Sunday, March 5, 2023 AM

Heavenly Father, we thank you for gathering us together today. We thank you for loving us for the sake of your

Son, for giving to us all things that we need.

All that we need. We know that you work all things together for the good of those who love you, who are called according to your purpose.

Those whom you have given to your Son, and given your Son to. So, Heavenly Father, as we come together today to hear about what you have to say about your

Son by your Holy Spirit, here in your Word, I pray that you would help us, that you would nourish us, that you would bless us, that we would walk away from our time here today, and that there would be a resolute

Amen in our hearts, manifest in our lives, concerning what you have to say here.

Thank you for your patience and your long -suffering. Thank you for your forgiveness through your Son, Jesus Christ.

Thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit. And we pray for all of these mercies in the name of Jesus Christ, the one with whom you are well -pleased.

Amen. I invite you to open your

Bibles and turn with me to Acts chapter 6. Acts chapter 6.

We'll be reading verses 1 through 7. Acts 6 verses 1 through 7.

Last week, we began to think about the priority of the Word in the church.

Though it was, of course, important for us to note that even though in reading this passage we see how important it is that the preaching and teaching of the

Word of God attended by prayer remain the priority of the church despite what may be going on, it is not only that the

Word of God be a priority for the church, for Jesus Christ is

King of kings and Lord of lords, and this being the scepter of His lordship in the world today, the

Scriptures matter for everyone in every place about everything.

And so, shouldn't it be the case that the Word of God would have that kind of priority in the church which is described as the pillar and ground of the truth, the salt of the earth, a light that is set on a lampstand, and a city that is set upon a hill?

It should be very much the case that the Word of God be the priority in the church when we have been tasked with preaching the gospel of the kingdom, meaning there's a king, to herald that news to everyone.

And we see how important it is to keep the Word of God primary, especially in the light of the crises that crash in from without and the complaints which arise from within.

We've been reading about this early church in Acts. There is persecution from without.

The powers that be don't like what goes on in the church. They want to shut them up and shut them down.

And there are problems which emerge from within the church. The Ananias and Sapphira story and now the

Hebrews versus the Hellenists story here in chapter 6. Well, who is sufficient for these things?

How will the church survive being buffeted and twisted by these pressures?

There's a good shepherd. There's a good shepherd who once upon a time was in the middle of a great storm with his disciples, and he silenced that storm with simply his

Word. We have no need to be tossed to and fro by every new wind of doctrine, by every new set of values, by every new approach, by every new kind of hermeneutic.

We have no need to be tossed to and fro by every new wind of doctrine when we have a good shepherd who's with us in the boat and we have his

Word. This is good news. And we see that in this passage, when complaints arose from within the church, the complaint did not then become the new priority.

But the Word of God remained the priority. If you'll stand with me,

I'm going to read verses 1 -7 of Acts 6. Here is the Word of our

Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. By His Holy Spirit, through His servant

Luke. Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the

Hebrews by the Hellenists because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.

Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, It is not desirable that we should leave the

Word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation full of the

Holy Spirit and wisdom whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the

Word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith in the

Holy Spirit and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them.

Then the Word of God spread and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.

This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. After hearing so much in the book of Acts about the unity of the church, they were of one heart, one soul, of one mind.

We see how much they loved one another. They weren't selfish with what

God had entrusted to them, but were willing to sell property in order to give that money to the church, laying that money before, setting that money before the apostles so that then that money could be used for those who were in great need during this explosion of the church here in the book of Acts.

We see such love, such unity, and now in Acts 6, we hear something different all of a sudden.

Now there's a complaint by the Hellenists against the

Hebrews. A complaint. What is needful here is an understanding of why there is discord and how unity, how communion in the church is to be achieved.

And what must remain the priority in the life of the church?

We must be cautious in our own church that we do not begin to invest in the fiction of First Utopia Church.

For various people, First Utopia Church exists in different time periods and upon different planes.

Sometimes First Utopia Church exists only at the beginning, in the early church.

That's when things were pure. That's when things were right and brilliant.

Get back to the beginning. That's the early church. That's when things were really great.

Until you closely read the books of the New Testament and discover that they had a lot of problems

I don't want to touch with a ten -foot pole. In addition, I'm really glad that we have the full

Bible. You know? Other people think that the

First Utopia Church only existed amongst the Puritans. Right?

Only the Puritans had First Utopia Church and if we could just return to that time period, then we would be as pure and holy and loving as they were.

This usually comes from reading really nifty quotes from the Puritans or reading and hearing quotes from the

Puritans. My, how spiritual. How deep. But when you actually read the history of what went on in the churches during those time periods, we discover that they had a lot of the same problems that we do.

And some problems that were unique to their time period that we would be hard -pressed to recreate in our own.

And so they were writing about things that don't exactly apply today. For some people,

First Utopia Church exists somewhere way off over in imaginary land, the ideal

First Utopia Church. And those visions are as myriad as their dreamers.

We can be saved from all of these things simply by remembering that we are the body and Christ is the head.

And we do need to grow up, but all things grow up into him. There is a sense that there is a thing called maturity, but Christ is the definition of that maturity.

And if we're going to grow up into him, we have to listen to his word. And we notice that there was a problem in the early church.

We saw that growing numbers brought with it growing pains.

The complaint was from the Hellenists against the Hebrews because the Hellenist widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution.

Hellenists and Hebrews came from different parts of the Roman Empire. They had different basic languages.

The Hellenists spoke a lot of common Greek, Koine Greek. The Hebrews spoke a lot of Aramaic. What the differences in languages were the differences of cultures, the differences of expectations.

And in the explosive growth of the early church, all of a sudden, there were some who were being overlooked, and a complaint arose.

And yet, we see the apostles summoning together the multitude. They're in verse 2.

And they informed them that the priority of the preaching and teaching of the word of God had to remain the priority even in the light of this new need.

And that's what we're going to look at this morning, the priority of the word of God among the people of the church.

The priority of the word of God among the people of the church. They're in verses 2 through 6.

Notice what is said in verse 2. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said,

It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.

Now, notice what they do not say.

They do not say, It is not desirable that we should serve tables. That is desirable.

What a good thing to show compassion and benevolence to those inside your church who are in need.

What a wonderful thing. We receive various instructions about that throughout the scriptures, especially in the

New Testament. What they say is, It is not desirable that we should leave, forsake, neglect, or overlook the ministry of the preaching and teaching of God's word in order to pay attention to this need.

The Hellenist widows who are being left behind, neglected, overlooked.

So, the apostles who are acting as the plural leadership of this early church, they are gathering together the church to let them know what this need is and how things need to change.

And their basic admission is this. We are doing a bad job. Thus far in the book of Acts, we have seen that the benevolence gifts are being brought and they are being set before the apostles.

And the apostles are the ones who are making sure that these compassionate gifts are being delivered to those who are in need.

And now, with the explosive growth of the church, many who are in need are being overlooked.

They're not being helped. And the apostles get everybody together to let them know we can't do both.

And we're doing a bad job. After all, all of the apostles, the twelve, are all of the

Hebrew camp, not the Hellenist camp. They all grew up in the local area.

Aramaic was their primary language. Just read Peter's attempt to use

Koine Greek. Not nearly as polished as the apostle Paul. Peter's first language, the way that he wrote and thought, was primarily in Aramaic.

They are the Hebrews against whom the Hellenists have the complaint. After all, they're the ones who are in charge of the daily distribution.

And so they get everybody together and they say, look, we're doing a bad job. If we are going to do a good job with the benevolence, with looking to all of these needs, that will necessitate that we forsake and leave off this priority of the preaching and teaching of God's Word.

We can't do both well. That's the problem.

Now, why is it that the preaching and teaching of God's Word is the priority for the apostles?

Why is it that that remains in the hierarchy a more important priority than the feeding of the widows?

As we talked about last week, that was the priority that Jesus Christ Himself placed on the matter.

When confronted by the crowds and demanded that He stay and do mighty acts of healing and benevolence and compassion,

He told them, no, I must leave and go to the other villages to preach the kingdom for this cause

I have been sent. He also gives that very same mandate to His apostles and tells them the same.

This must be your priority. He's not saying be uncompassionate.

He's saying your priority is the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom.

And for that priority, the early church has been fighting. Why did the

Sanhedrin arrest Peter and John and then later on arrest all of the apostles and beat them?

Why were they thrown into prison? Why are they being opposed? Not because they're helping people, but because they're preaching

Jesus Christ is the Son of God, died upon the cross at the hands of unjust men, was raised the third day, and is ascended to the right hand of the

Father, and He is King of kings and Lord of lords. That is why they're being beaten. That is why they're being imprisoned.

And this is the message that Jesus Christ told His apostles in Luke 24. This is what you're going to go throughout all the world and do.

You are going to preach and herald the gospel of the kingdom and repentance and remission of sins shall be preached among all of the nations.

That is the priority. That is what they're fighting for. So it is desirable to preach the word attended by prayer, to preach the gospel to new folks everywhere that they may know the gospel and come to Christ, to disciple those who are already in the church, teaching them to observe all that Christ has commanded, this great commission that has been entrusted to the church.

That's the priority. But it is also desirable to serve others and to help others, to be a blessing to those who are in need inside the church and even outside the church.

So what is needful here is feeding sheep and feeding sheep. Verse 3,

Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business, this ministry, this act of service.

What is that? Making sure that those who are in need inside the church are well taken care of.

All of these widows whose children are not caring for them or unable to care for them.

These widows who have been abandoned by their family because they are trusting in Christ. The church says,

We'll take care of you, our sisters in Christ. Verse 4,

But we, the apostles, will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.

It is important that we see that the apostles set this priority before the entirety of the church.

Hey everyone, here's the priority. This is what's going to remain the focus of the church.

Yes, there's a new problem that has arisen, but we're not going to change our priorities. Now this is where we see so much instability in the church in our day.

This is a common temptation that when new complaints arise, those complaints become the new priority of the church.

This is nothing new. The temptation is there from Acts 6 to 20 -23.

The temptation is when new complaints arise, when crises crash in from without, or when complaints arise from within, when they both happen together, simultaneously, suddenly the church changes their priority, changes their focus, and says, well, we've got to be about this now.

Oh wait, here's a new complaint. Now we've got to be about this now. And it happens over and over and over again, and James calls that being tossed to and fro by every new wind of doctrine.

You cannot understand the nature of a crisis or the nature of a complaint unless the

Word of God remains the priority. How can you even define the nature of the complaint of the

Hellenists versus the Hebrews and the need of the widows? How do you even know what those needs are?

How do you even know how to define a widow? How do you even bring unity between these different groups that grew up in different parts of the empire, that have basic different languages and different cultures?

How in the world are you going to achieve that if you don't have the

Word of God, the scepter of Christ's lordship, ruling over all of our definitions and understandings?

It's impossible. It is the ultimate folly to abandon the standard of God's Word for the standard of men's complaints.

Are there valid complaints? This is a particular complaint that is valid. Indeed, it is. There are many complaints which are not valid at all.

But unless you have the Word of God, you won't know which is which.

So look at the process that the church goes through in order to solve this issue.

The apostles say to the brethren, you need to seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the

Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. Verse 5 says, the saying pleased the whole multitude.

Everybody gets involved here. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith in the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch.

So there's a selection that goes on here. And when it says seek out, it's a word that invites scrutiny, very close scrutiny.

And in fact, it's a word that is used later on of the deacons' own watch care of those who are in need.

The kind of scrutiny that deacons will use in understanding the needs of those in the church and meeting those needs, the kind of scrutiny and wisdom they're going to be using in meeting the needs of the church is the same kind of scrutiny to which they are submitted in their original selection.

And there are some standards to look for.

We read that they are to be men of good reputation, full of the

Holy Spirit and wisdom. Now, these requirements indicate a certain level of maturity.

And these requirements are fleshed out a little bit more in 1 Timothy 3, verses 8 through 13, to which we're going to turn in a moment.

Why seven? And this is an interesting thing. As we read the book of Acts, as I've said before,

Acts is probably the second most abused book in the New Testament. As we're reading and trying to understand what is descriptive of how

Christ is shepherding the early church versus what is prescriptive for us now.

In other words, are we out of line as Sunnyside Baptist Church that we don't have 12 elders and seven deacons?

Are we in trouble with Jesus that we have six elders and nine deacons? Are we in trouble?

Why seven? Well, just read the text. What was the complaint in verse one?

Their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.

Seven days in a week. Let's get a deacon in charge of each day, meaning as many deacons as we need to meet the needs.

All right? Also notice it's not one person. It's not one man to run the whole thing, but you see a group of men are gathered together to serve together.

Now let's consider how they are brought before the apostles.

We're going to get to 1 Timothy in a moment. But notice that these men, these seven men, their names are listed here for us.

They are set before the apostles. And when they had prayed, they laid hands on them.

What goes on here? What goes on here? Acts 4 tells us that when the members of the church unselfishly sold properties that belonged to them and gave the money to the church, they laid those offerings right before the apostles.

But the apostles have now said, we cannot be in charge of that ministry of the church any longer.

Growing numbers means growing pains, and we can't do that. We cannot do that well, and we're not willing to abandon the ministry of the word to keep doing this ministry.

Select seven men from among you, and where are they placed? In the very same location where the benevolence offerings were once placed.

Do you see it? So you're not going to be bringing the offerings to the apostles anymore, early church in Acts.

You're going to be bringing them to the deacons, to these seven men who are going to be handling it.

Further, the apostles lay hands upon them. Lay hands upon them.

What was just happening in chapter 5? Where people from the surrounding villages and towns were gathering into Jerusalem because of the mighty signs and wonders which were being done by the hands of the apostles.

What was happening? People who were in need were being helped.

People who were possessed by demons and were diseased, who were sick and in trouble.

By the hands of the apostles, these people were being healed. Look at the compassion. Look at the benevolence.

Look at the power of the risen Lord Jesus Christ at work through His apostles.

Now, these very same hands that have been credited with the power of the risen

Lord Jesus Christ in healing all these various people are now being laid upon these deacons, meaning that they are being authorized to do the work of Christ in the life of the church.

They are being authorized for this work. The apostles used to do the work.

Now the deacons are going to. So there's a division of labor here, and there is clear authorization in the lives of the deacons.

This is why there has to be some requirements. This is why there has to be some qualifications.

So let's look over in 1 Timothy 3. And what we read in verses 8 -13 is the same information that we read in Acts 6, although with more details.

More details. More specificity. As Paul is instructing

Timothy. So let's look at this description of who deacons are.

Likewise, so in the same way that overseers, verses 1 -7, elders is a synonym of overseer, pastor a synonym of overseer and elder.

In the same way, deacons are going to need to be qualified. Likewise, deacons must be reverent, not double -tongued, not given too much wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience, but let these also first be tested, then let them serve as deacons being found blameless.

All of these things we've read in Acts. They need to come under scrutiny. They need to be men of faith.

They need to have good reputation, so on and so forth. Godly men. Likewise, verse 11, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things.

Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.

For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

So it is desirable to serve tables, but it's not desirable to abandon the preaching and teaching of God's Word to serve tables.

Benevolence never displaces the gospel. Now, let's think about these qualifications of a deacon.

Now, this may be a little confusing, but we'll try to clear it up. When it says that a deacon should be the husband of one wife, this means that the husband is a man and the wife is a woman.

I have a lot of people who are confused about that today. When it says that he is to be ruling his children and his own house well, it means that he is a husband and a father and has been entrusted with authority according to the

Word of God in a way that a wife has not.

Do you want to know why lots of people don't know what a woman is anymore?

Because well over a hundred years ago in our Western culture, these same folks forgot what a man is.

They don't know what a man is anymore. That was lost a long time ago. Oh, you're just some random accident of genetic mutation from a monkey.

That's what you are. That's all Jesus is too. The whole idea of who a man is was lost a long time ago thanks to the cult -like avocation to the

Darwinian hypothesis. Why are people so in love with Darwin?

Because they're in love with all the deceits of the devil, including those from Freud and those from Marx, those from Nietzsche, the four horsemen of the intellectual apocalypse.

When we forget what a man is in the light of who God is, in the light of His Word, that's why people don't know what a woman is anymore.

And interestingly enough, the hot topic of the day in the so -called conservative evangelical church is that we have forgotten that we don't have any idea what a pastor is.

We don't know what a pastor is anymore. Why is that?

Because we don't know what a man or a woman is, apparently, and we don't know what a deacon is.

When you read the text about deacons and then you read the text about elders and overseers, about pastors, why is it that so many so -called conservative churches are interested in putting women in the pulpit, women in the pastorate, and so on and so forth at all costs?

Why is that? Well, that's easy enough to understand. When you apply the pagan hermeneutic of Marxism, all you need is to have find the oppressor and find the oppressed every single time you think of anything.

Oh, look, there are men who are in leadership in the church and in their homes. Leadership means oppression. Who is not in leadership?

Oh, the women aren't. Obviously, that means they're the oppressed. The only thing to do is to fix that, and that is morality.

And therefore, we take our pagan Marxist hermeneutic and we go to the text and we turn it upside down, look at it in a mirror, fog the mirror, break the mirror, and then say, look, the

Word of God supports my position rather than the simplicity and clarity of reading the

Word of God like the children we are. We are children.

And we come to God and hear what He has to say. Now, we're going to back up just a little bit. 1

Timothy 2, verses 8 -15, and we're going to see the relevance of this in a moment. 1

Timothy 2, verses 8 -15, is a passage that many have tried to exercise out of the

Bible like the demon they think it is. I know

I'm challenging you, but let's just read it like the children we are.

I desire, therefore, that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting, in like manner also that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel with propriety and moderation.

There is an adorning, but in a certain way, not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly clothing.

You should go back and read the kind of braids that they were using in the first century, so big they had bird cages in them.

Hey, everybody, look at me. But, which is proper for women professing godliness with good works.

Let a woman learn in silence with all submission, and I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.

Why? For Adam was formed first, then Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression.

Nevertheless, she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with self -control.

So having proved that Paul knows what a man is and what a woman is based on the passage in Genesis, hello, as soon as you throw away the

Genesis passage and say, oh, it doesn't mean what it says, it means what my inventive way of reading it means, as soon as you throw that away, you don't know what a man is, you don't know what a woman is, but Paul does know what a man is and what a woman is, and then he starts talking about overseers and deacons.

So, what's the point? Why bring all of that up when we read in Acts 6? Well, obviously, seven men of good reputation, but even more importantly this.

Do you remember what the problem is? A complaint has arisen in the church.

The church refuses to make the complaint the new priority, but stays with the word of God so that they understand the nature of that complaint rightly, so that then unity is restored in the love of Christ.

There is a complaint, many complaints, that arise within the church. Let's say the complaints of Marx, given the feminist prerogative, oh, there's hierarchy, that's evil.

So, if women aren't in the pulpit and women aren't called deacons and women aren't in leadership in the church,

Marx says, that's evil. There's a complaint, an illegitimate one, an unbiblical one, that arises within the church.

Now, what happens? Some churches make the complaint the priority, but how can you even understand what that complaint means unless you use the word of God to understand what it is?

Because if you let that complaint remain the priority, what do you end up with is division, division, division.

Or, we can go for communion and unity in our submission to the authority of Christ in the word of God.

Just a test case. Just a test case. There are many other complaints and crises that we could talk about.

This one seemed rather relevant to Act 6. So, I want you to see the beauty of what

Jesus Christ does here as the risen Lord, as our Good Shepherd. I want you to see the beauty of what

Christ does here. Look at these seven men.

There's continued communion, the church, the word of God spread, the number of disciples multiplied, things are going well because of what

Jesus does, but look at the names of these men. Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, who was a proselyte from Antioch.

There's a whole lot of Hellenistic names in that list. The complaint was the

Hellenists against the Hebrews. Right? Mark says, amplify that.

This cultural group versus this cultural group. Amplify that. Embrace that.

Massage that. Make sure we find out who the oppressors are and who the oppressed are so that we can engage in constant and destructive division.

Christ, by His Holy Spirit, equips the Hellenists who had had the complaints against the

Hebrews to then serve not only the Hellenist widows, but since the apostles are giving up the whole job, the

Hellenists who had the complaint against the Hebrews are now serving the Hebrew widows. Hello!

Now that's some good shepherding. So now, the ones who had been complaining, a legitimate complaint, now are serving everybody.

Now all the widows are being taken care of by men who are filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom.

That's marvelous. And what an important first step for this early church.

What an important first step that they begin to figure out how to get along as Hebrews and Hellenists before they find out how to get along with the

Samaritans and the Ethiopians and the Gentiles so that the Great Commission will continue. Now, we have a question.

Two questions, really, we should ask. There was a complaint. There was a problem in the church.

Question number one. Would forsaking the assembly have fixed this? Oh, there's a problem in the church.

Those Hellenist widows are being overlooked and neglected. I'm done. See you later.

There's a problem. No, forsaking the assembly, as is the manner of some, would not have actually fixed that, would it?

No, that's not the way of Christ. What about embittered grumbling? How about that strategy? That's a favorite as well.

I'm not going to leave. I'm going to stay here and complain and be bitter about what happened. 1

Peter chapter 4, 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 8 says,

Above all things, have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins.

Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it with the ability which

God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever.

Amen. How about that? The lordship, the kingship of Jesus Christ serves as the unifying focus of all of us in how we serve.

We are gifted to serve either by speaking or in other ways, but whatever it is, it's the gift of God.

Let us do it in His name for His glory. Love covering a multitude of sins as we're hospitable to one another, not grumbling.

Now all of that is only possible if we maintain a priority upon the authority of Jesus Christ as demonstrated through His word.

This is the scepter of His lordship. Many will say to Jesus in that day, Lord, Lord, and He will say, depart from me,

I never knew you. Why? Because it was simply a word. But they didn't have

His word. They didn't really know who He was. They didn't really love Him. They weren't really in a relationship with Him.

They knew nothing of His authority. Now look at the priority of the word of God in connection to the progress of the church in verse 7.

Then the word of God spread and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.

So when we're looking at the success of the church, when we're looking at church growth, it's connected to what? Not the expansion of benevolence ministries, which are fine and good.

Not the number of those who have been healed and delivered from demons, although that's wonderful news.

The number of the disciples multiplying is directly connected to the word of God spreading.

When we look at this text, the number of the church is called the number of the disciples, the learners.

The word of God is spreading and the number of the disciples, therefore, are multiplying greatly.

That's the priority. The preaching and teaching in the name of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit, which brings about the repentance and faith, the new birth, that is the priority.

Not only the preaching and teaching of God's words or that new converts are made, but also that those who are saved are matured and grown into maturity in Christ.

It is a matter of the faith. Notice that many priests were obedient to the faith. Do you see that?

A great many of the priests were obedient to the faith, which means they're turning away from the shadows.

No longer will they be slitting the throats of lambs and pouring the blood into bowls and sprinkling it upon the horns of the altar.

They will no longer be observing the morning and the evening sacrifice. They will no longer be observing all of these shadows of the old covenant, for they have become obedient to the faith.

They have repented from the old and they are clinging to the new. They have come to Christ.

Praise God. They are obedient to the faith. Now, we're accustomed to talking about people with faith who have faith in Christ.

Well, what is this expression, the faith? It's very similar to what the angel told the apostles when he busted them out of jail.

Go stand in the temple and speak all the words of this life. What is this life?

What is the faith? It is nothing less than the good news of Jesus Christ, His person and His work.

Many people seek to identify new things to attach to the faith, to include in the gospel.

But the gospel is very simply the person and work of Jesus Christ. Be wary of people running around saying that this complaint or that complaint is a gospel issue.

What have they done? They've made the complaints the priority, and they have left behind and neglected and overlooked the teaching and preaching of God's word.

Be very wary of that. The good news of Jesus Christ is that Jesus of Nazareth is the

Christ, the Son of the living God, that He is very God of very God and very man of very man, born of the

Virgin Mary, sinless, lived a righteous life, born under the law, fulfilling all of the holy standards of His heavenly

Father, satisfying those righteous standards of the law so that indeed He is the end of the law unto righteousness for all who believe.

And He humbled Himself, taking upon the form of a bondservant and even going unto death upon a cross where He suffered as God's Lamb who takes away the sins of the world, where we see

Him as the substitute sacrifice, the Lamb of God in whom God is satisfied and indeed we are satisfied.

And He was raised the third day to give eternal life to all who are in Him, the firstborn of the resurrection.

And He ascended to the right hand of the Father where He stands and is there at the right hand of the

Father and He is seated at the right hand of the Father as our intercessor. And He pleads our case before the

Father by His own righteousness so that we are as welcome to the face of God as His only begotten

Son. And there He reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords until all of His enemies are placed as a footstool for His feet.

And then He returns in victory and raises the dead and sifts everything according to the truth of God so that all things will be to the glory of God.

This is the good news. The preacher, I can't remember all of that. Well, how about this? That Christ died for our sins according to the

Scriptures and that He was buried and raised the third day according to the Scriptures.

You can remember that. This is the faith. This is the words of life to which the priests, even the priests, were obedient and turned to.

Look how important it is that the Word of God spread.

Not simply the acts of goodness of Christians. That's good. But what's the priority? It's the

Word of God. It always has been. Without the spread of the Word of God, there are no priests turning to the faith.

Without the spread of the Word of God, there are no Samaritans repenting and turning to Christ. Without the spread of the Word of God, no

Ethiopian would ever have been asked to be baptized in the name of Jesus and carry the Gospel to his nation.

Without the Word of God being preached and made the priority, Cornelius and his family would never turn to the

Lord Jesus Christ and believe. Without the Word of God being the priority, there's no

Great Commission. Whatever lies ahead of us with Jesus Christ as our

Good Shepherd, we know we'll be led by the Spirit to walk together according to the

Word. Let's close in prayer. Father, I thank you for the time you've given us in your Word. I thank you that you know our frame, how weak we are, how lowly we are.

Thank you for your love for us and your patience with us. I pray that you would help us to agree with your

Word, to agree with your truth, that you would help us to keep the main thing, the main thing.