Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God”  Ephesians 5:2.

When they were released, they went to their friends.  Acts 4:23

There are people in our world today who believe they can be who God has called them to be apart from His people.  Not John and Peter.  Because they were being faithful witnesses for Christ, they were colliding with the world.  And because they were colliding with the world, they rightly understood that they needed the church for strength.  So when they were released, they went back to their own—They banded together with their brothers and sisters in Christ and prayed for more boldness.

When you stand strong for Christ, you are going to collide with the world.  And when you collide with the world, you are going to need the support of your brothers and sisters in Christ—you are going to need the church.  

Is this your perspective?  Do you see your need for God’s people?  If not, chances are good you are not faithfully doing what God has called you to do, because if you were you would be getting push back from the world and would be looking to God’s people for strength.  Persecution drives believers together.  In his commentary on Acts, John MacArthur said, "If we confronted the world system more aggressively, the resulting opposition would drive us closer together and enrich our mutual dependence." 

For more on being bold for Christ and how to respond for Him when the world pushes back, click HERE and listen to "HOW TO RESPOND TO PERSECUTION pt. 1 & 2."

MacArthur, John F., Jr. Acts. MacArthur New Testament Commentary. Chicago: Moody Press, 1994.

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

"It is noteworthy that the first thing Peter and John did after being released was to go to their own companions...They reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them and no doubt received comfort and encouragement from the others. A primary benefit of persecution is that it results in greater solidarity. Persecuted believers naturally draw together for mutual support...If we confronted the world system more aggressively, the resulting opposition would drive us closer together and enrich our mutual dependence. That real unity marked the early believers."  –John MacArthur

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.  Acts 4:31

Being Spirit-filled means to be under the influence of—under the control of—in submission to the Holy Spirit.  And though we are told that there are many fruits that come as a result of being filled with the Holy Spirit, we learn in Acts 2 and in Acts 4 that Spirit-filled people speak the word of God with boldness. 

God calls for His people to boldly proclaim the truth of His message and then trust in the Spirit of God to use us, the people of God preaching and teaching the Word of God, to bring people to saving faith so that His Kingdom advances.  A good way to test yourself to see if you are filled with His Holy Spirit is by asking yourself whether or not you are being faithful to God by sharing His message when the opportunity presents itself.    

Peter and John and others in the early church most certainly did.  We learn in the first part of Acts that they were faithful to share God’s message and when opposition came they did not run and hide—they did not shrink back, but they expected it and were submissive to it and were spirit-filled and took every opportunity to proclaim God’s message of redemption with boldness. 

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8