WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.679 If you have your Bibles, look with me to Acts chapter 2, and we're going to look at verses 41 through 47 this morning. 00:00:06.700 --> 00:00:14.700 And I want to preach this morning and next Sunday on the same subject, same seven verses, about a pattern for doing church. 00:00:16.080 --> 00:00:21.960 Can you imagine when Jesus died and arose and then He left? 00:00:22.740 --> 00:00:26.900 What those disciples were thinking about, where do we go from here? 00:00:26.899 --> 00:00:30.039 I mean, what path do we take? 00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:31.859 What should we do next? 00:00:32.600 --> 00:00:37.939 Jesus gave them some instructions, and thankfully, they followed those instructions to the letter. 00:00:38.619 --> 00:00:44.920 And as a result, the church began to develop in a fashion just as we would hope that it would. 00:00:45.899 --> 00:00:49.079 So this morning, we're going to think about a pattern for doing church. 00:00:49.079 --> 00:01:00.739 And to understand what they did at a particular point in time, you have to understand what happened between His death and resurrection and what we're going to look at this morning. 00:01:00.899 --> 00:01:03.359 So I'm going to paraphrase the first two chapters. 00:01:03.500 --> 00:01:09.060 I'm going to just give you a running quick version of what occurs in chapter 1 and chapter 2 of the book of Acts. 00:01:09.319 --> 00:01:16.780 And then we're going to pick up in Acts chapter 2 and verse 41 through 47, and we'll look at four points today and then five points next Sunday. 00:01:16.780 --> 00:01:19.079 I started to preach all of them at one time. 00:01:19.239 --> 00:01:20.939 Aren't you glad I decided not to do that? 00:01:22.099 --> 00:01:24.299 We'd have been out around 1 o'clock, so I don't know. 00:01:25.320 --> 00:01:29.439 No, I just decided it would be better if we just broke it up over two weeks, so we're going to do that this morning. 00:01:29.659 --> 00:01:31.359 So let's go back, and here's what's happened. 00:01:32.519 --> 00:01:34.560 Jesus has died on the cross. 00:01:35.579 --> 00:01:41.960 These last few weeks prior to His death, He's done everything He can to prepare His disciples for His coming death. 00:01:41.959 --> 00:01:51.019 One of the chief things He's done in telling them He's going to die is that He's not going to leave them alone because these are guys who they've been so dependent on Him. 00:01:51.119 --> 00:01:53.239 You can imagine that and picture that in your mind, right? 00:01:53.459 --> 00:01:57.939 These are fishermen and tax collectors and just come from all different walks. 00:01:58.219 --> 00:02:00.519 There's nobody here who's theologically educated. 00:02:01.060 --> 00:02:05.599 They don't know about where Jesus is going with His church at this point in time. 00:02:05.739 --> 00:02:07.419 So He tells them, don't worry. 00:02:07.519 --> 00:02:08.959 I'm not going to leave you comfortless. 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:15.780 I'm going to send the Spirit who now lives in me to come live in you, okay? 00:02:15.980 --> 00:02:18.120 He talks about the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost. 00:02:18.420 --> 00:02:20.540 He's going to come, the Comforter, the Advocate. 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:22.439 He's going to dwell in you. 00:02:23.400 --> 00:02:30.819 You stay when I die and I leave you in Jerusalem because that's where He's going to come. 00:02:31.040 --> 00:02:32.860 You stay put in Jerusalem. 00:02:33.080 --> 00:02:35.080 He tells them that toward the end, okay? 00:02:35.080 --> 00:02:36.680 So then He dies. 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:40.200 Three days later, He arises from the dead. 00:02:40.840 --> 00:02:42.640 He begins to make a lot of appearances. 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:47.680 A lot of different people witness the resurrected living Christ. 00:02:48.720 --> 00:02:55.360 Forty days pass since His resurrection and Jesus now ascends into the heavens. 00:02:56.020 --> 00:02:59.240 And just before He ascends into the heavens, He makes it perfectly clear. 00:02:59.420 --> 00:03:00.580 Matthew puts it one way. 00:03:01.040 --> 00:03:03.420 Luke puts it another in Acts 1, verse 8. 00:03:03.419 --> 00:03:05.000 But they're essentially saying the same thing. 00:03:05.519 --> 00:03:10.500 I want you to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, all the people groups of the earth. 00:03:11.379 --> 00:03:14.099 Bill Oates would tell us today when he made that description, 00:03:14.259 --> 00:03:19.099 he wasn't talking about geographical lines that we think of as nations 00:03:19.099 --> 00:03:21.259 because those come and go and change constantly. 00:03:21.699 --> 00:03:24.439 He's thinking about people and people groups. 00:03:24.439 --> 00:03:31.219 And what he's saying is, I want you to take the gospel, the good news, to all the people groups of the earth. 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:35.560 The Holy Spirit is going to empower you to do that ministry. 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:40.199 When they come to Christ, you baptize them. 00:03:40.539 --> 00:03:46.039 That's going to be the mark of those who are part of the church, who are part of the kingdom of God going forward. 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:48.840 They're going to be people who've been baptized. 00:03:49.139 --> 00:03:52.300 They'll make a public display of their faith in me, right? 00:03:52.300 --> 00:03:59.240 And so then, according to Acts 1, verse 9, immediately he begins to rise up. 00:03:59.580 --> 00:04:01.500 Now, we've never seen anybody do that, right? 00:04:01.540 --> 00:04:03.380 We think about levitation, that kind of thing. 00:04:03.540 --> 00:04:04.340 Magicians do it. 00:04:04.620 --> 00:04:05.600 This was no trick. 00:04:06.180 --> 00:04:08.480 Jesus suddenly begins to rise up. 00:04:08.740 --> 00:04:12.220 I can see all these disciples would have done exactly as you and I would do, 00:04:12.500 --> 00:04:14.540 standing there looking like a deer in headlights, right? 00:04:14.620 --> 00:04:15.800 Mouth, open a gate. 00:04:15.800 --> 00:04:18.620 And they're watching as Jesus begins to ascend. 00:04:19.139 --> 00:04:25.699 And suddenly, he's enveloped in a cloud, according to Acts 1, and he's whisked away into there. 00:04:25.879 --> 00:04:27.340 They're still standing there gawking. 00:04:28.360 --> 00:04:30.759 Well, two men in white apparel appear. 00:04:31.259 --> 00:04:32.840 And these two men in white apparel say, 00:04:32.980 --> 00:04:35.180 Ye Galileans, why stand ye gazing into the heavens? 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:40.840 This same Jesus whom you've seen leave is doubtless going to come again. 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:42.420 Boy, that's comforting, isn't it? 00:04:42.420 --> 00:04:47.960 That tells me one day King Jesus is coming back for all of us 00:04:47.960 --> 00:04:50.600 and for all the believers who have ever died in Christ. 00:04:50.900 --> 00:04:51.939 He's coming again. 00:04:52.259 --> 00:04:53.540 So they witness this. 00:04:53.980 --> 00:04:55.560 But now here's the million-dollar question. 00:04:56.280 --> 00:04:58.400 Where to from here? 00:04:59.259 --> 00:05:03.819 His basic instruction has been, stay in Jerusalem. 00:05:04.080 --> 00:05:06.220 After the resurrection, they've gone down to Galilee. 00:05:06.580 --> 00:05:08.200 He's brought them back to Judea. 00:05:08.319 --> 00:05:08.980 They're in Jerusalem. 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:10.220 Stay here. 00:05:10.220 --> 00:05:11.360 So you know what they do? 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:15.000 The next few verses in Acts 1 says they obey him. 00:05:15.500 --> 00:05:18.199 They go back to that upper room where, in all likelihood, 00:05:18.759 --> 00:05:22.420 they've observed the Passover 40 days earlier. 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:24.520 And the Bible says they begin to pray. 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:26.920 They met day after day after day. 00:05:27.220 --> 00:05:31.560 They elect a new apostle in the place of Judas, who is now gone. 00:05:32.100 --> 00:05:36.100 And they meet now with 120 believers. 00:05:36.100 --> 00:05:41.560 This band of disciples now numbers about 120 believers. 00:05:42.060 --> 00:05:48.100 And they meet day after day after day after day for 10 days. 00:05:48.840 --> 00:05:50.439 They meet and they pray. 00:05:50.939 --> 00:05:57.600 And the result is God has brought them to a place of complete, perfect unity and harmony. 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:00.820 They are in one accord, right? 00:06:01.020 --> 00:06:02.120 Their minds are right. 00:06:02.180 --> 00:06:02.939 Their hearts are right. 00:06:02.939 --> 00:06:05.399 They're looking for what God's going to do next. 00:06:06.259 --> 00:06:11.100 On the 50th day, the day of Pentecost, a Jewish celebration that started long before, 00:06:11.719 --> 00:06:15.439 suddenly God puts new meaning in the word Pentecost. 00:06:16.540 --> 00:06:22.500 He comes to invade this earth to dwell in human beings who are believers, 00:06:23.079 --> 00:06:25.860 just like all of us in this room. 00:06:25.860 --> 00:06:27.420 And here's how it occurs. 00:06:28.020 --> 00:06:29.560 They're in that upper room. 00:06:30.439 --> 00:06:36.139 And as they're praying, suddenly there is the sound of a rushing mighty wind. 00:06:36.759 --> 00:06:39.780 I would imagine it would be the sound of something like a tornado. 00:06:40.360 --> 00:06:44.920 I don't know if any of you have ever lived through an actual tornado coming through your neighborhood. 00:06:45.420 --> 00:06:48.319 My wife and I did that in the 80s, a terrible, frightening thing. 00:06:48.580 --> 00:06:50.960 Sounds just like a train coming through your house. 00:06:51.240 --> 00:06:53.040 Took out 10 huge trees in our yard. 00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:54.580 Never touched our home. 00:06:54.579 --> 00:06:58.659 God just put his hand on us and blessed us and saved us. 00:06:58.899 --> 00:06:59.680 It was amazing. 00:07:00.139 --> 00:07:02.659 But the noise is absolutely unforgettable. 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:04.779 As long as I live, I'll never forget that noise. 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:10.779 In all I could, in my mind, it was probably something like that, the noise of a tornado. 00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:16.459 And suddenly, tongue of fire appears, a huge tongue of fire. 00:07:16.459 --> 00:07:29.319 And then this giant tongue of fire begins to divide into 120 parts and rest upon the heads of all those in the room who are believers. 00:07:29.959 --> 00:07:33.279 Well, you can imagine they leave that upper room. 00:07:33.859 --> 00:07:35.939 Some believe they went to the Temple Mount. 00:07:35.939 --> 00:07:37.920 Some believe maybe the Mount of Olives. 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:39.639 But they're now outside. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:41.899 And a crowd begins to gather. 00:07:41.899 --> 00:07:47.139 Everyone's leaving their homes wondering, what is that wild sound we've heard? 00:07:47.139 --> 00:07:56.259 And when they encounter the 120, these 120 believers, they're doing something that you have never witnessed in your life. 00:07:56.259 --> 00:08:03.279 These are people who are obviously Galileans, but they're speaking in a variety of different languages. 00:08:04.180 --> 00:08:07.599 I mean, to some, it just looked like mass confusion, no doubt. 00:08:07.899 --> 00:08:10.420 A lot of different languages are being spoken. 00:08:10.839 --> 00:08:12.860 But here's the reason why it's the plan of God. 00:08:12.860 --> 00:08:20.540 He has brought people from the ends of the earth to come and to celebrate Passover and now the Jewish festival of Pentecost. 00:08:21.080 --> 00:08:25.340 And when they hear this rushing, mighty noise, they go out to investigate. 00:08:25.699 --> 00:08:30.920 And when they come, they witness these people speaking in all types of language. 00:08:31.300 --> 00:08:40.139 And some who recognize that's that group of believers, those disciples of Jesus, they begin to scoff and say, they're drunk with wine. 00:08:40.840 --> 00:08:41.840 And guess what? 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:43.519 Guess who emerges? 00:08:44.200 --> 00:08:45.700 The guy who is impetuous? 00:08:46.200 --> 00:08:50.280 The guy who only removes one foot from his mouth to insert the other? 00:08:51.300 --> 00:08:54.340 Peter steps forward and says, these guys are not drinking. 00:08:54.840 --> 00:08:56.240 These guys are not drunk. 00:08:56.379 --> 00:08:57.420 It's early in the morning. 00:08:57.759 --> 00:08:58.379 Be sensible. 00:08:59.220 --> 00:09:03.399 No, this is the prophet Joel, what he spoke of. 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:04.379 Now, let me just ask you. 00:09:04.899 --> 00:09:07.560 Would you ever guess that Peter knew the book of Joel? 00:09:07.559 --> 00:09:13.179 Peter says, this is what Joel talked about in his prophecy. 00:09:14.059 --> 00:09:15.639 That the Holy Spirit would come. 00:09:16.139 --> 00:09:19.299 God would do some dramatic, unbelievable things. 00:09:19.719 --> 00:09:23.779 And that men and women who are believers would prophesy in his name. 00:09:23.779 --> 00:09:26.539 And that's what's happening right now. 00:09:27.339 --> 00:09:30.919 Peter then launches into his first sermon. 00:09:31.419 --> 00:09:32.559 And he preaches. 00:09:32.819 --> 00:09:34.039 He goes back to the Psalms. 00:09:34.120 --> 00:09:34.899 He quotes David. 00:09:35.159 --> 00:09:40.100 And he ties all the Old Testament together to prove that Jesus is the Christ. 00:09:40.100 --> 00:09:45.399 And that they, I can see him pointing his finger in their face, have put him to death. 00:09:45.920 --> 00:09:49.820 That they are responsible for the death of the Savior that God sent the Savior. 00:09:50.100 --> 00:09:52.540 But they have rejected their own Messiah. 00:09:53.600 --> 00:09:58.759 And those people, when they hear that message of Peter, not all of them. 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:00.060 Some of them were skeptics. 00:10:00.180 --> 00:10:01.360 Some of them were scoffers. 00:10:01.779 --> 00:10:06.460 But listen, a huge number of those people who had gathered in this outdoor scene, 00:10:06.460 --> 00:10:09.600 they are pricked to their heart. 00:10:10.280 --> 00:10:13.660 Have you ever been so convicted by the Spirit of God that you just, 00:10:14.139 --> 00:10:17.160 you thought you were going to die unless you could get relief. 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:18.700 And that's what happened to these men. 00:10:18.980 --> 00:10:20.300 They rushed forward to Peter. 00:10:20.420 --> 00:10:22.180 I can see them almost put their hands on them and say, 00:10:22.300 --> 00:10:27.759 Peter, Peter, tell us, what must we do to be made right with God? 00:10:28.519 --> 00:10:30.620 Peter looks at them and says, here's what you must do. 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:35.700 You must repent of your sin, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and be baptized. 00:10:36.460 --> 00:10:42.160 Every one of you in this crowd who have genuinely repented and believed on Jesus, 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:44.720 you need to come and be baptized. 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:46.740 Now watch. 00:10:47.320 --> 00:10:51.340 3,000, you're going to read in just a minute, responded in that fashion. 00:10:52.100 --> 00:10:55.960 3,000 came and said, we want to be baptized. 00:10:56.320 --> 00:10:58.200 We have repented of our sin. 00:10:58.800 --> 00:11:00.100 Here's the million-dollar question. 00:11:00.879 --> 00:11:03.519 You're one of those 120, right? 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:09.139 Instead of Jerusalem, suppose it was right here in Picken, South Carolina. 00:11:09.439 --> 00:11:12.659 It was a very real place, just like Picken is a real place. 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:17.319 It could have happened here as easily as anywhere if God had ordained that. 00:11:18.079 --> 00:11:23.319 What would you do if you were living at that time, you're 120 in number, 00:11:23.320 --> 00:11:25.580 and 3,000 suddenly responded. 00:11:25.580 --> 00:11:27.420 Have you ever seen 3,000 people respond? 00:11:27.500 --> 00:11:28.780 I've never in my life seen that. 00:11:29.180 --> 00:11:34.060 3,000 people responded to the gospel, and now where do you go from there? 00:11:34.680 --> 00:11:37.320 Well, the next two weeks, I'm going to tell you nine things you ought to do. 00:11:37.780 --> 00:11:38.520 And I want to tell you something. 00:11:39.020 --> 00:11:42.900 If it was good for these folk to do in Jerusalem, guess what? 00:11:43.020 --> 00:11:44.160 You know where I'm going, don't you? 00:11:44.620 --> 00:11:46.620 It's good for you to do in pickings. 00:11:46.620 --> 00:11:51.600 Yes, you can't get a better pathway than the one they took. 00:11:52.860 --> 00:11:56.840 I, in the end of my ministry, when I was pastor, would go to some conferences, 00:11:57.060 --> 00:12:02.379 and I would hear a lot of even denominational folk talk about casting a vision. 00:12:02.980 --> 00:12:05.659 And they would say, man, what we need is for our pastor to come in here 00:12:05.659 --> 00:12:09.159 and pastor all over the country to get a vision of where God is going to take. 00:12:09.500 --> 00:12:11.879 And I want to tell you, I used to always rebel against that kind of thinking. 00:12:12.039 --> 00:12:12.519 You know why? 00:12:13.019 --> 00:12:14.960 You don't need a pastor to give you a vision. 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:17.920 King Jesus has already given you the vision. 00:12:18.600 --> 00:12:22.780 We just need to do what he's already told us to do in Scripture, right? 00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:23.860 And guess what? 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:25.620 That's what these folk did. 00:12:25.960 --> 00:12:28.700 They simply obeyed Jesus. 00:12:29.400 --> 00:12:31.759 I want you to notice this morning four things they did. 00:12:31.860 --> 00:12:35.560 First of all, they baptized those who were saved. 00:12:36.080 --> 00:12:37.180 That's the beginning place. 00:12:37.259 --> 00:12:38.360 That's what he told them to do. 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:42.840 Go make disciples and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:12:42.840 --> 00:12:44.900 Look at verse 41 of chapter 2. 00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:48.820 So those who accepted his message were baptized. 00:12:49.820 --> 00:12:55.320 And that day about 3,000 people were added to them. 00:12:55.960 --> 00:13:00.639 So they did exactly what Jesus told them to do. 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:02.940 Now, let me tell you why that's so important. 00:13:04.259 --> 00:13:08.740 Baptism then wasn't anything like it is now. 00:13:09.560 --> 00:13:12.720 The mode of baptism, I think we Baptists have got it right. 00:13:13.019 --> 00:13:15.080 I wouldn't be a Baptist if I didn't believe that. 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:20.940 We Baptists believe they ought to be baptized by immersion, and that's the kind of baptism that we practice. 00:13:21.700 --> 00:13:22.560 But I want to tell you something. 00:13:22.779 --> 00:13:27.340 The similarity between our baptism and their baptism ends right there. 00:13:27.340 --> 00:13:29.700 Let me tell you why. 00:13:30.780 --> 00:13:34.980 When we baptize people, we take them into the sanctuary, we call it. 00:13:36.060 --> 00:13:37.540 You know what a sanctuary is, right? 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:39.639 It's a protected environment. 00:13:40.780 --> 00:13:44.460 I used to get in trouble with the Mount Pleasant police when I was a little boy for shooting birds in Mount Pleasant. 00:13:44.540 --> 00:13:45.740 It was a bird sanctuary, right? 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:46.639 You can't do that. 00:13:46.680 --> 00:13:47.120 It's illegal. 00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:51.860 So a sanctuary is where you go to be protected. 00:13:52.820 --> 00:13:57.259 So we take these young believers and say, you're safe here. 00:13:58.060 --> 00:14:01.940 We promise there won't be any lost people laughing at you, making fun of you. 00:14:02.519 --> 00:14:10.019 We'll get your families and your friends, and we'll all gather together safely at First Baptist Church Pickens or at Brushy Creek or whatever church, 00:14:10.379 --> 00:14:13.980 and we'll baptize you, and everybody will give you a big round of applause, 00:14:13.980 --> 00:14:16.860 and they'll make you feel really, and somebody may even carry you out to lunch. 00:14:17.659 --> 00:14:18.480 It'll be great. 00:14:20.759 --> 00:14:23.519 I've even heard of churches lately in order to get people baptized. 00:14:24.360 --> 00:14:28.360 Hey, if you've never been baptized and you like to be baptized, just come on down and we'll baptize. 00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:32.220 We've got the swimming pool from Brother So-and-So, and we're going to baptize 100 this afternoon. 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:33.480 You be one of that 100, okay? 00:14:33.700 --> 00:14:38.200 And we hope that sometime after that, maybe if they get associated with the church, they'll come to know Jesus. 00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:40.779 Not how it was then. 00:14:40.779 --> 00:14:47.439 Let me tell you, when you were baptized in that day and time, you were a marked man or woman. 00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:53.740 Man, you had to give a long, serious thought to being baptized because here's what was happening. 00:14:54.019 --> 00:14:58.299 You were dying to everything you'd ever held to previous to that moment in time. 00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:00.559 You were dying to your sins. 00:15:00.679 --> 00:15:01.980 You were dying to your old religion. 00:15:02.139 --> 00:15:03.339 You were dying to your way of life. 00:15:03.340 --> 00:15:06.100 You were dying to your family. 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:10.800 A lot of those believers knew, I'm going to be cut off going forward. 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:18.940 My own wife, my own husband, my own children, my own parents, they won't have anything to do with me going forward 00:15:18.940 --> 00:15:20.740 because they just don't believe this. 00:15:20.820 --> 00:15:21.899 They think this is nonsense. 00:15:22.120 --> 00:15:24.000 They've not embraced the message of the cross. 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:28.100 And so they knew, boy, I'm marked. 00:15:28.259 --> 00:15:31.580 In the Old Testament, the mark was circumcision. 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:34.220 In the New Testament, the mark is baptism. 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:36.679 And it meant something to be baptized. 00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:40.440 And rather than a baptismal pool in church, you know where they took them? 00:15:40.600 --> 00:15:42.360 To the local lake or river. 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:48.340 Folks would be washing their clothes and gathering water and bathing and recreating 00:15:48.340 --> 00:15:50.480 and doing everything that people do at lakes and rivers. 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:54.120 And they would say, wait a second, that's that band of Christians. 00:15:54.340 --> 00:15:55.460 That's a small band of Christians. 00:15:55.600 --> 00:15:57.600 And here comes 3,000 people behind them. 00:15:57.860 --> 00:15:59.700 And they're baptizing them. 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:02.300 Boy, what a state. 00:16:02.700 --> 00:16:04.100 Look at that so-and-so. 00:16:04.180 --> 00:16:05.259 He's the local banker. 00:16:06.120 --> 00:16:07.820 I mean, look, that's a real estate agent, right? 00:16:07.940 --> 00:16:09.039 He's being baptized. 00:16:10.060 --> 00:16:12.100 That's the local merchant. 00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:15.620 Man, that's the guy who was a Pharisee. 00:16:15.800 --> 00:16:16.860 He's being baptized. 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:19.820 Man, it was earth-shaking. 00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:24.039 So the first thing to do is they say to these folk who have received Christ, 00:16:24.600 --> 00:16:26.680 come and take your stand with the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:16:26.800 --> 00:16:29.320 If you mean business, come and be baptized. 00:16:29.920 --> 00:16:32.259 I want you to notice one thing before we leave this first point. 00:16:34.180 --> 00:16:38.800 And that day about 3,000 people were added to them. 00:16:39.920 --> 00:16:41.899 You know what I think a lot of Baptists think about that? 00:16:41.980 --> 00:16:45.379 They read that and they say, hmm, I wonder who the church clerk was. 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:46.680 They were busy that day, you know? 00:16:46.679 --> 00:16:52.199 I mean, if you have it in mind that somebody said, we've got to get a ream of paper because 00:16:52.199 --> 00:16:53.599 this is a lot of folk we're going to add. 00:16:53.659 --> 00:16:57.259 We've got 120 names right now, but we're going to add 3,000 more names. 00:16:57.919 --> 00:16:59.759 Boy, you're thinking it's just way, way, way off. 00:17:00.719 --> 00:17:03.219 I am absolutely confident as I stand here. 00:17:03.259 --> 00:17:07.859 I don't have any proof of this, but I'm absolutely confident when I read the New Testament that 00:17:07.859 --> 00:17:10.539 that concept was completely foreign to their thinking. 00:17:10.539 --> 00:17:14.519 They didn't think people were coming to join an institution. 00:17:15.700 --> 00:17:20.119 They thought people are being adopted into our family. 00:17:21.319 --> 00:17:26.740 A close-knit family of 120 people who have had one objective in life, and that is to follow Jesus. 00:17:26.960 --> 00:17:30.299 It has now expanded to 3,120 people. 00:17:30.779 --> 00:17:32.779 And by the way, it's going to grow daily. 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:35.039 It's going to grow daily. 00:17:35.240 --> 00:17:38.000 But they didn't think about put a name on a sheet of paper. 00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:40.159 Why would you put a name on a sheet of paper? 00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:42.340 You know how we put people's names on a sheet of paper? 00:17:42.500 --> 00:17:43.800 So we can brag about them. 00:17:44.279 --> 00:17:46.000 Or so we can boast that we've got so many members. 00:17:46.360 --> 00:17:47.860 Or so we won't forget them. 00:17:48.420 --> 00:17:50.680 So that they won't be lost somewhere. 00:17:51.400 --> 00:17:53.620 But I'm going to tell you, they couldn't imagine that. 00:17:53.900 --> 00:17:55.040 These people have come to Christ. 00:17:55.279 --> 00:17:57.000 They're not going to walk away from us. 00:17:57.279 --> 00:17:58.820 They're bound to us. 00:17:59.800 --> 00:18:00.620 I mean, we're family. 00:18:01.040 --> 00:18:02.320 That's why they call them. 00:18:02.360 --> 00:18:03.180 You know what they call them? 00:18:03.660 --> 00:18:04.320 You do know. 00:18:04.519 --> 00:18:05.340 You may not think you know. 00:18:05.420 --> 00:18:06.279 That's a trick question. 00:18:06.360 --> 00:18:06.800 I'm not going to answer. 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:07.960 You know what it is. 00:18:08.140 --> 00:18:09.920 Brothers and sisters in Christ. 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:12.900 And that's why later on the world kind of made fun of them. 00:18:12.940 --> 00:18:15.060 They said, well, those folk are guilty of incest. 00:18:15.360 --> 00:18:18.380 You've got husbands and wives who call each other brothers and sisters. 00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:21.480 It was not about anything like that. 00:18:22.380 --> 00:18:24.720 These people were in such close relationship. 00:18:24.900 --> 00:18:27.400 When you read the epistles of Paul, you see it. 00:18:27.700 --> 00:18:29.620 Man, they felt for each other. 00:18:29.980 --> 00:18:32.000 They had a close, close time. 00:18:32.259 --> 00:18:35.420 When Paul in his letters writes back to those churches he's formed, 00:18:35.420 --> 00:18:38.800 He loves these people and they love him. 00:18:39.080 --> 00:18:41.100 There's a close-knit bond, right? 00:18:42.240 --> 00:18:46.200 So the first thing they did, they went and baptized those who had just been saved. 00:18:46.279 --> 00:18:55.980 Second thing they did, those who had been believers for a while began discipling those who were new to the faith. 00:18:56.480 --> 00:18:57.480 What a concept. 00:18:57.960 --> 00:18:58.920 Look at verse 42. 00:18:58.920 --> 00:19:04.420 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching. 00:19:04.420 --> 00:19:11.019 If you're using the King James Version this morning, the King James Version puts it this way. 00:19:11.560 --> 00:19:15.480 They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. 00:19:17.080 --> 00:19:21.820 The apostles' doctrine, even the word teaching, is off just a little bit. 00:19:22.060 --> 00:19:23.039 It was teaching. 00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:31.279 But if you're thinking of something, you know, like the Apostles' Creed where they got all the bases covered and say, 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:32.639 You need to know this. 00:19:33.420 --> 00:19:34.299 It's not that. 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:35.879 You know what they did? 00:19:36.539 --> 00:19:37.859 They sat down. 00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:40.680 I'll just come down here to illustrate what I'm talking about. 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:44.119 They'd get in a room, I believe with all my heart, 00:19:44.680 --> 00:19:49.119 and they'd just sit down on something like this, pull up a chair, so to speak, 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:52.000 and they'd say, Let's just talk about Jesus. 00:19:53.799 --> 00:19:54.980 Let's just talk about Jesus. 00:19:55.639 --> 00:19:57.379 Peter, tell them what you know about Jesus. 00:19:58.759 --> 00:20:02.920 And Peter would begin to tell them stories and places Jesus had been and things he had done 00:20:02.920 --> 00:20:05.559 and probably even the times he had rebuked him. 00:20:06.399 --> 00:20:10.339 He'd say, You know, one time I got my thinking all messed up, and Jesus had to create me. 00:20:10.420 --> 00:20:13.159 And, boy, he slapped my hand and said, Can't think that way, Peter. 00:20:13.980 --> 00:20:17.859 And then there were times that James and John, those two over there, that everybody admires, 00:20:17.960 --> 00:20:18.839 Hey, you know what? 00:20:18.980 --> 00:20:21.079 They got divine about who would be the big shot in the kingdom. 00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:22.819 And Jesus had to set them straight. 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:27.779 And they just listened to story after story after story about Jesus. 00:20:27.940 --> 00:20:31.960 All the stories you can tell by my preaching since I've been here, I love to preach about Jesus. 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:33.700 I love just the stories of Jesus. 00:20:34.359 --> 00:20:36.359 I just stay there all the time, right? 00:20:36.359 --> 00:20:40.919 And so they just tell these stories, and they just love Jesus. 00:20:41.559 --> 00:20:46.279 And they hear about the teaching of Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount and what Jesus did. 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:49.879 And all that involved a number of aspects. 00:20:50.519 --> 00:20:53.240 It involved teaching, but it also involved coaching. 00:20:54.519 --> 00:20:55.679 And can I tell you something? 00:20:55.759 --> 00:20:57.699 It's exactly what Jesus did. 00:20:58.459 --> 00:21:00.439 For three and a half years, that's all he did. 00:21:00.440 --> 00:21:03.180 He just picked 12 guys, and then some others came alongside. 00:21:03.340 --> 00:21:04.720 We don't read much about those others. 00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:09.660 But there were 120 and all who pretty much followed Jesus from place to place to place to place. 00:21:10.360 --> 00:21:13.140 They just enveloped themselves around Jesus. 00:21:13.480 --> 00:21:15.259 And Jesus let them hang out with him. 00:21:15.660 --> 00:21:17.039 And they became his life. 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:18.700 And he taught them along the way. 00:21:19.079 --> 00:21:20.399 And he coached them along the way. 00:21:20.539 --> 00:21:22.220 And he corrected them along the way. 00:21:22.379 --> 00:21:22.960 And I'm going to tell you something. 00:21:23.259 --> 00:21:25.639 That's what discipleship looks like. 00:21:26.859 --> 00:21:29.819 Discipleship, we Baptists, we want to do everything in 13 weeks, right? 00:21:30.220 --> 00:21:32.259 If we can fit it into a quarter, that's what we're going to do. 00:21:32.500 --> 00:21:34.240 We're going to make you a disciple in 13 weeks. 00:21:34.500 --> 00:21:35.500 Uh-uh, you're not either. 00:21:36.980 --> 00:21:38.740 Making disciples takes time. 00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:42.379 And it requires doing life with people. 00:21:42.380 --> 00:21:46.680 It means I come along beside you, and I'm going to disciple you. 00:21:46.760 --> 00:21:52.360 And it means I have to invest in you and be willing to discipline you and pray over you and set an example for you. 00:21:52.540 --> 00:21:57.620 But it also means you have to have a teachable spirit, and you have to be willing to allow me to have input into your life. 00:21:57.760 --> 00:21:59.700 And you've got to stay by my side, right? 00:21:59.820 --> 00:22:00.820 Or it won't work. 00:22:02.460 --> 00:22:03.940 And I'm going to tell you about Southern Baptists. 00:22:04.020 --> 00:22:07.200 I don't want to be critical of Southern Baptists, but I've got to be honest with you. 00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:10.040 We've done a pretty good job for a long time. 00:22:10.039 --> 00:22:18.139 Not so much in these last days, but back in the 40s and 50s and 60s and 70s, we did a fair job at evangelism. 00:22:18.440 --> 00:22:22.740 We got pretty bold about going out and telling people about Jesus and sending missionaries and all that. 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:23.779 But I'm going to tell you something. 00:22:24.039 --> 00:22:29.659 We've done a pretty lousy job from the get-go of making disciples. 00:22:30.639 --> 00:22:33.279 Because making disciples is work in the trenches. 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:35.079 Making disciples is not glorious. 00:22:35.279 --> 00:22:37.779 Making disciples won't win you awards. 00:22:37.779 --> 00:22:43.139 I'm telling you, that's why the church is in such a mess today. 00:22:43.220 --> 00:22:44.879 Because we've got a lot of folk in the church. 00:22:45.859 --> 00:22:48.579 We've got people by the thousands on our rolls. 00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:52.240 Who are about nine miles wide and a quarter of an inch deep. 00:22:53.259 --> 00:22:54.259 You understand that? 00:22:55.480 --> 00:22:58.740 And I don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings in this auditorium this morning. 00:22:59.139 --> 00:23:00.980 But there are some of you probably in that category. 00:23:01.079 --> 00:23:01.920 You don't want to be there. 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:03.220 You didn't intend to be there. 00:23:03.220 --> 00:23:05.740 But nobody ever came along your side. 00:23:06.740 --> 00:23:11.279 They were satisfied when you came and you were baptized to just let you go your way. 00:23:11.880 --> 00:23:12.640 He'll make it. 00:23:12.700 --> 00:23:14.019 And if not, he'll go somewhere else. 00:23:15.779 --> 00:23:17.740 They didn't have that idea in the New Testament. 00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:20.319 I'm going to tell you, that kind of thing is foreign to the New Testament. 00:23:21.079 --> 00:23:24.259 When they came to the park, they thought, man, you're a part of us. 00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:25.339 You've joined our family. 00:23:25.559 --> 00:23:27.000 Can you imagine a dinner table? 00:23:27.079 --> 00:23:29.980 Your daughter turns to you and says, I don't want to be a part of this family anymore. 00:23:29.980 --> 00:23:31.660 I'm going to go join so-and-so's family. 00:23:33.019 --> 00:23:34.180 That's just unthinkable. 00:23:35.579 --> 00:23:38.759 And so they discipled these people who came to Christ. 00:23:38.900 --> 00:23:39.779 Thirdly, don't you see this? 00:23:40.180 --> 00:23:42.579 They created fellowship with each other. 00:23:43.140 --> 00:23:43.960 Look at verse 42. 00:23:44.360 --> 00:23:48.279 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread. 00:23:48.920 --> 00:23:52.680 Now, fellowship, it wasn't the way we think about fellowship. 00:23:52.860 --> 00:23:56.440 When we think about fellowship, we think, all right, we're going to get some Coke and cookies, right? 00:23:57.360 --> 00:23:58.579 Somebody's going to bring some chicken. 00:23:58.579 --> 00:24:00.919 We're going to have fellowship together. 00:24:01.980 --> 00:24:10.379 Now, fellowship, the word in the Greek is the word koinonia, and it simply means partnership. 00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:12.839 Partnership. 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:19.299 How many of you in this room have a partnership in some aspect of your life? 00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:19.859 Anybody here? 00:24:21.079 --> 00:24:22.220 A lot of you have partnerships. 00:24:22.399 --> 00:24:23.179 You don't even know it. 00:24:23.339 --> 00:24:23.659 You know it? 00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:25.419 Can I tell you something? 00:24:25.420 --> 00:24:31.539 I hope you think of your membership at First Baptist Pickens as a partnership. 00:24:32.759 --> 00:24:36.740 I sure hope you think of your marriage as a partnership. 00:24:37.580 --> 00:24:42.080 That's exactly what Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians 6 when he says this. 00:24:42.900 --> 00:24:46.720 Don't be unequally yoked together with unbelievers for what? 00:24:47.120 --> 00:24:47.860 There's that word. 00:24:48.500 --> 00:24:49.019 Fellowship. 00:24:49.240 --> 00:24:49.640 Partnership. 00:24:50.019 --> 00:24:51.460 Does life have with darkness? 00:24:51.460 --> 00:24:55.059 You can't have light and dark being partners. 00:24:55.180 --> 00:24:56.279 They just won't work, right? 00:24:57.200 --> 00:25:00.180 It's either light or it's darkness, but it can't be accommodated. 00:25:00.500 --> 00:25:01.480 They have different values. 00:25:01.579 --> 00:25:02.799 They do different things. 00:25:03.799 --> 00:25:08.900 So when he's talking about a partnership, he means they're joined at the hip. 00:25:08.900 --> 00:25:12.140 And that's how it ought to be in the church. 00:25:12.280 --> 00:25:18.240 When you read, as I said a few minutes ago, the epistles of Paul, it's obvious Paul talks 00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:22.300 about the body that everybody has different gifts and everybody's important and everybody 00:25:22.300 --> 00:25:23.259 plays a different role. 00:25:23.360 --> 00:25:24.400 And you know what he goes on to say? 00:25:24.820 --> 00:25:28.580 When one part of the body hurts, the whole body hurts. 00:25:29.240 --> 00:25:33.380 You ever got up in the night to go to the bathroom and you stub your toe on the bedpost? 00:25:33.680 --> 00:25:34.519 Ooh, does that hurt? 00:25:35.480 --> 00:25:35.860 Right? 00:25:36.320 --> 00:25:37.580 Am I the only one that's ever done that? 00:25:37.579 --> 00:25:39.619 Goodness gracious. 00:25:41.240 --> 00:25:44.000 I mean, it'll just bring you to your knees, right? 00:25:45.240 --> 00:25:46.179 It's just a toe. 00:25:48.879 --> 00:25:50.619 And you ever just say, man, it's a shake-off. 00:25:50.679 --> 00:25:51.079 It's just a toe. 00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:51.699 It's not my heart. 00:25:51.859 --> 00:25:52.299 I'm okay. 00:25:52.939 --> 00:25:54.199 No, you hurt, man. 00:25:55.399 --> 00:25:56.079 And I'm going to tell you something. 00:25:56.119 --> 00:25:57.859 That's how it is in the body of Christ. 00:25:58.439 --> 00:26:03.699 When one part of the body hurts, everybody ought to be so connected. 00:26:03.839 --> 00:26:05.819 You can't artificially produce this. 00:26:05.819 --> 00:26:08.099 You either are that connected or you're not. 00:26:08.200 --> 00:26:09.720 But let me show you how it works. 00:26:11.139 --> 00:26:13.619 If my daughter, I can't say it. 00:26:13.619 --> 00:26:25.000 If my daughter goes to Mar and finds out she's got cancer, she don't have to tell me to hurt. 00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:29.880 She don't have to say, well, you ought to be concerned about me. 00:26:31.539 --> 00:26:37.420 Because I'm going to tell you, right now, just say, doctor, find a way to give it to me and take it away from her. 00:26:38.319 --> 00:26:39.740 And that's what any of you would do. 00:26:40.819 --> 00:26:42.380 Because you love them, man. 00:26:42.480 --> 00:26:43.640 You're tied to them. 00:26:43.640 --> 00:26:47.160 And that's what it is to have fellowship. 00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:48.940 It's to be partners. 00:26:49.900 --> 00:26:51.920 Now, does it involve eating meals, too? 00:26:52.060 --> 00:26:52.800 Yeah, it does. 00:26:54.560 --> 00:26:56.820 That's how you begin to develop that partnership. 00:26:57.759 --> 00:26:59.620 I want to read you a verse of Scripture about that. 00:27:00.180 --> 00:27:03.520 Look, if you will, at what he says in verse 46. 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:17.099 Is that fellowship? 00:27:17.579 --> 00:27:21.900 No, but it's an indication of the creation of fellowship. 00:27:22.940 --> 00:27:25.039 That's how you create this partnership. 00:27:25.779 --> 00:27:27.059 You've got to get to know one another. 00:27:27.559 --> 00:27:32.559 If the only time you ever see each other is once a week on Sunday morning, you don't have fellowship. 00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:40.319 When I pastored at Brushy Creek Baptist Church, years and years ago, in the early going, we had a lot of folk coming and joining those early years. 00:27:40.980 --> 00:27:46.240 And we started a thing where we would have a new member fellowship once a quarter. 00:27:46.759 --> 00:27:49.299 And our staff would come, and we'd invite folk to come. 00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:50.359 We'd serve a real good meal. 00:27:50.680 --> 00:27:55.680 And at the end, after fellowshipping with them and talking with them and all that, I'd stand up, and I'd give about a two-minute talk. 00:27:56.059 --> 00:27:57.000 And I always keep it real short. 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:58.079 Here's basically what I'd say. 00:27:58.079 --> 00:27:59.139 I'll give you the two-minute talk. 00:27:59.220 --> 00:28:00.440 I'll do it in 30 seconds. 00:28:00.440 --> 00:28:09.580 I'd say if you can't think of somebody after you've been here, remember, six, seven, eight, ten months, that you would call in the middle of the night. 00:28:09.660 --> 00:28:13.059 If somebody in your family suddenly got sick and you need somebody to come and stay with the kids. 00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:20.759 If you couldn't think of somebody to go pick up your kids because something happened, you had an accident, you got held over at work, to go pick up your kids in your place. 00:28:20.759 --> 00:28:30.539 If you can't think of somebody like that in the next six, eight, ten months that you're here, we won't see you in all likelihood two or three years from now because you'll go somewhere else. 00:28:31.799 --> 00:28:32.819 You know what I'm talking about? 00:28:33.940 --> 00:28:37.379 There's some of you right now, if that were to happen to you, you don't have a clue who you'd call. 00:28:38.400 --> 00:28:42.599 And it's because you don't have that trust relationship with anybody that you don't impose on them. 00:28:42.599 --> 00:28:46.500 You wouldn't dare do that to them because I just barely know them. 00:28:46.939 --> 00:28:47.699 But I'm going to tell you something. 00:28:48.839 --> 00:28:57.899 I do that with people with whom I'm a church member because I love them and because they love me and I love them. 00:28:58.059 --> 00:28:59.159 And it's a mutual understanding. 00:28:59.259 --> 00:29:01.079 I can call on you any time I need you. 00:29:01.719 --> 00:29:02.439 You understand what I'm saying? 00:29:03.059 --> 00:29:06.939 And that fellowship often begins around a dinner table. 00:29:07.879 --> 00:29:09.079 I seldom recommend books. 00:29:09.079 --> 00:29:09.500 You know that. 00:29:09.579 --> 00:29:11.240 I've only recommended two since I've been there. 00:29:11.240 --> 00:29:12.039 Actually, I've only one. 00:29:12.899 --> 00:29:14.980 But I want to tell you another one. 00:29:15.159 --> 00:29:15.980 Go get this book. 00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:24.079 It's a book by a lady by the name of Rosara Butterfield. 00:29:25.079 --> 00:29:26.259 Rosara Butterfield. 00:29:27.299 --> 00:29:30.759 My wife and I read it probably a year or so ago. 00:29:31.959 --> 00:29:33.480 And here's the title of it. 00:29:33.859 --> 00:29:36.199 The Gospel Comes with a House Key. 00:29:37.419 --> 00:29:39.779 The Gospel Comes with a House Key. 00:29:40.539 --> 00:29:42.339 It'll be one of the most eye-opening. 00:29:42.599 --> 00:29:43.159 The most eye-opening. 00:29:43.159 --> 00:29:43.719 Convicting. 00:29:43.719 --> 00:29:46.859 And extraordinary books you've ever read. 00:29:47.480 --> 00:29:48.980 And here's what it's about. 00:29:49.139 --> 00:29:51.379 This lady is from New England. 00:29:52.480 --> 00:29:55.039 She's not like probably anybody in this room. 00:29:55.039 --> 00:29:56.420 She's a northerner. 00:29:56.420 --> 00:29:56.960 She's a northerner. 00:29:57.920 --> 00:29:59.839 Super, super well-educated. 00:30:00.639 --> 00:30:03.859 Taught literature in English in Ivy League school. 00:30:04.500 --> 00:30:05.659 Was a lesbian. 00:30:06.659 --> 00:30:10.460 Came from a super ultra-liberal background. 00:30:10.460 --> 00:30:15.720 And somebody invited her to come to their house and have a meal. 00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:18.100 And she began to do that. 00:30:18.559 --> 00:30:23.500 And little by little, without anybody being pushy or forcey with her, they loved this woman. 00:30:23.900 --> 00:30:26.460 Not led her, but loved her to Jesus. 00:30:26.460 --> 00:30:30.519 And she abandoned her ways. 00:30:30.840 --> 00:30:32.500 Gave her heart and life to Christ. 00:30:32.840 --> 00:30:36.380 Today she's a pastor's wife in Durham, North Carolina. 00:30:36.519 --> 00:30:37.319 Can you believe that? 00:30:38.279 --> 00:30:39.439 And you know what she does? 00:30:41.000 --> 00:30:43.579 Everybody she meets, she invites them to come to her house. 00:30:44.439 --> 00:30:48.720 So that not just on Sundays, but Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 00:30:49.279 --> 00:30:51.539 they never know who's going to show up at their house. 00:30:52.480 --> 00:30:54.000 Typically, they'll have a crowd. 00:30:55.619 --> 00:31:00.519 And she just wins them to Christ over dinner, where they don't even talk much about Jesus. 00:31:00.519 --> 00:31:04.000 But she just gets to know them, and they get to trust her. 00:31:04.319 --> 00:31:06.359 And then she shares her faith with them. 00:31:06.720 --> 00:31:09.279 And they see that she genuinely loves them. 00:31:09.720 --> 00:31:11.379 And ultimately, they come to Christ. 00:31:11.480 --> 00:31:15.099 People of all walks that you cannot, you need to get that book and read it. 00:31:16.059 --> 00:31:19.619 That's what real fellowship looks like. 00:31:20.139 --> 00:31:24.220 If you want a path going forward, what should we do at First Baptist Pickens? 00:31:24.259 --> 00:31:24.859 Let me tell you something. 00:31:25.900 --> 00:31:26.900 Get out the gospel. 00:31:27.039 --> 00:31:28.259 I'll talk more about that next week. 00:31:28.259 --> 00:31:30.619 Baptize those who come to know Christ. 00:31:30.720 --> 00:31:31.660 Let it be meaningful. 00:31:32.079 --> 00:31:32.980 Let it be a testimony. 00:31:34.420 --> 00:31:37.200 Disciple those who come to Christ in the faith. 00:31:37.299 --> 00:31:38.700 See them grow up strong in Christ. 00:31:39.299 --> 00:31:41.740 And create a fellowship that won't quit. 00:31:42.500 --> 00:31:47.119 I'm in a fellowship where people say, these people are family to me. 00:31:47.920 --> 00:31:49.500 I mean, I don't just like some of them. 00:31:49.559 --> 00:31:50.339 I love them all. 00:31:50.339 --> 00:31:51.379 We're all different. 00:31:51.920 --> 00:31:54.119 But we're all a part of a family. 00:31:54.420 --> 00:31:55.759 Here's the last thing, and I close. 00:31:55.759 --> 00:32:03.539 They prayed now, at this point, in their Christian walk more than ever before. 00:32:03.680 --> 00:32:06.039 Look at Acts 2, 42 and 43. 00:32:06.039 --> 00:32:14.180 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and get this, and to prayers. 00:32:14.960 --> 00:32:16.019 End of sentence. 00:32:16.659 --> 00:32:17.180 New verse. 00:32:18.379 --> 00:32:28.180 Then, after the devoting themselves to these things, and especially prayer, then fear came over everyone. 00:32:28.180 --> 00:32:33.180 Then fear came over everyone. 00:32:33.759 --> 00:32:34.900 Look at the rest of it. 00:32:35.380 --> 00:32:40.720 And many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. 00:32:42.820 --> 00:32:50.980 That verb came upon, in the Greek, is in the imperfect tense. 00:32:50.980 --> 00:32:55.819 In English, we don't look at tense the way they did then. 00:32:56.940 --> 00:32:59.640 Imperfect tense, for them, was this. 00:32:59.779 --> 00:33:02.200 They didn't have just past, present, and future. 00:33:03.059 --> 00:33:04.420 They had this imperfect tense. 00:33:04.559 --> 00:33:10.420 And imperfect tense indicated something had begun in the past, but it was ongoing. 00:33:11.000 --> 00:33:12.039 It didn't stop. 00:33:12.099 --> 00:33:12.660 It kept going. 00:33:12.660 --> 00:33:15.500 So, the picture he paints is this. 00:33:16.420 --> 00:33:18.800 These people were gathering daily, and they're praying. 00:33:18.900 --> 00:33:20.200 They're pouring their hearts out to God. 00:33:21.180 --> 00:33:24.400 And they kept doing that, over and over and over. 00:33:25.140 --> 00:33:26.140 And then this happened. 00:33:27.120 --> 00:33:28.860 Look at the middle of verse 43. 00:33:29.940 --> 00:33:33.360 And many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. 00:33:35.620 --> 00:33:40.600 God answered their prayers by doing all kinds of unbelievable things. 00:33:40.599 --> 00:33:43.319 I don't mean just little things. 00:33:43.719 --> 00:33:45.859 Here at Pentecost, 3,000 are saved. 00:33:46.439 --> 00:33:50.959 A few days later, thousands of others are going to be saved. 00:33:52.019 --> 00:33:54.419 They're doing incredible things. 00:33:54.919 --> 00:33:58.799 One time, Peter and John are on their way to the temple to pray. 00:33:59.740 --> 00:34:04.740 And as they're going to pray, they pass this man who is on the street. 00:34:04.879 --> 00:34:06.079 He's lame, and he's bad. 00:34:06.259 --> 00:34:07.119 He wants some money. 00:34:07.639 --> 00:34:10.139 And he says, can I have some alms? 00:34:10.599 --> 00:34:14.000 And they look at him and say, we don't have any money to give you. 00:34:15.019 --> 00:34:18.299 But such as we have, we give unto you. 00:34:18.440 --> 00:34:22.039 In the name of Jesus, take up your bed and walk. 00:34:23.759 --> 00:34:27.319 Now, can you imagine a Baptist preacher saying that in Picks and South Carolina? 00:34:28.039 --> 00:34:30.420 And the guy picks up his cot, and he walks off. 00:34:31.880 --> 00:34:33.339 You reckon anybody would talk about that? 00:34:33.340 --> 00:34:35.600 You know they would. 00:34:36.640 --> 00:34:37.960 And so here's what happened. 00:34:38.460 --> 00:34:42.180 They're praying, and they kept on praying, kept on praying, kept on praying. 00:34:42.579 --> 00:34:44.380 And God began to do things. 00:34:45.039 --> 00:34:47.440 And as God did things, they stood in awe. 00:34:47.519 --> 00:34:48.800 It's like, whoa. 00:34:49.800 --> 00:34:50.240 Wow. 00:34:50.539 --> 00:34:52.180 Can you believe that? 00:34:52.880 --> 00:34:55.960 It's not this fear and trembling with, oh, what's going to happen next? 00:34:55.960 --> 00:34:59.280 It's this fear of, how great is God? 00:35:00.579 --> 00:35:00.980 Wow. 00:35:01.139 --> 00:35:02.460 How great is God? 00:35:03.159 --> 00:35:07.699 And when they stood in fear, and they were awed of God, here's what happened. 00:35:08.639 --> 00:35:10.220 It led them to pray more. 00:35:10.320 --> 00:35:11.000 It's a cycle. 00:35:11.659 --> 00:35:13.240 And the more they prayed, the more God did. 00:35:13.300 --> 00:35:14.820 The more God did, the more they stood in awe. 00:35:14.880 --> 00:35:16.360 The more they stood in awe, the more they prayed. 00:35:16.559 --> 00:35:17.340 Do you see that? 00:35:18.199 --> 00:35:19.300 It just caught fire. 00:35:19.780 --> 00:35:21.380 So now you didn't have to beg people to pray. 00:35:21.820 --> 00:35:22.800 Man, they wanted to pray. 00:35:22.800 --> 00:35:24.300 What's God going to do next? 00:35:24.480 --> 00:35:26.080 One time he said amen with an earthquake. 00:35:27.140 --> 00:35:30.420 I mean, it was just incredible things God was doing. 00:35:30.900 --> 00:35:35.960 And so, boy, people got excited, and they were praying like they never prayed before. 00:35:37.640 --> 00:35:41.720 Now, a lot of Baptist churches think what we need to do is get the slickest preacher we can get, 00:35:42.560 --> 00:35:45.580 the best staff we can get, the most powerful music program, 00:35:46.060 --> 00:35:48.940 and then we'll be ready to rock. 00:35:49.260 --> 00:35:50.900 And we need this program or that program. 00:35:50.900 --> 00:35:52.120 So-and-so is doing that program. 00:35:52.119 --> 00:35:54.679 If we just had that program, we could make it go, man. 00:35:56.199 --> 00:35:57.339 You know what you need more than anything? 00:35:58.719 --> 00:36:00.819 To be awed by God. 00:36:01.679 --> 00:36:02.599 I mean that. 00:36:03.359 --> 00:36:06.779 To stand absolutely in awe of God, because I've got to be honest with you, 00:36:07.219 --> 00:36:10.139 we like to talk about that, but we just seldom are. 00:36:11.460 --> 00:36:15.799 I've been preaching 50 years, and there have only been a few times 00:36:15.799 --> 00:36:19.839 that I've really been in a worship service awed by God. 00:36:19.840 --> 00:36:21.840 I've been spoken to by God. 00:36:22.100 --> 00:36:24.519 But I remember I saw God do what we call the miraculous. 00:36:25.760 --> 00:36:29.160 Have you noticed in the days and times we're so hungry for God to do something? 00:36:29.700 --> 00:36:30.880 We'll call anything a miracle. 00:36:30.880 --> 00:36:34.079 Like if we get 300 here, I want you to know something. 00:36:34.160 --> 00:36:35.059 That is not a miracle. 00:36:36.599 --> 00:36:39.059 If we have 500 here, that won't be a miracle. 00:36:39.720 --> 00:36:40.579 It'd be a good thing. 00:36:41.260 --> 00:36:43.340 We'll praise God and we'll thank you for his help in it. 00:36:43.840 --> 00:36:45.400 I'm not saying God won't be a part of that. 00:36:45.599 --> 00:36:46.360 That's not a miracle. 00:36:46.680 --> 00:36:47.300 Here's a miracle. 00:36:48.140 --> 00:36:50.880 This arm is this long and this arm is this long, and suddenly it's that long. 00:36:50.880 --> 00:36:52.960 That's a miracle. 00:36:53.920 --> 00:36:54.220 You understand? 00:36:54.599 --> 00:36:57.559 I'm crippled and I get up and I walk, and that's a miracle. 00:36:58.380 --> 00:37:01.820 3,000 folk hear the gospel, and they all go rushing forward and say, 00:37:02.200 --> 00:37:03.480 tell me, how can I be saved? 00:37:04.059 --> 00:37:05.340 That is a miracle. 00:37:06.579 --> 00:37:07.220 You understand? 00:37:08.500 --> 00:37:10.460 We have lost our sense of awe of God. 00:37:10.460 --> 00:37:15.440 But if we've ever had an opportunity to get it back, and I mean this, 00:37:15.519 --> 00:37:20.599 if I've ever made anything in my life, I've never talked about it any time as much. 00:37:20.720 --> 00:37:23.579 I do, but I just want to be honest with you. 00:37:25.420 --> 00:37:30.599 I think we have the most incredible opportunity right now we've had in Ralph Carter's lifetime. 00:37:31.780 --> 00:37:32.539 And I want to tell you why. 00:37:33.740 --> 00:37:36.440 And I don't know any more than anybody else in this room knows, 00:37:36.579 --> 00:37:37.800 but I just want to tell you something. 00:37:38.199 --> 00:37:39.519 I haven't for 40 years. 00:37:39.519 --> 00:37:40.380 My dad was in the military. 00:37:40.480 --> 00:37:43.000 I've never really believed we could come under a nuclear attack. 00:37:43.179 --> 00:37:45.219 I just thought powers that be are smarter than that. 00:37:45.259 --> 00:37:46.059 They're not going to do that. 00:37:47.320 --> 00:37:49.159 You're looking at somebody who doesn't feel that way today. 00:37:51.119 --> 00:37:54.280 This guy in Russia, I believe, is a dangerous guy. 00:37:54.380 --> 00:37:56.940 I believe Putin is a dangerous, dangerous, dangerous man. 00:37:57.300 --> 00:37:59.259 He doesn't seem to me to have people close to him. 00:38:00.400 --> 00:38:01.960 When you don't have people close to you, 00:38:02.159 --> 00:38:03.920 you're in a place where you don't have anything to lose. 00:38:04.039 --> 00:38:05.059 You just want to make history. 00:38:06.559 --> 00:38:08.480 And so you can go for broke. 00:38:09.519 --> 00:38:11.539 When he threatens nuclear war, 00:38:12.280 --> 00:38:17.519 he scares me like no other Russian or Chinese leader has ever scared me before. 00:38:17.759 --> 00:38:20.460 If that were to happen, I'm not saying the planet wouldn't survive. 00:38:20.659 --> 00:38:21.219 I don't know. 00:38:21.300 --> 00:38:23.019 I'm not wise enough, smart enough to know. 00:38:23.639 --> 00:38:25.099 I hear the things that you hear. 00:38:25.940 --> 00:38:26.860 And I know this. 00:38:27.239 --> 00:38:29.880 It will never be the same on this planet in mine, your, 00:38:29.980 --> 00:38:32.860 in your children and grandchildren's lifetime if that were to occur. 00:38:32.860 --> 00:38:35.320 It will never be the same. 00:38:36.900 --> 00:38:38.460 And here's the opportunity we have. 00:38:38.620 --> 00:38:41.820 We have the opportunity to fall on our face and say, 00:38:41.860 --> 00:38:44.480 oh, God, Biden's not going to save him. 00:38:44.500 --> 00:38:46.160 I don't say that detrimentally to Biden. 00:38:46.280 --> 00:38:47.660 He couldn't save him if he wanted to. 00:38:50.620 --> 00:38:52.079 Politics is not going to save him. 00:38:52.079 --> 00:38:58.819 And those people, as much courage as they've mustered, and I'm so, so proud of, 00:38:59.239 --> 00:39:01.460 they can't withstand the Russians on their own. 00:39:01.960 --> 00:39:03.039 You know that, and I know that. 00:39:04.059 --> 00:39:04.840 So I'm going to tell you something. 00:39:05.500 --> 00:39:10.779 The only way they're going to be saved is if somehow God divinely intervenes. 00:39:10.780 --> 00:39:15.420 We need a solution, not somebody to assassinate him. 00:39:15.820 --> 00:39:19.519 We need a solution where God intervenes and God deals with this. 00:39:19.880 --> 00:39:22.240 And I'm not suggesting how he does it because I don't know. 00:39:23.320 --> 00:39:26.780 But for God to do something where the world would say, wow, I didn't see that coming. 00:39:28.140 --> 00:39:30.300 I wonder what that was that happened. 00:39:31.220 --> 00:39:33.740 And people will begin to say, that was the hand of God. 00:39:34.500 --> 00:39:35.360 That's the hand of God. 00:39:35.840 --> 00:39:40.280 There have been so many times I prayed and said, God, we just need folk to see you 00:39:40.280 --> 00:39:43.820 because they don't leave us anymore when we tell them how real you are. 00:39:44.860 --> 00:39:50.920 God, would you show up and do something just so incredible that nobody could get credit for? 00:39:51.100 --> 00:39:55.460 Because everybody out there wants to take credit for everything, whether they did it or God did it. 00:39:55.980 --> 00:39:58.580 But do something, God, that only you can do. 00:39:58.700 --> 00:39:59.480 Wouldn't that be amazing? 00:40:01.560 --> 00:40:04.019 If you want to be the church that God wants you to be going forward, 00:40:04.860 --> 00:40:06.120 do those four things this morning. 00:40:06.440 --> 00:40:08.360 Baptize those who you lead to Christ. 00:40:09.000 --> 00:40:09.960 Disciple them in the faith. 00:40:10.280 --> 00:40:11.440 Create a strong fellowship. 00:40:12.420 --> 00:40:14.560 And pray to you, get a sense of the awe of God. 00:40:15.640 --> 00:40:17.620 Let's stand and we'll have our hymn of invitation. 00:40:18.040 --> 00:40:20.640 If you're here today and God has spoken to your heart and said to you, 00:40:21.040 --> 00:40:24.900 man, this is a place you ought to plant your family and your heart and make this your home 00:40:24.900 --> 00:40:27.920 and these people be brothers and sisters in Christ, 00:40:27.920 --> 00:40:31.100 you come right now as we sing this hymn of invitation. 00:40:31.099 --> 00:40:34.119 We aren't McMaster. 00:40:34.119 --> 00:40:36.519 I want to keep and pray together. 00:40:36.739 --> 00:40:37.539 Wait. 00:40:37.539 --> 00:40:38.199 Sorry, my name is Michael Farrak. 00:40:38.239 --> 00:40:38.659 We'll be right. 00:40:39.039 --> 00:40:39.739 I want to pray for you. 00:40:39.739 --> 00:40:41.259 I want to pray for you sometimes you're ready to start your children. 00:40:41.699 --> 00:40:42.039 And listen. 00:40:42.039 --> 00:40:42.619 I want to go again. 00:40:42.619 --> 00:40:42.880 Are youρο新? 00:40:43.960 --> 00:40:44.860 I want to pray for you. 00:40:44.860 --> 00:40:46.559 And my Social Securityorar will find something special. 00:40:46.940 --> 00:40:47.960 What do you pray for all your children? 00:40:48.380 --> 00:40:48.839 Are you ready? 00:40:49.299 --> 00:40:51.000 You are ready?