The Story Continues

Introduction

And deed kind of another blessing to be with you this evening as we conclude our series of studies together. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with you, and I pray that God has used me for his glory and for his honor all this week. Thank you for being so very kind and open uh and and really very generous to Sue and myself. We just are so very grateful. I want to say a word or two before concluding our series of studies, and words of appreciation, a special appreciation. Number one, I want to thank all the song leaders. You have some excellent song leaders here, and I appreciate the very good job that was done each time that a man stood before us and helped us to sing these psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.

It just you know sometimes we take these good song leaders for granted, and we should not, uh, because they are just a blessing, and we just appreciate so very much the work that they do. So I thank them. And I want to thank each of you who had Sue and I for good food that you provided for me. That’s like Sue and I were talking about it seemed like we just ate our way through the county. That’s a good way to travel, though, let me tell you. Uh and I want to thank the Heartwriters. Bob and Arlene are dear friends of ours and have been for a number of years, and we love them so very much. And it uh the opportunity we’ve had to be in their home has just been a blessing, and it’s just made Sue and me just a little bit better uh by having been in their presence.

So thank you very much for your kindness uh this week. Want to thank the elders for uh inviting us to come and be with you this week. It’s it’s just been a joy. It’s been a blessing. And I want to say a word. I don’t do this uh very often, but I I’m glad uh so very much to Sid Pullium’s here. It’s uh it’s a blessing. Uh Bob is is just a great man, and I don’t know if he’s had any meetings here. He’s held meetings for us, a fantastic gospel preacher, and it’s just a blessing to have him here this evening. And I just appreciate y’all so much and give you Godspeed and the work that you’re doing. I want to begin our study this evening as we conclude.

You know, I always like to like to say that I had it on. It’s not on.

Okay. Well, I think preachers are technologically challenged. That’s the reason we take up preaching. No, I’m kidding. I’m kidding. I’m kidding. But uh, you know, uh you sometimes don’t know where to end a gospel meeting. You don’t know what lesson that you want to leave uh for the people uh and for the good congregation that you’ve been associated with. Sometimes it’s hard to decide. Sometimes it’s even hard to say uh what you want to say at the end of a gospel meeting. I I know a few years ago when I was in a meeting, I I just you know felt sort of melancholy, you know, and I uh I got up and said, Well, brethren, you know, it’s been a great week, but you know all good things must come to an end.

And I thought that was very profound. But a lady caught me at the back of the building, and she said, Well, I appreciate what you said, but you do know bad things come to an end, too. So I don’t say that anymore. It just comes to an end. Uh so as I end this lesson, I I want to I want to issue a challenge to you. And before I read a few verses here, uh, to begin our study, I want you to just begin to mulk in your mind as to why this congregation here at South Bumbi exists. Why is it here? And I can really ask that question of every local congregation, including the one with which I am presently working. Why does the Danville Church of Christ exist?

Or, you know, just select the local church. Why does that local church exist? If we think, if we think the purpose of our existence is simply so that we can gather together two or three times a week and worship God, uh, is that doing pretty good now, so I don’t know. I don’t know.

It is not. Okay. Hey, just going back upstairs. I got you.

But if we think that we exist, ladies and gentlemen, just to gather together a few times a week and offer worship to God, sing psalms without an instrument, break bread on Sunday, and such things as that. Now, while that may be important, do you really believe that’s the purpose that we have been saved? Do you believe that God has called us out of the storm of sin in order for us to gather into a building and watch it rain? We have to really come to grips with why it is local congregations actually have their existence. So, with that thought in your mind, I want to read with you just a few verses from the first chapter of the book of Acts. Acts chapter 1, beginning at verse 1.

The former account I made, O Theopolis, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach until the day in which he was taken up after he through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom he also presented himself alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during 40 days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Now, I want to stop right here, and I want to share with you what I refer to as a fable. Now, remember, when I’m sharing with you a fable, this is not real. It simply said as a point of illustration. But the fable begins this way: that a long time before Jesus actually came to this earth in the form of a man and uh and gave his life on a cross, he was walking through heaven.

And the Bible says that an angel was walking beside Jesus and asked Jesus, how is it you plan to save mankind? And Jesus’ response to the angel was well, what’s going to happen is one man is going to be saved, and then he’s going to share the message with someone else, and that individual will be saved, and so on and so on and so forth until we save the word. And the angel said, you know, that sounds rather simple, maybe even simplistic. So you think that’s the way that it’s going to be. Well, let me ask you, what is the backup plan that you have? And the Lord said in this fable to the angel, there is no backup plan. If that doesn’t work, then mankind will not be saved.

Each one of the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and they’re referred to that because of their similarities. Each one of them ends with what we often refer to as the Great Commission. Carrying the story of the gospel throughout the world. Matthew’s account goes in Matthew 28, verse 19, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. Mark’s account, while it says exactly the same thing in slightly different terminology, says that we are, as Christians, we are to preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved. He who believes not will be condemned. Mark 16, 15 and 16.

You look at Luke’s account of the Great Commission. It may slightly vary, but nevertheless, the commission is there. That repentance for the remission of sin should be preached in his name, beginning at Jerusalem. Luke 24 and verse 44. All of these talk about what we refer to as the Great Commission, carrying the story of salvation throughout the world. Battering is love. So that takes all the blame away from the preacher. You can sort of keep that in mind.

One time I was up preaching like this, and a guy, and oh, I hear me. And a guy came forward. He’s a big guy, you know, and I was looking for somewhere to hide. He didn’t really intimidate me all that much, but I appreciate him getting me straightened out like this. But this is the Great Commission. This is the carrying the story of salvation throughout the world, ladies and gentlemen. And when we think about this, the verses that we read from the first chapter of the book of Luke really began the account of carrying out the Great Commission. This is what Luke’s writer of the book of Acts is really the second volume of the book of Luke. So the commission is given, the book of Acts records or chronicles the carrying out of that Great Commission.

And it begins in the city of Jerusalem. And when we get over to Acts chapter 28 and verse 31, we find now the Apostle Paul in the city of Rome. And what he’s doing in the city of Rome is preaching things concerning the kingdom of heaven. So it began in Jerusalem, and we find in Acts 28 and verse 31 that now Paul is in the city of Rome preaching the gospel of the kingdom. He’s carried the story of the gospel all the way to Rome. Now, what I want us to do in our study this evening, ladies and gentlemen, is I would like for us to open our Bibles to what I refer to as the 29th chapter of the book of Acts. Now when you get to that passage, I want you to raise your hand.

Ah, you say, Jeha, there is no 29th chapter. You know, you’re absolutely right. The book of Acts closes in Acts 28 and verse 31. But it closes in such a way that lets us know that while the book may close in the city of Rome, the story is to continue. The commission is to continue to exist. Yes, it began in the city of Jerusalem, but the Great Commission, ladies and gentlemen, has never ever ended. In reality, ladies and gentlemen, we are responsible. This congregation and every local congregation is responsible for passing that commission on to each subsequent generation. We as 21st century Christians are not writing by inspiration. No way, shape, manner, or form. But we are continuing the story. We’re continuing to write the story, and I want to come back to that in just a moment.

I want you to think about something, ladies and gentlemen, that is absolutely profound. What began in the city of Jerusalem with 120 disciples in an upper room after the crucifixion of Jesus, after his ascension into heaven, there were 120 appearing in an upper room. But as you begin to go through the book of Acts, you find in Acts 2 and verse 41, now that 120 has increased to about 3,000. In Acts chapter 4 and verse 4, now there are 5,000 men who are members of the church. 5,000. And that’s not even counting women. And there may you may even be able to double that. And this is this many Christians. Look, what began with 120, and now you see in Acts 6 and verse 7 that the number is multiplying.

Disciples are being made. Now there are many thousands. Acts 21 and verse 20. Paul said in Colossians 1 that this message had reached the world. Did you ever notice that? Paul said the message, the story has gone throughout the world. And Paul says that it has touched every creature in Colossians 1 and verse 23. What is it? Jesus said, preach the gospel to every creature. And now we find the gospel has reached every creature in what? 35 years. But you know, it’s been estimated that by the close of the first century there were perhaps upward to a million Christians. Now think about that. The Great Commission was given to these disciples. And what began in the city of Jerusalem with 120, now it’s estimated by the close of the first century there were upwards to a million Christians.

Do you see how they were working? Do you see why those churches existed? Do you see what the purpose was? To carry the story of salvation throughout the world. This one reaches with this one and so on and so forth. And if that if that’s not astounding enough, and that indeed is astounding, I want you to consider something. These disciples did not have Sundays off. And many of them, perhaps, even were slaves with no time off at all. They did not have laws that were favorable to Christianity. They couldn’t write on their income tax. This is how much I have donated to the church this year, and so I’m able to deduct this. They had no laws that were favorable to Christianity. They didn’t have comfortable church buildings that were heated in the winter and cooled in the summer and the pews were padded.

They didn’t have these amenities. They didn’t have God-fearing politicians that made laws favorable to what it was that they were doing. They did not have access to complete Bibles. They couldn’t reach in the pew in front of them and pull out a Bible and start reading in Matthew and conclude in the book of Revelation. Or they had inspired men, but the canon of the New Testament had not been complete. These disciples did not have religious books about Christ. They did not have books detailing how churches were to grow and how they were to prosper. They didn’t have schools of evangelism. They did not, ladies and gentlemen, have radio, internet, television. They had none of these things. But I’ll tell you what they had. What they had was opposition.

And what they had was great persecution. But even at that, they were able to turn the world upside down. They were able to carry out the Great Commission in their generation. And so I want to ask you this evening, how is the church of the 21st century faring? How are we doing? A hundred years from now, if the Lord carries, what’s going to be written about our generation? What’s going to be written about the way that we’re carrying out the Great Commission? What’s going to be said in the annals of history when it begins to measure why we are existing in a local congregation? What’s going to be said about us? Are we going to be able to, is it going to be able to be said about us that we are multiplying, that we are increasing, that we’re turning the world upside down.

You see, this is, I’ve got to tell you something. This ought to be something that challenges every disciple of the Lord. Why am I here? What am I doing here? How well am I carrying out this great commission? But I want to tell you this evening, my friends, in order for us to turn the world upside down, I’ll tell you what’s going to have to happen. We’re going to have to be turned upside down. We’re going to have to let the Lord upset the way that we view Christianity. We’re going to have to let the Lord upset the way that we view life. And we’re going to have to let the Lord upset the way that we view others. If we plan on turning the world upside down, if we plan on continuing the story.

1. Trust the Great Power of God to Save

And I’m going to tell you what I believe that every local church needs in order to continue the story, in order to continue the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. What we need to do, ladies and gentlemen, is once again, as they did. We need to once again begin to trust the great power of God to save. I want you to stay with me on this. I want to develop something here. Let’s begin right now. Let’s make a renewed effort and determination in our heart and in our souls that we’re going to trust the great power of God to save. In Acts chapter 1 and verse 8. Jesus said to the apostles, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.

Now I’m going to stop right here and want you to think about something. Jesus begins in Jerusalem, he expands to Judea, he enlarges to Samaria, and he concludes with throughout the world. And he says to these apostles, you’re going to be endued with power. You’re going to receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. Somebody said, Well, J.R., well, hold on here. You’ve got to understand something. Jesus is talking about the miraculous baptismal power of the Holy Spirit that came upon the apostles in Acts chapter 2, verses 1 through 4, when they were all together with one accord. And the Holy Spirit did fall upon them from heaven. And they received power. Yes, this is talking about that miraculous power. It’s the same thing that Paul was talking about in Ephesians chapter 3, verses 3 and 4.

How that by revelation. He that is God made known to me the message. As I wrote before in a few words, whereby when you were when you read, you may understand my knowledge into the mystery of Christ. Well, somebody said, What are you talking about? Remember this, that when the Holy Spirit was promised to come upon the apostles. He did not promise them that they would save the world by miracles. They could perform miracles. He did not say that they would save the world by being able to heal the blind and to raise the paralyzed. No, that’s not what he said. He told the apostles that when the Holy Spirit, John 16 and verse 13, came upon them, he said that you would be guided into all the truth.

It is the truth of God that saves. It is the gospel power of God that saves. Yes, they could perform miracles. Yes, they spoke by inspiration, but the miraculous did not save people. It was the words that they spoke. Paul said in Romans 1 in verse 16 that he’s not ashamed of the gospel. For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. I want you to notice something else. Paul said to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 1 in verse 21, that it pleased God by the foolishness of the message preached to save those or them who believe. I want you to notice something in the sermon that Peter preached. I want you to notice what Peter calls attention to.

In verse 14 of Acts 2. Peter standing up with the weapon raised his voice. His voice. He didn’t perform a miracle and say that miracle saved anybody. No, Peter raised his voice and said to them, men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and what? Heed my words. It’s the words of God that is the power to save. Hear my words. You go over to verse 37. And when they heard this, heard what? Heard the words of salvation. When they heard this, they were pricked, pricked in their heart or cut in their heart. This is the power of God to save. This is what was saving people in the first century. Peter said in verse 40, with many other words, Luke says, with many other words, he, that is Peter, testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation.

You want to be able for us to duplicate what was going on in the first century. I’m going to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, we have to trust in the great power of God to save. The preaching of the gospel is what saves lost sinners, ladies and gentlemen. Don’t ever lose sight of that. And I’m going to tell you something. I’m hearing people say across the width and breadth of this great land, you know, J.R., it just simply doesn’t do any good to have gospel meetings anymore or Bible studies anymore. It doesn’t do any good to just simply talk about the Bible. People are not interested in that. And so we’re trying all kinds of newfangled ideas. We want to, we’ll want to, okay, what we’ll do is we’ll have a great cathedral.

We’ll have special songs. We’ll have special programs. We’ll have dramas and we’ll have all of these other things that will enable people to be drawn to the Lord. Listen to me. It’s not the gimmicks and it’s not the changes. It’s the power of the gospel that saves. We’ve got to once again ignite within our hearts the belief that the gospel is the power of God to save. And I believe that with all of my heart, mind, and soul. Now don’t misunderstand me. I believe that we can accommodate by using some of the technology that we have available to us today, but we mustn’t lose sight of the fact that it’s the words of God that is the power to save lost humanity. It saves the old, it saves the young.

Let’s begin to trust the power of the. I’m going to tell you, there are churches all over the country that are trying everything except preaching the gospel. Except sitting down at a table one-on-one and talking with somebody about the Lord. We’ve got to get back to trusting the power of the word to save.

In Acts chapter 5 and in verse 28, the Bible says that these disciples had filled Jerusalem with their doctrine. You want to see people being saved. You begin to fill the community with the doctrine of Christ. I think one of the big differences between the church now and the church then is that Christianity at that time was not a club. It was not a filler, it was not a society, it was a life. It was not a passion. And I’m going to tell you, if we don’t ignite that passion, ladies and gentlemen, for the Lord, if we can’t get excited about serving the Lord and excited about spreading the gospel of Christ, I tell you, I don’t know what’s wrong with us. I like to share with people the fact that, hey, you know, if you can just get a local body of believers on fire for Jesus, I’m telling you, people will come just to watch you burn.

That’s just the way that it is. Enthusiasm, zeal, excitement, it begats enthusiasm. It begats zeal, and it begats excitement. Let’s get excited about the gospel and the power of the word, and let’s see it at work in our lives and in the lives of others. Yes, Christianity was not a filler to them. It was not an additive. Christianity was not something that they added to their life. Christianity was their life. Christianity was their passion. They gave up their homes. They gave up their families in some instances. In some instances, they would have to give up their jobs. And they would were willing to give up their lives. And you know what? The gospel was spreading. A hundred and twenty, three thousand, five thousand multitudes. This is what was going on.

This is how, this is how passionate they were about the spreading of the gospel of Christ. Do you ever notice? You ever notice in the New Testament how that sometimes the church was referred to in sort of a unique phraseology? You know, in Acts chapter 9 and verse 1, the church was referred to as the way. W. A. Y. The way.

It is, you know, Saul was wrecking havoc on the church, and he was going after persecuting the way. In another instance, it’s referred to as the way of God. And I’m not saying this is a name. I’m just simply saying this is a term that was often used to describe the church. Why is that? Do you see, do you see a connection with anything that was said, let’s say, in the book of John? You remember what Jesus said in John 14 and verse 6? I, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Don’t you see the correlation there? The church was the way. It was all about Jesus, not about themselves, not about the social. It was about the Lord. It was about the way, the truth and the life.

2. Become Bold, Courageous in the Face of All Opposition

They gave their all. And when we’re willing to do that, as is revealed in Acts 6 and verse 7, then the word of God spread, and the disciples multiplied greatly. Let’s begin again to trust in God’s great power to save. Secondly, if we want to emulate the first century church, we’re going to have to become bold, courageous in the face of all opposition. Now we talked about the spread of the gospel. And we talked about how the disciples were filling Jerusalem with their doctrine. It did not take them long to get in trouble. It didn’t take them long for the Sanhedrin Council, high Supreme Court of the Jews to take notice of this and say, whoa, whoa, whoa, something’s got to be done. They you know what?

They’re talking about the resurrected Christ, and it’s making us look bad, and they’re bringing this man’s blood down upon us. And so we’re going to have to do something. And so they said in verse 17 of the fourth chapter of the book of Acts, and so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them. Let us severely threaten them. That from now on they speak to no man in this name. And so they called them and commanded them not to speak at all, nor to teach in the name of Jesus. Now, fellas, you’re going to have to stop this right now. The powers that be, the authorities, the law of the land says, keep your mouth shut. Stop your preaching. Don’t be talking about Jesus.

Don’t be talking about the Lord. Don’t be bringing this man’s name up anymore. Now it is against the law to preach. Now I’ll tell you what they didn’t do. They didn’t call a business meeting of the brethren and say, hey, you know what? Now the law of the land says we can’t preach anymore, so we better suspend all our efforts to preach. You know, we we we we we need to obey the powers that be. We need to obey the powers of uh and authority here, so let’s uh let’s stop preaching. We we don’t want to get in trouble, and we don’t want to bring any uh angst down upon the church, and so we better stop this. That’s not what they did. When Peter and John answered in verse 19 and said to them, whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.

He said, For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. We’re going to keep on preaching. We’re going to keep on testifying to the things that we’re witnesses of. And your threats and your opposition and your laws, they are not going to stop us. But I’m going to tell you something the church did do. The church got together. And the church prayed about it. Church had a big prayer meeting. They got everybody together and they prayed. Now I’m going to tell you, they didn’t pray that God would cause the persecution to stop. They didn’t pray that God would somehow cause the opposition to look favorably upon them. No, they got together and they prayed, and verse 29 says they were saying to the Lord, Now, Lord, look on their threats and grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word.

God, just give us the courage to do what we ought to do. Give us the courage to take the story into the world, into the corners of the street. Let us have the courage to preach your word. Give us courage. And I’m going to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, this is something we need to be emboldened with today. You know, the Apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 6, verses 18 and 19, asked the Ephesians to pray with him that he speak as he ought to speak, that he with all boldness proclaim the God. If Paul needed that, don’t you think you and I need to be infused with a little bit of courage? And I say that because of our culture. Our culture is so geared to not offending anybody that it’s made us a bunch of cowards.

We’re afraid of being accused of being homophobic. We’re afraid of being accused of a hate crime. Or whatever it is. We’re afraid of offending this one or offending that one, so we say nothing. This is this is detrimental to the spread of the gospel. God, give us courage. Give the 21st century church the courage and boldness to proclaim your word in the face of all opposition. Somebody said, I, you know, I can’t talk about that. Because if I if I mentioned to somebody about the church, or I mentioned to somebody about Jesus, you know what? I may be reprimanded at work. I may even be suspended. Or I may not be able to get this promotion. Or I may even be terminated. And so I can’t say anything.

Young people go off to school and they’re intimidated by the teachers and the authorities. They can’t say anything, can’t share their faith with anybody. And we’re afraid, let’s be honest about it. We’re afraid. We’re afraid to speak. Years ago. Years ago, an elder in the church and his wife would travel, take, they were retired, and they often would take trips with a couple who were good friends of theirs. And they would go to various places, take cruises together, and go to various places together, and just really vacation on many instances together. And one time I was talking to the elder about this after he’d come back from a recent trip, and I got to talking about the people that he traveled with, and he shared with me something I didn’t know.

He shared with me the fact that this couple that they traveled with were not Christians.

But they were not Christians. And so I said to the elder, I said, Well, I suppose that enables you to have some very lively conversations on your trip. You know what he told me? He said, No. We never talk about religion. He said, we are too good a friend to break up this friendship by talking about religion. You’ve got to be kidding me. Here’s somebody that I love and I want to travel with and I want to be with, that I know is lost and bound for the fires of torment, and I’m too intimidated and too afraid to talk to him about his soul. This is not indicative of the first century church. This is not what they did. They were not afraid to speak out.

They were not afraid because of the intimidation of the authorities. They had boldness, and when they lacked it, they prayed that God would infuse them with courage. How about us? Where do we stand? You know, sometimes we we we don’t even want to be viewed as being different. You know, you know, we don’t we don’t want people to look at us and think that, you know, this is a peculiar fellow here. I remember upon becoming a Christian and working in secular employment, and very often people would uh that I was working with, they would they would invite me to participate in some of the things that they were going to do after work, and I would decline. And so finally one day a fellow said to me, he said, he said, Bronco, I don’t understand.

He said, you don’t do anything but go home and go to church. And I don’t understand. You don’t smoke and you don’t drink, and you won’t go out to these nightclubs with us, and you certainly don’t run around with women. You you know what? If you don’t change your ways, you’re going to go crazy. That’s the attitude of the world, you know. And I got to think, well, you know, well, maybe I am, but you know what? I want to be like Paul. I just want to be a fool for Christ’s sake. If that’s what it is, that’s okay with me. But we don’t want to be thought of many times as being different. We don’t want our children to be different. We want our children to be able to fit in, dress like the world, participate in things that the world participates in.

Involve themselves or immerse themselves in the activities that the world is involved in because we don’t want them to feel strange. Well, let me tell you something. The Bible teaches us that all who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. No question about that. 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 12. And if we suffer as a Christian, 1 Peter 4 and verse 16, let us glorify God on that behalf. But let’s be courageous. I’m going to tell you something you need to think about. Persecution, as far as sacred history is concerned, persecution never, never stamped out a church. Persecution never thwarted the will of God. Never.

Luke warmness, apathy. These are things that destroy churches. Persecution cannot destroy and hinder the Lord’s cause. I’m going to give you evidence of that. In the 12th chapter of the Gospel of 12th chapter, rather of the book of Luke, we find the chapter beginning this way. Now, about that time. Herod the King stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Then he killed James, the brother of John with the sword. Chances are John’s brother, James, one of the apostles, was beheaded because he was a Christian. He was killed because he was teaching the gospel of Christ. Now, you would think that something like that, something that profound, would cause people to scatter. But you know, you don’t know how the chapter ends. How the 24th verse ends.

3. Make Some Dramatic Changes in Our Lives

It says, But the word of God grew and multiplied. You cannot by persecution stamp out the cause of the Lord. The word of God grew and multiplied. We just need to have the courage, ladies and gentlemen. That’s the first century church had. So if we want to duplicate, let’s trust in the power of God to save. Let’s be infused with courage. And we need to also make some dramatic changes in our lives. What is it Christians are said to be by the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 17? You remember, we are said to be new creations. New creations. And you think about the, and you sort of couple that with what Paul said in Romans chapter 6 and verse 4. We are buried with him through baptism into death.

That, like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also walk in newness of life. We’re raised as new creatures. There’s a change in our lives. We’re not the people that we used to be. We’re not the same. The old man has been put to death.

We’re new creations. We’re raised out of the waters of baptism to be different than we used to be. Remember the passage we looked at on Sunday from the fourth chapter of the book of Ephesians? You put off concerning verse 22 of Ephesians 4, your former conduct, the old man, because he grows corrupt according to the deceitful lessons, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. And that you put on the new man, which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. We began to reflect the holiness and the righteousness of God. You remember what Peter said? Peter said in 1 Peter, he said, we are, and he’s quoting from the Old Testament book of Leviticus, we’re to be holy as he is holy.

I want you to stop and think about something. Peter said, be holy. That’s be.

For he is holy. We are to reflect the image of God. We’re to be conformed to the You don’t speak the way you used to speak. You don’t go to the places you used to go. You don’t treat people the way you used to treat them. You’re a new creation in Christ. Brand new. Not like the old person. I tell you, had an interesting encounter a few years ago. I was in a meeting in East Tennessee, and I met a young man down there, fine guy, I thought. And he was a member of the church down there, and he just wanted to study all week. And we studied our Bibles. And he says to me, he said, J.R., he said, would it be okay if I came up to Indiana and he said, I’ve got some time off and spent a few days with you and we could continue these studies?

I said, man, I love that. Come on. And so he comes up to Indiana where we’re living and we’re studying, and certain issues that he wanted to study. One of the things he wanted to talk about, he was going with a little girl down in Tennessee that was a member of a denomination that that church would use instruments of music in collective worship. And he was wanting me to help him sufficiently to where he could teach her the truth about singing and praises to God without the accompaniment of an instrument. And so we looked at all the normal verses, and I gave him some things to think about, and he was taking notes curiously and writing all of this down. And I was wishing him, you know, good luck in your talking to your little friend.

And then he said something to me. As we continue to talk, and it sort of piqued my interest, and so I began to quiz him about it. And then you know what he confessed? He confessed that they were sleeping together. Yeah. Here’s a fellow, member of the church, his girlfriend, member of some denomination, and he’s trying to teach her about the sinfulness of instrumental music, and they’re committing fornication. I told him, I said, young man, you might as well keep your mouth shut. You might as well not say another word to that young woman about instruments of music. Because my friend, you are living a life of a hypocrite, and you’re never, by living that life, you’re never going to be able to influence her in any way, shape, manner, or form.

And this is what I’m trying to get us to see. If we want to be able to reach people and we want to continue the story, they’ve got to see what the gospel has done in our lives. And how the gospel has changed us. You remember Acts 9 and verse 1 begins with Paul, or Saul, rather, of Tarsus breathing threats and murders against the disciples. And you know later on in that chapter, you know, after after Saul was converted to the Lord, after he made a 180 degree turn. Well, uh, we we find him preaching the very gospel he tried to stamp out in verses 26 through 28. And he converted hundreds, maybe thousands, established several churches. But he couldn’t do that until there was that 180 degree turn.

4. Reaching Out to All the Lost

What did the gospel do in his life? And briefly, let me say that if we want to duplicate the success of the first century church, we’re going to have to be reaching out to all the lost. Regardless.

And you can go on and add something after those dots, if you please. And what I add after those dots is just this. We have got to reach out to all the lost regardless of their skin color. Regardless of their ethnicity, regardless of their country of origin. And, ladies and gentlemen, hear me on this and allow me the liberty to develop it regardless of the sin in which they are involved. Remember what Peter said? In Acts chapter 2 and verse 39, the promise, he said, of salvation is to you, to the Jews, to your children, to your descendants, and to as many as are afar off to all the world, the Gentiles included, as many as the Lord our God will call. Now you look through the book of Acts, and you’re going to see that God is calling a number of people without calling them out because of their skin color, because of their ethnicity, or even because of their sin.

You find out in Acts chapter 8 that the gospel reached the hated Samaritans, the hybrid religion and race of people. And they were saved. You find in Acts chapter 8, it reaches someone from the continent of Africa. An Ethiopian is saved by the gospel of Christ. And we find in Acts chapter 10 that the Gentiles, the dogs, were converted by the gospel of Christ. Oh, I recognize that God had to intervene on some of these occasions, but the gospel is for all. Then you read on later in the book of Acts, and you find that Paul was even preaching to Felix and Drusilla and Agrippa and Bernice, some wicked, immoral, ungodly people. Now don’t misunderstand me. I don’t believe that we can overlook and tolerate sin in any way, shape, manner, or form.

I don’t believe that. But what I do believe is that the gospel is for everybody, and everybody can change. And it’s up to us to make the gospel available. This is what’s important. We’ve got to make the gospel available to all mankind. But you know what we do sometimes? We look at somebody and say, Well, you know what? She’s in an unscriptural marriage. She’s not going to be interested in the gospel, so we turn away. We look at somebody that may be living the life of a homosexual. And we say, you know what? He’s not going to be interested. You know how those people are. They’re just not going to listen. And so we turn away. We call them out, as we would say in the country.

And so you could go down any lit uh any any list of sins and see what it is that people are involved in, and sometimes we just say, Well, you know, they’re not going to be interested. How do we know? How do we know they’re not going to be interested? I’m thankful to God that somebody took an interest in me years ago and didn’t look at me and say, Well, here’s a guy from this part of the neighborhood. He’s not going to be interested. I know how those folks are. Here’s somebody that’s a member of the Nazarene church, and I know how those Nazarenes are, you can’t reach them. I’m glad somebody didn’t do that. And as far as Corinth is concerned, I want you to notice what Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 6.

He said in verse 9, don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But praise God. They changed. Such were some of you, but you were sanctified. You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus. Let’s not. Let’s not decide who is or is not worthy of the gospel of Christ. Let’s reach out to all the lost. All souls are precious to the Lord. There’s no question about that. Jesus died for the homeless as well as the billionaire. Jesus died for the black as well as the white, the red, or the yellow.

Conclusion

And we have a challenge before us to carry the gospel on. That is our challenge. And the road ahead is long. But we’re part of that great commission. And so what we’ve got to do is continue this commission. And what’s going to be read about what was written about how well we’re doing the job. Are we continuing? Are we continuing the story? It’s up to us. This is why this congregation exists. It’s why the congregation at Danville exists, or Fry Road. It’s why each congregation exists to continue the story of salvation. I haven’t talked to you personally tonight about becoming a Christian. Please allow me the liberty to take a moment to do just that. If you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and you’re willing to repent of your sins, turn from Him, confess your faith in Him as the Son of God and be baptized in water for the remission of your sins.

Tonight you can be raised as that new creation. All the things that you’ve ever done have been washed away. All the sins you’ve ever committed have been forgiven. And you now have hope in the Lord. And then, hey, join with us. Join with us in carrying that story of salvation to the lost, to all the lost. If you’re subject to the invitation, why don’t you come right now together? We stand as we sing.