The C.I.A. (Church in Action) — An Example of what the Church of the Living God should look like
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning Church!
I want to thank those who decided to brave the weather this morning and come out and join us and I want to say a special thank you to all those joining online with us this morning.
I’m sure we have a little bit larger crowd than normal today simply due to other Churches in the area canceling their services so if you are joining us online for the first time this morning, we want to say welcome and thanks for tuning in with us on this frigid Sunday morning!
I want to start this morning by asking you a simple question...
Do the secret things of life intrigue you?
I have always been one of these folks who is intrigued by secret societies, secret military detachments and missions, secret places like hidden military facilities and so on so forth.
If it’s secretive, it peaks my interest!
Especially the C.I.A.
I’ve always been intrigued by the C.I.A. and the work they do and their special forces and spies!
I’m not sure what it is that intrigues me so much but I guess it’s the allure of the unknown that draws me in!
Well, this morning we are going to talk about another type C.I.A. agency that had the same effect on people almost 2,000 years ago.
They were a society of people who were doing things a little differently and the people of the day didn’t know whether to love them or hate them; to join them or shun them; to praise with them or to persecute them!
The elitist didn’t know how to handle them. The High Priest and the Sanhedrin Council didn’t know what to do with them. And no one could stop them!
They were a force to be reckoned with and their reach eventually became world wide!
The C.I.A. agency I’m speaking of is the Church In Action!
Last week, we seen how the Church was born and today we are going to look at An Example of what the Church of the Living God should look like today!
And the reality is this…if we want to be a Church on fire for God; if we want to be a Church that is effective in leading the lost to Christ; if we want to be a Church that is growing in God and for God; then we’d do well to take some pointers from this lesson before us this morning.
They were determined to be undeterred!
They were powerful in their proclamation!
And they were fearless in the face of persecution!
And because of this, the world as we know it was changed forever by the men and women who made up the first century Church.
So, with no further ado, let’s take a look at this fiery C.I.A. agency of the first century!
If you have your Bibles turned to Acts Chapter 2 and Verse 42 would you say, amen!
They were a Devoted Church — (Vs. 42)
They were a Devoted Church — (Vs. 42)
The first thing I want us to see this morning about this first century Church In Action is that they were a Devoted Church.
Look with me at Verse 42.
42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
When the Bible says they “continued stedfastly” here, that phrase is the Greek word (proskartereō) and it has many different meanings but I want to share them with you because it really helps to bring to life what this verse is trying to say here.
In it’s simplest form it means to be devoted to someone or something.
The NLT actually translates it as devoted...
42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.
It can also mean to be attentive to or to give unremitting care to a thing.
It can mean to continue all the time in a place; to persevere and not to faint; to show oneself courageous for; or to be in constant readiness for one and to wait on constantly.
When you take all these definitions here and put them together, we get a much more in depth picture of how this first century Church was functioning.
Notice the first thing they continued stedfast in was…the apostles doctrine.
They were Devoted to the Disciples Doctrine
What this means is that they were devoted to the teaching of the Word of God.
They were attentive to what the Apostles had to say and they were hungry to learn!
When I was thinking about this, I got to thinking about how many people come in week after week and they hear the message God has laid on my heart and by Monday morning they can’t even tell you what the scripture was I preached on much less what the sermon was about.
It reminds me of my son. We’ll be sitting at home and I’ll tell him to do something and he’ll say, “ok”. Thirty seconds later I’ll tell him to do it again because he hasn’t done it the first time and he’ll say, “ok”. I’ll do it three or four more times until I finally get fed up with it and yell real loud and I’ll say, “son, what did I tell you to do?”
And he’ll tell me exactly what I said!
I’ll tell you it makes my blood boil! He heard me the whole time but as the old saying goes…it went in one ear and out the other!
It’s not until I get angry and loud that he finally decides to listen!
Now, most of you ladies are sitting here and saying to yourselves… “what do you expect…sounds like every other typical male on planet earth with his selective hearing” and you know what…I’m not going to say you’re wrong!
I find myself doing the same thing to my wife if I’m being honest but as my son I expect him to listen when I say to do something ya know?
And the thought that came to my mind was this…people come to Church every Sunday morning and they hear the message but they aren’t truly listening!
They aren’t attentive to the Word!
In Matthew 11:15 Jesus said...
15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
If they were, if there was a devotion to the Word of God and the teaching of the the Word of God like there was in the first century Church here, we’d still be seeing the same outcomes today that they seen!
As we will see here in a minute, people were being saved daily!
If we want to see that same type of movement in our Churches today that they seen in the first century, then we have to get devoted to the Word of God and to the teaching of God!
Marin Luther was quoted as saying — The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold on me.
I pray to God this morning that the Word of God would lay hold of somebody hearing this message and they would get like ole Jeremiah in the Old Testament who said in...
9 Then I said, I will not make mention of him, Nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, And I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.
I pray this morning some folks here or watching online would get a hunger for the Word of God and that hunger will become like a fire pent up in your bones and you’ll get hungry for the teaching of God’s Word and you’ll get on fire for God and like ole Jeremiah here, you’ll have no other option but to go and share with someone else what you’ve learned and experienced and know about God!
That’s what happened in the first century Church and a mighty movement broke out and people as we’ll see here in a minute didn’t know how to handle it!
And I’m here to tell you this morning that same breakout can happen in the day and time in which we live but we’ve got to get devoted to the Word of God and to the teaching of God’s Word!
Not only were they devoted to the Apostle’s Doctrine but They were also Devoted to Fellowship.
They were Devoted to Fellowship
The word “fellowship” used here is the Greek term (koinōnia) and it refers to “a close association involving mutual interests and sharing.”
Chuck Swindoll — Secular Greek writers used the term to describe the unique bond shared by a husband and wife. For a group, the word denotes a mutual personal investment of the members with one another.
He goes on to tell of a woman by the name of Anne Ortlund, who in her book Up with Worship, compares two kinds of communities commonly found in churches.
One she describes as a bag of marbles. The people come together for fellowship, they clack and clatter, they glitter and throw off light beautifully, and they scratch each other. They connect, but they don’t mingle.
That’s not koinōnia.
The other kind of community she describes as a bag of grapes. Shake the bag around a little, and it starts to drip. Look inside and it’s not a pretty sight, but they’re mingling. Each life bleeds into the others.
That’s koinōnia. That’s authentic, Spirit-empowered fellowship.
And if we are going to be as impactfull in our mission today as they were then, we have to be devoted to true fellowship!
It’s easy to come in and set on this side of the isle or that side of the isle and say, “Hey fellow church member! How are you doing today?”
But it’s something totally different to cross this isle and set down with that Church member and say, “tell me friend, how are things going for you right now? Is there anything going on in your life that I can help you with? Is there anything going on in your life I can celebrate with you about? Is there anything I can help you pray about?”
That’s getting intentional in fellowship!
That’s showing that you truly care!
That’s showing that indeed we are one family!
And that’s what it’s going to take if we want to experience the same outcomes they experienced in the first century Church!
They were devoted to the Apostle’s doctrine. They were devoted to fellowship.
Next, they were Devoted to the Breaking of Bread.
They were Devoted to Communion
Now, they joined each other in meals as we will see here in a moment but this is speaking more of the Lord’s Supper than a regular meal.
They devoted themselves to the breaking of bread.
Now, why would they do that?
Because Jesus told them to, amen!
24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.
As oft as ye do it!
The first century Church was devoted to the breaking of bread…what does that mean?
It means that they were devoted to Christ, amen!
Every time they came together to break bread with one another it was done with one thing in mind and that was Jesus!
Why are we doing what we’re doing? Jesus!
Why do we gather together on Sunday mornings?
It’s not to hear some fancy message. It’s not to hear some fancy singing. It’s to hear a word from God and to remember the price His one and only Son paid so that we could be saved, amen!
That’s why it’s so important! To remember the real reason we’re here and the job we’ve been called to do!
They were devoted to the Apostle’s teaching. They were devoted to fellowship. They were devoted to communion.
And lastly, They were Devoted to Praying!
They were Devoted to Praying
Listen this morning friend, prayer is the greatest tool we as Christians have!
It is literally the lifeline of the Church!
Andrew Murray — A congregation without a prayer meeting is essentially defective in its organization, and so must be limited in its efficiency.
If we want to be an effective church and an efficient church, then we must be a praying church, amen!
J.B. Johnston — A church is never more like the New Testament church than when it is praying.
Do you want to know what made this first century church so powerful?
It was their time spent in prayer! Their time spent on their knees with their hearts intertwined with the heart of God!
If you want to get something out of heaven into earth it will be done only through prayer!
Charles Spurgeon — If a Church is to be what it ought to be for the purposes of God, we must train it in the holy art of prayer!
And one of my favorite quotes on prayer by one of my favorite authors...
Leonard Ravenhill — No man is greater than his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying. We have many organizers, but few agonizers; many players and payers, few pray-ers; many singers, few clingers; lots of pastors, few wrestlers; many fears, few tears; much fashion, little passion; many interferers, few intercessors; many writers, but few fighters. Failing here, we fail everywhere.
The true church lives and moves and has its being in prayer.
Listen Church, if we want to see the hand of God move; if we want to be a powerful Church; if we want to be a Church on fire for God; a Church that changes the world; it will start with us getting devoted in our prayer lives…individually and corporately!
This Church in the first Century was a devoted Church!
And before we move on, let me ask you something…now that we’ve gotten a glimpse of how God intended Church be and what He intended it to do…how do you think we’re doing?
I don’t want you to answer out loud but I want you to think about it.
Are we devoted to the teaching of the Word of God?
Are you devoted to learning about the Word of God?
Are we devoted to fellowship?
Are you devoted to fellowship?
Tell story of log in fire and why it’s so important to be in fellowship with others.
Are we devoted to communion? — I’m gonna be honest…this is one of the biggest things that has been on my heart since studying this. I have to do a better job of being intentional with our communion services.
And the reason why is so that we can ensure our focus is where it needs to be, amen!
And lastly, are we devoted to being a praying Church?
How is your prayer life individually or lack thereof?
If we want to be like the first century C.I.A. then we must be a Devoted Church!
But not only were they a Devoted Church, They were also a Dreaded Church.
Look down at Verse 43.
They were a Dreaded Church — (Vs. 43)
They were a Dreaded Church — (Vs. 43)
43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
When the Bible says here that “fear” came upon every soul that word “fear” is also translated “awe” but it is the Greek word (phobos) and it literally means fear, dread or terror.
It’s where we get our English word “phobia” from.
You’ve heard of people having phobia’s right?
A fear of heights, a fear of water, a fear of fire, a fear of snakes; there’s all kinds of fears this morning.
But there was something happening here that normal minds could not explain away and it was the type of thing that brought fear upon all those who were witnessing it!
God was moving in unexplainable ways!
John Phillips said — The infant church had more than purity; it had power. The gift of the apostles included the power to work miracles. An ungrieved Holy Spirit poured out His power upon those men, and soon Jerusalem rang with stories of miraculous healings.
It was as though Jesus of Nazareth were back, as though He were walking again—giving sight to the blind, making the deaf to hear, the dumb to talk, the dead to live, the lame to walk, cleansing the leper, casting out demons. And so He was.
Only now it was His mystical Body that was the vehicle of divine power rather than the material body in which He had lived when in the flesh.
They were a devoted Church and they were a dreaded Church and because they were a devoted and dreaded Church, They were also a Distinctive Church!
They were a Distinctive Church — (Vs. 44-45)
They were a Distinctive Church — (Vs. 44-45)
44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had.
45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need.
This type of fellowship wasn’t normal. It was a-typical. And because of it’s abnormality, the people of God stood out!
Listen, I know kids today and my daughter is one of them and she wants to fit in ya know?
They don’t want to stand out. They want to be like all the other kids.
Listen, it was the first century Churches standing out that drew people in, amen!
God never intended on His people to blend in with the people of the world!
From the very beginning we were to be a people set apart. A people different in all ways than the people of this world.
We are to be as pilgrims and foreigners in a strange world just passing through!
13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
We have to keep in mind that we are just passing through, amen!
That our home is not of this world for we seek a kingdom whose builder and maker is God!
9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Break it down.
John Phillips — And all that believed were together, and had all things common. It was a true body, each member caring for and nourishing each other member. Here we see the answer to the Lord’s prayer:
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
There was a mutual caring and concern for other believers. There was a spontaneous coming together of like-minded believers in love with the Lord, in love with each other, in love with lost souls.
And they sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
This was no government or ecclesiastical welfare program. This was not cold charity. This was the Body at work. This was the hand caring for the foot, the eye looking out for the ear. This was love, not law; compassion, not compulsion.f
The first century Church was a distinctive Church and because they were distinctive, they became a Desirable Church which is what I want us to see next!
But before I move on, I want to simply say, if we want to be effective in this world we live in today, we’ve got to quit cowing down to society and trying to blend in.
We need to be radical! We need to stand out!
We need to be the peculiar people God has called us to be and if we will be obedient in that, God will be obedient in growing us, amen!
Which is exactly what He did for the first century Church.
Look down at Verses 46-47 with me as we finish this thing out.
They were a Desirable Church — (Vs. 46-47)
They were a Desirable Church — (Vs. 46-47)
46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—
47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.
There’s two things I want you to notice about this first century Church.
They were a Happy Church!
Look what it says there…they ate their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.
The NLT says they shared their meals with great joy and generosity!
They were a Happy Church!
Can I ask you something?
Who wants to be a part of a gloomy bunch of people?
No one does, right?
If we come in here and we worship all doom and gloom ain’t nobody gonna want to be a part of that!
But we have everything outside of this world to be happy about amen!
Our Lord and Savior has won the victory over death, hell and the grave and we got something to be happy about this morning Church!
We serve a risen savior, amen!
And therefore we need to act like it!
John G Butler said — These believers were not a down-in-the-mouth group. The joy of their salvation evidenced itself in their activities. It started with “gladly received his word” (Acts 2:41) and continued on with gladness in their fellowship with other believers.
John Phillips said — The joy of the Lord will add a new dimension of gladness to everything.
They were praising God, and having favor with all the people. That was the keynote of the early church. The people were happy. No wonder their numbers grew.
There was no complaining, no criticizing, no envy, no strife. The fruit of the Spirit was evident everywhere—“love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Gal. 5:22–23).
What an attractive company of people it was—a company of people praising God!
I wonder this morning Church are we a Happy Church?
If we want to grow as God sees fit we need to be Happy!
They were a Happy Church and They were a Happening Church!
They were a Happening Church!
47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
Because they were a devoted Church; because they were a dreaded Church; because they were a distinctive Church, they became a desirable Church and God added to the Church daily such as should be saved.
This was a Church on fire for God and they began to grow wildly.
Adrian Rogers said — This church was a growing church. There’s nothing wrong with a small church; nothing wrong with a big church. There’s something wrong with any church that’s in an area where there are a lot of lost people, and the church is not growing. The church is to grow.
This early church was perhaps in size the greatest church in church history. Are you ready to do a little arithmetic? Let me show you something. You just get your Bibles now and look in Acts chapter 1 and verse 15: “And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said,”—now here’s a parenthesis in the Word of God—“(the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty).” (Acts 1:15) All right, so we start with 120. The twelve had become 120.
Now, look in Acts 2, verse 41: “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” (Acts 2:41) Pretty good church growth—now there are 3,120.
But now, go to Acts 2, verse 47. It speaks of them “praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” (Acts 2:47)
Now we don’t even know how many this was, but every day—every day—souls are getting saved. More every day—not just on Sunday.
Now, go to Acts chapter 4, and look, if you will, in verse 4. And they had another service, and the Bible says here, “Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.” (Acts 4:4)
Now it doesn’t say, “Five thousand were saved”; it says the number of men that were saved was 5,000. So, let’s just give each man a wife and two children. That’s 20,000 right there, if the rest of the family came to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so now the church that’s been growing every day takes this 3,120, plus those which came in every day—probably now they have 20,000—we add another 20,000—that’s 45,000 members in just a few days.
And then, look, if you will now, in Acts chapter 5, verse 28. They are rebuking the disciples for the preaching, and here’s what they said to them: “Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine.” (Acts 5:28) They said, “You have filled this city.” They literally saturated this city with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
That’s what we need to be doing, amen!
Saturating this city with the gospel of Jesus Christ!
Now, look in Acts chapter 6 and verse 7: “And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly.” (Acts 6:7)
Remember what I said there in Acts 2: “The Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” (Acts 2:47)
No more addition, now it’s multiplication. The church is growing exponentially.
B. H. Carroll, the founder of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, said that this church had a membership in excess of 65,000 members in the first six months—65,000 in the first six months. G. Campbell Morgan said, “No, it was more like 250,000 in the first six months.”
Can you imagine that? Going from 120 to 200+k in less than a year!
I want you to imagine for just a moment here.
Here at NHMBC we run anywhere from 60-80 on a normal Sunday just depends on who all shows up.
And this first Church was only running 120. That’s only 40 more than we have currently!
And within a year they were running thousands upon thousands of people!
Were they worried about the numbers?
No they were worried about the worship!
And because they had their priorities in the right place the Bible says, “the Lord added to the Church daily such as would be saved!”
The Psalmist said in....
1 Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
The Lord built the first century Church and I want to end by saying this…if we want to see exponential growth here at NHMBC we have to let the Lord build it, amen!
We have to allow Him to temper it together just how He sees fit.
But…as He’s building it, there are some things we can do to help.
We can be a Devoted Church — to His Word; to His teaching; to our fellowship; to His remembrance; and in our prayers.
We can be a Dreadful Church — Now, I’m not suggesting we go scare everyone off. I’m suggesting we be obedient to God’s word no matter who likes it and let’s ask God to do something in this place that no man can explain!
We can be a Distinctive Church — a Church set apart from this world and set apart to Him! We can stop trying to blend in and ensure we are standing out for God!
If we do all these things we will become a Desirable Church and God will add daily such as He sees fit!
But we must do our part!
We must be a Church in Action!
Closing
Closing
Adrian Rogers — A New Testament church—a Spirit-filled, Bible-believing, Christ-honoring church—is a mighty weapon in the hands of a holy God.
Life Application Bible — The Jerusalem church experienced both qualitative and quantitative growth. Eager for this same result, many church leaders flock to church growth seminars.
It would be wiser to concentrate on church health. Why? Because it is the nature of a healthy organism to grow.
When a church body emphasizes strong worship and solid biblical teaching in an atmosphere of true fellowship mixed with consistent evangelism, it will be healthy. And a healthy Christian community will attract people to Christ.
What are you doing to make your church a healthy place that will draw others to Christ?