But the moment we took one bite of that delicious food that looked so good, we immediately knew that one of the main ingredient that would have made this dish taste good, such as salt or pepper, was missing.
There are some ingredients that can be omitted and it will ruin the whole dish.
There are substitutes for some ingredients, and then there are other ingredients for which no substitution can be made.
Illus: Suppose a person has to take a certain kind of medicine for high blood pressure. The individual runs out of medicine, but he says, "Well, a pill is a pill, they all look alike, it doesn't matter what kind I take."
Really, he will find out very soon, it does make a difference, and you cannot substitute some things.
Illus: Suppose a person runs out of gas, and he says, "Well, I do not have any gas, but gas looks a great deal like water, so I think I will fill my tank with water and go to town."
It won’t take this person very long to find out that you cannot substitute some things.
Did you know that this same lesson has to be applied to GOD’S CHURCH?
There are some things the church cannot get by without.
Many have tried by substituting other things, but there is living proof all over this nation that there are somethings that the church cannot get by without.
WHAT IS THAT?
For example, God’s church cannot get by without DEDICATED CHRISTIANS.
Beloved, show me a church that is trying to replace the DEDICATED CHRISTIANS with UNDEDICATED CHRISTIANS, and I will show you a church that is spinning its wheels, or sliding backwards.
In the Book of Acts, we can clearly see why the early church was so successful. Its success was because of the DEDICATED CHRISTIANS in the church.
We can see the greatness of this church in the scriptures.
• The greatness of this church was not in the fabulous buildings they had for worshipped.
Today we have some of the most attractive buildings we have ever had to worship in...BUT IN SOME OF THESE CHURCHES THERE IS SOMETHING THAT IS DEFINTELY MISSING WHEN YOU COMPARE THEM TO THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH!
• The greatness of this New Testament church was in the God they worshipped and the people who worshipped Him.
Now when you take this ingredient out of the church, you have a poor substitute for a church.
WHAT DO YOU HAVE?
You have a group of people PLAYING CHURCH!!!
The Bible tells us what this New Testament church consisted of, look at Acts 2:41-47. This passage says of the early church, "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized and the same day there added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord into the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."
In order that we might become like this GOD LOVING church, let us look more closely at why God used them the way He did.
We first see in this portion of Scripture-
I.THEIR RECEPTION TO GOD'S WORD
The main ingredient that you will find in a GOD LOVING CHURCH is their love for God’s Word.
• You cannot separate God from His Word!!!
• There is absolutely no substitute for the love of God’s Word.
Many are trying to substitute the Word of God for:
(1) A beautiful building
(2) For entertainment
(3) For recreation
Let me illustrate…
• We hear today in the world in which we live IF A COUNTRY DOES NOT HAVE BORDERS YOU CAN NOT HAVE A COUNTRY.
• This is true, but also if a Church does not have the Word of God preached and taught and received you can not have a church.
The Word of God is the main ingredient in God’s Church and there are other things we can have in the church such as:
• Beautiful building
• Inspirational singing
• Christian recreation
But these things cannot be a replacement for the preaching and the reception of God’s Word.
These things might draw a crowd but they will not necessarily draw worshippers.
But I want to say again the MAIN INGREDIENT in God’s church is the precious Word of God preached and received.
When professing Christians love and received the Word of God it changes their life.
Illus: Once a Soviet official was asked why the study of the Bible was frowned upon in his country, and why those who dared to print and distribute it were severely punished.
He replied, “We find that the reading of the Bible changes people in a way that is dangerous to our state!”
The devil does everything he can do to keep people from attending a Bible-preaching church because he knows it is a danger to his kingdom.
This New Testament church made the Word of God the focus of their attention.
Look at verse 41, we read, "Then they that gladly RECEIVED HIS WORD."
Illus: In Acts 17 this church that received the Word of God was accused of TURNING THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN WITH THIS GOSPEL.
It is sad to say today many churches have not made the Word of God the main ingredient in their worship services and this could be the reason that we see many of the professing Christians today you cannot tell any difference in their life style and those who are not saved.
This New Testament church RECEIVED the WORD OF GOD.
Illus: Have you ever seen a mother feed her baby and the baby would not receive the food. They would lock their jaws so that Mom could not put that good nourishing food in their mouth.
And if she happened to get some in their mouth they would spit it out!!!
This makes me think of some Christians rejecting the Word of God.
The fact is many churches are filled with members that detest the Word of God.
Illus: Many had rather had go to the dentist and have a root canal than read the Word of God for themselves, or go to Sunday School and hear God's Word being taught.
This is why many who professed to be Christians have to be begged and pleaded with to attend Sunday school and church.
Why don't the ungodly LOVE GOD'S WORD?
Because of two reasons:
(1) God’s Word interferes with their sinful plans!
If God allows them to live another week every hour and every dime they have will be spent on what they want to do, not on what God wants them to do!
The second reason they do not love God’s Word is because…
(2) They do not LOVE GOD!
Preacher, that is a very serious charge, can you back that statement up with scripture.
Yes I can, look at…
• Look at John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
• Also, look at John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
These verses of scripture state clearly, if I love Jesus (who is the word of God) I will love the Word of God.
You cannot love the Lord without loving His Word.
Jesus said it like this in John 14:15 If ye love me keep my commandments.
Let me illustrate…
WHAT IS THE FIRST COMMANDMENT OF God’s Word?
Look at Acts 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
How we love the Word of God, and receive the Word of God, are good indications of how much we love the Lord.
Illus: Every preacher can tell you the sadness of preaching to a congregation that does not love the Word of God.
While the preacher is preaching…For example…
1) They are fumbling through a song book or the church bulletin
2) They are playing with their telephone
3) They are talking to the person next to them
4) They are looking out the window
5) They are bored to death
Illus: Let me tell you a true story of a pastor that I know and love.
If I was to name this pastor everyone here would acknowledge they know him.
This pastor preached some of the best sermons that have ever been preached in Columbia, S.C.
But the congregation he preached to each week did not love God or God’s Word.
To them church was…PLAYING CHURCH!!!
He did everything he could do to spur this old congregation that had been gathering for years playing church out of habit and duty, but nothing he did really took hold.
(Humor) Their favorite song was, I SHALL NOT BE MOVED! And they meant it!!!
One day, he decided that God was not in that church, and if God was not welcome there, he did not feel welcome.
He left and went out west, and took a church that loved the Lord and love God’s Word and received God’s Word and now is one of the largest Southern Baptist Churches in America.
WHAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE?
One church had members that…
• REJECTED THE WORD OF GOD, a
• And the other church had members that RECEIVED THE WORD OF GOD.
The Word of God has to be RECEIVED NOT REJECTED!!!
Every Bible preaching preacher knows the difficulty to preach to a congregation and not anything IN THE WORD OF GOD MOVES THEM!
But on the other hand every preacher can tell you the joy of preaching God's Word to those who love God and God’s Word.
(1) They are like a sponge soaking up the Word of God
(2) They are taking notes on what is being preached from God’s Word.
(3) They are underlining scriptures.
One of the big problems in the church today is that many are trying to substitute God’s Word for other things.
To them, the church is a big game of playing church where you pretend to love God and His Word, and you hope to fool everyone including God.
You might be able to fool people, but it is certain you are not going to fool God.
WHY DO YOU RECOGNIZE GOD SAID, IN Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them?
Because God is not going to waste His time when people are just PLAYING CHURCH.
Illus: Now think about this, there are churches all over this nation today that are meeting like we are today, but if 2 or 3 did not come for the right purpose God is not even there.
No wonder some people come to church and leave the same way they came…EMPTY!
They need to quit substituting, and get the genuine love for God in their hearts they so desperately need.
Then they will become as the early New Testament church, and then it can be said of them, "Then they that gladly received His Word..."
There are some things that cannot be substituted.
Such as:
• The preaching of God’s Word
• The reception of God’s Word
In the New Testament church we have looked at THEIR RECEPTION TO GOD’S WORD and now we want to look at…
II. THEIR RESPONSE TO GOD'S WORD
Let me ask you something, if God was physically here in our presence and He asked you to do something…WOULD YOU DO IT?
The BIBLE IS GOD’S WORD!!!
The things that are written in the Word of God is the same thing God would say to you if He was here physically.
Notice, this New Testament church recognized that and they received the Word of God.
Notice these words in verse 4, "...Then they...were baptized."
The test of loving and receiving God's Word is in our obedience to His Word.
Now one of the first things the Bible teaches a new convert to do is to follow the Lord in Believer's baptism.
This New Testament church recognized that and that is why the Word of God says in verse 4, "...Then they...were baptized."
Illus: Sad to say you can find professing Christians in our churches today that will tell you they made a profession of faith 20 or 30 years ago, but have never yet obeyed the Lord Jesus Christ concerning believer’s baptism.
Now that could be for two reasons:
(1) It might be that the church they got saved in did not teach them the need of obeying this first commandment.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger received a telephone call from a local pastor and asked him if his church could use their baptistery to baptize some new converts.
This pastor said to him also, I need to ask you a favor.
Dr. Belger said, I am listening!
He said All my life I attended a church that did not consider it to be an important thing for a Christian to follow the Lord in Believer's baptism. But the more I read my Bible, I see that it is always important to obey the Lord, and I want to know if this Sunday, when I am baptizing others who recently got saved, if you will come and baptize me."
The pastor agreed to do so and he was baptized.
Some perhaps the reason they never been baptized is because they have never been taught the importance of being baptized.
Baptism will not save you even though some churches teaches it will.
Baptism is a symbol of Christ’s burial and resurrection.
Our entrance into the water during baptism identifies us with Christ’s death on the cross, His burial in the tomb and His resurrection from the dead.
“Going under the water was a burial of your old life; coming up out of it was a resurrection, God raising you from the dead as he did Christ. Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ’s cross.” Colossians 2:12-14
It is a symbol of your new life as a Christian. We bury the “old life” and we rise to walk in a “new life”.
Illus: Baptism is like a wedding ring, it is the outward symbol of the commitment you made in your heart, a commitment that has to be followed through and lived out on a daily basis.
Letting the world know that you are not ashamed of your decision of accepting Christ and you are glad to follow the Lord in Believer’s baptism.
Baptizing today is different than it was then.
Illus: For example, they would go down to the river Jordan and there were believers and unbelievers on the shore line watching new converts being baptized.
The unbelievers would be mocking these new converts as they were baptized by immersions.
And if a person was not sincere about receiving the Lord as their Savior they would not follow the Lord in Believer’s baptism.
But the Lord does not want us to be ashamed to follow Him but proud to be a believer.
Illus: It is similar today some folks will not public witness because they are ashamed to speak up as a believer because they do not want anyone to frown upon them.
But a believer who really love the Lord will not back down but speak out.
And a true believer will not be ashamed to follow the Lord in believer’s baptism.
The Lord Jesus taught by Word and example two things.
He taught by example:
1) He attended church on the first day of the week. Because it something that true believers should do.
Look at Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Also He set the example…
2) He was baptized by immersion.
Look at Matthew 3:13-17, we read, Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Jesus considered baptism to be so important that He set the example for every believer to follow His example.
So both of these things He taught and set the example for believers to follow.
Every Bible believing, Bible practicing church should emphasize once you are saved the first thing you should do is follow the Lord in Believer’s baptism.
Another reason some have never been baptized
(2 They are disobedient to the Word of God.
God’s Word tells us IF YOU LOVE ME YOU WILL KEEP MY COMMANDMENT.
Notice, verse 41 says, "...The same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls."
The words, "Added unto them", indicate these were truly people that LOVED THE LORD and LOVED HIS WORD, and God knew it and added them to the roll of the true church.
Illus: You see there are two rolls.
(1) Church Roll Book
We have one where people make a profession of faith and come and join the church and their name is recorded in the membership book.
(2) God’s Roll Book
But did you know that a person can have their name on our church roll, and that same person may not be on God's roll?
Illus: Many seem to think that when Christ returns, He is going to ask all the church clerks to relinquish their church membership books from the church office, and from these books He is going to call the roll. This is not the case.
God knows that many that on a church roll is not on His roll!!!
Matthew 7:22-23 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
If you do not mind me saying this, those two verses of scripture scare the fire out of me…God says many have their name on a CHURCH ROLL but they do not have their name on HIS ROLL BOOK.
They attend church building every Sunday but they only PLAYED CHURCH!!!
God has His own roll, and He knows those who LOVE HIM also LOVE HIS WORD, and the proof is that they have OBEYED THE WORD OF GOD.
These are the ones who are added to His roll.
We have looked at….
I.THEIR RECEPTION TO GOD’S WORD
II. THEIR RESPONSE TO GOD'S WORD
And now let us look at…
III. THEIR RESILIENCY TO GOD'S WORK
Look at verse 42, "And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."
I like that word STEDFAST!!!
The word stedfast means fixed in direction; steadily directed; firm in purpose, unwavering,firmly established,
in place or position.
They did not have an emotional experience that lasted six months and then vanished. The Bible says they "Continued stedfastly".
That is, year after year, they continued to RECEIVE GOD'S WORD and to RESPOND TO GOD'S WORD.
Why? Because they loved the Lord.
Illus: In Columbia, South Carolina, one church is known as the city’s spiritual dump.
How did it get such a reputation?
It developed such a reputation because every time nearby churches had disgruntled members, they would leave their churches and they would go and join this church.
Now you would think such a church would eventually grow into a very large church, but not so.
You see those who come to this church with all their inward problems and rotten personalites bring them with them and they leave this church AFTER A SAHORT TIME and go somewhere else and do the same thing.
Illus: They are spiritual grasshoppers that are hopping from one church to the next.
Illus: How refreshing it is to look across a congregation and see people who got saved many years ago, who immediately followed the Lord in Believer’s baptism, and who have tried to follow Him in all the things this Bible teaches.
What a good example you have set for the boys and girls and the teenagers. "You have continued to serve the Lord, in the midst of hard times and good times."
These are the kind of ingredients the early church had, and God used.
You today who are "Steadfast", you are the kind God can use today!
The devil has tried to lead you astray but you CONTINUE to follow the Lord Jesus.
Illus: There were 128 runners in the field for the cross country race at the 1993 NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships.
As they set out on the 6.2 mile run, they were following a course that had been marked for them by the race officials.
Toward the end of the course, one of the runners in the middle of the group realized something was wrong.
Mike Delcavo of Western State College in Colorado saw that the main pack had missed the turn. “I was waving for them to follow me and yelling ‘This is the right way,’” he told an interviewer after the race.
Delcavo was right—but only four other runners followed him. The rest continued on the shortcut, which allowed them to run a shorter distance and finish the race sooner.
In a widely-criticized decision, race officials allowed the abbreviated route to stand as the “official course” and Delcavo officially finished 123rd.
The world does not always reward staying on track—literally or figuratively.
But the path we follow is important to God.
One day, those of us who have already trusted Christ for our salvation will appear before the Lord for an evaluation of our service. Our entrance to Heaven is sure—that was settled when we received Christ.
But when the rewards are handed out those who:
(1) Received His Word
(2) Responded to His Word
(3) Continued in His Word
Are going to be the ones who will be eternally rewarded.
Conclusion:
Illus: A young man was eager to grow in His Christian life. He got a piece of paper and made a list of all the things he would do for God.
• He wrote down the things he would give up
• The places he would go to minister and the areas of ministry he would enter.
He was excited. He took that list to the church and put it on the altar.
He thought he would feel joy, but instead he felt empty.
So he went home and started adding to his list. He wrote down more things he would do and wouldn’t do.
He took the longer list and put it on the altar, but still he felt nothing.
He went to a wise, old pastor, told him the situation and asked for help.
The pastor said, “Take a blank sheet of paper. Sign your name at the bottom. Put that on the altar.”
The young man did, and then peace came to his heart. (Source: The Pulling Down of Strongholds, R.B. Ouellette)
Today we have many Christians who do not have the joy of the Lord because they have told God what they are willing to do, but they have not let God tell them what to do!
The reason they do not have the joy of the Lord is because they have been PLAYING CHURCH.
Playing church is probably the most played game in America which is a dangersous thing to do.
We need to follow the example of this New Testament church that the Lord placed in the scriptures.
I. THEIR RECEPTION TO GOD'S WORD
II. THEIR RESPONSE TO GOD'S WORD
III. THEIR RESILIENCE TO GOD'S WORK