Okay, go with me if you would
back to Acts chapter 11. Acts chapter 11, we just read where
the church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas out to a new group of
believers. That's what we just read. The
church heard about this brand new group that was pretty good
ways out and they sent Barnabas out to meet this group and preach
to this group. Anytime you travel to a place
where believers are gathered that you haven't met yet, you've
heard about them, but you haven't personally met them yet. Anytime
you travel out to a group of believers like that, it's an
exciting thing. It's very, very exciting. There's
a group of people who believe God's word and love it. And it's an exciting thing. You're
not really going out there to meet new acquaintances. You hear
about people all the time and you meet new people all the time
and you make their acquaintance, but you're not going out there
to meet new acquaintances. You're going out there in hopes
of meeting new siblings in Christ. That's your hope. Brand new siblings
in Christ. Every sinner that God adopts
into his family is just that. adopted into his family. In the
family of God. In Christ we are all brothers
and sisters. Isn't that something? Brothers
and sisters. We are not just fellow believers. We're all coming together tonight
because we all believe the same thing and we're all fellow believers. But we're not just fellow believers.
We're family. We are family in God's family. This past weekend, I went out.
I traveled out as far as Springfield. I didn't go any farther than
that. Barnabas went as far as Antioch. I went as far as Springfield. And when I got there, one of
the families opened up their home. Saturday night, I traveled
out there on Saturday, got there about five. One of the men picked
me up at the airport and brought me to one of the family's homes.
And when we got there, all the church was there. The whole church
was already there. They all came out. We all had
dinner together. It was delicious. It was absolutely
delicious. We talked about some things.
We got to know each other a little bit. We introduced ourselves
and such on and so forth. And it took no time for us to
go straight to the sweet fellowship and conversation of the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It just went right to it. And I emphasize the person of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Our brothers and sisters out
there are in love with a person, not just a doctrine. The person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I believe that I can say
we were all, as the scripture says, in one accord. I believe that I saw the grace
of God there. I believe I did. I believe I
saw God's grace on some sinners out there. And I was glad. I was glad. I'm so glad I was able to go.
I told them I couldn't wait to come back and tell you. I took
a picture of them. I said, you have a lot of brethren
who'd love to see a picture of you. I'll show it to you. But I think back now on this
trip just a few days ago and I think about those brethren
out there and it has caused me to really ponder God's ministry. It has caused me to really think
about God's ministry. The ministry of God's church
all over this world. All of the local assemblies that
collectively make up God's church, all of these little ministries.
A local ministry goes through changes over time. I couldn't
stop thinking that while I was out there. Hearing their experience, it
just reminded me so much of this place, seeing where they are,
and it made me think of the changes
that have happened here. A local ministry goes through
changes over time. It just does. And we pray that
those changes are growth in grace, don't we? We pray that that's
a huge change on a ministry. more grounded settledness in
the faith. There are so many questions,
so much turmoil over things. And what we hope and pray is
that as time goes on, the Lord through His Word causes all of
us to become more grounded, more settled. That's what we want for ourselves,
isn't it? We pray that the fruits of the
Spirit might become more evident over time. All of the fruits
of God's Spirit that they might just show more and more and more. We fear the opposite, don't we? A decline in grace. Wouldn't
that be awful? A decline in patience and settledness,
impatience, unsettledness. A lack of that urgency, that
fervent spirit that we once had. After the infancy of a new ministry
that God raises up, the local church does go through many changes. But one thing stays the same. This is what hit me while I was
there, hit me as I think back on it this week. One thing stays
the same. One thing stays the same. It never changes. Every local
church all over this globe One thing stays the same. It stays
the same. It never, never changes. One thing. The ministry over
there is six months old. All right? I believe the Lord
impressed me through the messages to exhort them to something.
There's something they need to do. It is the exact same thing
that we need to do. It is the exact same thing that
every ministry on this globe needs to do. It doesn't matter
if a congregation is 6 months old, 6 years old, or 60 years
old. Verse 22 right here says, Then tidings of these things
came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem. And they
sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch,
who when he came and had seen the grace of God, was glad and
exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart They would cleave
unto the Lord. That never changes. Never. There is truly one thing
needful in this life for a believer. One thing needful. We all feel
the need. I need to do this. I need to
do that. There is one thing needful. I don't have this. I don't have
that. There is one thing needful. May the Lord allow us to let
go of everything else and cleave unto the Lord. I mean cleave
unto the Lord. That one thing is the Lord Himself. The Lord Himself. Verse 23 says,
when he came and had seen the grace of God, was glad and exhorted
them all that with purpose of heart, they would cleave unto
the Lord. Now there are a few things that
I want to emphasize in what he just said. And then I want us
to see how we can do this. Okay. Verse 23, he came, he saw
the grace of God. He was glad. And it says he exhorted
them all. He exhorted them all. I don't want to preach only. I don't want to only preach to
the believers that are here. I don't know who they are. God
knows. I don't know what God has done
in the hearts of any of us. I beg him daily, keep me. Right? I don't want to only preach to
the believers here. I want to warn. I want to exhort. I want to tell the truth. I want
to do that. I don't want to only preach to
the unbelievers here. I don't know who they are. God
knows, but I don't want to only preach to the unbelievers here.
One man made the statement a long time ago, we should never preach
as though there are no unbelievers listening. We should never preach
as though there are no lost sinners listening. And oh, do I agree
with that? Man, do I agree with that. Don't
ever preach as though there is not an unbeliever listening.
But I'd like to add to that, may we never preach as though
there's not a believer listening. I don't want to give any unbeliever
a false hope. I don't. I don't. I also don't want to convince
myself that I'm feeding sheep when really all I'm doing is
whipping goats. I don't want to do that. It says he exhorted
them all. He exhorted them all. I don't
want to preach only to the middle aged people. The old people got this. They've
been hearing this all their life. They've heard it over and over
and over. They don't need to hear it again.
I don't need to tell that same old story. I don't need to make
the gospel that simple. Let's harden it up. Let's go
into something deep. They've heard it too much. Is
that the truth? The young people are too young
for this. They're too little for this.
They can't understand this. They can't handle this. I think I'd like to let the Lord
be the judge of that. He exhorted them all. Little girls, little girls, everybody
hear me? This is what the word says, cleave
to the Lord. Does everybody hear that? You are not too young. You understand? You're not too old. You're not
too young. Cleave to the Lord. Everybody,
everybody, everybody who has a soul, everybody who has a mind,
everybody who has ears, cleave to the Lord. I'm about to tell
us how we can do that. God showed mercy to John the
Baptist in the womb. If God can do that, God can show
mercy to anybody. Anybody, little girls, cleave
to the Lord. Cleave to the Lord. Verse 23 says, He exhorted them
all that with purpose of heart. Purpose of heart. Look with me
at Acts 17. Acts 17 verse 22 says, Then Paul
stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said, You men of Athens,
I perceive that in all things you're too religious. For as
I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription,
To the unknown God, whom therefore you ignorantly worship, Him declare
I unto you. God that made the world and all
things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth,
dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither is worshiped
with men's hands, as though He needed anything. seeing he giveth
to all life and breath and all things. True cleaving to the
Lord is done with the heart. It's done with the heart. It's
done on purpose. It's done with purpose in the
heart. If the heart cleaves, the hands
will follow. They just will. They will follow. But just because the hands cleave,
just because the hands go through the religious motions, that doesn't
mean the heart is cleaving. And if the heart is not cleaving,
then I haven't laid hold of Christ. If the heart is not cleaving,
I have not laid hold of Christ. The issue of life, the scripture
says, is in the heart. God deals with the heart. He
deals with the heart. Go with me back to Acts 11. Verse
23 says, when he came and had seen the
grace of God, was glad and exhorted them all that with purpose of
heart they would cleave unto the Lord." The object of our
faith, the desire of our heart is the man himself. It's the man himself. Our hearts
are not Cleaving to the doctrine of the man. I think I'll put a Salah right
there. Have a moment of silence. That's where so many people miss
it. That's where so many people miss Christ. That's where so
many people miss Christ. That is where so many people
miss Christ. Our hearts are not clinging to
the doctrine of the man. You know that? Our hearts are
not clinging to the truths that surround the man. Our hearts
are clinging to the man himself. We are clinging to the man himself. I don't rest in what I believe. I rest in who I believe. I know whom I have believed and
am persuaded that he is able to keep me. I don't believe I'm
saved because I know that man is totally depraved and got elected
a people and Christ only died for those people and such on
and so forth. I believe that man came and put
my sin on him and shed his blood and he said it's finished and
I'm just trusting him. That's it. I know whom. I know whom. I don't have any
assurance that I have my doctrine right. None at all. My assurance is in that man. If my assurance is in that man,
I'll have my doctrine right. If my assurance is in that man,
then I will have my doctrine right. He exhorted them all that
with purpose of heart, they would cleave unto the Lord. Now, how
do we, in the heart, on purpose, cleave to the Lord? I wrote down
five ways, it won't take long. I wrote down five ways, in the
heart, with purpose of heart, on purpose, we can cleave to
the Lord. First, in the heart, let's cleave
to his promise. Let's cleave to his promise.
This is what he said. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. Cleave to that. He said if you
draw nigh to God, God will draw nigh to you. He said when you walk through
the fire, I'll be with you. The flame is not going to hurt
you. He said, you come to me, all
you that labor and are heavy laden, I promise I will give
you rest. He said, if any man thirst, let
him come unto me and drink. This verse right here will sum
up His promise. Look at John 6 with me. John 6 verse 37 says, All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. Isn't that wonderful? I'll in
no wise cast out. He exhorted them all. Cleave
to the Lord. Cleave to his promise. Secondly,
in the heart, on purpose, with purpose, Let's all cleave to
His blood. Cleave to it. We are never going
to see in ourselves what we need to see to have any hope and any
assurance, any forgiveness as long as we're looking into this
flesh. We'll never see it. Never. I want to grow in grace. I do. I hope and I pray to grow
in grace. I pray God would change me. I
pray he would conform me more to his image. But I'll never
find any hope or any assurance or any comfort or rest that I
have forgiveness of sin as long as I'm looking to this flesh.
Never. But look with me at Exodus 12.
Go with me over to Exodus chapter 12. Exodus 12 verse 13 says, and
the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where
you are. And when I see the blood, I'll
pass over you. When I see that blood, I'll pass
over you. Cleave to that blood. Cleave
to that blood. Thirdly, in the heart, cleave
to his word, this written word of God, this book of comfort
that he's written for us. Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. David
said, your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. I pray the Lord would help me
with this. I pray he would help me with
this and I'm going to tell you what I mean by that. Too often we preachers
read the scriptures looking for an outline. Not reading it for personal help
and food. Too often we read the scriptures
looking for the outline that makes sense. Okay, got it. Boom,
boom, boom. We need this word as a lamp unto
our feet, a light unto our path. I've read this to you before,
but I'll read it to you again. This is an article, Author Unknown,
I don't know who wrote it. But it's a description of this
word of God. It says, this book is the mind
of God. Dwell on that for just a minute. This book is the mind of God. Who has known the mind of God? This book is the mind of God,
the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners,
and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts
are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable,
unchangeable. Read it to be wise. Believe it
to be safe. Practice it to be godly. It contains
light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer
you. It is the traveler's map, the
pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword,
and the Christian's character. Here, paradise is restored, heaven
opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand
subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule
the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise
of glory, and a river of pleasure. Follow its precepts and it will
lead you to Calvary, to the empty tomb, to a resurrected life in
Christ, yes, to glory itself for eternity. What a word, what
a word. He exhorted them all, cleave
to the Lord, cleave to his promise, cleave to his blood, cleave to
his word. Fourthly, let's all with purpose
of heart, cleave to his worship. cleave to his worship. If we
would like to find true assurance, true hope, true comfort, if we
would like to find an increase in faith, an increase in peace,
let's all cleave to worshiping him. I mean cleave to worshiping
him. David said, not unto us, O Lord,
not unto us, unto thy name give glory. unto thy name, worshiping
him with purpose of heart is not unto us, is it? It's not
unto us. We're just saying, this is our
desire, we're just saying, help us to forget about ourselves,
concentrate on him, and worship him. Help us to worship him. We cleave to him when we present
ourselves before him to worship him. In Deuteronomy, he said,
and I love this, he said, there is a place where I've chosen
to put my name there. And he said, I want you to come
to that place. In Isaiah 45, he said, assemble
yourselves and come. Draw near together ye that are
escaped of the nations. Assemble yourselves and come.
Here's why. He said, where two or three are
gathered together in my name, I am in the midst of them. We can't wait to be in his presence,
can we? We are in his presence. He's
watching. He's listening. I'm right there with you. He
said, when my people gather together, I'm right there with them. So
the exhortation is cleave to the Lord, cleave to his worship. Here's the last way, the last
way I wrote down. We can cleave to our Lord. Look
over at Matthew 25 with me. Matthew 25 verse 34 says, Then
shall the king say unto them on his right hand, Come ye blessed
of my father. Inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. For I was an hungered
and you gave me meat. I was thirsty and you gave me
drink. I was a stranger and you took
me in. Naked and you clothed me. I was
sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came
unto me. Then shall the righteous answer
him saying, Lord, when saw we thee and hungered and fed thee?
Or thirsty and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger and
took thee in? Or naked and clothed thee? Or
when saw we thee sick and in prison and came unto thee? And
the king shall answer and say unto them, verily I say unto
you, inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these
my brethren, you have done it unto me. Our Lord said, by this
shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love
unto the brethren. Love one to another. Christ in
us is the hope of glory. And when God's people cleave
to each other, they're cleaving to Christ in each other. That's
what draws us together. That's what unites us in love. Christ in us. So let's all on
purpose, on purpose. You know, sometimes we do things
on purpose. I'm just going to have to do this on purpose with
purpose of heart. purpose of heart, let's all cleave
to the Lord. Let's cleave to His promise.
Let's cleave to His blood, cleave to His word, cleave to His worship,
and cleave to His people. That's the exhortation that's
never going to change. Never. Never. That's the need
that's never going to go away. May the Lord enable us to do
that. All right, let's all stand together.