“The Company of the Committed”
Acts 2:41-47
Scripture Reading
Acts 2:46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
I. The Ordination of the Church
a. God planned the church
If Jesus was a “…lamb slain before the foundation of the world…” then God must have had the church planned from eternity past! The church was not just an after thought that God had when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden!
b. God purchased the church
1 Peter 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
c. God preserved the church
Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
II. The Organization of the Church
a. It’s head
Ephesians 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
b. It’s heralds
Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Why Go To Church
ILL - A Churchgoer wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I’ve gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can’t remember a single one of them. So, I think I’m wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."
This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:
I’ve been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this: They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today.
Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!"
c. It’s heart
Acts 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
Acts 2:47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
Some might point at this building and say that it is the First Free Will Baptist Church of Dothan, Alabama but they would be wrong! This church is not brick and mortar, it is flesh and bone, it is not stained glass and pews, it is born again believers who love the Lord Jesus more than life itself, it is not a house made with hands but a body that has been redeemed by the sinless, spotless, son of the living God and Jesus is his name. Bricks and mortar could never do what these folks were doing in our text, as a matter of fact it would be several generations before they would move from their homes to established places of worship!
ILL -
10% of church members cannot be found?
20% of church members never attend church
25% admit that they never pray
35% admit that they do not read their Bibles
40% admit that they never contribute to the church?tithe or offering
60% never give to missions
70% never assume responsibility within the church
85% never invite anyone to church
95 % have never won anyone to Christ
BUT! 100% expect to go to heaven
(The Choice, by Thomas Trask, Zondervan Pub. House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1999)
If the work of the church is not done by the heart of the church it just will not get done. Folks will die and go to a Devil’s hell if we do not tell them about Jesus.
HELL AT GROUND ZERO
ILL - Jerry Sillcocks is a New York firefighter and a Christian who helped search for survivors at “ground zero.” He writes that he and his co-workers called this place the “pit.”
“Almost everywhere I looked, mighty columns of steel were twisted into sad, pointless sculptures, towering over the tragic scene as we worked to find survivors. Gray smoke was everywhere.
I’m no theologian—I’m a New York firefighter—but I can’t imagine Hell being much worse than the ‘pit'.”
“I have no idea what Hell is truly like” Jerry writes, “But I’ve seen a place so bad that I want to do everything I can to make sure my friends, family, and neighbors know Jesus and will spend eternity with Him.”
And this is the job that all of us are called to do!
III. The Operation of the Church
a. Its mandate
Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
ILL - Village atheist was not a bad man, he just didn’t believe. He was not interested in church…and there was only 1 in the area. It was cold and dead—a social club, with no decisions being made.
One day the church building caught on fire, and the whole town ran toward it to help extinguish the flames…including the village atheist!
Someone hollered out: “Hey, this is something new for you, the first time we’ve ever seen you running to church!” He replied, “This is the first time I’ve ever seen the church on fire!”
What were the results of a church on fire:
Acts 2:41 – 3000 converts in one day
Acts 2:47 – “Each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.”
Acts 4:4 – 5000 more converts in one day
Acts 6:1 – “…the believers rapidly multiplied”
Acts 6:7 – “The number of believers greatly increased…”
b. Its ministry
ILL - Listen to what Bill Hybels had to say about the church:
“I believe that only one power exists on this sorry planet that can (transform the human heart). It’s the power of the love of Jesus Christ, the love that conquers sin and wipes out shame and heals wounds and reconciles enemies and patches broken dreams and ultimately changes the world, one life at a time. And what grips my heart everyday is the knowledge that the radical message of that transforming love has been given to the church.” “That means in a very real way the future of the world rests in the hands of local congregations like yours and mine. It’s the church or its lights out. Without church so filled with the power of God that they can’t help but spill goodness and peace and love and joy into the world, depravity will win the day; evil will flood the world. But it does not have to be that way. Strong, growing communities of faith can turn the tide of history. They can!”
“Don’t bother looking elsewhere. The church is it.” (Bill Hybels, Courageous Leadership)
c. Its magnification
Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
ILL - On the shore of beautiful Lake Como, nestled in the Italian Alps, is a lovely old villa, perhaps two or three hundred years old. For years the grounds have been immaculately kept by a trusted old gardener. One day some tourists were complimenting him on his work. “The owner must come here frequently to supervise your work,” one of them said.
“No, sir,” answered the gardener. “He has been here only once in fifteen years and then I did not see him.”
“Well, then, how do you get your orders?” came the next question.
“They come from the owner’s agent, who live in Milan,” the old man replied.
“Then he must come here often.”
“No, not often, perhaps once a year or so.”
“This is quite amazing,” said the tourist. “You have no one to supervise your work, and yet the grounds are as neat as if you expected the owner to come back tomorrow.”
“Today, sir!” came the old gardener’s firm reply. “Not tomorrow, today!”
ILL - Have you ever heard the story of (Ronnie & Mary’s) first date?
- She was expecting him to show up. She was dressed up and waiting patiently. However, by the time he was an hour late, she figured she had been stood up. So, she took off her makeup, put on her pajamas, gathered all the junk food in the pantry and sat down to watch TV with the dog. As her favorite show was just coming on, the doorbell rang. It was Ronnie. He stared at her wide eyed: "I’m two hours late, and you’re still not ready?"-
Jesus said, don’t let My return sneak up on you. Be ready all the time.
