“Membership Has Its Privileges” Acts 20:20-28
You might remember “back in the 1990s, American Express had an ad campaign for its credit card. Their slogan was: “Membership has its privileges.” The ad implied that those who were fortunate enough to qualify for this status symbol card also qualified for exclusive rewards.” (Nancy Kennedy)
It’s easy enough to apply for an American Express card, but qualifying for GOD’S KINGDOM PRIVILEGES is quite a different thing. Look at Acts 20:20: ”I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, (no stone left unturned: the boldness which accompanies the Gospel) 21 solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. (no one is exempt) 22 "And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, (the leading and empowerment of the Gospel by the Spirit of God) I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. (Everything is NOT rosy because you have been saved.)
24 "But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, (it’s not about ME!) so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.(There’s the REASON we are saved: the GREATEST NEWS ON EARTH! You are saved by Grace through Christ.) 25 "And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. 26 "Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27 "For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. 28 "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God (Ekklesia: means “the called out ones”, called out of unbelief by the Spirit) which He purchased with His own blood.” (remarkable statement, that the blood of Christ is the blood of God!)
I realize that these verses were written by Paul to the elders in Ephesus as a farewell address, but the Gospel of Salvation by Grace alone, through Christ alone, by faith alone has astronomical and monumental privileges which do not require you to fill out an application in order to qualify for the Privileges of Membership in the Kingdom of God. God’s Grace in Christ alone for forgiveness of sins and escape from hell is NOT ABOUT what YOU do, but what HE HAS DONE. Jesus came to save us, not to help us save ourselves. He gives us all that we need for salvation, including a new heart to believe and follow Him.
When the Spirit of God regenerates your heart and causes you to repent from your unbelief and to trust TOTALLY in JESUS ALONE, you are born into His Eternal Kingdom by His Spirit and you become a PERSON of HEAVENLY PRIVILEGE! I want to look at a few of Paul’s membership privileges in becoming a member of God’s Church and a messenger of the Gospel. One of the privileges of membership is…
1. Holy Spirit empowerment. Verse 21 says Paul was “solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” The Work of the Living Spirit of the Living God initiates conversion, convicts of sin, constructs a new heart, continues to lead, guide, strengthen, giving us the message of the Gospel, the means of the Gospel, and makes us mouthpieces of the Gospel. (vs. 25 refers to it as “preaching the kingdom”-what a privilege!)
Paul says in verse 22: “I am BOUND by the Spirit.” Everyone who is NOT bound by the Spirit is still bound by the flesh and bound by sin and unbelief. To believers, Romans 8:9-11 says: “You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. (SAVED but Simultaneously a sinner) 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” We are no longer bound to lawlessness but recognize that the only life we have is on account of the Spirit of God.
Jesus explained it this way in John 6:40: "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life." 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. 64 "But there are some of you who do not believe." 65 And He was saying, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father." SALVATION is GIFTED by God, initiated by the Spirit of God who alone gives LIFE, through the work of the SON OF God! Holy Spirit empowerment!
2. Another privilege of membership in the kingdom is that of Sacred Suffering. Verse 23 says: “The Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me.” This is something that we looked at in recent weeks: Suffering for the sake of the Lord Jesus who has saved you from the punishment of Hell. There’s a movement of individuals called “survivalists or preppers who are actively preparing for emergencies, including possible disruptions in social or political order. Their philosophy is that they are going to ESCAPE bonds and afflictions by “heading to the hills.” They’re ready! Believers are ready, too; they stand ready to suffer as saints, Holy ones to the Lord our God.
Remember what Paul’s specialty was when his name was Saul? He prosecuted and persecuted friends and followers of Jesus Christ. He thought: “Kill them before they multiply.” Now Paul has become the persecuted instead of the persecutor.
I love Ephesians 6:13: “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that WHEN the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, “TO STAND”. How do you stand? God in Christ enables you TO STAND, NOT ESCAPE, being equipped with the truth of the Gospel, the applied RIGHTEOUSNESS of Christ, the Gospel of the Peace of God in Christ, the shield of faith in Christ, the Salvation of God in Christ, and the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.
3. Another great privilege of Membership in the Kingdom is The Individual Sacrifice of Independence and Self-Righteousness and SELF-CENTEREDNESS in the Body. In History, people often have given their lives for independence. In God’s Kingdom, we lay OUR independence down and become totally Dependent on Christ alone…and we consider it our privilege. We would give our very lives to live in DEPENDENCE on HIM! Verse 24 says: “I do not consider my life (psuche- breath of life, my very soul) of any account as dear to myself, (put that in your American philosophical pipe and try to light it!) so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.”
At ANY COST, I will give up anything and everything I have in order to complete the course which has been given to me from the Lord Jesus BECAUSE HE HAS JUSTIFIED ME BY THE GIFT OF His FAITH. Justification by faith “is never justification on account of faith but always justification on account of Christ, on account of the blood-satisfaction of the Lamb of God being graciously imputed to and received by an undeserving sinner (Galatians 3:6; James 2:23). The ground of justification is Christ and His righteousness alone.” (Dr. Joel Beeke)
Phil 3:8-11 says: “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
I sacrifice myself and every bit of my own Self-righteousness in RESPONSE to the gift of Christ’s PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS GIVEN AS A GIFT. I’ll GLADLY testify to the good news of the grace of God which has been given to me and sacrifice my independence FROM the body of Christ and become DEPENDENT on the Body in order to edify IT and glorify my Savior. If we are part of the Body of Christ, we will cherish and protect the body, not destroy it or put it in danger. We’ll sacrifice our part for the wellbeing of the WHOLE.
4. Membership in the body means that we can actually enjoy the privilege of CHRISTIAN ACCOUNTABILITY. Some people say, “I’m only accountable to God:” Ultimately, only God has authority over you, but the horrible doctrine of sin and hell and the reality of salvation by grace alone should sober us about making ourselves the sole judges over our own hearts. Hebrews 3:13 says we need others to exhort us “daily” lest we become hardened by sin. It’s impossible to “bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ,” as it says in Galatians 6:2) if we aren’t accountable TO each other.
CHRISTIAN ACCOUNTABILITY in the Church EVEN exercises loving discipline. Verse 28 says: "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” We HAVE TO BE actively protecting the Church of God by submitting to each other and to the overseers BECAUSE God purchased His Church (His Body) by shedding His OWN BLOOD for it! Hebrews 13:17 says that every believer must “obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls”. We have to recognize that these Leaders are responsible for you and YOU to them; mutual accountability exists in the body of Christ in the same way that Christ has loved us. We are JOINED to him in a marriage covenant, becoming ONE BODY in Him.
5. What an honor to realize that we have both HEARD and are able to DECLARE the whole purpose of God. 27 "For I did not shrink (I was not timid) from declaring to you the whole purpose (counsel or plan) of God. Paul “taught the burden of the whole of God’s revelation…leaving nothing out that was of primary importance, never avoiding the hard bits, helping believers to grasp the whole counsel of God that they themselves would become better equipped to read their Bibles intelligently and comprehensively.” (DA Carson)
We don’t WAIT on God FOR MORE revelation or purpose; God has already declared it and we have received it! “It is finished.” God’s purposes in the history of redemption have been revealed to us; They are truths to be believed and they reveal to us THE one and only God who is to be worshiped. In His revelation, He unpacks the truth concerning human origin, man’s fall into sin and death, God’s redemption in Christ alone, and the eternal destiny of all who will believe as well as all who reject the precious Gospel of God’s Grace. His Word provides a worldview that shapes our understanding and a Savior without whom there is no hope!
His Word and whole Counsel instructs the conduct expected of God’s people, commandments which are to be obeyed and wisdom which is to be pursued, in our individual existence and in the community of the people of God. This whole counsel of God reveals the pledges of transforming power both in this life and in the life to come, complete His perfect promises, which are to be trusted and the hope of Glory which is to be anticipated, guaranteed by the power of the Living Holy Spirit in you.
Jesus, Himself, preaching the gospel of God, declared in Mark 1: 14-15: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; (Jewish implication was: it is TIME TO BE CONVERTED) repent and believe (have a change of mind, a turning from trust in YOUR DEEDS and trust implicitly) in the gospel.” (the Righteousness that comes through Christ alone.) Paul preached this in Acts 17:30; "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent.” He said the same in Acts 26:20: “I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.” Turning to God in true belief and trust will result in deeds which will coincide with repentance, because Jesus is your Lord and Christ!
Remember that every single person you meet is a potential member of God’s Kingdom. Every person is a sinner in dire need of the SAVING GOSPEL: The Message is the same today and the privileges of membership are the same! To God alone be the Glory for the Life-changing Gospel of Grace through the blood of Christ. He alone brings sinners from the bondage of sin and self-righteousness to enjoy the privileges that are ours to serve Him alone, and to grow in the Grace and Knowledge of Him, as He molds us together as members of His Body, People of Extreme Membership Privileges.
OUTLINE: “Membership has its privileges.”
1. Holy Spirit empowerment (Rom. 8:9-11)
2. Sacred Suffering (Ephesians 6:13- TO STAND)
3. The Sacrifice of Independence and Self-Righteousness
(Galatians 3:6; James 2:23, Phil 3:8-11)
4. Christian Accountability (Heb 3:13, 13:17, Gal 6:2, Matt. 18:15-17, 1 Cor 5)
5. Hearing and declaring the whole purpose of God. (Mark 1: 14-15, Acts 26:20)
-maps out human origin, fall, redemption, and destiny. -the conduct expected of God’s people
-the pledges of transforming power both in this life and in the life to come
NINE marks of a Healthy Church: Preaching, Conversion, Discipline, Biblical Theology, Evangelism, Discipleship, The Gospel, Membership, Leadership
