Starting the Journey to the Well-Ordered Life

Introduction

This last Wednesday, I attended a funeral service for my mother’s dad – my granddad (we called him “Pawpaw Mosher”). I did not know him well. My mom’s family is all spread out, so it’s been hard to stay connected, and I didn’t spend much time with him in my adulthood. But I do remember spending some time with him when I was younger.

I remember that he believed church was really important (he was there as often as we were), and I remember hearing him pray (often with a sort of groan in his voice) for the people he loved and the things he valued.

I don’t have many memories from my childhood, but I can remember the sense that my chaotic and dysfunctional life was sort of “put on pause” when we would sometimes go to visit my Pawpaw and Grandma Mosher.

They lived on several acres of land with a modest house in Maypearl, TX (at least during the 1980s and 90s). They were still married after raising four children, my granddad retired from the US Air Force, he began a second career as the maintenance man for the Waxahachie school district, and both of my mom’s parents were active in many ways throughout their 60s and 70s.

They worked, they played, they tended well to what they owned… they invested deeply in the local church, they served Christ and others sacrificially out in the world, and they showed love and generosity to their children and grandchildren.

This life of notable stability and obvious order was not something I understood back then, but (at an instinctive level) I knew I wanted it – I liked the short visits into their world a whole lot more than the life I had in my world.

My mom and dad divorced when I was 3 years old. So far as I can remember, my dad was just not around or meaningfully involved in my childhood, and my mom was always juggling so much (practically and emotionally) that she didn’t have a great relationship with her children either.

My mom and dad’s broken marriage is not the only reason I grew up in rundown apartment complexes and eating a lot of cheap goulash…

If you know, you know; and if you don’t, then congratulations. Goulash (at least how we ate it) is poor-people food – noodles from a box, mixed with some kind of tomato sauce and a little hamburger meat (or canned tuna when money really got tight). You can feed the whole family for cheap, and it only takes about 15 minutes to prepare and serve.

As I was saying… a broken marriage is not the only reason I grew up among disordered relationships, disordered finances, and disordered priorities in nearly every area of life, but disordered living was my normal.

However, when we would occasionally go to visit Pawpaw and Grandma Mosher, my brother and I would get a taste of living under the shade of a well-ordered life. The beating sun of life’s inevitable hardships and confusion was blocked (at least just a little) by the comfort and tidiness I felt around my grandparents.

Why was that?

How did my grandparents do it?

Where did they start?

Was this all fate, or can people decide how their lives might turn out?

As I said before, I did not understand what I was experiencing as a kid back then. But I do understand it now. I have observed these differences in the lives of many people around me, and I’ve experienced such things in my own life as well. And I want to spend some time this morning thinking out loud with you about the beginning of the journey toward a well-ordered life.

That was the introduction to my sermon… but before we read our text for today, I think it will be helpful if I give just a bit of an introduction to it as well.

Our primary passage is one part of a story from Luke’s historical account of the earliest days of Christianity. After Jesus died and was raised, and after He ascended to His throne over all creation, He left His Apostles and other believers here on earth to spread the good news and to live as faithful witnesses of the true King of kings and Lord of lords.

During those early days, God gave “signs” or “evidence” that He was doing something new on the pages of human history… Just think of what happened at the beginning of the book of Acts (on the day of Pentecost) when all those who believed in Christ were filled with the Holy Spirit… in such a way that everyone around them could visibly and audibly perceive that something miraculous was happening.

And when the Apostles and other NT believers preached the gospel throughout those earliest years of Christianity, people would sometimes experience miracles – some would be miraculously healed from some ailment, some would receive (from God) special revelation (or prophecy), and many would praise God in languages that they themselves did not know or understand.

This sign in particular (of “speaking in tongues” or “speaking in languages”) is especially notable during the early Church period. It was a reversal of what happened at the Tower of Babel (in Gen. 11), and it was a uniting of all humanity… not according to ethnicity or geography… but uniting in Christ all those who turned from their sin and trusted in the Lord Jesus.

God Himself was creating a new people… with a new citizenship, a new demography, and a new language – the language of true worship of the one true God, through the only Savior, and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And this particular sign (or “speaking in tongues” or “languages”) plays a big role in our passage this morning. We are going to read Luke’s account of the conversion of a man named “Cornelius” and all of his “household” or all of his family and servants (Acts 10:2). And the fact that those new believers experienced the infilling or indwelling of the Holy Spirit with the undeniable evidence of praising God in other languages… well, this was the basis upon which Peter argued that even Gentiles (if they believe) should be included among the NT people of Christ.

Cornelius was a “centurion” of the “Italian Cohort” (Acts 10:1), which means he was the commander of one hundred Roman Soldiers, and he was a Gentile (likely an Italian). The Bible tells us that he “feared God” (Acts 10:2), which means that he made a devout effort to know and to serve the God of the Bible.

In other words, he was not a Jew, but he lived in keeping with the Mosaic law insofar as he could during that time.

There is more to this passage than what we are going to draw from it today, but I’d like to focus our attention on a handful of specific things:

What did Cornelius and his household know and do before they were converted?

What were some invisible changes (either explicit or implicit here) that they experienced when they were converted?

What were some visible changes they experienced at conversion?

And how do these changes teach us about conversion as the beginning of a life of discipleship?

In fact, the points of my sermon will largely aim to answer these questions.

Let’s stand together as I read this passage aloud, and let’s listen for answers to these questions as I read this exemplary account of Christian conversion.

Scripture Reading

Acts 10:23–48 (ESV)

23b The next day he [Peter] rose and went away with them [some Gentile servants from Cornelius], and some of the brothers from Joppa [some Jewish followers of Christ] accompanied him [Peter]. 24 And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. 26 But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.” 27 And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. 28 And he [Peter] said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. 29 So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.”

30 And Cornelius said, “Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. 32 Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.’ 33 So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

34 So Peter opened his mouth and said:

“Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), 37 you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

39 And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

44 While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45 And the believers from among the circumcised [i.e., the Jewish believers] who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God.

Then Peter declared, 47 “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”

48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

Main Idea:

The beginning of the well-ordered life is conversion, which includes both invisible and visible changes that make a person a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Sermon

1. Before Conversion

In my first sermon of this series (back at the beginning of January), I argued that the well-ordered life is not a sprint or a destination. I argued instead that it is a way of life, a journey over hills and through valleys – a climb and a crawl. I argued that the well-ordered life is a way of living that leads to the place we want to go.

I pointed to the book of Proverbs as the quintessential call of the whole Bible for the reader or hearer to give attention to the voice of God’s wisdom and to turn away from all the temptations toward sin and foolishness.

There is a sense in which this is what the whole Bible is doing – it is giving the reader special revelation from God so that he or she will leave the crooked and chaotic road of destruction and walk the path of gratefully embracing God’s merciful promises and humbly obeying God’s wise commands and instructions.

This well-ordered life – believing and obeying God – rightly arranges our priorities, it sets our minds on what it true and good and beautiful, and it sends us in the direction of life (not death), of blessing (not cursing), and of joy (not torment).

But I also argued (from the Bible) that this wise way of living does not come naturally to us. Because we are children of Adam, we are prone to the same folly that Adam displayed when he neglected God’s word and followed after the deceptive temptation of the devil.

Like Adam before us, we are prone to believe that God’s promises are preposterous, and we naturally feel as though God’s commands are too constraining.

And yet, the way off of the road to destruction – the road that leads to pain and disorder in this life as well as suffering and torment in the life to come – the way off of that road and onto the right one – the way of wisdom, the way of life, the way of joy – that exit ramp must be clearly marked for us.

And (praise God!), so it is!

Cornelius gives us an example here of how God has marked the off-ramp for us. First, God has given us the Scriptures; and second, God has given us witnesses.

The Scriptures

We are not told explicitly here that Cornelius had or read the Scriptures, but it is implied that he knew something of them.

Earlier in Acts 10 (as I said in my introduction) Cornelius is identified as a “God-fearer” (Acts 10:2).

And we’re told that Cornelius “gave alms generously” and “prayed continually” (Acts 10:2).

These are evidence that he lived as one who aimed to keep the OT word of God… and, therefore, it is strongly implied that Cornelius knew at least something of the Scriptures.

Witnesses

What is explicit in our passage is that God gave Cornelius witnesses to the gospel, which is an invitation to live (A) under God’s grace and (B) according to God’s good rule.

Cornelius was given the special witness of an angel – a “man” in “bright clothing” (Acts 10:30).

Not everyone gets this special witness, so we should understand this as a unique expression of God’s grace upon this particular man and those of his household.

Cornelius was also given the witness of an evangelist – in this case, the Apostle Peter, who told him the good news of the gospel.

And note the content of Peter’s gospel message:

Peter referred to the OT “word” that God had “sent to Israel” as the grounding and backdrop of who Jesus was and what He did (Acts 10:36).

Peter explained that Jesus’s earthly ministry was affirmation that “God was with him” (v38).

Peter centered on Jesus’s work as the sacrifice who “hung… on a tree” (v39) and also God’s approval of that sacrifice by “raising [Him]” from the dead (v40).

And Peter focused the conclusion of his message on the fact that God Himself has “appointed” Jesus as the “judge of the living and the dead” as well as the one in whom there is “forgiveness of sins” (v42-43).

Friends, before anyone is converted, they need to know how and where to begin. They need to know how to get off the foolish path and onto the path of a well-ordered life – a God-believing and God-obeying life, a Christ-trusting and Christ-following life.

And this passage (along with the rest of the NT) makes it clear that the central content of that message sinners need to hear is the information which teaches us who Jesus is and what He has done to reconcile guilty sinners with the God who made us.

If you’re here today, and your life is in shambles, then would you consider the possibility that you have not heard… or that you have not understood… or that you have not believed this essential message?

I’m not saying that Christians can’t find themselves in all sorts of bad circumstances. They certainly can!

But if our lives are spinning out of control, if we are feeling the sting of a whole bunch of consequences from our sinful and rebellious decisions, and if we are reaping the fruit of a lot of bad seed sown in our lives, then it may well be that we are still on the path of foolishness and rebellion.

As I said already, Christians still sin, and Christians still feel the consequences of their foolish words and deeds in this life. But disbelieving God’s promises and disobeying God’s commands will bear fruit in our lives… the fruit of disorder, the fruit of self-inflicted hardship, and the fruit of instability and unrest… and these may be evidence that one is not yet converted.

Brothers and sisters, this has huge implications for how we talk with our loved ones (our friends, our family, and our kids).

Christian theologians often refer to three features of the kind of faith that saves – the kind of belief tied to conversion: (1) knowledge, (2) ascent, and (3) faith.

Knowledge (or notitia)

This is the knowledge of the facts of the gospel.

This is the sort of stuff Peter included in his gospel message to Cornelius and those who were with him that day.

Ascent (or assensus)

This is the mental ascent or understanding that the facts are true.

Faith (or fiducia)

This is an act of the will, giving ourselves over to trusting… not only that Jesus is the Christ who saves (generally)… but trusting that Jesus is the Christ who saves ME (specifically)!

When our friends or loved ones are living in rebellion against God – disobeying His commands, following the path of foolishness, walking according to the ways of this world – we would do well to stop assuming that they are Christians.

Sinners sin!

Rebels rebel!

Those who do not know and love and follow Christ…

They are sexually promiscuous.

They are driven by their feelings and passions.

They chase after fame or fortune or self-indulgence or laziness or idleness or public affirmation as their highest prize.

They love themselves more than others, they put themselves above others, and they are concerned to meet their own wants without almost any thought of the needs of others.

These passions and actions lead to all sorts of disorder and dysfunction in life, and when we see it, we ought to at least consider the possibility that these perpetual and aggressive sinners are not converted.

Rather, we ought to ask ourselves… we ought to ask them!

Do they know the content of the gospel?

Do they object to one or more of the facts about Christ?

Or do they know the facts, and do they believe the facts are true, but are they still holding onto their sin or disbelieving that Christ is their Savior?

Depending on where they are, our efforts might look quite different as we aim to bear witness to them about what it means for them to leave the sinful path and join us on the path toward the God-loving, Christ-believing, Spirit-empowered, and Scripture-obeying life… in other words, the well-ordered life.

The beginning of that path – the beginning of the well-ordered life – is not getting our lives in order, it’s not getting our priorities in line; it’s conversion!

The beginning of the well-ordered life is coming to grips with (it’s being honest about) the fact that we are not ordered as we ought to be – we are sinful, desperately and even deceitfully wicked. We need Christ to come and save us, and we need His word to tell us what is actually true about all of the most important things.

Sinners everywhere (we and they) need to know what the gospel is, we need to believe the gospel is true, and we need to cling to Christ as our only hope in life and death.

And when someone does that, there are always (without exception)… there are always changes – some that are invisible, and others that we can see.

2. Invisible Changes

We’re about two-thirds of the way into our time this morning, and I’m only starting point two of a three-point sermon… so we’re going to have to speed things up a bit here. Points two and three are going to be just a quick fly-by of all that the book of Acts (and the rest of the NT) teaches us about Christian conversion.

If you want a more technical and a lengthier treatment of this topic, then ask me about an academic paper I wrote a while back that walks through several passages in Acts and aims to note the various features of conversion that are either explicitly stated or implied on every occasion.

For our purposes today, I’m just going to have to give you my conclusions… rather than spend much time arguing for them.

Conclusion number one is that there are invisible features of Christian conversion – invisible changes that always occur when a sinner becomes a Christian… a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let me point out two of them: (1) regeneration and (2) belief/faith

Regeneration

Without exception, every sinner who turns away from their sin and turns toward loving and believing and following Christ… every sinner who perseveres in repentance and faith all the way through to the end… without exception, these sinners begin their lives as disciples by experiencing regeneration.

Regeneration is a fancy theological term that refers to what Jesus called being “born again” (Jn. 3:3).

Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see [or “enter” or “come into” or “be included in”] the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:3).

Similarly, John wrote in his Gospel that the “children of God” are those “born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (Jn. 1:12-13).

The Bible also uses that fancy word “regeneration.”

The Apostle Paul said that God “saved” believers, “not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).

Regeneration (or being “born again”) is that work which the Holy Spirit does in the life of a sinner when he or she hears the gospel, and supernaturally, that sinner becomes spiritually alive.

We can’t see spiritual life. There is no obvious change in a person’s height or hair color or skin tone.

It is an invisible and spiritual change.

In our main passage, Peter saw evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work (Cornelius and others praised God in other “tongues” or “languages” just as the believers had done on the day of Pentecost), but spiritual life itself is invisible.

Belief/Faith

Another invisible change that happens when a sinner is converted is belief or faith (and repentance closely associated with it).

These are really two sides of the same coin – repentance and faith/belief.

According to the NT, belief or faith (i.e., true belief, the kind that saves) is what sinners experience or receive at conversion.

For example, “belief” is what Peter called Cornelius and the rest of his household to do or have at the conclusion of his gospel presentation.

Peter said, in v43, “To him [to Jesus Christ] all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

And in Peter’s first public gospel message (in Acts 2), he called for his hearers to “repent” (Acts 2:38), and we’re told that many “received his word” that day (Acts 2:41).

As I said before, repentance and faith are two sides of the same coin; so, when Peter called for repentance, faith or belief was included.

And belief or faith is described in Acts 2 as “receiving” the “word” (Acts 2:41).

This is what I was getting at earlier when I talked about hearing the information (knowledge), believing the facts are true (assent), and receiving Christ as my savior (belief).

Friends, these invisible changes happen when a sinner is converted… when he or she becomes a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Brothers and sisters, this is what we want to happen in the lives of our unbelieving friends and family.

These are works that only God can do, gifts that only He can give.

We can’t see them. We can’t make them happen. We cannot produce them in the lives of anyone around us… we can’t even produce them in ourselves.

But we can pray that God would give these gifts of regeneration and belief. And we can talk about the facts of the gospel, we can talk about the implications of those facts, and we can urge our loved ones to believe the Lord Jesus Christ.

And while we cannot see regeneration and belief in the eyes or skin of a person; we can see evidence of these changes in the way a person lives.

These invisible changes come along with visible ones, and that’s where we’re going now.

3. Visible Changes

As I noted already, I’m only flying by these huge vistas of NT teaching on the subject of conversion, and I’m only able to briefly point out some highlights here and there (like a pilot saying, “If you look out your window, you’ll see it just below.”). And we’re going to have to keep this pace to finish at a reasonable time today.

So let me tell you my second conclusion and offer just a little comment and application.

Conclusion number two is that there are visible features of Christian conversion – visible changes that occur when a sinner becomes a Christian… a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. These are the evidence that one has actually become a disciple of Christ in a meaningful sense (i.e., a biblical sense) of the term.

Let me point out two of them: (1) baptism and (2) obedience.

Baptism

Baptism is notable right here in our main passage.

When Peter preached the gospel to Cornelius and his household, when Peter called them to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, those hearers demonstrated new spiritual life by the evidence that they “spoke in tongues [or “languages”] and extolled [or “glorified” or “praised”] God” (Acts 10:46).

Upon observing this evidence, Peter asked his fellow believers if this evidence was sufficient to baptize them; and then (apparently hearing no objection) he “commanded” the new believers “to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 10:48).

This is the same pattern we see all throughout the book of Acts, and we see it taught even more throughout the rest of the NT.

Friends, water baptism is the public display of conversion.

It is the visible sign or rite or institution or ordinance that Christ has given His people to designate (on His own authority), “This one is a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Unlike Peter’s day, we are not looking for the evidence of “speaking in tongues” to give credibility to the claim that a sinner has been “born again” or “regenerated.”

But we are looking for evidence!

Consider the “fruit of the Spirit” listed in Galatians 5 – “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23).

Or consider the way the Apostle Paul describes “life… by the Spirit” in Romans 8 – he says those who “live… by the Spirit… put to death the deeds of the body” (Rom. 8:13).

In other words, spiritually alive people are repenting and sin-killing people – they aim to resist temptation, they aim to turn away from sin, and they aim to give themselves to obedience.

This, then, is our second visible change, which indicates or marks one as converted.

Obedience

Obedience is implicit in our main passage, but it is no small thing that those who believed Peter’s message also obeyed his command to be baptized.

We might say that baptism itself is the first public act of obedience on the part of a converted sinner… it is much more than that, but it is not less.

But obedience in every area of life is faith in action… it is where conversion becomes visible.

Christians obey Christ… Christians follow Christ… Christians hear the teaching and the commands of their Savior, and they do what He says.

Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments… [and] Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me” (Jn. 14:15, 21).

Consider also the way Jesus put it in the Great Commission.

Jesus said to His disciples, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe [or “keep” or “obey”] all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:18-20).

Friends, a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ is one who has entered into a life of discipleship… a life of believing and obeying Christ.

He or she has heard the gospel,

he or she has been born again by God’s Spirit,

he or she is believing or trusting in Christ,

he or she has been marked off by public baptism,

and he or she is living all of life in a posture toward obeying all that Christ has commanded.

This is why I’m arguing this morning that the beginning of the well-ordered life is conversion. The well-ordered life is one lived comprehensively believing that what God says is true, believing that what God commands is good, and acting in accordance with all that God has said and commanded.

I’m not saying that non-Christians can’t enjoy some of the benefits of God’s design by speaking and acting in keeping with the way God has intended us to live. But I am saying that the consistent and comprehensively ordered life – the one that will be genuinely lauded and praised on the day of your funeral, the one that will be commended on the day of final judgment, the one that will truly benefit those who stand in your shadow – this well-ordered life begins at Christian conversion.

Conclusion

I started this morning by talking about how my granddad lived the kind of life that was well-ordered. I mentioned how I felt as a kid, visiting his life on some occasions, and feeling a sense of stability and peace that was not present in my own childhood. And I asked the questions:

Why was that?

How did my grandparents do it?

Where did they start?

Was this all fate, or can people decide how their lives might turn out?

Friends, there was a reason that his life was different than the one I lived as a child and teenager.

Now, this sermon today is absolutely not about my granddad. Rather, this sermon is a description of the starting point for the well-ordered life.

If we want to live this way – the way of wisdom and the way that God has intended us to live – then we must be clear about where to begin. And God has made it clear for us. We must begin at Christian conversion.

We must hear the gospel. We must believe it. We must receive the gift of spiritual life that only God can give. We must publicly commit ourselves to live in keeping with all that Christ has commanded us. And we must wholly devote ourselves to living (in all of life) as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.

May God help us to understand what it means to be a disciple.

May God grant us those invisible gifts of Christian conversion.

May God help us to exhibit those visible changes that accompany spiritual life and true faith.

And may God help us to give ourselves to believing and obeying Christ… as well as we may… in all areas of our lives… and all the way to the end of our lives… for however many days God might give us.