What Have We Gotten Ourselves Into?

Deuteronomy 7: A Chosen People Loved by God

Could you please stand for the reading of God's word? Old Testament reading today would be in Deuteronomy, chapter 7, verses 6 through 11. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set in his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations. And repay to their face those who hate him by destroying them.

He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. You shall, therefore, be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules I command you today.

New Testament scripture reading this morning is found in 1 Timothy chapter three, verses 14 through 16. I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.

Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness. He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

You may be seated. I'm sorry, please remain standing.

Please turn in your hymnals to hymn 338. Church of Christ invincible by the Spirit's breath And nourished by his word, his covenant of grace will be Our portion evermore, all else will not change Our help and chosen peace, the son of things unseen Understand that every nation of the earth boundless

Forgot to mention, the other two elders are out preaching today, Andrew at Redeemer and Dan at New City. So it's kind of nice that we can help others. This morning, as I pray for God to give us insight into his word, I'm also going to pray for our country, given the events of last evening.

This is not an endorsement of any candidate. This is a prayer for our country and where we are. So bow with me in prayer. Father, now, as we come to you, as we open your word, we pray that it would be, your spirit would work in us.

Right now, Father, I want to pray for, first of all, for candidate Trump, and thank you that he escaped death. Thank you that we do not have that as part of our history again. Father, we remember the families of those who were killed and injured.

Right now, Father, politics is not a part of their thinking. And we pray that somehow, somewhere, someone would be able to minister the gospel to them. We pray for our country. This, no doubt, is going to have incredible civil repercussions in the life of our nation.

So we pray for her. Father, help us, as believers, to be light in this darkness, that we would see that the kingdom of Jesus is not of this world, and that we, as citizens and subjects of our king and his kingdom, we would be different.

We would not be those who sink into despair, but those who realize that the kingdom of God continues to grow, and that these events will not retard its progress. Now, Father, I ask that you open the word of God to us.

Help us to understand these texts that we will look at. Help us not just to know more, but to change as a result, and to have a change in our understanding of what it means to be part of a church. And we'll thank you for that, in Jesus' name, amen.

Baptism and What It Means to Join the Church

Becca and I got married in 1977. I know, that's ancient history to many of you. That wasn't too far ago for us. We've been married 47 years this year. But I remember, on the third day of our marriage, we'd arrived at the home, at the house, the place where we were gonna live, start our married life.

And so we were cleaning it up. We were cleaning it up, and she asked me to clean the shower. And it was a shower, it had all those orange stains in it. Right, you know how showers get. Orange stains in it.

So I got to work. This is August, it's really hot. And I'm scrubbing, and scrubbing, and scrubbing, and sweat is just pouring down my face. And it's not coming out. And I'm working, and working, and working, it's not coming out.

And suddenly the thought started coming. If I were a bachelor right now, I couldn't care less about these stains. I could easily live with this orange in the shower. That is not a big deal. That's not a big deal, but here I am, why?

Because I'm married now. Third day, and this thought started coming into my head. What in the world have you gotten yourself into? And man, I was in a bad mood.

We went for a walk.

Becca says, oh, look at that butterfly over there. And I said, oh, butterflies are nothing but moths.

With a little bit of color.

And she says, what's wrong with you? Oh my goodness, was I gonna tell her? I wish I'd never gotten married. I have no idea what I've gotten into. I don't have any idea what I've gotten into. This is not what I signed up for, I didn't say that.

You wanna hear the rest of the story, you ask me later. The point was, I'm asking myself, what in the world have I gotten into now? Well, maybe Tyler and Bonnie are thinking the same thing. Or maybe you're thinking, what are these two signed up for?

Because you know, at baptism, we ought to be asking that question. Well, what are we signing up for here? Because in baptism, you're saying clearly to the world, Jesus is my Lord, I'm gonna obey him no matter what the cost and you're saying to the assembled people, I am becoming a part of this people officially.

I am now a part of this congregation of God's people. What have you gotten into when you do that? That's what I want to explore with you today. Now we're gonna go to a number of passages, so be ready to go.

And the first is found in 1 Peter chapter two. 1 Peter chapter two, verse four, as you come to him, the Lord Jesus, a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Jump over now to verse nine, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

What have you gotten into? You've joined a worshiping community. You've become living stones that God fits together into his temple, into a spiritual house that is the temple of God. And he's talking here about the local church.

He's not talking about the universal church. He's talking about the local church. All of you have been formed and fitted to become part of this people, which is the temple of God. You come to Christ and he cuts and shapes you for proper fitting and functioning in God's temple.

And the glory of this spiritual house is not the stones. You are not the glory of this house. Several years ago, I was part of the dedication of a church building in Wisconsin. Actually, it was a church where I grew up and they asked me to come back and have a part in the dedication service.

It was a really nice place. It had great wood and vaulted ceilings. The exterior design was really good. Great location, up on a hill, really nice. But the glory of this temple is not in the building materials, not in you, the building materials, but in the fact that God dwells here.

God dwells here. That's the glory of this temple. The God of glory lives in that spiritual house. And it's a unique community. This is a community unlike any other. This is an organization unlike any other.

This is different from any other formation of any kind of a community or organization in this world because this belongs uniquely to God through Jesus Christ indwelt by the spirit. It is an absolutely unique.

No one else can make that kind of a claim. No other community can say that, but we can. We are the dwelling place of God. We have been fitted together to make a dwelling place for God. And this is a unique community with the glorious function of worship.

Notice verse nine, why has he fitted us? Why has he done this? And by the way, we're not just a temple, we are what? A chosen race, we are what? A royal priesthood, we are what? A holy nation, we are what?

A people for his own possession, why? So that we can proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. God has constituted you as a spiritual priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices.

You know, God still accepts sacrifices, they're different. He still has a priesthood, it's us. All of us now are part of that royal priesthood. We have that function, we're a people for his possession.

And the focus of that worship, or our worship is that we proclaim or we advertise his excellencies to the people of this world. They ought to know there is a God because of his people. I want you to think that thought with me for a moment.

The world should know there is a God because of his people, because of his people. Now listen, in the events of last evening, this whole nation is gonna go crazy. It's gonna be hard. There's gonna be lots of accusations.

There's gonna be lots of conspiracies, theories put out there. There's going to be plenty of despair. There's gonna be more than enough anger. And people aren't gonna be thinking about God. But they ought to be thinking about God because of the way they see us.

Because of the way they see us. And the way they ought to see us is people who worship the living God. We follow the Lord Jesus. We worship the living God. We proclaim his excellencies. We can say God is sovereign.

We can say this didn't take him by surprise. We can say with confidence, God is working his purposes. Not just for our nation, but for you. He's working his purposes. He's put us here in this context, in this situation, for the purpose of magnifying and proclaiming his excellencies.

And notice, the focus of that worship is our salvation. He's called us out of the darkness of sin into the marvelous light that he has, that he is. And we are to proclaim the excellency. You have been saved for the purpose of worship.

You know, that's why I get a little bit exercised when some folks aren't here for a while. And I talk to them and say, I haven't seen you in church. Is it because I want more people in the audience? No, the very purpose of your salvation is that you will worship.

You will worship God. And so, you've gotten yourself into a worshiping community. You have joined a loving community. You've joined a loving community. Turn with me to Romans 12. Romans 12, we're just gonna take a little snippet out of this chapter, verses nine through 11.

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil. Hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal. And I'll put the period there, because in my view, that part goes with the first part.

By the way, the Greek text didn't have periods or commas. This is an editorial. This is how I interpret it. There should be a period there, because it goes with what he just said. And then he moves on to something else.

So that's what we find here. You've joined a loving community. This is a community that loves sincerely. This is a community that loves genuinely. It's not a love that's showy and sentimental and superficial.

It's not that kind of love, right? We all know that kind of love, right? Oh, Jenny, how good to see you. What a wonderful, oh, you look lovely today. Oh my, how is your husband, John? Oh, that's good to hear.

Oh, okay. And she walks away and you go, what a loser, right?

Did you see what she was wearing?

When it comes to John,.

We all know what's going on there, don't we? The love we show is not this kind of sentimentally sloppy, slobbering all over everybody. It's the real deal. It's the real deal. For those transformed by the redemption in Jesus, you don't get showy sentiment.

You get concern, real concern, and service, and love no matter what. And it's a community that loves in the right way. What does the next say? Abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good. This is a love.

This is a community that loves the right way. It abhors evil and it clings to what is good. Now, what do we hear all over today? What do we hear today in our culture? Love just is, right? You can't help who you love.

Love just is. It just happens. It's some kind of directionless emotion. It just overcomes you. You can't choose who you love. Love just is. No, genuine love never leads a person to do wrong or to avoid doing what is right.

That's genuine love. That's real love. So you watch the soap operas. Derek loves Joy, but she's already married. What are they to do? Well, we all know what they're to do. She's got to follow her heart.

Love just is.

You can't help who you love.

So Joy needs to get a divorce and marry Derek because you can't help who you love. Is that real love? You know, I'd suggest real love is Joy saying, no, I cannot do that. I've made a commitment to this man and I will stay true to that commitment.

That's love. That is love. Real love will not lie for one another. If you really love me, you won't tell.

What?

That's not love. Real love will not be glad when something bad happens to a brother or sister. Real love will weep with them, not rejoice because of the dark providences. You know that you love someone when you rejoice, when they're growing in grace and when your heart breaks when they aren't.

Notice as well, this is a community with family love. It pours itself out in brotherly love and honor. Verse 10. Because we're bound together in Jesus by our faith in him, we are a family. We are family.

And so we should exhibit towards one another heartfelt and consistent concern. Y 'all know my older sister, right? I could tease her, I could make fun of her, but if you did, that is an entirely different story.

You don't ever mock my sister or make fun of her. My brother and I, we stood our ground together, right? You say something about my brother, you have to deal with me too. I mean, we had this fierce loyalty to one another.

Why?

Because we're family. I remember the day when I was 24 and I heard over the phone my dad's voice. Your mother has cancer. My heart sunk. Why?

Because we're family.

Why do I have?

Or why, I should say. Why did I hold my father in such high esteem?

Because he was my dad.

We're family.

That's what it's about.

This brotherly love is this kind of intense concern for one another. That's what he calls us to be. That's what he calls us to do. That's the kind of community we need to be. We love one another because we're family, right?

And as family, we're loyal to one another. We have a loyalty that transcends every other loyalty. You should have more loyalty to us, to this group, than you should to Honda. In fact, that kind of loyalty should transcend blood bonds.

We're family and that requires loyalty. And you know what? When the world continues to turn against us, when the world wants to make our life miserable, we will not abandon one another. In fact, the Apostle John says in the first epistle about love in the congregation of God's people, he said, you ought to be willing to lay down your life for the person sitting next to you in the pew.

That's the kind of family we're to have. And because we're a family, we eagerly bestow honor on one another. Do you notice him saying that here? Outdo one another in showing honor. What an amazing statement to make.

You try to outdo one another in giving honor to the people of the congregation. We need to surpass one another in showing honor. Not giving our energies to seeking recognition and reputation, but giving our energy over to giving honor to others in the congregation.

You know, you parents know what this is like, right? Your little girl has one line, one line in the school Christmas program, and she gets up to the microphone and she says that one line, right? And afterwards you say, honey, that was phenomenal.

You got every word right. You did it well. Other kids had whole paragraphs, right? They'd be the ones getting the honor, but maybe she only has one line. You're gonna outdo yourself and tell her, man, you did great.

That's the way it is, right? Parents, you know, grandparents, you know what that's all about, right? So we honor the tasks, great and small in this body. We outdo one another in showing honor to one another.

Honoring those. Can I tell you something? You stand up here and preach, you get lots of honor. People talk to you all the time, but what about the clean bathrooms around here? You know what it's like to clean this place?

What about that?

Does that deserve honor? We ought to outdo one another. What about the Sunday school teacher who's labored? And you may or may not go over the lessons when your kids come home. Do they get honor? And we got to find ways of honoring one another.

That's the kind of community we ought to be. And when you enter into that community, that's what you ought to find. Turn now to Galatians. By the way, I could spend probably the whole afternoon describing the church.

I've only picked out four here today. Galatians chapter six, verses one and two. Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.

Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. All right, you've joined a worshiping community. You've joined a loving community. You've joined a rescuing community.

Now notice what he says here in Galatians. We have an obligation to these new members, these two, and they have an obligation to all of us. Because we're in a battle against the world and our flesh and the devil, there are gonna be casualties.

And God says we don't leave our wounded behind. We go after them. Restoration is necessary because at times we will be caught in a sin. Now, the word does not mean that you catch someone in a sin. It's not what he's saying, aha, I got you.

No, what he's talking about here is someone that sin has caught, that are entrapped. It means to be taken by surprise, to be overtaken, to be entrapped. They're struggling, they're in this sin. They can't get out, they're caught.

Your friend has been hurt. Now your brother struggles with responding in a godly way. You're seeing bitterness and vengeance coming out of his mouth and his attitudes. What are you gonna do? Shrug your shoulders and say, wow, that's too bad, I'll pray for him.

That's a good thing to pray. Is that all you're going to do? Oh no, what does our text tell us? You need to go talk to him. You need to help him. So you and your friend are in the youth group together.

And when your friend's at church and in youth group, man, he's one of the best, right? But you also know that at school he's living a double life. There's things going on in his life that you know about that no one else does.

What are you gonna do about that? What are you gonna do about that? You gonna go talk to him? Or are you just gonna go, eh, it's none of my business. Yeah, it is. You know, you go. That's what God says.

We're to be restoring, we're in a rescuing community. You who are spiritual, what does that mean? You say, well, I'm not the spiritual one. You know, it doesn't mean that. It means you who have the spirit of God.

The use of spiritual in the New Testament is a word that means those who have the spirit of God. Who has the spirit of God? Every believer has the spirit of God. He's saying, you Christians, yes, you.

You are responsible. You are to help restore. He's not talking about some uber Christian here. He's talking about a brother or a sister. You as a Christian have a responsibility to do this. What does it mean to restore?

The word was often used about fishermen mending their nets or of doctors setting a bone. In other words, making the net so that they're useful again, healing the bone so that that person, that bone is useful again.

It means to restore to a state of usefulness. So scripture commands you to take your erring brother or sister and restore them to a place of usefulness in God's service. This is a process. It takes time, it takes energy, and it takes resources, but you have to be committed to doing it.

Let me say to you right now, some of you in this congregation may know of other things that are going on that the shepherds don't know yet. It's not your responsibility to come to us and say, you know, so-and-so's involved in this.

No, no, your responsibility is to go to them and begin the process of rescue and restoration. It is your responsibility. Of course, now, if nothing happens, you go get help. But the point is, do not abdicate your responsibility here.

All right? When you join this community, you're joining a rescuing committee, one community, one that does not leave the wounded on the field, one that does not shrug its shoulders and say, oh, isn't that too bad?

No, no, that's not the kind of community we are. And so when you come into this community, you've joined a rescuing, restoring community. Here's the last one I want you to get. You've joined a Christ-exalting, Christ-understanding, Christ-loving community.

Colossians chapter two. To me, this has been one of the most intriguing passages for me. Colossians two, verses one through five. For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me face-to-face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knitted together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments, for though I'm absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

He says, I'm struggling for you and the other churches, that they may be encouraged, note, that they may be encouraged, being knit together, being welded, is what the term means, being welded together in love.

Being welded together in love. God says that you are encouraged as you cultivate love in the community. If you want to see others encouraged, if you need encouragement, then you and others must join yourselves to a community of believers who love.

You see what he's saying? He says you're encouraged being knit together. All right, you're encouraged as that loving relationship is strengthened, is welded as you are welded together in this loving community.

If you hear the complaint, there's just no joy here. There's just no joy here. Well, sometimes that can be true, but I've observed that those who usually make that complaint are the ones who are only here for an hour every week.

They're the ones usually making that complaint. They spend an hour with God's people and they're the first ones out the door and they complain there's no love here. Well, if you want these new members to experience joy, if you would experience such joy, then invest yourselves in that community.

That's what he's saying. You're encouraged when you invest yourself in that community. You know what I've found? Joyful marriages are the marriages where the spouses have invested deeply in it. They have remained true to their vows for better or for worse.

We're sticking it out, right? I shudder to think if I said on that third day, I'm done. And by the way, that wasn't the only bad day I had. That wasn't the only bad day we had, all right? There have been tons of really difficult times in our marriage, all right?

And yet we invested in that. And there's joy. You invest yourself in a community of God's people and you will find joy. But the point is, notice what's interesting. This cultivation of love in the church results in a deeper, fuller understanding of Jesus.

This is what intrigues me. Because he says here that you're knit together in love by being knit together, right? To reach, in order to reach a full understanding of Christ in whom are hidden all the riches of wisdom and knowledge.

This is what's intriguing to me. You can fully learn and appropriate Jesus Christ only within the context of the church, of a community where you've invested. Now look, I'm not against other Bible studies, right?

Campus Bible studies are great. All those things are good. But if you really want to know Jesus fully, you're gonna be part of a local church and you're gonna invest in it. And you will find that the riches of Christ will be open to you in a way that's not possible outside of the church.

This is intriguing. And Jesus has all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All that you need to live, everything you need to live are found in Christ. And if you want those treasures, you need to be a part of the church.

You see, a Christ-exalting, Christ-understanding, Christ-loving community. Being a part of that community puts you in possession of all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge necessary for life. And as you participate in the life of the congregation, you possess all that's necessary, verse four, to keep you from deception.

To keep you from deception and to provide you with stability. All of that comes, right? As you're welded together into a community of love. I hope you've seen that. I hope you've seen how others have been helped.

How others have come into the possession of those treasures. How you have come into the possession of such treasures. Because you've been part of this. And so when you enter the waters of baptism and you come into the community of believers that are identified as a local congregation, you become part of a Christ-exalting, Christ-understanding, Christ-loving community.

So, Tyler and Bonnie, I hope you understand a little bit more of what you've gotten yourself into. And I hope that the rest of you have a renewal of the understanding of what you've gotten yourself into.

We're not merely some religious organization that meets on the corner of High and Walnut.

That's not who we are.

You've gotten into, you're a part of a unique community with unique functions and unique responsibilities. And all of us here have to commit ourselves to fulfilling those responsibilities and to functioning in those roles.

All of us have that. And Tyler and Bonnie, you have the same obligations. And so on this occasion, let's all renew our commitment to serving the Lord Jesus in this community of believers. Let's become what we are, what God has set us apart to be and to do.

Father, although these passages do bring conviction, they also bring us excitement because we know that no matter what else we're involved in, no matter what group we're a part of, no matter what club, what employment we have, in this community, we have something that far transcends them all.

And this is the community that equips us to serve in all those other places. We thank you for setting apart a people who have these unique functions and responsibilities. Oh God, help us to grow more and more and more in them.

Please, Father, help us. Oh God, our nightmare is that we will just sink and become just another religious organization. God, help us to be this. Help us to be this kind of community. God, give us your spirit to move us to be and to do what you've called us to be and to do.

And we'll thank you for all eternity for the work that you have done. In Jesus' name, amen.