“Is Your Church Biblical?”
(Acts 2:37-47)
Series: The Church on Fire!
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
First Baptist Church Henderson, KY
(7-8-07) (AM)
- Take God’s Word and open to Acts, chapter 2.
A few weeks ago we began a series of messages through the book of Acts entitled, “The Church on Fire.” And we’re making our way through this entire book, verse-by-verse, asking God to speak to us through the Bible. If you’re visiting with us, we believe in what is called “expository preaching,” where we merely expose what is written in the open Bible before us.
I read about a visitor to the Gilcomston South Church in Aberdeen, Scotland. That church was pastored by the great Scottish preacher, William Still, for over 50 years until he died back in 1997. This visitor, unacquainted with the expository method of preaching, worshiped in that church this particular Sunday and then later met Pastor Still at the door where he was shaking hands. During their brief discussion the visitor said, “But you don’t preach.” Pastor Still asked what he meant. The visitor said, “You just take a passage from the Bible and explain what it means.” To this, William Still replied, “Brother, that is preaching!” And I couldn’t agree more.
Last week we finished our study at verse 36. The Apostle Peter just finished his first sermon, the very first message at Pentecost, which we called “the church’s birthday.” Well, if Pentecost is the church’s birthday, our text in verses 37 to the end of the chapter describe what the first church looked like at birth.
- Stand in honor of the reading of God’s Holy Word.
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 “For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.”
41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,
45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. 46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
- Pray.
Introduction:
Have you ever thought, “What is it that makes a church a church?” Were I to ask each of you to write down your definition of church and then we would read them all together, we would probably get a lot of different ideas about what it is that make the church the church. At the same time, however, I suspect that many of our answers would be very similar. This text in verses 37-47 is a great text to learn about the church. In fact, we looked at it a couple of years ago while doing a brief study of the church and by God’s design we’re looking at it again as we go through the book of Acts.
As we read this passage a little more closely, I want you to see how this passage defines for us what it is that makes a church a church. There are a few defining characteristics, or marks, or essentials of the church that this passage lays bare. So let’s go back through the passage and see how it shows us what a biblical church looks like. Number one, in a biblical church there is:
I. Conviction of Sin (37-39)
Conviction of sin is the work God does upon our souls whereby He shows us that we have this problem within of never quite being able to be the good people we’re supposed to be. Conviction is a work of God’s Spirit. He makes us uncomfortable with our sin which results in our coming to Him. Now this conviction of sin comes primarily through the preaching and teaching ministries of the church.
We see that in our passage this morning. The Apostle Peter has just preached this message we read last week that began back in verse 14 and concludes in verse 36. Peter was preaching about the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. He ends the message in verse 36 with the bold statement, “Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, by Lord and Christ.”
And after hearing Peter’s message, particularly that last statement, the people experience conviction of sin. Look at verse 37:
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
They were “cut to the heart.” That’s a phrase describing conviction of sin. When you become painfully aware of your sin condition before God you feel as though a knife is being jabbed into your chest and the tip of it begins cutting the very heart of your soul. So they feel that and they cry out, “What shall we do?” That is, “Help us. We recognize that we are guilty for crucifying the Lord Jesus Christ. What shall we do to be forgiven?”
38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 “For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
The way to be forgiven by God begins with the first word in verse 38: “Repent.” Repent is a word that means to change. In the New Testament it refers primarily to a change of mind. We think differently about Jesus Christ. We think differently about our sin. Repent means that we turn to Jesus and, in essence, we say, “Come into my life and change me. I want to live for you and not for my sin.”
Peter says, “Repent,” and then he adds, “and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” That little prepositional phrase, “for the remission of sins” is best translated “because of the remission of sins.” In other words, “Once you turn to Jesus and receive Him by faith into your life, your sins will be remitted, or forgiven.” The Bible teaches that forgiveness begins with turning away from sin and turning to the Savior, receiving Jesus Christ into our lives by faith after which we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit within us.
And Peter adds in verse 39 that this promise of salvation is to anyone. He says, “the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” Forgiveness is for all who will turn to Christ. God does the calling by way of the Holy Spirit, but all we need do is turn to Him and we’ll be forgiven.
What strikes me about Peter’s sermon is how strikingly different it is from so many so-called sermons in church’s today. Particularly in our American churches, there is a dangerous stress upon what the “Gospel can do for you.” This is a man-centered kind of preaching. Even in what passes for much evangelical preaching from our pulpits, there is an alarming focus upon the benefits of biblical principles that circumvents or eclipses the Gospel itself. This is why I have said to many of you when you ask me what I think about a particular popular preacher on the radio or TV, I will say something like, “Do you ever hear about sin in the preaching? Do you ever hear the preacher proclaim our need for forgiveness from sin and our consequent responsibility to worship God with heart, soul, mind and strength? Is the focus upon God? Or is the focus upon man, the recurring theme of the preaching being something about ‘How to increase your joy meter’ or ‘How to improve your thinking, becoming a possibility thinker, or a positive thinker, or whatever?’” God-centered preaching focuses upon God. Man-centered preaching focuses upon man.
Many of you have been blessed by Oswald Chambers’ devotional, My Utmost for His Highest. Chambers made a statement years ago in that devotional that is helpful to our discussion this morning. He issued this warning: “We must never confuse our desire for people to accept the gospel with creating a gospel that is acceptable to people.” Let me say that again: “We must never confuse our desire for people to accept the gospel with creating a gospel that is acceptable to people.”
Many congregations in America are calling for “seeker-sensitive” messages, sermons that do not offend, sermons that make people feel good. The idea is, “We don’t want to run off people who are “spiritually seeking.” Well, Peter preached a message that, in essence, told all of his hearers that they were guilty of killing the Lord Jesus Christ. He could hardly be accused of being “seeker sensitive!” But Peter is right. Of course we must be sensitive to our hearers, but let us be sensitive and loving enough to tell them the truth. And the truth is that we all have this sin problem and unless we get our sin problem fixed we are all destined for eternal separation from God in a terrible place the Bible calls hell.
We are all culpable in Christ’s death. We are all guilty. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that “God made Christ who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Jesus willingly died for our sins. Not his. He never sinned. He died to take the punishment we deserved. What makes a church biblical? Conviction of sin. Secondly:
II. Conversion of Souls (40-41)
This point, of course, builds on the previous one. Where there is conviction of sin there will be conversion of souls. That is, the church will grow as a result of people coming to Christ for salvation. Look at verse 40:
40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.”
There again you see Peter’s frankness with people in his preaching. There’s no sugar-coating the message. The Bible says that he spoke many other words in addition to those recorded in the text and through his preaching he “testified and exhorted them” in what way? Well, he doesn’t say, “Come and sign the church roll.” He says, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Be saved. The word “saved” is not a word invented by Baptists. It is a word used in the Bible. Peter says, “Be saved.” Now note carefully the order in verse 41:
41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
Those who gladly received Peter’s message, in other words, they received the Gospel, the Good News, they received Christ as their Lord and Savior, were then what? They were baptized. That is the order: Salvation first. Baptism second. That’s the order. Every time. Baptism does not save a person, but a saved person will be baptized. Baptism does not confer salvation. Baptism confirms salvation. It authenticates our faith. In other words, if a person is truly born again, he will be baptized. It is the way by which we identify publicly and unashamedly with our Lord Jesus Christ. When we read of baptism in the New Testament we read of its almost always happening immediately after salvation.
We do our baptisms here at First Baptist in the evening services. Tonight, for example, we’ve got at least one baptism scheduled at the beginning of the service. When we do baptisms, we review the beautiful symbolism of the ordinance. Biblical baptism is by immersion, by completely immersing a body into the water. That’s biblical baptism. That’s the only way people were baptized in the Bible. Why? Because of the beautiful symbolism of baptism. It pictures what Christ did for us: He died, was buried, and rose again—and it pictures what happened to us: we died to our sins, were buried, and have risen to walk in newness of life.
So the Bible says in the last part of verse 41, “about 3,000 souls were added to them.” So the church starts with 120 disciples and after just one sermon adds about 3,000 new members. People who insist that churches must be small in size need to read the book of Acts very carefully. Now what are we going to do with all of these new believers? What does a biblical church do? That takes us to number three. In a biblical church, there is conviction of sin, conversion of souls, and thirdly:
III. Cultivation of the Saved (42-43)
That is, the new believers are discipled in order to grow. Just as a plant is cultivated to grow, so are souls cultivated to grow. Look at verse 42:
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles (and we’ll be reading about these signs and wonders in the chapters ahead).
You see four things there that a biblical church does in growing believers: doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers.
Doctrine refers to biblical instruction. A biblical church places a high premium upon biblical preaching and teaching. Why? Because it is the means by which Christians grow. We must learn the Bible. That is another reason why I am convinced the Bible-book exposition is the best way to preach and teach God’s word. There are many churches today that focus on topical sermons and lessons. They may help in the short run, but they do not teach the Bible as well as going through a passage at a time, learning the whole counsel of God’s word.
Fellowship and breaking of bread are very similar. They both remind us of the need to belong to a church family. We fellowship together. Breaking bread refers to the sharing of meals together by the early church which was followed by the observance of the Lord’s Supper. This means that a church loves one another and gets along with one another.
And then we read “prayers.” We grow by praying together and for one another, sharing one another’s burdens and literally going to God for one another. We pray.
I was privileged to lead a little boy to Christ Thursday afternoon in my office. And as we reviewed his decision to receive Christ I did what I usually do when leading someone to Jesus. I ask, “Now, how long ago were you born.” Of course, I don’t ask the ladies that one! I’ve learned. But I’ll ask something like that and they’ll say something like, “Well, I’m 16.” Then I’ll say, “Okay, 16 years ago you were born into this world—born physically. You came into the world as a newborn baby. What happened after that? Did you stay the size of a baby? No, of course not. You grew. You drank milk and eventually food and you grew.” Then I’ll say something like, “It’s the same spiritually. You’re a new born baby in Christ. Peter says in 1 Peter 2:2 that, ‘as a newborn baby, desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby.” And so we talk about cultivation of the saved.
In a biblical church there is conviction of sin, conversion of souls, and cultivation of the saved. Finally, there is:
IV. Communion among the Saints (44-47)
44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,
45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
This is not communism, but communion. Communism says, “What’s yours is mine.” Christian communion says, “What’s mine is yours.”
46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
These verses describe a joyous people, a people with “gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God.” The Lord honors that kind of communion among the saints. The chapter ends with, “and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”
Verse 46 says the first believers, these over 3,000 souls “continued daily” with one accord in the temple and then the Bible tells us what happened during each day. This is sweet communion! They continued daily in worship. They had a love for the Lord and one another that compelled them to meet together on a daily basis. My word, I think about that and I think, “How in the world will the American church ever understand the pure joy of daily worship?” I mean we have to have special campaigns and programs to get people to come to church worship or Sunday school just once a week. Once a week! The “real spiritual people” are considered those who come back Sunday night for worship. But here is a church meeting daily. Why?
You know, I’ve thought a lot about that and all I can say is, “When you really experience salvation from sin you have a love for Jesus Christ and His church so that the object of your affections centers upon Jesus Christ and His church.” In other words, you will want to be among your brothers and sisters in Christ more than you’ll want to be home, go to the lake, go golfing, go to the ball park—whatever. It is not legalism that insists you must go to church. It is grace that lovingly motivates you. If there is not a natural love for Jesus Christ and His church then we really have to examine ourselves and see whether we’re truly born again. Please hear me correctly on this. I’m not saying there are not times when we don’t feel well or something like that, but honestly evaluate your life and your leadership in the family and honestly answer the question, “How much love do I have for Jesus and His church?” I mean, “Where do I find joy in this life?”
Invitation…
COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER: The text contained in this sermon is solely owned by its author. The reproduction, or distribution of this message, or any portion of it, should include the author’s name. The author intends to provide free resources in order to inspire believers and to assist preachers and teachers in Kingdom work.