Spirit Birthed Church ~ 20250202 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org
02/02 Who Is The Church? Spirit Created Community of Born Again Baptized Believers; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20250202_church-spirit-birthed.mp3
Our church family has moved to recognize elders, those the Spirit has equipped and called to shepherd the believers here in this church. The elders are to ‘shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, ... over those in your charge’ (1Pet.5:2-3).
Hebrews tells us:
Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
The elders are to keep watch, as shepherds who will give account. This means that there needs to be some level of understanding who it is they are to be watching over, for whom they will answer, who are those in their charge. Who is the church?
Last time we looked at the church as those who gladly bow the knee to Jesus, who own him as their sovereign King. The church is made up of all who call on the name of the Lord Jesus for rescue from the guilt and power of sin, for forgiveness and transformation, all whom the Lord calls to himself. Those who surrender to Jesus as Lord and King become citizens of his heavenly community. The church is an outpost of heaven, a military base of operations in hostile territory whose sworn allegiance is to the King of kings, who invite others in, to turn their allegiance to King Jesus.
Spirit Created New Covenant Community
Today I want to look at the church from another angle; the church as a Holy Spirit created New Covenant community of born again baptized believers. There’s a lot there, but we are going to walk through the Bible together and unpack what that means.
You Must Be Born Again
Jesus had a conversation with a religious leader in John 3. Here’s how it went:
John 3:1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”
Nicodemus is coming under cover of darkness. He is seeking, but not ready to commit publicly. He has questions, mostly on the identity of Jesus. Jesus had done some radical things that got people’s attention. He cleaned house from the corruption in the temple. People were believing in him, but just what was it they were believing? Nicodemus calls him ‘Rabbi’; he is convinced that he is a teacher come from God. He has reasoned that if God were not with him, he would not be able to do the signs that he was doing. Jesus goes right to the root.
John 3:3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
You must be born again. The word translated ‘again’ can also mean ‘from above’ depending on how it is used. Jesus clarifies; you must be born of water and the Spirit. This points back to Ezekiel’s prophecy of God’s new covenant:
Ezekiel 36:25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Without this cleansing, the new birth, the Spirit of God himself living in us, we have no part in God’s kingdom. We must be born anew, born from above, born of the Spirit in order to truly belong to God’s people. Jesus tells him this can only happen when the Son of Man is lifted up, so that those who believe in him may be given eternal life.
In John 7,
John 7:37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Jesus tells his disciples in John 14:
John 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
There is going to be a revolutionary change in relationship. The Spirit dwells with you, but he will be in you.
In John 16, the disciples are grieved because Jesus told them he is leaving them.
John 16:7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
At the beginning of John’s gospel, John the baptist said:
John 1:33 ...he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
After his crucifixion and resurrection, just before he ascends to the right hand of his Father:
Acts 1:4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” ... 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
In Acts 2 it happened:
Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
They received power and bore witness of Jesus to the nations who had gathered in Jerusalem for the feast. They proclaimed Jesus crucified, resurrected,
Acts 2:33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.
They proclaimed Jesus as Lord and Christ.
Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
Jesus divides people. When the good news about Jesus is proclaimed, some gnash their teeth in rage and persecute the messengers. But here ‘they were cut to the heart’. That is the work of the Spirit of God removing the heart of stone and giving them a heart of flesh. They received his word, this word about Jesus. That is the Spirit of God coming in, giving new life.
Acts 2:41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Jesus said
Matthew 16:18 ...I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
This is Jesus building his new covenant community through the work of the promised Holy Spirit.
The Apostles’ Teaching
This new covenant community devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching. The apostles, empowered by the Spirit, reflected on these truths and wrote letters to the churches.
Peter wrote:
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1 Peter 1:23 ...you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;
The new birth is undeserved. It is according to God’s great mercy. It is something that God does. It comes through the seed of the word of God planted in a heart prepared by the Spirit to receive it.
Paul says in Ephesians 2:
Ephesians 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved—
Birth from above; new life out of death, rich mercy, great love, undeserved grace.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12
1 Corinthians 12:13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
To baptize means to immerse. John immersed people in water. Jesus immerses us in the Holy Spirit. Because we are born of the Spirit, we are immersed into the body of Christ; we were all made to drink of one Spirit who unites us together as one.
Spirit Baptism and Water Baptism
It’s important to think through the relationship between being immersed in the Holy Spirit and being immersed in water. One is outward, visible, public, external. The other is inward, invisible, spiritual, personal. As Jesus described the Spirit’s work with the analogy of the wind, it cannot be seen, but it can be sensed; you can see its effects.
One is essential for salvation; the other is essential for belonging to the visible church.
Water baptism in the outward sign of an inner reality. They belong together, but you can have one without the other. You can be transformed by the Spirit and not have the opportunity for water baptism. In Acts 10, when the first Gentiles believed the gospel, the Jewish church had to fight to keep these together. Peter was given a triple vision to prepare him for what was about to happen. He proclaimed to the Gentiles the good news about Jesus crucified and resurrected.
Acts 10:43 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 who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.
Peter insisted that the sign must follow the reality that it symbolizes.
Acts 10:47 “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. ...
Peter had to defend his actions before the Jerusalem church in Acts 11. He recounted that Cornelius was instructed by an angel to send for Peter;
Acts 11:14 he [Peter] will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ 15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?” 18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
For the sake of the unity of the church, the sign was to be performed where the reality that it symbolized was present.
You can be immersed in water and not be born of the Spirit, in which case it is merely a symbol that lacks substance or reality. Church leaders ought to do their best to evaluate the reality of a profession of faith, but ultimately only God can see the heart. Even the apostles got it wrong sometimes. It’s unlikely they were able to personally interview each of the 3,000 who believed and were baptized in one day. And we read in Acts 8 of Simon the magician, who believed and was baptized, but then gave evidence that his faith was likely not genuine.
But the ideal is to have all those and only those who have been born again by the Spirit to be immersed in water as an external visible public sign of the inward invisible spiritual reality. Baptism is the public profession of faith, confessing with the mouth that Jesus is Lord, which flows out of believing in ones heart that Jesus is who he claimed to be and God raised him from the dead (Rom.10:9-10). It is this public confessing Jesus as Lord which grants access to be identified as part of the visible local church. As Jesus commanded:
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Acts 2:41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
***
2025.02.02 Sermon Notes
Who Is Church? Spirit Created New Covenant Community
For whom are elders responsible?
Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Hebrews 13:17
“The church is a Holy Spirit created New Covenant community of born again baptized believers”
You must be born again -born of water and the Spirit
John 3:1-8; Ezekiel 36:25-27
The Spirit would be given when Jesus was glorified
John 7:37-39; 14:15-17; 16:7; John 1:33; Acts 1:4-5, 8
The promised Spirit poured out at Pentecost
Acts 2:1-4, 33, 37, 41-42; Matthew 16:18
The apostles’ teaching on the new birth
1 Peter 1:3, 23; Ephesians 2:4-5; 1 Corinthians 12:13
Spirit baptism: inward, invisible, spiritual -reality
Water baptism: external, visible, public -symbol
Acts 10:43-48; 11:14-18; Acts 8:12-24
Believers publicly confess Christ as Lord in baptism Romans 10:9-10; Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:41
***
Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org