What Makes Us Different, Part 2

This is why the New Testament emphasizes over and over and over and over again, our sexual conduct because it is this conduct which is so dramatically different from first century Rome and 21st-century America. If you want to be clearly distinctive today and what you believe and what you pursue and what you allow what you consider sure the Bible is going to make you very different and that your culture around behavior will seem strange against the backdrop of what is culturally popular or politically correct in this lesson Stephen Devi describes from Scripture three principles of personal conduct for the believer that distinguish us from the dark world in which we live.

First is the spiritual disciplines of prayer, Bible study, worship and service. Second is sexual purity.

And God ordained marriage and third are the ordinances of baptism and communion.

This is the conclusion to a lesson we began yesterday called what makes us different time magazine last month blaze.

The question on its front cover is monogamy over and one of the authors I asked to give his opinion wrote quote monogamy is unnatural, but we should keep it for our kids sake. Beloved monogamy is not man's idea. It's God's polygamy is man's idea that's easy to figure out just address that for the moment is to be the next court case all the way back to the days of Abraham and the patriarchs, their disobedience and multiplying wives brought heartache and division, and rivalry and jealousy, and war that is continuing to this day into this day were fidelity in marriage, monogamy of one man and one woman, knitting together and faithful union wherever that standard is eliminated and you can go to countries where it doesn't exist. Look at the results or where it's ignored. You have incredible travesty if I for one thing, those hurt most will be women and children. Women become collectible like property travel through world history, go to countries today where they're struggling to find a man without 15 lives and what that means to that culture where women are commodities, not to be cherished and protected but to be collected and effectively misused.

If not discarded the Bible simply records the polygamy of so many Old Testament believers. Keep in mind that just because the Bible reports something doesn't mean the Bible recommends something Bible recorded the Judas hung himself by the neck that's not being recommended to any of us either.

Just what happened to Esther what happened after she won that contest and then her husband goes out with another suite to add to his harem.

Look what happened to David what happened to Solomon. You can go to Israel and still see when they call the hill of shame what happened to Hannah and Rebecca look at all that it records go back. However, in the created order to Genesis chapter 2, and that which is affirmed by Jesus Christ in Matthew 19 here's the pattern. Here's the created order that a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife singular and they in fact the man and his wife interesting that Jesus actually emphasized by saying, and the two shall become one biologically physically, spiritually, one so what are we promising as believers, something that the church needs to get back to promising fidelity were practicing and promising purity, but let me tell you, beloved, you are promising to be perpetually out of date. You are promising to resist the cultural norm. You are promising to accept derogatory and misleading labels, but this is our distinctive and in fact this is why the New Testament emphasizes over and over and over and over again, our sexual conduct because it is this conduct which is so dramatically different from first century Rome and 21st-century America. If you want to be clearly distinctive today and what you believe and what you pursue and what you allow what you consider sure the Bible is going to make you very different and at odds with your culture around you.

That is different today far different than it was just a few decades ago, but this is a great opportunity for the church is a wonderful opportunity for the church.

This is why Paul until the Romans.

Let us behave properly in chapter 13 that was sent to Haven sexual promiscuity and sensuality is not make any provision for the flesh in regard to its lust is is that he's inviting the believer, take this opportunity surrounded by unbelievers who live this way. Let let's let's show the difference.

The rights of the Corinthians in first trillion six believe immorality morality is any sexual deviation from God's created order to big word for which from which we get our word pornography involves everything deviant apart from God's order. He says for Lee, immorality, and as far as I can think I could be wrong but I thought about again this week in my study, but I think this is this is the one sin categorically that you're actually never told a fight. You never told to battle it never told to try to overcome it here not even told a resistant you're actually told from it from flea immorality. Do you not know goes on in verse 19 that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit was in you, whom you have from God, you're not your own.

You been bought with a price goes into the slave market of that first century nieces look Christ is gone in to that market and you are on the auction block and he bought you your body now belongs to him.

One of the best ways you distinguish your life as belonging to him is what you do with your body. So to the Thessalonians. Paul is even more specific. In fact, turned a few pages to the right look at first Thessalonians 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 verse three I love this clarity in the problem again. Beloved is and that the Bible just isn't clear is just a little fuzzy. Now it's that it's saying something our culture wants to abandon its terribly passionate about rewriting this for this is the opinion of God wait for this is the suggestion of God. If you like, for this is what the will of God, and your sanctification, which is how you grow spiritually that you abstain from sexual immorality, fornication printed, there's that word again. This broad categorical terms that you abstain from any of it. This is the will of God's interestingly not have a dedicated line over it studios it was in the heart states the sermons and puts them on the radio and was the idea of our staff members to just have a dedicated line of people could call and leave your questions and I thought you know is you call us about things don't work on this. Try. So we tried it. It's now probably the most popular thing were doing and we take one Friday a month to answer questions. They simply call in and leave their question and their name and that's it. It's a joy to respond. By the way, to these questions. Now we have far too many than we could ever begin to answer not too long ago we got a question from a man who called and said this. I'm living with my girlfriend. I'm a Christian and she is not, and I'm praying to know what the will of God is.

Do you have any idea I had an idea or two. So on the radio answered and it was fairly simple, fairly simple move out. You need to pray about it. You need to wonder about it he's already spoken any new elected something. There is verse is only chapter 4, I give that person over the radio. You don't don't pray. I happen and I don't really get to say this.

I know God's answer for your life and I have to say it. I know God's answer for your life. Stop it move out. In fact, what a tragedy that this girl who is not a believer is living with you compromising as a believer. Why would she ever want to give her life to Christ. What is she seeing you. This is the will of God.

Levers for that each one knows how to possess his own vessel that is his own body honorably or in honor, not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God. That's how they live they live total due that in that area to show the distinctive sparkling sure quality of your life and the look at you like you are Rip van Winkle, are you serious you will do you think that's wrong. This is the promise. We make is got serious about it. The writer of Hebrews turned a few pages more the right chapter 13 Hebrews chapter 13 verse four marriage be held in honor among all let the marriage bed be on the undefiled fornicators and adulterers, that is, those who refuse to repent of it live forever cherish it long for it. God will what John show many times you hear people saying I shouldn't judge anybody should be so judge mental so narrow in a guiding a judge anybody for news and they love or with somebody they say they love and he says any kind of sexual action outside of my defined structure of marriage. God will judge God will judge Sheila tinkering with the family.

Over the past few decades heavily abortion on demand cohabitation spell out numbers, marriage licenses annually.

No-fault divorce, same-sex parenting through surrogates or artificial insemination all on audiologist, whittling away, whittling away, whittling away, reducing and reducing and reducing and ultimately erasing the ideal of marriage and sexual purity. As God designed it for our own good. One more promise more promise in relation our personal conduct to follow the ordinances of Scripture about being immersed in water. Following conversion to Christ and remembering and celebrating his atoning sacrifice through what we call communion nor putting this in the category of personal conduct issues because while the church administrates it. It is something the church forces that activity is your personal desire to obey and follow and remember Christ when you fulfill these promises you can be brought into the full and rich relationship with those in the church have been identified as disciples of Jesus Christ as well by me tell you this.

I've seen this change in the 30 years I pastor. We are not making as a body believers too much of baptism were trying to correct the faulty thinking of the church that makes it too little makes too little of it. The Lord said to his disciples in Matthew 28 of you have a question you go back to that text. Matthew 2819 the 20 oh in the process of going out to make disciples with the disciple, a follower of Jesus Christ make disciples did two things to them, baptize them and teach them that I never met a Christian. He didn't think the church ought to be teaching or shouldn't be teaching it ought to teach him here because it teaches is important to be taught the word of God. When I baptism that came first and you can draw lines are in the same ones important than the other one is not this passages in the suggestion. These are commands to publicly identify outwardly with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ through immersion in water baptism, and then to be taught all the Christ taught us to obey.

According to the New Testament pattern. Baptism is not something you do for your parents or that your parents do for you isn't even something you do for your church at 12 or 14 or 16 or eight or whatever it something you decide to do for Christ as a statement of obedience. It simply a living testimony.

It demonstrates that you have believe the gospel. You believe that Jesus died for you was buried for you and rose again for you from the dead, which is why baptism by immersion is the biblical mode.

The word means and Marshall say more about that in a moment, but immersion is the significant mode because it symbolizes what's taking place. It symbolizes death and burial we don't stop there. We believe in the resurrection right. Amen. Sometimes we count slowly one 1000 2000 we pull them out.

Almost anybody know the word baptize means to immerse or dip. The Greeks were intelligent people. They had words for baptizing and pouring none of them are ever used. Not once in passages related to Christian baptism. Why, because you can't get the symbol out of anything other than the mode of immersion. That's why have good Presbyterian and Methodist friends in Greece and they all immerse why because they were great testament that the people read. Unfortunately, the verb for English people is transliterated baptism zone mind is transliterated baptism, we just created an English word.

Nobody knows what it means and means to immerse why is it transliterated why is a verb in the original language is not touched in its translation but transliterated because it would've created a scandal in English first English version occurred in the Middle Ages because the Catholic Church was sprinkling infants as a sacrament. So the verb was left alone and baptism.

I was simply transliterated to create an English word baptism which still left people without knowing what it means's which bothers me. By the way, more and more the older I get, it means to immerse is the only verb associated in any passage with Christian baptism. I shook the hand of a gentleman a few days ago who was one of the leaders on the committee of translating the ESV and I didn't say it to them, but I wanted to say to him.

Why didn't you lead your committee to refuse the pressure of economy and and publishers and marketing and translate that verb sit all the way home and mirror sounded really great insight to what happened when the church was created asked to those who received his word.

Those who believe the gospel message of Peter is this church is created. They were baptized would be great if it'd been translated. They were immersed signifying their belief in the one came in, died and was buried, and rose again wonderful simple and there were added that day about 3000 sulci of the church springing into existence suddenly with 3000 people in Jerusalem making up the first local church and they fulfilled effectively.

A promise to be identified with Christ in this ordinance and we followed that practice. To this day the ordinance of baptism is a one time event after your conversion.

Don't pull it into your conversion as a definition within justification by faith alone, or you've created a work plus faith. It follows conversion to Christ as a statement of your belief in the gospel of Christ. There is another ordinance, one more ordinance. It takes place as often as the leadership of the church plan the event we call communion, and again we don't make too little of it. We want to make much of it.

And so here in our church to be been around long enough you know whenever we have communion we shut everything down. I don't preach my same series of messages we stop it we do it different devotion we do a different subject related to the cross, the music, everything is designed for that hour. Today you can buy now from the Christian bookstores and churches doing the little plastic cup that has a little thin covering. And on top of that covering is a little wafer and then over. That's another plastic covering so you can just hand those out things it does it does it get done at about 120 seconds. That's not what we want to do want to make much of it. Baptism is a one time act of identification. So when you learn more about Jesus, you don't get baptized again to be learning more about all the time to one time act after conversion of identification communion is an ongoing ordinance of examination. I like to say rededication.

Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, but let a man examine himself and then eat of the bread and drink the cup, for believers, but is a wonderful opportunity. At that moment to rededicate yourself to the Lord to make sure that path is cleaning clear.

It is this picture of son ship. It's a picture fellowship with the sons and daughters of God. So this is a promise. We make repeatedly and even collectively as we remember our Lord. These personal promises do for us as a release or conduct that cause us to read value those things that have real value is out there in the world are always changing the price. I say take purity and they say that's not really worth all that much money… Done that thing that they take marriage chalices done that thing down sick fidelity now and am interested alpha male and collect dumb it down. The church changes as price tags back with the audit be in part of the message and part of the accountability and part of the promise that we had to each other and to our Lord is to constantly urge each other on to keep those price tags with the present history story a few weeks ago from a member of our fellowship. This close a man in disheveled clothing sat at a Metro station in Washington DC playing his violin. It was a cold January morning took place just a couple years ago he played several pieces by Bach and his playing through the morning rush hour lasted just about 45 minutes it was calculated that several thousand people walked past him as he played one middle-aged man noticed the musician and stopped, looked listen for just a moment and then rushed away when Kaman leaned against the wall and watched listening and then looked at watching us his wristwatch and realized he had to take off. The only person the pay the violinist any attention was a little boy who stopped to listen. Fascinated, and even when his mother took his hand and urged him along. He kept his head turned back, watching as he was led away in the 45 minutes. This musician played only six people stopped for a moment or two, only 20 people of the thousands that walked by him only 20 toss the money into his violin case which came to just at $32 and they didn't slow their pace when they did.

When he finished playing in silence took over. No one noticed no one applauded no one recognize that this was Joshua Bell, one of the most famous violinists of our world and even playing the violin worth $3.5 million that had been under guard unsuspecting to any of the audience that walked by was part of an experiment by the Washington Post to just do a little experiment on perception and priorities among people see two days before he played in that subway sold out Boston in the seats cost hundred dollars a ticket. I couldn't help but think of this subject. 11. Just because the world ignores you. Just because the world doesn't applaud just because they don't hardly stop, but every so often to listen to your message what you have and what you are delivering is worth its weight in a city of gold and in these are our promises.

Just remember you you you don't take your cues from what the world can perceive you don't take your cues from what the world stops and says oh you or that's not worth listening.

Don't take your cues from you. Take your cues from what God has already said so as a relates our personal conduct. These are promises were making other. This is our priority. This is the direction in which our toes are pointing since her passion for the benefit of our lives, goodness, and so ordering for the benefit of our church gospel ultimately the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. What an important challenge today from work called to live lives that are distinct from the world. The challenge before us today and every day is to live lives that bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ, even one that makes us different from everyone else who does not follow Jesus, thanks for joining us today here on wisdom for the hearts. Today's lesson came from Stephen's series on the church called upon this rock. This particular lesson is entitled what makes us different will continue through this series. In the days ahead.

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That's 866-482-4253 I'm Scott Wiley and for Steven and all of us here. I thank you for listening were so glad you were with us and I hope you be with us for our next Bible lesson here on wisdom