Text: Acts 21:16-26, Title: Impacting the Body, Date/Place: NRBC, 3/8/09, AM
A. Opening illustration: tell about when Bailey Smith created such a stir at SEBTS,
B. Background to passage: the third missionary journey of Paul’s ends here in Jerusalem. And when he arrives, as usual, his presence impacts the church in a powerful way. And of course, his desire is to build up the church that it might impact the world for Christ. And God uses him and the elders at Jerusalem to do that.
C. Main thought: in the text, we will see three ways God builds His church
A. A Testimony of God’s Work (v. 19-20)
1. We are told that the church leadership at Jerusalem received them joyfully (who wouldn’t receive somebody with a bag of money for them gladly). Notice that it mentions specifically, James and the elders. The transition in Jerusalem had been made completely from apostles to elders. And the first thing that Paul does after that is spend time telling them all that God had done in the last two missionary journeys. This was common practice in the early days of the church by both Peter and Paul. It was also the practice of OT saints as they built markers according to God’s command so that when the children asked why, they could tell the story of God’s deliverance among them. Luke does not elaborate, but since we usually focus on a small portion of the text, let’s review, and hear what the elders heard. Do a review slide on the PowerPoint. And it says that they (imperfect tense) kept on glorifying God for what they heard. Testimony brings God glory. Remember that is the reason that we exist.
2. Acts 11:4-18, 14:27, 15:4, 15:12; Rom 15:18, 15:19, Ps 111:1, 22:25, 35:18, 40:10
3. Illustration: tell about Lew wanting to know what’s going on in our lives, tell about testimony time in the membership class, tell about doing testimony in the first and second services at LSCC so that we would know one another better, Don’s prayer team meets monthly, and one of the first things they do is share how God has been speaking to them over of the course of the last four weeks,
4. Testimony is one of the most encouraging aspects of believers sharing their lives together. This is how Jesus did discipleship—sharing life together. And we really should work on hearing from each other more often. The body needs to hear of God’s work in your life. It encourages our hearts, reminds us about the God that we serve, and strengthens our faith. It creates a longing in us for God to work in our lives that way. It creates a bond within the body, especially as we bear one another’s burdens. Reading Christian biography powerfully challenges us to look for the moving of God’s hand like He did in days gone by. Missionary stories are particularly impactful. Some of you should share how God is working in your lives with our congregation. The Spirit will use it to work in our congregation and to bring glory to Christ. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so in the midst of the congregation.
B. A Potential Ecclesiological Disaster (v. 21)
1. Immediately after the praise-a-thon regarding the testimony of God’s work among the Gentiles, James and the elders address a situation that is potentially disastrous for the church in Jerusalem. From Acts 6 to 10 and to 21 relationships have been strained in the early church between Jewish and Gentile believers. It was probably a carry over from the hatred of the Jews toward Gentiles prior to Christ. But whatever the reason, the leadership needed to deal with it. Paul was in Jerusalem, and the elders could foresee a major crisis. One of the problems that caused this potential mess was misinformation (nice PC word). The gossip going around Jewish Christian circles was that Paul was teaching Jews in foreign lands to jettison Jewish customs prescribed in the Mosaic Law, which by the way, Paul did not do. And James notes that many Jewish believers are “zealous for the law,” explain the phrase. And of course another issue wound up in here is correct doctrine—what is the relationship of Jewish Christians to the law.
2. 1 Cor 1:11-13, Pro 6:19, John 13:34-35,
3. Illustration: In the 1890s there was a small Baptist church in Mayfield County, Kentucky. The church had just two deacons, and those two men seemed to be constantly arguing and bickering with each other. On a particular Sunday, one deacon put up a small wooden peg in the back wall so the pastor could hang up his hat. When the other deacon discovered the peg, he was outraged. "How dare someone put a peg in the wall without first consulting me!" The people in the church took sides and the congregation eventually split. Over a hundred years later, residents of Mayfield County still refer to the two churches as Peg Baptist and Anti-Peg Baptist, There’s a book entitled War In The Pews that talks about real-life instances which are absolutely outrageous. Churches have split over whether the pianist should sit to the right or the left side of the podium, over whether the Lord’s Supper should be served from the front to the back or the back to the front, over trying to decide whether a kitchen should be a part of the church building or not. One church split over who was the real pastor. They had two pastors. Two groups thought they each had their own guy, and both of them got up to lead a service one Sunday. Both led the singing. Both groups tried to out-sing each other. Then both pastors started preaching, trying to out-preach each other. heard testimony this week of people leaving denominations because of this,
4. We must deal with church problems head on. Ignoring things that are major is not usually helpful. And it is the shepherds’ job to see them coming, and develop a plan to deal with them. Another issue that plagues us is gossip. Oh the things that happen because people don’t get correct information, then they pass it on. Let me paint the picture in modern dress: an older group of followers is very committed certain traditions (music, order of service, programs, or projects) and a younger group that is not so committed to those traditions, but very committed to other ones, and some preacher trying to satisfy both groups like an umpire at a little league baseball game. We fight over worship order, pews or chairs, music, sound systems, kitchen appliances, buildings, etc. And it is divisive within the church. Did you know that this was the #2 thing that Paul disciplined for? One generation complains that the music is too slow, another that it’s too loud. Usually no discussion is offered, only accusations and criticisms and blanket condemnation from both sides. One group accuses the other of putting pressure on the choir leader or messing with the thermostat, and you know what happens. Distrust and discord is sown among the brethren. And then the world doesn’t know that we are His disciples. This is the #1 thing that runs people off in our churches. This division is sinful, and not pleasing to Christ. But we are always going to have people at different levels of spiritual maturity, people with different preferences and tastes, people with different personalities…so what do we do?
C. A Stumbling Block Averted (v. 24-26)
1. James and the elders know that the rumors are not true. And their primary concerns: theological integrity, unity of the body, glory of Christ. So they suggest that Paul go with these four men and pay their vow money, shave his head, and complete the ritual. Now we know that Paul has completed vows back in 18:18, and he is Jewish. And so he agrees for the same of the unity of the church. Theologically Paul was free from the law, not needing to complete ritual, but for the sake of his weaker brethren, he chose to become as those under the law. He chose to limit the expression of his liberty to be a help to the unity of the church.
2. John 17:21, Rom 14:3, 5-6, 14-20, 1 Cor 8:7-13,
3. Illustration: “Most Southern Baptist Churches are willing to sacrifice their children and grandchildren on the altar of tradition” –Dr. Alvin Reid, “Liberty is a great thing, but sometimes the expression of liberty can be counterproductive,”-Darrell Bock, Tell about Fred putting down the hymn book to read the words off the wall, and the young people enduring, and enjoying some hymns, tell about Jeff sending emails with our conversations and websites about the evils of tattoos to the entire congregation, tell about going to a KJV only church in Waycross, and wondering whether or not they were going to call on me to preach, and what I was going to do about my NKJV bible,
4. Discern between biblical conviction and personal preference. Have open and honest discussion about biblical teaching regarding subjects. Speak where the bible speaks, and be silent where the bible is silent. Be more willing to sacrifice preferences for the sake of the body. We need to work at repairing the discord and distrust between the generations. The young need to restraint their desires to contemporary worship, and the older their desires for hymns and the doxology only, for the sake of the body. We must always remain firm in our doctrinal convictions without wavering, but in the expression of how we carry out the ministries of the church, we must realize that God likes diversity, and all our preferences will not be the same. And rather than looking for something of a secondary nature to disagree about, look for ways to contribute to the body. And this has far more to do that just with worship; this includes love offerings, PowerPoint presentations, flowers, dress, body piercings, tattoos, music, bible translations, dress codes, chairs or pews, color of the carpet, temperature of the sanctuary, and the list could go on. Why can’t we just be mature about our liberties and let the world see that our bond in Christ is enough to fellowship together, and love one another even though we are different? We must learn to sacrifice for the good of the church and of individual Christians. We must learn to overcome the generation gap. We must develop tangible expressions of love between the generations. We must all do our individual parts to advance New River’s kingdom agenda.
A. Closing illustration: Josh McDowell caused a stir at the GBC State Evangelism Conference, but if we do not listen to his message, we will die, just as he said.
B. Recap
C. Invitation to commitment
Additional Notes
• Is Christ Exalted, Magnified, Honored, and Glorified?
