Accomplishing either one of these would be marvelous, but to accomplish both is astounding.
Illus: Occasionally, many churches have a “NO EXCUSE SUNDAY,” trying to get everyone to attend. Before this Sunday arrives, they send out newsletters from the church, stating:
• Cots will be placed in the foyer for those who say, "Sunday is my only day to sleep in."
• There will be a special section with lounge chairs for those who feel that our pews are too hard.
• Eye drops will be available for those with tired eyes from watching TV late Saturday night.
• We will have steel helmets for those who say, "The roof would cave in if I ever came to church."
• Blankets will be furnished for those who think the church is too cold, and fans for those who say it is too hot.
• Scorecards will be available for those who wish to list the hypocrites present.
• Relatives and friends will be in attendance for those who can't go to church and cook dinner, too.
• We will distribute "Stamp Out Stewardship" buttons for those that feel the church is always asking for money.
• One section will be devoted to trees and grass for those who like to seek God in nature.
• Doctors and nurses will be in attendance for those who plan to be sick on Sunday.
• The sanctuary will be decorated with both Christmas poinsettias and Easter lilies for those who never have seen the church without them.
• We will provide hearing aids for those who can't hear the preacher and cotton wool for those who think he's too loud!
On this special day, they promise to make every effort to eliminate all the excuses. But when the day arrives they have members who will not attend. Every church in the country would be bursting at the seams if they could just get their people to attend all the services.
Every pastor will tell you that it is a difficult thing to get ALL IN ONE ACCORD, IN ONE PLACE.
But the Bible says the early church was able to achieve BOTH OF THESE. Wow! I am impressed!
Illus: (humor) Did YOU KNOW THEY HAD HONDA CARS BACK THEN? Sure they did, the Bible says they were all in “One Accord.”
This was an amazing church. Never has there been a church that can surpass this church in greatness when it comes to a church being controlled by the Holy Spirit of God. Some may disagree with that statement, but I challenge them to show me otherwise.
Illus: Some may say, “What about some of these Mega churches that we see on television, where thousands and thousand attend! Isn’t this a sign that THESE CHURCHES ARE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT?”
Not necessarily! I do not want to be a “party-pooper”, but many times the fact that these large mega churches are filled with thousands has nothing to do with being filled with the Holy Spirit. It has to do with:
• A good location
• Beautiful buildings
• Programs
• Entertainment (Singing)
• Large budgets where they spend millions to promote their churches through radio and television
When you have these kinds of things, you ought to be able to draw a crowd. The early church had none of these things, yet they reached a level of greatness no church has ever been able to achieve.
No church since then has been able to equal it or even come close to the level of greatness they reached. For example, this church-
• Had some of the greatest anointed preachers that any church has ever had. (Acts 2:14 & 4:8)
• Had some of the greatest Spirit-fil¬led deacons that any church has ever had. Acts 6:5, "...and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus., and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas. and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch.”
• Had some of the greatest givers that any church has ever had. Acts 4:34, "...for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold."
• Had some of the greatest prayer-warriors that any church has ever had. Acts 4:31, "And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together..."
• Had some of the greatest worshippers that any church has ever had. Acts 4:24, "And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said. Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is."
• Had the greatest numerical growth that any church has ever had. 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."
What are you saying preacher? I am saying that no church that has ever existed has surpassed this first church of Jerusalem in greatness or even come close.
They were not only all IN ONE PLACE, the Bible tells us they were in ONE ACCORD.
Because of their greatness, we can not help but ask some questions, such as:
I. WHAT MADE THEM GREAT?
We know that -
• It was not their beautiful buildings
• It was not their talents because most of them were just ordinary people
• It was not their television programs that promoted their church
• It was not their radio programs that promoted their church
• It was not their printing presses that promoted their church
• It was not the Internet that promoted their church
They had none of these things, yet they go down in the history books as the greatest church that ever existed.
WHAT MADE THEM SO GREAT?
The scriptures make it clear. There are two words that stand out in the book of Acts. Those words are, “One Accord”. The Bible says in:
• Acts 2:1, "... they were all with ONE ACCORD in one place."
• Acts 1:14, "...continued with ONE ACCORD in prayer."
• Acts 2:46, "...with ONE ACCORD in the temple..."
• Acts 4:24, "...lifted up their voice to God with ONE ACCORD
• Acts 5:12, "...they were all with ONE ACCORD..."
• Acts 8:6, "And the people with ONE ACCORD..."
• Acts 15:25,". ..being assembled with ONE ACCORD...”
We would not be reading the great things that were recorded in the Book of Acts if that first church had not been in ONE ACCORD!
One of the things that keeps many churches from doing great things for the Lord Jesus is that the devil has the church going in so many different directions they can not be effective.
Listen, this church was not “Spirit Filled” until they were all in ONE PLACE and all in ONE ACCORD.
We have looked at WHAT MADE THEM GREAT, but also let’s look at-
II. HOW WERE THEY GREAT?
Illus: Have you ever watched armies on television marching lock step with each other? Sometimes thousands of soldiers are marching in the same direction and every one is in lock step with the others. It is a wonderful sight to behold!
I remember the old Gomer Pyle television program, where all the soldiers are marching in lock step but Gomer is all over the place. I am afraid we have a lot of Gomer Pyle Christians today. They do not know the first thing about walking in ONE ACCORD!
But look how this New Testament church was in ONE ACCORD.
A. THEY WERE IN ONE ACCORD IN PURPOSE
We can see that so clearly because they were determined to speak and teach in the name of Jesus, no matter what. They understood that the purpose of the church was to preach, teach and spread this gospel of Christ.
Look at Acts 4:18, "And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus."
Today the average church member does not have the slightest idea what the purpose of the church is.
The purpose for many churches existing today ranges from having social activities, to going through rituals each week with no meaning to them whatsoever. That is the truth. I challenge you to prove otherwise.
But the early church was with "one accord" in its purpose for existing.
One of the last things the Lord told His church was, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15)
Notice it says, "...to every creature." In other words, the church today should exist for the purpose of propa¬gating this gospel to every man, woman, boy and girl. If that is not our purpose for establishing this church, we need to close the doors because we can not be a BIBLE DRIVEN CHURCH OTHERWISE!
• Every song
• Every sermon
• Every Sunday school lesson
• Every activity should all be about reaching the lost
THAT IS THE PURPOSE OF OUR EXISTENCE! We are most effective when we stay with the purpose God put us here for.
Illus: Remember when fast food restaurants were really fast food? I remember when McDonald’s first opened up. They existed for the purpose of providing fast food to people. If you wanted a hamburger, you could walk into one of the McDonald’s restaurants, and in a minute you could walk out eating a hamburger.
But then they began to try and expand their business by selling other things that their competitors were selling. Today you can walk into a McDonald’s and wait and wait!
WHAT HAPPENED? They got away from their original purpose of providing fast food! They were most efficient when they stayed with their purpose for existing.
When they began to look at their competition and diversified to be competitive, they started selling roast beef, chicken, and salads. Today, you can walk into any McDonald’s, and you will see they are no longer as effective as they once were.
The same thing applies to our public schools. There was a time when a young person could go to a public school and get a good education. But schools began to drift from their original purpose:
• They began to add other courses to reading, writing, math, social studies and science.
• Each school district began to look at how other school districts had built new school buildings, so they decided much of the money should be used for tearing down good schools to build more modern school buildings, just to keep up with the next county.
• School boards began to realize that every time a problem came up, all they had to do was open their hands and say we need more tax money for buildings and programs.
Today we have some of the best buildings and pay the highest salaries the public school has ever paid, but we have the worst test scores in this country.
WHAT HAPPENED? Any time we get away from our original purpose for existing, we become less effective.
Today, all over this nation we have churches that have moved away from their original purpose of reaching the lost.
MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT:
• We have some beautiful church buildings
• We have programs that the YMCA can not compete with
But the lost world is going to Hell in a hand basket because we as a church have lost our purpose for existing.
The early church KNEW God’s purpose for their existence. They were all in ONE ACCORD, IN ONE PLACE. They went everywhere preaching this gospel.
They were all in ONE ACCORD IN PURPOSE! Also, we see that …
B. THEY WERE IN ONE ACCORD IN HARMONY
This was a church that knew how to WALK TOGETHER and STICK TOGETHER.
Listen, when times get rough you will be surprised at the folks who claim to love the Lord and walk away from a church they claim they love.
Illus: Many in the church today remind me of the Lone Ranger and Tonto. They say that once the Lone Ranger and Tonto were headed across the desert in a northerly direction, when a bunch of Indians began to chase them.
• They headed South and another bunch began to chase after them.
• They turned to the East and another bunch was approaching.
• They turned to the West and another bunch was coming after them.
The Lone Ranger said, "Tonto, we have Indians coming from the North, South, East, and West, what are we going to do now?!'"
Tonto said, "Ugh! What do you mean 'we' white man?”
When we as a church get serious about reaching the lost, you can mark it down, Satan is going to come from all directions trying to stop us.
And a church that does NOT WALK TOGETHER, and STAND TOGETHER will not be able to survive.
He could not close the early church down because they (all of them) were in ONE ACCORD in PURPOSE and HARMONY.
God did great things through them be¬cause they were in "one accord".
• The nearest thing to heaven on this earth is a church that is in HARMONY, walking and standing together
• The nearest thing to Hell on this earth is a church that is OUT OF HARMONY, stabbing each other in the back
The Bible says, (Amos 3:3) "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" No, because the whole time they are walking, they are going to be arguing about which way to go.
We do not all:
• Have the same political persuasion
• Drive the same kind of car
• Love the same kind of ice cream
But when it comes to serving God, we all need to be in the SAME BOAT! We have to be in ONE ACCORD IN HARMONY.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger was talking to a group of “Coon Hunters!” He invited them to church the coming Sunday, and they made a deal with him. If he would go “Coon hunting” with them on Saturday night, they would go with him to church on Sunday.
He saw a man shoot a raccoon out of a tree. It was still alive, and four dogs got it, one on each leg, and they pulled — north, south, east, and west. It was a perfect picture of the typical church today.
We win souls when we are in "one accord".
Illus: A lady phoned the preacher. "Preacher, you do not know me, but I know one of your members and she told me how much she thought of you." Then she said, "My mother is dying and I do not know whether or not she is saved. Will you come and pray for her?" He went and led her to the Lord, and met other family members that he might be able to reach for Christ.
What I am trying to point out is this: suppose the church member had gone to this lady and put the pastor down. If she had, that lady would have never called this pastor for prayer. Her mother might have gone to a devil’s hell if she had done such a thing.
When we are in ONE ACCORD we can win the lost to Christ.
• A church that exists for the purpose of building fancy church buildings, builds fancy church buildings
• A church that exists for the purpose of having suppers and luncheons, is going to have suppers and luncheons
• A church that exists for the purpose of having recreation, will have lots of recreation
• A church that exist for the purpose of reaching the lost, WILL REACH THE LOST!
Conclusion:
The early church was in "one accord" in loving souls. We need to all focus in on this one emphasis.
Illus: An old shepherd wrote the National Broadcasting Company a letter and said, "I am a man who tends sheep on the hillsides and have no companion¬ship. It gets lonely, so I take my little radio along. I enjoy your programs. However, I used to enjoy playing my violin while alone out here; but it is so much out of tune, I can no longer play it. I am wondering if one day you would be so kind as to stop all entertainment and music for just a moment of silence and strike an 'A' so I can get my violin back in tune. This would mean so much to me, and I'd be obliged for the favor."
The folks at NBC received the letter and laughed at first, but later they granted the favor. They stopped everything and struck the 'A' note for the farmer to get his violin in tune.
The church is out of tune today. We need to stop everything and let God's Word "strike the 'A' note" so we can get back in tune, so once again we will be in ONE ACCORD!
We have looked at:
I. WHAT MADE THEM GREAT
II. HOW WERE THEY GREAT
