141228The “One Thing” to Do

Philippians 3:12-16 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ¹³ Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. ¹⁶ Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

To see the words that the apostle Paul has written is both interesting and encouraging. First, let me say that the apostle Paul is one of my heroes. I’m not sure that he would be pleased with me but I’m certainly pleased with him. So I find it a little surprising when he writes, “not that I have already obtained this…” I can understand Paul saying that he is certainly not perfect, for none of us are. But if anyone has “arrived” at spiritual maturity during their lifetime on earth I would think it would be Paul.

But he says that he has not already obtained nor has he made “IT” his own but instead he acknowledges that Christ Jesus has made him His own and that causes him to press on toward the goal. How do we move forward in the spiritual life?

We should begin by looking ahead rather than behind. One of the struggles I have in life, personally, is how to deal with the past. Years ago we used to sing a chorus that included the words: “Satan remindth me of the crimes that I have done. I know them well 10,000 more but Jehovah findeth none. He findeth none, He findeth none, they’ve been washed in the blood of His Son.” Often times I find myself dwelling on the wrong I have done in the past. On my best day I recognize that I can’t change the past and need to simply push on under the cover of the Lord Jesus Christ. On my worst day I slide into depression remembering that my past includes many wrongdoings. If I’m not very careful I can lose much of a day wallowing in depression and defeat. I have a plan I would like to recommend to you. The next time Satan comes around telling you about your past, stop, take a minute, and remind him about his future! Satan is going to be bound and cast into the lake of fire that burns forever and ever. My future, as a child of God, is a heavenly home prepared by the Lord Jesus Christ. So we need to join with the apostle Paul in…

Forgetting what lies behind. Look in the verses just before our text found in Philippians 3:7-8. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.

Unlike most of us, much of Paul’s past would have been considered good by the average person. We’ve looked at it before and seen how Paul had lived an exemplary life. He was born into a godly family, a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin. In regards to the Mosaic law he considered himself blameless. But he knew also that he had been a persecutor of the church and he considered himself to be the chief of sinners.

This does not mean that Paul continued in sin it means that he had, in the past, set the benchmark so far sin is concerned. Let me illustrate: Suppose you were a high jumper in college and you broke the school record by a foot. The school placed a mark on the gym wall with your name beside it, showing the height of your jump and proclaiming you as champion, or “chief.” Twenty years later you walk into the same gym. There is your mark on the wall. No one has even come close to breaking your record. You're still the chief. This is what Paul meant and why he considered himself “chief of sinners”!

Even though Paul remembered the past he made a choice to stop living in it. He was willing to “forget” what lies behind because it was covered by the blood sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. We sing, “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” If God has washed it away why should we continue to mull over it? The past is not a good place to live even on the good days. We need to join with God and put our sins, all of the past, as far away from us as the East is from the West. (Psalm 103:12) That’s how far God has removed our transgressions from us. Never, ever. will the blame get back to us if we are in Christ Jesus. Let me give you an illustration. If you were able to fly in an airplane directly West no matter how many times you circled the earth you would still be going West. You may travel North until you reach a point where all travel from there will be South. But there is no “East Pole” or, “West Pole” the two directions will never, ever, meet. Praise God that’s the example of how far He has removed our sins from us! Forget what lies behind and keep on…

Straining forward. Turn with me to Hebrews 12:1-2. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

I’m not a great sports fan but there are many illustrations in sports to guide us in our spiritual life. One thing you will notice about runners is that they, “lay aside every weight”, and then they run with endurance.

We are called on to do the same thing spiritually. Lay aside every weight of memory and even lay aside the sin that clings so close to us. We cannot run the race well if we are burdened down with our wrongdoing from the past. Remember, if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9) if God says it is forgiven then you can take His word for it. Don’t spend time and energy rehashing the past. Confess it, thank God, and to go on with your life. Remember, we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, many times greater than when the writer of Hebrews wrote these words. The faithful throughout history have gone on to be with the Lord. Their lives are witness to us that the life can be lived. We are told that we are to look to Jesus, and with Him in view, we can run the race that is set before us with endurance. So long as we follow that plan we will be successful in…

Reaching for the Goal. Turn with me to Ephesians 1:11-14. 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, ¹² so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. ¹³ 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, ¹⁴ who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Nine times in the letter to the Ephesians Paul uses the term “in Him”, referring to the inheritance we have. It is impossible for human language to completely explain all that we have in Christ Jesus. God chose those who are His children before He created the world and the names are recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Paul saw himself in the first generation of believers and realized that God had a plan that allowed them to be “to the praise of His glory”. Having believed in the truth that is Christ Jesus, God the Father seals us with the Holy Spirit. And then God begins the work of shaping us into the image of Christ Jesus. Ultimately, we are going to be like Him. The word of God promises us that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. (1 John 3:2)

Becoming like Christ Jesus in every respect is God’s goal for the life of the believer. As we grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ we will become more and more like Him. We will go through many trials and temptations along the way. The obstacle course that is life is designed to root out of us everything of the flesh and build into us everything that is the Spirit of God. Nothing ever comes into your life without first passing by the Holy Spirit who is our guarantee. He only lets things into our lives that are good for us no matter how painful they are at the moment. The Lord Jesus promised be with us even to the end of the age.

The goal we are reaching toward is…

The upward call. Turn with me to Colossians 1:3-8. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, ⁴ since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, ⁵ because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, ⁶ which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, ⁷ just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf ⁸ and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

Throughout the Christian life we are being changed into his likeness. We are progressively becoming more and more like Christ. Our goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus is guaranteed by the Holy Spirit that God has placed in our life. We, like the apostle Paul, are not perfect but we are pressing on towards perfection. We have put on a new nature which is constantly being renewed. The gospel bears its fruit in our life so long as we are faithfully laying aside every weight and running the race that’s set before us. The call that we have received is an inner call toward sanctification. Our inner awareness of God grows stronger and stronger as we live our daily lives. We begin to know God is our loving Father in heaven. We have been adopted into his family since we have passed out of the family of Adam and Eve. The Holy Spirit that God has placed in our lives bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God. As time goes by, and we continue to grow spiritually, the intensity of our understanding is such that though we have not seen our Lord Jesus Christ, we indeed love Him!

It is an upward call because the goal itself is in heaven. The Bible tells us that we are joint heirs with Jesus and that our inheritance is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for us. (1 Peter 1:4) We are kept by God’s power not by our own strength. So God protects us even when we are not aware of it because we are His children.

Our inheritance is also protected because it is in heaven with God. Anything that one possesses is only as secure as the place it is kept. When you put your money in the bank it is guaranteed by the federal government. That’s pretty secure but it is not totally secure. But to have an inheritance in heaven is absolutely, totally secure! So we respond to the upward call of God knowing that in the future we have a secure inheritance. However, along the way we should remember…

What we have attained. Paul wrote to the Philippians that we should hold true to what we have attained. Turn with me to Romans 8:15-17. We can see some of what we have attained.  For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

We have received the Spirit of adoption. With that one Spirit we have been baptized into one body — making us children of God. (1 Corinthians 12:13) We are able to turn to God as our loving Father.

Without any disrespect we can call him “Daddy” in our day-to-day conversation. We have already attained a place in the family of God. We are now God’s children and as such we have the right to come to our heavenly Father for the help, health and strength we need to live our life secure in Him.

We should be encouraged every day to run the race that God has given us to run. We need to forget about the past and focus on the future. We have before us the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. And as we grow in spiritual maturity we will see more clearly the path that lies ahead of us.

It is a wonderful thing to know that we are children of God. All people everywhere are born with an awareness of the existence of God. Satan, suppresses the truth in order to keep them from faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came into the world to bear our sins on the cross and defeat the enemy completely. If a person confesses with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believes in their heart that God has raised him from the dead the Bible says they will be saved. There are no good works that make us children of God. It is by grace through faith only. If you have come to faith in Christ you will certainly grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord on a day-to-day basis. The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God and though we have not seen our Lord Jesus Christ physically we love Him! Do you need to confess Christ as your Lord today? Today is the day of salvation, you have no promise of tomorrow.

All scripture quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

141130 Knowing Christ

Philippians 3:1-11 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.

² Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. ³ For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— ⁴ though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵ circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶ as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. ⁷ But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— ¹⁰ that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

The Apostle shows us very clearly the contrast between having confidence in the flesh and having confidence in knowing Christ. As far as the flesh was concerned Paul was born a Jew, of the tribe of Benjamin who was trained as a Pharisee. He was a persecutor of the church and, so far as the law was concerned, he was blameless. Very few people could claim that they have such a high standard. We all need to have the same attitude that the Apostle Paul had. Even though he was very religious, and completely committed to the faith of his fathers, after he met the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus his entire life focus changed. From that point on everything changed!

Paul had worked very hard on becoming a leading Pharisee. He lived and breathed the Old Testament law and the rabbis’ interpretation of it. If any man could think of himself as having arrived there were none better than Paul. Yet in spite of all that…

Paul counted all his achievements worthless. We are told almost nothing about the apostle before he came to Christ. The only blood family members we know anything about is a sister, and a nephew, who is unnamed. Yet, I can imagine that Paul was very special to his family. He was born in the city of Tarsus and probably grew to manhood there. Tarsus would have been a very cosmopolitan city. Anyone born in Tarsus was automatically Roman citizen. It was the capital city of a region called Cilicia. I can imagine that he was chosen by his parents to be the Rabbi in the family. We do know, from his own statement, that Paul came to Jerusalem to study under Gamaliel, a leading Rabbi. Apparently, Paul’s sister and her family lived in Jerusalem where Paul was held by the Romans. When a plot was devised to take Paul and kill him his nephew heard of it and warned the Romans.

Paul was a rising star in Jewish society but he…

Exchanged his credentials for knowing Christ. Turn with me to Jeremiah 9:23-24. Paul would certainly have been familiar with this teaching in Jeremiah. In fact, Paul might have been directly influenced by passages like this in the Old Testament. Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, ²⁴ but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

Paul had written to the Corinthians to say that he had decided to know nothing among them except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:2-3) He did not come to them with eloquence and human wisdom. He said that he came to them in fleshly weakness but spiritual power. He gave up all his credentials in order…

To be found in Christ. Turn with me to Ephesians 1:3-14.  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, ⁴ even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love ⁵ he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, ⁸ which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight ⁹ making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ ¹⁰ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

¹¹ 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, ¹² so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. ¹³ 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, ¹⁴ who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

This is a long passage of Scripture but “in Him” occurs several times. We have been blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing. Before the world was created, God chose us in Him. God predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ. In Him we have redemption through his blood. In Christ the Father has a plan to unite all things in heaven and on earth. I pray that he soon will come again to earth and establish that unity. In Him we have already obtained an inheritance. In Him we were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. Our inheritance is part of that unity found in Him.

We could go on and on citing passages of Scripture that talk about what we have in Christ Jesus. Among the most important things to have is…

To have the righteousness that comes through faith. Turn with me to Romans 1:16-17. Here we find the theme of the book of Romans.  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Paul gave up all his worldly, as well as religous, human achievements after he met Jesus on the Damascus road. Having come to know Christ I am sure he began to restudy the Scripture that were so familiar to him. Now he approached the Bible with a new understanding of what it was all about.

The good news of Jesus Christ that had come to him with such force confirmed to him the words of Habakkuk, “The righteous shall live by faith.” He knew, of course, the words of Isaiah, “all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.” (Isaiah 64:6) So he understood that in order to know Christ in that special sense of “knowing” that he desired he had to have the righteousness that comes through faith. It is important for us to note that Paul was not urging us to try harder to be righteous in our own strength but instead was urging us to come to a righteousness from God that depends on faith.

It is by grace that we have been saved through faith and that is a gift from God. (Ephesians 2:8-9) We have just observed Thanksgiving. High on our list of things to thank God for should be the fact that he has given us the faith to believe in Him and release His grace in our life. We cannot earn our salvation and we cannot work up any kind of acceptable “righteousness”. We have to receive it from God. In Christ Jesus we have a righteousness that is approved by God. A part of the work that God is doing in our life should spur our desire…

To know the power of His resurrection. Turn with me to 1 Peter 1:3-5. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Apart from the resurrection of Jesus Christ Christianity would be meaningless. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that our faith is futile if Christ has not been raised. (1 Corinthians 15:17) Throughout the New Testament it is affirmed again and again that the power of the resurrection is the key to our salvation. Peter has confirmed that our new birth is through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3) The primary theme of the preaching of the apostles was giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

Paul had put aside everything in his life in order to know Christ. Not just to know about Him but to “know Him”. He knew and understood that nothing he could do in his own strength would give him the joyous relationship that he had acquired by the grace of God.

God had given to Paul the faith to believe and that caused him to be spiritually hungry for the righteousness of God. It is absolutely essential that all of us, along with Paul, experience the power of Jesus’ resurrection.

Jesus had stated that in the world we would have trouble but, He assured us that He had overcome the world. (John 16:33) In order to know his resurrection we will need…

To share His suffering. Turn with me to James 1:2-4. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, ³ for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

One thing for sure — we will face trials and tribulation. This is, in a way, sharing in Jesus’ suffering. After all, we are part of his body here on earth. When a Christian is persecuted for his faith it is Christ who is being persecuted.

When Paul was on the road to Damascus, as reported in Acts 9, he was on his way to arrest everyone there who claimed the name of Christ. He was going after the followers of Jesus.

But Jesus did not ask him why he was persecuting them he said to him, “Saul, Saul why you persecuting ME?” To persecute the church is to persecute Jesus. Across the world today governments and individuals are persecuting Christians. They may think of themselves as dealing with one individual or a group of people but God sees them as persecuting His Son.

The persecutors are on the wrong side of the issue. They are not just hurting believers they are calling God out. The power that raised Christ from the dead and that stopped Paul on the road to Damascus is the power that will confront the opponents of Christ today.

There are many examples throughout history of efforts to wipe out the Christians only to find that there were more, and more of them. It will be true today also! There will be many new believers in Christ Jesus in the world of Islam. In exactly the same way, there became more and more Christians in the Communist dictatorships. I often cite China for example.

Starting in the 1930s the Communist Party began to rise to power. One of the things they did was to attack missionaries and Chinese believers wherever they went. When the entire country fell under the control of the Communists in 1949 it is estimated that there were about 5 million Christians in China. 30 years later, after severe persecution, the Western world was allowed to look behind the “Bamboo Curtain”, as it was called, to the amazement of almost everyone the number of Christians had increased to 50 million or more. The current growth rate of the Christian church in China will cause that country to have more believers than any other country in the world in a few more years.

Today it is the Islamic countries that are trying to destroy the Christian church. In the short term they seem to be winning because everything is being measured by human standards. But we need to remember to factor in the power of the resurrection of Christ released in the world. In the long run God will raise up believers everywhere they are being killed today.

The Voice of the Martyrs reports on things that are happening in Syria today. In one situation the militants entered the church buildings and destroy everything in sight. They burned Bibles, hymnals, and prayer books. They tore down the crosses on the steeples and used the church buildings as sniper positions.

Although the church buildings were severely damaged many Syrian Christians remain hopeful. They know that the church is not a building but rather consists of all who belong to the body of Christ.

One pastor, who has remained there, fatefully travels each week to nearby villages to conduct services for the Christians there. The other church leaders that were there have either been killed or driven out by the Islamic State militants. This pastor’s wife recently said, “Our family is in danger, but we serve a mighty God.” There are many Christians who have remained behind and continue to bear witness to the Muslim neighbors. One Muslim, in Syria, was heard to say, “If this is what Islam is I don’t want to be a Muslim.” When he observed the Islamists and their cruelty.

Paul was wanting to gain Christ, and be found in Christ’s righteousness, and come to know the power of his resurrection. He came to know that such knowledge would result in…

Becoming like Him in His death. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians 4:8-11. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; ¹⁰ always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. ¹¹ For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. ¹² So death is at work in us, but life in you.

Paul is not talking about our being crucified like Jesus was. He’s talking about us following Christ into deadly persecution. I can hardly imagine what the Apostle Paul’s body looked like by the time he came to the end of his life. Use your imagination. In 2 Corinthians 11:23, and following, we find Paul saying he had been beaten so many times he couldn’t count them. He was often near death. Five times he was beaten with 39 lashes of a whip. Three times he was beaten with rods. One time he was stoned. And the list goes on and on!

When one of His people is afflicted it is Christ who is being afflicted. We need to understand that being united to Jesus means that we are always carrying in our body the death of Jesus. The death of Jesus takes away our wrongdoing and releases life in us. In order for us to be comforted, and therefore qualified to comfort others, we have to first be afflicted. And when we are afflicted we share in His suffering and when that is carried to the extreme we become like Him in his death!

Most of us will never go through the kind of suffering that Paul did. But we need to be ready — the day may come, even here. When we gain Christ we get an entire package that includes suffering and also comfort. Praise God we also gain resurrection power over sin!

Above all things we need to be found in Christ Jesus. Our faith in Him should cause us to value everything in comparison to Christ. Nothing we have in our possession, nothing we have earned by the world’s system, no relationship that we have on earth, is of more value than Jesus Christ. It is absolutely essential that we have His opinion on every part of our life. If Jesus is your Lord then He has the right to direct us in our actions and decisions. Remember, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” If you have made that kind of commitment you need to follow through with baptism and church membership. This could be your day. 

All scripture quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

140525 The Church in Conflict

Acts 6:1-7 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. ² And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. ³ Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. ⁴ But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” ⁵ And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. ⁶ These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.

⁷ And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit called together the beginning of the church. It was immediately recognized that it would be an international church with branches in all parts of the Roman Empire! The core of the church was men and women who were primarily local Jews. There were some from Jerusalem and Judea and there were some from Galilee and perhaps even Samaria. On the day of Pentecost people were called to faith in Christ from Parthia, Media, Elam, Mesopotamia, Cappadocia, Pontius, the province of Asia, Phergia, Pamphylia, Egypt and Libya as well as visitors from Rome. They all heard the gospel in their own language.

So far as we know, there was no “unknown tongue” on the day of Pentecost. Those who talk about speaking in tongues as a Pentecostal experience need to recognize that the experience of speaking in an unknown tongue came later, if at all! What did happen and would be very pleasing to all missionaries is that suddenly the disciples who had been in the upper room were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in known languages so that the gospel could get out clearly to the great crowd gathered for the celebration. Suddenly the church went from, maybe 500, to more than 3000. Some people have a problem with 3000 being baptized by immersion in the same day. There are more than 100 people who could do the baptizing and there were many baptisteries available that were used by the people when they entered the temple as a part of a cleansing ceremony. So there were plenty of places to baptize and plenty of people to do the baptizing. Beginning with 3000 converts on the day of Pentecost…

The emphasis of Acts is on growth. Let’s look at several passages of Scripture beginning with Acts 2:41.  So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. That influx of new believers was not “a flash in the pan”. This was part of an ongoing process as we see in verse 47. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.  They went about their day-to-day activities and as they did so we see the result in Acts 4:4. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. As the new believers continue to share their experience with Christ many more believers are added and it’s interesting to me that they actually kept a count of the total number of people (men at least) but by Acts 5:14 they began to lose count. And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, notice that here they included “men and women” in the multitudes. As of today, we are not seeing in the church in America anything like that kind of growth! But if we will follow the pattern of the first century church something important will happen. Let’s look at Acts 6:7. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. The key to their growth was not found in the variety of their Sunday worship or in the quality of their music. Their growth was not based on their fine buildings (they had none)! The key to their growth was found in the fact that the word of God continued to increase and as a result the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem. Many of those who came to faith were priests. The priests had been the primary opponents of the new church which, by the way, was called by some the Way! Any time the people of God are making significant headway the enemy moves in. Whenever the Holy Spirit is at work…

Satan brings conflict. Listen to Peter’s experience found in 1 Peter 5:8-11.  Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. ⁹ Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. ¹⁰ And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. ¹¹ To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

If Satan cannot keep us from salvation, he will do everything possible to keep us from being useful to the kingdom of God. As Peter had come to understand, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for anyone who is weak so he can pull them down! We need to remember that the Bible also says, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9) Never feel like you’re all alone when the enemy attacks you. However, any time things are running smoothly and people are coming to faith in Christ the devil will try to throw a wrench into the gears and bring the progress to a halt. As the church began to grow it became necessary for the apostles to take care of the needy because they were being cut off from the temple system. We have no evidence that the apostles had a meeting and set up a food bank and a clothing ministry it seems that that was simply and quickly done by God. As soon as the church began to grow…

A system had been put in place. We can see how the Lord began to move as recorded in Acts 4:34-35. 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 ³⁵ and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

I believe this is a record of individuals selling land and houses that they owned. I doubt that the people were selling their homes. Of course, that might’ve been the case. People with a nice large home might be willing to sell it and move into a smaller place. We know that Barnabas began the process when he sold a piece of land that he owned and brought the money to the apostles to take care of needs in the Fellowship. But the record in the book of Acts tells us that as the body grew it became harder and harder to provide for the needs of all those without some serious organization. So…

Conflict began to arise. Listen while I read Acts 6:1. Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.

Greek was the language of the Roman world and many of the Jewish people adopted Greek as their spoken language. These were known at the time as Hellenists. Those who spoke the language of Israel were called Hebrews. In the beginning of the church all of the leadership were Hebrews. Naturally, they had day-to-day contact with the others who spoke their language. So very rapidly there came to be two parties in church. Greek speaking and Hebrew speaking. Satan saw the opportunity and moved right in! The Hellenists were not being cared for as well as the Hebrews and they began to complain. Complaining wasn’t the problem! Lack of organization was the problem. One of the gifts of the Spirit is administration and the spirit moved in the apostle’s minds and gave them a little direction. In fact, the direction was amazing! Remember, anytime the enemy attacks our God knows what to do. Satan came in like a roaring lion and…

The Holy Spirit had an answer. Let’s see what happened by reading Acts 6:3-6. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. ⁴ But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” ⁵ And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. ⁶ These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.

The apostles immediately called a business meeting and had a plan for how to settle the problem. I suppose there was more than one way but this is the one that God guided them in. Instead of the apostles appointing men to guide the benevolence program of the church, they called for nominations from the floor! Guided by the Holy Spirit they knew that the body of believers would have wisdom to solve this problem. They asked for seven men to be chosen. We do not know what the process was in choosing these men. But when the meeting ended the apostles appointed the seven that were chosen. I think it’s important to note that the apostles did not choose them. Instead, the body of believers chose them! It’s not obvious to the English speaking person how important this decision was.

Let’s compare what they did to what our own government is doing today. A select committee has been appointed by the House of Representatives. Since the Republicans are in the majority this committee is made up of seven Republicans and five Democrats. That’s not at all what was done in the early church.

All seven man were Hellenists. Even though I’m sure the Hebrews were in the majority, the church chose seven men of the minority party to make the decisions about the daily distribution of benevolence. It’s important to note that these men were men full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit. That’s the kind of men we need in roles of leadership in the church and also in our government.

We too live in a changing world…

Today, there is growth in the church.  I recently looked at a news report and found this information: in 1900, there were approximately 10 million Christians in Africa. By the year 2000, there were 360 million. By 2025, conservative estimates see that number rising to 633 million. Those same estimates put the number of Christians in Latin America in 2025 at 640 million and in Asia at 460 million. The sad part of the whole report is that Christianity appears to be declining in Europe and North America. The areas where there is decline is where liberalism dominates the church. The areas where there is growth is where biblical conservatism dominates the church.

There hs not been a significant revival of Christianity in North America in more than 100 years. In fact, about 100 years ago liberalism began take over the church.

Let me tell you about a Chinese man by the name of John Sung. He was the son of a Methodist pastor and he came to America to study so he could be a professor in China. He went to a major university in the Midwest where he was taught that the Bible is just simply a book of fables. This was confusing to him since he had always believed the Bible was the word of God and fully to be trusted. After completing university studies he decided that he had to go somewhere to regain his faith. He could not return to China believing what he now believed. So he enrolled in seminary and found that they were teaching the same things. The liberal theology of the day was no help to him. He turned to his Bible and began to read. He was told by the professors that, of course, Jonah is just a fairytale because there is no known fish that can swallow a man and him stay alive. Also, he was told, among many other things, that there could not have been a worldwide flood.

As he studied his Bible he found that Jesus spoke of Jonah as a real experience and the flood was a real event! He said that he had a life-changing experience from reading the Bible. Very soon the professors at the seminary had him confined in an insane asylum where he stayed for 193 days. Since he was a foreign national he was isolated from the general population. So far as the doctors could see he was not harmful to anyone so they allowed him to have his Bible and he spent that time studying the word.

John was released and returned to China to lead in one of the greatest revivals of the 20^th century. Satan tried to destroy his witness through the teaching of theological liberalism. God intervened and put him somewhere where he could study and grow spiritually for the benefit of China.

The same tactics, on a much wider scale, seemed to be being effective in Europe and North America. I want you to know something, God is not deaf to the prayers of his people and his arm is not weak! At the right time he will bring about great revival. In fact, he may use missionaries from Africa and Asia to bring about the revival. Please Lord, don’t delay in changing the hearts and minds of people!

The mixed growth of the church today is…

Just as Jesus had promised. Let’s look at the account in Matthew 13:47-50.”  “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. ⁴⁸ When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. ⁴⁹ So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous ⁵⁰ and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The kingdom of heaven is the church in the world today. Of course, it includes all those who go before and who will come later. But our concern is for what is going on around us right now.

The church is a mixed catch and pretty fishy! A net has been cast across the world and many different people are being gathered up by it. It will be full sometime. I don’t know when the net will be full but when it is it will be drawn in and the angels will take charge of the harvest. Just as Jesus promised…

God will sort out the good from the bad.

There is a real danger in trying too hard to make sure the church is pure. I am not suggesting that we should not insist on good teaching and sound theology. But I am saying, from past experience, that only God can sort out the good from the bad.

I remember a pastor was saying that when he was in seminary he pastored a church on the weekends. During his course of study one of his subjects was “Church Discipline”. After being thoroughly indoctrinated he went to his church and preached a few sermons on “church discipline”. The result was that they removed from the church roles about half their membership in an effort to make the church pure. He then said that about six months later it became obvious that they had removed the wrong half of the church! We need to be careful how we exercise church discipline.

We are, right now, not blessed with being a part of the growth of the church locally. Yet I’m convinced that God is preparing for a revival in the United States and the Western world. My prayer is that it will happen during my lifetime. When it happens there will be many problems as thousands of people come to faith in Christ and fit together as part of the body of believers. The enemy will bring in false teachers, and already has. Some people will simply be confused and need instruction. Others will be hesitant to do what God is leading them to because they think they have to do it in their own strength. Again and again throughout history the church has repeated the problems of the book of Acts. Always the Holy Spirit sorts out the problem and guides the local church to a good answer. One thing for sure you can always trust God to give his people the organization they need to do his ministry. Have you trusted him as Lord? Today is the day for you to become part of the answer.

All scripture quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.