Christian Fellowship (1) Unrestrained Acceptance

In this part of the sermon: Martin asserts that salvation is entirely of the Lord, from design to application, and is nurtured through God-appointed means of grace. He reviews previous sermons on private…

Jonah's exclamation 'Salvation is of the Lord' from the fish's belly is used to highlight that profound theological truth can emerge from unusual circumstances, implying its rarity in contemporary pulpits.

From what can only be called the dark, abysmal depths of the belly of a great fish, the wayward prophet Jonah exclaimed, Salvation is of the Lord. It is to be feared that more sound theology was spoken in that unusual classroom of God's discipline, upon his disobedient prophet, than is spoken from the majority of the pulpits across the land in this day. Yes, salvation is of the Lord. It is of the Lord in its eternal design and purpose, it is of the Lord in its procurement, its execution, and application, and equally of the Lord in the means ordained, both for its procurement and its applicatio...

4:14 - 5:36 Read in full sermon

Driving home: And so the biblical concept of distinctive Christian fellowship focuses upon that which the people of God share in common as the people of God.

A man who claims to love humanity but struggles with individual people (wife, children, co-workers) illustrates professing Christians who love the universal church but cannot get along with members of a local congregation.

In our foundational text, those who continued steadfastly in the fellowship were those who on the day of Pentecost were added to the 120. And it was in the context of identification with this local manifestation of the body and family of Christ that they continued steadfastly in fellowship. I'm afraid there are a lot of professing Christians today who are like the man, who said, I love humanity. I get on well with humanity.

11:34 - 12:14 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He defines Christian fellowship as joint participation, communion, and sharing in what is common among believers, rooted in their shared experience of God's grace. The context of…

A drunk man who blames every place for stinking, unaware the smell comes from Limburger cheese on his own mustache, illustrates church hoppers who blame churches for their problems, not realizing their own unmortified sin is the issue.

They're like the drunk with the Lindberger cheese on his nose. He staggers into one place and smells and says, this place stinks, I'm getting out of here. And he staggers into another and it isn't long before he says, this place stinks and I'm getting out of here. And from place to place he goes, not knowing that the horrible smell is coming up into his nose from his own mustache soaked with the Lindberger cheese.

13:12 - 13:43 Read in full sermon

Driving home: It is the unfamed and unrestrained acceptance of one another on the basis of what God has made us in Christ.

A halfback feigning left to deceive a free safety illustrates 'feigning' as making a false show or pretense, contrasting it with 'unfeigned' acceptance.

It's to play, let's pretend. It's to imitate or to simulate. It's sister word is faint, not f-a-i-n-t, swooning, but what a halfback does when he's in the open field and there's no one but him and the free safety between the goal line. And he's running at full tilt and he faints to the left with his head and his hips, and the moment he sees the free safety, make a commitment. He cuts to the right, and he goes home free and scores his touchdown. He faints. He pretends to go left when he's only intending to set that man between him and the goal line off balance that he might attain his goal. But...

17:16 - 18:11 Read in full sermon

Driving home: It is the unfamed and unrestrained acceptance of one another on the basis of what God has made us in Christ.

A large lineman running straight for the goal line without feigning illustrates 'unfeigned' as direct, without pretense, and 'unrestrained' as without holding back.

It's like what they do when they get down near the goal line, and more and more teams are doing it now. They'll bring either an offensive or defensive lineman who's 6'5 or 6', weighs 285 pounds, and they'll bring him in and place him in the backfield, and you know when he gets that ball, he isn't going to do any fainting or fainting. He's going to take that ball and just round that 280 pounds of bone and muscle straight down into the direction of the goal line. Well, unshamed means without any attempt to make a faint.

18:12 - 18:47 Read in full sermon

The point: Tolerate no social snobbery, ethnic elitism, or racial antagonism, suspicion, or stereotyping in Christ's church.

James' description of a church favoring a wealthy man over a poor man illustrates social snobbery and elitism that has no place in Christ's church.

tolerated. Read James 2, 1 to 10. James goes after it with the fiery spirit of an Old Testament prophet, and he describes in concrete terms a situation that may well have actually been occurring in the church of Jesus Christ. And he describes in concrete terms a situation that may well have actually been occurring in the church of Jesus Christ. And he describes in concrete terms a situation where someone came in with all the accoutrements and the physical symbols of wealth and of refinement. He came from the upper crust. Another man came in with all of the external symbols and accoutrements of...

45:04 - 46:20 Read in full sermon

The point: Mortify any prejudice and attitudes of superiority in your heart, moving beyond feigned or reserved acceptance to unfeigned and unrestrained acceptance.

Examples of prejudiced sayings like 'If it's not white, it's not worthy' illustrate the inherent superiority complex found in every ethnic group, which must be put to death in Christ.

manifests itself. And though we might not be so bold to say it, people come up with their own little ditties. If it's not cultured, it's not kosher. If it's not white, it's not worthy. If it's not red, it ought to be dead. If it's not white, it ought to be dead. If it's not it's not black, it ain't beautiful if he's not yellow, he's not my fellow you could just go on and use your imagination and see how every ethnic group has its unwritten code of inherent superiority you have yours and I have mine by nature but in Christ to be out to death in the death of Christ and in the open free reception...

47:11 - 48:12 Read in full sermon

The point: Stick out your hand and let every fiber of your heart's acceptance find expression in the grip of your fingers.

The sad historical anecdote of Reformation leaders withholding handshakes to signify non-acceptance illustrates the importance of tangible expressions of acceptance in fellowship.

and we long for God's blessing to go with you in this mission that will take you primarily to the Gentiles simple little thing isn't it but dear people is there not implicit in that a commendation of this legitimate expression of our unfamed and unrestrained acceptance of one another there's some interesting stories sad stories in church history and one of the saddest is during the period of the reformation when God raised up strong men with strong convictions who wrote strong treatises exposing what they felt were each other's heresies and when some of them would greet one another they would ...

55:09 - 56:36 Read in full sermon