God's Power for Daily Living (Part 5)

The Roman Emperor that patient set up a stone pillar on which he wrote the following words for having exterminated the name Christian from the can you imagine how embarrassing would be today. In fact, another Roman leader made a coffin to symbolize his desire that his intention to Portland.

The Galilean by killing his followers but he soon learned that he could not put the master in that coffin and finally surrendered his heart to the Savior. He soon recognized that Jesus is church and it's a living head could never be destroyed. In fact, the history of the church of Jesus Christ has been represented by the Belizean's in a picture all one and eval and many worn-out hammers, and there was an inscription one eval. Many hammers out-of-court worn-out hammers, worn-out hammers the church as an institution my fail church as an organization my fail the church as a denomination.

My fail a church as a social entity may fail the church as a system may fail but the church of Jesus Christ, made up of all born-again believers from around the world will never fail one and will in many worn-out hammers together on the churches that emphasize productivity, marketing, entertainment, sports and catering to every whim and desire of its constituent books and magazines by the bucket full.

Tell everyone who would listen that unless they move with the times they are risking being irrelevant to the sculpture. I wanted to give the right place.

I am all for relevance. In fact, I consider the relevance to be of utmost importance in any preaching, but the church that has all of the sports and all of the trinkets and all of the dancing around and all of the jazzing up but in all of the marketing in the world. If it is not Bible preaching Christ centered and other loving it will hold like a bad soufflé. Everything other than Bible preaching Christ worshiping and others loving is just a feeling this is Philip Dr. Luke is giving us in these very few verses. Very few. He is giving us a picture.

What a spirit filled church is all about. He is giving us a magnificent picture of the hallmarks of the spirit filled church by telling us about the first church and he's basically telling us for things. Number one is saying that this church has to submit to the authority of the word of God is telling us that this church secondly has to be loving and caring for one another and for the work of the kingdom family saying the spirit filled church must be focus on worship.

Worship of the living God. And fourthly, he is saying that a spirit filled church must be a witnessing church.

Let me put it another way. This product filled church has to be word honoring Wallach opening worship minded and witnessing vent about that. What I mean by word honoring the Bible so that the believers, the members of the early church. The first church, and if you're counting there about 3120 of so far. There were increasing every day they were devoting themselves to the apostles teaching is what set me, it means that it was a studying church. It means it was a learning church. It means it was eight teaching church now was not very popular in many churches. You will not know of churches that studying the Bible is totally out of fashion and in some so-called evangelical churches to some of those what they call Bible study is nothing but sharing mystical experiences.

There are some who would what they call Bible study is sitting there and sharing the feelings how do you feel today will I feel good. Not happy what my feeling is that with what you what you feel, and then them. I find the passage in the Bible support what they feel will boil down the Christian faith through a series of feelings I wanted him or not and do not misunderstand the place until and unless the word of God penetrates deep down into our inner being, our feelings are suspect, unless and until the word of God fills every corner of our intellect and our emotions, your feelings are totally unreliable and the reason why the Christian church is so anemic why the Christian church is so weak is because we have abandoned the primacy of the authority of the word of God and we have got me hooked on feelings.

The reason why the church has lost its moral authority in the world is because we have cycle analyze the word of God. The reason why we have ceased to be the cultures of society is because we have stopped saying the Lord. I know a lot of likable doesn't like it that the spirit filled church must be a Bible study in church that spirit filled church must be a Bible obeying church the spirit filled church must be a Bible honoring church.

The spirit filled church must be those folks who not only believe the Bible intellectually by practice it daily.

Why, because the Bible is not only spiritual food. Now if you look kind of person who read your Bible, once in a while law maybe once a week with me ask you this, try next week and it have one meal all of next week and then the following week and in the following see what happens.

Please don't do this because you assuming we get sick. So what happened you get sick and it happens the same way. Spiritually, every study that I have read it says that no more than 20% of all born-again evangelical Christians read the Bible on a daily basis and we are surprised at what has is happening all around us. Listen to what God said to Hosea and 46. You should minded people are destroyed for the knowledge Dr. Lucas telling us that the spirit filled church not only a word honoring church secondly considered a Wallach opening church. Yes, you heard me right.

Wallach's Summers is going to talk about money. Yes, I will tell you something. If you are a person who have never committed your life to Jesus Christ.

Now what I'm going to say the next few moments just from that point. It's not for you. You know why because God wants you first before he wants what he has given you okay so if you want to switch off. You can do that but I hope you don't want to like to talk about money. Well, the reason I love to talk about money is because I love to see the generous rejoice in the stingy squirrel is something, if your blood pressure begins to rise as you hear a preacher expound what the Bible said about the use of material possession. I want to tell you why. It's because money has become your sacred and secret God and you don't want to expose that's what really trust me on this one. It's because you are into idolatry know whether you know it or you don't. You are the bottom line is you don't want to touch your secret and sacred God. You want to keep them right there inside of you, but if mom and has become your secret and sacred God.

I pray that the Holy Spirit was set you free this day and you experience the joy of giving God's word says that the believers in the first church had everything in, says they were selling their properties or selling their possessions and there were given as the need arises not look at verses 44 and 45 of acts chapter 2. Now I need to give you a couple of explanations about these 2 Verses Listen Carefully Pl. very important explanations because of your translations and said they sold everything and they gave everything in a whole bunch of people thought, man, this is the wonderful form of Christian communism, communion, living far from it has nothing to do with it and I'm going to explain to you why there are two verbs here and those verbs are in the imperfect tense. He said why is that important.

It's important because it means they were kept on selling. There were kept on giving. They didn't just do it once they kept on doing it as the need arise, they will give their would sell some of the stocks and bonds to give to the need you not have hesitated to say this tell you this, nothing. Why the only reason I hesitated to tell you this is because I'm going to become very emotional telling the story. It's a true story so if I get emotional. You don't like it, get over it. Congregation was still very small and semi-YouTube who was a treasurer of our trustees at that time saw the strategic position of this building the old building the Allstate building that we bought notes hidden. Now some of you might not even remember what looked like he was convinced us that the strategic location of this building right on top of the highway in we needed to close the deal with Allstate and we made a decision when I gonna borrow and we prayed about it one day we didn't know what to do. We didn't have all the people who are here today. I am in and helped in this century were really a small congregation. Semi-you call me the next day he said I just sold a major part of my net worth in order to see to it that would buy this building. It was a Norma sacrifice his wife were testified to what is he doing she saw the need for the work of God. He went out, not just give out of income he gave major part of his net worth so much so that some folks in the financial markets called him and said are you all right are you in trouble.

He said no giving up of my church. That's what these early believers were doing. They were giving major trunks of the networks to the work of God when the need of the risen. Second, I want to tell you about something about these two verses that it was they were giving voluntarily. It was not a force giving I wanted to listen please to what I'm going to tell you whenever generosity becomes compulsory. It is no longer generosity really isn't some visiting. I'm just cutting a check is my thighs and mom find me tell you something, God is more interested in what going to do with the 90% of got left over than the 10% you just gave I'm going to stick my neck out here way out is if it's very unusual thing to do and I want to tell you that socialism is alive and well in this country.

See what you talking about this. I know socialism. I lived under it.

I can smell it them all away and I wanted to listen carefully whenever there is a system that taxes those who have more at the higher rate so that the state can redistribute these resources that's socialism now whenever giving is done forcefully, socialism, please don't write me letters I don't want to hear from you on this one and I tell you why, because if you love socialism fine, just, that's okay, that's between you and God.

And as you live. Don't write me about it but his mom telling you I am telling you that the early church and all the giving it was given voluntarily not under compulsion and the reason these folks was so generous that they gave major parts of their income up there. That is because they were imitating their heavenly father, your heavenly father has been so generous to you but if you pay and you take your tank and then you take him for granted me tell you something you are not a member of the heavenly father.

The spirit filled church's word honoring the spirit filled church is wallop opening. Further, the spirit filled church is worship minded look at the second half of verse 46 with gladness and sincerity of heart, they were praising God.

Now it comes as no surprise.

The members of this congregation that those who are worshiping and praising God are joyful people, joyful people praising God in the life of the believer produces joy.

What is it mean to worship and praise God. It is to praise, praising God is to recite the magnificence of God is to recite the wonderful deeds of God. It is to recall and remind us of the great character of God to praise God and to worship God is to recall the magnificent attributes of God.

And when the early church exalted the name of Jesus. They experience true happiness never experienced true joy. There are some churchgoers who are looking for job are looking for happiness, but they going to the wrong places and trying to find it and they can find it in the come up dry, true joy and happiness can come only when you know how to give glory to the name of God. True happiness comes from focusing on God and not yourself.

True happiness comes when you are seeking God's glory, not your all.

No wonder the Scripture in the book of Galatians tells us the joy is a fruit of the spirit.

I know people I have talked to people who think erroneously of course the Christian life must be morbid. It must be measurable, it must be joyless. In fact, the reason why we call communion celebration is because we are celebrating the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ on the resurrection day which is every Sunday. Believe me I have met and I talked to people who think that… Other worship is that the more morbid worship is the more spiritual you are, forget it.

The hallmark of the first church. It was a joyous church there were joyous people. Now courses the other extreme, and in the other extreme is so obvious that I nearly did not point out to the limit. Some people who think the joy is hanging from chandeliers all laugh uncontrollably mean that that's not necessarily just a reverence. I believe reverence and joy are not mutually exclusive. The fact that the mark of the spirit filled church is experiencing. The combination of joy and all, both at the same time both at the same time so the spirit filled churches word honoring wallop opening worship minded and forcefully witnessing bent verse 47 to their number daily. The Lord added those who were saved. This is a very important part of these four marks hallmarks of the spiritual church because it tells us that the members of the first church did not get so preoccupied with learning the word of God that they forsook witnessing to their pagan neighbors because it tells us that those people in the first church were not so preoccupied with compassion and generosity that they neglected witnessing to their friends. It tells us that those folks anneal the church did not become so preoccupied with worshiping God that they ignored the unsaved family members. That is why this is very important because the Holy Spirit is a missionary spirit is one who sins because the Holy Spirit creates a missionary environment, a missionary minded missionary bent people because the Holy Spirit rejoices when a sinner is found. Now there are many churches who make the mistake of practicing the first three hallmarks of the church and the neglect.

The fourth one and you know what happens. All doctrinally they are wonderful. Let me know on the right track, and there's nothing wrong with them, but when the fourth hallmark is missing the church soon will become self-centered church soon will become self serving church soon will become inward looking church soon will become naval gazers. Soon there will become very efficient. The several things I want to tell you very quickly. I don't want you to miss write them down.

It says here that the Lord himself is the one who was adding to their number, not the marketing program but he did it through the preaching of the apostles and the witnessing of the church members God always does his work through his obedient children.

God always bring the lost sheep into his fold through his faithful sheet and the second thing I want to tell you very quickly, as this that he added those who were saved the seat they got saved first then to become church members. The reason we take time and have new member seminar is to make sure before anybody would join the church as a person who is born again. You see, you have to be saved first. Then you joined the church. The third thing I want to tell you very quickly is the it was added to their number daily wasn't just on a very special evangelistic outreach. It wasn't just it was daily.

These people were bringing people to Christ right there in the neighborhood where they live. They bring people to Christ brought in the school's weather was started there bringing people to Christ and the clubs whether socializing there bringing people to the Lord Jesus Christ whatever they may be offices, factories, shops everywhere you go you going to find people watching you and waiting for you to tell them about Jesus.

What is done for you on a daily basis. God was saving people through the witnessing of the new Christians.

I want to conclude by telling you very quickly to true stories to illustrate the point that the Scripture makes here but how daily God adds and that when you are not faithful God will bring the lost 1937 missionaries were forced to leave while Amo Ethiopia and then they left behind 18 newly baptized Christians with few Bibles in their language. These new new believers were cruelly beaten, persecuted someone market but five years later, the missionaries returned and they found that the 18 Christians that they left behind both apply to 10 pounds love the story of this day as most of you know in Islamic countries. It's illegal, it's a crime to convert to Christianity. Many Islamic countries consider converting to Christ is equal to homicide and deserve the same punishment from one of these countries go for Libyan converts to Christ they wanted to meet together but they knew they couldn't loving homes not anywhere, so they decided to meet together early in the morning beside allow diesel tractor using the engine noise is a cover so they can pray together believers take this to heart and within a very short period of time.

Some people want to join the group to 16 and six months later they grew to 60 standing there around the diesel noisy engine practice. The supervisor is a nominal Roman Catholic Italian when he saw that incredible seal when he saw this incredible commitment he made the arrangement to bring in a pastor once a month's to meet with God will add to his church when his people faithfully word honoring wallop opening worship minded witnessing bent. Maybe somebody here today so you know I really don't have the joy that you talked about. I have been to church in a debit into Christianity have never really come to Jesus Christ.

I've never really said, Lord Jesus, forgive me of my sin.

I repent of my sins, I acknowledge you as the Savior of my soul and the Lord of my life. You can do that today and the joy begins, shall we pray father, we thank you for your word. We thank you that you have preserved it all through many times it through many people who want to destroy it eliminated, but you and your sovereign will kept so that we here in the 21st century can read it be instructed by learn from it.

Grow up to maturity through it be converted to you by Holy Spirit visit every heart that is bowing before you bring conviction and consecration do you work in Jesus name, amen. Thanks for listening to this message from Dr. Michael. You sat recently featured on leading the way. If you'd like to know more about us, please visit LTW.org that's LTW.Ward