The commercial was about three elderly ladies who went to a restaurant and ordered a beef sandwich. Once the sandwich was brought to them, one of the elderly ladies open the bun to see what was inside. This little, short, elderly lady said loudly, “Where’s the Beef?”
What she was getting at was this. They wanted a roast beef sandwich, and when they ordered it they expected to get one. But once they received it, and upon close examination, they wanted to know, “Where’s the Beef?” It was all bun and no beef!
This commercial reminds us a great deal of the church. All bun and no beef. There is very little similarity between the church today and the church we read about in the New Testament. The New Testament Church was an exciting church!
When they went to church, they were not sure what was going to happen:
• Multitudes got saved
• Multitudes got healed
• Multitudes got strengthened
• Hypocrites got struck down dead
When the New Testament members went to church, they never knew what to expect. When you go to most church services today, you know what is going to happen before you get there.
The New Testament Church of the Bible is described as a place where many “wonders” were done. “Wonder” here is supernatural, extraordinary, surprise or amazement.
Wouldn’t it be great for the dad of the home to say to the family, “It is almost time to go to church. Let’s go see what God is going to do today!”
As we read through the book of Acts, we see THREE things that the early church did that brought about these fantastic results. First, notice-
I. THEIR PRAYING
Do you know why they were a praying church? Because people who love the Lord pray a lot.
Illus: A little boy knelt at his mother's knee and offered his bedtime prayer. He spoke so softly his mother could not hear what he said. When he finished she asked him, "What did you ask for?" He answered, "I didn't ask for anything. I just told God that I loved Him."
People who love the Lord, express that love through prayer constantly. And the early church was filled with people who loved the Lord. God’s church needs to be filled with people who love Him today.
Illus: Perhaps you were fortunate enough in years gone by to see an old mill operated by a water wheel. The water from the creek flowed down and made the wheel turn, rotating the shaft of the mechanism inside the building to grind the wheat into flour. If the miller came up one day and found that the stream was clogged up, his wheel wouldn't work. He had several things he could have done.
• He could push and shove and try to turn the wheel himself.
• He could even call in the men from the surrounding farms to help him.
His efforts would be in vain, until he went up the creek and pulled out the dead logs and debris that that were blocking the flow of the water. With those hindrances out of the way, the water would flow down again, and the wheel would begin to turn.
Today, we have pastors and Christian leaders striving and straining to do everything they know to do, to make the wheel go around.
The church bulletins list all kinds of activities.
• Special days are set aside to get people to attend church
• Church members are urged to visit and invite others to church
• Door prizes are given away to get people to come
• Lottery tickets are given out to get people to attend
There's nothing wrong with SOME OF THESE THINGS.
The problem is:
• We have all the necessary machinery
• We have the know how and the resources
• We just don't have the water to make the wheel to turn
We need to wade back up the streams of our lives, and look for the log jams and whatever else is stopping the flow of the water from above, and remove these things from our lives. What we need to do is to get back to some good old fashion praying.
• THE EARLY CHURCH WAS A PRAYING CHURCH!
Illus: They did not sit around a table scratching their heads, not knowing what to do. When something came up, they knew exactly what to do about it - THEY PRAYED.
Today when the church faces a problem, they form a committee. The committee meets and now they have an even greater problem, because the committee cannot agree on what needs to be done.
The New Testament church faced many problems, and they prayed their way out of every one of them. There are several things we can see in their prayer life.
A. THE PERSISTENCE IN THEIR PRAYERS
Look at Acts 6:4. We read, “But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.”
There were many things that needed to be done, but the apostles of the New Testament church made prayer a top priority. They said, “We will give ourselves continually to prayer…”
They PERSISTED IN PRAYER. But also look at-
B. THE POWER OF THEIR PRAYERS
Look at power of their prayers in Acts 12:1-5. We read, “Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. Peter therefore was kept in prison: BUT PRAYER WAS MADE WITHOUT CEASING OF THE CHURCH UNTO GOD FOR HIM.”
And the Bible tells us, if you continue to read, once they started to pray IN THEIR HOUSE, God supernaturally began to move IN THE JAIL HOUSE. And soon someone was knocking on the front door. God had supernaturally delivered those they had been praying for from jail.
Their prayers had the power to open prison doors. They had PERSISTENCE and POWER in their prayers.
C. THE PLACE OF THEIR PRAYERS
Look at Acts 16 :13, we read, “And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.”
They prayed AT ALL TIMES and IN ALL PLACES! Listen, if you are at a place where you can’t bow your head and call upon God, you are at the wrong place.
One of the things that the early church did a lot of, that the church today does very little of, was PRAY. Not only were they a PRAYING CHURCH, they were also a PREACHING CHURCH. Look at-
II. THEIR PREACHING
In Acts 8:4, we read, “Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where PREACHING THE WORD.”
Probably their preaching style was different than it is now in many of the liberal churches.
Illus: Their preaching was probably like the preacher before they had wireless mikes. He was wired for sound with a lapel mike. As he preached, he moved briskly about the platform, jerking the mike cord as he went. He moved to one side, jerking the mike cord as he went. Then he moved to the other side, getting wound up in the cord and nearly tripping before jerking it again. After several circles and jerks, a little girl in the third pew leaned toward her mother and whispered, “If he gets loose, will he hurt us?”
It is hard to compare some of the preaching we read of in the scriptures to some we hear today. Some equate PREACHING and TEACHING as the same thing. But God’s Word makes a distinction.
Look at Acts 15: 35. We read, “Paul also and Barnabas continued in Antioch, TEACHING and PREACHING the word of the Lord, with many others also.” The early church saw the value and importance of good sound Biblical preaching.
Today’s church has replaced the preacher with:
• Story tellers
• Comedians
• Entertainers
• Speakers
• Teachers
• Singers
• Motivational speakers
But the great need of the church today, is the return to the pulpit of preachers, who can take a passage of scripture and explain it to a congregation, and communicate what God wants to say to them.
In our society, Bible “Preachers” ought to be placed on the “endangered species list”. Why? Because they are getting scarce these days.
Why aren’t churches today seeking PREACHERS who will preach this Bible? It is simply because most churches know today, that with all the sin in the church and people who are not willing to repent of it, if a preacher really got up and preached the Word of God, it would drive people out like rats from a sinking ship.
They are willing to sacrifice the preaching of God’s Word for a big crowd. Make no mistake about it, this is the “Ear Tickling” generation.
Illus: They have no intention of doing anything but what they want to do, and they want a preacher who will tell them what they want to hear.
But the focal point of every local church should be the preaching of God’s Word.
They were not only a PRAYING and PREACHING church, look at-
Ill. THEIR PROCLAMATION
Look at Acts 5:32. We read, “And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.”
Did you get that? The early church said, “WE ARE HIS WITNESSES OF THESE THINGS…”
• HOW DO WE WITNESS FOR THE LORD?
We do it with our words, but we also do it through our lifestyle. Both of these are essentials. But if you are not going to do it with your lifestyle, please do not bother to disgrace the Lord’s work with your words.
For example, we do it-
• THROUGH A LIFE OF INTEGRITY.
Illus: Howard Hendricks tells of a Christian attorney he met. He said, I said to him, "What are you doing?" He said, "I'm looking for a job." I said, "You've got to be kidding." He said, "No, last week I walked out the front door of that corporation and told them, 'You can hang in on your beak. I'm no longer going to write contracts that you and I both know are illegal and illegitimate.'" That man is regarded as one of the top five corporate lawyers in America, and he's unwilling to sell his value system for a mess of pottage. (Beyond the Bottom Line," Preaching Today, Tape No. 101.)
We need more lawyers like that, where their lives reveal they have integrity.
Also, we need to do it-
• THROUGH A LIFE OF CONSISTENCY.
Illus: George Whitfield said, “God forbid that I should travel with anybody a quarter of an hour without speaking of Christ to them.” (Christian History, Issue 38.)
The New Testament Christians were also very conscious of their need to witness for Christ. But they did it living a consistent Christian life.
But, what is sad today is that we have Christians that might be exalting the Lord’s name one day, and the next day they are taking his name in vain.
We have people today who might be sitting beside a professing Christian smiling at them one day, but the next day they are on the telephone gossiping in front of the their children about that person.
We see such inconsistency today in the lives of many Christians. Today, those who are living inconsistent lives have no idea of how much harm they are doing to others.
Illus: This reminds me of the Catholic nun that had the hiccups and could not stop. She went to the doctor and told him she could not stop hiccuping. She said, “Doctor, what is wrong with me?” The doctor told her she was pregnant. She said, “This cannot be, I am a nun!” She was shocked.
He said, “I want you to come back and see me tomorrow.” The diagnosis was so shocking to her as a nun, she quit hiccuping.
She went back to the Catholic compound, and the priest asked her what was wrong. She said, “He said I was pregnant.” She went back to the doctor as he suggested. He said, “Did you get rid of the hiccups?” She said, “Yes, the news of being pregnant was so shocking, I haven’t had the first hiccup since then.” The doctor smiled and said, “You are not really pregnant.” She said, “What?” The doctor could tell she was upset with his false diagnosis and said, “Well, it got rid of the hiccuping, didn’t it?” She said, “Yes, but it also got rid of my priest. When I told him I was pregnant, it was so shocking to him that he had a heart attack and died!”
These who live an inconsistent Christian life, remind me of this because they will never know, until they stand before the Lord on the Judgment day, how much harm they have done.
We are to live a consistent Christian life-
• THROUGH A LIFE OF REVEALING.
Illus: Howard Hendricks tells that some time ago, a brilliant young doctor was invited into the office of an internationally known heart surgeon in Houston, Texas. The senior doctor said, "I've done my homework on you, son, and I understand you have the potential for being the greatest heart surgeon in the next generation. I would like to guarantee that. In fact, I have hand-picked you as my protegee. If you will commit yourself to me, I promise to pour all of my skills into your life, and I will develop you into the greatest heart surgeon of the next generation. There's only one condition. You've got to sell your soul to me." The young man paused for a moment and then said, "Doctor, I am so honored you would choose me. But you need to understand: my soul is already sold." Thinking that another doctor had beaten him to the draw, the surgeon said, "To whom have you sold your soul?" The young man replied, "To Jesus Christ." The surgeon responded, "Jesus Christ? May his tribe increase!" ("Beyond the Bottom Line," (Preaching Today, Tape No. 101)
Conclusion:
Let’s look at this amazing church one more time in the scriptures. In Acts 2:43-47, we read, “And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. 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, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”
I. THEIR PRAYING
II. THEIR PREACHING
III. THEIR PROCLAMATION
Note: You can hear Dr. Odell Belger preach many of these sermons on Youtube. Just type Youtube Lykesland
