Sunday, September 18, 2022 AM

Sunnyside Baptist Church

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:26

Well, let's go to the Lord together in prayer. Heavenly Father, I thank you for gathering us together today.

00:33

You are so gracious and kind to provide for us every day this last week to give us what we needed to to support us and to encourage us to lead us through the various trials anxieties, difficulties, the blessings of joy and celebrations that we have experienced.

01:08

We praise you, our Heavenly Father, for knowing our needs before we even ask. And we give glory to you, our

01:16

Savior and Sovereign Jesus Christ, our Great Shepherd of the sheep, for leading us and providing for us.

01:27

So God, we ask now that you would bless our time together in your Word that you would shape us in agreement with your

01:38

Son, that you would bless the reading and the preaching and the hearing of your

01:44

Word by your Holy Spirit, that you would make it effective and lasting and glorious to your name.

01:57

We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, I invite you to open your

02:05

Bibles and turn with me to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2.

02:11

We're going to be reading verses 41 through 47. Acts chapter 2 verses 41 through 47.

02:20

As we are looking at the conclusion of this day of Pentecost, when the promised gift of God, the

02:30

Holy Spirit came in a very special way to bless

02:36

His people. Here we see a very clear manifestation of the new covenant, as had long been promised for hundreds of years by a dozen prophets, that God would send

02:52

His Holy Spirit to fill His people. And now that day has come to pass in Pentecost.

03:03

There is good news here. Jesus came preaching the good news of the kingdom.

03:09

As we read through the Gospel of Luke, the first volume from God's servant Luke. Jesus went from village to village and town to town, region to region, preaching the good news of the kingdom.

03:23

Sometimes people wanted to delay Him, wanted Him to stay and do something else, but He insisted.

03:29

He had been called, sent to preach the gospel of the kingdom. And that was

03:35

His focus, and that is what He did. Good news of a kingdom. Good news of a kingdom.

03:43

And in the death and resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, in the accomplishment of the new covenant,

03:52

Jesus declares the arrival of this kingdom. The proof of this, on the day of Pentecost, is the arrival of the

04:01

Holy Spirit. Wherein the apostles begin to declare the mighty works of God in languages they had never learned.

04:08

But these were the very languages, the very dialects, of these Jews who had gathered for Pentecost.

04:15

And they heard the good news of the kingdom preached to them in the languages they knew best. They didn't know what to make of it.

04:24

But Peter did not allow the confusion to remain. And he did not allow the cynics to remain unanswered.

04:30

And he began to preach from the book of Joel and the Psalms of David. And began to prove to his listeners that the arrival of the new covenant was clear.

04:44

That these were the days that Joel had promised. And even though judgment was pending, the promise was there.

04:53

Whoever should call upon the name of the Lord should be saved. Who is that Lord, some of them may ask?

04:59

Peter said, it's obvious, David preached it was Jesus of Nazareth, who is the Christ, the Son of the living God. We know that he is the

05:06

Lord upon whom we must call in order to be saved. Because he's the one who has been raised from the dead.

05:11

It wasn't David who was raised from the dead. It was the Messiah. It was his son named

05:17

Jesus. So call upon him in order to be saved. Oh, by the way, he's the one whom you stand guilty of crucifying.

05:27

So this judgment is definitely for you. Be saved from this perverse generation,

05:32

Peter says. And they say, what must we do to be saved? And Peter preaches to them what he already said when he said to call upon the name of the

05:40

Lord. He said, repent. Turn away from self, turn away from sin, turn to the Lord, call upon his name, be saved.

05:47

And the new covenant promises are yours. Yes, indeed. Forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

05:54

As we see what happens here in Acts chapter 2, perhaps the temptation is to focus upon the acts of those who receive the message.

06:05

What did they do? Perhaps the temptation in this chapter is to look at the acts of the apostles and Peter.

06:14

Look, they spoke in tongues. Look, Peter preached to them from the Old Testament the good news of Jesus. But the main point of Acts chapter 2 is the main point of the rest of the book.

06:25

Is the acts of the risen Lord Jesus Christ. He is at work here.

06:31

He is acting. Indeed, he is doing exactly what he promised he would do.

06:37

He said he would build his church and the gates of Hades would not prevail against it.

06:44

So that's what we're looking at here in Acts 2. We're looking at the Lord Jesus Christ building his church.

06:53

Let's read the text together. I invite you to stand with me if you're able and I will read beginning in verse 41 of Acts 2.

07:03

This is the word of the Lord. Then those who had gladly received his word were baptized and that day about three thousand souls were added to them and they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayers.

07:21

Then fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done to the apostles.

07:30

Now all who believe were together and had all things in common and sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all as anyone had need.

07:39

So continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house.

07:45

They ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart praising God and having favor with all the people and the

07:53

Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

07:59

I'll praise the Lord for his word. You may be seated. I'd like to talk to you about two different sons of David.

08:16

Two different sons of David. There was a son of David named

08:22

Solomon. Man of peace was his name. The Lord actually sent word said name him

08:29

Jedidiah for my sake which means beloved. Beloved.

08:35

A beloved man of peace. A son of David. One of whom

08:41

God said not you David but your son. Your son will build the temple.

08:46

Your son will build me a house. And Solomon grew up and by the providence of God he was enthroned as king.

08:58

And God did give him peace. He indeed was a man of peace. God ensured that his enemies were quickly put aside and put down so that he may reign in peace and in prosperity and in glory.

09:11

And yet Solomon knew he was not up to the task. And so he prayed to the Lord for wisdom and he was heavily endowed with wisdom.

09:18

And he was the wisest man who walked upon the face of the earth. And he inherited a kingdom that was strong and that was broad.

09:26

And he received wealth a hundredfold what his father had ever seen. Solomon was a focal point for the ancient world.

09:36

People came from all the various nations to come and hear of his wisdom and see the grandeur of the city that he was building.

09:45

For he indeed was building a city. A rich and wealthy and glorious city where silver was like gravel.

09:54

Where gold was everywhere and especially at the temple. The house of God that Solomon indeed the son of David built to praise

10:03

God. Solomon built a temple and Solomon built a city. And Solomon built a country, a nation, a people.

10:10

He organized them and had them work and labor and provide a grand scheme of improvement throughout the nation.

10:20

Especially in the city. And do you know what

10:25

Solomon said about that? He said, vanity, vanity, all is vanity and chasing after the wind.

10:36

Taking upon the persona of the preacher in Ecclesiastes calling himself Koheleth. He began to consider all that he had done.

10:46

He had built for himself a family, 700 wives and 300 concubines. That's a pretty big family.

10:54

He had built for himself a magnificent city. He had turned all the tribes of Israel into forced labor.

11:02

Like an army drafting people for the aggrandizement of the capital city.

11:10

Oh, and he built a magnificent city. Solomon had invited the nations in and adopted many of their gods as well.

11:23

Wow, what a bastion of multiculturalism was Jerusalem under the reign of Solomon.

11:29

All the wealth, all the women, all the world were coming to Solomon.

11:35

And Solomon as Koheleth, here the son of David, here the preacher. He looks at it all and he considers each aspect of his glorious life.

11:43

And he has to say about each one, vanity, vanity, all is vanity and chasing after the wind.

11:49

The word he uses in the Hebrew, hevel, is just a breath. Just a breath. You can't even see it.

11:56

You barely feel it. You can't weigh it. It doesn't last very long. And that's all it is. Why did he say that?

12:02

Because Solomon did some deep meditation about death. He said, you know, when

12:09

I die, I'm going to rot just like the thief, just like the beggar. When I die,

12:14

I'm going to rot just like the pagan does. What's the point? After I die, this glorious city, this glorious kingdom that I've been laboring to build, it's all going to become the stewardship of somebody else.

12:26

And who knows what they're going to do with it? It's going to be pointless. He does conclude, as he rightly should, that given our own limitations and our own mortality, that what we ought to be about is the fear of the

12:43

Lord. Fear the Lord, listen to His word, follow His commands, and enjoy the blessings

12:50

God gives to humble ourselves before the Lord. That's really the answer.

12:57

And that's where Solomon ended up concluding. But concerning what he was building, concerning the glory of what he was building, isn't he correct?

13:05

What about his son, Rehoboam? How smart was that guy? What about the other kings that followed

13:12

Solomon? How often do we read about evil, wicked kings squandering the glory of Israel?

13:19

Everything that Solomon had built up, generation after generation, trading away the equity of glory that Solomon had built up.

13:27

Solomon was not wrong about the effervescence of his dominion, given his death.

13:35

So there, consider a son of David. Then consider another son of David, one whose name is even stronger than Solomon, a man of peace.

13:48

Indeed, he is Shiloh, the one to whom it all belongs. From the tribe of Judah, the

13:54

Lion of Judah, whose scepter would not depart from between his feet. Indeed, the true son of David, as a preacher, who cried out, not, vanity, vanity, but verily, verily.

14:13

Here's the truth of the matter. Here's the lasting reality of the matter, as he declared his person as the

14:20

Christ. And to him was given a dominion, an everlasting dominion, which will never be destroyed.

14:26

One that will never pass away. For yes, even though this son of David died upon the cross, he was raised from the dead three days later to die no more.

14:40

And he ascended to the right hand of the Father, where he is today. And he reigns from the right hand of the

14:45

Father with a name which is given above every name. And of his glory and of his kingdom, there is no end.

14:53

So, what the first son of Solomon built, did indeed decay and fade away like a shadow.

15:03

But what the true son of David, Christ, what he builds, lasts and lasts forever.

15:12

And will never pass away, always significant, and into his resurrection we have this hope.

15:22

What we do, what our labor is not in vain. 1

15:27

Corinthians 15. Why is our labor not in vain? Because Christ is risen. And he's ascended.

15:33

And what he builds lasts forever. Two sons of David. I mention this because throughout the

15:41

New Testament, there is reflection about what Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, who grew up working with his father, a carpenter, what he builds.

15:53

What does he build? We're told that he builds the church.

15:59

Matthew 16. I will build upon this rock, I will build my church. And the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.

16:04

And then he goes on to declare the authority of his kingdom. In 1 Peter 2.

16:10

In 1 Peter 2, we're told that Christ is building a temple. The son of David indeed builds the temple with living stones.

16:19

And indeed, creates a kingdom of priests. We're told in Hebrews 11, that Christ is the author and the architect, the builder of a city.

16:34

Of a city. He builds a city. Just like the other son of David, but his city lasts forever.

16:39

It has foundations. And indeed, is a better country. Hebrews 12, we're told that Christ builds all of these things.

16:47

Church, temple, city, and more. And indeed, his kingdom will never pass away. So when we read about the good news of the kingdom.

16:55

When we read of the good news of the kingdom. We can envision a church. We can envision a city. We can envision a temple.

17:02

But we know that it's a kingdom that will never pass away because Christ is king of it. The Lord, as we see in this text, builds his church.

17:12

And we are going to see in verses 41 through 47 of Acts 2. The Lord builds his church by his grace and for his glory.

17:21

So many people live their lives. Maybe come close to the end of it and think, what was it all about? Is it really worth it?

17:29

Sometimes we have those moments. Of quiet pause. Nothing else going on and we wonder, what am

17:36

I doing with my life? Well, if you know Jesus. If you're his.

17:43

If you're serving him. You're involved in something that will never ever pass away.

17:50

Something with eternal significance. Look with me at the text. Let's see how the

17:55

Lord builds his church. Verse 41. Verse 41, we see that Christ builds by categorizing.

18:06

He builds by forging the category of who belongs to him.

18:13

Verse 41. Then those who gladly received his word. Listen to the preaching of Peter.

18:19

Those who gladly received his word were baptized. In that day, about 3 ,000 souls were added to them.

18:31

So, just a little bit earlier, Peter says repent. A little bit before that, he says, call upon the name of the

18:37

Lord. And to these instructions, we now see this response.

18:44

They gladly, they joyfully, they excitedly and warmly received, welcomed

18:53

Peter's word. Like, tell us more. We're all about that.

19:00

Yes, I agree. There was a resounding Amen that came flooding out of their hearts when their ears heard this message.

19:09

Now, what was it exactly that they happily welcomed? Well, Peter preached to them.

19:16

After they witnessed the evidence of the Holy Spirit, Peter preaches to them and says, Look, this is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel.

19:24

Welcome to the last days of the Old Covenant. Because the new has come. And in these last days, the

19:31

Spirit's going to be moving like this. Just like Joel said. By the way, judgment's impending.

19:36

But, call upon the name of the Lord and you shall be saved. So, they heard prophetic fulfillment.

19:42

The prophetic fulfillment of Jesus of Nazareth being the Christ. By the Psalms of David.

19:48

They were receiving instruction given by one whose face was unveiled.

19:58

So that they could see Christ in Joel. Christ in the

20:03

Psalms. Christ even in Moses. And he was preaching to them a interpretation of the text they had not heard before.

20:12

What, Joel was talking about a new covenant? What, David was talking about Jesus of Nazareth?

20:21

But, you see, Jesus spoke to his disciples. And Jesus ministered to his disciples.

20:27

And he opened up their minds to understand the scriptures. So often, the religious elites, the experts, the credentialed, would look at Jesus and accuse him and try to bring up the word of God.

20:39

And Jesus said, you're reading it all wrong. He said, if you believed Moses, you would believe me. Moses preached of me.

20:47

Have you never read? Go look at the text. But they refused to see it in the light of Christ.

20:54

The light of the world is the light of the word. All things are reconciled in him. Even the Old and New Testaments. Everything had to be read in light of the fulfillment.

21:04

The shadows only made sense when the substance arrived. So, Peter's preaching prophetic fulfillment.

21:09

He's preaching a true biblical hermeneutic. A way of properly reading the scriptures that would be challenging to them.

21:19

They might get a little threatened by that. But not only that, he says, you stand guilty of the murder of Messiah.

21:26

Well, that's not a very kind thing to say. But he didn't even round off the sharp corners of that.

21:35

He just said, you stand guilty of the blood of Jesus. By an unjust act. Because they were part of the covenant guilt of Israel.

21:45

And Peter promised wrath. The judgment of God is going to fall. Smoke, fire, blood.

21:53

Ooh. That doesn't sound positive and encouraging. He also said there was promise of salvation, but only in one.

22:03

Salvation only in one. Christ, who is the Lord, the Son of David. Identified as, indeed,

22:10

Jesus of Nazareth. Salvation, yes, but only in one. And forgiveness of sins.

22:17

Not found by going to the temple and offering sacrifices. No, no, no. But forgiveness by faith in Christ.

22:27

And the promise of the Holy Spirit. That's what he just preached to them.

22:34

And they probably had a half a dozen reasons to get mad at that point. But do you see what happened?

22:42

They gladly received his word.

22:48

Wow. They gladly received that word. When they had every reason to be threatened in their pride.

22:56

Threatened or insulted because they were being made guilty. Being declared as guilty.

23:02

And you'll see later on in the book of Acts, folks that reacted that way. Who got angry with the apostles.

23:09

And would say, you're reading the Bible wrong. Who would bow up and get angry when they were told that they stood guilty of the blood of Jesus.

23:18

Oh, they get really mad at that. They want to beat them up and imprison them and kill them. But here, these men gladly received the word.

23:31

So much so, that after calling upon the name of the Lord, they were then baptized in that name.

23:39

We are categorized by this name. If you want to know who we are, know who he is.

23:46

This is our identity, Christ. And what do we read?

23:56

3 ,000 souls were added to them. That day, but not just that day.

24:02

Look. To this distinct group, who welcomed and gladly received the gospel preached.

24:10

Daily, verse 47, the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. So not just that day, 3 ,000, but daily, day by day.

24:18

People were hearing the word, the gospel of the kingdom being preached. And they were responding gladly and welcoming that.

24:25

Welcoming this interpretation of the scripture in light of Jesus of Nazareth. Welcoming this news that they stood guilty of the blood of Jesus.

24:34

Welcoming that there was a promise of salvation in Christ alone. And who is the one adding to the church?

24:43

It says the Lord is adding to the church. The Lord is adding to the church. Day by day, the

24:50

Lord was adding to the church those who were being saved. We see this throughout the book of Acts.

24:57

That it was not the persuasiveness or the looks or the financial power or the innate abilities of the apostles and the prophets and the preachers and the teachers of the church in the first century that turned the world upside down.

25:13

That saw so many people, both Jews and Gentiles, turning to the Lord. It was not based upon who they were.

25:20

Not many noble, not many mighty, not many wise. No, they were not the credentialed. No, they were not the persuasive.

25:26

No, they were not the politically powerful. It had nothing to do with their abilities and their power.

25:31

It had everything to do with the risen Christ who reigned from the right hand of God. Who still does.

25:37

It was by His power that this was happening. Case in point, Acts 13.

25:46

A similar situation to Pentecost. The preaching of the

25:53

Old Testament. Paul is at Antioch in Pisidia.

26:01

And he preaches from the Psalms of David. He preaches from Habakkuk and says,

26:10

Behold Christ! The scriptures you knew from your youth are sufficient to make you wise unto salvation.

26:18

And he preaches the Old Testament. And he preaches the salvation that is in Christ alone. And, well, this time there was some consternation.

26:28

Verse 42. So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles, the nations, the non -Jews, begged that these words might be preached to them the next

26:37

Sabbath. Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed

26:42

Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. Turn unto

26:47

Christ. Verse 44. On the next Sabbath, almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God.

26:54

But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy.

27:02

Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands. Jealous of the new anointed.

27:10

And contradicting and blaspheming the opposed things spoken by Paul. Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said,

27:16

It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first. Gospel is to the Jew first.

27:21

But since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life. Ouch. Behold, we turn to the

27:28

Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us. And now he quotes Isaiah 49. In which

27:34

God declares to Messiah. It's too small a thing that you should be the savior of Jacob.

27:40

I make you the savior of the nations. I have set you as a light to the

27:45

Gentiles. That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth. Verse 48. Now notice how the

27:51

Lord adds to his church. Now when the Gentiles heard this. They were glad and glorified the word of the

28:00

Lord. This is remarkable, isn't it? Peter goes out and preaches, you know, the

28:07

Psalms of David. He preaches that odd prophet

28:12

Habakkuk. He then quotes this little passage out of Isaiah.

28:20

What are these to the Gentiles? What are these to the Greeks? What are these to pagans growing up throughout the

28:28

Roman Empire? Who cares? They suddenly do.

28:34

They're suddenly glad. They're suddenly rejoicing when they have no reason to.

28:40

They were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. Now notice. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.

28:50

See that's how the gospel jumps cultures. That's how the gospel persists throughout the centuries.

28:58

That's how the gospel makes it from one generation to the next. Not because we're really good at this.

29:05

We've got a lot of money. We've got big buildings. You know, we've been trained.

29:12

No. It's the grace of God. It's the grace of God.

29:17

And it's the Lord who's adding to the church. It's the Lord who's adding to the church.

29:23

And how is he doing that? We see here God's special work to bring countless as we find out in Revelation.

29:30

It's a multitude which no man can count. He brings countless into the new covenant. But how does he do that?

29:38

By the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes upon Peter and the apostles.

29:44

They preach the mighty works of God. The people hear it. They begin to respond. Peter preaches the scripture.

29:49

He's empowered by the Holy Spirit. They turn to him and say, what do we do?

29:55

And then all of a sudden we see 3 ,000 added that day. And then day by day the Lord was adding to the church those who were being saved.

30:03

So Christ adds to his church. He builds his church by Holy Spirit empowered preaching of the gospel.

30:12

And then bringing sinners unto salvation. And then the progress of this building of the church is made evident by baptism.

30:23

As those who call upon the name of the Lord are then baptized in the name of the

30:28

Lord. This is how Christ builds his church.

30:38

It is important for us to observe how it is that there's a special group here.

30:46

We first begin by reading men of Judah. Men of Judea, verse 14. All who dwell in Jerusalem.

30:53

Verse 22. Men of Israel. Look how he addresses them. By the time we get to verse 41.

31:03

They may be living in Judea or hanging out in Judea. They may indeed be of the tribes of Israel.

31:13

But now they're a distinct group. They're a different group. How do we know that?

31:19

First of all, they must be saved from this perverse generation to something else.

31:25

Saved unto Christ. And then to this group the Lord adds.

31:30

Oh, here's a dozen. Here's a hundred. Here's 3 ,000. Here's another 5 ,000.

31:36

Day by day. Here's so many. We stop counting. But it's still a distinct group. They are made distinct by what?

31:43

They have gladly received the good news of the kingdom. They have gladly received the good word about Jesus Christ.

31:50

They have called upon His name. They have received forgiveness of their sins. They have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. And this is all made evident by being baptized.

31:59

By which they are saying, I'm identified by Jesus of Nazareth. He's the way, the truth, and the life. And no one comes to the

32:05

Father except through Him. This is a distinct group. Example.

32:14

Nicodemus was the most religious, well -credentialed, educated, looked -up -to person that Jesus sat down with in peace.

32:23

Nicodemus. What did Jesus tell this incredibly smart, well -credentialed, well -connected man?

32:33

You must be born again. That's what he said. You must be born again.

32:41

And Jesus said, unless you're born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God.

32:48

Hang on a second. Nicodemus lived in Jerusalem. He could see the temple.

32:54

He could see the walls of the city. He could see the priests. He could see the holy scriptures for himself and read them and memorize them.

33:04

Are you saying that he can't even see the kingdom of God? No, he can't. He can't see anything until he's born again.

33:11

Something has to change internally. Something has to come alive that was once dead.

33:17

There has to be a new birth from within the inner man by the work of the

33:22

Holy Spirit. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. You want to get into the new covenant?

33:28

You want to get into the kingdom? You've got to be born again by the Holy Spirit. Nicodemus says, well, what buttons do

33:33

I push to make this happen? And Jesus says, no, it's the wind. It's like the wind. You hear the sound of it. You feel it blowing.

33:39

But you have no idea where it comes from or where it's going. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. But you must be born again. This is why the focus here.

33:50

Notice the word. Three thousand souls were added to them. See the word souls?

33:57

Why the word souls? This is not Gnosticism. This isn't denying the good of the human body.

34:05

This isn't denying that God made us an outer man and inner man as a whole. And this is the way it's supposed to be.

34:12

No. This isn't saying that the flesh is evil or wicked or bad. That the human body.

34:18

No. But what were the nature of the new covenant promises? The nature of the new covenant promises were that God was going to take out the heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh.

34:30

He's going to write his law on that heart. And he's going to bring people alive from within by the

34:36

Holy Spirit. Prophesy to the wind, O son of man. Prophesy to the wind that these dead may live.

34:46

And the people of God come to life by the power of the Holy Spirit. And so we see that just as John the

34:55

Baptist preached, I baptize you with water, but one comes after me, he's going to baptize you by spirit and fire.

35:01

Spirit and fire. Which means he's going to wake you up and clean you up.

35:06

He's going to bring you alive and purify you. There's going to be a new thing that happens.

35:12

And indeed, when the Holy Spirit shows up in the tongues of fire, land upon the apostles, they start preaching the good news of the kingdom.

35:21

Behold, the king's at the right hand of God. He has sent forth the Holy Spirit. Welcome to the new covenant era.

35:27

You must be born again. Repent. Believe. And that's why there's 3 ,000 souls saved.

35:35

3 ,000 souls. Because something was changed on the inside. Something was made alive that was once dead.

35:44

So we see that there's a specific group of people. 3 ,000 were added to them day by day. The Lord added to the church, to the ecclesia, to the called out ones, to the people of God.

35:55

Jesus Christ added to that number day by day. They were made the people of God by the grace of God.

36:03

They were given the gifts of repentance and faith. They were given the blessings of forgiveness in the Holy Spirit.

36:09

And then all of this was clarified to the watching world by their baptism in the name of Jesus Christ.

36:23

Just an observation. John the Baptist, he had a ministry of baptism.

36:31

Right? He had a ministry of baptism. And he would only baptize those who had the fruits of repentance.

36:38

But nonetheless, his baptism was preparatory. He was preparing the way. He was the forerunner of Messiah.

36:46

And so he would call people to the truth of Messiah. And he would baptize them only in terms of preparation.

36:54

Right? You've got to get prepared for when the Messiah comes. And you encounter him.

37:00

And the good news of the Messiah comes to you. And you enter into all the blessings of the new covenant.

37:07

John says, I must decrease, he must increase. He's the real deal. I'm just here preparing the way. So consider this baptism of preparation.

37:16

What did John the Baptist hope that all the people he baptized would do? What was his goal? He was baptizing them to prepare them for Messiah.

37:25

Right? Hey, he's baptizing them to get ready for when Messiah comes, they may believe upon the

37:32

Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. But do you know that that baptism of preparation was not enough?

37:41

We're going to read in the book of Acts about coming across people who heard the message of John the Baptist. They got baptized.

37:48

They got prepared for Messiah. Ready as far as they could be to believe on Messiah when they encountered his message.

37:55

And do you know what happened after they believed? Upon Jesus Christ, his person and work.

38:01

Do you know what happened after that? Were they told your preparatory baptism is enough?

38:07

No. They were baptized after believing. And baptized in the name of Christ.

38:19

This is the way the Lord builds his church. He categorizes who his people are. He is clarifying to the world, these are mine.

38:27

And demonstrating his power and his goodness to the world. So, if you have gladly received and welcomed the good news of the kingdom, if by God's grace you've heard the word of Christ, even the parts of,

38:43

I stand guilty before a holy God, and I deserve eternal damnation, and there's nothing

38:49

I can do to save myself, and you've heard the word of Christ, and you have gladly welcomed and received that word, calling upon the name of the

38:58

Lord, repenting from self and sin, you know what? You should get baptized. You should be baptized.

39:06

If you've called upon the name of the Lord, you should be baptized in the name of the Lord. And declare the goodness and the sovereignty, the authority, the perfection of Jesus Christ by doing so.

39:17

Identifying with his death and burial and resurrection. Baptism is not a private rite.

39:24

It is the publicizing of a category change. I am no longer claiming that I belong to me.

39:32

I am no longer belonging to, perhaps, Buddha or Muhammad or whatever.

39:38

I belong to Christ. I'm his. Bought and paid for. He's king. He's my savior. My only hope.

39:45

Baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I belong to the triune God by his redemptive work in his

39:51

Son, by the gracious power of the Holy Spirit. And this work continues.

40:03

First son of David, we talked about the work that he did to build up his dominion in his kingdom. You know, by the time we get to later on in Solomon's life, he was beginning to fall apart because the foreign women turned his heart away from the

40:14

Lord. And all of a sudden, pagan temples began to be built in Jerusalem. And then his son was a fool.

40:21

And the kingdom was divided. And then sons and grandsons continued, often, in sin.

40:28

But this son of David, Christ, who's at the right hand of God, who is building his church, what he builds continues.

40:35

Notice, verse 42, Now that is encouraging to read.

40:44

They continued steadfastly. One of our missionaries, Mitch Tillman, who is ministering in Mongolia.

40:53

They can't get out to the Gobi Desert very often, as difficult as it is. But one of the most encouraging stories

41:00

I've ever heard from Mitch was when they went out to a little, a little bitty village on the backside of the

41:06

Gobi Desert that nobody ever goes to, except that five years ago they had gone out there and preached the gospel in their native dialect, gave them a few

41:14

Bibles, and left. And you know what they found when they got back out there five years later? A little group of believers meeting in their yurt, reading the

41:22

Bible, praising God. Praise be to God. Hey, that work continued.

41:28

What God began, He continues. And this is what we're reading here. They continued steadfastly.

41:36

They were devoted in their adherence. They gave unremitting care to these things.

41:43

They were ready in their perseverance. They were steadfast in their attentiveness. To what?

41:50

Look at these ingredients. To the way that the Lord built His church. They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

42:04

Verse 46, look at the ingredients again. Continuing daily with one accord in the temple, breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart.

42:18

Praising God. So we see the ingredients of what

42:24

Christ is baking into His church. This is what He makes His church out of. This is the distinctives of His church.

42:31

This is what continues in the church that He builds. First of all, the doctrine of the apostles.

42:37

Well, what did they teach? They taught Christ. They proclaimed

42:43

Christ. Just read the New Testament. That's all they can talk about. The doctrine of the apostles was the doctrine of Christ.

42:52

Who He is. What He came to do. What His promises are. And notice, they continued also in fellowship.

42:58

Koinonia. In coming together. In worshiping together. In loving one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples.

43:05

By the love that you have for one another. And they continued in that. A continuance.

43:15

We also read that they broke bread together. Now this is a really interesting saying.

43:24

In the Gospel of Luke, for instance, you can find people breaking bread at a normal meal. And you also find Christ breaking bread at the

43:30

Last Supper and blessing it. And when we read further in the

43:36

New Testament, we find that very often when the church got together, they had a meal together.

43:42

That's not just a Baptist thing. But that when they came together and they ate meals together, they often appended the

43:49

Lord's Supper communion with that. So much so that it got confusing, especially in the church in Corinth.

43:56

Hence the instructions. But they continued together in communion. Eating together.

44:01

Hospitality with one another. But indeed also communion. Taking the Lord's Supper together. They continued in that.

44:08

And they continued in prayer together. They prayed together. They prayed for one another. And they prayed together.

44:17

As their Lord had taught them. So they prayed. And they continued daily in the temple.

44:23

They were there in the temple. Why were they in the temple? They weren't there sacrificing animals. They weren't there giving tithes for the beautification of more gold on the walls.

44:32

They were there doing the exact same thing the apostles did after Jesus ascended into the gospel of Luke. They went back to Jerusalem and went to the temple.

44:39

And this is the best place we've got to praise the Lord and rejoice. And sing praises to God's name for Messiah who now reigns on high.

44:49

So they were there worshiping. Their worship continued together. They continued in praise and worship.

44:56

And they broke bread from house to house. They communed together. They fellowshiped together. Hospitality.

45:01

They ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart. Single mindedness. Simplicity of heart.

45:08

There's no divisiveness here. There's simply humility and unity and joy.

45:17

Now look at these ingredients. Doctrine, fellowship, communion, prayer, worship, hospitality, joy, humility, unity.

45:25

That is the life of God's new covenant people in Christ. That is what continued from Pentecost.

45:34

I hope you've noticed it continues around these parts. What are we doing?

45:40

We're looking at the doctrine of the apostles. We're looking at the truths of Christ together. What do we do here today?

45:46

We just praise and worship the Lord together. What do we do next week?

45:51

We're going to have communion together. What are we going to do Wednesday night? Well, we're going to have a meal together.

45:58

And we want to continue with one another in simplicity and unity and joy. These are the ingredients of the church that Jesus has baked in.

46:09

This is what He continues. This is what He built. And He's still doing it today. Oh, it looks different.

46:16

It sounds different. But Christ is still doing this. He's building

46:22

His church. He is faithful. And He's faithful here. And He's faithful in Venezuela.

46:29

And He's faithful in North Africa. And He's faithful in Eastern Europe. And He's faithful in Indonesia.

46:37

And He's faithful in South Korea. Don't you know these are the very things that are happening with our brothers and sisters all across the world today?

46:47

Yeah. What this son of David builds continues. And is not passing away.

46:54

Jesus, this son of David, is not Koheleth. He is not saying vanity, vanity, all is vanity and passing like the wind.

47:02

What's the point? It's never going to work. The gospel is going to fail. The church is going to disappear. It's all a bunch of rot.

47:08

That is Koheleth. That's Solomon. But this son of David, Jesus Christ, succeeds. He's at the right hand.

47:15

He's victorious. He rose from the dead. He's got the keys of death and hell. He's not afraid of anybody. And He's winning.

47:23

Church, He's winning. He's at the right hand of the

47:29

Father. Until all of His enemies are placed to footstool before His feet. And the last enemy is death. And when

47:36

He raises us all back to life. And we're all together with Him. We're going to see just how

47:41

He was winning all along. It's not Him failing to succeed.

47:48

It's us failing to hope and believe. We're the disciples in the storm.

47:54

In the ship. It's done. We're sunk. It's over. Jesus, don't you care that we're perishing?

48:01

It's all failing. No, but He's the Lord of glory. He's the

48:07

Lord of glory. And one of these days, He's just going to speak a word. And it's all going to go glass.

48:13

And it's all going to be fixed. And we're going to rejoice and see how He was winning and succeeding all along.

48:21

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the time you've given us in your word. We thank you for the church that you build. We thank you that you, as the son of David, our

48:28

Lord, our Savior, our Sovereign. You don't fail. You succeed. You are gracious and kind and patient with us.

48:39

And thank you for what you build. This is precious. This is a blessing. That we get to continue in the doctrine of your apostles.

48:48

That we continue in fellowship together. That we continue in hospitality and in communion and in joy and in unity.

48:56

Thank you for what you build. This is a wonderful, wonderful thing that you build. We are blessed every day by it.

49:04

So we give you the praise and ask you to increase our faith. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.