John’s purpose, he has told us in the opening verses of this epistle, is to bring his readers into fellowship with God through the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. He revealed several tests by which you may know that you have fellowship with God. Now in this passage we are looking at today, John shows us what fellowship produces; maturity, or spiritual growth. This is the real objective of our faith; not just salvation, but spiritual maturity, or what we often call the process of sanctification. That is the process of maturing, of becoming conformed into the image of Christ. Just like in the physical realm there is a process of maturation as a baby is born, becomes a young man, and then goes on to become a father, so John is saying that there is a spiritual growth cycle as well, as we are born again, we become overcomers, and then we become reproducers.

Many people in the church have what you might call an arrested development. They have been born again, but there has not been much maturity since their conversion. But the goal of the gospel, John says in verse 4, is that our joy may be made complete. This perfection, or completion of our sanctification is where we really experience the joy of our salvation, the fellowship with God, and the blessings of being one of His children. Our conversion is just the beginning of the new life in Christ. So let’s press on, Hebrews 6:1 tells us, to maturity.

Now John he is writing to little children. He is writing to fathers, and he is writing to young men. And let me just say at the outset that these are not intended to exclude women in any way, but it’s a metaphorical characterization which is intended to denote maturity. So it’s applicable to both sexes. I’m not going to try to be politically correct and make sure I include both sexes in my references. I’m just going to use the characterizations that John did, and leave it up to your selves to adjust accordingly. So what John is doing he is identifying three phases of spiritual growth. Now John has used, and will use the term little children to identify all believers. Little children in that context simply means those born of God. All of the church must be born of God, or they are not His church. But in this context, He uses the phrase to indicate a level of maturity, with young men being the next phase, and fathers after that.

So we’re going to look first at a word for everyone as defined by little children, then a word to the fathers, and finally a word to the young men. Now the word addressed to everyone is found in verse 12 and verse 13, for in the two verses he refers to the little children. In verse 12 we read, “I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake,” and then at the end of verse 13 he says, “I write unto you, little children, because you have known the Father.” So he calls them little children.

In the original Greek, there are two different words that are used for little children, referred to in my text by the same English words. One of them is a word that comes from the Greek verb that
means to begat, or begotten. Basically, it is saying born ones. The other word in vs.13 is a word that suggests moral training, discipline, disciplinary guidance. So John starts by saying he is writing to little children “because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.” That’s the beginning of the Christian life. You must be born again by the Spirit. By faith in what Christ did for us, we have our sins forgiven, and we are born again into the family of God. That’s fundamental. The new birth begins with forgiveness of sins, when we are made righteous by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Notice also the phrase “for HIs name’s sake.” When he says, “for His name’s sake,” he means all that Christ is and all that he has done for us. John is careful to put that in there to indicate that our salvation is not by our works, but by the substitution of Christ’s righteousness for ours. God sees the righteousness of Jesus Christ as applied on our behalf. That is how we are born again, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy.

Now John goes on to say to little children in verse 13, “I am writing to you because you have known the Father.” There is only one way to know the Father; it’s through a relationship with Jesus Christ. And through Him only can we come to the Father. Jesus said in John 14:6 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” That is the progression; we have a relationship with Jesus Christ first as we receive Him and His sacrifice for our sins, and then we are considered righteous and holy so that we might come to the throne of God the Father, with Jesus as our Advocate or Intercessor.

Paul in Galatians chapter 4:6 says God has sent the Spirit of His Son within our hearts, and as a result we are able to say “Abba Father”; Abba is the Aramaic term in the emphatic form for father, “Abba” which he translates in the Greek as patēr or father. And it’s interesting that this is how we are told to address God – as Father. The world has called it’s gods by many names; Allah, Budda, Zeus, the Great Spirit. They have characterized their gods as vengeful, as arbitrary, or as some mystical, unknowable force. But Jesus has taught us to call God Father. A title which is rich with love and graciousness. A good father has good will towards his children. He has kind intentions towards their welfare. I’m not the best father by any stretch of the imagination, but there is not a place in the world my kids could be, where if they needed me, I would not do everything in my power to reach them. If I as a not so great father has such love for my children, we cannot imagine how much the Father loves His little children. There is no greater value then than to know God, and to be known by God as His child.

Jesus told us a parable in Luke 15 which we call the Parable of the Prodigal Son. But I think that Jesus told us this story not just to illustrate the way in which a sinner can come to God, but to show us the nature of the Father. You know the story, how a father had two sons, and one son when he reached a certain age, demanded his inheritance from his father. His father gave it to him, and the young man went off to a far away country and spent his inheritance in wild living. One day the money ran out, and in addition Jesus said a famine came upon that country. And soon the young man found himself working in pig pen feeding the hogs, and he was so hungry that he wanted to eat the pods he fed the pigs.

This young man had reached the bottom. Nothing could be more despicable to a Jew than pigs, and to have to feed them and even eat their feed was as low as you could get. But Jesus said, one day he came to his senses. And he remembered that in his father’s house even the lowest servant had more than enough to eat. So he said, ‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”’ “So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.”

What a picture that is of the love of the Father for His children. Notice the father was in the habit of looking way off down the road, hoping and longing that one day his son would come home. And then one day, after perhaps years of waiting and hoping, the father sees someone walking down the road, and when he was still a long way off, the father said, “I think that’s my son.” And the old man hiked up his long robe, and began running to meet him, his hair streaming out behind him, tears of joy running down his face, and he throws his arms around his son and just starts kissing him repeatedly. That’s a picture of our Heavenly Father. He loves us and welcomes us home, and cleans us up and restores us to our place with Him. And when we come to the place of repentance, and come to receive through faith what Christ has accomplished for us, we can have that kind of reconciliation with our Heavenly Father. There is no greater treasure than to be called a child of God the Father. John says in the next chapter, 1John 3:1, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God.”

Now back in our text, John switches from writing to little children who know the Father, to writing to the fathers. This is intended as an age distinction. But though I say that, it may not necessarily always equate to chronological age, but it relates to spiritual maturity. John is speaking of one who is spiritually mature, as a human father denotes a certain level of maturity. And so we read in verse 13, “I write unto you, fathers, because you have known Him that is from the beginning.” And then again in verse 14, “I have written unto you, fathers, because you have known Him that is from the beginning.” So twice he has said the same thing, “You have known Him that is from the beginning.”

I think that the emphasis of the phrase “from the beginning” is an indication of the maturation process that someone who is mature spiritually has with the Lord. They started out as a new born, being born again, and now they have reached an age where they have walked with God for many years. They have come to know God by experience. They have had their faith tested and proven again and again. And so as they come to the end of their process of sanctification, there is a settled knowledge of God that has been born out of experience. They have come to know the fellowship of walking with God, and to look forward to the future glorification with God. So I think the fact that it is twice repeated, with no difference in the phrases, speaks of a redundancy, a fail safe faith that has been tested and proven time and time again.

But I will add one more possible application to the word to fathers. And that is you cannot be a father simply by being a man. The only way you can be a father is if you reproduce. When you reproduce your faith that is a measure of maturity. It means that you have reached the point in your walk where your relationship with God is not just self centered. There is a time and place for that. Babies are naturally self centered. We expect that. But when a man becomes a father, he takes on responsibility for others. He loves others even more than he loves himself. And that is I believe what John is picturing here for us. A father is one who loves others, who takes on responsibility, and serves the family of God. That’s the level of maturity indicated by fathers, and that should be the goal of our sanctification.

A final word is given to the young men in verses 13 and 14, he says, “I write unto you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one.” And then in verse 14, repeating that and added two other things, he says, “I have written unto you, young men, because you are strong,” (that’s point one,) “and the word of God abides in you,” (point two,) “and you have overcome the wicked one.” So three points characterize being a young man.

The phrase young men, I believe, speaks to those Christians who are young in spiritual years, who are young in spiritual maturity, but who are actively pursuing sanctification, without which, said the Apostle Paul, no one will see the Lord. So they are overcoming trials and temptations and tests as they live out the Christian life. You know, when we are in our youth, critical decisions are being made. It is a critical time, because so many decisions you make in those years you make without experience, oftentimes without godly guidance, and many of them are decisions that have lasting consequences in your life.

For instance, a young man today generally finds himself deciding at a very young age which college to go to, then which career to pursue, then where he is going to live, and whom he is going to live with for the rest of his life in terms of taking a wife. And all those decisions are made when he is relatively young. It is such an important, critical time. But notice the things he says about the young people, he says they are strong. Now what do you suppose John is referring to here? Physical strength? Certainly young men are strong in comparison to children and old men. But I don’t think that is what is being referred to here. I would say that it is a commendation to be strong spiritually.

When we go through trials and tests and temptations, it makes our faith stronger. And so that is what he is talking about. They are strong because they are overcoming tribulations. When wordsmiths in Japan made their famous blades, they were put into the fire dozens and dozens of times, beaten out again and again. Such refinement made the strongest steel, and the finest weapons. So the testing of our faith, James says, produces endurance.

And then they are strong in the Lord John says, because they have the word of God abiding in them. Psalms 119:11 says, “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.” The word abiding in us is the secret to our strength. Samson’s secret to his strength was not his hair, or his muscles, but the Spirit of God who worked within him. So it is with our young people; they are strong because they rely not on their own strength but on the word of the Lord.

Ephesians 6:10 says, “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.” And then it goes on to say put on the armor of God, and take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. That is the source of strength.

So the next thing John says is “I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you.” The word of God abides in you. There is an old adage which says, “This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book.” Your spiritual strength and your spiritual maturity will come not from listening to Christian music, or from supernatural experiences, or from sentimental feelings about God, but it will come from abiding in the word of God. And abiding is more than just reading or hearing. To abide in the word is to keep the word, it is to hide the word of God in our hearts, it’s to memorize scripture so that we have it within our hearts. And very importantly, it is to study the full counsel of the word. Not take a little bit from here and a little bit from there and come up with your own self serving doctrine of self fulfillment. But study the full counsel of God, comparing scripture with scripture, and rightly dividing the word of truth.

When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for forty days, He answered Satan and the tests of life by saying, “It is written, it is written, it is written.” Three times he appealed to the word of God and He defeated temptation. He was strong. The word of God abode in him, and as a result, he overcame the wicked one. Unfortunately, we have raised a generation of young men today that are strong in the weight room, or mighty in the bar room, but are woefully underdeveloped in the word of God.

Finally, John says twice that the young men have overcome the evil one. Now the evil one is obviously a reference to the devil or his demons. But the implication I think goes further than just the person of Satan. I think it includes the world forces, the course of this world that has been engineered by the devil to take young people captive. That’s why in the next section John says “do not love the world, nor the things in the world.” Because the world system is the system of the devil. Ephesians 2:2 says that the course of this world is according to the prince of the power of the air, (that is the devil).” The devil has so orchestrated the world so as to distract and deceive, and destroy those who are seduced into his trap.

So many things of the world seem good, or taste good, but lead to destruction. It’s like the lures that fishermen use to catch a fish. I went fishing once with this guy and he made a shrimp cocktail that had my mouth watering, and then he put it on a hook. It looked good, it tasted good, but when it went down it became a lure that hooked the fish. So it is with the world system. I’m not going to argue with you that a lot of it looks good. Some of it tastes good. But the devil has engineered the world system in such a way as to trap you into a life time of servitude to materialism, a life time of the pursuit of happiness, a life time of seeking for self fulfillment. And the end result is that you never really find it, but by the end of your life you have wasted your opportunity for knowing the source of all joy, which is to know God.

God however promises much to those young men and women who overcome the world and it’s temptations. It may mean you miss out on some of those tasty looking enticements here on earth, but on the other hand you don’t get hooked on the lie of the devil either. But the real rewards He promises us are spiritual, not physical.

There are seven churches in the book of Revelation that Jesus sent a message to. We have just finished studying those messages in our Wednesday evening Bible studies. And again and again Jesus concludes each message to each church with an admonition to be overcomers. And when he does so, He promises a reward to those who overcome. I want to just highlight those promises to the overcomers here in closing.

Jesus said:
*To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’
*He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.’
*To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’
*He who overcomes,  and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS.
*He who overcomes  will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
*He who overcomes,  I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.
*He who overcomes,  I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame  and sat down with My Father on His throne.

This is our goal, ladies and gentlemen. To be overcomers. So that we might have uninterrupted fellowship with God. Whether or not we are still little children, or fathers, or young men, we are all called to be overcomers, even as Christ overcame the world and sat down with His Father on His throne. It starts with new birth, forgiveness of sins, with being born again by the Spirit of Christ, and it continues with fellowship as we walk in obedience and in the light of His word, and then we are strong and we mature as we abide in His word, with the result being we overcome the evil one and the world, and one day we will enter triumphantly into the presence of the Lord to rule and reign with Him forever. I pray you will be an overcomer and persevere until the end. Let us pray.

As I have said before many times, that every miracle in the gospels is presented to teach us a spiritual parable. It is important to understand that. Not every miracle that Jesus did is recorded in scripture. John will say later that if everything that Jesus did while He was on earth was written down, that all the books of the world could not contain them. But John said in chapter 20 verse 31 that the signs that he did record, are written so that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life in HIs name.

So the miracle we are looking at today has spiritual significance and symbolism that goes beyond the mere physical healing of blindness which I would like to examine this morning. Yes, Jesus has compassion on this blind man and 5 other blind men that we know of. But no where in scripture do we see that Jesus healed every person of every disease. Jesus also raised three people from the dead. But never in scripture do we read that Jesus raised every dead person. So while compassion may be one of the lessons we can learn from this text, it is certainly not the primary lesson.

The primary lesson deals with an important theological question regarding the origin of sin and then the response of God to that spiritual condition. It deals with spiritual blindness and all that represents. But to fully comprehend this text though I want to remind you of what has just proceeded it in the previous chapter. Because I think this event is tied to the the teaching that Jesus gave in the last chapter.

You will remember that in the running dialogue that Jesus had with the Pharisees during the Feast of Tabernacles, there were some claims made by the Pharisees concerning their father, who they said was Abraham, and an insinuation that Jesus had been born of fornication, and as such was similar to the Samaritans, who were Jews that had intermarried with pagans and produced offspring who were outcasts from Israel.

So on the one hand, the Pharisees were holding onto their pedigree as sons of Abraham, and thus they considered themselves righteous in the sight of God. But Jesus repeatedly said you don’t act like sons of Abraham. He said you don’t do the deeds of Abraham. You don’t have spiritual discernment like Abraham. And in fact, you do the deeds of your father the devil. That didn’t go over too well with those guys. So they got angry. And they picked up stones to kill Him. But Jesus disappeared into the crowd and slipped away.

Now this chapter opens with Jesus and His disciples as they were leaving the temple, and they pass by a blind beggar sitting by the gate of the temple. That was a popular spot for beggars. They knew people were coming into the temple to offer alms to God, and one of the ways that they were taught you could remove sin from your life was by giving alms to the poor. So the poor, the infirm, the blind, paralyzed and sick people who had no other recourse but to beg for their income found the temple gates a lucrative spot.

John writes that this man was blind from birth. And that phrase has given commentators fits. They go to get extremes to explain how that should be interpreted. Many of them say that meant that some Jews believed in reincarnation and so the disciples thought that this man perhaps had sinned in a past life and consequently was blind from birth. But I think that misses the obvious interpretation, which is that John is writing this almost 60 years afterwards. And from his historical viewpoint he is able to say, this man was blind from birth. The disciples did not necessarily know that. They assumed that he became blind at some point in his life due to committing some grievous sin, or that if he had been born blind, that his parents must have committed some terrible sin. But I believe that it is simply that John is writing long after this event, and he is letting us know at the outset that this man had been born blind. That indicates the totality of this man’s condition, the hopelessness of this man’s condition.

So I believe that based on the dialogue found in the last chapter regarding the nature of the father exhibited in the sons, Jesus’ disciples seeing this blind man by the gate, ask this question; ““Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” That’s kind of the logical assumption, isn’t it? When we see someone suffering, someone having physical problems, it’s tempting to think that somehow they brought it on themselves.

Job had that happen to him. His friends came and ended up accusing him of some hidden sin because all this tragedy had happened in his life. They argued that God blessed those that were good people and cursed those that were bad people. And I think that kind of thinking exists today, even within the church. The prosperity doctrine preachers teach that God just wants to bless you and give you all kinds of things to prosper you and make your life fulfilling and enriched. That is the promise of the prosperity gospel. That if you belong to God, He will bless you and won’t hold any good thing from you. And so we believe that a new car is a good thing. A new house is a good thing. A great job is a good thing. So we equate physical success with spiritual blessing.

And the opposite also is often true. We see someone who is addicted to drugs, and they are looked upon someone who brought the ravages of that kind of life upon themselves. We see someone poor and destitute, and we think that it’s probably because they aren’t good workers, they must have brought their poverty upon themselves.

But I think that is far too general a categorization. The fact is that there are plenty of healthy sinners and a lot of sick saints which contradict that view. However, the Bible does teach that sickness and death are the result of living in a fallen world. Romans 5:12 says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” So original sin is the origin of death. But there are multiple examples of suffering in the Bible that show that not all suffering is a direct result of sin. Again, Job is the foremost example of a man that God declared was righteous. God pointed Job out to Satan as someone who lived an exemplary life. And yet Job suffered more than most of us could ever imagine. Joseph was another man who suffered for years and yet was innocent. Paul was yet another who suffered imprisonment and beatings, as well as the other apostles. There are many examples of saints who suffered without cause.

So Jesus answers His disciples’ question by saying, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” So what Jesus is affirming is that this man’s blindness was not a direct result of either his sin or his parents. Notice that Jesus doesn’t say that sickness is not the result of original sin. Sin caused all life which was perfect when God created it, to become corrupted. And that corruption has permeated every fiber of creation.

I believe that is what Romans 8:22 is talking about which says, “For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.” Paul said that the creation was subject to slavery from that corruption, and was anxiously awaiting the day when God would bring freedom from that corruption of sin that is in the world. In fact, I think the argument could be made that the further we get from the initial perfection of creation, the more subject to corruption not only creation becomes, but also our bodies. Our cells are more susceptible to cancer and other illnesses because we are further removed from the original creation. Now I cannot be dogmatic about such things because I am not a scientist. But there are some that do suggest this to be the case; that contrary to the theory of evolution, all biological life is breaking down, not getting better.

But back to our main point, Jesus dismissed the idea that this man’s blindness was a direct result of individual sin. Instead, He asserts that this particular man was born blind so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

The theologian Ellicott said, “There is a chain connecting the sin of humanity and its woe, but the links are not traceable by the human eye. In the Providence of God vicarious suffering is often the noble lot of the noblest members of our race. No burden of human sorrow was ever so great as that borne by Him who knew no human sin.” He is saying that Jesus Himself through His sinless life disproves the principle that sin equals suffering. And that it is not in our purview to determine the cause of human suffering.

In fact, the Bible indicates that more often than not, the opposite is true. It is not the judgment of God that brings people to repentance, but according to Romans 2:4, it says the kindness and tolerance of God is intended to lead people to repentance. Over and over again the scriptures declare that “the Lord is slow to anger, compassionate and gracious.” He will one day judge every man according to his works, but for the most part, that judgment is postponed until the day of judgment and for now God is patient, not willing that any should perish without salvation. In an agrarian age when rain was considered to be a blessing from God, Jesus said in Matthew 5:45, “for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” God is merciful, and patient, and long suffering, and does not reward us according to what we deserve, but is merciful, that perhaps we might turn to Him and be saved.

So Jesus said, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” Now what are the works of God that would be displayed in this blind man? Notice that works is plural. It is not a singular work of God. It is not therefore, simply that God would heal him from blindness. It is much more multifaceted than that. But as we look at the complete chapter, what began with the compassion of Christ for physical healing, results in seeing eyes, which produces faith and obedience and culminates later that day with spiritual healing. The work of God is salvation. This is the real goal of Christ’s work. It is not God’s will that all men would be healed of every sickness, but it is true according to 2Peter 3:9, that “the Lord is… not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” This is the primary work of God through Christ. Christ came to reconcile men to God through His substitionary death on the cross.

So then to some extent, evil actually furthers the work of God in the world. It is in conquering and abolishing evil that God’s great attributes are manifested. The question for us then is not where suffering has come from, but what we are to do with it.

And the Lord answers that concern as well in vs.4, “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.” Note first of all, that we are included in Christ’s work. The KJV had interpreted that as “I must work the works,” but most translators later determined that the best manuscripts indicate “we”, and not “I.” And that is an important principle that we need to emphasize. We are saved to do the works of God. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” So we are co workers with Christ. He is the head, and we are the body. We are supposed to be His hands and His feet, doing the works of God, even as He did the works of God on the earth.

This is our purpose now that we are saved. What a contrast that is to most modern conceptions of Christianity. We have this idea that God just wants to help us achieve our goals, and wants to help us enjoy this life, to be happy here on earth. That may or may not be a side effect of doing God’s work, but it isn’t the goal. The goal is to do the works of God.

This phrase, “while it is day, and the night comes” what does it mean? Well, He’s talking about our lives. The day symbolizes our life, and the night symbolizes death. It is very likely that it was Saturday afternoon at that time, the Sabbath evening. And the sun soon setting was the illustration for the analogy that our lives are short, and so we must make full use of the time we have left. Let me emphasize that this morning. Life is short. I had someone tell me that this week. Unfortunately, they made the wrong determination based on that. They determined that since life was short they had better live for today. That is the world’s view. The Grass Roots in 1967 sang “Sha la la la la la live for today!” That was the theme song of my generation. And that’s still the mantra of the world, to live for today. Life is short, live it up.

But that cannot be the theme of a true disciple. Because we don’t live for today, we live for eternity. We live for the day our Savior will return and take us to be with Him. That’s when we will get our reward for the work that we have done here on earth. But this person that said to me that life is short is afraid to live for tomorrow. They are afraid because this life is all they can see, all that they feel they can be sure of. In regards to eternity they are blind. And so they cannot let go of today, they can’t let go of the world, they can’t let go of what they think can give them happiness. And as such, they stand to gain the whole world and lose their own soul.

Disciples must work, Jesus said, they must work the works of God. The day is fleeting, and the night is coming when no man can work. And when that night comes, we shall then find ourselves standing at the throne of God, awaiting our reward, awaiting our judgement for what we have done with this life that God has so graciously given us. I saw a video the other day of Francis Chan, and he was illustrating the position of so many Christians who were afraid to step out and work for God, by balancing on a balance beam that he had set up in his church. And as he illustrated the fear of following Christ he crouched down on all fours on the balance beam as one might do who is afraid of falling off. As he illustrated the life of this Christian, he ended up laying down on the beam, holding onto it with both arms and wrapping his legs around the beam. And then he showed the end of the life of this person, as they jumped off the balance beam and lifted both arms in the air like a gymnast might do at the end of their repertoire, and taking a little bow. And Francis then describes God’s reaction to this life, this Christian performance as one of surprise and incredulity, like He doesn’t know how you expect Him to judge such a performance. You didn’t do anything. You just held on to the balance beam. You held onto the world, and failed to do anything for eternity.

Well, what exactly is the work that we are to do? It is to do as Jesus did. Jesus said in the next verse, that as long as He was in the world, He was the light of the world. He came to shine the light of God, the light of God’s truth to a world that was in darkness. Darkness and blindness in this case being synonymous. That was His purpose. Isaiah 60:1-3 speaks of the day of the Messiah coming to Israel, saying “Arise, shine; for your light has come,And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earthAnd deep darkness the peoples;But the LORD will rise upon youAnd His glory will appear upon you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”

Notice in that Old Testament prophecy that it says their light has come, that is the Messiah. But there is also the instruction for the church to arise and shine in response to that light. We are to shine the light of the Son even as the moon reflects the light of the sun. That is our purpose. Jesus said in Matthew 5:16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

How do we do we reflect then the light of Christ? Well, I believe that is illustrated in the spiritual healing that Jesus does with the blind man. This man who had been in darkness since birth. That is the situation the whole world is in. Ephesians 2:1 says we are born already dead in our trespasses and sins. Since birth we have been blind. And if not for the love and compassion of God we would die in our sins.

Ephesians 2 continues, saying “you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

So first of all we see illustrated here the grace of God. John 9:6-7 “When He had said this, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes, and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing.” Notice that Jesus initiates this divine act of grace. God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son. The world was hopeless, in darkness, lost, trapped in their sin. But God. But God so loved the world, that He sent Jesus to be our Savior. So the first part of our work is to share the grace of God with a world in which is in darkness.

This process that Jesus uses to heal this man is interesting. There is much that could be said about the process of how He healed him. But I would point out that out of six recorded times when Jesus healed the blind, this is the only time He spat on the ground and made clay. So there is no formula here that we might use to heal people. There is no supernatural essence in spittle. So I wouldn’t advise spitting on sick people. You might end up really suffering for Christ.

However, I think that we can learn some things from Jesus’ method. First of all, as I already mentioned, we see the sovereign grace of God. The Lord chose to heal this man, and not visa versa. We are told to believe, we are told to receive, but at the same time, it is necessary for God to take the initiative if the blind are to see. Secondly, we see a correlation between the first act of the creation of man, and this act of recreation. Salvation is a new creation. Not a reformation, but a creation. We are new creatures. 2 Cor. 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is]a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

In the first creation, God made man from the dust of the ground. In this new creation, taking dead eyes and making them new, the Lord again uses the dust of the ground. I don’t know for sure why God chose to make man from dust. All the other creatures that God made He simply spoke them into being. Even the sun and stars were spoken into existence. But for man, we see God take clay into HIs hands, and mold it, and make it in His image. To me, that indicates that the creation of man was an act of love. It reminds me of an artist, a sculptor, a potter, who shapes an inanimate object with his hands and in so doing instills in it the love of the artist. It bears the image of the one who shaped it. And so we see in the touch of Jesus, the love of God. He could have healed with just a word. But He chose to use His hands, to touch, and shape as an illustration of His love.

I also see in that mixture of spittle and dust, a symbolism of the need for God in man. Christ was fully God and fully man and thus was uniquely able to be our Savior. And so the divinity of Christ is symbolized by His saliva, the water, the living water that He said in the previous chapter would flow from your innermost being, this He mixed with common dirt, symbolizing man. And that perfect mixture, the God-man, was the formula God used to save the world from darkness.

Jesus then after rubbing this mixture in his eyes, tells him to go to the pool of Siloam and wash. Now first in that command we see the need for obedience and faith, and the fact that they are indivisible. Faith and obedience cannot be separated. Far too many people today think that faith is an emotion, or that faith is an intellectual assent. But faith is trust. And to trust requires obedience. You cannot say that one is saved by faith, but that is only an emotional response to an altar call. Or that you are saved by faith, but that is only believing that God exists. That is not saving faith. Saving faith is exemplified in the life of Abraham, as Hebrews 11:8 states, “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.” Abraham, obeyed. That was the action of his faith. So this blind man acts in faith. He obeys and goes where Jesus said to go. Some of you today think you are saved because of an emotional response you had during a church service. Some of you think you are saved because you believe in the existence of God. But I suggest that you can know you are saved because you do the works of God. Because you obey the word of God. That is how Jesus said you can tell that God is your Father.

Also, note that the pool of Siloam is the same pool that the priests went to draw water from during the Feast of the Tabernacles. And as they poured the water into the funnels and it gushed down upon the altar, Jesus stood up and cried out in the midst of the temple ceremony, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” So Jesus is reaffirming in His directive what He declared in the temple. That by believing in Him, you might receive the living water which will spring up in your soul, resulting in eternal life. This is the significance of the pool of Siloam.

And then Jesus tells him to wash. And he did so, and was able to see. John records it simply. But we can only imagine the joy that this man experienced. Imagine never having seen colors, or the sun, or light reflecting on water, or the blue of the sky. And suddenly having sight. I read on the news a story yesterday of two brothers who were able to see colors for the first time. And the story said that they cried. I can’t imagine the wonder that this man felt.

Baptism is the symbolic act of washing. But it is a symbol of not the removal of dirt from the body Peter said. But the act of God in providing a clean conscience. 1 Peter 3:21 says “Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you–not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience–through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” How do we get a clean conscience? By the removal of our guilt, the forgiveness of our sins. That is the significance of washing.

Listen, that is why repentance is the twin sister of faith. You are saved not only by faith, but faith and repentance. One cannot be saved without repentance. We must be made clean to be holy, and we must be holy to be accepted by God. Paul said in 1Cor. 6:9-11 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” To be washed indicates to receive forgiveness for your sins, to be sanctified is to be holy, that is separated from your sins, and to be justified is to be declared not guilty, freed from the penalty of your sin. That is the whole of salvation. And that happens through faith and repentance. To be washed is necessary. If you continue in your sins, then regardless of what you say you believe, you are still in your sins. To be a true disciple, Jesus said in chapter 8, you are to continue in God’s word. That is the distinction between those who claim to be Christians and those who show themselves to be disciples. One continues in their sin, and one continues in God’ word through obedience.

Well, this man came back seeing. He had been walking in the dark, now he was walking in the light. He came back different than when he left. And as we will see next week, he immediately was kicked out of the temple, he immediately suffered persecution for his faith. Once again showing that suffering is a part of the life of faith, and not as many would teach, that faith exempts us from suffering. God does allow suffering, but so that we might show forth the glory of God through it. Perhaps you are afraid that if you choose to obey Christ you will suffer for your faith. That is entirely possible. God may want to rub some dirt in your eyes so that you might show forth the glory of God. And that might be uncomfortable, even painful. The work of God is sometimes offensive. People tend to get mad when you tell them that all men are sinners, and therefore they are a sinner. The Jews tried to kill Jesus for that, and eventually they succeeded. But even then, God used their evil for good. God brought about salvation for the world through the suffering of our Savior.

But I hope that today’s message has illustrated for you that Jesus suffered so that we might have life, and have it more abundantly. That we might turn from darkness and walk in the light. And then that our life should reflect the light of Christ to a dark and dying world. This is the work we have been called to do. I pray that you are going to be about the business of the kingdom of God this week. The day is coming when no man can work. This dark world seems to get darker by the hour. Let us work while it is still day to bring glory to God through our lives.

Perhaps you are here today and you recognize that you are missing something. You have an intellectual basis or emotional basis for your faith, but you realize that you are still very much attached to this world, and have never let go of the things of this world, I would encourage you today to simply call out to the Lord in faith and repentance, and ask Him to wash you and make you a new creation. Jesus said that he who comes to Me I will in no way cast out. Today while it is still day, come to Jesus, call upon Him to save you, and He will anoint the eyes of your heart, that you might see and that you might walk in the light, even as He is in the light.

Last week as we looked at the previous chapter, we talked about the miraculous power of the gospel to save. Romans 1:16 says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to every one that believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

And the way I illustrated that power of God, if you will remember, was to say that God’s power is so great it is incomprehensible. God not only made the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but He also by His invisible power suspends in space the earth which weighs trillions and trillions of tons. And by His power he then spins the earth on it’s axis at 1000mph, and by His power He shoots it into orbit around the sun at just the right distance to keep life from either freezing or burning up, at a speed of 67000 mph. That is just a taste of the tremendous power of God.

Yet here is the amazing thing. Though we are spinning at 1000 mph and orbiting the sun at 67000mph, yet we sit here right now without being aware of it at all. Our hair is not even being blown by the force of that power. If you were to try to tell that to a person 100 years ago, they would tell you that you were crazy. There is no way the earth is moving that fast and we cannot feel it. But science has since proven that it is so.

Yet here is the ironic thing. If we tell people today that God’s power is working in the world, they will say you are crazy. They will say that there is absolutely no evidence of God. But on the other hand they accept science which tells them things for which we experience no evidence. I would suggest that the power of God is an invisible power, but that it has tangible results. And I would rather trust in God than in my experience.

Now that trust in God’s power is what is called in the Bible faith. Believing that God is who He says He is and that He is able to save those that come to Him. That is faith. I said last week that faith and repentance are the twin pillars of the gospel. They are the means by which the truth of God, the power of God is made efficacious for us. But faith and repentance are not works that we do to earn our salvation. In fact, repentance is recognizing that you are spiritually bankrupt, without merit, without a leg to stand on before a just and Almighty God. And faith is believing that God can and will save you, based on His power and His character and His promises. So there is nothing there for you to brag about. Your faith is not a means of earning salvation, but a means of receiving salvation.

But there is a third element to our salvation as well. Repentance and faith are the visible pillars so to speak of the gospel for they come out of us, but there is a third element which is invisible, without which not even faith and repentance could stand. And that is grace. Grace is the gift of God. Grace is the power of God towards us. Faith and repentance are our response towards God.

So the transaction of salvation is initiated by God as a result of grace. Grace is simply stated the gift of God, all the gifts of God. It is the gift of salvation which was purchased for us by Christ. It is the inheritance of heaven, the gift of eternal life. Whatever goodness or righteousness or works that we might try to do, could never come close to paying for forgiveness of sins, eternal salvation, and being made an heir of God and a co heir of Christ. So God has ordained that what is impossible for men would be achieved by Christ, so it is by grace and not dependent upon our works.

Now the lame man we looked at last week who was healed illustrates beautifully, not only the power of God, but the grace of God. Remember what the author Luke said about the lame man? He said he had no strength in his feet, he was lame from his mother’s womb, and he had never walked. You can’t get more lame than that. Three different ways Luke describes his lameness in order to conclusively show that the man was powerless, helpless, and hopeless. He is a picture of mankind before salvation. Not having the strength to be righteous. Being born unrighteous. Never having been unrighteous. We were helplessly, hopelessly lost.

But in the example of the lame man the grace of God supplied what was impossible for him to achieve, the power of God for healing. Paul seeing the man’s faith to be saved, said, “Stand upright on your feet!” And immediately the man leaped up and began to walk. Now that demonstrates not only the miraculous power of the gospel, but it illustrates the grace of God. The lame man was unable to walk, to even move his legs, had no strength in his legs, but God was able to give him instant strength, even to the ability to leap and walk. It was a gift from God.

So we learn from that example that the power of salvation is able to save, to save from the penalty of sin and the power of sin, but we also learn as it says in Ephesians 2:8 that salvation is by grace through faith, and not of ourselves, it is the gift of God.

Now remember Romans 1:16 which we looked at in the beginning? At first glance there would seem to be no mention of grace in that verse; “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation, to the Jews first and also to the Greek.” But I would suggest that the last section, to the Jews first and also to the Greek teaches the grace of God as we shall see in the passage we are looking at today.

Our text addresses the issue of whether or not salvation is given only to Jews or also to the Gentiles or Greeks or Romans or Americans for that matter. Is it necessary to become a Jew in order to receive salvation? That is a question that was extremely relevant in Paul’s day, and it is still important for us to consider today.

And as we begin this chapter we see that very principle being debated in the early church which had started in Antioch. At this very beginning of the Gentile church, there is an insidious attack on the church, and it comes from within it’s own ranks. Notice it says that certain men from Judea came down and started teaching the new Christians at Antioch that they needed to be circumcised in order to be saved. We saw the same tactic used in Jerusalem when that church was first established. There were attacks from without, which were to be expected. But then came the attacks from within which were more difficult to discern. But attacks of Satan nonetheless which were designed to undermine the doctrine of salvation and thus dilute and ultimately destroy the power of the gospel.

Don’t be surprised that Satan’s most effective strategies often come from within the church, oftentimes from the very leaders themselves who purport to be teaching the gospel. Paul would say later in 2Cor. 11:14 that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

And furthermore, be aware that Satan is a much better theologian than you. He is the doctor of all doctors of theology. He studied under the feet of God Himself. He has seen and heard the Word of God made manifest and he knows every law, every ordinance completely. So if there is an area in the law of God which is obscure or difficult to understand, then we can be sure that Satan will attack in that area, where the church is weakest. And since God is invisible, requiring faith to know Him, count on Satan to attack at this principle point; faith. Because he knows that faith is the fundamental principle of our salvation, and so he will attempt to add to it, or detract from it, in order to steer us away from the true faith which was handed down by the apostles from the mouth of Christ.

Now notice that just as God uses common men such as the apostles to proclaim His gospel, so also Satan uses his messengers to spread deceit and fraud. And such come through the church no less. These men from the church in Judea, are identified in vs. 5 as Pharisees from Jerusalem who came down to Antioch and started teaching the Gentile believers there that they could not be saved unless they observed the customs of the Jews taught by Moses, particularly the rite of circumcision.

Now that these Gentiles had already been saved was testified by the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the household of Cornelius when Peter preached the gospel to them. And from that first attestation by the Spirit confirming Gentile salvation had emerged Greek speaking Christians who fled the persecution and had come to the region of Galatia, and to the town of Antioch preaching the gospel of Christ. And the people of Antioch had accepted the gospel happily and many were saved, and a thriving church sprung up there from which was sent missionaries such as Paul and Barnabas to go to even further regions. So that now the Gentiles everywhere were coming to Christ with even greater eagerness than the Jews.

So we can infer that when some Jews from Judea heard of this great revival happening in the lands of the Gentiles, that jealousy arose in their hearts, so that they tried to tone down the revival so to speak, by saying that while it was good that the Gentiles were desiring to turn to God, yet it was necessary that they become like the Jews, and accept and follow all the ceremonial prescriptions that had been given to the Jews through Moses in order to be saved. Notice in vs. 1 they are not adding circumcision to salvation, but they say you cannot be saved without it.

Now circumcision was the primary means that the Jews were distinguished from the rest of the world. One could not worship in the temple without being circumcised. One could not participate in the blessings of the Jews without being circumcised. In fact, the Jews would go so far as to say that one could not know or be accepted by God without being circumcised. Their rabbis in Judaism even taught that Abraham was stationed by the gate of hell to make sure that no one that was circumcised would enter into hell. So without question, their belief was that circumcision was the rite of the flesh which placed you into the family of the Jews, which they believed was God’s chosen people. In effect, they were teaching that one had to become a Jew in all manners and customs if they were to be saved.

So the question of whether or not believers had to be circumcised like a Jew and observe the rituals of the Mosaic law like the Jews was a question that caused a great dissension in the church in Antioch. And it got to such a heated discussion between Paul and Barnabas and the Judaisers, that the church decided that they should go to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles and elders of the church there in order to work it out.

When they arrive in Jerusalem, they are received by the church and the apostles and elders and Paul and Barnabas related all that God had been doing among the Gentiles through them. But then the Judaisers from the sect of the Pharisees who had now believed and were part of the church rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.” So that was the formal charge brought before the church. That Gentiles must be circumcised and observe the laws of Moses. And what they are talking about specifically is the ceremonial laws of Moses. There is no doubt on the part of Paul and Barnabas or anyone for that matter that they should obey the moral law of God. But specifically the ceremonial laws which distinguished the Jews from the rest of the world, notably circumcision, but it would also include dietary laws.

So when the apostles and elders gathered together to discuss this, there were three arguments presented to defend the doctrine of grace. And the first one to speak was Peter. Peter basically reiterates what he had already presented to them earlier, that is the vision that he had from God who directed him to go to the house of a Gentile centurion named Cornelius. And the Spirit of God directed him to preach the gospel to them without reservation. When Peter preached, they believed in Christ by faith and they were saved. And the Holy Spirit fell upon them that believed just as he had upon the disciples at Pentecost which testified that God had accepted them in salvation, without having to become Jews, but while they were still Gentiles. And Peter wraps up his presentation saying, “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.” And what is interesting in what he says is that he turns the proof of salvation around. Rather than saying, they are saved the same way we are saved, he says, we are saved the same way they are. So he is saying not only are they saved without having to become Jews, but we are saved in spite of our Jewishness, in the same manner as they were saved, by grace through faith. So there is not a Jewish salvation and a Gentile salvation, but as Paul would say later, “one God, one faith, one baptism.”

Then the second argument is presented by Paul and Barnabas. They tell the church the miraculous signs and wonders that came through them as they ministered to the Gentiles. Just as Peter appealed to the testimony of the Holy Spirit coming upon the household of Cornelius, Paul appeals to the testimony of the Holy Spirit by signs and wonders such as the healing of the lame man. The testimony of the Holy Spirit confirming the salvation of the Gentiles.

And then the final argument is presented by James. This is James the Just, sometimes called Camel Knees in tradition, which indicated that he spent so many hours on his knees in prayer that he wore out his robe. That reminds me of how surfers used to have this badge of honor back in the sixties because they paddled their surfboards on their knees rather than prone like we do today. The result of all that time on their knees produced these big ugly bumps on their knees and sometimes on their feet. They were called “surfer knots”. During the Vietnam War some surfers were able to be disqualified from the draft because of them.  I wonder if any Christians have any “prayer knots” on their knees? I wish that would be a badge of honor for Christians today. I believe the church would be a different place if we spent time on our knees before God in prayer.

So anyhow, James presents his argument. By the way, this in not James the brother of John who was one of the original apostles. He was martyred by Herod. But this James was the half brother of Jesus, who had not believed He was the Christ originally, but after the resurrection believed and became a leader of the church in Jerusalem. Tradition says he would later be martyred as well by being thrown from the temple wall and then clubbed to death.

James starts his argument by agreeing with Simon Peter who had said that God had taken from among the Gentiles a people for His name and offering a scripture from Amos 9:11-12 to back it up. And this principle is so important, ladies and gentlemen. Our doctrine must not be based merely on experience, but it must be in accordance with the word of God. James places his authority on the word of God, which in the passage in Amos God says He has taken Gentiles who are called by His name. He did not say He called Gentiles to become Jews, but Gentiles who are called by my name. Remember, these Gentiles in Antioch were the first to be called Christians. So James relies upon the authority of scripture.

So there is a three fold argument, the argument of history, as given by Peter, the argument of experience given by Paul and Barnabas, and the argument of scripture as given by James. And in all three there is agreement, that the Gentiles are saved while still being Gentiles, without conforming to the ordinances of Judaism.

Therefore, James says, it is my judgment, or I resolve, indicating that James, not Peter had the deciding position in the church at Jerusalem. That is important to note. We won’t take the time to go into it here, but there is ample evidence in Galatians that this was the incident by which Paul had rebuked Peter for not eating with the Gentiles when the Judaisers came to visit from Jerusalem. So there is not much evidence to support the idea that Peter is the first Pope. Peter is an apostle, and a key apostle and a missionary, but so is Paul and God used elders such as James to lead the church at Jerusalem.

So then in closing, let’s consider the judgment that James gives. It seems at first glance a rather odd assortment of injunctions that are written down to be given to the Gentiles who have been saved. On the one hand, they have just determined and declared that Gentiles are saved by grace through faith, and now they seem to be adding a few ordinances and commandments as instructions to the Gentile church.

So it is important that we clear up any misconceptions as to this statement. First of all, James says that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God. James essentially says, “Let them alone. They are turning to God, and we should not add unnecessary burdens on them.” But then he adds four injunctions which are; “But that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood.” Now we might think we understand the first couple of injunctions, but what do we make of the last two, things strangled, and from blood?

Well first of all I suggest to you that these are not the only commandments that we are obliged to keep in the new covenant. That is not what James is referring to at all. Some commentators have tried to say that this is a short list of the most vile sins, ie, idolatry, adultery, and murder. But I would say that is not the case. If you want a list of vile sins, the New Testament in Galatians 5, or 1 Timothy 1, or 1 Cor. 6 gives many such lists of sins that are not to be named among Christians.

But rather I would suggest that the principle thing that James was concerned about was restoring the fellowship of the church in Antioch from this dissension. The church at Antioch, as in most Gentile cites, was made up of a mixed congregation, both Jews and Gentiles who had been saved by grace. And that salvation is by grace alone has just been established by three testimonies of the apostles and elders. Salvation by grace is not what he is addressing now. What he is addressing is the need to come together in fellowship, that there would be no more dissension, but rather unity in the church.

That is what Paul addresses also in Ephesians 2. We all are familiar with Eph.2:8 which says “For by grace are you saved by faith, and that not of yourselves it is a gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.” That is the famous proof text of grace. But less attention is usually given to the rest of the passage. It continues in the next verse; “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” So the point being is there is a place for works in the life of a believer. We were created FOR good works. We were given grace and power so that we might walk in good works. Grace is never given as a license to sin, that grace might abound. God forbid!

But then read on in Ephesians 2: 11, “Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands– remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.”

See, what Paul is teaching is that the wall of separation between the Jews and Gentiles has been broken down at the cross. Christ fulfilled all the law, and His death reconciled the two groups into one body, which is the church. Christ has made peace between Jew and Gentile. That we might become one. That we who were far away from the promises to the Israelites might be drawn near, and that the Jews who were under the yoke of the laws of Moses might be made free from that burden which Peter said they could not bear. That both entities being made one body, might have fellowship with one another in Christ.

So that is the basis for the injunctions that James instructs to be written to the church. Because in order for there to be fellowship in the church, the members of the body need to be mindful of the needs of each other more than their own freedoms. So James list four things which he wants the Gentiles to be mindful of lest they cause a stumbling block to the Jews who are fellowshipping with them in the church. And all of these really have to do with the Gentile temples of false gods or idols.

In the Gentile society, the temple was not just a place of occasional worship, but it was a primary part of their culture and it affected much of daily life. Weddings, birthdays and all sorts of celebrations were commonly observed in the pagan temple. And many pagan temples practiced prostitution as a means of offering worship. There were temple prostitutes that were part of the fabric of the community and it was considered normal to have those kinds of sexual encounters as part of their religious practice. And so what James is warning against is that Jews would find any association with those pagan practices offensive.

So the first thing James tells the Gentiles is to abstain from things contaminated by idols. He is not saying don’t worship idols. Of course they knew that they must turn away from idol worship. Paul preached that very thing in the last chapter. The Gentile Christians understood that. What James means is to avoid anything contaminated by idol worship. Particularly I think he is saying avoid food that was offered to idols. There were markets in these Gentile cities that offered meat at wholesale prices which had been offered to idols in sacrifice. There was nothing wrong with the meat, it was cheap and fresh. And many people would have been used to buying their meat from those markets. But this would have been a great hindrance to fellowship when you invite a Jewish believer to your house for Sunday dinner.

And the second is associated with idolatry as well. The word used there for immorality is porneia. That is the root word from which we get pornography. Now it includes all sorts of immoral behavior, but I think James is specifically referring to objects associated with immorality which they could see. Objects like art, jewelry.   For instance it was customary to wear in these Gentile countries jewelry depicting certain immoral goddesses or things associated with immorality. So James is saying, get rid of those things on your person or in your home which are associated with immorality. They are offensive, and will cause others to stumble.

And the third and fourth are speaking of virtually the same thing. The Jews found it offensive to eat anything with blood or in it’s blood. There were several injunctions in the OT concerning avoiding the contamination of blood. And so James is saying, avoid blood, for the sake of causing your Jewish brother to stumble. I think science today has shown the wisdom of scripture in avoiding blood. Most restaurants are required to put on their menus that it is dangerous to eat meat that is raw. But while no longer under the Mosaic law to not eat raw meat, it would have been offensive to a Jew to be served that if he were a guest in your house, or you had a fellowship meal in the church. So for the sake of fellowship, avoid those things which can cause offense to others, especially your Jewish brothers.

So that is the extent of James decision. Not to put a burden on the Gentiles who were coming to God, but that they would be mindful of their brethren from the Jews who were coming out of Judaism. And Paul would later make a similar argument in 1Cor.8, speaking about meat offered to idols, “Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.” He is talking about meat offered to idols that would offend other Christians.

So then in conclusion, there is two lessons here that is made. One is that we are saved by grace through faith. We don’t have to add any ritual or ceremony as a basis for our salvation. It is a gift of God. He does for us what we cannot do for ourselves, namely; purchase our salvation by His sacrifice, bestowing it upon those who repent of their sins and believe in Him, and then giving them an inheritance in heaven that will never fade away, eternal life with Christ. Such an extravagant gift to us who did nothing to deserve it. But then the other lesson is the though the grace of God gives us freedom in Christ, yet we dare not use it for selfish gain, but rather instead be mindful of one another, putting their needs above our own, even if we have to restrain our freedom for the sake of a brother. As we have received grace, let us be gracious to others, treating them as we would like to be treated. Giving preference to one another in love that the body of Christ may be united.

Vs. 32 concludes by saying that after presenting this decision from Jerusalem to the church, Silas and Judas encouraged and strengthened the church with a lengthy message. I have tried to do the same. I hope that you are encouraged and strengthened as you respond in repentance and faith to the grace of our God, and His power towards us in salvation. Let us pray.

In surfing there used to be a popular slang word which surfers would use to label someone who wasn’t a real surfer, but perhaps a poser. They would call such a person a hodad. If you ever are called a hodad, it’s not a compliment. It’s actually a derogatory word that was coined when surfing became really popular in the Sixties due to the Gidget movies and the music of the Beach Boys. It was used to label guys who copied the clothes and the talk and the mannerisms of surfers, but they weren’t really true surfers.

I thought of that word as I was preparing for this message due to the similarity of the word hodad to a Greek word in our text which is hodos. But the meaning is nothing similar, of course. However, in a sense hodos can be looked at as an antonym for popular Christianity. Hodas is translated as The Way in our text in vs. 2. And I would suggest that in considering how the word Christian has been co-opted today in popular religious culture to bear little resemblance to the apostle’s doctrine, that we might be better off referring to our faith as The Way, rather than as Christianity, in order to differentiate what we teach from what is popularly believed.

Because I can assure you that many of the popular doctrines of Christianity are vastly different than what was once called The Way. Today many polls tell us that more than 75% of Americans consider themselves Christian. And yet from what I see of our culture, there must be a lot of hodads out there claiming to be Christian and yet are living a life that is completely at odds with what the Bible teaches.

So what I want to show you today from the story of Saul’s conversion, is what real Christianity looks like and what it consists of. I want to show through this scripture what constituted Christianity in the first century, as it was still called The Way, and how we can follow this example of Saul and come to saving faith in Christ; which is radically different than what is being passed off in many quarters as Christianity. Saul’s conversion is unique, it is miraculous and there are some elements to it that are unrepeatable. But at the same time his conversion is representative of everyone’s conversion and there are many characteristics of Saul’s conversion that are symbolic of becoming a true disciple of Christ, as someone who is of The Way.

First of all then, let’s start by looking at why it was called The Way and what that meant. I believe it was called The Way primarily because Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” Jesus is declaring the exclusivity of the gospel. That there is only one way to God, and that is through faith in Jesus Christ.   He is the only way to God. So if we are to get to God, we must follow Christ. There is no other name given among men by which we can be saved.

I think it’s interesting that hodos, or The Way, is sometimes translated as a road. As a highway. Christianity is not just a pit stop on your way, where you pull over to get gassed up once a week and then continue on the same way you were, but it is a different way, a different road altogether. It requires leaving the road you’re on, and getting on a completely different road. And Jesus said in Matt. 7:13-14 that it is a narrow way. He said, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Secondly, I want to point out that the world’s way, the way of all men before conversion, is enmity towards God. Let’s look at Saul as the premiere example. Saul, who had been the organizer of the stoning of Steven in chapter 7, was now going outside of Jerusalem to the neighboring regions and arresting disciples who were of The Way and bringing them back to Jerusalem to be tried and possibly imprisoned or even executed.

Some years later Paul would recount his actions in Acts 22:4 saying, “I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons…” Our text here in chapter 9:1 says that he was breathing threats and murder against the disciples. Saul was an enemy of God. He even thought he was serving God by putting these disciples of The Way to death, but in effect he was attacking God Himself.

In verse 4, a blinding light flashed from heaven as Saul and his companions were on the road to Damascus, and a voice called out, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And Saul said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” So Jesus confirms that Saul was an enemy of God.

But do you realize that all men are enemies of God before their conversion? Romans 3 says that all of us were under the bondage of sin and at enmity with God before salvation. Vs. 10, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE. THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING, THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS; WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS; THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN. THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.” All men are by nature lovers of evil and hateful towards God.

James 4:4 says, “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” So the second step of coming to be a disciple of The Way is to recognize as did Saul that you are an enemy of God, that we are all antagonistic towards God. We love darkness rather than light because our deeds are evil.

So as we read in vs.3, in order to be converted, there needs to be a light from heaven to illuminate our minds. “As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground.   You know, at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry He preached a message in which He quoted from Isaiah 9 as recorded in Matt. 4:16; “THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED.”

Listen, the only way that Saul, this great enemy of the gospel, could be saved and turned completely from the road that he was on, in order for him to become a disciple of The Way, he needed to have the light from God dawn upon him. It takes a supernatural event to be saved. Did you know that? You cannot be saved by simply becoming religious or trying to be a better person or by doing some ritual or ceremony. The only way to be saved is for God to first shed His light on you so that you can see what before you were too blind to see. To see your sinfulness and God’s righteousness. Paul was blind to the truth. He thought he was pursuing the truth, but in fact as we noted he was an enemy of God. In order for him to be turned, God had to shine the light of revelation upon him, revealing his condition before God.

John 1:9 says, Jesus “was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.” All the world is in darkness. No man can see unless the Spirit of God opens His eyes and shines the light of Christ in their hearts. 2Cor. 4:4 says, “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” We were all blind, helplessly lost. But then in vs.6 we read, but “God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

The next step that I want to show in becoming a disciple of The Way is to hear the word of God. Vs. 4, we quoted earlier, but here it is again; “and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.”

True salvation requires hearing the word of God. Rom. 10:17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” In 2 Timothy 3 Paul speaks of “the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” He goes on to say that “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.”

Well, I’m sure that when Saul heard the words of Christ, he was not only rebuked and corrected, but he was convicted of his sin against God. He realized that he was persecuting the very Son of God. That he was an enemy of God. And I believe that because of the next verses which tell us that Paul was led away, blinded by the light, and spends the next three days fasting and praying. I’m sure during this time he mourned over his part in the killing of Steven. I’m sure he mourned over those Christians he pursued to the death.

That’s the next essential step of becoming saved. Repentance is an essential part of conversion. The message Peter preached back in chapter 3 was “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” I don’t believe you can be saved without repentance. That’s why the first message that Jesus preached was “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” John the Baptist preached repentance. Peter and John preached repentance. And eventually Paul will preach repentance, which  lesson he learns thoroughly as he sits in this room in his blindness for 3 days, considering and mourning over his sin. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount that a requirement for entrance into the kingdom of heaven is to mourn over your sin.

The next step to conversion to The Way is seen in God dispensing his minister to go to Saul and explain the gospel to him. The Bible doesn’t say that Ananias was a preacher. We know he wasn’t an apostle. As far as we know he had no official position in the church. But he fulfilled the duty of every believer. He was a reluctant minister. When God told him to go to Saul, he offered an objection. He had heard of Saul and how he had done great harm to the church and so he was afraid to go to him. But the Lord told him to go and so he did.

I don’t know why God chooses to use frail, failing, weak men and women to be the ministers of His gospel. But we know that he does. All that have been saved have been commissioned to go into the world and proclaim the good news. And many times we are told to go to those who seem the least likely to be good prospects. We are told not to go to the righteous, but the unrighteous. To seek out those that are lost, those who are the outcasts of society. To proclaim the gospel to those who are enemies of God. Rom. 10:14 “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?”

In another passage some time later Paul recounts this meeting with Ananias and I want you to hear some additional details he adds about that conversation. Acts 22:14 Paul recalls Ananias as saying, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth. ‘For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard. ‘Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.’”

I believe it is at this point that Paul is converted. He is repentant, he confesses his sin unto God, and he calls upon the name of Jesus for salvation, for forgiveness, and his sins are washed away. That is salvation. Not only is he saved from the penalty of his sin, he is converted from death to life. He is transformed from an enemy of God to a friend of God. To be born into the family of God. And that happens as he receives the Holy Spirit.

In vs. 17, it says, “Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is who gives us new life in Christ. In John 6:63 Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”

And that new life is symbolized in Saul’s life by the scales falling away from his eyes and he is able to see. That is what happens spiritually for all those who are converted, who call upon the Lord for salvation. He gives sight to the blind. He gives understanding where they once was none. He opens up our hearts and our minds to comprehend the Word of God.   We cannot be born again without the agency of the Holy Spirit. Ezekiel 11:19-20 “And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God.”

John 3:3-6 “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” There must be a calling out to God for a new heart, a new spirit, that we would be converted.

The next step of Paul’s conversion that I want to make today is that he was obedient to do what God told him to do. This really goes back to what it means to belong to The Way. It’s not just a destination, it’s a road. It’s following the Lord in obedience in the road or in The Way that He reveals to us. This is so important and so misunderstood today. Christianity is far too often looked at as getting a new paint job on your car, but continuing to drive it in the same direction, just now it looks a little brighter and shinier. But as I said at the beginning, this is a new way of living, going in a new direction, with a new destination and a new purpose, living for God instead of living for your self.

So Saul first of all is obedient, and that is evident by the fact that he is baptized. He didn’t have to pray about it. Didn’t have to think about it. The Lord said it, so he did it. He made public proclamation of his faith. Baptism is an external representation of what has transpired inwardly. We are buried in the water, that is we acknowledge that we bury our old man, the old ways, in the water, and we are raised from the water, symbolizing that we are raised into a new life in Christ. Old things have passed away, all things have become new. We signify that we have left our old sinful ways in the water, we have died to the world, and we are raised in new life, to live by the Spirit of God.

And the next evidence of his obedience was that he was a witness of the gospel as the Lord told him to be. Acts 9:20 “and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’”   He began to conclusively prove to the Jews in the synagogues in Damascus that Jesus was the Son of God. Folks, God doesn’t need any secret disciples. He doesn’t call us to be secret disciples. He calls us to tell others of the good news of Jesus Christ. To declare to whoever will listen, “I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.”

Finally, the last point of Saul’s conversion is that God called him to suffer for His name’s sake. As the Apostle Paul, he would probably suffer more hardships than any other Christian before or since. But what becomes clear as we study the life of Paul is that God used Paul’s suffering to bring about the glory of God.   We just get a little preview of his sufferinng here. But God said to Ananias in vs. 15, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

Listen folks, I never want to be guilty of sugar coating what it means to become a follower of The Way. Becoming a follower of The Way is following a path of suffering. Jesus said, “whoever would be My disciple, let him take up his cross and follow Me.” Paul’s suffering was more than I can ever imagine having to bear. We get a glimpse of it starting almost immediately upon his conversion. Vs. 22 “But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ. When many days had elapsed, the Jews plotted together to do away with him, but their plot became known to Saul. They were also watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.”

From this point on, Saul is always having people plot his capture or his death. He spends much of the rest of his life in one prison or another. Towards the end of his life, Paul recounts the suffering he experienced for Christ’s sake in 2Co 11:23-27 “Are they servants of Christ?–I speak as if insane–I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.”

I hope that none of us here have to suffer the way that Paul suffered for the sake of The Way. But I will assure you that if you are a Christian you are going to suffer in one form or another. One thing we all must suffer is the loss of our pride. We must suffer the loss of our worldly ambition if we follow Christ. We must suffer the loss of our will if we are going to do God’s will. We must suffer the loss of our self determination if we are going to submit to Christ’s Lordship over our lives.

But I trust that we can also say, even as Paul would one day say in Phil. 3:7-11 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

That is the goal of belonging to The Way. That we might receive by grace the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. That we might know Christ and achieve the resurrection of the dead. Paul would go on to say in Rom. 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” One day, if we have suffered with Him here, we shall be glorified with Him there. I hope when that day comes, you will be counted as one that was willing to suffer the loss of all things in order to be called one who belonged to The Way.

In the mid 1700’s there was a man named John Newton who became a sea captain. And like many sailors of his day, he lived a depraved and ungodly life. For many years, he worked on slave ships, capturing slaves for sale to the plantations in the New World. Eventually, he became the captain of his own slave ship. A combination of a terrible storm at sea one night coupled with his reading of a testimony of a Christian planted some seeds in his heart that eventually led to his conversion. He was miraculously transformed from a depraved slave trader to a minister of the gospel. He went on to become a leader in the spiritual awakening in the 18th century in England. He wrote his own epitaph, which is inscribed on his tombstone. It reads, “John Newton, Clerk. Once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slavers in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy.” He was the author of the famous hymn we are going to sing in closing, Amazing Grace, a grace that he knew first hand.

I hope and pray that you will take this opportunity to examine yourself today in light of Saul’s conversion and ask yourself if you are of The Way. Jesus has paid the penalty for your sins if you will just repent of your sins and have faith in His atoning work on your behalf, and call upon Him to save you. He is willing and waiting to save those that are lost.

Last week when I introduced this subject of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, I said that understanding this text correctly is crucial to understanding not only the purpose of the church, and the function of the church, but the empowerment of the church. It is one of the most important texts in the Bible and as a result I think it is one that the enemy has done his best to sow in the tares of confusion and false teaching, so as to render the church powerless and weak and ineffectual. I would even go so far as to say that by deceiving people as to the true nature of the Holy Spirit and substituting a false doctrine of the Spirit, he has made a mockery of Christianity in many circles, and caused the church to be the object of derision and ridicule as unbelievers witness what is happening in the church in the name of the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus was about to pass on the baton of His ministry to the apostles, He said very clearly that the power to do that ministry, to carry on the work of Christ in His absence, would be due to the power of the Holy Spirit. And so He said they were to wait in Jerusalem for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, so that they would have the power to do the ministry that He was charging them to do.

Now this is such an important topic and yet I’m afraid that there is so much misinformation out there on this subject that we cannot just skim over it. So I want to deal with it in a thorough manner, even if that means we might cover some material today which was mentioned last week. Today I would like to show you what the purpose of the Holy Spirit is, and what the Holy Spirit is not, and then I would like to show you what the Holy Spirit did, particularly on the day of Pentecost.

To start with then, let’s look at what the purpose of the Holy Spirit is. And to understand that, it is only necessary to go to the words of Christ Himself as the apostles were gathered with Him in the upper room during the Passover, the night before He was crucified where He delivers one long discourse as to how this transition between His ministry and the ministry of the Holy Spirit is going to work. So we are going to cover a lot of verses in the book of John, starting in chapter 14 and going through chapter 16 in which Jesus outlines the purpose of the Holy Spirit. Jesus has just told the disciples that He is going away. And then He says in chapter 14: “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”

So note that Jesus is leaving, but in His place the Father will send the Helper, that is the Holy Spirit. He is going to help them do what Christ had done. Namely, speak the word of God. Jesus starts off in that chapter saying “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” He adds in vs. 10, “The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.” So first Jesus calls the Spirit the Helper, and then He calls Him the Spirit of Truth. There is always this connection with the Spirit and with the word of Christ. John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”

Then back in 14:23 Jesus emphasizes that the Spirit of God will dwell in us. He says, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.” There is that connection again between the Spirit and the word of Christ.   Then in vs. 26 Jesus continues, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” Now that is a comprehensive description of the ministry of the Holy Spirit; He will be your Helper, He will be the Spirit of Truth, He will teach us, and He will bring to remembrance the words of Christ. Now that was specifically true for the apostles, and it is true for in a general way for us as well. But especially for the apostles, Jesus is promising that the Spirit of Truth will bring to mind the words that Jesus said and taught, so that they might be able to teach the world the gospel of Jesus Christ.   So that the words of Christ might be able to be written down so that generations to come might know the word of Christ, because the knowledge of the word is the wisdom that leads us to salvation. (2Tim.3:15)

In John chapter 15 Jesus reiterates again the mission of the Holy Spirit to give them the words of Christ and their assignment to be His witnesses. John 15:26 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”

Then turn over to chapter 16, to continue what Jesus said concerning the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Look at vs. 7 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.” Now we see a little more definition as to how the Holy Spirit will help the apostles carry out this ministry. He will not only bring to their mind the words of Christ and teach them what to say, but He will also be working on the other end of the equation, working in the hearts of the hearers of the word to convict them of sin, reveal righteousness, and concerning the judgment to come upon the world. So the Spirit works to equip the witnesses to give the testimony of Christ, and works through the word to convict the hearer as they hear the word of Christ.

Then very interestingly, Jesus says in vs. 12, “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.”

What Jesus is saying is that there was a lot more that He could say to them, but that wasn’t the time. After the Holy Spirit comes in power on the day of Pentecost, He would guide them into all the truth, He will tell them what is to come. He will take the words of Christ and disclose it to them. In other words, the Holy Spirit is going to reveal the word that will make up the New Testament. So this is the whole of Jesus teaching on the Holy Spirit. He is the source of the word of Christ, and He is the power of the word of Christ. There is no other emphasis given by Jesus as to the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

See, the church is going to be founded on the doctrine and teaching of the apostles. Acts 2:42 “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” That is the word and doctrine that will comprise the New Testament. That is the foundation of the church that Eph. 2:20 speaks of.   And that is really the overriding emphasis that Jesus puts on the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He is the means by which the apostles will receive the word of God, which is the only equipment that they will need to turn the world upside down.

One other point we should make from the text we looked at in John 16:12, Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak. He will glorify Jesus, for He will take of Jesus and will disclose it to you. He says, “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.” So we need to be mindful of the fact that Jesus was the exact representation of the Father, He spoke the words of God, He did the works of God, He was as Hebrews 1:3 says, Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of God’s nature. In the same manner, Jesus says, the Holy Spirit is the exact representation of Christ. He will not speak on His own initiative. But He will take the words of Jesus and disclose them to them.   And I love this; He will not glorify Himself. See, the Son glorifies the Father, and the Spirit glorifies the Son, and so they are One.   I’ve said it before and I will say it again, because that is exactly what Jesus is saying; that if you want to know if something is of the Holy Spirit simply look at the word of God and see if Jesus did it. If Jesus didn’t do it, then the Holy Spirit isn’t going to do it. You’re not going to see the Holy Spirit running around acting in a way that is incompatible with what Jesus did.

Now let me show you one other thing. We know that Luke 2 tells us that Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit. He was fully man, and yet fully God because He was born of the Spirit of God. And then at His baptism, at the start of His earthly ministry, the Spirit of God visibly came down out of heaven and rested upon Him. And what did Jesus do at that “baptism of the Holy Spirit?” Did He start speaking in tongues? Did He start acting like He was drunk? No, Luke 4 then says Jesus being full of the Spirit, was being led by the Spirit. He began His earthly ministry under the power of the Spirit and He began to preach the word.

So if I were to draw a diagram, then we might draw a man representing Jesus, and put a big S over Him, to represent that though He is in flesh a man, yet in His Spirit He is God. And then that is a picture of those that are saved as well, is it not? Man is born again, by the Spirit of God, filled with the Spirit so that we might be governed by the Spirit. And then that is also a picture of the Word of God. The Word of God was written by human instruments, through the apostles and prophets, yet it was by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 2Pet. 1:21 “for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” And 2Ti 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” Now that is the comprehensive work of the Holy Spirit.

Well that brings us to the second point of my message today, and that is what the ministry of the Holy Spirit is not. The text says that as the disciples were speaking of the mighty works of God in 15 different languages some people that were in the crowd began to mock them, to ridicule them and say that they were full of wine. In other words, they said they were drunk. And Peter gets up and says to the crowd, “No, these men are not drunk as you suppose, for it is only 9 o’clock in the morning.” Now why were the disciples accused of drunkenness? I would suggest to you that as the crowd were perplexed and amazed at what was happening, some of the bystanders there in a spirit of mockery attempted to explain what was happening by associating this phenomenon with something that they would have had some familiarity with. And that was the mystery religions of Greece and Rome.

There were many different mystery religions that were being practiced at the time of Christ. Many of them had started centuries earlier and are spoken of in the writings of Plato. And while we don’t have time to go into them all today, there were two in particular that kind of epitomized what was being widely practiced in those pagan societies that the Jewish people lived among. One was the cult of Bacchus, the Greco-Roman god of wine. According to the historian Livy, who wrote around the time of Christ, they were known for extreme intoxication, resulting in ecstatic experiences, unintelligible utterances which were believed to be of divine origin, and sexual initiation rites.   Much of what is known about the cult of Bacchus seems to be derived from the earlier Greek religion known as Dionysus, another wine cult. This one also featured the intoxicating and uninhibiting effects of wine which produced the state of ecstatic possession by the god’s spirit. In these rituals the intoxicated participants would exhibit unintelligible ecstatic speech, and in some cases a trance like state where they rolled their heads back and danced to rhythmic drums and music while imitating anthropological movements.

A contemporary historian said of these Dionysian rituals; “Following the torches as they dipped and swayed in the darkness, they climbed mountain paths with head thrown back and eyes glazed, dancing to the beat of the drum which stirred their blood’ [or ‘staggered drunkenly with what was known as the Dionysus gait’]. ‘In this ecstatic state, they abandoned themselves, dancing wildly and shouting ‘Euoi!’ [the god’s name] and at that moment of intense rapture became identified with the god himself. They became filled with his spirit and acquired divine powers.”

Plato’s dialogues describe these ecstatic occurrences as well. In his Phaedrus, Plato discusses what was known as ecstatic madness in terms of prophecy, inspiration, poetry, and love. In discussing madness as prophecy, Plato alludes to the prophetess at Delphi, the priestess at Dodona, and Sibyl, all of whom he thinks “have conferred great benefits upon Hellas through their ecstatic speaking when out of their senses, but when not, little or none.” For Plato, the contemporary poets were like the prophets and priestesses; they created their compositions during ecstatic trances and from ecstatic utterances. Plato stated that good poets compose their poems not by art but because they are inspired and possessed. They are not in their right minds because God takes away their minds and uses them as his minister.

Though I could recite much more evidence from these mystery religions, I think what we have quoted here should be sufficient for us to see that these travelers in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost who were from the Gentile regions of Greece and Rome and the surrounding areas would have undoubtedly been familiar with these type of religious ceremonies in the mystery religions. By the way, I think that the city of Corinth was a hotbed for that kind of activity and that is why Paul in 1Cor. 14 spends so much time on the abuse of tongues that was occurring there. And when they heard these men and women speaking in foreign languages, they automatically assumed that they were seeing another example of these mystery religions that relied upon intoxication to produces these ecstatic utterances.

But as I said, Peter was quick to point out that what they were hearing was not the effect of drunkenness. There was no evidence to even suggest that. It was 9 o’clock in the morning for one. But the effect of the Holy Spirit was not anything like the drunken reveling of the mystery religions. These 120 disciples were speaking of the mighty works of God. And when they spoke, those hearing understood everything that was being said in their own dialect. In the mystery religions, no one could understand the gibberish that was uttered when they were intoxicated and under spiritual possession.

And Paul writing in Ephesians makes that contrast as well between being filled with the Spirit and drunkenness. Ephesians 5:18, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” He is saying that the two are diametrically opposed. Drunkenness is dissipation, it says in the NASB. It means depraved, degenerate. A life marked by licentiousness, reckless abandon. It’s to abandon propriety, to act immorally. That is what drunkenness produces. And that produced the ecstatic orgies of the mystery religions.  But we know what the produce of the Holy Spirit is don’t we? Love, peace, joy, gentleness, self control. The opposite of drunkenness.

So we have looked at what the purpose of the Holy Spirit was according to Jesus, what the power of the Holy Spirit was not, and now let’s look at what the person of the Holy Spirit did. The Holy Spirit is a person, don’t forget that. He is not a power, He has power, He gives power, but He is not some inanimate power. He is a person, the third person of the trinity.

Jesus said when “He, the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.” And we see that happening when He comes upon the disciples.

The first thing that happens in vs. 11 is that the disciples begin to speak of the mighty deeds of God. The text doesn’t tell us exactly what that speech consisted of. We know it was intelligible speech, because 15 different nationalities heard it in their native tongue. But if I might imagine what they were saying, I would imagine that it was something similar to what Jesus was saying to the disciples on the road to Emmaus. When Jesus disappeared from their sight, remember they said how their hearts burned within them as He explained how the Old Testament scriptures spoke of Him. Luke 24:27, “Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, [Jesus] explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.” I think that these 120 disciples were declaring something along those lines.

So the first thing the Holy Spirit did was give the disciples the words to tell this multitude of devout men in Jerusalem. He gave them utterance. He put the words in their mouth to tell of the wonders of God.

The second thing the Holy Spirit did was He gave Peter a sermon. This is Peter’s first sermon, and it’s also the first sermon of the church. When the church was born, the first activity was not to plan, not to have a strategy session, not to have a committee to decide what to do. The first thing the church did was preach the Gospel.

Peter stands up and suddenly he is a Bible scholar. He preaches an expositional sermon. He starts off with a reference from Joel. Peter says, these men are not drunk as you suppose, but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel, ‘AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,’ God says, ‘THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS; EVEN ON MY BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT And they shall prophesy.

I want to stop right there for a moment and point out that Peter doesn’t say that the evidence of the Holy Spirit being poured out will be that they will speak in tongues. He says they will prophesy. The charismatics would like to say that tongues is prophecy, but I would simply point out that Paul does not make that correlation. In 1Cor. 14:1-4 Paul says, “Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries. But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation. One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself; but one who prophesies edifies the church.”

There are two types of prophecy. There is the predictive prophecy, where things are said concerning future events, and there is proclamatory prophecy, which is proclaiming the word of the Lord. That was what was happening on the day of Pentecost according to Peter. Not future telling, but forth telling. They were proclaiming the mighty works of God.

However, Peter is quoting from a predictive prophetic passage. And we could debate all day over which parts are still in the future and which parts have been fulfilled. But the key as far as I’m concerned is that Peter is affirming that it is the last days, according to Joel. And all of the New Testament prophets spoke of those days as the last days, whether Jesus, Peter or Paul or James or John. They all spoke of the present age as the last days. And so we have to understand that the last days or the last age is already begun. It began at Pentecost.

I would suggest that it was an apocalyptic message particularly for Israel. It was the last days for Israel. Jesus had prophesied on the temple mount a couple of months before that this generation would not pass away until all these things took place. And within 35 years, one generation, the temple would be destroyed and the sacrifices would cease, and the Jews would be massacred and the remnant scattered to the four corners of the earth.

So whether Joel’s language is simply apocalyptic and allegorical and referencing the end of Israel as they knew it, or whether or not he had a telescopic vision of the future that started at Pentecost and continues 2000 + years later, I don’t know for sure. I tend to think it may have been fulfilled in 70 AD. But it’s also possible to accomplish both an immediate result and a future result.

Joel says in vs.19, ‘AND I WILL GRANT WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW, BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE. ‘THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD SHALL COME. AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’

It’s interesting that not only does this OT prophecy establish the ministry of the Holy Spirit, but it addresses the gospel of salvation. And Peter, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, uses this as a pretext to introduce the author of salvation, Jesus Christ. Now isn’t that exactly what Jesus said the Holy Spirit would do? He would disclose glorify Jesus, He would manifest Jesus. He would convict the world of sin, and righteousness and judgment. And that is exactly what we see the Spirit doing in the message of Peter.

And Peter introduces Jesus as the author of salvation in four verses. He reminds them of the mighty deeds of God that Jesus had performed in their midst. He reminds them of the fact that they were guilty of putting Him to death, and he tells them that God raised Him from the dead.

And to give credence to that claim He quotes another OT scripture, this time from the Psalm of David, Psalm 16. And Peter makes the obvious correlation to the Messiah whom David was speaking of, because he said, David is dead in the tomb and they knew where his grave was, but the grave of Jesus was empty, because God would not allow His Holy One to suffer decay.

By the way, Psalms says Sheol, and Peter says Hades. They are the same place. Peter says in 1Peter 3:18,19 that Jesus though dead in His body, yet alive in His Spirit, went to Hades and preached to those in prison, that is in Hell. But God did not abandon Him there, but raised Him from the dead.

Peter continues his message in vs. 30 “And so, because [David] was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY. “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.”

Then Peter quotes another Psalm, Psalm 110, all of this by heart, by the way. He didn’t have some big scrolls up there he was rifling through. He was just speaking the word of God as the Spirit gave him utterance. In Psalm 110, David says, the Lord said to my Lord, which was a statement of divinity. Peter is making the connection clear; Jesus is the Lord, the Messiah, the second person of the trinity. That is such an important doctrine, and Peter is making sure that is clear.

Look at vs. 36, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ–this Jesus whom you crucified.” See that? Jesus of Nazareth whom you crucified, is both Lord and Christ. Both God and Messiah. That is the gospel. And that truth of the gospel cut them to the quick. Vs. 37, “Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”

That’s what the word of God does when it is spoken in the power of the Holy Spirit – it pierces to the heart. Heb. 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” The word of God is inspired by the Holy Spirit, and it is empowered by the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit of Truth will convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgment. That is what Jesus said He would do, and that is exactly what happened.

And the result was that they interrupted the message at this point and said “what do we need to do to be saved?” What do we need to do to be saved from the judgment we deserve from putting to death the Son of God? And Peter’s answer was simple, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.”

Listen, this has been a long message, and I won’t belabor it any longer. Except to say that it was your sin and mine that nailed Jesus to the cross by the hands of godless men. We are as guilty as they were. There is none righteous, no not one. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have all turned aside, we have all sinned against God. And as such we all deserve the judgment of God upon sin. And that judgment is death. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. You can escape that judgment by repentance from your sins and faith in the sacrifice that Jesus made for you on the cross. And if you will come to Him in repentance and faith, He will give you the promise of the Holy Spirit, that you might have eternal life through Him and have the power to life that life for Him. For the promise is for you and your children, and for all that are far off, as many as the Lord will call to Himself. Today you hear His call, Come to Jesus, all you who are weary and are heavy laden, and He will give you rest. I trust you will come to Jesus. As the scripture promised through the prophet Joel, “And it shall be that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

The book of Acts is essentially the story of the establishment of the church. The name Acts of the Apostles is sort of misleading. It’s not meant to be a biographical account of the apostles as much as it is an account of the establishment of the church by the apostles.

And so as we begin this study of the book of Acts, it is important that we understand what the church is. God has a blueprint for the church. God has a plan for the church. And that plan is not subject to our ideas of how we might improve upon it. We are constantly being bombarded today with modern ideas of how we might improve upon the church, how we might modernize it, or how we might make it more accessible, or how we might make it more relevant to our modern culture.

The problem with that kind of thinking is that it is man’s wisdom. And the power of the church is that it is built and relies upon God’s wisdom, not man’s. Only by reliance upon God’s wisdom and God’s power can we ever hope to possibly win the world. And His wisdom is found in His word and proclaimed through the preaching of His people.

That’s what 1Cor. 1:18-25 is talking about, which says, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

Last week in the preceding passage we said that Jesus gave His last instructions in regards to the church before handing over the stewardship of it to the apostles. And in that message we pointed out that it was necessary to have the right message, which was the Word of Christ, the right confidence in the resurrection power of God, the right kind of power, which was the Holy Spirit, the right timing, the right mission and the right motive. Now today we are going to see that if you are going to build God’s church you need to have the right men. The right kind of leadership.

I was talking to someone this week about the typical process that is often used today to call a pastor, or choose a pastor for a church. And I pointed out that unfortunately, the call of God upon a man to pastor a church has largely been disregarded in lieu of some sort of popularity contest. I watched a church recently choose a pastor, or whatever kind of title this church called their pastor, and they used a pastor search committee that was made up of people who were chosen for their social standing in the community, but at least some of whom were unsaved. I’ve seen pastor search committees hire pastors based on their personalities, based on whether or not they were entertaining speakers, based on their looks and one fleshly characteristic after another. Using that type of criteria, it is doubtful that the average evangelical church today would call into the pastorate the Apostle Paul. He was a hunch backed, beak nosed, bald headed old man who more than likely was half blind and was considered contemptible in appearance, probably because he had running sores in his eyes.

They need to be reminded that when Israel, which is the OT picture of the church, sought a king, the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Now the first church is about to be formed within a week or so of Christ’s ascension, almost all the necessary ingredients are in place except that there is still a need to have the right men. And who are the right men? They are the apostles. The twelve. They will form the foundation of the church. Ephesians 2:20 says that the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. This building made up of living individuals is built of the foundation of the 12 apostles and the prophets. That simply means that the word of Christ that these men preached would be the foundation that the church is to be built upon.

So if the church is not made of brick and mortar but of people, then it stands to reason that the right foundation will be made up of people as well. But only a certain type of person qualifies as an apostle. Contrary to some of the church signage you might see in certain areas of Sussex County, there are no modern day apostles. Peter makes it clear in this passage what qualifies one to be an apostle. Look at vs. 21-22 “Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us– beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us–one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

In order then for one to be a true apostle he had to have been with Jesus from the very beginning of His ministry – taught by Christ since the days of John the Baptist, and he had to have seen the risen Lord. That was the criteria set forth by Peter and accepted by the rest of the apostles.

Now let’s back up for a moment and remind ourselves of why this selection was even necessary. Jesus had appointed 12 disciples. But from the very beginning Jesus had known that one of them was a devil. Peter said in vs.16 that it was necessary, scripture had to be fulfilled. Vs.16 “Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.

What scriptures is Peter talking about that prophesied Judas’s betrayal? Well, for starters there are a couple in Psalms. For instance, Psalm 41:9 “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.” And then another in Psalm 55:12-14 “For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, Then I could bear it; Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me, Then I could hide myself from him. But it is you, a man my equal, My companion and my familiar friend; We who had sweet fellowship together Walked in the house of God in the throng.”

But Peter says not only did the scriptures prophesy that Judas would betray Jesus, but it also prophesied that his office should be replaced. And to validate that Peter quotes from two other places in the Psalms, chapter 69 and chapter 109, respectfully. He says in vs. 20, “For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘LET HIS HOMESTEAD BE MADE DESOLATE, AND LET NO ONE DWELL IN IT’; and, ‘LET ANOTHER MAN TAKE HIS OFFICE.’

And Luke inserts a bit of historical information about Judas that we will mention but not belabor, since we dealt thoroughly with Judas when we were in Luke. But he mentions that after Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver he went out and hung himself. But it would seem that when he did so, the limb broke and he fell some distance and his body ruptured from the impact and all his intestines gushed out. That would have caused a great deal of blood to spill out on the ground. And the scripture says everyone who lived in Jerusalem heard about it.

Matt. 27:4-8 adds a little more detail, saying that after Judas’s betrayal, he went back to the high priests and said “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!” And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself. The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury, since it is the price of blood.” And they conferred together and with the money bought the Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers. For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.”

So the end result is that now that Judas is gone and as the apostles are waiting for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit for the commencement of the church, they want to fulfill the prophecy concerning replacing Judas with another disciple to take his office. They believe that Christ’s intention was to have 12 apostles and one position is now vacant and so Peter stands and says, one of these men who were with us from the beginning until the day the Lord ascended into heaven must replace the position formerly held by Judas.

Now if you are going to choose the right man for leadership in the church, it is important that you use the right criteria. Peter lays out the right criteria. First and foremost, the person had to have been with the Lord Jesus. He had to have been there from the beginning to the end. He had to have been a witness to all that Jesus said and did during His ministry on earth. He needed to have been taught directly by the Lord Himself. Christ’s message was what the Apostles would take to the ends of the earth. Peter would say later that they were eyewitnesses of His glory. 2Pet. 1:16 “For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” If the world was going to believe these men, it was important that they had been eyewitnesses of Christ.

And because they had known the Lord and been with the Lord for all of His ministry, they were able to preach the word of Christ. And in order to validate that message as having come from the Lord, they were given power to perform miracles. It says in 2 Cor. 12:12 “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.” They are given the apostolic gift to do signs and wonders so that they can validate that they were the true representatives of Christ by the miracles that they did.

So to be a leader in God’s church you must meet the right criteria. I have to say that I am dismayed at the popular practice in many churches today to create all sorts of leadership positions for the church that God never established. And to make it worse, since these positions are not articulated in the Bible, they don’t feel that they need to meet any sort of Biblical criteria. Consequently, we have people in leadership positions in the church that have escaped all the requirements set out for Biblical leadership. Let me be clear; I’m talking about worship leaders, Sunday school directors, youth leaders, small group leaders, etc, etc. Far too often these people are selected based on how they look with a guitar and wearing skinny jeans rather than due to meeting any prescribed Biblical criteria.

As far as the Bible is concerned, there are only 2 positions established for church leadership. One is elders and the other is deacons. We’re going to be looking at the criteria the Apostles used to select the first deacons in just a few weeks or so. But let me just say this much, in order to wait on tables in the church the apostles set forth a stringent criteria that included being men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, and at least two of them were soul winning preachers; Stephen and Philip. Now that was what was involved in the criteria for waiting on tables. So when the church turns over our preaching and teaching and leading worship to people who have not been tested, as Paul instructed Timothy, to make sure that they are above reproach, to meet the Biblical criteria, then we are at the very least jeopardizing the ministry and mission of the church as Christ prescribed it.

So if you are going to select the right men for leadership in the church, you not only need the right criteria but you need to have the right process. And I just want to quickly go through the process that the apostles used to select this man. This is the process we need to use as well in order to make godly decisions. First of all, they were obedient to Christ’s commands. He told them in vs. 4 not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit. And they were obedient to His commands. They waited several days in the upper room. It says in 1 Sam. 15:22, “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.” If you want to know God’s will then you need to be being obedient to the commands of God, and to the criteria of God.

Secondly, they were in fellowship. It says in vs. 13 that all the 11 apostles were together, Jesus’ brothers were there, the women who had been following Jesus were there, and all together there were 120 people. Now that was the first church; 120 people. They were together in fellowship. This was a 24/7 church. They didn’t leave the upper room. This was church fellowship. They were together waiting on the Lord, worshipping together. Folks, if obedience is number one in importance, then I believe church fellowship is number 2. If you don’t commit to be in church regularly and faithfully then I don’t think you are going to be making the right kind of decisions in the rest of your life either. The first step into error is directly tied to skipping the local fellowship with believers in church.

Thirdly, it says in vs. 14 that they were continually devoting themselves to prayer. Listen, make note of this; prayer is seeking God’s will. Prayer is not demanding your will to God like a petulant child. Jesus set the example for prayer on two occasions. First was the model prayer. He prayed, “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Second was His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane when He prayed, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” That’s the key to Biblical prayer. We pray not for God’s blessing on our will, on our decisions, but we pray that God would establish His will in our lives.

Fourthly, they were in the word of God. Man! This is good, isn’t it? What a recipe! Be obedient, be in fellowship, be in prayer and be in the word. Peter had been reading the word. Listen, you have to be a student of the word to find the references that he found concerning Judas’s office. We are told to search the scriptures. To study to show ourselves approved unto God, workmen that don’t need to be ashamed. Folks, if you can’t show someone how to be saved by using the Bible then you ought to be ashamed. If you can’t give a Biblical reason for the hope that is within you then you should be ashamed. The Bible is our wisdom, it is our guidebook, our rulebook, our food, our drink. Get in the word.

Fifthly, they relied on God’s decision. Now there are three steps that they took to make sure it was God’s decision. First, it says in vs. 23 that they put forward two men who fit the criteria: Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias. They didn’t have a beauty contest, they found men who fit the criteria. And then it says in vs. 24, they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And then they used a method to select the right person which revealed and depended upon the decision of God. They took the decision out of their hands and put it in God’s hands. Vs. 25, “And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.”

Now the casting of lots may not be a way that we are told to make decisions today, but at that time it was the way God led them to do it. In Old Testament times God often used this procedure to show who He selected. In the book of Proverbs it says in Chapter 16:33, “The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is wholly from the Lord.” There are numerous OT examples of God using this method of determination. But while we may not use that method today, the principle is still valid. We need to seek God’s decision and not according to our own wisdom. I believe that the Bible teaches that the word of God is sufficient for all knowledge and all wisdom. The apostles at that point did not have the full, complete revelation of God that we have available to us today. But Peter makes it clear that we have the knowledge which comes through the scripture for all faith and practice. 2Pet. 1:3-4 “Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”

And Paul writing to Timothy says that we have everything we need in scripture to equip us for every good work. 2Tim. 3:16-17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

So Matthias was added to the eleven apostles and now the foundation of the church was complete. The time had come for God to pour out His Spirit on the church, baptizing them all through the Holy Spirit into one body. That body was the church, founded on the word and deeds of the apostles and built living stone upon living stone into a temple of the Lord. And we shall see next week how that begins. I hope you will make plans to be here for that. In the meantime, let us be as the apostles were, walking in obedience, staying in fellowship, devoting ourselves to prayer, reading the word, and seeking God’s will in all our decisions.

We begin today a new study, a new series if you will, that is the book of Acts. It is a monumental task. If I thought too much ahead of time about what will be involved in preaching through Acts I would doubtless be overwhelmed by the enormity of the scope of this book. I have purposefully avoided it for almost 10 years now. But today we have come to it, and I believe we have come to it in just the right time.

One reason I believe it’s the right time is we have just finished a 2 ½ year journey through the Gospel of Luke. And Luke is the same writer of the book of Acts. It is a continuation, volume 2 if you will of what Luke set out to do. In Luke 1 he stated that “having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.” Then in Acts 1 we see Luke continue to write volume 2 to Theophilus. Vs. 1, “The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach…”

We don’t know who Theophilus was, but the title given in Luke suggests that he was a high official, perhaps even someone who was defending Paul before Rome. But I think it more likely that he was simply a Christian, however an eminent member of Roman government. The name Theophilus by the way meant lover of God.

But as we read the opening verses of Acts it is apparent that Luke overlaps some information at the beginning. When we concluded Luke we looked at the ascension of Christ and we even referenced some of the material found here. So I don’t want to strictly speak on the ascension again, since we covered it thoroughly in the past weeks.

However, what I do want to do today is to give a little bit of an introduction and overview of the book and explain the significance of what happens after the ascension of Christ. Acts is not simply history. It is an important transition between the Gospels and the Epistles. In the Gospels we see the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. His teaching, His word is presented, the gospel is proclaimed; and in the Epistles we see the gospel explained.

But what happens in between in Acts is essential to understanding our relation to the gospel. Our responsibility to the gospel. As the gospels are the account of Christ’s ministry, so Acts is the account of the disciples ministry as Jesus passes the torch to them. . It is the account of the way the Holy Spirit, coming upon the apostles, working through the church, continued what Jesus began to do, the story of how they carried on the work which was initiated during the days of his incarnation. As we will see in Acts, the Holy Spirit now begins to fulfill the designed program of God. He begins to carry on Christ’s work through the reincarnated body of Jesus Christ—the church—the body by which the Lord intends to reach out to the uttermost parts of the earth.

That work began after the ascension of Christ 2000 years ago, and it still continues today, even right here through this local body. And that is why I think it is so pertinent that we begin to study the book of Acts at this time. I believe we may be at a juncture in our history when we move from being discipled as this small group, to a time when the power of the Holy Spirit is poured out upon you and I, so that we might build His church and proclaim the gospel through each one of you in a more emboldened and effective way than we ever have before.

If you think about it that way you might see the similarities between our churches situation and the apostles. They had just finished being taught the words of Jesus for 3 years. And as well you folks have just completed almost 3 years of in depth study in the words of Christ through our study in Luke. You know as much or even more than the apostles knew at this point. And yet it is at this point that Jesus leaves them, passing the baton so to speak to them to carry on His ministry. And they would do so to a certain extent in an even greater fashion than He did. Jesus said that, didn’t He? In John 14:12 Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.” And that was certainly fulfilled by the fact that Jesus preached the gospel to the Jews only, but through His disciples the gospel has been preached throughout the whole world, to every nation, and every tongue.

So the responsibility for the proclamation of the gospel and the establishment of the church passes from Jesus to the apostles. We see the Lord now pass the baton to His disciples. You know, these apostles aren’t much different than you and I. They’re just simple working men. About seven of them were fishermen. And not only are they the most unlikely people to do this task, but they don’t seem well suited to it either. They were uneducated. They had demonstrated weak faith. They had not always been the most obedient disciples.

They weren’t exactly the greatest prayer warriors. On the night of Jesus’ trial, He asked them to pray with Him for one hour and yet they fell asleep. In fact, that very night they all ran away when Jesus was arrested. Peter, their leader publicly denied Him three times. All of them deserted Him in His greatest hour of need. But these are the very men that Jesus hands over His ministry to. He entrusts all that He had done and all that He wanted to accomplish to this ragtag band of disciples. They were the unlikely ones that He entrusted to take His gospel to the world.

And so I would challenge you folks here today to see yourselves in this same light. I believe that God has you here in this place for such a time as this. God’s plan is that you would be witnesses of His gospel to the world, starting right here in this community, through this church. There are no rock stars here nor rocket scientists. But God has chosen you, the weak things, to confound the mighty, to carry on His ministry, to build His church.

I’m sure that the disciples thought that was an overwhelming mission. I’m sure that they felt inadequate for the job. And perhaps you feel that way as well. I know I have been feeling inadequate lately as I consider the obstacles to building this church. I sometimes find myself thinking of all the failures in our progress so far. When I think of all the people who I have failed to really disciple, those that fell away after a time, or those who did not come to be saved, it is discouraging. I was looking the other day at a super market that was closing. And I have often thought that building would make a great building to convert into a church. And now just the other day I saw that it is closing and up for rent. Yet from a human standpoint it is completely out of our league. We don’t have enough people to fill a quarter of it, much less be able to afford to lease it.

But then I thought of this church that starts in Jerusalem with the 11 apostles who are basically hiding out in a room and whom Jesus leaves with instructions to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit. And I remembered how that when the Holy Spirit was poured out on them, God added 3000 people to the church in just one day. Peter stood up to preach on the day of Pentecost and before he got half way through the message, people were crying out, “what do we have to do to be saved?” Within a few days the number had swelled to 5000 or more.

So I was encouraged by that as I was reminded that with man it may seem impossible, but with God all things are possible. Yet the question is, what prompted this great revival? What caused them to go from being discouraged disciples on the brink of scattering to becoming men who were turning the world upside down? Well the short answer is that what happened was God sent them the Holy Spirit to indwell them as the church and empower them for the job of building the church.

So what we see laid out here in these first 11 verses of Acts is Christ’s last instructions He gives to the Apostles to prepare them for this great moving of the Holy Spirit, in order to effectively build His church and carry out His mission in His absence. And I believe they are instructive for us as well as we consider our mission to build this church. There are six things here in this passage which serve as a checklist for the mission we are to take up for Christ.

Number one, if you’re going to effectively build Christ’s church you need to have the right message. Vs. 1, “The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.” Notice it says that Jesus began to do and teach. In order to effectively carry on Christ’s ministry, you have to have the right message. And that message has to be the message of Christ. It has to be the word of Christ that is preached. We can’t build a church on empty philosophy, or on men’s wisdom, or men’s strategy. If we’re going to build the church, we can only build the church on the truth of the gospel.

But not only does Luke emphasize what Jesus taught, but what Jesus did. If we are going to be used by God to build His church, we not only need the right message but to be the right messenger. A skeptic once said, “Show me your redeemed life, and I might be inclined to believe in your Redeemer.” We have to practice what we preach. That’s what discipleship is all about. Walking out what you have been taught. That’s what makes the gospel believable and attractive to the world. Not trying to attract the world by offering them a religious facsimile of the world, but by showing them the power of the gospel through a transformed life.

Secondly, if you are going to effectively carry out Christ’s mission you need the right kind of confidence. Vs. 3, “To these, he also presented himself alive after his suffering by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over 40 days.” How did these scared disciples hiding out in an upper room suddenly have the confidence to do the things they did? Where did their confidence come from? Their confidence came from being witnesses of His resurrection. They now realized that Jesus had the power over death and hell. Nothing could kill Him. Nothing could hold Him. So by extension that power was given to them. And we can have that same confidence because the record of His resurrection was confirmed by over 500 people over the course of 40 days and recorded in the infallible scriptures. The confidence of the resurrection not only provides assurance that Christ is sovereign, but it provides us with the confidence that we also will endure beyond the grave. That the gates of Hell can not prevail against Christ’s church. That whatever sufferings that we might be called upon to share with Christ even though they might result in our death of our body we can have confidence that we also will be resurrected with a glorified body as was Christ.

Thirdly, if they were to effectively carry out the ministry of Christ they needed to have the right power. Verse 4. Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Back in Luke’s gospel, chapter 24, we read that Jesus added, “And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” The Holy Spirit is given to the disciples so that they might have the power to do what God has commissioned them to do. This is such an important principle and yet I’m afraid it is so misunderstood. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to take the Spirit of Christ and distribute it to the church, so that they might have the power of Christ available to perform the ministry of Christ.

So many people today short change the ministry of the Holy Spirit by focusing on the wrong things. As I said last week, the Holy Spirit isn’t given to us so that we might feel saved, but that we might be saved, and that we might act saved. Jesus said in John’s gospel that the Holy Spirit is given to be our helper. We cannot do the work in our own strength. He is called the Spirit of truth. He will teach us all things. He opens our minds to understand the scriptures. He brings about conviction in the hearts and minds of the world. He changes our nature. He opens our eyes. He gives the gift of repentance. He distributes the gifts of the Holy Spirit so that we will be equipped to do what is necessary to do in order to build the church. Not for our own edification. That is; not to make us feel holy or look holy. But He gives gifts to build up the church so that she might be holy.

Then notice verse 5. “John baptized you with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Now that is not talking about water baptism. He literally says you’re going to be submerged with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.   He was talking about the day of Pentecost, which was just a few days away. Notice that He is not telling the apostles to somehow get baptized in the Holy Spirit. This isn’t telling them to seek it, pray for it, plead for it. This is a statement of fact. It’s something that happens to all believers as part of their conversion. But what it is referring to here is submersion or a filling of the Holy Spirit. To be washed by the Holy Spirit and be filled with the Holy Spirit. To have the Holy Spirit indwell us.

The word baptism signifies identification with the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:13. “For by one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and we’re all made to drink of one Spirit.” As the body of Christ we are literally engulfed in the Holy Spirit. John refers to the Holy Spirit as the anointing which we have from God who teaches us all things. Another example of that is found in 1Cor. 10:1-4 “For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.”

Remember that I told you last Wednesday night that the children of Israel are a picture of the church? Well, here in that passage we see the picture of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. They were all baptized into Moses, in the cloud, that is the Shekina glory that followed them and engulfed the tabernacle. It was the presence of God in the midst of them. Jesus now says we are baptized in the Holy Spirit so that we are now the temple of the Holy Spirit. In Moses day the cloud led them by day as in our day the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth. With Moses they all ate the same spiritual food. Jesus said in John 6:63 “my words are Spirit and they are life.” The Holy Spirit feeds us with the word of God and provides us with the water of life. The Holy Spirit is the power that we need to effectively build the church of Christ. Not by human might, not by human power, but by My Spirit says the Lord. (Zec. 4:6)

Fourthly, if we are to build Christ’s church effectively we must have the right timing. Vs. 6, So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

The apostles were still looking for the physical kingdom of God to be set up on the throne of David. Their eschatology was still not in line with what Christ was doing. But Jesus doesn’t debunk their eschatology, nor does He stop and give them a detailed blow by blow of what was going to happen in the future. He did that as far as He intended to do it back in Luke 21. God doesn’t have to explain the future to us in any more detail than that. Our job is to wait on the Lord. To be about the business of being a witness. Luke 19:13. He said, “Do business with this until I come back.” He taught that we are to occupy until He comes, to , “Work, for the night is coming.” To lay up treasures in heaven while we are on earth. To invest now in the kingdom of God.

God is in charge of God’s timing. We are to be about what He has commissioned us to do. And as we see in this passage, that involves waiting on the Lord. He is the One who has the power to turn men’s hearts. At the right time God poured out His Holy Spirit and the church grew and was established. We just need to be a witness and let God take care of the results. God will build His church in His time and in His way. We just need to be found faithful witnesses when He comes.

That leads us to the fifth point if we want to be effectively building God’s church – we need the right mission. Vs. 8, “when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

The word witness in the Greek is the word “martys” which is the word we get martyrs from. The word witness came to be the word martyr because so many witnesses to the gospel died. Jesus said, “If any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross.” Being a witness of Christ in those days might just cost you your life.

I think that there was a degree of commitment in the early church that we simply do not have today. They had to be willing to leave their families oftentimes if they were to accept Christ. They had to be willing to lose their jobs or even their homes. And they had to be willing to possibly be martyred for their faith. The culture at that time did not accept Christianity. The Jews wanted to silence them and the Gentile culture was completely pagan. So there was no friendship with the world whatsoever. But that level of commitment I think caused the zeal for the house of God to consume them and give everything for the cause of Christ. And that level of commitment is what the Lord will use.

I think that we are fast approaching that type of animosity towards the church today in our culture. Christianity has lost whatever social acceptance that it once had in America. Today if you preach the gospel the way the apostles did you are labeled as hateful, unloving, homophobic, intolerant and so forth. But we need to remember that the world is our mission field and not our enemy. We can build the kingdom of God the same way the early church did, through the power of the Holy Spirit by preaching the truth and being consistent in our testimony.

The final point in effective church building is we need to have the right motive. Vs. 9, And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” Their motive for building the kingdom of Christ is that He is coming back in the clouds the same way He went away.

Our motive for being faithful in our work of the kingdom is that when we stand before God we will hear “well done good and faithful servant. You’ve been faithful in a few things, I will set you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your Master.” Christ has given us a mission, a stewardship, to carry on His ministry here on earth until the day He returns for us. I hope that you consider that mission your priority here on earth. If we have as our priority the things of God, our priority the caretaking of His church, then I believe that God will increase our stewardship corresponding to our investment. To him who has, more shall be given.

I don’t want you to be concerned about building with stone and mortar. We are not given the mission of building edifices or temples made with hands. But we are given the task of building up the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, His church. And all of us are given that task. We are all commissioned to be ministers of Christ. It’s an overwhelming task from a human point of view. But we do not strive by the flesh, but in the power of the Holy Spirit, in the timing of God, and in the strength of His might. And when we do that, then God will build His church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.

I’m sure you all have heard of the movie that came out recently in the theaters called “Left Behind.” As you may know, it is from a book series that has been around for quite a while actually, by a Christian author named Tim LaHaye. In case you’re not familiar with the story line, the basic premise is that there is a divine event called the rapture in which all Christians mysteriously disappear and the series deals with the people on earth that are left behind to deal with the tribulation events.

Well, at the risk of offending some of you, I think that may make for entertaining novels or movies, but I believe it’s bad theology. Or more precisely, bad eschatology. Just for the record, I don’t subscribe to the rapture theology, but I do believe in the second coming of Christ, and I do believe in the resurrection of the dead.

Now I say all of that, not to start a fight with anyone over their pet doctrine, but because I wanted to title my message today, “Left Behind,” and I wanted to disassociate it right away from that book series. But the Biblical context for “left behind” that we are going to look at today is found in this passage which recounts for us the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I’m not going to try to somehow turn this into a sermon on the end times, but rather I want you to consider the ramifications of Christ’s resurrection. Because Christ’s resurrection is the keystone of our faith.

Paul makes it clear in 1 Corinthians that Christ’s resurrection sets a precedent for our own resurrection. So it is important that we understand how that works. Look at 1Cor. 15:20-24, “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.” Notice the phrase, “first fruits.” Christ is the first fruits in regards to the resurrection. That means He was the first to be raised from the dead to a glorified life. And as He was raised, so will the dead in Christ be raised.

If it were not for Christ’s resurrection, then Christianity would be of no consequence. All that Jesus came to teach about the kingdom of God would have been invalidated if He had not risen from the dead. The ministry of Jesus would have been a failure. If He had not been raised from the dead, then atonement would not have been enacted for sins. If He had not been raised from the dead, then His sacrifice would not have been deemed sufficient by the righteous Judge. In fact, if He had not been raised from the dead, then He had not been sinless as we had hoped, nor was He the Son of God. Paul goes on to say in I Cor. 15:17-19 “and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”

So no wonder that His followers were disillusioned after His death. It’s no wonder that they were scared and holed up in a room hiding out from the rulers of the Jews. In spite of all that Jesus had prophesied concerning His death and resurrection, they were totally unprepared for it, and were completely without comprehension of it’s meaning. As far as they were concerned, everything that they had believed about Christ and the kingdom of God had gone down the drain when Jesus was arrested and crucified.

But conversely, what His resurrection signified was everything. It was hope of the greatest magnitude. It may have still taken them a little while for His followers to grasp the full implications of it all, but the fact of His resurrection meant hope. It meant assurance of salvation. It meant forgiveness of sins. It meant victory over death. No wonder the disciples were filled with power after the Holy Spirit came upon them and no wonder that they were bold to preach the gospel even at the cost of their lives. Because they now knew that their Savior, the Lord Jesus, had the power over death. He had the keys of death and Hades. He had triumphed over sin and the devil. And now, because they were His, there was no fear of death for them.

You know, obviously great technological advances have been made in the last 2000 years. We can do so many things today; cars, airplanes, traveling to the moon, instantly able to talk by computer to people thousands of miles away. Incredible technology is available to our modern society that would have been unimaginable for the average person 2000 years ago. But one thing technology has never been able to overcome, and they never will. Despite all the advances of society, mankind still cannot escape the hopelessness of death.

In fact, I believe that part of the reason for the hopelessness we see so often evidenced in our youth today is that though technology has made pleasure and fulfillment of our passions and entertainment more rapidly available, yet ironically it only serves to enable the average young person to find out by age 20 what it took our grandfathers a lifetime to find out: that the temporary pleasures of this world are unfulfilling and without the hope of eternal life there is no point to life at all.

So though the story of the gospel is 2000 years old, still the resurrection is a message that should resonate with every man, woman and child. Because the fact is that death has to still be faced by every person as Heb. 9:27 says, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” But the hope of the gospel is that though Jesus died as a man, the just for the unjust, yet He rose again as the first fruits of those that believe in Him. He died and rose again so that man might have the hope of life after death.

So I want to look at the resurrection today from the perspective of what Jesus accomplished through it. Rather than just regurgitating the historical narrative, I would like to try to bring out a series of simple truths that can be framed through the lens of what Jesus left behind. When Jesus rose from the dead, He left behind some things. And in so doing, His resurrection reveals certain things we can leave behind as well, as He is the first fruits. And as He was, so will we be.

To start with, when Jesus rose from the dead He left behind the darkness. Look at vs. 1, “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.” One of the saddest sights I have ever seen was passing by a graveyard at night I noticed a grave marker here or there illuminated with a little light. As if the surviving relatives were trying to give some measure of comfort to the bones and dust kept there inside the coffin. But I am afraid that there is no light that can reach six foot down through the darkness inside that coffin, except one. And that is the light of the world that is Jesus Christ. Through His resurrection Jesus vanquished the darkness.

Isaiah 9:2 says, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” John said that Jesus “was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.” So the first simple truth that is established because of the resurrection is that Christ has vanquished the darkness of the shadow of death. He is the light of the world that gives light and life to all who believe.

Secondly, when Jesus rose from the dead He left behind the Sabbath and all the ceremonial laws that had been a burden to the Jews. Peter referred to these ordinances in Acts chapter 15 as a yoke that neither they nor their fathers had been able to bear. Notice vs. 1 says, “on the first day of the week…” As I pointed out last time, Jesus body lay in the tomb on the Sabbath day. His body kept the last Sabbath under the Old Covenant but His Spirit was alive and about the Father’s business in Paradise. But with the resurrection of Christ on the first day of the week, the early church put away the Sabbath celebrated the day of resurrection in the new covenant as the Lord’s Day.

The Sabbath, and all the attendant ceremonial laws were foreshadows of what was fulfilled in Christ. We saw earlier how Christ was the fulfillment of the Passover Feast. We don’t keep the Passover today, because it was fulfilled by Christ who was the Passover Lamb. Today we keep Communion, or the Lord’s Supper. If you remember Christ changed the Passover to the Lord’s Supper in the upper room on the night before His crucifixion. And similarly, the Apostles changed the observance of the Sabbath to a celebration of His resurrection on the Lord’s Day.

Paul said in Colossians 2:16-17 “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day– things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.” So the resurrection of Christ left behind the ceremonial laws, the dietary laws, the Sabbath and festival laws, the sacrificial laws, all of those things which were a mere shadow of what was to come, that is Christ who fulfilled those foreshadows. Now Hebrews tells us, we no longer need the shadows, for the fullness is now realized in Jesus Christ.

Thirdly, in His resurrection Jesus left behind an open tomb. Vs. 2, “And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.” What does the open tomb signify? It simply signifies that Jesus has made a way to escape death. Paul tells the Corinthians that for those who are in Christ Jesus, death will not have dominion over them, but Christ has given us the victory over death. 1Cor. 15:51-54 “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.”

Fourthly, when Jesus rose from the dead, He left behind His grave clothes. John 20:6-7 adds some more detail to Luke’s account. John said “Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.”

Why do the gospel writers bother telling us about the grave clothes and the face cloth? I can assure you it was not to lend some sort of credence to the fairy tale of the shroud of Turin. But I would suggest that it is a picture of leaving the trappings of the old man in the grave and the new life that comes through Jesus Christ. Isaiah 61:10, “I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness.” So therefore, according to Eph. 4, those that are in Christ Jesus are to lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, (the old corrupt, dead garments of the flesh) and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

Paul likens it to being awakened from the dead. Rom 13:11-14 “Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

Fifthly, when Jesus arose from the dead, He left behind witnesses. Vs. 4-7 “While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”

At the birth of Christ we saw many appearances of angels, heralding His birth to the shepherds, announcing His birth to His parents and various people. Now at His resurrection it is only appropriate that we see angels attending this occasion as well. In the various gospel accounts, there are descriptions of angels sitting at the foot and the head of where He had lain, there are descriptions of angels as young men, there are descriptions here in Luke of angels in dazzling apparel. And some cynics that would point all of that out as some sort of discrepancy of the gospels. But what I think is actually going on here is that for a short time at the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the veil between this world and the spiritual world is pulled back, and there are seen angels all over the place, appearing and then reappearing. Appearing in various forms. But their purpose is to minister to Christ’s followers. That is the purpose of angels. Hebrews 1:14 tells us that angels are “all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation.” So they appear to announce the good news to the confused an bedazzled group of followers of Christ.

And they are not the only witnesses. Paul says in I Cor.15:3-8 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”

And because of those witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus, we too are to be witnesses to the world of the good news of the gospel. Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Sixthly, when Christ arose from the grave He left behind the dead. Note vs. 5, the angels said, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen.” This question points to such a fundamental misunderstanding that men have concerning death. You need to understand something; death is not a state of being, it is an act. It is not a condition, it is a transition.

Contrary to what some people think, and even what one old hymn seems to teach, Jesus did not lie dormant in the grave for three days. There is an old hymn we used to sing when I was a boy called “Low in the grave He lay.” Well, His body laid in the grave. But I can tell you this for certain; Jesus wasn’t there. Jesus told the thief on the cross, “Today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

In 1 Peter 3:18 we read that “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison.” So though He was in Paradise He was able to speak to those in prison, that is Hades, and proclaim victory over sin and death.

The Bible teaches that there is a first death: it is appointed unto every man once to die, but there is also a second death. Everyone participates in that first death. But as Jesus illustrated in His death and as He also described in the story of Lazarus and the rich man, though their body is in the grave yet in their Spirit they are alive in either Paradise or Hades.   But for the Christian there is no fear of the second death. Rev. 20:6 says, “Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.” So by resurrection we shall escape the second death just as Christ did. But for those that have rejected Jesus they are held in prison, which is Hades until the judgment. And then they too will be resurrected. Rev 20:13 “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.”

But for those that have believed on Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, they too will leave behind death and enter into everlasting life.

Finally, the resurrection of Jesus left behind despair. The last time we saw Simon Peter He was in despair. He had denied the Lord Jesus three times at His trial. He then abandoned Jesus, after having boasted that He would never fall away, He would never desert Jesus. And yet before that very night was over he had denied Christ. Peter, who was the strongest, the bravest, the most ardent in His faith. Peter, the man Jesus said He would call Rock. Peter, who would be the foundation of the church of Christ, had fallen away from Christ, swearing fiercely and denying Him three times. And afterwards in the pit of despair Peter went out and wept bitterly.

But now, when the women came back to the mourning disciples with the news that Jesus wasn’t in the tomb, the angels said He was risen, while the rest of the disciples were unbelieving, Peter got up and ran for the tomb. Vs. 12 “But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.”

Why did Peter run? I suggest Peter ran because he wanted more than anything to have his heart of despair taken away. He wanted more than anything to see His Savior. He wanted more than anything to know the joy of forgiveness for betraying His Master. I think Peter ran to the tomb crying in a mixture of hope and repentance. I can imagine Peter with tears streaming down his cheeks running through the streets in the early morning, praying aloud, “O God, if Jesus is truly risen I will never, ever leave Him again. If you will just forgive me I will serve Him with my life until the day I die!” I can only imagine the fervor and the passion that this news awakened in Peter.

I think Luke makes a colossal understatement when he says that Peter finding no body there, but only the linen garments, went away to his home marveling. I think as he considered the implications of the empty tomb Peter suddenly had joy where there had been nothing but despair and suddenly had hope when there had been only discouragement.

Ladies and gentlemen, I wonder how many of you today find yourself mired in despair over your denial of Christ? How many of you have denied Christ by what you have said, or by your actions, or by your lifestyle and now find yourself living in discouragement? I want you to know that the resurrection of Jesus can give you hope. I want you to know that Jesus sought Peter out before His ascension and let him realize reconciliation with God. Jesus gave Peter a new mission. And Peter went on to preach the first message after the resurrection and 3000 souls were saved that day. He went on to be the first pastor of the very first church. God had a plan for Peter. So no matter how badly you might think you have messed up, no matter how many times you may have denied Christ, you need to remember that Jesus came to save. He rose from the grave to provide reconciliation with God. And that reconciliation is available today to you as well.

Listen, God is not the God of the dead who have no hope, but of the living. Christ rose from the dead to redeem you from the captivity of sin, and set you free. Heb 2:14-16, 18, “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. … For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”

The story of the resurrection is that there is hope in Jesus Christ available for you today. That we might live no more to die in our sin, but to have life in Christ, and to have it more abundantly. I pray that today you might find the peace that comes from being right with God. Jesus is waiting. Won’t you run to Him? He will meet you and forgive you and take away your despair and leave you marveling at His grace, even as He did with Peter.

As I have alluded to many times before, Luke has an interesting way of arranging and presenting his historical account in such a way as to present an underlying allegory or symbolism that teaches a fundamental doctrine or principle of Christianity. And in today’s passage, I think we see that illustrated in the burial of Christ. The symbolism in this passage of the burial of Christ presents for us the doctrine of sanctification.

The doctrine of sanctification is one of the most essential doctrines of the gospel, but unfortunately also one of the most overlooked doctrines. Modern churches today tend to eschew teaching sanctification for fear of appearing legalistic. But I would simply remind you of what the author of Hebrews has to say about how important a doctrine it is; Heb. 12:14 says, “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”

Yet in spite of that declaration, I would dare say that the majority of people in church today would be hard pressed to be able to aptly define sanctification. I believe that this account of Jesus’ burial by Joseph of Arimathea will enable us to come to a Biblical understanding of this essential doctrine. So to that end we will look at three principles of sanctification presented in this passage; sanctification realized, sanctification symbolized, and sanctification multiplied.

First though, let’s establish the context of this account. As Jesus hung on the cross, we have seen several reactions to the crucifixion. We saw out right scorn and ridicule and hatred from various members of the crowd. But we also have seen at least two conversions; that of the thief on the cross, and the centurion. Both of these men were saved as a result of the effect of the crucifixion. However, the thief on the cross was a deathbed confession, if you will. He went to Paradise within hours of his salvation. And as to the centurion, we don’t have any more information available in scripture as to what became of him after the cross.

And there were two other groups represented there that day; the crowd which went away, returning home, lamenting the death of Jesus, and the women and acquaintances that stood afar off, watching from a distance. Now of the two latter examples, you will remember we said the crowd symbolized people who had an emotive response to the death of Christ, but they went back to their previous way of life. They were not saved, but they went away sad, without hope. And then there were the women and acquaintances that stood at a distance. You will recall that I identified these people as being disciples but wanting to stay as far away as possible from the cross and still be ok. They are examples of people today that want the assurance of Christianity, but they don’t want to get too carried away with it. Don’t let it become embarrassing. Don’t let it dominate your life. It’s what we used to call in management the 20% that will get you the 80%. Doing the least possible for the greatest possible result. That categorizes most Christians, I am afraid. Walk down the aisle, say a prayer and then you’re good to go to heaven when you die. Maybe try to come to church now and then if it doesn’t interfere with your golf game.

So that’s where we left it last time. Though we have seen some people saved, seen the thief enter into Paradise, we’ve seen nothing of sanctification. Everyone has either been just saved or saved but standing afar off or even deserting Jesus. So the Holy Spirit prompts Luke to introduce to us a new character by the name of Joseph of Arimethea as an illustration of the process of sanctification realized. That introduces the first point; sanctification realized.

Now perhaps we should start with an explanation of what sanctification is and how it fits into salvation. There are three stages to salvation. The first is justification; the act of grace, whereby God imputes to the sinner Christ’s righteousness in response to his faith. God transfers our sin to Christ and Christ’s righteousness to us. That is called justification.

The second stage of our salvation is the process of sanctification; the act of dying to sin and living for Christ. That is what is so vividly illustrated in baptism. We are buried with Christ to sin, and raised with Christ to new life in the Spirit. We are dipped under the water as a symbol of death, being buried, and raised up out of the water as symbolic of a new life in the Spirit. We die to the old man, and are raised as a new creation. Old things are passed away, all things become new. 2Cor. 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” We die to the old way of life, and start living out what we have been reckoned to be spiritually.

The third stage of our salvation is glorification. The act of being transformed from our old body to a new body at the resurrection of the dead or when Christ shall appear. This is when this fleshly body will be changed, when this mortal shall put on immortality, and we shall live forever with the Lord, when we shall see Him face to face and be made like Him, to receive our inheritance to rule with Christ.

Now those three stages of salvation must happen or there is no salvation. You can’t eliminate any one of them. For instance, you can’t eliminate glorification. Paul said in 1Cor. 15:19 “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” If there is no eternal reign with Christ, then we are of all men most to be pitied. Glorification is absolutely essential to salvation or there is no hope in this life. And the same can be said about the other two; justification and sanctification. We must first be made holy so that we can then live holy lives. One cannot exist without the other.

So as Luke comes to the end of the crucifixion, I believe he includes this account of Joseph of Arimethea in order to illustrate how sanctification is realized. Because in all the other examples we have seen here, sanctification is not evident. But as we have said, it is essential and I think he sees the burial of Christ as a perfect metaphor for what comprises sanctification.

Now in vs. 50 he introduces Joseph of Arimethea. Nothing has been known of this man before this text. And yet all the gospel writers include him in their accounts. Each of the gospel writers include something about him which helps us to get a complete picture of who this guy was. If you put them all together we understand first of all that he was rich. He donated a private tomb in a garden for the burial of Jesus. This would have been an appropriate burial site for a king or very wealthy individual. And furthermore, the gospels tell us he was a prominent member of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the 70 members of the Jewish ruling society that made up what was like the high court of Judaism. They were the ones that had conspired to put Jesus to death along with the High Priests. But what Luke and the others tell us was that Joseph did not consent with their plan of action.

But what is most significant about this man was as Luke said he was a good and righteous man who was waiting for the kingdom of God. Luke says good in the sense of spiritual goodness, and righteous – “dikaios”, the same exact word used in verse 47 of Christ. “Certainly this Man was righteous.” Jesus was righteous and Joseph was righteous. Jesus was righteous by nature, and Joseph was righteous by grace. We don’t know when it happened, but it was the same righteousness. If you’re righteous, you have the same righteousness as Christ does. That’s what Paul says in Philippians 3:9, “not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.” So, Joseph is righteous as Jesus is righteous, only in Joseph’s case it’s a gift of grace. Joseph has been justified by faith through grace.

But there is a caveat that John adds in his gospel. He says in John 19:36 that though Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, he was a secret one, for fear of the Jews. Joseph may have been justified, but he was still holding back in his discipleship. He was following from afar. He might even have been at the cross with those women, those acquaintances that stood afar off at the crucifixion. He feared the Jews, that would be the Sanhedrin. He was afraid of being ostracized. Like a lot of Christians, he wasn’t open about his faith at his work. He was afraid of what it might cost him. He didn’t want to be seen associating with Jesus openly, because it might cost him politically, or socially, or economically.

But there is something that happens to this man as he witnesses the crucifixion of Christ. When so many others abandoned Jesus in this hour, this man found himself drawn there by the sovereignty of God. And as he witnessed the death of Christ I think he was convicted by the Holy Spirit. As he saw Jesus die on the cross, it prompted him to ask himself if he was willing to die for his faith as well. Not necessarily to die on the cross, but to die to the fear of criticism, die to the fear of losing prestige, power and social standing, to die to the allure of the world.

I don’t know what it is, but there is something about a person that goes bravely to their death that sometimes serves as a catalyst for those that are holding back in their faith. If you read Fox’s Book of Martyrs there are several documented examples of people witnessing the execution of a Christian who came to the knowledge of saving faith in that moment, and then take their place alongside the victim to be burned at the stake as well. They were inspired by the commitment of the martyr.

Somehow, as Joseph witnessed the courage of Christ on the cross, the compassion of Christ for His enemies, and the conquest of Christ in His victory cry, “Tetelestai!” “It is finished!” He was moved to a realization of his need for a greater consecration of his faith in his own life.   Mark says that immediately upon the death of Christ, Joseph mustered up his courage and went to see Pilate to ask for Jesus’ body. That was a greater act of courage than what we might imagine. Undoubtedly he met some of his colleagues there from the Sanhedrin who had just been asking Pilate to break the victims legs so that they would not hang there on the Passover. His courage to walk into Pilate’s praetorium meant an end to the secrecy of his discipleship, and probably meant an end to his position as a judge in the Sanhedrin as well. And not only that, but he had to identify himself as a friend of Jesus to the Roman governor, the very man who had sentenced Jesus to death.

So not only does he identify with Jesus life and teaching, but he identifies with His death. And I think this is the picture that Luke wants us to see. The way of sanctification is the way of death. Dying to the world. Dying to whatever it is that separates us from Christ. Col. 3:3 says, “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Therefore, Paul says in vs. 5, “consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.” Joseph realized that only by dying to the world could he gain the sanctification that comes from following in Christ’s footsteps and so he courageously stepped out in faith and asked for the body of Christ. And what we can take from his example is that sometimes the process of sanctification can take a while. That’s why we call it a process of sanctification. There may be times when there seems to be little evidence for a person’s salvation. But if God is in them, then there will come a time when God moves them to a greater consecration of their lives.

Then look at vs. 53 and we see sanctification symbolized. “And [Joseph] took it down [that is the body of Jesus] and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain.” I want you to think about the physical act of Jesus dying for a moment. Picture Jesus hanging there on the cross. Around 3pm He cried out, “Father, into your hands I commit My Spirit.” And he breathed His last. Jesus died. His last breath went out like a sigh and He was dead. His lifeless bloody body hung there by nails. Just try to imagine that for a moment. The Son of God, lifeless, dead, hanging there. A corpse on a cross.

What a tragic, horrible picture. It would be the saddest picture that ever existed except for one thing: Jesus wasn’t there anymore. Look back in the text at what He said, “Into your hands I commit My Spirit.” He released His Spirit from His body. What was hanging there was the flesh and blood that once clothed that Spirit, but Christ’s Spirit was alive and in Paradise. 1Peter 3:18-20 says, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.” What Peter is talking about is that immediately upon His death, just as Jesus told the thief on the cross, His Spirit was in Paradise.

Paradise was described by Jesus at an earlier time as Abraham’s bosom, the place where Lazarus went after dying to be comforted with his people, even as his master, the rich man was sent to Hades. And Jesus related how there was a great chasm between the two destinies. Some think that Paradise is the upper chamber and Hades the lower chamber, and that somehow in this spirit world they are able to communicate and observe, but they cannot cross over. Peter says though Jesus’ body was hanging upon that cross, and then laid in a tomb, yet in His Spirit He was alive and He went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison. Jude says specifically that these spirits were the disobedient angels that were bound in the lower dungeons of hell until the judgment day. Jesus went and proclaimed victory over sin and death to these fallen heavenly hosts. Col. 2:15 says, “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”

There is much that we could say of Jesus in the lower regions of the earth but I cannot take the time to discuss it all today. But I want you to consider the symbolism of His burial. And one thing that is touching on our discussion of sanctification is the picture of Jesus being dead in the flesh, and being made alive in the Spirit. That is the picture of sanctification. When we enter into the process of sanctification, we consider our bodies as dead, voluntarily crucifying our flesh and it’s passions, so that we might be made alive in the Spirit to walk in the Spirit.

When you are born again, the Holy Spirit is given to you in full measure. So there is no process of getting more of the Holy Spirit. We don’t need to seek what some call a second baptism. Because the very nature of salvation is that we are baptized with Christ into death. 1Pet. 3:21 “Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you–not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience–through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Peter’s not saying water baptism saves you. He makes that clear. But it is a reference to the mortification of the flesh as we appeal to God for forgiveness of sins.

So the way to a sanctified life in the Spirit is not to get more of the Spirit, but to crucify more of the flesh. Scripture speaks of that crucifying of our flesh as either circumcision or baptism. In Col. 2:11-14 Paul uses both metaphorically; “and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” Sanctification then is the putting to death the deeds of the flesh so that we might live in the Spirit and do the deeds of the Spirit.

Note also vs. 54, “It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.” It is noteworthy that God planned it so that Jesus body was in the tomb on the Sabbath Day. This is a pivotal point in the gospel. It is the last day under the old covenant, and so you see everyone trying to make all these preparations for the Sabbath so that they don’t do any work on it. Technically the Sabbath started at sundown on Friday evening. And so they are all working to get Jesus off the cross and buried and then get home before sundown so they don’t break the Sabbath. But look at what Jesus is doing. His body, which represents the old man under the first covenant, is dead in the tomb, resting. His body is keeping the last Sabbath under the law. But in the Spirit Christ is alive and moving. He is about the Father’s business. He is the perfect picture of dying to the flesh and being alive in the Spirit.

It reminds me of John 5, when Jesus was accused of breaking the Sabbath because He was healing on the Sabbath, and Jesus answered them, ““My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” The principle of the Sabbath as a day of rest is this; the rest that is found in Christ is resting in the finished work of Christ for our justification, and resting in the power of Christ working in us for our sanctification, and resting in the hope of resurrection for our glorification. It’s not that we don’t keep the moral laws of God anymore. We never could. But now the law of God is written on our hearts and on our minds so that our desire is to please God, so we keep His commandments not because of the law but because of love. Jesus said, “if you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

Heb 4:9-11 says, “So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.” Our Sabbath rest is found in diligent obedience to the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God convicts us and leads us through the Word of God. Vs. 12 continues to that effect, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Finally, one more point; sanctification multiplied. Besides the obvious benefit of sanctification to the one being sanctified, there is another benefit and that is to the people to whom you influence by your consecration. We already saw that multiplication effect on Joseph as he witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus which was the ultimate act of sanctification. But now Joseph as well multiplies that effect by influencing others through his sanctification. One person in particular is of special note, but we have to look elsewhere to see it. John 19:39-40 “Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.”

You remember Nicodemus in John chapter 3 who came to Jesus by night, secretly, so as not to be seen, to enquire of Jesus the way of salvation. And though John did not indicate in chapter 3 that Nicodemus was saved on that occasion, yet obviously he was later converted. John also said he was a ruler of the Jews. That would have most likely made him a member of the Sanhedrin as well. I cannot help but imagine that these two men were companions in their secret discipleship. And now that Joseph has bravely come forward to claim Jesus’ body, Nicodemus is also inspired to join him in preparing Jesus body.

And notice also the women that follow them to the tomb and watch their preparations of His body and where they laid Him. They go back home to prepare more spices for His embalming that they will do on Sunday morning after the Sabbath. I believe the devotion of Joseph and Nicodemus were an encouragement to these women as well as they see them take a bold stand for Christ.

And folks, I would just offer their example to you today as an encouragement as well. If our goal is to see the kingdom of God multiplied on the earth then we need to see some men and women come out of the shadows and make a public stand for Christ. The best way to be a testimony for the gospel is to live a sanctified life as an example to others. Let me warn you though it’s not going to come without a cost. These men put their lives, their careers and their finances on the line for the sake of the kingdom of God. They took their eyes off the reward of the world and were looking for the reward in the kingdom of God. The sacrifices of their careers, the sacrifice of their positions in society, the myrrh and spices that they bought, the linen wrappings and the tomb in a garden that no man had ever been laid all came with great price. But if it were possible to question these men today even in their rest in Paradise if the reward of a sanctified life were worth it, I’m sure that they would say it was worth it all.

In Hebrews 11 we see several OT saints lifted up as examples of sanctification for us to follow. Heb. 11:24-26 identifies one of the most famous, “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.”

I pray that the death of Christ will have a similar impact on your life even as it was on the life of Joseph of Arimathea. Maybe you have been saved at some point of your life, but you have languished in your zeal for the Lord. Maybe you have been embarrassed to take a stand as a Christian. Maybe you have been too attached to the things of this world. I pray that today you will consider the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and the example of the saints that have gone before us and decide that starting today by the grace of God you are going to renounce the world and consider the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasure of this world. To take up your cross and follow Jesus, no matter what the cost.

In closing, I would like to read to you chapter 12 of Hebrews which exhorts us to live a life of sanctification. Heb. 12:1-14 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.” It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”