R881 The Soul Of The New Testament Church, PT.1

We all could use some encouragement, and we'll find it together today in the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton about the soul of the Church. We're so grateful to have this time to study God's Word together in this two-part series today and tomorrow about the soul of the New Testament Church. And as we open God's Word together, I pray that you would know that this is so much more than just a presentation, as Dr. Don would say.

It's a conversation. We'd love to hear from you, pray with you and for you, maybe connect with resources that will help you grow like the daily Encouraging Word Bible Guide. All of those resources are online at www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org, or our phone number, 866-899-WORD.

Jot it down, store it in your cell, 866-899-9673. Now today's message with Dr. Don Wilton. The Encouraging Word Experiencing God is a course. It's a program.

I really don't like that word, but it's a study. And when you begin to experience God, you begin to understand afresh that He speaks to us and He does things for us that not only lost a lifetime, but radically change us forever. And the whole basic premise of experiencing God is the fact that God reveals Himself to us.

We have great difficulty at that point because being the kind of people that we are, we want to look around and decide exactly what it is that we want to do, because all of us want to do it in the ways that we best think things ought to be done. And so we look around and we pray and we come together as churches and we bring our own brand as it were to the table. And then we look around and we say, now, God, wherever you are and we believe in you and we love you, come on down, come and join us.

We want you to be involved in what we are doing. And we've come to discover that God doesn't operate like that. In fact, that's the very opposite of what the Lord Jesus Christ teaches us in His Word. Here's exactly what happens according to God's Word. Our responsibility is to get on our faces to study God's Word, to come together in fellowship and to consult with God, to allow His Spirit to speak to us and reveal Himself to us in terms of His action because He's acting.

God is doing amazing things and His amazing grace is too amazing for words. And then we turn to Him and we say, Lord, would you allow us to join you? At which point the Lord Jesus Christ says, come on up.

Come and join me. Now we're presented with a crisis of belief because when God shows us what we need to do, oftentimes what it is that He shows us to do threatens our own human nature. It may be somewhat uncomfortable. It may be too demanding, may be excessive in expectation. Maybe if we're going to do what God wants us to do where God is, we've got to lay aside an agenda. Perhaps we've got to open our hands and let go. And sometimes we've got to change an attitude. Sometimes even we've got to look at one another and lay aside the things that we've done so well and we look into the face of God and say, but God, we've never done it that way before. And so we go through a crisis of belief and God looks into our hearts and He says, I require one thing from you, obedience.

And in order to be obedient, you may of need and necessity have to adjust yourself, adjust your behavior. I don't need to adjust, God tells us. God doesn't need to adjust because He's God, He's in charge.

We're the ones that need to adjust. And so the Lord gives us an opportunity to adjust, to sit in a different seat, put on a different set of clothes, to visit a different place, to stand up instead of sitting down, to sit down instead of standing up. But God speaks to us and we adjust ourselves and we end up joining God where God is, being our experience. And I want to assure you with all of my heart that when you adjust your behavior and what you're doing and you meet God on God's terms, you're in the greatest place to be.

And the Lord will bless you and He'll fill your cup to overflowing. Something happened to me that hadn't happened really in reality in my ministry. I came into this worship service at eight o'clock, the early service, and I was speechless. I didn't know what to say. I had something planned, but God wouldn't let me say what I had planned.

And so I had to make an adjustment. The Lord took me to a passage of Scripture and God has been speaking to my heart. I want to speak to you about the soul of the New Testament church, the soul of the New Testament church. And I want to say to you, my dear friends, that there is a battle going on in America today for the soul of the New Testament church. There are all over our region, there are wonderful New Testament churches. And God has something to say about the gathering of God's people.

Whether you are here, whether you're in Brisbane, Australia, whether you're in Johannesburg, South Africa, London, England, Chicago, or Spartanburg. God has given to us the blueprint, the foundation of what He has determined in regards to the New Testament church. And so it is, I'm going to invite you to open your Bibles this morning to the book of Acts and chapter 4, the fourth chapter in the book of Acts, right here at the beginnings of the New Testament church. Do you know that every time the Supreme Court gathers, in essence, and if all the attorneys at law will forgive me for my simplicity, in essence, the Supreme Court of the United States of America is charged with the responsibility of making certain that we the people conduct our affairs according to the Constitution of the United States of America, regardless of what we think about it.

That's the charge to the Supreme Court is that we would be governed by the Constitution of the people. When it comes to the church, our sole means of governance is the Word of God, God's authority. And folks, we've got some unbelievable work to do. And I'm going to say one more thing before I read this passage. I'm going to share with you 10 distinctives of the New Testament church from the Word of God. And by God's grace, I'm going to try to share with you how to put feet on some of these distinctives. How do they translate in the practical reality of a body of believers such as this? What does it mean?

How do we do this? I also want to say this to you, that I've come to the conclusion and I trust in a correct way as I think about our time today and the things that God has given us to do, I'm going to tell you to the glory of God and with gratitude in my heart, that I believe that all 10 of these distinctives are evident, are real, are alive, and are functioning in this body called First Baptist Church. Now, I want to tell you that right up front. I commend you because I believe that in regards to these 10 pillars, these 10 distinctives, that all 10 of these are manifoldly evident, are functional. But I saw some heads come up when I said that. But I believe, my friends, that we've got a great deal of work to do. And I do not believe that everybody is operating in their realm of response to God, the way God is telling us to do. And I do believe that to whom much is given, much is required. And we are not reaching the height that God has set before us.

And we are still holding on. And there are many areas in our lives as individuals and in our ministry that we are not pleasing the Lord and conforming to His standard. So whilst on the one hand, I'm going to tell you that I love the Lord Jesus Christ. And He's my personal Savior.

I also want to make an announcement. I am a forgiven man. I want to hasten to tell you that I am a sinner.

I've got a long way to go, folks. And I regularly grieve the heart of God. And I desperately want to please the Lord in my life. And so in Acts chapter 4 and verse 23, the Bible says, On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. Sovereign Lord, they said, you made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our Father David, saying, Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His anointed one. Indeed, Herod and Pontius Pilate met together, did they not, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this very city to conspire against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.

Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant, Jesus. After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. All believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power, the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.

There were no needy persons among them. From time to time, those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. For example, Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas, which means son of encouragement. Joseph went and sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet. And they gave it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to those who had need. Great joy came upon the people, blessings abounded, people came to know Christ. The Lord added daily to the church such as should be saved. Revival came upon that place, and God instituted the New Testament church. Exciting to hear and to study the New Testament church and its nexus, its beginning, its genesis, so to speak. We'll be back with more in Acts 4 in just a moment, but Dr. Don wants me to remind you, we are here for you to encourage you one on one. We'd love to talk with you, pray with you. Our phone number is 866-899-WORD, and that connects with one of us 24 hours a day, happy to talk or listen or pray or connect with great resources like that wonderful Daniel.

The man of courage that Daniel was has been an inspiration for centuries to all of us, but he can be an inspiration to you and me as we live out our life today. If you're interested in that particular resource, you'll find more details on our website at TEWonline.org. Matter of fact, it's the place for all of our resources, TEWonline.org.

We'd love to connect with you. Now let's dive back into today's message, The Soul of the New Testament Church with Dr. Don Wilson. The question is, where do we go from here? If we believe in the power of the gospel to transform the lives of people, and we believe that to whom much is given, much is required, upon which foundation do we stand? What is the soul of the New Testament Church? Where is God acting?

What does He want us to do? How must we adjust in order to meet Him where He is? I want to share with you these 10 distinctives that are all huge points in and of themselves.

Might get through one to today. Number one, number one, the soul of the New Testament Church lies at the heart of the leadership distinctive. I want to talk to you this morning, my beloved friends, about the leadership distinctive. When you come here into verse 23 of Acts chapter 4, indeed right throughout the institution of the New Testament Church, time without number, God's going to bring you back to the leadership distinctive, because that's the way God has always done His work. God has always raised up people. God has always called upon people to stand up and to be counted. And when we find ourselves in Acts chapter 4 and verse 23, contextually, when we begin to understand this passage, and you go back and you read at the beginning of Acts chapter 4, how that God came and God did an incredible thing through these leaders and made a pronouncement that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And in Acts chapter 4, the Bible says that people didn't like what they heard. And so these leaders, they stood up and they boldly proclaimed through Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the dead. They focused everything that they had on the main thing, which is Jesus Christ. And the more they spoke about Jesus Christ, the more the people out there in the community at large began to become uncomfortable. And so in this context, they even went and arrested Peter and John and they threw them in jail. We know the rest of the story, how time without number, Peter and John were flogged and they were beaten up and cussed at. They were outcast and thrown out. They were spat upon, they became despised and yet with power from the Spirit of God, speaking with boldness the Word of God, they stood up and they proclaimed the power of the gospel through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

The Bible says after their release, they did three things, rather somewhat interesting. Number one, they went back, you got it, they went back. I'm gonna submit to you today, my beloved friends, that when Jesus instituted the New Testament church, he made a declaration concerning the suffering of Jesus Christ and he called upon men and women and boys and girls and young people on our campuses to stand up and to boldly proclaim the power of the resurrection in Jesus Christ, even if it means that you will be arrested and cast into jail and that when you are maligned and mistreated and outcast, that you'll go back to the people, that you'll go back to the people. They not only went back, but they reported to the people.

Folks, leadership that's not willing to stand up, be willing to be arrested for the cause of Christ and then is not willing to go back to the people and not just simply whimper into the company of the people around about them, but to go back with a report. These men, my friends, did not resort to silence. They stood up and they spoke out.

They gave a report. And number three, they joined in with the people. The leaders were in the company of the committed. They became one with the body of Christ. They stood up and proclaimed Jesus Christ. They went back to the people.

They made a verbal report. And as a result of that, the people rose up and the leaders became fused and one with them as they gave praise and glory to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's a picture of the leadership distinctive in the local New Testament church. I've got good news from deacons to Sunday school teachers, to teachers, to people who lead discipleship groups, to mission groups. I see the leadership distinctive. I see it everywhere, numbering in the hundreds. But where are you?

Where are you? There are not enough. Leadership, my friend, is not leadership without a willingness to stand up and be counted. Leadership in the local church is not good enough in the eyes of God if it's not willing to take a report back to the people. Leadership according to God's standard of who is the cornerstone of the local New Testament church is a leadership that's willing to testify.

It's a leadership that's willing to join arms and to do and to be part of all that God is doing. Just by accident, I got into a conversation with three of my brothers, three men. How this came up, I don't know. Just kind of people talking, you know? We got onto the subject of our young people. I tell you what, folks, I have a renewed sense of gratitude for all our people, but very especially for our young people. And I tell you, yes, I am proud of our young people, but folks, let me tell you something, what's happening to our young people.

There is a battle for the soul of our young people in America today. Do you know that back in the 60s and 50s and 40s and 30s, now I've got to make something very clear, folks. There were some pretty bad people back in those days. Don't let anybody come back and tell you, well, you know, everything back there in my day was just perfect and everybody was wonderful and nobody ever did anything wrong, because that's not true.

Young people, if you're watching me right now, please, you need to understand, there were a lot of people that messed up just the same as they do today, but there are some differences. There are some differences. Dr. Evans Whittaker, President of Anderson University in Anderson, South Carolina, one of our fine, fine universities, made a statement the other day. He said that their research has led them to conclude that on Anderson University campus, there are over 1 million hits on the internet per day, just on the campus of Anderson University. That's just one campus with 2000 students. I'm not talking about Clemson and Carolina and all these massive institutions. Just imagine when there's 20, 30, 40,000 students, just on one campus, there are over 1 million hits on the internet per day on the campus of Anderson University.

Here's the bottom line. With the availability of internet pornography today, how many of those hits on pornographic websites? It's been a powerful start to the soul of a New Testament church. And perhaps as Dr. Don's been talking about, even that staggering statistic about online pornography, online, the joy of being online is that there is, like life, both wonderful resources and tragic things to go down the wrong path. If you've not been to TEWonline.org, then you may be missing out on something that can encourage you, that can strengthen your walk in Christ and strengthen our resolve as followers of Jesus Christ to avoid any and everything that would take us away from focusing on who Jesus is and how much he loves you. I pray you realize that this broadcast is here because God wants you to know that he loves you and has a plan for your life. Before we get away, would you take a moment and open your heart to what Dr. Don wants to share in the studio with us next? Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ?

I'm so happy to hear that. Why don't you pray this prayer with me today? Dear God, I know that you love me very, very much, and I know that the Lord Jesus Christ came and died on a cross so that I might be forgiven of my sin. Today, I repent of my sin. I confess my sin to you, and I invite you to come into my heart and into my life by faith. In Jesus' name I pray. If you've prayed that prayer, let me be the first one to welcome you to the family of God.

This is wonderful. I hope that you know how much I'm gonna be praying for you and how very important this is for me. Call us so that we can talk to you and connect you in the right place so you can begin this wonderful journey. I pray that this has been a life-changing day for you. Some of you, I know, have given your life to Jesus Christ.

Some have come home to Christ and rededicated your life, and either way, we would love to put resources in your hands. We'd love to pray with you, pray for you at 866-899-WORD. That's the number to call. I pray that you've already jotted it down, stored it in your cell because we're available 24 hours a day to pray with you and for you, and today, if you've given your life to Christ or rededicated your life, let us put these resources Dr. Wilton has prepared for you in your hands. 866-899-9673, that's the number to call, or meet us online at T-E-W online dot O-R-G. As a matter of fact, right now, we have a wonderful resource.

Here's Liz with all the details. Have you been praying about how you can make a difference in the world? We would love to have you join us by becoming an Encourager ministry partner.

Call us at 866-899-WORD to request an Encourager brochure today. There is no greater gift that you can give than to help spread the gospel. Together, we can do much to impact the world for Jesus Christ. Make a commitment to help spread the gospel in 2020. The Encouraging Word is a viewer and listener-supported ministry. Thank you for listening today. As we wrap up today's broadcast, I wanna remind you we're continuing this part two of The Soul of the New Testament Church with Dr. Don Wilton at the same time tomorrow. I pray that you would encourage someone to join you and listen online or listen on the radio as you're gathering this insight from Acts chapter four with Dr. Don Wilton. Between now and then, let's stay connected at T-E-W online dot O-R-G. That's T-E-W online dot O-R-G. The Encouraging Word.