The patterns and practices of the early Church

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The patterns and practices of the early Church

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Amen. Acts chapter 14, and we're going to read in your hearing today.
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We're going to begin reading in verse 21. Actually we'll begin in verse 19, and we're going to read down through verse 29 of chapter 15.
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And we're going to be continuing in our line of thought that we've really been focusing in on the last couple of weeks, particularly the message of the church.
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The theme, if you want to go ahead and write down the theme of the message, according to the text of the scripture this morning, is simply this, the patterns and the practices of the early church, because we're striving to be a glory of God -centered,
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Bible -saturated, missions -focused, Holy Spirit -empowered body of believers, and we are constantly called to take our cues and our patterns, the way we do things, and the practices, how we do things from and according to the word of God.
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I want to say this, that we are here today to worship the
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Holy God, as the songs have been sung. That word holy, before we get into the text this morning, is important.
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It means sanctified, set apart, and unique. There is no God besides the
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Lord. Amen. A matter of fact, in Isaiah, the Lord said through the prophet
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Isaiah, I am the Lord and there is no other. There is no God beside me.
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I will gird you though you have not known me. That's specifically when he's speaking, that he's speaking it concerning Cyrus and how he raised
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Cyrus up for his intended purpose. I will gird you though you have not known me.
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I want you to know today, every single person that is here, you are here by divine providence.
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You are here because God in his sovereignty and in his mercy has allowed you to have life and breath in your body and brought you to where you are.
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You are not here by accident today. I am so thankful for the word of God concerning who
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God is and the holiness. He said this, I will gird you though that you have not known me, that they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides me.
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I am the Lord and there is no other. I'm thankful for that today.
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So let's read the text. We'll pray together and then jump right in this morning.
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A lot for us to look at and to consider. Acts chapter 14, beginning in verse 19.
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The word of God says this, then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned
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Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city.
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And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying,
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We must, through many tribulations, enter the kingdom of God. So when they had appointed elders in every church and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the
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Lord in whom they had believed. After they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia.
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Now when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Italia. And from there they sailed to Antioch where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed.
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Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them and that He had opened the door of faith to the
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Gentiles so that they stayed there a long time with the disciples. And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren,
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Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. Therefore, when
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Barnabas and Paul had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question.
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So being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the
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Gentiles, and they caused great joy to all the brethren. And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders.
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And they reported all things that God had done with them. But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying,
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It is necessary to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses.
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Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. And when there had been much dispute,
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Peter rose up and said to them, Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago
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God chose among us that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.
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So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as He did to us.
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And He made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
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Now, therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
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But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved in the same manner as they.
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Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders
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God had worked through them among the Gentiles. And after they had become silent, James answered, saying,
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Men and brethren, listen to me, Simon has declared how God at the first visited the
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Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. And with this, the word of the prophets agree, just as it is written.
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After this, I will return and I will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which had fallen down.
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I will rebuild its ruins and I will set it up. This is the Lord speaking so that the rest of mankind may seek the
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Lord. Even all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the
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Lord who does all these things known to God from eternity are all his works.
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Therefore, I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled and from blood.
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For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city being read in the synagogues every
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Sabbath. Then it pleased the apostles and the elders with the whole church to send chosen men of their own company back to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely
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Judas, who was also named Barabbas and Silas, leading men among the brethren.
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They wrote this letter by then, and this is the letter, the body of that letter, the apostles, the elders and the brethren, to the brethren who are of the
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Gentiles in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia, greetings. Since we have heard that some of you who went out from us have troubled you with words unsettling your souls saying you must be circumcised and keep the law to whom we gave no such commandment.
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It seemed good to us being assembled with one accord to send chosen men to you with our beloved
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Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our
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Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth, for it seemed good to the
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Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things, which are that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled and from sexual immorality.
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If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell. So Heavenly Father, as we come before your throne, we'll stop the reading there,
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God. I'd ask that you bless the reading of your word. God, I know there is much in what we have just read.
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I pray that you would give us clarity of thought, give us a freedom, liberty in our tongue that we may speak forth your word today, that we may teach according to the scriptures what your word says today.
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Dear God, that your word would teach us, that your word would guide us, that your word would instruct us for truly according to your word.
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Your word is a lamp unto our feet and your word is a light unto our pathway.
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Help us as we strive to be a glory of God centered church.
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Dear God, saturate us in the word of God. Help us to wisely and to rightly discern, to divide your word that we may interpret it correctly before the people, before the congregation, and I know that's only done through the power of the
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Holy Spirit, God. Help the people to retain what they hear today, that we may apply it in our daily lives, not just Monday through Friday, but on Sundays when we gather together as the church of the
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Lord Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father, I pray and I ask today,
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God, as Sir had mentioned earlier, and he reminded me through the word of what your word says, that your word is quick, your word is powerful, and your word is sharper than any two -edged sword.
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I pray today that you would cut us today, that you would flay back and off of us anything that is unnecessary and not right and not true to the truth of your word, that we would line up with your word, that we would apply ourselves to the truth of your word.
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Convict the lost as we proclaim your truth today through the gospel that is preached.
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God, convict the lost hearts and minds that may hear the truth today of their sinful nature, of their standing before you, that you are wholly separate, that you are wholly high and undefiled, and that we are sinful.
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But God, today I am thankful as well that you would point us to your
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Christ today, the savior of sinful men, that the hearts, the minds, and the entire being of those who hear your word today would be drastically and dramatically affected and changed.
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For it's in Jesus' name I pray, amen and amen. I know that this is a long passage of scripture that we're looking at.
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Again, the theme of the text today is the patterns and the practices of the early church.
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I want to say this from the beginning too, if you're taking notes, you've heard us use these terms before, but it's so important.
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When we read the scriptures, when we read the text of the scriptures to know when we are reading, what we are reading, whether or not it is describing what is taking place or whether it is, or whether it may be even at the same time, sometimes prescribing the actions that we are to take.
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The book of Acts is a historical account of the early church. We have described for us by Luke in his writing of this
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Acts. It's called the Acts of the Apostles. I guess that's the official long name of the book.
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We just call it the book of Acts. It could also be referred to as the Acts of the Holy Spirit because we have in it the history of when the
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Holy Spirit came in and the church, the visible church was established and set up and founded because it is very important that you understand if you are a
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Christian today, that you are called to be a part of the visible local body of Jesus Christ.
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For not for God's glory, number one, but for edification for growth in the
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Lord Jesus Christ. But notice some things here as we begin in verse 19. I wasn't going to read 19 until I just decided to do that right before we came up here.
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Notice in verse 19 where our scripture text begins today, the
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Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned
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Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. We open this passage of scripture with a very sad, a very grim scene.
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I was watching, I'm sure it was History or NBC, a special that they had done on Jesus.
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But they were showing about how the disciples were stoned. And I'd never really pictured the stoning being like what it was we saw on the screen there.
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I picture them, you know, stone little rocks, but they likely were bigger stones that they thrown through at them and they had them tied up so they couldn't run, couldn't dodge.
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And all they could do is stand there and be pelted with those stones. So those stones would hit them all over their body.
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Their stones, the stones would hit them in the head. I remember as a child, for some reason, I don't know why we did it.
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Me and my cousin used to throw rocks at each other. Maybe that's what's wrong with me today. Maybe you did that as a child from Nebo or from where Tim's at.
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They probably did that for fun too. Thus explains
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Tim. In any case, this is a very grim, sad, horrible, awful scene that this text of scripture opens with here.
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But they were stoning Paul because he preached the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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He preached it. As a matter of fact, if you jump back, you can just make note of this. Earlier in the 14th chapter there, we see that when
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Paul and Barnabas went, they preached Jesus Christ and there was an uproar in the synagogue because part of the
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Jews believed the gospel, part of the Gentiles believed the gospel, and the other part that didn't believe became upset and they stirred up the people's minds.
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There was an uproar in the church. So this is why Paul was stoned and left for dead.
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They assumed him to be dead and so everybody just kind of went off on their way.
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But the Bible says, however, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.
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Now, what would happen in our day? Sir mentioned this in Sunday school and I loved it.
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My friend Paul, if he'd have been a preacher in our day, likely would have said, that's it, I quit,
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I'm not doing anything else. If you go throughout church history, we see men who have stood on the word of God, proclaim the truth of God.
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George Whitefield, one of the noted evangelists throughout church history, a godly man who stood and proclaimed the truth of God, come hell and high water.
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When he would stand many times, he would preach outdoors a lot of times because they wouldn't even let him in churches preach because the message was so strong.
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There would be people who would throw dead cats and dogs at him. But did he stop?
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No, he continued to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we have his sermons, many of his sermons recorded for us.
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They're not scripture, but they are sermons, just like what's being preached to you today, worthy of taking note of because their chief end, their chief aim was the word of God.
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So the Bible says the disciples gathered around him the next day, him and Barnabas left off to Derbe.
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And then verse 21, notice, begin to see some things here. If you remember three weeks ago when we preached the message concerning the content of Christ message, which was repent, does everybody remember that?
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Christ message was repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. Last week, we preached to you the content of the apostles message, which was
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Jesus Christ and him crucified and that the kingdom of God is at hand.
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Guess what? We're alive today. It's September the 8th, 2019.
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And the kingdom of God is at hand. Jesus is coming soon.
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The old song says, Jesus is coming soon morning or night or noon.
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Many will meet their doom. Trumpets will sound. And when that happens, all of the dead will rise.
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The righteous will meet in the skies and forever will be heavenward bound.
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So the Bible says here, take note. The first thing I want you to note here particularly is this.
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When they had preached the gospel to that city, the pattern and the practice of the early church that we ourselves should strive to seek and to be modeled after is this, that the gospel is proclaimed.
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How often do you need to hear? How often does a saved person need to hear the gospel every single day?
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Maybe I answered that too quick. I didn't give you time to think about it. Nevertheless, it's the truth.
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How often do lost people need to hear the gospel every single day?
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How often should we be proclaiming the gospel as a Christian every single day?
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It helps if you preach it to yourself before you leave the house and then preach it to others that you come in contact with.
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When they had preached the gospel, that was the content of their message. When they had preached the gospel to that city, they're in Derby, and they made many disciples.
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The Bible says this, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, and notice what the scripture says, strengthening the souls of the disciples.
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What was the pattern and what was the practice of the early church that the preachers when they came, they proclaimed the gospel and that they shared the good news of Jesus Christ come to save sinful men.
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Paul said in one place in 1 Timothy, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom
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I am chief. The Bible here says they strengthen the souls of the disciples.
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This was done by the gathering in of the church. We'll see the term, the word church used.
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Remember when you see that, it is the Greek word ecclesia. It's the called out assembly of the saints.
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How are people going to know if you're a Christian or what is a defining characteristic of a
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Christian? It is that as a Christian, you gather on the Lord's day with other believers.
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Not that you do it sporadically, but that you do it regularly and consistently and faithfully because when you do that, your soul will be strengthened.
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Have you ever tried to go three days in a seven day week without eating? It's hard on you.
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It's hard on you. Have you ever tried to go one day in a seven day week without eating?
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It's hard on you. You need sustenance. Our sustenance comes from the word of the living
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God. So the Bible says they strengthen the souls of the disciples, exhorting them.
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What's the word say? Exhorting them to continue in the faith.
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What should you be hearing when you come to church? You should be hearing encouragement from the word of God.
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Encouragement from your brothers and sisters in Christ to keep on keeping on.
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To not lose heart, to not faint, to not give up. What did the apostle
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Paul write to the Galatian church? Do not grow weary in well doing for you will one day reap what you sow.
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If you sow to the flesh, you'll of the flesh reap death and corruption. But if you sow to the spirit, you will reap life everlasting.
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That is good news today. They were strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith.
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And this is what they said. Remember the context of what we know to be the truth.
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What Paul tells them. Paul says after they strengthened their souls, they exhorted them to continue in the faith.
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Their statement was this. For if you follow God, your life will be easy.
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Everything will be great. You'll get everything that you ever wanted. Jesus is the icing on the cake that you already have.
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No, he says we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.
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Wow, what a message today. What was the pattern and the practice of the Old Testament church?
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Not teaching easy believism. Not teaching men that if they come to Christ, their life will be fixed.
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Not teaching men that if you come to Christ, God will fix your marriage. Not teaching them that if you come to Christ, you'll forget all about your wretched past.
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No, it's if you come to Christ, your sins will be forgiven. Your names are written in the
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Lamb's book of life and you will have everlasting life. But it's not gonna, it's gonna come at a price.
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Because the pattern and the practice of the Old Testament church was to suffer for Jesus Christ.
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You say, you say this. Well, preacher, it's hard for us to get everybody that quote unquote might normally be here.
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It's hard for us to get everybody here on a Sunday morning if we preach a tough, cutting edge message.
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We're gonna lose even more folks and we won't have hardly anybody here. Jesus said, if you want to be my disciple, deny yourself, come after me, take up your cross and follow me.
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If you want something easy, if you want to be entertained, you can go to multitudes of churches around about us.
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But our call, our pattern and our practice is not to be an entertainment driven church.
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It's to be a gospel driven church. A church that teaches and preaches
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Jesus Christ. And teaches and preaches that not everybody's gonna like you.
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If you tell them the truth. So the Bible says, Paul said, we must through many tribulations.
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And here he is, beat up from being stoned, half dead. And here he is preaching.
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And he says, we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. So notice this verse 23 now.
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The pattern and practice of the early church. Now, not everybody may be aware and not everybody may know how the church government is set up.
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But the church government has always biblically been this. That a church is to be elder led.
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That it doesn't just need to have the pastor who's the chief and the king over everything. That makes all the decisions and what he says goes.
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No, the church is to be elder led. That means a plurality of godly men. Taking oversight over the body of Christ.
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Leading it in the direction that it should go. In agreement with number one,
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God. And in agreement with one another. Now, right now we only have two elders.
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I pray and I hope that in the future that we have more elders. For truly we need more elders.
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But the pattern and the practice of the early church has always been to be an elder led body of believers.
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Because the Bible says here, when they appointed elders in every church and they prayed with fasting, they commended them to the
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Lord in whom they believed. So they knew Paul and them were not ignorant men. They understood.
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They knew that they weren't going to be there forever. That there needs to be godly men within a body of believers understanding, having a right understanding of doctrine, of the truth of the scriptures so that they can lead the body of Christ.
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So they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. Verse 24, after that they had passed through Pisidia, came to Pamphylia.
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Now, verse 25, when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down from there to Italia.
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Do you notice the consistent pattern here? What they did, they continually preached the word.
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They continually preached the word. I want to make a statement here.
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I love, I absolutely, I can't sing it. I can't sing a lick, but I love singing.
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There are some churches that are just known for singing. There are some churches that are known for preaching.
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But biblically, the pattern and the practice of the Old Testament church, the center of it all was the preaching of the word of God.
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It must always be the center. I believe it was in England, back 15, 16, 1700s,
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John Knox, after they'd gone through a period of time where kind of the pulpits had even been removed from churches and everything had been, even then, was moved to entertaining the crowd so that the crowds could get larger.
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When John Knox came back into the church, the first thing he did was took the pulpit, nailed it down on the stage to let the people there know that the word of God was there to stay.
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And it was the center of everything. It must always be the center of the church, for it is by the preaching that God chose to save men.
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That's what the word says. That's what the word says. When they preached the word, they went down from Perga to Italia.
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They sailed to Antioch. So know where they are now. They're in Antioch. They sailed to Antioch where they had been commended to the work, to the grace of God for which they had completed.
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Now, when they had come, verse 27, and they did what? Gathered the church together.
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Everybody got word. They didn't have Facebook. They couldn't send out an invite or announcements.
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They didn't have Instagram. They didn't have all these things, kind of good things that we have today.
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All they had was word of mouth. They would let each other know the apostles are coming.
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We're gonna hear what the word of God says. So they came. The Bible says this. Notice what the
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Bible says here. They had gathered the church, the ecclesia together.
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They reported all that God had done with them. They told them about preaching the gospel.
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They told them about folks believing. They told them about getting stoned and being left for dead.
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Everybody's rejoicing and not in a bad way. They were rejoicing because yet through that all,
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Paul was standing before them. They reported all that God had done with them.
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And here was the really good part and that he had opened the door of faith to the
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Gentiles. This was the good news right there because I wanna read to you something
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Alexander McLaren had said concerning the Jewish take on salvation.
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See the Jews thought that it was only gonna be them. But if you take a look at the
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Old Testament, you'll see throughout the Old Testament that God promised, God certainly did choose
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Israel out, but God promised that the Gentiles were gonna have a way made for them.
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Those who seem to be the dogs, those seem to be the rotten, stinking unbelievers.
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Paul, we later learned this, that the Israelites and the Gentiles were both rotten, stinking unbelievers.
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Sinners separated from a holy God because of the sin of Adam and Eve in the garden and death was pronounced upon all men.
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So Paul says this, that the door of faith was open to the Gentiles. Alexander McLaren in his commentary on this said this, the
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Jew thought that birth and the right of circumcision were the door. But the rehearsing of the experiences of Paul and of Barnabas on their first missionary journey tour shattered that notion by the logic of facts.
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Instead of that narrow poster, another doorway had been broken in the wall of the heavenly city and it was wide enough to admit multitudes entering in.
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Hallelujah for that. I love that statement there. So the Bible says here that Paul rehearsed to them that God had opened the door of faith to the
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Gentiles. So they stayed there a long time with the disciples. Matthew Henry said this, ministers must not be ambitious of broaching new opinions, of framing new schemes or corning new expressions, but must content themselves with playing practical things with the word that is not unto us even in our mouth and in our heart.
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So we see here that this good news was proclaimed that it doesn't matter who you are,
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Jew or Gentile, because that's the two distinctives, Jew or Gentile, that God can save unto the uttermost.
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Chapter 15, verse one, moving along. And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren.
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So I want you to take note of that first verse there in chapter 15. And if you're taking notes, you can put this down for verse one.
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These were unapproved ministers. April was testifying in Sunday school about how we need to know what the scriptures teach so that when the man of God stands before us, that we can rightly understand, rightly divide the word of God.
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For there are a great many even in this day on September 8th, 2019, who are standing in pulpits and they are not proclaiming the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ according to the word of God.
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They are preaching a message, another gospel based upon what the people want to hear, based upon what the people want to hear.
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And even based upon just what the preachers want to preach. I would love nothing more than to be able to stand before you week after week and just preach the things
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I like from the word of God. Just preach the things that I necessarily quote unquote approve of, or think you need to hear.
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What you need to hear is the whole counsel of God, whether it rubs you the wrong way or not.
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Certain men came down from Judea. These were unapproved ministers because know this to understand that statement and why
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I'm making this statement. Because here in the early years of the church, this was about probably, well,
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I'm not even gonna put a date on that. In the early establishment years of the church, the word of God was given to the apostles and through the apostles for the purpose of inspiration as far as the inspired word of God goes and the completion of God's revelation to men.
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So at this time, what the church had was men of God, the apostles who
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God spoke his word through and God's word was the standard for their faith and for their practice.
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But the Bible says here that certain men came down from Judea, unapproved men came down from Judea with an unapproved message from Judea.
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And the message did not come from God. It came from their personal take on things because the men who came down from Judea were
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Judaizers, men who believed that you needed to believe on Jesus Christ, but also in order to be saved that you had to keep the works of the law.
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So they believed in faith plus works, which is what the Roman Catholic church teaches today, which is what some
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Baptist churches teach today, which is what some Methodist churches teach today, which is what some charismatic churches believe today.
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They all teach and they all preach that you need to believe on Jesus certainly, but you need to also do this and you need to also do this.
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You are not saved by faith and works. You are saved by faith alone, in Christ alone, according to the word of God alone.
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These unapproved ministers came down, they taught the brethren and this is what they said, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.
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And here is where the faithfulness of godly men come into play here because the
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Bible is plain in this. The Bible says, therefore when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question.
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That Jerusalem was the center of it all. Jerusalem was the hub of the church.
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Jerusalem was where the apostles, the large part of the apostles and the elders stayed.
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So it was the foundation, if you would have it, of truth. Now, here's the principle.
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The principle is this, how does this apply to us today? How does this apply to the patterns and the practices?
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How did the patterns and practices of the early church apply to us today? Well, what they had being given to them, the apostles and the apostles there in this time, they had the living word of God being given to them.
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What do we have here in the Bible? The living word of God preserved for us.
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That is the principle. That is the timeless rule that we always must go back to the word of God.
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And so this Paul and Barnabas rose up and they said, oh no, hold on, that's not what God has said.
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That's not what by unanimous declaration has been given to the apostles because the scriptures teach throughout, this was one of the beefs throughout many of the churches that we have addressed in the epistles, the constant fighting, the constant struggle, the constant challenge of folks wanting to stray from the grace of God and lean upon the arm of the flesh to depend upon themselves and their good deeds and their own good works.
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So Paul and Barnabas disputed with them. Listen, nobody likes dispute.
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Nobody likes trouble. Nobody likes for the church to be in an uproar. Amen. God's not the author of confusion, but of peace,
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Paul told the Corinthians, as in all the churches of God. However, there is a great necessity for us, for me as one of the elders, for Sarah as one of the elders, for Kenny as Sunday school teachers, for us to stand upon the truth of the word of God.
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And if the word of God is deviated from, then we have a responsibility, whether it's unpopular or it causes unrest, to stand firm on the truth.
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And the church, notice this, and we're going to see this. And then it's important that the whole church be unified in that stance on the doctrine that is given to us in the scriptures.
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So verse three, being sent on their way by the church, they pass through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the
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Gentiles. Hallelujah. They were talking about how God was saving even the Gentiles. And they caused great joy to all the brethren.
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How can you not be happy when you hear about salvation? How can you not rejoice when you think about what
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God has done? Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
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I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind, but now I see.
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Amazing grace was the theme then, and it is the theme today. Bible goes on here.
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Bible says it caused them great joy. And so being sent on their way, they caused great joy.
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And when they come to Jerusalem, notice what's happening here. So they've went up to Jerusalem.
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They've sent Paul and Barnabas. Since Paul and Barnabas took the stand, and those certain men that had come down said, look, we'll go up with you.
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We'll stand side by side and we'll test what's being said according to what
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God has said. And they went up to Jerusalem. They were received by the church, the ecclesia, the called out assembly of the saints, the gathered church, and the apostles and the elders.
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And they reported all things that God had done with them. But some of the sect of the
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Pharisees who believed rose up saying it is necessary to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses.
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There were men who are genuine and passionate about their version of the truth.
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There are men who are sincere in standing for something that is not biblically legitimate any longer.
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Because the Bible teaches us throughout the text of scripture, we see that Christ was
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God in the flesh, born of a virgin, sinless, living a perfect life, fulfilling that law of God that no other man could live out or fulfill.
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And that being perfect, he lived out the law of God and that he was crucified and that he was slain on the cross and that he was buried and that he was on the third day raised from the dead according to the scriptures and that he ascended to the father.
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That is the good news. But Paul, notice here going on, going on in verse five, some of the sect of the
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Pharisees who believed rose up saying it's necessary to circumcise them. Verse six, now when the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter, notice the pattern and the practice of the early church.
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The pattern and the practice of the early church and even the people within the church was not at the first sight of contradicting your idea of what you think is right or wrong.
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They didn't say, well, that's it. I'm taking my little red wagon and I'm going to the church down the road.
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It was about their willingness as the
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Berean Christians to search the scriptures to know what is right, to bear it out, to bear with it.
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That's one of the things that we are called to as Christians to bear with one another in love.
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So the Bible says this, Peter said to them, the first to speak here is the apostle
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Peter. The apostle Peter, take note of this before I read you this part of the text here.
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Take note of this, previously, earlier on, the Lord came to Peter because Peter was staunch about being separated from Gentiles and the
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Lord came to Peter one day in a vision as he was up on the house waiting to eat and he revealed to Peter through this vision by a sheep let down from heaven, all kinds of animals in this sheep.
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And the Lord said to Peter when he saw that, arise, kill and eat.
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Peter said, not so Lord. I'm not going to let anything unclean enter into my mouth. And the
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Lord said, what God has cleansed, you are not to call common. You are not the determiner of who can be saved and who can't be saved.
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You are not the deciding vote on who gets into the kingdom of God and who gets put out of the kingdom of God.
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It is the Lord's doing. So keep in mind this.
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So Peter, having come to this understanding by the Holy Spirit, the Lord revealed this to him.
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He said this, Peter said, look, men and brethren, you know that a good while ago, God chose among us that by my mouth, the
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Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. So Peter's given his speech here.
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So God knows, so God who knows the heart, reminding them their pattern in their practice was always to point to God as the one who knows the heart.
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You've heard us say this. God knows your heart. I don't know your heart. Whether you've got a sad face or whether you've got on a happy face,
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I don't know what's going on inside you, but God knows and God knows whether you're saved or whether you're lost.
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If you're saved, hallelujah. If you're lost, the call to you is to repent of your sins today and believe that Jesus died for your sin and that he was buried and that he rose again on the third day.
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And if you believe, you are saved. Paul said,
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God who knows the heart, Peter said, God who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us.
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And he made no distinction between us and them. This coming from the same man who wouldn't even sit in with Gentiles before.
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He said, purifying their hearts by faith. What was the chief doctrine? You hear us talk about the importance of being unified around doctrine.
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The chief doctrine is justification by faith. It was the same doctrine that was chief in the time of the
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Reformation. Justification by faith that man is justified in the sight of God, not according to his works, but according to the work of Jesus Christ in him alone.
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Verse 10, now therefore, why do you test God? What a strong statement he makes. Again, this is one of those cutting statements.
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It's one of those challenging statements. It's one of those statements that like the apostle
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Paul used over in Romans, who do you think you are? It's one of those statements like R .C.
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Sproul made years ago. What's wrong with you people? That's what
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Paul is making one of those statements. He says, why do you test God? Who do you think you are?
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What do you think you're doing? What's wrong with you? Why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
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The law does not, Ray Comfort said this, the law does not help us, it simply leaves us helpless.
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It is a burden that no man can bear. Peter goes on, but we believe that through the grace of our
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Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved in the same manner as they.
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He goes on, then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders
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God had worked through them among the Gentiles. Context is key, remembering how many miracles
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God had worked through them. Not that that was to be a pattern and a practice within the church, but how
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God had done these things to demonstrate the truth of the gospel. The Bible goes on to say this in verse 13, and after he had become silent,
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James answered. So we hear Peter give his speech. Now James rises up and James answered, and he says, men and brethren, listen to me.
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Simon has declared, I love this because this is, everybody says, this is so hard to grasp if you'll just sit and read it.
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If you're saved, God makes, this is plain. It's written plainly. Peter gives his speech.
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James stands up and refers to what Peter has said. And he said this,
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Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take them out of them for a people for his name.
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And with this words of the prophets agree, just that it's written any quotes from the book of Amos. After this,
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I will return and I will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down. I will rebuild its ruins and I will set it up so that the rest of mankind may seek the
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Lord. Even all the Gentiles who are called by my name, salvation is of the
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Lord. How is a Jewish person saved by the grace of God? How is a
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Gentile saved by the grace of God? And he said this in verse 18, known to God from eternity are all his works.
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I'm gonna refer back to something that I say repeatedly that make reference to because it's important if you turn to the book of Ephesians in chapter two, you'll notice verse eight, nine, and 10.
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For by grace, everybody knows this part, by grace are you saved through faith that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
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Then verse 10, for we are his workmanship known to God from eternity are all his works.
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God knows from eternity those whom are his. It is not a surprise to him.
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It is not something that creeps up on him. He is not alarmed when somebody believes because he didn't think they would believe.
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They believe because he gives life and grace and faith to believe.
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Known from God, it is the sovereignty of God. Known to God from all eternity are his works.
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James goes on, therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God.
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We should not trouble them. We should not burden them, just as Peter said. We should not put more on them than necessary, but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, which
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I'm pretty sure the kids learned about in class this morning. One of the commandments, you should not make under yourself any graven image.
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Don't make idols to yourself. Goes on to say this, that you should abstain from things polluted by idols, that you should abstain from sexual immorality, from things strangled and from blood, for Moses has throughout many generations, those who preach him in every city being read in the synagogues on every
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Sabbath. Then it pleased the apostles and elders with the whole church. So the decision is made.
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They come to an agreement, not upon their personal opinion, but upon the truth of the word of God, as God gave it to them by searching scripture with scripture, by comparing scripture with scripture.
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The Bible says, it pleased the apostles and the elders with the whole church to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch.
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They did not let this go. They did not say it'll blow over. They said, now what we need to do go back to Antioch and address this situation head on.
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This was the pattern and the practice of the early church always to address doctrinal issues head on.
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And so the Bible says this, they sent Barnabas and Paul and Barnabas and they sent from their own company from Jerusalem.
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They sent Judas, which is named Barabbas and Silas leading men among the brethren and this is the letter that they wrote.
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So they sent this letter because previously those who had came to the church at Antioch remember unapproved ministers with an unapproved message.
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Let me step out a bit to say this. The pulpit at Reformation Baptist Church.
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Years ago, anybody who said, I feel like God's called me to preach or I got a message,
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I would have put my arms behind my back and said, go right ahead. But knowing what we know now, not just anybody's gonna stand in this pulpit.
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Not just anybody's gonna stand and speak to you all and say that they are teaching you all.
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When many times, most times all they're doing is telling you an idea or thought that has crossed their mind and an opinion that they had rather than teaching the word of God.
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They guarded this and they sent this word back and this was the letter and they sent it by approved ministers.
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Notice this. It was approved ministers, men who could be trusted, men who the church at Antioch could trust because they sent them.
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They sent them and this is what the letter said. It's from the apostles, elders and brethren to the brethren who are of the
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Gentiles. How encouraging that must have been for when the church was gathered there in Antioch and the
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Bible says that this letter specifically addressed those who are Gentiles, those who had been told, oh wait, if you're truly a believer in Jesus Christ, you'll be circumcised.
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Otherwise, I don't think you got it. No, what the apostles told them that they addressed those specific
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Gentiles and they said greetings and they said we've heard that some of you, some, that some who went out from us have troubled you.
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These unapproved ministers have troubled you with words and they have unsettled your souls.
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Notice there's a difference in being unsettled because the truth of the word of God unsettles you and there is a difference between being troubled unreasonably, not rightly.
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Paul told the Corinthian church, he said he hated that he had to preach the message as strong as he preached and state the truth as straight as he preached it but this, that in order for them to know, to rightly understand repentance, that truly godly sorrow, godly of a godly sort will work biblical repentance in your life.
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It will cause you to be unsettled. It will cause you to be not at rest. It will cause you to be uneasy.
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By the way, the modern term for this is called conviction. I pray God would give conviction more and more and more and more today.
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That people would be troubled by God, that you don't just let what's preached to you go in one ear and out the other ear but that you hear, that it takes root in your heart and that you are changed from the inside out.
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Paul said since we have heard, the letter said since we have heard some of you went out from us to trouble you with words unsettling your souls, saying you must be circumcised and keep the law.
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He was specific. Notice this, that the teaching and the preaching of proclamation of biblical doctrine is specific and it is clear.
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To whom we gave no such commandment. I wonder if them men were there and what that must have been like.
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I can see their head, their eyes are all in their heads, look down and then creeping back to the back. Must have been him, not me.
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The Bible goes on to say here this, it seemed good to us being assembled with one accord, that's in unity, to send chosen men to you with our beloved
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Barnabas and Paul, those who defended the faith in your midst, men who have risked their lives for the name of Jesus Christ.
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The practice and the pattern of the early church, of the leadership within the early church, of the people within the early church, was to give their lives for Jesus Christ.
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To which I will ask you this question today. You can take note of it mentally or write it down.
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Are you willing to give your life for Jesus Christ? Are you willing to have
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Rosie? Are you willing to have the opinion that people have of you?
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Be determined by whether or not you are a Christian. Jackson, Sherwin, Rebecca, Hannah, Johnny, I can name everybody in here.
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Are you willing to give your life for Jesus Christ? Are you willing to have folks think that you're going too far because you hold to the word of God?
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Are you willing to not be offended at the word of God? Not be offended at what
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God has taught us in his word. Particularly today, the focus and the theme being the practice and the pattern of the early church and how we desire to be that as well.
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Are you willing to give your life for Jesus Christ? Verse 27, we have therefore sent
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Judas and Silas, also representatives from the Jerusalem church, who will also report the same things by word of mouth.
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They said they are going to give an account of what's being done here. Judas and Silas were to go to be observers, to be witnesses of the letter being read and the people's response and that they were going to go back to Jerusalem and tell the apostles and the elders there at Jerusalem that again, the principle is this, they were going back to base everything upon what
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God has said. That your life is held in account to the word of God.
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Who also will report the same things by word of mouth. Verse 28, for it seemed good to the
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Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things.
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That you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled and from sexual immorality.
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If you keep yourselves from these, you do well.
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If you keep these things, if you keep yourself from these things, you do well. So this is where the accountability, this is where the responsibility comes upon you.
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Again, the preacher don't know your heart. The preacher don't know your mind.
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The preacher don't know your life. The Sunday school teachers don't know your life.
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They don't know how you act at school, Johnny. Hannah, your teachers don't know how you act at school or how you act at home unless we see it on Facebook.
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Jackson, Hilda, Rosie, Natalie, and the rest of you older people with the exception of your husband or your wives, your kids, whatever.
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Nobody knows who you are in private, but God knows who you are. And God sees you when no one else sees you.
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And you will give an account. You will give an account for the deeds done in the flesh.
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Are you willing to be in Jesus Christ for salvation in his grace alone, through faith alone?
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If so, you are saved and you have reason to rejoice. If you're lost, you need to repent.
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Turn from your sin today. Believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. Follow the
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Lord. If a believer's baptized, if you've not been baptized, follow the Lord in baptism.
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Again, baptism is not salvation. It is obedience to the word of God. Are you doing that?
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Christian, are you studying the scriptures? Are you taking, listen, I know I'm at one hour, one minute and 27 seconds right now that I've been preaching.
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I know you ain't taking in everything. I'd be a fool to think that you did.
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But I also know this, we have technology within the reach of our thumbs and forefingers.
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And you can go to Facebook and watch the message. You may have to, I have to listen to myself preach roughly twice a week.
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I'm harder on myself than probably you all are on me. Why do you listen to yourself? I don't like to hear myself. But I test myself to see if I've spoken incorrectly, if I've told you something that's wrong.
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Even little things, that I've misquoted a passage of scripture, that I've given you an incorrect reference.
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That you become so aware of the word of God that you're able to discern even those little things.
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Not that you have to run to me and correct me on those things. But if that's the core of what I'm telling you is wrong, then you come.
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Don't hesitate. Believe the gospel today.
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Be saved today. Follow God today. Strive to be biblical in your life, outside these walls.
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And to be biblical in your life within the compounds of your church. As I mentioned last week, it's likely gonna be in a couple of weeks, we're going to have a one
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Sunday morning. And I'll let you all know, I'll let you all know the date.
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Because I don't want anybody to be misinformed, uninformed, or ill -informed. We're gonna have a day where we're going to, what's referred to as opening the doors of the church to receive members.
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We don't have an official role, but we are going to have an official role, so that we can have accountable church membership.
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So you can decide, is this a place that you wanna be a part of? Continue to be a part of?
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Or are you gonna do your own thing? In your own way? According to your own opinions.
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Again, not according to my opinion. But we're gonna strive to work through this biblically. But are you gonna be willing, even though you verbally already said this, by not only with your words, but with your presence,
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I wanna be a part of Recommoded Baptist Church. But are you willing to say, there's an official document that in time, that folks are gonna be able to look at and say,
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King Christopher signed his name and said, yes, I'm gonna be a member of Recommoded Baptist Church.
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And I'm gonna be accountable to Tim. I'm gonna be accountable to Maine. I'm gonna be accountable to Carolyn.
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I'm gonna be accountable to Keenan. I'm gonna be accountable to everyone. But for no matter what happens,
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I'm gonna live my life in a biblical community with these people. And I'm gonna willingly be corrected by these people when
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I'm wrong. And I'm willingly gonna repent. And I'm willingly gonna do right. And I'm willingly gonna strive for the honor and the glory of God in his visible church on this earth.
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That's what we wanna move to. I love you all. Stand with us if you would.
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I encourage you. If you're lost, confused in any way by what's been preached today, previously,
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I encourage you to do this. Go back, listen to the messages, watch the messages, study the messages, study the scripture primarily and see if what's been said lines with the scripture.
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And if you're not saved, consider seriously eternity, for it is real.
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The old timer said it, and I'll say it today, for the heavenly gang and the hell to share him. Believe on the
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Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Keenan, would you dismiss us in prayer, sir?
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I pray that we all take time to consider it this way. We're in a black era, Mark, we're in a black era now.