The Church in Jerusalem: Pure, Salty, Blessed
Series: Acts
Chuck Sligh
February 8, 2015
TEXT: Please turn in your Bibles to Acts 5
INTRODUCTION
Illus. – A man woke up one Sunday morning, and instead of getting ready for church as usual, he just dawdled around, read the paper and ate breakfast. His wife, almost ready and having gotten the kids ready, looked at him in surprise and said, “Jim, why aren’t you dressed for church?”
“Because I'm not going to church, that’s why.” he answered.
Concerned, she asked, “Jim, you always to go church. Can you give me a reason?”
He said, “Yeah. As a matter of fact I give you THREE reasons: First, the congregation is cold. Second, no one likes me. And third, I just don’t want to go.”
The wife replied, “Well, honey, I have three reasons why you SHOULD go: First, many in the congregation ARE warm. Second, there are at least a few people there who like you. And third…well, Honey, YOU’RE THE PASTOR! So get dressed!”
What kind of a church do you think people want to go to? In today’s text, we’re going to see how people not serious about following Christ decided the church in Jerusalem just might not be for them. The real question I want us to consider today is this: Since “the church” is really the PEOPLE who make up that church, what kind of church does GOD want us to be?
I don’t think there will ever be a church like the church of Jerusalem in its initial stages. The church in Jerusalem was “ground zero”—the place where the whole concept of the local church began, and God saw that it was imperative for that church to be a model church for all other local churches to be able to look back on and follow its example.
Let’s look at that church…
I. CONSIDER FIRST WITH ME THAT THE JERUSALEM CHURCH HAD INTERNAL PURITY – Acts 5:12-13a – “And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. 13 And of the rest durst no man join himself to them…”
Remember last week we read the sad story of Ananias and Sapphira in verses 1-11. Ananias and Sapphira, a married couple, were hypocritical liars. They lied to the Holy Spirit and the church in Jerusalem, claiming they had given to God the entire sum of the sale of a piece of land, when in fact, in order to look magnanimous and generous, they had kept a portion of it for themselves. Because of their hypocrisy, God killed them both on the spot.
You say, “Whoa! That’s a little harsh, isn’t it?” Well, the truth is that, as we saw last week, God hates hypocrisy.
So what was really going on here in the story of Ananias and Sapphira? God was trying to safeguard the purity of the church in its very beginning. He was laying down the truth that He takes sin seriously. We’re often quick to judge big sins in OTHERS, like adultery or stealing, especially if they’re PUBLIC, yet we excuse our own sins and hypocrisies because they’re hidden and maybe not so earth shattering in our view. Yet in the story of Ananias and Sapphira, we’re reminded that even hidden sins that don’t seem so big in the big scheme of things are serious business with God.
When I first read this, I really didn’t get it. I couldn’t grasp such a harsh judgment for what didn’t appear to me to be such a big sin, and which nobody would have known about had not God revealed it. How was this such a threat to the church that God had to called two saints home?
And then I remembered how Solomon in Song of Solomon speaks of “little foxes, that spoil the vines” (Song of Songs 2:15). [COMMENT ON SLIDE OF CUTE LITTLE FOXES: “They little fellers really look cute, don’t they.”] You see, what we see as “little” can have BIG consequences in our lives.
Illus. – In 1997 USA Today ran an article about the Titanic, considered an unsinkable ship in 1912 when on its maiden voyage, it sank, killing 1500 people. For years scientists assumed that what sunk the Titanic was a giant gash in the hull caused by a collision with an iceberg. But an international team of divers and scientists had used sound waves to probe through the wreckage, and what they found surprised them. Rather than a huge gash, they found six relatively small, narrow slits across the six watertight holds. Through those little holes, water came seeping in until the ship sank.
When we allow “little” sins in our lives, we may not realize the destructive power we set loose in our spiritual lives until it’s too late.
Besides the image of the little foxes, I also remembered how Paul compares sin to leaven. Leaven is the biblical word for what we today call yeast. In researching for this sermon, I found this dictionary definition of yeast, “a microscopic fungus consisting of single oval cells that reproduce by budding, and capable of converting sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide.” When I read that description, it became clear why the Bible equates sin to yeast, which causes a range of human ailments, including thrush, yeast infections and candida:
• First, it’s INVISIBLE.
It’s microscopic; it cannot be seen. It does its destructive work quietly, covertly, stealthily, under the radar. Only when symptoms occur are you aware of its destructive ravages.
• Second, yeast GROWS.
It’s a fungus; a living thing. If not stopped in its tracks, it reproduces and grows, causing increasingly more harm as it does. If you’ve has ever had thrush or a yeast infection or candida, you know that it cannot just be left alone to follow its own course. It has to be exterminated with extremely strong antibiotics, or you’ll experience a great deal of suffering.
• Last, yeast TRANSFORMS whatever it inhabits.
It converts sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. It’s not inert; it’s ACTIVE and transformative. It changes the nature of what it resides in if not stopped in its tracks.
Brethren, secret, un-dealt-with sin has the same qualities: It’ll grow, not diminish; it’ll change you for the worse; and you may realize its damage only too late. It’s one thing to struggle with a sin in your human weakness; to fight it; to hate it; to confess it quickly and sincerely when you fail…It’s quite another thing to allow a sin to have free sway in your life; to excuse it; to love it; to leave it unconfessed.
Thank God for 1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, he’s faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
But can you see now why God was so serious about dealing with the secret sin of hypocrisy and a lying spirit in the formative stages of the church? God wanted to remind us of the exceeding sinfulness of sin—even the secret sins of our hearts; and of the need for us to strive for cleansing and inward righteousness.
What resulted when God purified the church of hypocrisy?—The first part of verse 13 says, “And of the rest durst no man join himself to them…” This doesn’t mean no one else was saved or joined the church of Jerusalem. As we’ll see, just the opposite is the case. The key to understating what is meant here is the little phrase “the rest.” Luke is saying that “the rest”—those not serious about their walk with Christ; those coddling sin; those playing games with God; the hypocrites…were SCARED WITLESS!
I imagine that when word got out about how the church was taking care of its own, some people thought about joining up for the goodies. But God’s striking Ananias and Sapphira down right before their eyes curbed the enthusiasm of the shallow bunch. People realized that if they came to Christ, there was a cross to bear; there was a high expectation of holiness that exceeded outward conformity to God’s Law of the Pharisees and that penetrated to the inner sanctum of the heart.
II. NOTICE SECOND THAT THE JERUSALEM CHURCH HAD PUBLIC RESPECT. – Look at the second part of verse 13: “…but the people magnified them.”
The phrase “magnified them” means they held them in great respect or esteem. The church was purified of hypocrisy, and when that happens, the lost and backsliders look to the believers within the church with respect.
It’s true that the greatest impediment to Christianity is HYPOCRITES! But it’s equally true that Christianity’s most powerful weapon outside the Bible itself is an authentic believer who is like Christ and manifests the fruit of the Spirit.
This is what Jesus was saying in Matthew 5:13 when He said we are the salt of the earth. This is a sermon in itself, but to just give you the “Reader’s Digest” version today, I’ll say that salt serves several functions, each with a spiritual application to believers:
• First, salt IS A PRESERVATIVE.
Before refrigeration, the only way to keep meat from going bad was to use salt. As sin increasingly debases our culture, the godly, loving, grace-filled lives of believers helps hold back harshness and sin in our society. Are you daily conscious of the need to be honest and trustworthy; to speak words that bring glory to God; to treat all people with respect and dignity? Are you a preservative agent for good in a corrupt and decaying society?
• Second, salt GIVES FLAVOR.
Illus. – Have you ever tried to eat grits without salt? If you don’t like grits, it’s probably because you thought they were meant to be eaten as is—plain, white, mushy, gritty stuff.—YUCK! Plain grits is like eating mashed up cardboard.
Now to eat grits the RIGHT way, you have to put in a big dollop of butter, and shake some salt and pepper into it. Son, when you finish flavoring grits like that, why it’s so good you’d slap your granny to get an extra helping of it!
Many foods and dishes are just NOT QUITE RIGHT as they are; but add just a pinch of salt, and they taste JUST RIGHT! The speech of believers has this powerful flavoring affect on the world around us.
Paul exhorts believers in Colossians 4:5-6 to “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. 6 Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”
To have our speech always with grace, seasoned with salt, means to always speak edifying words; words meant to build up a person, not tear down. Too often the church is identified by the world as negative, judgmental, hateful towards those who disagree with us. Paul is saying that we need to be wise in how we speak; that our speech needs to be carefully chosen, good, edifying, loving; speech that inspires others to turn to and love God rather than be repelled from Him.
• And then also, salt PRODUCES THIRST.
Illus. – Go home this afternoon and eat a bag of salty potato chips and see how long you can go before you’ve just GOT to have a drink.
Salt stimulates thirst; it makes you thirsty. If you’ll live a consistent life of integrity and honesty, coupled with love and mercy and compassion and forgiveness and patience and longsuffering, don’t be surprised if others become interested in what makes you tick.Even if they don’t become believers, at least they’ll respect you.
Illus. – Heather Nunley was a lady in our church who used to run for to keep fit. One day she met Michaela Castellanos, and they became running partners.
Heather was this loving, warm, caring, thoughtful person who just brought sunshine to everyone she came into contact with. Michaela was drawn to her like a moth to a light bulb. She was a German who longed to know God, but just hadn’t put all the pieces of the puzzle together yet. She saw in Heather a person who was by no means perfect, but who radiated an aroma of joy and excitement about life, and seemed to be able to face problems with a degree of equanimity she had never seen before.
One day she became curious and asked Heather why she was so positive and upbeat all the time, and Heather told her the key was her relationship with God and her faith in Christ, and then…well, she invited Michaela to church! Michaela came to church and I can remember tears coursing her cheeks when the Gospel was preached one day and, having seen the reality of what Christ could do in somebody else’s life, she wanted to experience that too. Heather made her thirsty for God and brought her to drink of the Water of Life.
I’m not implying that if you live a life of godliness coupled with love, everyone you influence will flock to Christ. But I’ll tell you this: in our evangelism series we’ll have on Sunday nights, Bill Fay gives a telling statistic: Studies show that every person who believes in Christ has had an average of eight meaningful, positive “touches” from believers before they themselves come to faith in Christ. People are more apt to believe the Word of God when they see it lived in a person’s life!
The church at Jerusalem had internal purity that resulted in public respect.
III. NOTE LAST THAT THEY HAD HEAVENLY BLESSINGS. – Acts 5:14-16 – “And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women. 15 Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. 16 There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.”
When the church was purified of secret sin and God’s people got serious about actually living out what they believed, God blessed the church in two remarkable ways:
• First, He blessed them NUMERICALLY.
There’s an interesting progression you find in the book of Acts:
> Acts 2 says that after Peter’s sermon, 3,000 people were saved.
> In chapter 3, 5,000 men came to faith, not counting women and children. – Apparently the numbers were beginning to tax their ability to count, so they just numbered the men.
> Then here in Acts 5, all attempts at a count are given up and Luke simply says “multitudes of men and women” were added to the Lord.
The church was EXPLODING in size! What caused this explosion of converts? The only explanation is the power of God. God will reign down his blessings when His people are cleansed of sin.
• Second, He blessed them WITH SIGNS AND WONDERS.
God blessed Peter with an amazing ministry of healing. You may ask, “Why don’t we see this kind of miracle-working in our day?”
We won’t go into detail about that today since we’ve covered that already in a previous sermon, except to reiterate that God gave miraculous power to perform signs and wonders to the apostles to give them His stamp of approval. Only apostles had what Paul refers to as the “signs of an apostle” in 2 Corinthians 12:12, and when the apostles left the scene, signs and wonders ceased with them.
Paul seems to teach that in 1 Corinthians 13, and historically that’s what happened.
I agree with Adam Cruse who put it like this: “We have to understand that this wasn’t a miracle working church, but rather a church that had miracle-working apostles. God enabled them to do miracles in order to confirm that the message they preached was from Him.”
I think that summarizes the teaching of Scripture, and if you have further questions about this view, I’d be happy to talk with you further about it.
Having said that, let me hasten to say that though we believe the Bible teaches that signs and wonders as a NORM were for the early church, I still believe God still heals and does miracles. My wife was suddenly and supernaturally healed of cancer through the prayers of our church and people around the world praying for her. We DO believe in miracles—when GOD chooses to act in His sovereignty and heal someone, but I don’t believe that people today have the power the apostles did to heal at will.
But that does not mean we do not need God’s power in our lives. How can we keep God’s power in our lives and in our church?—By keeping spiritually pure; by confessing and forsaking secret sin; by obeying God in our lives. In a word, to live like Christians in the church in Jerusalem.
CONCLUSION
What does God want us to take away from this sermon? We don’t come to church to fill our heads with more Bible knowledge. The purpose of preaching to motivate us to action, so let’s bring this home to our hearts now:
• Christian, are you harboring a secret sin that you know God is not pleased with?
God isn’t okay with it; He wants you to confess it and be cleansed. God can give you the strength to conquer it. Stop making excuses and start living in obedience.
• Christian, how salty are you?
Does your life exhibit a pattern of life consistent with the life of Christ?—a life of holiness; a life of love and compassion; a life given for others. Is your speech seasoned with salt…wholesome and edifying and uplifting? Is your walk with the Lord one that attracts others to Christ; that makes them thirsty for the water of life? What changes should you make in your life to be a salty Christian?
• Finally, are you here this morning having never come to a place in your life where you recognized you needed God’s love and forgiveness; that you could never earn God’s love by your own good works; that Jesus died for your sins in your place; that if you’ll put your faith in Him, He’ll save you and give you eternal life?
If not, please come to God this morning. Pull me aside after the service and let’s sit down and get this settled.
