Book of Acts
THE BOOK OF ACTS – Chapter 2
WEEK FIVE
DO WE BELIEVE THE GIFT OF TONGUES IS FOR TODAY?
OK, there are two positions on this. One is called cessationism. Cessationism teaches that certain supernatural, miraculous gifts ceased around the turn of the first century after the Bible was completed in its writing. The other is continuationism, and that is that all of the supernatural, spiritual gifts continue. Until this day, they have not yet ceased.
Let me say a few things about this, and then we’ll look at 1 Corinthians 13.
I agree with cessationists that there will come a time when certain spiritual gifts cease, OK?
For example, the gift of evangelism. Do you think we’re going to need that in heaven?
So, we agree with the cessationists that certain gifts will come to an end like the gift of healing. You think in heaven you’re going to be like, “I’ll pray for the guy with cancer. Oh, that’s right—no more cancer.” You won’t need the gift of healing in the kingdom of God ’cause there won’t be any sickness. So, we agree with the cessationists that yes, certain gifts, at least, they’re going to cease. They’re going to cease.
Where I disagree with the cessationists and I agree with the continuationists is when they cease. I believe that all of the gifts continue until one very important transitionary moment in the history of the world.
We read about it here, 1 Corinthians 13:8–12. “Love never ends,” right? Certain spiritual gifts we’re not going to need them in heaven, but love continues forever. So, even when the gifts end, the love continues. “As for prophesies, they will pass away; as for tongues”—that could be the heavenly or the earthly, I suppose at the very least the earthly—”they will”—what?—”cease.” And again that position is cessationism.
When, when does it cease? When does tongues conclude? When is it over, right? What’s the expiration date on the box for tongues? When’s it over? Was it over in the first century, or is it not over yet? What’s the answer?
Well, let’s read the book that the Holy Spirit wrote: “10 When the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.” The cessationists then say, “And the perfect is the perfect Word of God. Now that we have the perfect Word of God, we don’t need certain supernatural, miraculous, spiritual gifts.” OK, do we believe that the Word of God is perfect? Absolutely. Absolutely. But the perfect being spoken of there is not the conclusion of the writing of the Bible.
Read with me. “12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.” Oh, so the perfect has a face. The perfect has a face. Well, who are we talking about now? JESUS.
OK, so one perfect guy shows up, and we see him face to face—that’s the Bible’s language for friendship. So, when do these gifts cease? When? When Jesus comes back, when we see him face to face.
So the cessationists are right: certain gifts will come to an end. But the cessationists are wrong: the end has not yet come. And the continuationists are right: all the gifts continue until we see him face to face, until Jesus comes again.
“Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”
What he says is between now and then, we’re going to have a lot of questions. But when Jesus comes back, it’s all going to get cleared up. It’s all going to make sense.
Maybe you are struggling, suffering. Persevere on because when you see Jesus face to face, everything’s going to make sense. It’s all going to come together. You just got to hang in there and be patient and live by faith until your faith becomes sight and you see him face to face.
Romans 5:1-5 NLT
5 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
So, we do believe that the gift of tongues and all of the gifts continue until this very day. It’s absolutely what we believe.
Now, what happens is some will come along and say, “But those gifts are very abused! Tongues and prophesy are misused and abused, therefore we should get rid of them.”
My answer is, all spiritual gifts have been used, abused, and misused.
For example, the gift of teaching. There’s been a lot of false teaching, a lot of bad teaching, and the answer is not, “Well, there has been bad teaching, so let us get rid of teaching.”
The answer is, “There’s been bad teaching, so let’s have Bible teaching.” If gifts have been misused, they should not be rejected: they should be used biblically to give God’s people a faithful alternative.
So we don’t want to just have the gifts; we want to use them in the way that the Holy Spirit governs, according to the Scriptures that he has written.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS RECEIVED AND REJECTED
And then he closes by telling us what happened when the Holy Spirit showed up. And that is that the Holy Spirit is received and rejected. Acts 2:12–13, “They were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ 13 But others mocking said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’”
When the Holy Spirit comes and he teaches about Jesus and he reveals Jesus, some people receive it. And you’re going to see three thousand people are saved. It’s an explosion of conversion. While some receive Jesus, others reject him. “These people are crazy. Christianity makes no sense. I’m not interested. Leave me alone.”
Friend, here’s my question to you: have you received or rejected Jesus? Have you received the Holy Spirit’s conviction and instruction, or have you rejected the Holy Spirit’s instruction and conviction? Don’t get distracted by the tongues.
The big idea is this: the Holy Spirit is absolutely, unequivocally, fully, thoroughly, totally committed. Whatever means are required, the message of Jesus will get out with power. And if a language is in the way, he will work through the language. If geography is in the way, he will work through the geography. If people are in the way, he will move those people aside. He will literally move heaven and earth to get the news of Jesus to lost people so that they have an opportunity to turn from sin and to trust in him.
Hear me in this: it’s not about the tongues. It’s about people hearing about Jesus. Everybody needs to hear about Jesus, and the Holy Spirit sets a fire in the children of God, and he unleashes them on the earth so that people would hear that Jesus is God, that Jesus is good, that Jesus has lived, that Jesus has died, that Jesus is risen, that Jesus is saving, that Jesus is serving, that Jesus is coming again to judge the living and the dead. And this message absolutely has to get out, and the ministry of the church is to get this message out.
I invite you to join me and to require the presence and power of the Holy Spirit to work through us. If there is any opportunity for us to speak, to share, to teach, to talk about Jesus, do it and overcome whatever barriers might get in the way so that people can receive him and join us forever as the glad family of God, amen?
That’s what it’s about. Acts is the book of the acts of the Holy Spirit, and he wants to work through us as he has worked through people for thousands of years.
THE DEFINITION OF CHURCH
The big question is, “What is a church?”
How many of you, if this week, somebody came up to you and asked, “What’d you do this week?” you’d say, “I went to church”? If they asked, “So, what’s a church?” What would your answer be? Where would you take them in the Bible?
The truth is, there’s a lot of churches, there’s a lot of Christians, and most Christians don’t know, really, what a church is.
I’ve heard some weird definitions, I’ll say, of a church over the years. Some years ago, I noticed that there were these single guys—always the best illustrations—there were these guys who would be at church, but they would not be there for the during deer season.
If you I asked them, “How come you’re not at church during deer season?”
They may say, “Oh, we go to a different church.”
“OK, what church do you go to?” Explain the hunting process…The woods…
Is that a church? No, those are guys hunting. That is not a church.
Other people say, “Well, you know, we go to a coffee shop, we go out to dinner, we go out to a pub, and we hang out together, and we just visit, and accountability, you know? It’s good hanging out time. That’s my church.”
Is that a church? No, it’s not a church.
Some people say, “Well, we have parachurch. So, mom’s got some sort of women’s Bible study thing, and then we take the kids to their thing, and then the high school kids go to their thing, and then the college kids go to their thing, and we kind of have this various collection of parachurch ministries that we’re involved in. So, we don’t really have a church, but we listen to some praise songs on the radio, and we download some podcasts, and put it all together in this big, huge stew, and for us, that’s our church.”
Is that a church? No, it’s not a church. Are any of those things bad? No, we’re not anti-coffee, deer hunting, or kids getting together for a Bible study. All of those things can be perfectly fine and good, but they’re not the church.
So, where would you go to define the church, to explain the church, to articulate the church? How many of you would go to Matthew 18 where it says—this is the most common definition of the church that I’ve ever heard, and it’s wrong, so don’t say it too confidently—but it says this in Matthew 18,
20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Matthew 18:20 ESV
And then some people come along and say, That’s a church.”
Is it? No, Matthew 18 is about church discipline. If one person has a conflict with another person, they need to bring in two or three witnesses to help untie the knot. That’s not a definition of a church: that’s the number of witnesses a church should require to untangle some sort of relational, sinful knot.
THE LEAST LIKELY PERSON TO PARTICIPATE IN A CHURCH
Here’s where we’re going to go: Acts 2:38–47. You can find it in your Bible or the fake Bible on your phone, and we’re going to study it together, and we’re going to see what happens when the Holy Spirit shows up and awakens people to the love and salvation of Jesus, and what happens when the Holy Spirit is present among God’s people.
This whole event that we’re going to examine comes on the heels of Peter’s sermon, and I just want to mention one thing from it: he says repeatedly in that sermon, “Men, men, men.” He’s speaking to everyone, but he’s really emphasizing the men, and he says that this good news of Jesus is for you and for your children.
So, I want everyone to listen, but especially you men. The least likely person to be participating in a church is a single, young man, usually in his 20s.
Young man, you need to be in church, learning how to be a godly man so that if God should give you an opportunity to become a husband and a father, you’re prepared for that.
For those of us who are husbands or fathers or grandfathers, one of the most important decisions we make is what church we participate in, because those will be our friends, we get counsel from and give counsel to. Those will be the friendships that our wife has, and who she’s going to talk to and learn from and get good or bad advice from. These will be the friendships that our children have, and the family model that they experience, and it may even be the people they grow up to marry.
I would submit to you that one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make is what church you will call home.
A PICTURE OF THE NEW COVENANT CHURCH
And so we’re going to read together what that entails.
Acts 2:38–47—ESV
38 And Peter ”—there’s the leader- said to them”—so it’s a sermon—“‘, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Here’s a Church. They receive the Holy Spirit, they repent of sin, believing in Jesus, and they demonstrate that through baptism. It goes on to say,
39 For the promise is for you and for your children—so this is legacy— and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
42 And they devoted themselves
—I want you to really pay attention to that word. This is an ongoing, habitual, continual lifestyle, right? This is not like junior high: it’s a couple years, and then you’re done with it and move on with the rest of your life. Christianity is an ongoing lifestyle of Bible study and repentance of sin and generosity and worship of Jesus and friendship with God’s people. All the things that we’re going to examine now today together was ongoing, habitual, and a new lifestyle.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Jesus dies for sin. Jesus rises for sinners. Jesus ascends into heaven. Jesus drops the presence and the power of God and the person of the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit shows up, the church springs into being: people are born again and they become, together, the people of God.
And that’s what we see right here in the new covenant church. And so we’re going to look at Jesus’ church empowered by the Spirit.
A couple of things.
First, it’s Jesus’ church. The church belongs to Jesus. Not you, not me, not us. It belongs to him. So, we want to hear from him, follow him, obey him, and love and serve the church because Jesus loved the church, and he serves the church.
In addition, the evidence of the Holy Spirit, the marks of the church, are not religious traditions of things we do for God: it’s the Holy Spirit putting the life of Jesus in us and calling us and compelling us with great enthusiasm and joy to have certain evidence of this new life in Jesus.
PRINCIPLES VS. METHODS
And I also want to distinguish for you between principles and methods. And this is very important: the Bible has principles for all churches, and then churches get to figure out their methods. So, the Bible says to preach. Well, do we do this book of the Bible or that book of the Bible, or a topical? Do we do video or not? Those are methods. The Bible says, “Preach the Word.” That’s the principle. There are methods.
The Bible says to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. That’s the principle. Well, what songs? What kind of music? What kind of instrumentation? It really depends on what nation or culture you’re in. In China, it’s going to be different than India, is going to be different than the United States, is going to be different than the Philippines. Praise God, their songs will be different, their music will be different, their instrumentation will be different, their language will be different; the principle remains the same.
We will examine the principles. We’ll look at some of the methods of how we do this at Pebble Hill. There are other churches that hold the same principle in a different method, we don’t judge them, we don’t look down on them, we don’t criticize them. We love them, amen? We love all churches that love Jesus and adhere to the same biblical principles.
Lastly, one person is a Christian, but it takes God’s people to be the church. You have a personal relationship with Jesus, but it’s part of the family of God. And both matter. And the world we live in is highly individualistic. People are more worried about their personal relationship with Jesus than participation in the family of Jesus.
You can be a Christian by yourself, but you cannot be the church by yourself.
THE MARKS OF JESUS’ CHURCH
So, what we’re going to do now is we’re going to look at what is Jesus’ church? What are the marks of Jesus’ church? What are the evidence that the Holy Spirit has brought Jesus’ church into existence?
You know why I’m excited? I’m excited because I love you and I love our church, and I am very excited for what Jesus has done and will do in our future. And it’s been nothing but five years of painful joy for me to be part of Pebble Hill Community Church.
Sometimes it’s been difficult, but God is always good, and we have the best people, and I love you, and I need you to know what a church is, and I want you to love our church.
So, here’s your acronym. You spelling bee winners, big day for you. You get an acronym, “Jesus’ Church.” J-E-S-U-S, space, C-H-U-R-C-H. And I know there’s some sort of punctuation in there, but we’re not going to get that detailed, OK? So, “Jesus’ Church”—
J – JESUS-CENTERED BIBLE PREACHING AND TEACHING
All right, here we go. “Jesus-Centered Bible Preaching and Teaching” is the first one.
Acts 2:14
But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words
—“lifted up his voice.” What’s he doing?! What’s he doing?! What’s he doing?! He’s yelling. I love that. It’s right there in the Bible. “Peter lifted up his voice and he addressed them.” This is a sermon. He’s going to preach. That’s preaching.
Then Acts 2:42, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.” So, there’s preaching and teaching from the Bible, centered on Jesus. And every mark of the church, every evidence of the Holy Spirit bringing the church into being, it all points back to Jesus. So, what we’re talking about here is Jesus’ Word. We’re talking about the Scriptures which reveal Jesus.
Pebble Hill, we are a Bible-believing church, amen? We believe that the Bible is the only book that God wrote. We believe that it is perfect, it is in authority, that everything else is to be subject to its truth, and that the big idea of the Bible is the person and work of Jesus Christ, that the Bible’s not about us—it’s about Jesus. It’s for us, but it’s about Jesus.
I want you to see that through preaching and teaching, the church comes into existence. People are not born with an innate understanding of Jesus and his person and work. That has to be preached and that has to be taught. We have to learn who Jesus is and what he has done. And that is all recorded for us, thanks to the Holy Spirit’s ministry, perfectly in the pages of Scripture.
Romans 10:14-15 New King James Version
14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!”
I want you to see that a sermon is what births the church. Where there is no preaching and teaching of the Bible about Jesus, there is no church. There may be a social club, a civic organization, or a cause-oriented group. But there is not the church of Jesus Christ.
Just like the world was brought into being through God’s Word, so the church comes into being through God’s Word being preached. And here it is:
Peter opens up the Old Testament, and he is articulating Old Testament prophesy and pointing it all to Jesus and showing everyone that it’s ultimately all about Jesus.
QUESTION
So, on each of these points, I’m going to ask you a question. At Pebble Hill Community Church—here’s the first one—do we preach and teach from the Bible?
We believe that everything starts here. There may be other aspects and elements to the church—and we’re going to look at eleven of them—but ultimately, Bible preaching and teaching come first. Bible preaching and teaching come first.
So, I would humbly solicit your prayers for me, that I would, by the grace of God, do a good job preaching the Bible. That’s the lion’s share of my responsibility.
E – EMOTIONAL WORSHIP
Secondly, the E—emotional worship.
Acts 2:43, “And awe came upon every soul.”
You get this? People are like, “Wow, that’s amazing! “Somebody got healed. God answered prayer. “Somebody got saved. God is at work. We’re not alone. Look at this! God’s here, and he’s doing things in people’s lives!” And they’re amazed by that. They’re filled with gladness over that.
And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
We believe that God can still heal, so we pray for healing. We believe that those who are oppressed by unclean spirits can have deliverance. They experience that in Acts, and we experience that today. We see God answering prayers. We see God helping, serving, loving, healing, providing for people. And when he does, a sense of awe comes over us.
“That’s amazing! God loves us, and He is here with us!”
Pebble Hill, we don’t chase signs and wonders, but we do believe that signs and wonders should follow God’s people who are chasing Jesus. We’re not looking for the latest thing: we’re pursuing him, and those things follow us.
Jesus said, “
Matthew 16:4 New King James Version
4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed.
We’re not chasing signs and wonders: we’re chasing Jesus, and signs and wonders follow those who chase Jesus.
It goes on to say in Acts 2:47 that they were “praising God and having favor with all the people.”
“Praising God”—that’s the language of worship, right? And what we’re talking about here is the worthiness of Jesus. Nobody’s worth worshiping but Jesus. Nothing is worth worshiping but Jesus. There’s no one like Jesus. No one does what Jesus does. He alone is worthy of our worship.
EVERYBODY’S GONNA WORSHIP SOMEONE
Here’s the truth: even those of you who are not Christian are going to worship. You’re going to worship someone—boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, child. You’re going to worship something—job, health, beauty, pet, sports team, income, grade point average, culture, science, etc.
You’re going to worship. You’re going to give your life, your energy, your time, your talent, your treasure. You’re going to give yourself away, maybe just for yourself.
When we praise God and we acknowledge the greatness of Jesus, we’re acknowledging that HE alone is worthy of our worship.
So, it’s great when sports teams get together and they cheer, when fans gather, and they cheer their band at a concert. It’s great when something happens, and people are excited, and they talk about it, and they revel in it, and they rejoice in it.
But for us, we never get over the fact that God loves us in Christ, that God came for us in Christ, that God died for us in Christ, that God rose for us in Christ, that God embraced us in Christ, that God is coming again, and his name is Jesus Christ.
We never get over that! This includes private worship, where you sing and celebrate. It includes public worship.
PRIVATE AND PUBLIC WORSHIP
All right, what does private and public worship look like for you? Are you one when God answers prayer, when God teaches you something, when God saves someone, when God shows up, you stop, you’re filled with awe, and you just want to praise God?
“Hey, thanks, Lord. I want to talk to you. I want to sing. I want to celebrate. I want to tell other people so they can sing and celebrate.”
When you come on Sunday, are you thinking of reasons to praise God, reasons to thank God, reasons to celebrate God?
Some of you will look at your circumstances and say, “But Pastor C, life is very hard.” I understand that.
But imagine if you didn’t have Jesus. Imagine if you didn’t know Jesus. Imagine if you thought that this life was all there was and that you were abandoned and alone and then you would die and cease to exist. It could be worse. Anything we are going through is worse if we don’t know that Jesus is with us and for us. SO, there’s always a reason to praise and to celebrate.
So, there’s emotional worship. I believe that we need to get better at this…
S – SAVED CHURCH MEMBERS
All right, next one, J-E-S, “Saved Church Members.”
Acts 2:38–39,
38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is going to come and live in us through the Holy Spirit.
39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
This is about Jesus’ people. The world is filled with people, but not all of them are Jesus’ people. Not all people love Jesus. Not people serve Jesus. Not all people believe in Jesus. Not all belong to Jesus. Not all people obey Jesus.
So, there’s a line in the Bible between what is called the world—people who don’t belong to Jesus, yet some will still get saved: it’s not too late—and the church, those who belong to Jesus, those who are born-again Christians.
This is important. This is very important. On Sunday, everybody’s welcome. Wednesday nights, everybody’s welcome.
Communion, not everybody’s welcome, just those who are Christian. Baptism, not everybody’s welcome to get baptized, only the Christians. Church membership, not everybody’s welcome to become a church member—you need to be a Christian.
Church leader, not everybody’s welcome—you need to be a Christian.
We love, serve, welcome everyone, but there is a line for those who have passed from death to life, from unbelief to belief.
And so, to be a member of Pebble Hill Community Church, you need to be a Christian. We don’t add a lot to that. We just want you to be a Christian.
QUESTION
So, my question to you is, “Are you a member of our church?”
Not just an attender, not just an observer, but a member of the family. And that’s what we’re talking about: family members. Church is a family. It’s not like membership in some civic organization. It’s membership in a family.
And this is really important because churches who do not require that their members be believers get into all kinds of trouble because they start letting non-Christians vote on doctrine, discipline, and direction issues. And then membership is the doorway into leadership—
Are you a member? And if not, would you please become a member and join our church family? And if not our church family, would you find another church family where you would be a member there? And this is important, because what tends to happen is people tend to pick and choose aspects, elements, and marks of the church.
So, “I’ll listen to some sermons.” Well, that’s fine. But that’s not the church. “Well, I’ll listen to Christian praise music and sing at home or in my car.” Well, that’s fine, but that’s not the church.
Are you a part of the church? Are you a member of the church? Are you connected to the church? Jesus loved the church. Jesus died for the church. Jesus is coming again for the church. The letters of the New Testament are written to churches. Are you a member? A hugely important question. And we’d love to have you, and so we do invite you.
U – UNDER GODLY LEADERSHIP
Next one, the U, “Under Godly Leadership,” OK? And this is showing that Jesus is our Senior Leader.
1 Peter 5:1-4 New Living Translation
1 And now, a word to you who are elders in the churches. I, too, am an elder and a witness to the sufferings of Christ. And I, too, will share in his glory when he is revealed to the whole world. As a fellow elder, I appeal to you: 2 Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. 3 Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example. 4 And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor.
So, leaders follow Jesus, the Great Shepherd, and then people are to follow their leaders, who are following Jesus. But ultimately, everybody’s supposed to be following Jesus. That’s the big idea.
And so here, you’re going to see the apostles, like Peter. If you keep reading in the book of Acts—and I’d encourage you to be reading the book of Acts for yourself—you’re going to meet some guys called “elders,” also called “pastors.” Those words are synonymous. You’re going to meet some men and women called “deacons,” church leaders—some paid, some unpaid. You’re going to meet just leaders. We have various leaders at Pebble Hill leading according to their gifting.
QUESTION
So, my big question to you is this: do you submit to any leadership in your life?
I know it’s not even popular to ask that. We live in a day where, “No, I’ll be my own authority.” Do you really think you’re the smartest person in your life? Do you think you really have the best perspective on your life? Do you think that you really are without bias or proclivity to, sort of, justify yourself? We all need to be under authority. I’m under authority. I don’t know if you know this: there are bishops and pastors in authority over me. Everybody needs to be under authority, especially those of us who are in authority.
The Trinity demonstrates this. Jesus comes, and he’s in authority, and he’s under authority. He says what the Father tells him to say, he does what the Father tells him to do, he says things like, “Your will be done,” and he defers to that authority. Because while the Lord Jesus was in authority, he was under authority, and he’s our highest authority, we want to be under his authority. And as he establishes leaders in the church, we want to respect their authority. And for those of us who are leaders, we also want to be under authority. It’s very important, because we’re all sinners, and we all make mistakes, and we’re all prone to wander and stray, so we need those who love us to help us stay close to Jesus.
Has God burdened you for leadership? Paul says it this way elsewhere,
1 Timothy 3 New Living Translation
3 This is a trustworthy saying: “If someone aspires to be a church leader, he desires an honorable position.
QUESTION
Do you feel called to leadership? I want to help you find that place for service for you in the body. We need leadership. We need a men’s ministry, women’s ministry, more children’s ministry leaders, etc…
S – SIN REPENTING
J-E-S-U-S, the next one is the S, “Sin Repenting.” And I didn’t make this up.
Acts 2:38
38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit
What’s the big word? “Repent.”
Acts 2:40 goes on to say—Peter does—
And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.
The big idea here is people in the world are living their life sinfully, rebelliously, and foolishly. It’s crooked; it’s not straight. It’s not the way it’s supposed to be.
And so, what we do, by God’s grace, is we repent.
Repentance is a change of mind.
You’re living your life, doing your thing, and all of a sudden the Holy Spirit convicts you of sin as Jesus promised he would, and you’re like, “This is wrong. This is just wrong.” That leads to a change of heart—“I don’t want to do this anymore. This needs to change.” This leads to a change of life—“I’m going to do things differently.”
And the big idea is this: you’re either going toward Jesus or toward sin, all right? That’s the trajectory of each of our lives. Like I spoke about on Sunday. You are either inviting heaven down or pulling hell up.
Let me submit this to you that one of the great story lines of the Bible is the story line of repentance. The Old Testament prophets over and over and over preach repentance. The last Old Testament prophet, John the Baptizer, preparing the way for Jesus, comes preaching repentance. Jesus comes preaching repentance. Peter stands up on the Day of Pentecost, and he preaches the sermon that births the New Testament church as we know it, and he starts with “Repent!”
This is very controversial in our day. And it was very controversial in their day. Peter was crucified upside down for preaching repentance. Jesus was crucified for preaching repentance. John the Baptizer was beheaded for preaching repentance. Old Testament prophets didn’t have to worry about their retirement account because they were dead early from preaching repentance.
Repentance is always met with resistance.
Hear me on this. The result is, in an effort to remove those who are preaching repentance, there’s resistance against them. And the way it works in this world is it’s particularly difficult. And I would say, pray for me, right? I have to preach. I get to preach repentance. But there’s a reaction and a response to that that’s not always like a birthday party with a cake, a hat, and a kazoo. It’s not always a good time, all right? Sometimes, it’s a little hard, a little harsh, and a little complicated and it's offensive. I feel like that some of the neighborhood has stopped coming because they feel convicted when they attend. There is nothing I can do about that.
But hear me on this: any time repentance is not preached, the Holy Spirit is grieved, the Bible is ignored, and Jesus is dishonored. Because in our day, the greatest virtue is tolerance, diversity, love. And if you tell people they’re wrong, well, that’s intolerant. You’re rejecting their diversity. It’s not very loving.
God is tolerant. He’s putting up with a lot right now. He’s diverse. He welcomes people from every language, tribe, tongue, nation, background, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic history, education level, capacity. He’s very diverse. He calls everyone to what? Repent.
That’s very loving because people living in sin are rebelling against God. And if God says something is wrong, then it’s wrong. And if God says, “No,” the answer is no. And if God says, “Stop,” the answer is stop. And if you don’t, you will die and stand before God, and you’ll give an account for your eternal life, and you could suffer forever under the conscious eternal torment of hell.
We believe that. Jesus spoke of it more than anyone in the Bible. We believe it is very loving to say, “Repent.
You’re in danger. Hell is hot. Forever is a long time. Jesus is the judge of the living and the dead. Today is the day of your salvation. If you hear his voice, please, please do not harden your heart.
It’s very important that, as Christians, we practice repentance, we acknowledge our sin, we apologize for our sin to God and others, but that we also proclaim repentance and that we then endure the reaction that comes in light of the call to repentance.
God is not OK with everyone. God is not OK with everything. And it’s not going to go well for everyone forever. That’s the truth.
Now, you have to make a decision. “Will I repent? Will I acknowledge my sin? Will I receive Jesus’ righteousness? Will I roll the proverbial dice and die and hope that there is no judge, or if there is a judge, that he has no problem with me.” I would beg you not to be so foolish.
When the Holy Spirit shows up, people are aware of their sin, and they repent of it, and they receive Jesus’ righteousness. And this includes church discipline for those who are believers when they’re in ongoing, constant rebellion against God. Out of love, we try to bring them back just like a parent, who’s got a rebellious, wayward kid, is trying to get them to turn from their ways before they destroy their life. This is about drawing a line between the world and the church. God’s people are those who repent.
QUESTION
So, here’s my question: What do you need to repent of? What sin is in your life? Will you become a Christian today? Or if you are a Christian, what sin is there? And you say, “Yeah, I really need to acknowledge that and apologize to God or someone else, or both, and I need to invite the Holy Spirit to help me so that I can walk away from this because this ain’t working and this ain’t honoring to God.”