Title: Our Secret to Success

Text: Acts 5:12-16

FCF: We often struggle to depend on the Lord to produce success in His church.

Prop: Because God alone supports and expands His church, we must continue to depend on the Lord for the success of His church.

Scripture Intro:

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Acts chapter 5.

Last week we saw how God had empowered and graced His church to be a unique group that cared for one another to the point that the wealthy were crossing social barriers to sell their property to provide the needs of those who were poor. However, we also saw that the church was not perfect. Some members of the community had joined with divided hearts and attempted to lie to God in order to gain honor among the budding New Covenant community.

In a particularly fear inducing narrative we saw how the Lord sees the thoughts and intents of the hearts of men. We saw how the Lord hates sin.

Today’s passage concludes the narrative and summarizes the state of the church after this miracle of death occurred. Today we will see some of the same things we’ve been seeing as Luke continues to testify to Theophilus about Gods ongoing work in His church.

I am in Acts 5. I’ll begin reading in verse 12. I am reading from the LSB today but you can follow along in the pew bible starting on page 1234 or in whatever version you prefer. I have thought about this for some time. I don’t want to do it because other people do it. But I want to do it for the right reasons. This morning I woke up with this thought on my mind. And when you are in the business of preaching the Word to God’s people, when you wake up with a thought on your mind on a Sunday morning – you should probably pay attention to it. You can tune out every single thing in this sermon if you so desire. But this part, where we read the Word of God together, is the one part that you cannot afford to miss. So out of reverence to the Word of God and as a way to focus on hearts on what it says, I’d ask you to stand with me for the reading of the Word this morning.

Transition:

[Slide 2] If you were to walk into any one of our homes, you would no doubt find several devices, appliances, and tools functioning without any gas or human generated energy. Microwaves, ovens, dishwashers, refrigerators, heaters, fans, lights, freezers, phones, TVs, video game systems, tablets, computers… all of them functioning without a spinning wheel for us to run in or a bike to ride to power them. And although they all have power demands and various applications in everyday life – we know that ultimately, they are all powered by a single line running from the nearest Electric pole to our homes. My friends the household of faith has many applications that our Lord has commissioned us to perform. These various commands and expectations require various degrees of exertion and effort on our part. But through it all and behind it all, we must recognize that there is but one source to the empowering and success of our efforts. Of course, it is by the power of our God. Today we will see that the Lord does all in ensuring the success of His church.

I.) God actively supports His church with all they need to thrive, so we must continue depend on the Lord for the success of His church. (12-13)

a. [Slide 3] 12 – Now at the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were happening among the people,

i. Again, we see that the signs and wonders are being performed by the apostles.

1. There are certain groups of Christians today who contend that every single believer ought to be engaged in performing sign gifts.

2. When I say sign gifts I mean the gifts of tongues, healings, miracles, raising the dead, and casting out demons.

3. They are called sign gifts specifically because they were used as signs to authenticate the message of the preacher.

4. However, here again we see that only the apostles are performing these signs and wonders. It is not the greater church which no doubt numbers in the 5-10,000 range at this point.

5. We’ll keep an eye on this throughout the book of Acts. So far, we have seen no miraculous signs performed by anyone except the apostles.

ii. After that short rabbit trail, coming back to the text – we see the apostles continuing to be given power to authenticate God’s message among the Jews in Jerusalem.

b. [Slide 4] And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Portico.

i. Who is “they” in this passage?

ii. Before we address that, what does it mean that they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Portico?

iii. “With one accord” is the same word used in chapter 1:14 when it is said that the 120-member church that existed after Christ’s ascension was “all together.” When we noticed this back in chapter 1, we defined this word as being of one mind. They were of single purpose. They were of single impulse. They were united as one.

iv. In other words, this speaks less about the fact that they gathered as a group in Solomon’s Portico and more to the fact that they were united as one in Solomon’s Portico.

v. Back to the question of the pronoun “they.”

vi. We are going to be asking this question a lot in this text. Luke seems to play jump rope with the subjects of his sentences.

vii. Going back to verse 11 we can see that there are several options for who the subjects could be.

1. In verse 11 we see the whole church experienced fear at the punishment of Ananias and Sapphira.

2. We also see fear come over all who heard these things… which would necessarily be those who are not in the church but who heard of it.

3. In verse 12 we see the apostles whose hands do the signs and wonders.

4. We also see the people whom the signs and wonders were performed among.

viii. So, let’s analyze our options here. Who is they? Who is united in Solmon’s Portico?

1. It could be the people, meaning the general unbelieving population of Jerusalem. But this seems unlikely since they were united and of one mind. The Jews have never been united and of one mind. See the Old Testament for proof. Even under the reign of David there were uprisings of various factions.

2. It could be those who were not believers but heard about Ananias and Sapphira’s death and were overcome with fear. But again, we have the same problem as the unbelieving general population. Maybe they were of one mind in fear? This seems unlikely.

3. It could be the apostles. But if so, it seems unnecessary to suggest that the apostles were of one mind in Solomon’s porch. Wouldn’t we assume the apostles were of one mind?

4. Most likely then, this refers to the whole church. Even though they experienced great fear over the incident with Ananias and Sapphira, they remained united as one in Solmon’s Portico. Especially under the teaching and signs and wonders of the apostles. This has support from earlier passages in Acts where the church seems to have met often in Solmon’s Portico.

ix. But what were they united together to do and why specifically in Solomon’s Portico?

1. Generally speaking, the church met in homes for their worship and instruction.

2. We saw this in the summary statement in Acts 2 where they fellowshipped together and shared the Lord’s Supper together from house to house.

3. But when they met in Solmon’s Portico the purpose was always the same. The preaching of the gospel to unbelievers. The church gathered there to listen to, support, and amen the preaching of the gospel of Christ.

4. They were unified there to show the power of the gospel not just in sign gifted miracles but also in the numbers of those who had been saved and added to the church.

c. [Slide 5] 13 – But none of the rest dared to associate with them;

i. Again, we will pause our investigation of who Luke is talking about and focus on what is said about them first.

ii. “dared” means to show boldness or courage enough to try something. It is to be daring.

iii. “associate” means to join with, to link up to, to unite with, or to establish a relationship with.

iv. Now to the question of the nouns in this sentence. Who are “the rest” and who is “them.”

v. For “the rest” let’s look at our options.

1. It could be the apostles but this seems very unlikely. We are left with far more questions than answers. Why are the apostles lacking courage to unite with another group? Even if we don’t know what group that is… it seems that this is not the best answer.

2. Some suggest that this is a portion of the church who had great fear after Ananias and Sapphira to the extent that they could not associate or partner with the apostles. However, this seems to contradict the idea that the church was gathered of one mind in Solomon’s Portico. Either they were united or they weren’t. And can someone really be part of the church and have people afraid to establish a relationship with the apostles?

3. It could be the people meaning the entire unbelieving population of Jerusalem, but again this is unlikely because in the next verse we are going to be told the exact opposite of this.

4. Again, by deduction we can conclude that this is referring to those who were not believers but heard about Ananias and Sapphira’s death and were overcome with fear.

vi. As for the “them” it seems best to see this as either the apostles or the whole church or both.

vii. In the context, it seems to me that the best option is the apostles. But as I suggested, failure to associate with or join with the apostles is inherently a failure to join the church.

viii. Therefore, we see that one effect that Ananias and Sapphira’s miracle of death had on the people of Jerusalem was to actively prevent people from joining the church for the wrong reasons. Perhaps they saw it as a progressive movement within Judaism or a “fad cult”.

ix. But with the death of Ananias and Sapphira, people were less inclined to join up with bad motives and without true faith. Why? Because their lives were at stake from a God who could see their thoughts and intentions.

x. So, we see again God’s active hand of pruning to keep His church, especially in its infancy, pure and comprised of actual and genuine followers of Christ. There were no fakers. The last two were just killed and their story is actively preventing others from joining.

d. [Slide 6] However, the people were holding them in high esteem.

i. You know the drill, we’ll save who “the people” and “them” are until the end.

ii. But to hold in high esteem is to glorify, magnify, to greatly honor or enlarge someone’s character or reputation.

iii. So, what are our options for ‘the people”

1. The apostles and the church seem unlikely subjects. People is much too broad a term to be boxed into these more specific groups.

2. The fakers scared off by Ananias and Sapphira’s example is also too specific of a group for this term. Plus, we’ve already been told that they didn’t dare associate with the apostles. It would be odd to not associate with them but also highly respect and honor the apostles or the church as a whole.

3. Therefore, this is most likely referring to the general populace of unbelieving Jews in Jerusalem.

iv. Again the “them” here refers either to the apostles or the whole church or both. It makes slightly more sense for it to refer to the apostles given the statements coming in verse 15.

v. So, we see that although there were those who were considering joining the church nominally but have not dared to because of the risk – in general – the unbelieving world around the church greatly honored them and the apostles specifically.

vi. This echoes the summary statements in Acts 2 where the church grew in favor with all the people.

e. [Slide 7] Summary of the Point: God actively empowers, unifies, purifies, and exalts His church among the nations. He did this in the early church and He is doing so now. God is still empowering His people to do mighty works and great deeds in His name. God has unified His church. Although fractured into different denominations the gospel is still quite purely held by many denominations. God is purifying His church through persecution and through church discipline. And God is still exalting His church among the nations. Even secular commentators today recognize the importance of the church and a biblical worldview. In short, God has not changed His commitment to His church. He is still faithful.

Transition:

[Slide 8(blank)] So, we have seen that God supports those who are already part of His church. He is faithful to give them all they need to continue as His people while they are pilgrims in this dry and weary land. But is God involved in the growth and expansion of His church? Is He responsible for gathering more unto Himself or is that purely a human endeavor?

II.) God actively increases and spreads His church far and wide, so we must continue depend on the Lord for the success of His church. (14-16)

a. [Slide 9] 14 – And more than ever believers in the Lord were added to their number, multitudes of men and women,

i. That favor and esteem given to the apostles and the church as a whole translates into God using this to draw many more to Himself.

ii. One could argue, it wasn’t necessarily God who was drawing men to His Kingdom but rather the witness of God’s people to the message of the gospel.

iii. But remember how the message of the gospel was authenticated? Signs and wonders.

iv. And remember – is it ever to men’s credit that another child is born into God’s family?

v. As Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3, you must be born again. How much say did you have in your own birth? Jesus again likens a person coming into the kingdom to the wind. You may see its effect but you don’t know where it came from or where it is going.

vi. And John earlier in chapter 1 tells us that those who believe were given the right to be children of God and that all God’s children are born not by a certain ancestry, or by the decisions of humans, or the quality of the husband’s seed, but of God.

vii. And so, when we read that people were joining the number of the church – we can see the human agents working… but must confess that their efforts are ultimately unnecessary. They are merely the means God has chosen to call His own to Himself.

viii. As was the outcome in Acts 2:47 so it remains here in Acts 5:14. God was adding to their numbers daily.

ix. God continues to grow His church. He is protecting, providing, empowering and expanding His church.

x. In spite of and even as a result of God’s wrath kindled against those filled with the lie of Satan – His church grows faster than ever.

b. [Slide 10] 15 – To such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any one of them.

i. The opening words to this verse may lead us to believe that this is a result or outcome of many people coming to Christ and joining the church.

ii. However, the fact that people brought their sick so that Peter’s shadow would fall on them, seems an unlikely result of the church growing numerically.

iii. Instead, this could be the result or outcome of one of two things in the text.

1. It could be an outcome or result of the apostles growing in honor and favor among the people of Jerusalem. They became respected even to the level of respect that was given to Jesus. He was treated this way if you remember from the gospels. Remember the woman who concluded if she could but touch the hem of his robe then she would be healed? This is not much different than believing Peter’s shadow could heal them.

2. It could also be a result of the apostles doing signs and wonders among the people. Indeed, in some way, everything that follows the statement in verse 12 about the apostles doing many signs and wonders among the people could be viewed as a result of that activity.

iv. Regardless of whether this is the outcome of the apostles growing in favor with the people or the apostles doing many signs and wonders – we get the picture. The impact of the church, even after Ananias and Sapphira, is exploding.

v. Of course, we must realize that there was nothing special about Peter’s shadow. We should not interpret this as some kind of holy or religious relic that empowered healing. Such enters the realm of superstition and unnecessary mysticism.

vi. Instead, we ought to see Luke’s words in verse 12. That through the apostles’ hands were many signs and wonders being done. They were merely conduits for the power of God to be displayed to authenticate the message of the gospel.

vii. There is one final result of the apostles’ activity and the churches high esteem among the people…

c. [Slide 11] 16 – Also, the multitude from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits.

i. This is VERY important.

ii. Up to this point, the church has been exclusively located in Jerusalem.

iii. Particularly on the temple mount.

iv. But now… the church is reaching beyond the city of Jerusalem.

v. It is brought forward as a critique of Luke that there were no cities close to Jerusalem. But this word for cities can include any urbanized area where there is a concentration of people. This could include a small town or even a village.

vi. People from neighboring villages are bringing their sick and even those afflicted with unclean spirits to be healed.

vii. The city walls could not contain the power and the message of Jesus Christ risen from the dead.

viii. And this feeds into next week’s text. For what was the primary goal of the Sanhedrin releasing the apostles with a warning? Remember back in chapter 4? They desired that the teaching in the name of Jesus would spread no further among the people.

ix. That hasn’t worked out so well, has it?

x. And just in case there was any doubt about what happens to those who bring their sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits…

d. [Slide 12] And they were all being healed.

i. Yeah. They were being healed.

ii. All of them. Yes, sometimes “all” doesn’t mean “all.” Sometimes “all” means “many” or a “large number.”

iii. That could be the case here. But it seems best contextually to conclude that every single person brought to the apostles… was healed.

iv. How amazing! How miraculous! How Wonderful!

v. But such wonder will draw the ire and the jealousy of those whose esteem and favor… is diminishing among the people.

vi. More on that next week.

e. [Slide 13] Summary of the Point: In addition to God’s empowering, uniting, purifying, and exalting of His church, He also grows and spreads His church. And this is only the beginning. The rest of Acts and all of church History enlarges this thought. God is at work to spread the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth. Just like Jesus predicted in Acts 1. Even today the gospel goes forth to new lands, tribes, tongues and nations. Even today the church spreads and more of God’s people are gathered unto Himself. God is growing and spreading His church far and wide. He is gathering His people unto Himself.

Conclusion:

So CBC, what have we learned and how then shall we live? How can we boil down all of this into one doctrinal takeaway?

Doctrinal Takeaway:

[Slide 14] The triune God is the faithful supporter and expander of His church. He is calling men to Himself. He is empowering, uniting, purifying, and exalting His church among the nations. He is the only reason the church succeeds. He is the only reason that the gates of hell will not prevail against His church. This does not eliminate our responsibly to make disciples. This does not eliminate our responsibility to bear witness to the truth of Christ crucified for sinners. Instead, this emboldens our witness and encourages our ministries. We know that we go with God. He provides to us all we need, to do as He has commanded us! This should not encourage passivity but rather diligent labor with high expectations for Spiritual fruit. We must expect great things from the Lord when we obey Him in these things. For He is at work in us to do this mighty work.

This doctrinal takeaway expands itself into several applications.

1.) [Slide 15] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” The church is absolutely dependent on God to supply all that is necessary for it to succeed.

a. In this text we see that the apostles did mighty signs and wonders by the power of God.

b. He answered their prayer to enable them to perform these message authenticating signs among the people of Jerusalem.

c. We see God uniting His people in the same mind. That they gather together as a body to bear witness to the truth of the gospel message.

d. We see God purifying His church by keeping those with divided hearts and corrupt motives from infiltrating the church. He does this by miracles of death producing fear that He can see the hearts of men.

e. We see God raising His church as the light shown before men. That men would see their good works and glorify God the Father. We see the reputation of the church excel among the general population. For the most part, the average person in Jerusalem saw the apostles as agents of God and the believers as a devout sect of Judaism.

f. Finally, we see God growing his church numerically and geographically. People from villages outside of Jerusalem are now pouring in and hearing the gospel and having their sicknesses healed.

g. Behind it all – as the church’s one foundation – we see the Lord doing all this through them.

h. And looking at all we’ve seen and all we will see in the book of Acts, there is not one who believed they were doing this by their own wisdom, their own cunning, or their own power. All God’s people relied on Him.

i. This has been a common thread for the last several sermons – so I don’t want to tread the same ground we have already. But suffice it to say that Jesus’ words are true. Without the vine we are nothing.

j. So, the church is nothing without God’s provision.

k. For us – we naturally wish to assume that there is a symbiotic relationship between us and God. That God needs us to do the work. That God needs earthly agents.

l. But as our psalm this morning said – God does not delegate because He needs to. He does because that is who He is. He desires us to join Him.

m. God doesn’t employ us in His work because He needs us, or because it would fail without us. He does so as a gift to us to grow closer in our dependence on Him. To deepen our faith.

n. My friends – we must see that when God goes with us, none can stand against us. But when we go alone… we will fail.

2.) [Slide 16] Refutation: “What lies must we cast down” or “What do we naturally believe, or have been taught to believe, that this passage shows is false?” We should not fear or avoid things that chase people away from the church.

a. Not everyone who confesses Christ with their lips are true and genuine believers.

b. Throughout the entire New Testament there are several examples of fake believers who everyone thought was a true and genuine believer, until they walked away. Until they abandoned the truth. Or until they deliberately chose to continue in sin.

c. Jesus, before His church was established, described a process whereby we can, at least from a human perspective, protect ourselves from people who are fake Christians or at least people who are not acting like Christians. This is the essence of church discipline. (Matthew 18:15-20)

d. Church discipline has several results. No matter which step you stop at the results are the same. The only thing that changes is the scope. The results are, restoration, purity, and fear. All who are involved in the process, whether it be one who was sinning and his restorer, or the entire church as they excommunicate the one sinning, in all of this all who are involved experience restoration, purity, and fear.

e. In this text we see that man’s inability to hide from God’s piercing gaze is fear inducing enough to keep men and women from joining the church under false pretenses or with wrong motives.

f. In our day and age, we do not wish to do anything that may dissuade outsiders from coming into our church and feeling welcome.

g. When this is applied to ungodly or sinful ways we make outsiders feel unwelcome – this is a noble and godly goal. We ought not make the outsider feel unwelcome because we are rude, unkind, judgmental, or prejudiced.

h. But when we overreach this goal and cease from doing godly and biblical things just because it may chase people away – we have given into fear.

i. We fear that if they walk out because we spoke on the wickedness of sin, the depravity of man, the wretched state of even our smallest children. We fear that if they walk out because we spoke about these things then they may never come back.

j. But we cannot win them to the truth if we never speak it my friends.

k. If knowing they are sinners unable to save themselves chases them away from our church, if knowing that our church will not tolerate any member living in unrepentant sin causes them to avoid us, if calling something sin which the world calls good, or relabels as illness or bravery makes them walk away from us…

l. Hear me now…

m. Good.

n. False converts are a cancerous blight on the soul of the church. And if we win them with a gospel that is stripped of the bad news of sin and the depravity of man, If we filter out the expectation for Christians to be holy people pursuing a life lived in growing devotion to Christ, then my friends we have not won them to the gospel. We have won them to something less.

o. Therefore, we must obey our God to deliver the whole counsel of God – even the parts that may chase people away. We must obey our God even the practices that might cause outsiders to avoid us. We cannot compromise what God has commanded to make it easier for people to join us. Because if we do this they are not actually joining us – we are joining them.

3.) [Slide 17] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” We should design our church to go to the people and meet them where they are.

a. We can pendulum swing too far in an effort to keep our previous application if we allow ourselves.

b. In an effort to make sure that we remain true to the teachings of Christ and do not compromise to make it more comfortable for the outsider to be among us, we may inadvertently insulate ourselves from the world to the extent that we never connect with any outsiders.

c. I think we naturally desire to be surrounded by people who share our worldview and values. In doing this the church has become a hub for us to invite people to, hoping that they will join us and become a part of our faith.

d. But that is not what we see here in Acts. The early church is not inviting people to come and worship with them.

e. What are they doing?

f. The apostles are going to the people – healing and performing signs and wonders and preaching the gospel. And the church is right there with them speaking to and with outsiders.

g. The leadership is supernaturally meeting physical needs to authenticate their message and the church are living testimonies of the power of that message.

h. What can we learn from this?

i. What is our vision of outreach here at this church? Can I suggest to you that our vision of outreach parrots the way the early church did it?

j. Just as the apostles depended on supernatural signs and wonders to confirm their message, the conversion of someone to Christ is a supernatural event that we cannot engineer. We can preach the gospel but we cannot make someone believe. God must open their eyes to receive the truth of the gospel. So, we must begin any evangelistic endeavor with dependence on God to replace hearts of stone with hearts of flesh. Only He can do this work. We must seek Him as the power behind any presentation of the gospel.

k. But we must also go.

l. The church went to the place people gathered. They went to the epicenter of Jewish life. They went to where people were open to hearing about new ideas.

m. Where is this in our culture? It is hard to say. Not too many people are open to hearing new ideas today and it seems the larger the group the more likely that your voice will be drowned out.

n. So perhaps the greatest Solmon’s Portico of our day is having one on one interactions with unbelievers with whom you have either built a relationship with or are open to hearing what you believe.

o. The church in Acts boldly bore witness to who Christ was and what He had freed them from. They bore witness to the miraculous saving of their souls.

p. Do you want to know our outreach philosophy here at CBC? Here it is, and it is very simple. It is all of us… going… and preaching the gospel. That’s it.

q. We must do as the early church did. Our friends, neighbors, co-workers, family – all must hear about the work Christ has done in us.

r. But friends, inviting them to church is not the answer. Church is very much for insiders. We are here to worship a God they can’t seek, through faith in the Son whom they have not received, in the power of the Spirit they don’t have.

s. Outsiders are welcome here… but they won’t feel comfortable here.

t. But they may feel comfortable chatting in your truck, or over coffee, or at a birthday party. They may wonder why you are just going to give your van to another member of your church because they need it. They may marvel at your refusal to mock the president even though you don’t agree with his policies. They may even be a bit perturbed by your never complaining about your wife.

u. And through this you can bear witness to the gospel’s power to take you from a sinner who loved his sin to a sinner saved by grace.

v. Your life and the message of Christ crucified is POWERFUL indeed my friends. It is a supernatural miracle. It is a sign to them.

w. It is not enough to invite people here… we must go to them my friends. We must pray for and share the gospel with them.

4.) [Slide 18] De-Exhortation: “What actions should we stop doing” or “What behaviors do we naturally practice that this passage tells us to stop doing?” We should not design our church to attract people to it.

a. The perfect one-two punch here is the foolishness of designing our church to attract people.

b. My friends, if the Elders wanted to, we could have hundreds of people join this church by next year. It isn’t actually that hard.

c. We could have the top 10 songs in the country playing in the hallways before church. We could serve full breakfasts every Sunday morning. We could have concert caliber musicians up here putting on a show. We could dim all the lights so the stage draws your attention. We could preach fluffy, short, messages about how God wants you to have a great life. We could have hundreds of programs designed for every single special interest you could thing of. We could take moderate positions on all the hot button issues so we don’t offend anyone. We could speak exclusively of God’s love. We could insist upon having emotional reactions to every single service where we manipulate people to feel something.

d. And you know what? We’d be filled to the brim.

e. How do I know that? Because there are churches all around us who do this! And they are full!

f. And if that didn’t work for some reason… we could also offer free boos, strippers, and a cash prize give away every week.

g. Oh we’d draw crowd my friends…

h. But what we’d gain in numbers we’d lose in purity.

i. An impure church is a powerless church – void of the gospel – and one whom God’s hand of judgment is set to destroy.

j. Do you pity the right people who will stand before God’s throne? Save your pity for the progressives who call evil good and applaud wickedness. Save your pity for those steeped in paganism. Save your pity for those who live debauched lifestyles. Spend all your pity on those who stand behind a pulpit every week and are not faithfully teaching GOD’S WORD! The wrath of GOD will be greatest to them my friends. Those who play games with HIS WORD and abuse HIS name. Those who as Jesus said, hold the keys to the kingdom and neither enter in themselves nor allow any to enter in. These are the ones you should pity. Woe to these men and women! For their judgment will be… severe.

k. I have heard it said that church is a hospital for the sick. But my friends… this is not true.

l. No, my friends, the church is a medical school that trains those who have become general practitioners to go out into the world and deliver those new borns whom God is birthing into His kingdom and then training them to be spiritually healthy as they themselves continue to learn to be spiritually healthy.

m. The church’s primary goal is to worship God and to know Christ to the extent that we are mature in Him (Ephesians 4:11-16)

n. We are not meant to as the hymn says “bring them in!” Instead… my friends… “We’ve a story to tell to the nations” and we must “send the light, the blessed gospel light, from shore to shore.”

o. We must go to them. Because if we are doing church right – they shouldn’t feel too comfortable being among us.

5.) [Slide 19 (end)] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” In the midst of our activity to reach the lost and disciple the saved… God is the one who faithfully supports and expands His church.

a. These are heavy burdens. Many of you were cringing as I was describing you speaking to a friend, co-worker, neighbor, or family member about Christ.

b. You no doubt felt fear and doubt creep in – and thought “I can’t do that.”

c. Perhaps the thoughts of unity and being one mind are daunting. Perhaps the idea of being God’s church in a world like ours elicits great fear in you.

d. Maybe you are thinking… I can’t do this.

e. No, you can’t. Not on your own.

f. But my friends – God is calling His people to Himself. And He has afforded you the opportunity to join Him in that calling.

g. God goes with His church. To support them in their growth and unity. And to empower them to expand and grow numerically.

h. Our Savior said – I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

i. What great comfort it is that this work neither depends on us, nor do we go alone.