Faithfulness to Christ in a day of departure

Now if you don't all leave, we'll read from the book of the Acts and chapter 1. There's two men here at least just itching to get up here, so I'll try and be brief. Chapter 1 of the Acts, verse 1. The former treatise of I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. Notice that.

To do and teach. There's the doing before there's the teaching. Look down to verse 8. But ye shall receive power.

After that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And while he spoke in these things, while they beheld, he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, two men stood by them in white apparel which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

Now look over chapter 2 down at the end of it. Then verse 41. They that gladly received his word were baptized and the same day there were added unto them about 3,000 souls.

You notice that? It doesn't say 3,000. It says about 3,000. Over a few chapters it says about 4,000 or 5,000.

So the Lord takes note. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles teaching, doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread, and in prayers. Verse 46.

And they continued daily with one accord in the temple, breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness. Now chapter 4, verse 31. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.

Verse 32. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul. And you know the story in chapter 5, I assume that you do, about this man and his wife that kept back what they had promised to God.

They had agreed and Peter says to them, you've agreed to tempt the Spirit of the Lord. But verse 11 says, great fear came upon all the church and as many as heard these things. Verse 13.

And of the rest, there's no man joined himself to them, but the people magnified them and believers were the more added to the Lord multitudes, both of men and women. The Lord will bless his word. Those must have been wonderful days.

We've been hearing about failure in our homes, in our marriage relationships, in our personal devotion to Christ. I want to speak a little word about faithfulness to Christ in a day that's marked by departure. We would all admit there's a big drift on.

There's departure in some of our assemblies, not what it used to be. God has always had a dwelling place. You remember he said to Moses regarding the tabernacle, see that thou make all things according to the pattern that was shown thee on the mount.

And for about 500 years, God dwelt inside that tabernacle in the wilderness, in that little cubicle above the mercy seat. God says there, I will meet with thee. Then later on he said, he gave instructions to Solomon regarding the temple.

David wasn't allowed to build it because of his sin. But then for about 400 years, the Shekinah glory filled the holy place and God's presence was there. Now I want to think about this first church in Jerusalem.

We have a whole summary of the book of the Acts in verse 8 of chapter 1. The Lord says you'll be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem. That's when the church was established, the first church of this dispensation. And from chapter 1 to chapter 7, basically they were Jews and we see God dwelling in the midst of his people.

Then he says not only Jerusalem but Judea and Samaria. Now it's expanding from chapter 8 to chapter 12 and instead of Jerusalem, now it's reaching out to Judea and Samaria and then the rest of the book, it's onto the uttermost parts of the earth. Goes to the Gentiles.

And if in the Gospels the corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies, in the book of the Acts it brings forth much fruit. And that's still going on. We're encouraged to hear a blessing up in Ontario.

That's my old stamping grounds. That's where I got my spurs. First series when I was commended, Paul and I were there for 13 weeks, nearly froze to death.

An old farm house, the wood furnace went out at night and we were upstairs in a room with a little grate in the floor. Actually we wore our overcoats to bed. And one night Mr. Elliott had his gloves on his feet to try and keep warm.

But you see God is still doing a work. It's expanding and it will continue right to the very end. Now very quickly the first thing I want you to think of is what we read in chapter 5 and only an Irishman would look at these verses backwards.

The fear of God we read characterized that place. All the church. What caused the fear of God in that company? It was a stroke of judgment.

God came in in discipline as he can because they had kept back what they had promised to God. If you ever make a vow to God, be sure you keep your word because you're in danger of the hand of God being upon you. A stroke of judgment.

I was thinking this morning early of Exodus chapter 3 and there's that bush that Moses saw, you remember, it burned with fire and yet it was not consumed and he recognized that God was there. The fear of God caused by a sense of his presence and that causes the fear of God in your life and in my life and in the assemblies. If we ever lose a presence of God, a sense of it, we're in danger.

Again in chapter 1 of the Revelation there's John exiled to the Isle of Patmos for the word of God. In that cave, in prison, exiled. He saw that one whose eyes are a flame of fire, his hair white like wool, as white as snow, and he fell at his feet as dead.

The fear of God gripped him. He got a sight of the glory of God and that's what you and I need brethren at times is to get another vision of the glory of the God that we know. Again in the early church, down in verse 46 of chapter 2, there was devotion.

It says they did eat their meat with gladness. Now that's not the breaking of bread, that's the sharing of their ordinary meals. There was devotion.

You see there were claims upon them. God demanded more from his people and he did from the nations around them. We've been hearing about our time and our talents and our money and our interests.

What am I interested in? What about my free time? What am I doing with it? Well I know some brethren and there were conferences in the area. Instead of being at the conference, they were over on the Mississippi water skiing. Is that a good use of time? You don't get anything for your soul there.

You see God wants the devotion of our heart. Remember he said that, my son give me thy heart. I was thinking recently of David in the cave of Adelam and that man Iddiai, David said to him, you don't have to come with us to the battle, you came just yesterday.

You know what he said? Where my Lord, my servant will be there, will I be also. That's what he wants, the devotion of our hearts. More than our interest intellectually.

You know it's possible to be further ahead with the people of God than it will be to be in the presence of God. God wants our affections. We've heard reference made to Peter and he said, Lord thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee.

Then in that assembly there was unity. I think about ten times over in these early chapters you get that little word mentioned, one accord. Notice it's in verse 46 of chapter 2. They were all with one accord.

They continued with one accord. That's what's needed today, unity and a recognition of order in God's assembly. I want to say brethren and I want to go on record saying this, that when discipline is carried out in an assembly, no matter what I think about it, I must recognize it.

Because those men are there for God and they're judging, they're dealing with a problem according to their understanding of it and I'm to bow to it and recognize it. There's much confusion. If that's not carried out today there will be anarchy, absolute confusion.

There must be a recognition of what God does and that will foster unity. Then this assembly, verse 13 of chapter 5, it says, the world was looking on, of the rest darest no man join himself to them. The world recognized and I know in this community no matter what you might think, they know there's a people here and they gather as to what they would call carry out communion on Sunday morning.

They may not come but they know and they recognize that here's a people and they know God. Then they were characterized by prayer. You notice we read that it's mentioned over and over again, when they had prayed.

You know I often wish I could hear some of our sisters pray. We brethren attend to adopt phraseology. We hear something we think oh I can use that expression but you know I know sisters and when they're in the gathering it's easy to preach the gospel and when they're not there there's a different sense of the meeting.

They can bring the power of God into our gathering. I knew a man over in Iowa, he's in heaven now. He did what I have never done on more than one occasion, spent all night in prayer.

After a busy day on the field in his big John Deere, my son sees a red tractor he says that's the wrong color. You know who he works for. But after a big day in the field he'd come in and sit down with the Word of God and after his supper and on more than one occasion he told me before he knew it the sun was rising.

Now I've never done that all night over the scriptures but it's no wonder when he stood up among the people of God he had bread. He had food for the people of God. There's no shortcut.

It takes time to get something from God. Prayer. First recorded prayer that I know of is Jacob coming home.

Coming home you remember after his servitude to his uncle Laban being deceived and the wrong wife. He had to work another seven years for the one that he wanted but he's getting near home now and he's thinking the way of transgressors is hard and whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. He calls upon God.

Calls for mercy. He recognizes that he needs God and God wants us to keep short accounts with him. I'm gonna finish in a couple of minutes.

There was a liberality in this assembly. They were laying down their goods at the feet of the Apostle. Let me speak to young couples for a minute.

You lay aside something for God or do you just give him a few extra dollars that are left over. John Bunyan we've heard him referred to. He said there was a man the people called him mad.

The more he gave away the more he had and I found that to be true. You know what God pays interest-wise? Better than any of the CDs of the day. One hundred fold.

That's ten thousand percent. That's what God gives and you give to God and he'll give back to you far more than you expected. In chapter two they were marked by steadfastness.

Always there. Nice to come to a meeting and there's brethren and sisters. They're continuing not spasmodically.

They're always there steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine fellowship breaking bread and prayers. And then finally they were looking for the Lord from heaven. We wait to see the morning star appear in glory bright.

He's coming brethren. He may come today. You believe that? The at any moment coming of our blessed Lord Jesus.

And when he comes there'll be no time then to get things made right that should have been corrected when we were down here. I'm glad there's not a brother that I know that I can't shake hands with. I hope you can do the same.

The Lord wants us to be ready in view of his coming. The Lord bless what we have heard and what will follow for his name's sake.