Broadcasting from the west side of Big Brother City in the heart of Gridlock County, where preaching with impact is like plowing pavement because people continue to place their hope in unsatisfying things. This is the Frederick Faith Debate, sponsored by Putman Plumbing and Heating. How can we make you smile? You can find us online at wfmd.com, keyword faith. That's the home of the Faith Debate blog. The blog, for the most part, is a program guide these days, although it does have links to other information that's helpful for those who are seeking information about religious and faith and some philosophical kinds of matters. If you were listening last week, then you know what's coming this week. We heard the first portion of a sermon message I had an opportunity to share in the community not too long ago called The Culture of Christ's Church in Crisis. The message focused on Acts chapters 1 through 7. Didn't have enough time to finish the entire message. I'm not positive we'll have enough time to finish the entire message, the rest of the message this week either, although we'll get the lion's share. The fullness of that Johnson's whites are not with us on the show today, but we hope to have him back Program with a panel discussion on areas of interest in the not too distant future so Bear with us through this time of transition with our schedules. Jonathan and I are both just crazy, crazy busy of late, but we're getting it all figured out, so I appreciate your patience with us. Anyway, here's a part two of The Culture of Christ's Church in Crisis, Acts chapters 1 through 7, the focus of this message. As the number of believers increases, the need for godly leaders is amplified. We see through the early portions of Acts a contrast of the God honoring leaders with the God rejecting leaders. There were 12 apostles among about 120 believers. That's chapter 1. And then in chapter 2, one of these apostles, Peter, prayed by the power of the Holy Spirit. In fact, he preaches about the Spirit. And 3,000 people repented and were baptized for the forgiveness of their sins. In chapter 4 their number had increased to 5,000. And it didn't stop there. Chapter 5 says that more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. Chapter 6 says the number of disciples was increasing so the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly and a large number of priests even became obedient to the faith. And lest you miss it, allow me to point out a connection to the Old Testament that's made by Luke when relating the words of Stephen right before he is martyred for his faith. In chapter 7, verse 17, Stephen is outlining the history of God's people during the Old Testament times and he says that the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased. God is in the business of increasing the numbers of his people. preparing them to victoriously march through the wilderness of persecution and suffering until arriving together in the promised land. God is in this business of increasing the numbers of his people and he always has been and God has always worked through leaders that he has ordained to shepherd his people. We see leaders like Moses, Samuel, and Abraham mentioned in Acts chapter 3. And leaders like Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Aaron, and Solomon are all mentioned elsewhere in Acts. These are Old Testament names. We see the importance of leadership in the giving of New Testament names too. Chapter 1 of Acts mentions Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas the son of James, and Mary the mother of Jesus. And then chapter 6 mentions Stephen, a man full of faith in the Holy Spirit. Also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, Nicholas, Manioc. Having a good number of godly leaders is important. Judas Iscariot is mentioned, too, as one who is ungodly in leadership. And after his death, he needed to be replaced by someone who was true to God. And echoing Psalm 109, Luke quotes Peter saying, may another take his place of leadership. And they prayed, and they depended on God by casting lots, and they ended up adding Matthias to their number. Now Judas is an interesting case study. I mean, he was part of the inner circle for Jesus. But he went off the rails. And before seeking after redemption, he killed himself. Let's be clear, this is a negative example. An ungodly leader. But Judas is not the only negative example that Luke gives us. The Sadducees, they weren't interested in the message of redemption either. I guess it might be hard for them since they didn't accept that there's a resurrection from the dead and they didn't like the witness of Peter and the others who were pointing to Jesus proclaiming that in Jesus is the resurrection from the dead. Of course they wouldn't like this message. These are the men of the Sanhedrin who only weeks earlier had conspired to have Jesus killed. And in Acts, they are conspiring together again to squash the gospel. These are the religious leaders of God's people. They lost their way. And now, they were turning their backs on God, no longer leading God's people. The high priest, filled with jealousy, along with his associates, the captain of the temple guard, the chief priest, these religious leaders of the day arrested the apostles and commanded them to stand down! Stop preaching Jesus Christ's good news of the kingdom! This borders on being unbelievable. The average everyday people In chapter 2, they heard the same sin-convicting message, and they asked, brothers, what shall we do? And in response to that question, they repented and were baptized. And then in chapter 4, the religious leaders, again hearing the same sin-convicting message, they also asked, what are we going to do? And in response to the exact same question, their response is to flog the apostles and wish that they could kill them. This despite saying in chapter 4 verse 16 that everybody living in Jerusalem knows that they, the apostles, have done an outstanding miracle. We cannot deny it. They knew better. It's hard to imagine, almost. It's easier to imagine when we think, well, this was a long time ago. And these religious leaders, they weren't Christians, so What do you expect? I mean, Christian leaders, they would never do anything like that. Oh no? Remember that God's church has not replaced God's Jews. What we have instead is an expansion of God's people, an expansion of Israel. The Old Testament covenant people were truly God's chosen people, and the New Testament covenant people are truly God's chosen people, grafted onto the Old Testament people. The Old Covenant people don't disappear, they are added to. Now, of course, many in the Old Testament covenant, they fell away. And they are broken off branches in need of being regrafted in repentance. And this was true for these first century Jewish leaders. And, sadly, it is true for many 21st century church leaders. A pastor friend of mine told a story the other day of a visit that he had with a pastor friend of his own. They were at a regional conference for pastors. They ran into each other, hadn't seen each other in a while. My friend was concerned when he saw this pastor friend of his sitting quietly, alone, in deep thought with a pained, defeated look on his face. My friend walked up to him and sat across from him With compassion in his voice, he asked, What troubles you, my brother? And his friend then shared his struggles. He's been the pastor for seven years of a congregation in the Carolinas, about 150 people under his care. And he is feeling beaten up. It has been seven years and he can't make any headway. He is fought at every turn. He is under pressure to avoid preaching the gospel. It seems that a more seeker-sensitive approach is what others want. And he is tired, exhausted, really. He doesn't know if he can carry on. And my pastor friend asked him why he felt he was battling all alone. Weren't the other leaders in the church helping him to fight the good fight? And it turns out that the other religious leaders in the church were the ones causing the fight. These present-day American church religious leaders are pressuring their pastor to deny Christ. My friend asked, what do these men say when you appeal to their Christian consciences? And the reply from the other pastor, who by the way, carries a reputation for being overly generous in his assessment of others. He said, I'm not sure any of them are Christians. This is a church not really all that far from here. Meeting right now like we are. And they have leaders conferring in the shadows in an ungodly sort of togetherness. Leaders claiming to be Christian while asking their pastor to avoid preaching in Christ's name. This is real. This is now. There is a crisis in our culture, in our church culture. I blame myself. I blame you. I blame all of us. What is wrong with us? Where is our prayer life? Do we even have one? How dependent are we on the power of the Holy Spirit? Are we obedient to Him? Are we gathering together by His leading, witnessing with boldness to our neighbors and to strangers? to our friends, to our enemies. It's interesting to me that in Acts chapter 3, Peter healed a crippled man. The crippled man, he asked for money and Peter was with John. He said, look at us. And then empowered by God's Spirit, he took the man by the hand and he said, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. And instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong he jumped up and walked and praised God this is interesting to me because in Ephesians chapter 6 beginning with verse 13 our Bibles tell us 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've done everything to stand Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckle around your waist with the breastplate of righteousness in place and with your feet Fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace this crippled man's feet were made strong fitted with readiness to praise God to stand witnessing the gospel of peace This might be what we need in the church today So often focused on money. We have crippled fate. Unready, unwilling maybe to proclaim boldly God's praises. To call people to repentance unto salvation. If we, the church, don't change, a change that rests with each of us individually, then we should heed the warning of what happened to Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter 5. They lied to the Holy Spirit. And Peter asked, how could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? And Ananias and Sapphira, they both fell down and died. To test the Spirit of the Lord is, that's a heavy thing. Are you lying to yourself about your commitment to Christ? Examine your heart. Are you lying to others about your commitment to Christ? Repent. Confess. Are you lying to God about your commitment to Christ? God help you. God's church must witness Christ. Who he is, what he has done, what he continues to do, what he will do. Having a Sunday morning social club is not enough. Developing church programs that help our neighbors and friends, programs that would Be the envy of the local moose lodge or the rotary club. It's not enough. Someone once taught me that a church that's not caring for its needy is a sick church. But a church not preaching the word is no church at all. Do you faithfully stand for the faithful witness of our Lord's Word? The deacon Stephen did. Acts chapter 7 tells us of his extraordinary example. It's an example for us to heed. But more importantly, it is an example that points us to Christ Himself. Like Jesus, Stephen faces the false testimony of false witnesses. Orchestrated by the false religious leaders of his day. Stephen stands strong, pointing people to God's plan of salvation. Like Jesus. And this is what we are to do. But we're not perfect in doing this, are we? If we're honest. What are we to do? when we fail to stand like Stephen. Stand with Christ. Stephen is picturing Christ here. Picturing. He talks to corrupt rulers in Jerusalem, like Jesus, about corrupt rulers hundreds of years earlier in Egypt. He talks to those who were oppressing the people of God about those who had oppressed the forefathers years ago in Egypt. He talks about supposed brothers bent on hurting each other about others, supposed brothers who years earlier had asked God's anointed leader Moses, who made you ruler and judge over us? These Israelite fathers from years earlier refused to obey God. and his ordained leader. These people of God were stiff-necked, a stiff-necked people. So were the first century Jerusalem leaders who rejected the true testimony of the tabernacle when rejecting Jesus Christ. So were the first century Sanhedrin who stoned Stephen to death as he witnessed to them. And so it is with us, in 2016, possessing the same power of the Holy Spirit that allowed Stephen to do what Jesus did. Again, amplifying this picture that Stephen gives us of Christ, see if this sounds familiar. Stephen prayed to God at the end of chapter 7, saying, Receive my spirit. Then he fell on his knees and he cried out, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. echoes of Jesus at the cross. And then Stephen, when he had said this, he fell asleep. He died. The story is not about Stephen, per se. It's a story about Jesus. Now we might be tempted to give up hope when thinking about this as a story about Stephen. Read a great heroic story like this and we can fall into the dangerous category of dare to be a Daniel slay your Goliath with faith like David be your best self now if it is to be it's up to me I said a few minutes ago that we must each change individually and it's true but not solely as I have been emphasizing this morning And as this church is emphasizing this entire month, Christianity is not an individualistic religion. It is a corporate faith, rooted in our corporate union with our King, Jesus. It is unlike what Elsa sings to us in Frozen. Many of you might be familiar with that song. I'm not going to sing it, but I will read it for dramatic effect. A kingdom of isolation, so the song goes. And it looks like I'm the queen. Don't let them in, don't let them see. Be the good girl you always have to be. Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know. Well, now they know. It is time to see what I can do to test the limits and break through. No right, no wrong, no rules for me. I'm free. Let it go, let it go. You'll never see me cry. Here I stand and here I'll stay. Let the storm rage on. My power flurries through the air into the ground. My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around. Let it go, let it go, and I'll rise to break the dawn. Here I stand in the light of day. Let the storm rage on. The cold never bothered me anyway. This rugged individualism rings true for so many Americans. The isolated, individualistic worldview really resonates with many in the context of our present worldly culture. But as Christians, we need to be reminded that we're all in this together. Because we're all united in and through Christ. which means that we're all in this with Him. Stephen has a bright, shining moment here. And with the same Holy Spirit residing in us, we can have similar shining moments. But we know But Stephen was not perfect. Because we know that all men sin and fall short of the glory of God. Stephen, as great as he appears in the book of Acts, he is still in desperate need of a Savior. Fully dependent on the blood of Jesus Christ. And this is our situation. You're not rescued by being like Stephen. I'm not rescued by being like Jesus. We are rescued because God loves us. And He has called us to Himself through Christ. Trust in what has been given to us by the miracle of the cross and we will find that we can be filled with a mighty power. shared with us from Christ himself, the power that comes from his Holy Spirit. And that's going to have to put a wrap on things for this week. A little bit frustrating that we're going to break this up into three pieces, because there's still five or six minutes left in the message, if you can believe it. So we're going to have to finish this up next week. That's going to be awkward because the show's about a half hour long, and after five or six minutes, we'll still have quite a bit of time to fill. But actually, I had a chance to speak at another church just a little bit shortly after this message was shared. It was only a short amount of time, and that other church just stood up and spoke for a moment. Maybe I can find that audio. We'll have kind of an interesting potpourri of messages next week, and then we'll try to get back on the saddle with this program, doing things the way we normally like to do them, a panel discussion. I want to thank our sponsor, Putman Plumbing and Heating. They've been our sponsor now for, oh my goodness, it's got to be close to all 12 years we've been on the air. Maybe not all the way back to the beginning, but very early on, at least 10 years. Anyway, Putman Plumbing and Heating, how can we make you smile? Thanks again to my longtime friend, brother, and cohort in this program, Jonathan Schweitzer, Senior Pastor of Crossroads Valley Church in Frederick. Thank you for your long-standing loyalty to listening to this program on Sunday mornings, first at 6 a.m. for a while, and then 8.30 these past 10 or so years. Not sure exactly what's on the ledger after that. John Switzer and I will knock heads and compare notes, and we will figure out exactly what things will look like moving forward. Until then, God bless.