Well, good morning, friends, and welcome to the 27th of December. We are rushing towards the end of the year. This is Wednesday. And welcome to Let's Talk. I'm Rocky Stevenson, pastor of Benoni Bible Church. What a joy it is to have you, the dear listeners of Radio Pulpit, joining me day by day as we worship the Lord. And today we're going to be, again, still part of a bit of a special series. over the Christmas period in December. We'll get back to our usual Monday to Friday Let's Talk time once we're back into the new year. But we're going to be looking today at saved into a new family. This is embracing Jesus personally and then also collectively. Yesterday we looked at that universal cry and that universal call that we have for a Savior. So greetings dear friends as we continue this reflection on the profound truths of salvation and today we're going to dive into the personal and the collective dimension of embracing Jesus as our Lord and our Savior. He's not merely to be embraced personally and he's also not merely to be embraced collectively. If we just embrace him collectively then we embrace a cultural Christianity. If we embrace him just personally, then we embrace a selfish Christianity, and both of those are wrong. We must have him as our collective Lord, and as our personal Lord and Savior. We are saved out of this world into a new body of believers, which is called the Church. We are not simply believers that are all on our own. and without any other believers around us, or any submission to one another, and without any order, without any officers within the local church. No, we are part of one another. Listen to Acts 2 verse 41-42, it says, So then, those who had received the word were baptized. What an important step! Baptism is where one individual becomes part of the collective and they see themselves now as part of the body of believers submitting underneath the headship of the Lord Jesus Christ. And of course these are people who received the word that were baptized. They believed and therefore they were baptized. They repented of their sin therefore they were baptized. and on that day they were added about 3,000 souls and they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship and to the breaking of bread and to prayers. How important is this? We see that when somebody is saved They devote themselves collectively to the apostles teaching. That's what we have when we week by week have the Lord's Day and we are preaching God's Word and we say thus says the Lord from the pulpit as we are sure that this is what God's Word is to his church. and then they were not just committed to the Apostles teachings but to the fellowship and that is the being together as one another as a body of believers this is something that we so value at Benoni Bible Church we have wonderful times of fellowship we have a once a month family fellowship where we get together as the local church at one of our deacons homes or even at the church premises we enjoy our times of fellowship after services and what a joy that is to be with one another This is an important part of the local church fellowship and the breaking of bread and to the prayers. They devoted themselves to the Lord's Supper, to sharing meals with one another and also to prayers. How important it is for us to be praying. I've mentioned this before, I'm not sure on the radio pulpit, but definitely at our local church there's that little saying that says if you want to see how popular a church is, come to the morning service. If you want to see how popular the pastor is, come to the evening service. If you want to see how popular God is, or how popular Jesus is, come to the prayer meeting. and how sad it is that oftentimes our prayer meetings are poorly attended. We seem to be able to get a group together if there's food or snacks but prayer is such a critical element and we cannot have holiness without prayer and we cannot have prayer without holiness. Prayer is such a beacon and an important point of our local churches if you think about even the Apostles not wanting to get distracted in Act 6 and they appoint what is seen as the first group of deacons, seven men filled with a spirit because there was that issue between the Hebrew widows and the Hellenistic widows that were part of the church and they say there it's not good for us to be distracted from the ministry of prayer and the preaching of the word. And it seems today that we are very emphatic about the preaching of the word and we leave out prayer so often. But this is a critical part of our being joined together as a collective body of believers. Yes, there is the prayer that is in private, but that prayer in private should fuel our prayer collective. and we ought to be a people that want to pray with one another. I just thank God so much for our Friday morning prayer time at Benoni Bible Church. Our men get together at half past five till half past six on a Friday morning and we pray. We pray even for you at the radio pulpit and for those that are listening. We are thankful to the Lord for this ministry that he has given to us. But there's this personal aspect where Jesus must be personal Lord and Savior. And we must remember that Jesus must be your Savior. He died on the cross for you as though you were the only one on earth. He died for you. And that concept of making him your own personal Lord and Savior is so critical. You must acknowledge his lordship over your individual life. The fact that he has bought you at the price of his precious blood at the cross. Remember what we see in Romans 10 verse 9 to 10 It says the following and if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, this is very personal you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and Believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved This is very personal you as the individual For with the heart a person believes, leading to righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, leading to salvation. For the scripture says, whoever believes upon him will not be put to shame. You see, there's a day coming where we will answer before God, and either that day will bring shame, or it will bring redemption. What will it be for you, dear one? What has your personal commitment been? But then there's also the collective aspect. You see, if you've truly had that personal aspect where you have believed on Jesus and you are not put to shame, then you become free and you become part of the church. You are saved into the church. That's what Ecclesia means, the called out ones. You're called out of the world and into the church. The called ones are those that believed. Those that believe become the called out ones. You're not called out ones so that you believe, you're called out ones because you believe. And this collective aspect of salvation is so marvelous. We become a part of a new body. Once we were not a people, now we are the people of God. We are the called out assembly. Now assembly is very critical. It's a very different word to a a gathering. No, we're not a gathering. And even going back to some of the government mandates, they talk about gatherings. You're not allowed to have a gathering over 50 people, etc. No, the church is an assembly. Why is it an assembly? Well, because Jesus is the head of the church and we are the body parts. You cannot have church and you cannot have biblical Christianity without the assembly of the saints. Because in that assembly we assemble underneath the head which is our Lord Jesus Christ. He gives us the command and for his marching orders we march. He's the one who tells us what is right and wrong. He's the one that we bow to. He's the one who is our Lord. He is our master. He is our head. He is our husband. We go His way because He has bought us. He has saved us. He has redeemed us. We belong to Him in body and in soul. We are His and He is ours. We are saved out of this world. We are saved into His church, the body of Christ, the family of Christ. And dear ones, if you don't feel at home with the family of Christ, then I would just venture to say that you're likely not saved. Possibly you live in rebellion, because we're commanded to not neglect the assembling together of ourselves. as has become the habit of some, especially as the day draws near. Don't you think that the days draw in even nearer and nearer and nearer? Today is one nearer day to the return of our Lord Jesus. So what's your commitment like to the local body of Christ? There's really no excuse in South Africa. I mean, we have good local churches around our country. If you don't know of a good local church to be a part of, you can email me at pastatbutonlybiblechurch.co.za and I'll likely be able to put you in touch with a good local church, at least within a half an hour radius of where you are. and we have motor vehicles, we have modes of transport, we're easily able to be a part of a local church. Well, what happens if we're not having a local church in our area? Well then, there's that desire to get a local church going. There should be a connection with a good, biblically sound local church, if that is far from you, an hour away, two hours away, and you should have a desire to plant a local church in that area. We're part of a group of assembled people. That's part of what Christians are. They're part of an assembly. Now that doesn't mean that the assembly is perfect, but are you perfect? People say, I don't want to be part of the church. It's so full of hypocrites. Well, dear one, there's room for one more. There's room for a big one. Come join us. As we serve our Lord Jesus Christ, He is the head of His church, and we are His body. We must submit ourselves to Him, and part of how we see ourselves submitting to Him is by our submission mutually to one another, and the order that God has established within the local church. There are spheres of authority. There is the family, there is the government, and there is the church. And God is the one who gives these spheres. And he tells them where does this sphere stop, where does it start, what is exactly biblical, what is legitimate government, what is legitimate church, what is legitimate family, and we must listen to God and go his ways. I want us to even just Once more highlight the importance of being part of a church community. Listen to Acts 2 verse 42 to 47. And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teachings and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And fear came upon every soul. and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles and all those who had believed were together and had all things in common. This is the goal of a local church and should be having this togetherness, having this all things in common. Believing in Jesus, seeking to have Jesus be the prime focus. You see part of the problem and part of the reason that there's so many tensions in many local churches is that Jesus has stopped being the focus. People have stopped looking to the head of the church. Benoni Bible Church does not belong to Rocky Stevenson. It belongs to Jesus Christ and I'm a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ and a servant of Benoni Bible Church. Jesus is the head. He must be the one that we focus on. and they began selling their property and possessions and were dividing them up with all as anyone might have need, and daily devoting themselves with one accord. In the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord was adding to their number daily those who were being saved. What a joy! This is what we see when there's true, healthy, local church life. God adds to their number those that are being saved. The world knows that we are His disciples by our love for one another. This is the greatest means of evangelism. Ephesians 2.19 says, So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. 1 Corinthians 12 verse 27 says, Now you are the body of Christ, and individually members of it. That's what we're called towards, this type of a membership. Personal believers with a communal group of assembled believers who worship Jesus Christ as Lord. May the Lord encourage your heart to be excited about this coming Lord's Day, to go and worship collectively our great Lord. Amen.