“When [the disciples] had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
“Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.” [1]
I once read of a country store situated beside an old dirt road that had a sign hanging on the front porch that read:
THERE IS NO PLACE ANYWHERE NEAR THIS PLACE LIKE THIS PLACE
SO THIS MUST BE THE PLACE.
This church ought to have a sign like that hanging over the pulpit for everyone to read.
For many of us the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence. Many times we are too close to our own place to appreciate what we have. If we would stop to think, we probably would not trade places with anyone else.
I recall reading of a man who became so disgruntled and dissatisfied with his house that he decided to sell it. He called a realtor and had the house listed. The man then began to look through the realtor ads to find a house he could buy.
Some days later he happened on an ad that described in every detail the house he was looking for. He called the realtor and was astonished to find that the description was that of his very own house! He had what he wanted all the time and just hadn’t realised it. This is probably the case with many of God’s people.
We want a perfect church—one that allows us to be comfortable, not demanding much of us while fulfilling every wish. We want a pastor who speaks for fifteen minutes, delivering a message filled with reams of wisdom that astonishes us and fills our minds with volumes of information that will equip us to live lives that will cause the Lord to smile on us. We want a powerful church with people dedicated to prayer, yet without disturbing our daily routine by expecting us to take time from our day to spend time in the presence of God. We want a church that sees marvellous answers to great prayers week-after-week. We want our church to entertain our children, making them eager to be in the Sunday School. We want the music program to be vibrant and energetic with a great band and a lively worship team singing the latest lively choruses. Ideally, our church will have great acoustics that draw us into a sensual environment that makes it easy for us to “worship.” We want all this, without any demands for commitment on our part. We still need our “me” time, and Sunday is the one day we can have “me” time.
Perhaps we have ignored, or possibly we never recognised, the model that God provided for the assemblies of the righteous has been revealed in the life of the first assembly. To enable us to understand what that church was like, and so that we can model our own congregation after that first congregation, let’s take a closer look at the New Beginnings Baptist Church of Jerusalem.
A PLACE OF PURPOSE — Earlier in this account of conditions in the life of the early church, we are informed, “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place” [ACTS 2:1]. These first disciples were not in the upper room by accident; they were there on purpose. The Risen Lord had instructed them to wait there until they were baptised with the Holy Spirit. The promise of the Father would shortly come; His power would soon fall on them. Henceforth, their preaching would surely bring impressive results. When God’s children do God’s work in God’s way there will always be remarkable results. And what was witnessed on this Pentecost serves to encourage the people of God since that day.
The main purpose for praying and waiting on the Lord is to glorify the Lord through promoting worship and winning souls—and the church of the Living God must be a place of purpose. Everything we do, both as individuals and as a congregation, ought to have as the primary motive this one great purpose of uniting us as the holy body of Christ. Both individually and corporately we who gather as the congregation of the righteous are responsible to plan to worship and we ought to plan to win souls. And if we do not so plan we must be prepared to explain to God why this is not important. Souls were so precious to our Saviour that He gave His own sinless life as a ransom for the lost. And worship marked every step of Jesus’ life during the days of His flesh.
We who follow the Risen Saviour must transform the church building into a holy place. Don’t misunderstand, I’m not suggesting that the building must become some sort of a sacred icon bounded by stately rituals in an attempt to create a sense of awe in the untaught, I’m simply saying that we should anticipate that this is recognised as the place where God’s people will come together to worship and to equip one another to fulfil the ministries given us by the Risen Saviour. Whenever we come together in this place, it should be with a sense of holy purpose. Throughout the week past we will have prayed, seeking God’s glory and the building up of the people of God as we unite to worship and equip one another. Then, as we gather on Sunday morning, we will be filled with anticipation because we know we will meet the Risen Lord of Glory as we gather to sing, to read the Scriptures, to pray, and to hear the proclamation of the Word of God.
Singing is vital to the experience of worship. I understand that some among us will say that any attempt to sing is futile. However, when we read the encouragement given by the Psalmist to “make a joyful noise,” it is a reminder that musical precision is not required to praise the Lord. Consider some of these instances that encourage us to sing. The Old One Hundredth opens by encouraging us to,
“Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!”
[PSALM 100:1-2]
Elsewhere, we witness the Psalmist encouraging us to hear the music of all nature as God is praised.
“Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth;
break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,
with the lyre and the sound of melody!
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD!
“Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who dwell in it!
Let the rivers clap their hands;
let the hills sing for joy together
before the LORD, for he comes
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity.”
[PSALM 98:4-9]
Again, we are encouraged to rejoice with loud praise when the Psalmist says,
“Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the LORD is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
“Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!”
[PSALM 95:1-6]
Worship the Lord. Rejoice with loud songs of praise. Praise Him because He is God and worthy of praise. Praise Him because He gives us our being. He made us, choosing who we are and choosing to be glorified in us. Therefore, praise Him! Praise Him, joining with all nature in the music of the spheres. Let your heart rejoice as you focus on Him and the grace with which He showers us.
And just as singing is essential to our worship, so also is the reading of Scripture that allows us to hear the will of the Lord. Prayer, as we ask the Master for those things that touch our heart is necessary for worship. And hearing the proclamation of the Word is essential for worship. Let our gathering be purposeful as we prepare to worship.
A PLACE OF PRAYER — “When they had prayed, the place in which [the disciples] were gathered together was shaken” [ACTS 4:31]. If our place will be the place God would have it be, it must be a place of prayer. Prayer is the key to amazing and unique experiences such as witnessed by those in our text. When Elijah prayed, the fire fell. When Paul and Silas prayed, the walls of their prison were shaken down. When Solomon prayed, wisdom was given. When Jesus prayed, Lazarus walked out of the tomb. Think of the exciting events recorded in the Word which resulted from prayer and know that the God Who answered prayer then is the God Who hears us now when we pray.
The promises of God have not changed. The Bible still says, “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known” [JEREMIAH 33:3].
Christ still promises, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened” [MATTHEW 7:7-8].
Jesus still promises His followers, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it” [JOHN 14:13-14].
We still have His unchanging Word, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” [JOHN 15:7-8].
The promise God gives through His servant James has never been rescinded: “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” [JAMES 5:16b].
The promise John gave may still be found in God’s Word: “Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him” [1 JOHN 3:21-22].
God’s Word still promises the followers of the Risen Saviour, “This is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him” [1 JOHN 5:14-15].
Someone may say, “Well, I’ve never seen answers such as you are implying.” God tells us, “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” [JAMES 4:1-4].
The denizens of this darkened world do not believe prayer is either necessary or effective. This past summer we witnessed another transgender individual who attacked a church, killing two children and wounding eighteen other people, including fourteen children. Left-leaning politicians all rushed to television cameras to ridicule prayer. The thoughts and prayers of the nation were worthless, they each said as though reading from the same script. The children were literally at prayer, and prayer didn’t protect them, was a common theme. People needed to put their trust in the politicians! They were people of action! They would get things done! “Don’t bother praying,” was their message.
Wait a minute! Are these politicians saying that we cannot pray and act simultaneously? Is it possible to pray for comfort even as we act to rectify problems. If the politicians cannot recognise this, there is a fundamental problem with their souls! As it turns out, there is a fundamental problem with the heart of these terrible people. Decent people know that prayer is a normal response to times of deep sorrow.
If we listen to politicians, we get what politicians can provide. We have had plenty of experience with the impoverished supply delivered by politicians of this world. Why pray, then? What do we gain when we pray? In times of sorrow we pray for God’s comfort—for the peace that He alone can supply. When evil stalked children at prayer in Minneapolis, the prayers of the nation were seeking peace that God alone can give. People prayed for comfort for broken-hearted dads and moms who had experienced the greatest sorrow anyone could imagine; and where else should they look than to God, Who alone can comfort the grieving heart.
The Apostle to the Gentiles identifies God as the “God of all comfort” as he opens his second missive to the Church of God in Corinth. Paul writes, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too” [2 CORINTHIANS 1:3-5]. No politician can comfort, though we expect them to be sensitive to the sorrow we experience.
We pray confessing our brokenness, seeking the healing that God alone can give. Jeremiah prayed on behalf of the people, confessing the sin of the nation and asking the LORD to restore His people. It is a model for our own requests of the Lord.
“The crown has fallen from our head;
woe to us, for we have sinned!
For this our heart has become sick,
for these things our eyes have grown dim,
for Mount Zion which lies desolate;
jackals prowl over it.
But you, O LORD, reign forever;
your throne endures to all generations.
Why do you forget us forever,
why do you forsake us for so many days?
Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored!
Renew our days as of old—”
[LAMENTATIONS 5:16-21]
And our request for healing is not mere words thrown into the ether. God, in His Word, assures us, “This is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him” [1 JOHN 5:14-15].
We pray out of our need, asking the Father to supply what is necessary to live. Certainly, this is seen in the Model Prayer when Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” [MATTHEW 6:11].
We pray for boldness so that we will not dishonour the Name of our Saviour. Returning from their appearance before the Jewish Council, the gathered disciples prayed, “Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus” [ACTS 4:29-30].
We pray, seeking God’s effective work in each of the saints, as witnessed when the Apostle spoke of his prayer offered for the Philippian Christians: “It is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” [PHILIPPIANS 1:9-11].
We pray so that we may be delivered from wicked people. Paul urged the saints in Salonica, “Brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith” [2 THESSALONIANS 3:1-2]. This is nothing less than a practical application of Jesus’ instruction to pray, “Deliver us from evil” [MATTHEW 6:13b].
Our Master has invited us to pray, and should we not take Him at His Word? Jesus invites us, “I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened” [LUKE 11:9-10].
We pray so that our joy may be full. The Saviour invited His disciples to pray, saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” [JOHN 16:23b-24]. Amen!
A PLACE OF PREACHING — “With great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus” [ACTS 4:33]. These Apostles were telling others of the Living Son of God and of the salvation He gives to all who are willing to receive His forgiveness and mercy. They testified that the Son of God had conquered death, hell, and the grave. They spoke of life in the face of death. Three thousand had been saved through the witness of the disciples on that great Pentecost when the Spirit of God was poured out. Peter preached and the hostile crowd was pierced to the heart by His words. In another few days five thousand others were also saved.
Paul states that through the foolishness of what was preached, God chose to save those who believed [see 1 CORINTHIANS 1:21]. Among the last words the Apostle penned were those written to Timothy when the great Apostle insisted, “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” [2 TIMOTHY 4:2]. There is a great need for preaching today. Vance Havner said that modern ministers deliver sermonettes for Christianettes. We need preaching that will condemn sin, preaching that will convert sinners, preaching that will cleanse saints, preaching that will comfort souls, preaching that will challenge God’s servants.
Study again THE THIRTY-SEVENTH CHAPTER OF EZEKIEL. There you will read of the valley full of dry bones. It is obvious that God called Ezekiel to preach. There in the valley God introduced the prophet to his congregation—a valley full of dry bones. No doubt Ezekiel questioned what God expected him to do with a dead, dry congregation. God explained that he wanted him to preach to them.
On Sunday morning God gave Ezekiel a sermon on unity. His congregation really needed it. They were scattered across the valley—the head bone disconnected from the neck bone, and the neck bone disconnected from the backbone, and the backbone disconnected from the hipbone, and the hipbone disconnected from the thigh bone, and the thigh bone disconnected from the leg bone, and the leg bone disconnected from the foot bone. Today we could name the Valley of Dry Bones Dawson Creek.
As Ezekiel preached, the bones began to shake and find their rightful place. Suddenly the head bone was connected to the neck bone, the neck bone was connected to the backbone, the backbone was connected to the hipbone, the hipbone was connected to the thigh bone, the thigh bone was connected to the leg bone, and the leg bone was connected to the foot bone. Ezekiel’s sermon really brought results.
Sunday night God gave Ezekiel a second sermon on unction. The bones were together, but they had no life in them. So again Ezekiel prophesied to the wind and the Lord sent life into the bones.
On Wednesday night God sent Ezekiel with another message. This time he spoke on usefulness. The congregation had been unified and unctionised, now it was time for them to become useful. Preaching did that.
Preaching has been the hallmark of the advance of the Faith since the days of John the Baptist. We are told, “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” [MATTHEW 3:1-2]. And what a fiery preacher he was! Again, we are given a glimpse into his preaching when we read, “When [the Baptist] saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father,” for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
“‘I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire’” [MATTHEW 3:7-12].
After Herod arrested John, Jesus took up the mantle of a preacher. So, we read, “After John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel’” [MARK 1:14-15].
We forget that there was no such thing as clergy among the early churches. There were just redeemed people, and of them, we are told, “Those who had been forced to scatter [by the persecution unleashed following the death of Stephen] went about proclaiming the good news of the word” [ACTS 8:4 NET BIBLE 2nd].
It was said of George Whitfield that as he preached his final sermon he held up a candle and told the assembled people that he would preach until the flame went out. When it went out, he went inside to retire for the evening. The next morning he was found fully clothed, on his knees with the little bit of candle and his open Bible in his hand. He had not retired to bed but to heaven. The news caption read, “He preached until the light went out.”
If our place is to be the only place anywhere near our place like our place, we must ensure that it is a place of preaching. Each member of the congregation must be set at liberty to declare the message of life to their family, to their friends, to their neighbours, to their colleagues at work and at play. Each member of the congregation must realise that the message they deliver has already been empowered by the Spirit of Christ living in him or in her. We must cease attempting to hire specialists to do the work God has assigned each of us, making this a place of preaching and then echoing the messages declared here wherever we go and wherever we then serve.
A PLACE OF POWER — “With great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus” [ACTS 4:33]. The place was shaken by the power manifest in the lives of these dedicated disciples. Dear people, we must never forget that the same power is available to the children of God in this day. These disciples were promised “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” [ACTS 1:8]. The same spiritual power is available to us today! If we will but accept it we shall also be known for spiritual power. If we will accomplish anything in this day of wickedness and spiritual compromise, it will be because each of us is walking and working in power.
We love the dramatic, and thus we fail to see power in what we imagine to be the mundane. We are thrilled to read about David when he defeated the Philistine champion with his slingshot and five slick river rocks. We love the story of Daniel protected when he was thrown into the den of lions. The account of the Hebrew men walking in the midst of a super-heated furnace leaves us astounded. Peter released from a Judean prison by the angel of the Lord, and the missionaries freed from a Philippian jail are exciting. That’s the sort of power we long to see!
To be sure, there was great power demonstrated when Jesus was released from the tomb, but we fail to see the power revealed when Jesus prayed in a darkened garden. And yet, there was the power of God working even in the darkness. Where is the power when the sky was darkened and the sun refused to shine? Unseen to the eye of sinful was the mysterious power of the Living God working to make atonement.
We marvel and we are humbled to hear the Apostle declare what lay behind his service when he wrote, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,” [ROMANS 1:1-6].
Paul offered a request of the Father that touches each of us, when he prayed, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” [ROMANS 15:13].
We who follow Christ are now empowered with power the world cannot recognise. We read, “Though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete” [2 CORINTHIANS 10:3-6].
This is the power at work in each individual who follows the Risen Lord. And it is the power that is always working in the congregation of the faithful when we unite to fulfil the work that the Master assigned to His churches. The congregation of the Lord is to be a place of power—and it shall ever be a place of power when the people seek the power of Christ to be revealed in them and through them.
This is the power that Paul prayed would be revealed in God’s people, when he opened the encyclical we have received as the Letter to the Ephesians. While the passage is extended, I ask you to indulge me as I read what the Apostle has written. Paul opens that missive, writing, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
“In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”
“Because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come” [EPHESIANS 1:3-21]. Amen.
A PLACE OF PRAISE — The early church is described as “praising God and having favour with all the people” [ACTS 2:47]. The crippled beggar healed by Peter and John, immediately began to walk and jump and praise God [see ACTS 3:9]. The impact of the healing of this once crippled man is that all who witnessed what had happened were “praising God for what had happened” [see ACTS 4:21].
Though the Jewish Council wanted to punish the Apostles in a futile attempt to halt the advance of the Faith of Christ the Lord, they were powerless because they feared how the people might react. The crowds had witnessed the power of God, and they knew that they had witnessed a momentous event—the crippled man was more than forty years of age; thus, the crowds were compelled to praise the Lord God. Where the purpose is right, prayer is offered and preaching is delivered with power, praise to God will result.
David, in the 107th PSALM, repeatedly commands the redeemed of the Lord:
“Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!”
[PSALM 107:8, 15, 21, 31].
In this Psalm David recalls multiple instances when the people of God were in serious trouble and weighed down with heavy burdens, usually as result of their own sinful choices. Each time when their own sins brought them to the end of themselves and they had no way to look but up, they called on the Lord. Again and again, God answered and lifted them out of their troubles and set them in a secure place. Throughout this Psalm David repeatedly extrapolates to all God’s people commanding them to give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for mankind.
No matter how hard your place may be, can you not thank God for His mercy? One church was having a praise meeting. A woman stood and said, “I really want to praise the Lord; my cup is running over.” Another lady stood behind her and said, “My cup is running over too, and so is my saucer.” Way in the back a frail, skinny little lady stood to say, “I ain’t got much to be thankful for. I’ve got but two teeth. One is up and one is down; but praise God they meet!”
I love the stories of God’s people who praise Him even in the tough times. I heard of an old rancher who happened to be a deacon in his church. The old rancher was recognised as a man who was always cheerful and always ready to praise God for His goodness. He was denoted as a man who was unfailingly thankful to God.
One blustery, snowy Sunday in January, the old deacon was in church, but everyone knew it was a tough time for him. Cattle prices were down and hay prices were up. The hay crop had been skimpy that year, which meant that he had to buy a large amount of hay. On top of everything else, it had snowed heavily for a week without a break in the weather. The temperatures were somewhere north of minus thirty degrees. It was enough to discourage anyone, especially one responsible for so many cattle.
People watched as the pastor asked the old deacon to pray. What would he say? No one could be cheery in the face of the pressures the old rancher was facing. Nevertheless, the old man stood, and lifting his face toward Heaven he confidently began, “God, I thank You that not every day is like this day.”
With the Psalmist, that old deacon could rest confident in the God Who is too good to needlessly hurt His child and too wise to make a mistake. Has not David testified,
“I trust in you, O LORD;
I say, ‘You are my God.’
My times are in your hand.”
[PSALM 31:14-15a]
What about your church? Are you confident it is the place God has assigned you? If it is where God has assigned you, make it a place of purpose, a place of prayer, a place of preaching, a place of power, and a place of praise? If you do this, you will find that you will make your place the only place anywhere near your place like your place.
The state of the Faith in this day late in the Age of Grace is unhealthy, I fear. There are exceptions to the general status of the congregations of the Lord, but in general, we go to church rather than realising that we are to be the church. Too often, our purpose is to feel good about ourselves and to affirm our feelings rather than seeking what is pleasing to the Saviour Who redeems us. We have fallen into the habit of saying prayers without ever praying. Preaching has become an interruption of what we call worship; it is tolerated, but seldom welcomed. Consequently, though there is considerable emotion, there is scant power demonstrated in our lives. Thus, the praise we say we offer is sterile, unmoving, and of little worth. Brothers and sisters, it is high time for us to again become the church. I call on you to determine that you will take it upon yourself to ensure that this is the place, and that there is no place like it.
This call to radical Christianity is a challenge to accept responsibility to invest your life in the life of this congregation. This call to radical Christianity is nothing less than a challenge to return to the days revealed in the life of that first assembly of the Lord. Refresh your memory by recalling the impact of the Spirit of Christ at work in the life of that first church. We read, “[The disciples, including those recently saved] devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” [ACTS 2:42-47].
This could be the description of our own congregation, if we accept the challenge to seek the Lord, to allow His Spirit to work in power among us, to prepare to worship each time we meet, anticipating that we will meet the Risen Lord of Glory. We can either seek that which is ersatz and artificial, or we can refuse to be satisfied with that which is synthetic and counterfeit. The choice lies before us. Choose wisely. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
