Called to Obedience
A Sermon on Acts 6:7
Originally preached July 3, 1966
Scripture
7And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Sermon Description
What is the message of the church? In this sermon on obedience from Acts 6:7 titled “Called to Obedience,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones boldly proclaims that it is the message of salvation in Christ to all who repent and believe in His name. It is a message of regeneration and new life as a new creature. This is not simply moral transformation, nor is it educational, but it is new life in the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is redemption by His blood and this new life generates obedience to God and His Word; it calls for holiness and purity. Genuine conversion will always manifest itself in one’s actions and attitudes. The idea of a Christian who is saved but never repents of his sin and seeks holiness is an oxymoron. On the other hand, just because someone has an ethical transformation or lives a life of charity and good works, these do not save a person. The Christian life is a life of both good deeds and saving faith. There is a Spirit-empowered desire for righteousness and good works that only comes with salvation. The Christian must avoid the error of seeing all good deeds as the result of regeneration and a new heart. They also should not fall into the trap of thinking that one can know God truly and yet never desire holiness.
Sermon Breakdown
- The passage under consideration is Acts 6:7 which states that the word of God increased, the number of disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly, and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
- The chapter is important because it shows the early church dealing with challenges and making important decisions. It shows what it means to be a Christian and how one becomes a Christian.
- Becoming a Christian is the biggest and most profound change one can experience. It is called being born again, a new creation, etc. Mere changes of opinion or social class are superficial in comparison.
- The essence of becoming a Christian is obedience to God. Sin is disobedience to God, not just what makes us feel bad. The natural man is opposed to God.
- The first step in obedience is stopping resisting God. All men naturally resist God and the gospel.
- The next step is repentance, which means thinking again and changing your mind. It means confessing you were wrong and being open-minded.
- After repentance, one must call on the name of the Lord, crying out to God for mercy in light of one's sin and helplessness.
- When one calls out, God answers with the gospel message. One must believe that message: that Jesus died for our sins and provides righteousness and salvation.
- True repentance is proven by leaving sin and idols behind and turning to God.
- One must also confess Jesus as Lord with one's mouth, which means understanding and being able to articulate the gospel.
- Finally, the obedient Christian joins with other believers in the church, praising God together.
- Have you rendered total obedience to the faith with your whole being? If not, examine yourself. If so, you can have assurance of salvation.
The Book of Acts
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.