Called to Obedience
A Sermon on Acts 6:7
Scripture
7The word of God kept spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.
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.
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.