The Church Confronts the World (Part 2 of 2)

When the Apostle Paul proclaimed the Gospel, he spoke with passion, with authoritative conviction, even to the point where he risked his own life. His bold approach to proclaiming God's Word set a high standard. So how can we, who are a part of today's church, measure up? Alistair Begg continues his message today on Truth for Life.

We're in Acts chapter 24, verse 25. Let's look at his three-point message. Point number one, he starts into it, righteousness!

Righteousness! Secondly, we're in no doubt about his second point. He then dealt with the issue of self-control. And then, thirdly, he went on to address the issue of judgment.

Now, don't let's forget what I said as a thesis at the beginning. What I'm suggesting in here in these verses is that we have in this a paradigm—not the paradigm, not the exclusive model but a model—as to how the church is to confront the world. Therefore, if you like, a model as to how we are to preach. Not the model, a model.

And I might add, a very necessary model in the current climate. So he spoke of judgment. Maybe he went back to Psalm 1, verse 5. The wicked will not stand in the judgment, Felix, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

Maybe to Psalm 9, the Lord reigns forever. He has established his throne for judgment. Mr. Happy, you think you're on the throne? Mr. Happy, you think you're gonna decide my case? I've got news for you, Mr. Happy.

It's time you got sad! In fact, you're never gonna be what your name is until you realize that you're not what your name is. Here is my message about faith in Jesus Christ. This was not, Come to Jesus Christ. This was not, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.

This was didactic. This was to the heart and the will through the mind. We cannot ask people to come to Christ till first we tell them who Christ is and why they need to come to him. And that's what he was doing, you see. We can have these clever little messages about faith in Jesus Christ, and nothing happens, because we are not penetrating the armor of a secular world.

They're asking questions that we're not even answering. See? So when he addresses them, very clear, my first point is righteousness, my second point is self-control, and my third point is a coming judgment. What a sermon! What a jolly sermon, eh?

Huh? Now, if we had him for a moment, I'd say to him, I'd say, Paul, when did you ever learn to preach like that? I mean, who modeled this to you? I was thinking this myself, actually.

This is how I came up with this line of reasoning. You know what I think he would have said? I think he would have said, Well, I had it burned into my soul in the desert, but the first time I ever remember being encountered by this was on the day I played the role of the cloakroom attendant. On the day that I played the role of saying, Guys, put your coats here. They'll be here when you come back. When I said, Men, drop your jackets here.

You want to be able to get a full backswing when you unleash those bricks. It was on that day, Paul would have said, that for the first time with clarity, I heard a man speak powerfully of righteousness, the unfolding purpose of God in all of history. I saw a man who in himself displayed manifestly the evidences of a self-control which was frankly beyond human understanding. I saw him kneel down and lift his eyes up to heaven, and he said that he saw the Son of Man in heaven, and he lent himself to the blows which followed. And I heard him, before they beat him to bits, say, You stiff necked generation, you're just like your forefathers.

That's where I learned to preach like that, he says, Stephen. Well, I said to him, Hey, Paul, you sure you really want that model? They didn't really like it, did they, Paul? I mean, that didn't go over big. He didn't get invited back!

You're not going to! In fact, Luke records for us—and listen to this—when Stephen finished his message. Quote—you find this in Acts 8? 7. Thanks. No, it's 8 in my Bible.

No, just a joke. I love these versions, you know. This is what it says.

They covered their ears, and yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city, and began to stone him. Now, I don't know about you, but I've had some bad Sundays. But I haven't come close to this. Now, here, that's all the backdrop. Here we go. With this fresh in our minds, here is the question I want to pose. If this is a justifiable paradigm and model, since it is apostolic practice and precept, question, is this the approach of the church? The answer to that, if we're honest, is this—that by and large, what we are doing is so far removed from this model as to be downright shameful.

Now, let's go through it. Motivation methodology and message, and just see if there is any truth in this notion. First of all, motivation. What is our motivation?

Is it 2 Corinthians 5.11? Knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men. In other words, we know ourselves to have been given up to the task of persuasion, and we're unequivocal about being persuaders. We are shut up to it. We would not choose it. We do not think ourselves equipped for it.

We shun it at every opportunity, but we are driven back to it. We are put in the position of persuaders. But the fact is, persuasion is unfashionable. You shouldn't persuade people at this point in history. After all, we're told everyone has their ideas, everyone has their space, and who are we to invade their space?

And that, of course, seems perfectly reasonable. You listen to that for long enough, you begin to believe that. So what then will make us persuaders in a world that is not remotely interested in persuasion? The fear of the Lord. We don't persuade, because we don't know the fear of the Lord. You see, how could John Knox go head to head with Mary Queen of Scots, who eventually got her head chopped off? Because it was said of John Knox that he feared God so much that he never feared the face of any man or woman.

He was driven from inside. Now, we have to go back to the Reformers and to the Puritans to understand the fear of God, which we don't have time to do this morning. But let me pique your interest and send you out with a wee bit of homework. One of the members of your congregation comes to you and says, Pastor, can you tell me the difference between servile and filial fear? What do you say? Because if you and I don't know the difference between servile and filial fear, we may want to go in and change the hymnbooks the way others have done to get rid of any notion of the fear of God, because we have been so swatted into the idea that this is nowhere in the life of a Christian. When, in point of fact, it is the beginning of wisdom, it's a motivating factor in evangelism, it drove Paul, and the question is, does it drive us? Methodology. What was his motivation? Knowing the fear of the Lord, I persuade men.

What was his methodology? He preached. Sangster, at the end of the century in Britain, the great Methodist preacher, said, preaching is in the shadows, the world does not believe in it. At the end of the 20th century, I think we ought to change that and say, preaching is in the shadows, the church does not believe in it. People say, you surely don't expect people who live in a world of mass communications to sit and listen to proclamation? You're not going to tell me you believe anymore that through the authoritative proclamation of the Word of God, lives will be changed, families will be restored, communities will be transformed, and societies will be energized for God. Or was that only the eighteenth-century revival? You cannot find an outpouring of the Spirit of God at any point in the history of the church that is not directly related to authoritative preaching of the Word of God. And the methodology of the apostles is the methodology for all time, irrespective of changing circumstances and the nuances of public life. But I put it to you this morning, men, that that sounds so crazy that we're not sure.

Why is it? Well, if we had time to camp on it, we could talk about the fact that there is a loss of belief in the authority and sufficiency of Scripture. We're not talking about liberal scholarship now. We're talking about conservative evangelical scholars who have lost their confidence in the Bible. And you can tell we've lost our confidence in the Bible, because we don't rely upon the Bible to be the sword of the Spirit, to pierce the armor of the sinner, and to bring them to faith in Jesus Christ.

Okay? Alongside of that, preaching is in the shadows, not simply, I believe, because of a loss of authority in the sufficiency of Scripture, but also because a shift in the belief free the problem of man. That the notion is out from pillar to post, from seminary to pulpit, from pew to couch, the Word is out.

Man's real dilemma is that he is lacking self-esteem. It therefore follows that what is required is not the preaching of the law to bring him to conviction of sin, but is a kind of preaching that tells him, okay. The kind of preaching that allows us to produce a book on the Ten Commandments, which hits the stores under the title, Believe in a God Who Believes in You. Now, how can you get that out of the Ten Commandments?

I tell you how you can get it. By growing soft on the authority of Scripture and growing hot on a spurious belief of the condition of man. Brethren, I say to you, I put it to you this morning, that there will not be in many of our communities, churches, a decade from now, there will not be a quarter of a century from now, if Jesus Christ does not return, unless God comes and lights a fire in the hearts and minds of men, like you and I, concerning the authority and the sufficiency of God's holy Word.

It is attacked on every front and so subtly that most of us are blinded to the implications of what's going on. So consequently, our preaching creates passivity in the minds of our congregations. Congregations don't come expecting to hear from God. They don't come largely into our buildings to sit down and to pay attention and to listen for God's Word.

They come in to sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight. And if there's something that rang their bell, then that's good, and if there isn't, then they can always move to another church. But the expectation level is so low. We're partly responsible for that, because we don't stay on our bottoms long enough during the week or on our knees long enough during the week to have something that is worth saying to people who have got hungry souls. Neil Postman, in his book Amusing Ourselves to Death, speaking admittedly of television evangelism preaching, he says there are certain laws that you cannot violate if you want to speak to a twentieth-century audience. Law number one, thou shalt have no prerequisites. People don't like to be told that they're supposed to do stuff, so don't do that to them. Secondly, he says, thou shalt induce no perplexity. Life is tough. They don't want to be troubled by you.

They didn't come here to feel bad. And thirdly, he says, thou shalt avoid exposition like the ten plagues of Egypt. Okay? So whatever you do, don't induce perplexity. Whatever you do, don't tell people that there are demands. And whatever you do, don't fall into the foul trap of believing that taking this book and going through it verse by verse and chapter by chapter is the power of God unto salvation that transforms people, builds up the church, and sets it on his feet in evangelism. What about the message? The motivation? The methodology preaching? The message? Well, let me ask you, when's the last time you heard a three-point sermon on righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment?

I'm being serious. When's the last time you or I preached one? When's the last time we even considered preaching one? So much of what passes for biblical preaching appeals to man's natural affections. It offers the benefits of the gospel without ever showing man his need of a Savior.

Consequently, that kind of preaching demands no conviction of sin in order to be responded to. Therefore, all you do is you hold it out. Jesus Christ is the real thing, Coca-Cola is the real thing, and something else is the real thing, and we'd like you to have the real thing. And after all, don't you need the real thing? Yeah, give me the real thing, baby. Then they can go out and go, I got the right one, baby. Aha, aha.

Okay? But they never were confronted by sin or the need for repentance and faith and trust and everything else. They just came in, and somebody said that there's a way here to fill out the gaps in your life. I ask you, man, is that the apostolic preaching of the cross? Is that the proclamation of the gospel?

Paul's approach was Peter's approach. I did an interesting thing in preparation for this message. I went through the Acts of the Apostles.

I put two columns down on a sheet of paper. At the top of one column, I wrote miracles and signs. At the top of the other column, I wrote preaching. And I wrote down the reaction to every time a miracle was done and every time somebody preached. The reaction to the miracles is words like wonder, amazement, interest, etc.

The reaction to preaching is real bad stuff that reaches its high point with them rushing Stephen down the hill and beating his brains out. And since you and I live in a success syndrome and we've got to go home and eat lunch every Sunday, we love the kind of kudos that comes from people saying, Oh, that was lovely. That was lovely. Oh, it might be lovely.

It might be lovely for a generation, and our churches might be a carpet sale room. Jesus had the same approach. Yeah, he started with a glass of water.

That's right. We don't want to again say that. Can I have a glass of water, please? Can I have a drink of water?

Who are you? A man asking me for a woman for water? A Jew asking a Samaritan? Where was he heading? He was heading to verse 18. Excuse me?

You've got five husbands, and the man you're living with now is not your husband. I believe that the great lack in our day is the lack of a prophetic voice. I'm not speaking in charismatic terms. I'm talking about the raising up of men within the pulpits of this great nation, who will bring the Word of God to bear upon the lives of men and women with a passionate, authoritative conviction, who will be prepared to stand up in the midst of a world of business people and say, Let not the rich man boast in his riches, or the strong man boast in his strength, or the wise man boast in his wisdom.

You think your bodies and your brains and your bucks are the key to your life? Let me tell you something. Let him who boasts boast in this, that he knows him, the living God. We've got to check our weaponry. We've got the commanding officer, Jesus. He gave out the weapons. Who said we could lay them down? He gave the weapons.

We're supposed to use them, right? You don't choose your own stuff. You get the uniform he gives it. You get the marching orders he gives them. He's the captain.

He's the commander. He says what we do. He gave the weapons, the weapons that Paul was referring to in 2 Corinthians 10. He says, For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. I don't believe the church can say that. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. I don't believe the church can say that. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. I don't believe we can say that, because we're not doing it.

And so when we lay down weapons, recognizing that we still have to fight, we'll have to take up other weapons. The church today is politicized, psychologized, pragmatized, and trivialized. We're a sideshow. We're an absolute sideshow as the world goes by. And don't ever forget it.

I don't care how big our church is. We're a sideshow. And in a quest for professionalization and actualization, we're in great danger—I am in great danger—of giving up the one thing that gives me a raison d'être, this book and the Christ of this book. That's it.

I got nothing else. Now, let me say this in conclusion. Some of you are sitting out there, you're saying, You know what? This guy should have stayed in Scotland.

He is completely out to lunch. If he had wanted to be a raving prophet, he should have gone down to England or something, but he doesn't need to come over here. Alistair, you've been reading far too many old books. This stuff that you're pronouncing this morning was okay for the apostle Paul in his day, because after all, in Paul's day, people could cope with that kind of stuff. You want me to believe that, do you? You want to tell me that when Paul preached righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment to Felix and Drusilla, it was a real palatable message for them, and they said, Hey, give me more, give me more, give me more, more, more, you know?

Absolutely not, and let me tell you why, and with this I conclude. Do any historical research on this guy Felix Mr. Happy, and you'll find out that he was born a twin. His brother was called Pallas. They were born into a slave family. The historical writers say that they dragged themselves up from the dirt into the limelight. And it was said by secular historians of Felix that with savagery and with lust, he exercised the powers of a king with the disposition of a slave. Admittedly, he had financial security, he had power, he had status, and he had a good-looking woman on his arm. However, the woman that he had on his arm, he had seduced away from her original husband with the help of a Cyprian magician called Simon, and he was sitting in an adulterous relationship when they called Paul up to give his little sermon.

And Paul comes up and does a kind of Ray Stevens on them. Itemize the things you covet as you squander through your life. Better cars, bigger houses, term insurance on your wife. Choose the evenings with your harlot, and on Wednesdays it's your charlatan. Your analyst is high up on your list. You'd better take care of business, Mr.

Businessman. That's what he does to him. You think that was palatable? You get your head chopped off for stuff like that. And what about Drusilla, the raving beauty?

Let me tell you this. Her father killed the brother of Jesus, James. Her great-uncle killed John the Baptist. And her great-grandfather was responsible for the slaughter of the innocents in Bethlehem at the time of the birth of Jesus Christ. And to Drusilla, he preached self-control and the coming judgment.

That's guts. Felix never became happy, according to the record. Never found the happiness that his name described. And in AD 79, secular history records that Drusilla went with her son to Pompeii. Fashionable resort at that time. It was gala night.

Banqueting, dancing, she was, as you would imagine, beautifully adorned, and with her son, enjoying all that life had to offer. No time now for that crazy little Jewish man with that righteousness, self-control, and judgment to come nonsense. No! This is Pompeii. This is living. This is now.

And in a distant roar, and in a moment, Vesuvius swallowed Pompeii and Drusilla. And in a moment, she went from dancing to judgment. The people to whom you and I preach will also, in a moment, go from dancing to judgment.

Dare we do anything other than the example we're set? Small wonder that when Paul finally writes to Timothy in his swan song, and he says, Timothy, I want you to preach the Word, because there'll be all this itching ear syndrome going on, and it'll drive you nuts. But, Timothy, this is what you should do. Four things. Write them down, memorize them, Timothy, and don't deviate them from them. Number one, keep your head. Keep your head down. Keep your head down in the book, and keep your head down before the almighty power of God.

Keep your head down. Number two, endure hardship. Number three, do the work of an evangelist. Number four, discharge all the duties of your ministry, because there's only one life. It'll soon be past, and only what's done for Jesus will last.

Thank you for your attention. The challenge for us from Scripture is to follow Paul's example and to boldly preach the truth of God's Word. You're listening to Alistair Begg on Truth for Life with the final message in our series titled The Pastor's Study.

If you'd like to hear more from Alistair on this topic, you can own all eight volumes in this series. This is specifically geared for pastors and those in church leadership. It comes on a USB drive titled The Pastor's Study.

Look for it on our mobile app or find it online at truthforlife.org slash store. Also, registration is now open for Basics 2022. Basics is an annual conference Alistair hosts for pastors and church leaders. If you're in pastoral ministry, mark your calendar from a second through the fourth of 2022.

Alistair will be joined by special guests Tony Morita and John Woodhouse. You can register online at basicsconference.org. And if you haven't already requested your copy of the book Faithful Leaders and the Things That Matter Most, you'll want to do that today. This is a brief book written by Rico Tice that comes highly recommended by Alistair. Today is the last weekday we're mentioning this book, so go to truthforlife.org slash donate. Make a gift online and request your copy of the book, or you can click in the mobile app.

I'm Bob Lapine. Hope you enjoy your weekend and are able to worship together with your local church. And I hope you can join us on Monday as Alistair launches into one of the most popular series he's ever preached. It's titled Pathway to Freedom. It's a study in the Ten Commandments. You don't want to miss learning just how relevant these ancient laws are to our daily life. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.