Being the Church
Part 1
The church Recognizes God’s Sovereignty – Acts 4:23-31
The church Receives God’s Unity – Acts 4:32-37
The church Reflects God’s Integrity – Acts 5:1-11
Part 2
The church Realizes God’s Blessings – Acts 5:12-16
The church Relies on God’s Direction – Acts 5:17-32
The church Rejoices in Suffering for God’s Name – Acts 5:33-42
Slide 1
As we have been studying the book of Acts, we have seen that being the church that God desires, that honors Him, is
not always the easiest thing to do
nor is it always the most pleasurable in regard to the immediate circumstances, but it is always the best, both
for the church and
individually for our eternal joy
Well if it isn’t easy and pleasurable, how can it be best?
There are many things that aren’t easy or pleasurable in the moment that are the best for us.
Eat your vegetables!
Take your medicine!
Exercise your muscles!
These things are not always the most pleasurable in the moment, but they are best for our long term health.
We have seen the church in Acts experience both blessing and hardship.
They have faced both good circumstances and difficult circumstances
But God has used them both to grow the church and further His kingdom.
We find the same thing true in the Bible and how God works in our life today.
We will face persecutions.
2 Timothy 3:12
In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
We will face times of discipline when we are not following what God would have us do and that is not pleasurable, but it is beneficial.
Hebrews 12:11
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
We are going to face difficulties and hardships and discipline, but as we persevere through them and follow the Lord, we will experience joy in both good circumstances and bad, and the blessings of walking secure in the Lord.
We begin the topic last week about being the church. What can a church expect from God and
do to honor God?
We will be continuing on in that message. We will be starting in Acts 5:12 (p.774)
Slide 2
We have been going through Acts looking at it from an aerial view that is giving us more principals to live by as a church than it is exact ways we are to do things.
We saw last week that to be a church that honors God
The church needs to Recognize God’s Sovereignty
Just like the early church did. Know that He is in control and that we can trust Him as long as we rely on Him to strengthen us so that we follow Him.
The church can then expect to Receive God’s Unity
We can be unified as each of us strives to follow the Lord and trust Him with our own lives.
The church also needs to Reflect God’s Integrity
There will be times that we must stand against sin in the church and it will be difficult but will be beneficial in the long run for the church and the individual as they turn and repent.
So continuing on in Acts 5:12, we read
Acts 5:12-16
12 The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.
Here we see the church is seeing the bigger picture of things going on and that
The Church Realizes God’s Blessings
Acts 5:12-16.
Slide 3
The Apostles were performing miracles
People were being healed
The believers in Christ were highly regarded
The Lord was adding more and more people to the church daily.
It is easy to see the blessings going on from our perspective.
But if you were in their situation, you might be saying to yourself,
Gee, things are going pretty bad.
Our leaders are getting thrown in jail and threatened
Two of our people were just struck dead in a severe act of church discipline by the Lord. (Acts 5:1-11)
People are a little apprehensive about the church because of that.
Things aren’t looking too good.
We need to understand that God is pouring out blessing all the time. We need to recognize it.
To be the church that honors God, we need to realize and thank Him for the blessings He is pouring out.
How easy it is when something is not exactly right, to just focus on that and miss all of the blessings that God is pouring out.
In our own personal lives, how often is it that when something is not just right, that all of our attention is on that one thing, and then before we know it, we are feeling depressed and down, like there is nothing good happening.
That same thing can happen in the church.
When something is going on that, from our perspective doesn’t seem too good, we need to take a step back and put it in the proper perspective.
In the early church, they could have looked on the death of Annanais and Sapphira, like this whole church thing is bad.
But in taking a step back and seeing it from a proper perspective,
We have been experiencing great unity
None of us our in need.
More people are coming and putting their trust in Christ.
People’s eternity’s are being changed.
The discipline of Annanais and Sapphira will keep the whole church continuing on in the right direction.
We need to have proper perspective
in our personal lives and
for the church as a whole
in Realizing the blessings that God is pouring out.
If we are going to honor God, we need to realize and give thanks for the blessings He is giving.
Continuing on in Acts, let’s see what else we can learn about being a church that honors God.
Acts 5:17-32
17 Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18 They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. 20 "Go, stand in the temple courts," he said, "and tell the people the full message of this new life."
21 At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.
When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin-the full assembly of the elders of Israel-and sent to the jail for the apostles. 22 But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, 23 "We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside." 24 On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were puzzled, wondering what would come of this.
25 Then someone came and said, "Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people." 26 At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them.
27 Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. 28 "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name," he said. "Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood."
29 Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men! 30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead-whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. 32 We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."
A fifth thing we see the church doing to bring honor and glory to God is
The Church Relies on God’s Direction
Acts 5:17-32
Slide 4
The church was not taking their cue from those outside the church.
The church was taking their cues from God.
Peter and the others said, we must obey God rather than men.
The church honored God by following Him and His ways.
We just finished talking about the church realizing the blessings of God.
Well there were blessings to realize because the church was relying on God’s direction and following Him
If we want blessings to realize then we need to rely on God’s direction and follow His ways.
Deut 11:26-28
26 See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse-- 27 the blessing if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today; 28 the curse if you disobey the commands of the LORD your God
(from New International Version)
Blessing is found on the path of obedience.
“Well, I see people being disobedient, living lives of sin, and they are having a great time in this life.”
They have money
They have stuff
Now, while those things can be used in blessing people,
the real blessing is in being joyful and secure in God’s care no matter what the external circumstances are.
When we take out eyes off of God and put them on the things of this world, we start to forget where the real blessing is found.
This has been a problem for many people, even those of the Bible.
Psalms 73
1 A psalm of Asaph.
Surely God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold.
3 For I envied the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 They have no struggles;
their bodies are healthy and strong.
5 They are free from the burdens common to man;
they are not plagued by human ills.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
they clothe themselves with violence.
7 From their callous hearts comes iniquity;
the evil conceits of their minds know no limits.
8 They scoff, and speak with malice;
in their arrogance they threaten oppression.
9 Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
and their tongues take possession of the earth.
10 Therefore their people turn to them
and drink up waters in abundance.
11 They say, "How can God know?
Does the Most High have knowledge?"
12 This is what the wicked are like--
always carefree, they increase in wealth.
13 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure;
in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.
14 All day long I have been plagued;
I have been punished every morning.
15 If I had said, "I will speak thus,"
I would have betrayed your children.
16 When I tried to understand all this,
it was oppressive to me
17 till I entered the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their final destiny.
18 Surely you place them on slippery ground;
you cast them down to ruin.
19 How suddenly are they destroyed,
completely swept away by terrors!
20 As a dream when one awakes,
so when you arise, O Lord,
you will despise them as fantasies.
21 When my heart was grieved
and my spirit embittered,
22 I was senseless and ignorant;
I was a brute beast before you.
23 Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
27 Those who are far from you will perish;
you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
28 But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds.
(from New International Version)
Here is someone who began to take their eyes off of the Lord and put them on the things of this world.
He says My feet had almost slipped.
He was focusing on what he thought were the blessings of the wicked.
They have this
They have that
But it is in verse 17 that he realizes that he does not have a proper perspective.
He says this was oppressive to me until I entered the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their final destiny.
When he
drew near to the Lord and
became refocused,
he gained a proper perspective, an eternal perspective.
We are much the same as Asaph.
We see people apparently
living the high life,
with money and health,
but if they do not know the Lord, those things really do not bring any joy to their life.
We see the outside of their life, but I can tell you that inside their life is empty.
And not only is the inside of their life empty, but
they face a hopeless eternity.
It is only by trusting in the Lord Jesus as Savior that we have eternal life
And it is only by relying on the Lord’s direction in this life that our life will be full and blessed.
Don’t fall for the schemes of the Devil to try and deceive you into thinking the world offers something better. It doesn’t and it never will.
So, we honor the Lord as a church by
Realizing His blessings and
Relying on His direction.
We also honor God as
The Church Rejoices in Suffering for God’s Name
Slide 5
Acts 5:33-42
33 When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. 34 But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, (Guh May Lee Uhl) a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. 35 Then he addressed them: "Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. 36 Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. 37 After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. 38 Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."
40 His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. 42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.
The apostles left rejoicing after having been flogged.
Can you imagine, getting whipped, probably 39 times, leaving there rejoicing while still in pain?
With a close relationship with Christ and a continual focus on Him we can rejoice and have peace and contentment in any circumstance.
Paul writes in
Philippians 4:12-13
12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
(from New International Version)
The secret is to be in Christ
To be walking with Him
To be attached to the vine
Walking by His power and his strength. When we do that as individuals, and as individual parts of this body, the church gets blessed and can rejoice even in the midst of the suffering that is occurring.
When someone is suffering and they find joy in the midst of it,
the body gets encouraged,
those on the outside see the peace and joy and begin to wonder what you have that they don’t.
And that thing that you have is no thing at all, it is a Person, the Person, Jesus Christ.
It is in those opportunities, that people will see that relationship with Christ in you and desire to that same relationship in their own life.
It is an opportunity to glorify the Lord and for God to use it to draw someone else to him so that they might be able to experience the joy of that relationship with Him.
Even when we are suffering we can always keep perspective on the eternal joy that has been provided.
1 Peter 4:12-13
12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
Keep the proper perspective,
Keeping our eyes on Him and relying on His direction,
Will give us
peace and hope and strength
to be able to persevere through trials and
to rejoice in them
as we bring glory to His Name.
Conclusion
There they are. Those are 6 ways that we as a church can bring honor and glory to God.
Recognize God’s Sovereignty
Receive God’s Unity
Reflect God’s Integrity
Realize God’s Blessings
Rely on God’s Direction
Rejoice in Suffering for God’s Name
Maybe you have been living your life Not doing these things
NOT
Recognizing God’s sovereignty
Reflecting God’s Integrity
Relying on God’s direction
because you have never entered into that relationship with the Lord.
He wants you to do that.
He wants so badly for you to be in that relationship with Him
If you have never entered in, then you can today.
The Bible tells us that if we would just recognize and believe
Who we are – Sinners who need a Savior
Who Jesus is – God in the flesh, the Christ
What Jesus did – Died on the cross for your sins and rose again.
Then when you confess that to God, you receive the gift of eternal life.
If you have never done that, just pray along with me if this reflects your heart today.
Pray.
