1 Completing the Mission that Jesus Began The Church That God Builds Acts 2_41-47 The book of Acts is all about God Completing the Mission that Jesus Began through the early churches. That mission was and is to seek and to save those who are lost. (Luke 19:10) Jesus promised that He would build his church and Satan would not be able to stop it from growing. Satan and all his legions can storm out of the gates of hell to attack it, but they will not overpower it or destroy it or stop it from completing its mission. There's one condition in Matthew 16:18-19. Jesus said I will build My church. The promise or the guarantee that Satan will not overpower the church or destroy it is only good if God is the one that builds the church. Nothing can stop the church that God builds. If people build a church, Satan will easily destroy it or use it for his purpose. Christ will build His church His way or He will have nothing to do with it at all.
God has a plan for His church and when a church is built His way, all the powers of hell will never stop it. But should a church depart from His plan and usurp His ownership, they forfeit His promise and lose His power. There are churches all over America that have done that. There are churches all through history that have done that. There were churches that did that in New Testament times, and those churches no longer exist because they did not allow Jesus to build His church His way. Satan destroyed them. Revelation 3:1 introduces us to one of these churches, the church of Sardis. The city of Sardis was located in what is now Turkey. The Lord Jesus told John to write to the angel or messenger of that church, which most likely refers to the lead pastor of the church. Revelation 3:1 "To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not 2
found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. NIV They probably had a lot of activities at the church at Sardis, but they were dead activities. They were not reaching the lost. There was no new birth and therefore no life. It was dead. ILL. Like the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, by Coleridge. Dead men pulled the oars. Dead men hoisted the sails. Dead men steered the vessel. Sardis was dead because they had departed from the divine plan and when the church is not built God s way, it forfeits the promise of Jesus and the power of the Spirit and it is soon to be destroyed by Satan. The people of the church at Sardis were not letting Jesus build His church His way. So it died and the church at Sardis doesn't exist today. 3
4 What is God s plan that the church is to follow? We have a great description of it in Acts 2:41-47. Read Acts 2:41-47 This was the first church that Jesus built, born on Pentecost, unspoiled, and uncorrupted and unstoppable. It was alive and thriving on the power of the Holy Spirit. They didn't know anything about church organization. They didn't have book on the church. They didn't even have a New Testament. But what they did have is what Jesus had taught them for three years. The disciples in that first Church followed God s plan and Jesus built the church His way. This passage gives us a marvelous model for the church today to follow. First of all, God s plan calls for the church to be: 1. Devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
Acts 2:41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. NIV The first church was made up of believers that were committed to Christ and His Church. They were real believers. For a Jew to be baptized in the name of Christ and to be identified with Christ and His church in Jerusalem was a bold and brave commitment. The Jewish leaders had just crucified Jesus and could have easily done the same to any of the followers of Christ. They had to be real believers to make such a confession. God only builds His church out of real believers. The church of Jesus Christ is a redeemed community. That does not mean that we do not invite unbelievers to our worship service or into our home for a meal or other things like that. It just means we do not make them members until they are believers. T. S. Let me show you how important that is. 5
Ill. In the O. T. Balaam was hired by the Moabites to curse the Israelites. They were afraid that the Israelites were going to come in and wipe them out because they were under God s judgment. Three times Balaam tried to curse Israel, but God would not let him. So Balaam developed an alternate plan. He said, I can't curse them and make them impotent, but you can seduce the sons of Israel to marry the daughters of Moab. When the Israelites and the Moabites intermarry, then Israel won't be a threat anymore. It worked. The saved and the non-saved cannot get together and carry out the work of God. The lost or the worldly mind will never agree to follow the plan of God. Jesus doesn't build His church that way. 2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? NIV We also need to notice something very important in this passage. There were about 6
7 three thousand new believers added to the church the first day and thousands added after that. There are many today that would say that is too big. They want their church to remain small. If members of a church desire their church to remain small, that is one of the sinful attitudes that kill a church. God s plan for the church calls for it to be a growing membership of devoted followers of Jesus Christ. T. S. God s plan also calls for the church to be: 2. Devoted to God s Word. Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching NIV The apostles teaching is what constitutes the New Testament. It was and is the Word of God. It just was not written down yet. 1 Corinthians 14:37 If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge
8 that what I am writing to you is the Lord's command. NIV The apostles teaching was the word of God and They were devoted to God s word. They taught the Word of God regularly. The word of God was dear to them and they gather to hear it The church that is built by Jesus will be devoted to God s Word by, loving it, learning it, and living it together. T. S. God s plan also calls for the church to be: 3. Devoted to worshipping together. Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread NIV The church devoted themselves to the breaking of bread together. The expression the breaking of bread refers to the Lord s Supper. It was a part of the early church s worship as it is today. When they came together to worship, they celebrated the Lord s Supper, sang and praised God, and God s word
was taught. That was the worship of the early church Worshipping God together with other believers is vitally important because it keeps our focus on who we are serving. Satan is always trying to get our focus off of God on to something else. Ultimately he wants us to worship him so he can destroy us. He knows that you will become like whatever you worship. Satan even tried to get Jesus to worship him. Luke 4: 5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 So if you worship me, it will all be yours." NIV Has the devil every tempted you with power, possessions, or pleasure to turn away from God? -The Lord s Supper gives us a great pattern for worship. 9
10 -It reminds us of the fact that Jesus died for our sins. -It causes us to praise Him because we have been saved by the sacrifice of precious life of the sinless Son of God. -It requires confession of our sin. -It calls for renewal of the covenant we have entered into with Jesus to live for him only. -It energizes us with the knowledge that Jesus is coming back to get us. Notice also, they worshipped in a large group setting and in small groups. Acts 2:46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes NIV All of that and more is a part of worship and the church that God builds is devoted to worshipping Him together. T. S. God s plan also calls for the church to be: 4. Devoted to praying together Acts 2:42
11 Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. NIV Every time they came together they prayed. So they prayed together in a large group setting and in small groups in their homes. How did they pray? They prayed like Jesus. Remember that He was the one that taught them to pray. We have one of the prayers of Jesus in John 17. John 17:20 I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. NIV He was praying that the church would be so united and that the world might believe in Him and be saved. Romans 10:1-2 my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. NIV
12 Paul prayed that the people he knew would come to Jesus and be saved from judgment. When the church prays it surrenders to God, agrees with God, and prays according to God s will, then God does great and mighty things. People are saved and miracles happen and lives are changed forever and the world takes notice. Conclusion: That is the pattern that our church must follow, if God is to build His church here. If we do, He will, and the gates of hell will not be able to stop us! Would you pray with me that we would be that kind of church?