Sunday,
September 8, 2013
BAPTISM: MARTIN SIKES
"Adding to
the Church"
Acts 2:36-47
Read
Acts 2:36-41...
Therefore
let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom
you crucified, both Lord and Christ." 37 Now when they heard this, they
were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles,
"Men and brethren, what shall we do?" 38 Then Peter said to them,
"Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are
afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." 40 And with many other
words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse
generation." 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and
that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
What has happened to Martin happened
to 3,000 people on the Day of Pentecost almost 2,000 years ago. As we have already mentioned this morning,
early in His ministry Jesus spoke these words:
"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel" (Mark
1:15). Peter gives the same basic
instruction on the Day of Pentecost. When
Peter boldly told those Jews who were assembled that they had crucified the
Jesus whom God the Father had made both Lord and Messiah, they were deeply
convicted of their sin, so much so that they cried out, "What are we going
to do?" Peter's answer is in verse
38.
This verse is often debated and we
want consider all the angles of that debate this morning. I do not believe Peter was teaching that
being baptized is necessary for salvation.
If you read it in the King James Version, "Repent and be baptized"
appear as two parallel commands, but that is not accurate. The New King James is much better: "Repent, and let every one of you be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." It is, "You guys repent, and let every
one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ." I believe it would be even better if there
was a comma after Christ, so that "for the forgiveness of sins" would
be construed with "Repent" and not with "let every one of you be
baptized." I take "Let every
one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ" as a kind of
parenthesis. The baptism is very
important, but it is the repentance that is a prerequisite for the forgiveness
of sins.
We see the result in verse
41, "Then those who gladly received his word were
baptized." "Received his
word" seems to be a way of expressing genuine faith. Though it is not expressly stated in this
passage that they believed, we can rest assured that they did. Their repentance and faith in Jesus and His
death and resurrection opened the door to forgiveness of sins, and they were
baptized as result.
What I want you to notice this
morning is what happened after the baptism.
Verse 41 again, "Then those who gladly received his word
were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to
them." Before that mighty act of
God, the group consisted of about 120 (Acts 1:15), but now the number had
increased to over 3,100.
Now
let's read Acts 2:42-47...
And
they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the
breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many
wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were
together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and
goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. 46 So continuing daily
with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate
their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having
favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who
were being saved.
We are reading about the first local
church. Someone might say, "No, this
was the universal church." Yes, you
could say that, because all the Christians in the world were included in that
number. Nevertheless, though it was the
only local church, it was indeed a local church. Let me put it this way: that group of Christians was quickly formed
into a church, an assembly of believers.
And what did those early members of the church do? Verse 42, "And they continued
steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread,
and in prayers."
Notice that both doctrine and
fellowship were a vital part of this early church. "Doctrine" is not a dirty
word. Some today say that we don't need
doctrine. That's a lie. Those early believers gave themselves freely
to what the apostles taught, and their teaching consisted of what came from
Jesus and the Old Testament scriptures.
That teaching did not hinder their fellowship together, but rather
promoted it. And in that context they
broke bread and prayed. The breaking of
bread may refer to common meals together, or it may be a reference to the
communion service.
Their fellowship was so vital and
real that they had all things common. So
was this communal living? Maybe so,
maybe not. People debate that
issue. Too many today conclude something
like this: "They tried communal
living, and after a while it didn't work."
The bottom line is stated clearly in Acts 4:32, "Now the
multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did
anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all
things in common." When there was
need, whatever one had was available to all.
In general, we have dismissed that model because it doesn't fit with
tightfisted American individualism. We
could use a healthy dose of that attitude.
The chapter concludes with verse
47, "... And the Lord added to the church daily those who were
being saved." I recognize that some
translations do not include the words "to the church," but instead
have something like "added to their number." There is a difference in the Greek texts of
that verse. But even if you take the
correct reading to omit "to the church," that is certainly the
idea. If those being saved were added to
their number, the number simply indicates those who were a part of the
church.
So now let me just ask a practical
question: "What about Martin? He has been attending services here for well
over two and half years. Now, by virtue
of his faith in Christ and baptism in Jesus' name he is a member of this
church. What's the difference? Is there any difference?" Yes, there is a difference. First of all, Martin is a new creation. Though he attended her for over two and half
years, he was dead in his trespasses and sins, lost, without God and without
hope. If Martin had died, he would have
spent eternity in hell. Though he met
with us, he was not a part of us. Though
he was made in the image of God, he was not a child of God. But praise God for the promise, "But as
many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to
those who believe in His name" (John 1:12).
Now let me go a little deeper. As those believers were added to the church
in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost, Martin has been added to this
church. Now Martin will not be just an
attender; he is vital part of this family.
He has become a member of the one-anothering community known as La Luz
Bible Church. By God's grace, we will
love Martin, care of him, pray for him, exhort him, and submit to him in the
fear of God. At the same time, Martin
will do the same for others. Martin is
now our brother and we welcome him with open hearts. Now he is a part of a local church where each
is commanded to love one another, consider one another, encourage one another,
prefer one another, and submit to one another.
Please hear me. As a church we don't have it all
together. We have to confess that we are
weak. But praise God that He has put us
together as Christ's body, as His family.
While there is a real sense in which all believers are a part of the
universal body of Christ, the expression of that body in the New Testament is
the local church. Roughly 90% of the
occurrences of the word "church" in the New Testament are references
to local churches, just like this one.
Every believer needs to be a vital functioning part of a local church,
not just an attender. If it isn't this
church, then it needs to be another one.
We want to strongly encourage you to understand and receive the
one-another concept of the New Testament church. It is impossible to carry out the
one-anothering commands, if we are not a vital part of a local church.
Martin, we welcome you and by God's
grace we pledge ourselves to be the brothers and sisters that will love you and
encourage you in the days ahead.
I
hadn't decided whether I was going to preach that which was above, or that
which was below. It seemed to work out
for me to have time to preach both.
Second
option...
Perhaps some of you who haven't been
around here too long wonder why we make such a big deal out of baptism. Why do we focus in on what the Lord has done
in just one particular person? Those are
good questions and they deserve honest answers.
You might think that because we don't see many people converted, we want
to hang on to this one as long as we can.
There may be some truth in that, but that's not the whole story.
Please hear me. This is one more way to set before our minds
and hearts the eternal realities that escape us so easily. A couple of weeks ago on Wednesday evening we
were considering the question:
"What am I asking the Lord to do in my life?" One sister answered that question something
like this: "I am asking the Lord to
make the eternal realities more real than the things I can see around me." That is what He wants to do in all of our
lives. II Cor. 4:16-18, "Therefore we do not lose heart.
Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed
day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working
for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look
at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the
things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are
eternal." We live in a
self-centered, now-oriented world in which the eternal realities are denied by
most and neglected by almost all the rest.
When we baptize someone, we are
reminded that Jesus really lived and died, was buried, and rose from the
grave. Furthermore, we rejoice in the
fact that He is still changing lives one by one. When we read Rom. 6:4, we are blessed with
the truth that the genuine convert is not only justified, but he is also
regenerated. Not only are his sins
forgiven and he himself is declared righteous, but he has been raised to live a
new life -- the life of Jesus in the power of His Spirit. He has been identified with Jesus in both His
death and resurrection. Praise God!
Martin and I have had the privilege
of visiting more than normal these past couple of weeks. We passed some time looking at baptism, but
we have spent most of our time going over the gospel repeatedly. As we do, these eternal realities are making
more and more sense to Martin and I am getting the privilege of telling the
old, old story over again. There is one
particular truth that has slowly gripped Martin. He understands it far better than he did a
couple of weeks ago.
Let me just put it to you this
way: The New Testament term
"conversion" literally means a turning around. To be converted is to do a 180. I realize that many learned people say that
to repent means to do a 180. It may kind
of come out at that place, but the word itself means "to have a change of
mind." Conversion is the 180
term. So Martin has been converted. Here is part of what that means. If Martin had died a month ago, before the
Lord turned his life around, what would have happened to him? I asked him that question a couple of days
ago, and he answered, "I would have been thrown into the lake of
fire." And how long would he have
been there? Forever. That becomes even more real when Martin
realizes that God preserved his life more than once in the last two years. For instance, if he had died during or after
that critical heart-attack, there would have been no second chance. His doom would have been sealed -- eternal
punishment with not a moment's respite.
We don't like to think about these
things. It's painful. And surely we don't want to think about such
things in the Sunday morning service. If
you don't think about them here and now, when will you think about them? We have an endless number of things that vie
for our attention, but when do we give our minds and hearts to the subject of
eternity? It is sobering to think that
three weeks ago this man was still dead in his trespasses and sins and under
the wrath of God. "But God, who is
rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we
were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ..." (Eph.
2:4-5). It is even more sobering
to think that some of you here this morning are still dead in your trespasses
and sins and are at this moment under the wrath of God.
You may think, "So is he trying
scare people into following Jesus?"
No. No one can be scared into the
kingdom of God. But we must face
reality, and reality is that the Almighty God is holy and righteous, just like
we discussed last week. Brothers and
sisters, when you consider your friends and acquaintances, don't think for a
moment that God will be merciful in the end and overlook their sins. He will not overlook a single sin; He will punish
every sin. And that is true of those of
you who are apart from Christ this morning.
By your proud and stubborn rebellion against God, you have spit in the
face of Him who sent His Son to be the propitiation for your sins. And you will give an account to Him very
soon. There is no hope for you until you
see your sin for the idolatry that it is.
Don' t be deceived. Martin has come to services regularly here
for well over two years, except when he has been in the hospital. He has been coming to prayer meeting on
Wednesday evening for a long time. To
the outward eye, it seemed that Martin was a part of us. He was not.
All of his church attendance, Bible reading, prayer, moral reform, and
whatever else did not change the fact that he was the enemy of God. Praise God that the Spirit convicted Martin
that he was lost, dead, and in danger of losing his own soul.
Are you deceived? Has the enemy somehow tricked you into
thinking that you're okay? After all,
you come to services as much as the next fellow. Or maybe you are relying on the fact that you
have been baptized. Baptism is vitally
important for the believer, but it will do nothing to take away the hostility between
you and God. Nor will it bring
forgiveness of your sins. Are you just
hoping against hope that all this straight talk about God's wrath will turn out
to be a fairytale and God will welcome you into His kingdom after all? If He did, He would be a liar, and you can
rest assured that God never lies. Jesus
said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father
except through me" (John 14:6).
And when you read the rest of the story, it becomes crystal
clear that we can only come to Him through repentance and faith, a total giving
up on self and a complete casting of self upon the Jesus who died and
rose. And if you truly know Him, you can
expect a new attitude, at attitude that loves God and hates sin. And praise God, you find the power of the
Spirit within enables you to live a life you couldn't live before.
"For God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in Him should not
perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16).
The most amazing thing about God's love is that He loves
us. Everyone of us has gone his own way, rebelled against
Him who gave us life, and demonstrated our hatred of Him and His righteous
law. But He still loved us. We crucified His precious Son, but He still
loves us. Can you reject that love? "For when we were still without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one
die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His love toward us, in
that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:6-8). What love!
Praise God that He has delivered
Martin from the power of darkness and translated him into the kingdom of His
dear Son (Col. 1:13). He can do the same
for you. I urge you to repent and
believe. Look at your sin for what it
is. See it as God sees it. Realize that you have no goodness in
yourself. Even what might be considered
your most righteous deeds are filthy rags in God's sight. You can't do anything for yourself. Throw yourself on Jesus, who loves you and
gave Himself for you. He took God's
punishment on Himself so that you might go free. He rose from the grave that you might know
Him and have His very life.
And brothers and sisters, this is
the hope and the message we have for the lost world around us. Let's proclaim it in the power of the Spirit
and then walk the walk by that same power.
Our God is able.
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