ahealthychurch4
A HEALTHY CHURCH part 4 ACTS 2:41-47
Dr. Thom Rainer was the founding Dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism, and Church Growth at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. While there he wrote a book entitled The Unchurched Next Door. "Most of the unchurched are your neighbors, your coworkers whom you know well, and even your family members," he explains. "That is why we call them 'the unchurched next door.' They have much in common with us. Many of them have your moral values. Most are not antichurch or antireligion. They are very much like you--except that they are lost without Christ."
After interviewing thousands of unchurched Americans, the Rainer research team looked for patterns in the profiles. Based on the results, Rainer suggested five different levels of responsiveness to the gospel. "U1" identifies unchurched Americans who are highly receptive to hearing and believing the good news. They know something about Christianity, and have a positive attitude toward the church. "U2" individuals are receptive to the gospel and willing to hear a message from the church. Those categorized as "U3" are identified as neutral, "with no clear signs of being interested, yet perhaps open to discussion." The "U4" group demonstrates resistance to the gospel but no antagonism. The most unresponsive group in the population is identified as "U5" The most secular Americans are "highly antagonistic and even hostile to the gospel."
Given the contours of post-Christian America, many believers would assume that the U5 category would include a large number of our fellow citizens. That assumption is not sustained by the facts. Rainer's research indicates that the U5 category fits only about five percent of the American population. Most unchurched Americans are grouped in the central three categories. Those already friendly to the church, the U1s, comprise eleven percent of the population, serving as something of a bookend to the U5s. The majority of the unchurched fit the middle categories, with 27% listed as U2, 36% as U3, and 21% as U4.
In reviewing the research, Rainer and his team came to some surprising conclusions. First of all, most Americans have never been invited to church--never. Yet, 82% indicated that they would be at least "somewhat likely" to attend church if invited. As Rainer comments, "Only twenty-one percent of active church goers invite anyone to church in the course of a year. But only two percent of church members invite an unchurched person to church." He concludes: "Perhaps the evangelistic apathy so evident in so many of our churches can be explained by a simple laziness on the part of church members in inviting others to church."
One of the most devastating insights drawn from the research is the fact that most unchurched Americans feel themselves safe from the evangelistic reach of believing Christians. They do not sense that Christians are seeking actively to share the gospel with them, and many nonbelievers are actually wondering what makes Christians so reticent to talk about their faith. Furthermore, most of the unchurched indicate that their Christian friends have little actual influence on their lives.
The Unchurched Next Door is a serious look at a serious problem. The undeniable fact is that America's churches are falling behind in the challenge of evangelism. The best data available indicate that the percentage of the population active in Christian churches has failed to grow in even a single metropolitan area in the United States over the last twenty years. More to the point, churches have failed to grow even at a pace that would equal the growth of the population in general. America is being transformed into a secular society at a pace that would shock most Christians--if they ever cared to look.
Rainer gives serious attention to theological issues at stake. Specifically, Rainer identifies a creeping inclusivism in the pews, combined with a growing disbelief in Hell among the public, as sources of evangelistic malaise. Inclusivism, the belief that personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is not fundamentally necessary for salvation, has been growing among some Christians for decades. Driven first by liberal theologians who intentionally sought to redefine the faith, inclusivism now fits the cultural mood, and allows Christians to claim simultaneously to be believers in Christ and to deny the gospel. As Rainer claims, "belief in inclusivism goes completely against the teaching of Christ and Scripture. The Bible teaches exclusivism, the belief that explicit faith in Christ is the only way of salvation." The impact of creeping inclusivism is obvious. "Why should one go to the trouble of sharing Christ when that person can be saved without placing explicit faith in Christ? Why waste your time?" The denial of Hell is another issue that diminishes concern for evangelism. The denial or redefinition of Hell is now found among many who claim to be Christians, and Hell has disappeared almost entirely from the public consciousness of the nation. Today's Christians should note that Jesus himself was bold to warn sinners that they should fear Hell and understand its very real and pressing threat. Far too many Christians see Hell as an embarrassment rather than as a motivation for sharing the gospel. The Unchurched Next Door should cause us to think about our faithfulness to the Great Commission. I want to remind you that the mission of the church is Marble City Baptist Church exists to reach Sylacauga to love God and to love others. Over the past three weeks we have been discovering the elements that made the first church a healthy church. We have been using the acrostic W.E.L.L. I have unfolded for you three of the four letters in our outline. First, we noted that the early church was a learning church. They were grounded and building on the foundation of the Word. As Southern Baptists, we pride ourselves in being called “people of the book.” A second thing we learned about the early church was that it was a loving church. They were continuing daily in one accord. In other words, there was harmony in the fellowship. Last week, I stated that the early church was a worshiping church. Their worship did not focus on a personality or a program, but on the Lord Jesus Christ. So you have the ministry of down-reach (the Word), the ministry of in-reach (fellowship), the ministry of up-reach (worship), and finally this morning we are going to discuss the ministry of out-reach (evangelism). Evangelism was a result of these early believers being committed to the Word, their love for the Lord and those around them. I want us to look at the last phrase in verse 47, this morning. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. Salvation is the work of God, but He does it through those who are saved. Our main focus should be on proclaiming the gospel, which is the power of God for salvation to all who believe. As has often been noted new believers make the best evangelists because they still have a circle of friends who do not know Jesus. Hudson Taylor told of a Chinese pastor who always instructed new converts to witness as soon as possible. Once, upon meeting a young convert, the pastor inquired, “Brother, how long have you been saved?” The man answered that he had been saved for about three months. “And how many have you won to the Savior?” “Oh, I’m only a learner,” the convert responded. Shaking his head in disapproval, the pastor said, “Young man, the Lord doesn’t expect you to be a full-fledged preacher, but he does expect you to be a faithful witness. Tell me, when does a candle begin to shine---when it’s already half burned up?” “No, as soon as it’s lit,” came the reply. “That’s right, so let your light shine right away.” Everyone of us who names the name of Jesus ought to be a faithful witness for Christ. Evangelism is not just the responsibility of the disciples or a select few. Witnessing is a constant activity of the entire church. Reproducing ourselves is a sign of church health and as a result of the early church learning, loving, and worshiping, they were witnessing. Evangelism took place because of the miracles that were performed by the apostles in Acts 2:43, which authenticated that they were true messengers from God. Evangelism took place because of the preaching of a clear and concise message to a lost people in Acts 2 and 3 and the rest of Acts. Evangelism took place because of the transformation that took place among those who were saved as well as the love that the early disciples had for one another. Evangelism took place because there was joy in the hearts of those who believed.
I want to remind you that salvation comes from the Lord. It was the Lord Jesus, who was adding to His church daily. The church was doing what they were simply told to do, but God was bringing in the harvest. The difference between real Christianity and that which is false is where the emphasis for salvation is placed. Those who look at their activity and take credit for their attendance in church will not give the glory due to the Lord. But those who recognize the change that has resulted in their behavior and in spite of what they have done give all the glory to God.
Martyn Lloyd Jones said that this is the theme all through Scripture. Read the Gospels for yourselves, and this is what you will find. Read how the angel Gabriel came to Mary and made the announcement to her that she was to bear this extraordinary child, this One who was to occupy the throne of David forever and forever. At first Mary did not understand, but when she did she visited her cousin Elizabeth. The moment she did so, the child in Elizabeth’s womb was quickened and moved. Then Mary sang, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour” (Luke 1:46–47). That was her immediate reaction. Why? Because God had done this.
It was the same with Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. He went into the temple one day to burn incense, and quite suddenly and unexpectedly he was confronted by an angel who spoke to him and told him that his wife would bear a child in her old age. Poor Zechariah could not believe this, and because of that he was punished by being struck dumb until after the child was born. And then, you remember, after the birth of the child, when they came to inquire about his name, Zechariah was still not able to speak, but he wrote down the name—and then suddenly his speech returned. What was the first thing he uttered? Here it is: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people” (Luke 1:68). He praised God for what God had done. It had been entirely of God.
So these early Christians praised God for the same reason that every true Christian praises God. Christians realize the truth about themselves. They are poor in spirit. They hunger and thirst after righteousness. They are sinners with no good in them. Not only that, they realize that they can do nothing to save themselves. This is basic to the whole Christian position. Those who still think they can put themselves right with God are not Christians. They cannot be because if they can do it, why was there any need for God to send His Son from heaven? Why was there ever a need for Christ’s death upon the cross and His resurrection?
Salvation from God runs all through the Scriptures. Shortly after the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden, you find God comforting these two who are hiding from God because of their sin. He makes a promise to them in Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.”
In Genesis 7, we read about the salvation of a family because of the corruption of mankind. God spares the lives of Noah and his family because of Noah’s righteousness.
In Genesis 12, there is the call of Abram who later became Abraham and he was a father to many nations. There was the deliverance of Israel through the life of Moses.
Then you go to the New Testament and on the day of Pentecost the people heard Peter preach about the Messiah. They had been told about this Jesus, Son of God, and all that He had done how God the Father, though He loved His Son with an everlasting love, smote Him and punished Him for us. He died and was buried in a tomb, but God raised Him from the dead. Then He ascended into heaven and took His seat at the right hand of God in the glory everlasting. The wonderful works of God!
I want you to notice something else this verse says, the Lord was adding to their number. What number? The number that has already been mentioned 3,120. This was the church. God was bringing people into the body rather than in something else. I like the way John Stott expressed this: "He did not add them to the church without saving them (no nominal Christianity at the beginning), nor did he save them without adding them to the church (no solitary Christianity either). Salvation and church membership belonged together; they still do" (p. 87). You cannot separate the church from biblical evangelism. It is within the scope of the church that the new spiritual life is nurtured and developed. To attempt to do so outside the church is simply not biblical.
Also, this evangelism was daily. Day by day there were new people being saved. As we have noted, on the Day of Pentecost there were 3,120 born-again believers. In Acts 4, we read that the numbers had swelled to 5,000 and this just included the men. In Acts 5:14, “multitudes of men and women were constantly added to their number.” In Acts 6, “The Word of God kept spreading; and the number of disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many priests were becoming obedient to the faith.
Chuck Swindoll wrote, it is my opinion that the best evangelistic center in the greater metropolitan Boston area is not a church. It is a filling station in Arlington. It was owned and operated by a man named Bob who caught the vision early in his life that his vocation and his calling were to be welded together. As time passed, his station became known as the place to go for gas, new tires, or other car service. I have seen half-dozen cars lined up bumper to bumper near two pumps in front of that little station just waiting to be served by that man. He has no banner out, no “Jesus saves” flags, no signs, nothing plastered all over the station or in the windows, no sign, “Bring your car to Bob and take your soul to Jesus.” He simply did his job! He did it well and people knew he was in partnership with the Lord. He led dozens of people to faith in Jesus Christ.
As we close this morning, I want to remind you of three things about salvation, which I believe the early church understood.
The people were praising God because they had been saved. Peter had said, “Save yourselves from this untoward generation” (v. 40), and it had happened to them. That means—and I am putting it at the very minimum—that their eyes had been opened, and they had been made aware of their ignorance and darkness. Up to that point they had not realized the truth about themselves. They had never realized the danger they were in. They had been interested in business and pleasures and enjoyment but had never thought about their souls. They had never faced the fact of death and of judgment. They had been living on the edge of a volcano and did not know that it might erupt at any moment. That is how men and women always live without God. But they had been awakened by the preaching of the apostle Peter and had been alarmed.
“What shall we do?” they had asked. And they had been given this blessed answer by the apostle Peter: “Repent.” In other words, “That is all you have to do. You simply have to acknowledge and confess your ignorance and your sin against Him and believe this message concerning His Son.” That is what being baptized into Him means. You submit yourself utterly and believe that your sins are washed away because Christ died for them on the cross on Calvary’s hill. They had done that, and they had a sense of peace with God. The burden was gone. Christ had borne the punishment, and they were free. Thank God! So they praised Him. They had been saved from the judgment of God and from everlasting perdition.
But next let us look at this in the present tense. Something was going on within them: They were being saved; a process had started in their hearts. They were having daily instruction, and the more they heard, the more they wondered at it and rejoiced in it. The teaching and the enlightenment made them aware of a new power working in them. They somehow now found that they no longer had a taste for the things that used to entrance them. They could see through them. They saw through the world and its gaudy pleasures. They saw there was nothing there. They saw that the things that used to excite them made beast-like men and women, and they were amazed that they had once enjoyed them. This was the new life and the Spirit working within them, delivering them, setting them free from the wiles of the devil and all the enfettering and enslaving influences of the world. They had had an entire change of outlook. They now saw themselves as pilgrims of eternity, as children of God, marching in the direction of their eternal home. What a transformation! So they praised God and looked to the future.
What, then, was the meaning of this process through which they were passing, this gracious influence of the Holy Spirit, the teaching of these apostles? What was it all for? Why were they being delivered from the world, the flesh, and the devil? The answer is: They saw they were being prepared for the glory hereafter. This life is not the only life, and death and the grave are not the end; there is another life, a glorious life, the life into which the Son of God has gone. He had gone to prepare a place for them: “In my Father’s house,” he had said, “are many mansions.…I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). They wanted to be ready to enter into their inheritance. They had been saved, they were being saved, and they would finally be completely saved.