Local assembly truths to faithfully uphold

So what I have before me is to try and pass on a little word about our faithfulness in a day that's marked by departure. Now look at the book of the Acts chapter 1. The former treatise of Imado Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both notice to do and teach. To do and teach.

Until the day in which he was taken up after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen. Verse 8, you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Now look at chapter 2. The chapter begins by telling us of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.

Verse 41, then they that gladly received his word were baptized on the same day were added unto them about three thousand souls and they continued steadfastly in the apostles teaching or doctrine and fellowship and breaking of bread and in prayers and fear came upon every soul. Verse 46, and they continuing daily with one accord in the temple breaking bread from house to house did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord added to them or to the church daily those that were being saved is a preferred reading. Now look over to chapter 3 verse 31.

Chapter 4 rather verse 31, 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 neither said any of them that out of the things which he possessed was his own but they had all things common and with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Now chapter 5, here's two other individuals who've been reminded of two men.

This is a man and his wife. Chapter 5, a certain man named Ananias with Sapphira, his wife sold a possession and kept back part being private to it and they bought a certain part and laid it at the apostles feet but Peter said Ananias why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? You wouldn't think Christians would tell lies but that's what happened here. Verse 5, Ananias hearing these words fell down and gave up the ghost and great fear came upon all them that heard.

Verse 9, and then Peter said unto her, that is his wife, how is it that she agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? And she too fell down and the young man carried her out and buried him. Verse 11 says great fear came upon all the church and upon as many as heard these things. Verse 13, of the rest their snowman joined himself to them but the people magnified them and believers were the more added to the church multitudes both of men and women.

Now the Lord we know will bless what we have read from his word. This book is more valuable than you and I realize. I was telling them recently at home in Iowa where I live about this book that we have.

Way back prior to the 16th century the only one that could read the scriptures from the Vulgate from the Latin was a priest and there was a man that you would know called John Wycliffe who was born in England. He was born in the year 1380 if I remember rightly and he had an exercise to translate the word of God from the Latin into the language of the people. But he was opposed.

He was a priest belonging to the papacy but he opposed much of the papal teaching. He opposed their indulgences. He opposed the celibacy of the priesthood.

He opposed the high style of living by some of the Roman systems and because of this his life was in danger. In fact the council of Constantine declared him a heretic. They wanted him to be put to death but he had a stroke and he died before they were putting him to death and after about 43 years they ordered that his bones be dug up and burned and scattered on the river swift.

They thought that will dispose of him but you know God had his own purposes and nearly a hundred years later there was a man called Tyndale William Tyndale and he was burdened too about the scriptures and about getting it into the land of the language of the people. He was a very brilliant man. He knew eight different languages French and German and English as well as Hebrew and Latin and he was fluent in all of them.

No matter which one he spoke they say that you would think that was his native tongue. And so he was burdened about translating the word of God into the English and so he started to write he's the one that said to one of his compatriots one of his people friends he said if God spares me long enough he spares my life after very many years the boy that follows the plow will know more of the scriptures than you do. That's what he did began to write.

But he was persecuted he fled to Belgium and somebody located where he was and he was accosted he was tortured he was strangled and then he was burned to death. We have that word in our hand. The king of England he declared the translation of William Tyndale as a book to be in all of the churches and that's what we know as the translation of the authorized version 1611.

That's our bible. I wonder do we appreciate it? Did you read any of it today before you came to the conference? Or do you leave it in your automobile like people that I know and they take it out of the glove compartment on Sunday and on Wednesday night and the rest of the time it is unused. It's no wonder there's departure.

We read which was the pattern the example of the Lord Jesus all that Jesus began to do and teach. You can go all the way back to Ezra's day. You remember that he stood up to read the word of God and the people were blessed and the Lord himself both in the gospel the gospel of Matthew the gospel of Luke the Lord read and taught.

You see we need to be doing before we do any teaching. That's the principle this book teaches. There must be the experience before we can apply it to others.

Now here's the first church of Jerusalem first five chapters first seven chapters of the book of the acts. This is where God's work begins. This is Jerusalem.

Peter was at the center of it then it expands from chapter seven through to chapter 12 and it reaches out now to Judea and Samaria. That's what we read in chapter one. You shall be witnesses both in Jerusalem then Judea and Samaria that's chapters eight through twelve and then to the uttermost parts of the earth.

That's chapter 13 right to the end of the book. Now I want very quickly to notice a number of the characteristics of this local assembly. And you can ask yourself does this characterize the assembly of which I form a part.

The first one I'm thinking of is what we read in chapter five when the judgment of God fell upon these individuals because they had bowed they had made a promise to God and then they reneged they held back what they had promised and the judgment of God fell on them. It says the fear of God marked the people. Now this is something that's slipping away from our gatherings the fear of God.

When you come into the assembly gathering do you come dressed casually like you're going to a Sunday school picnic maybe a pair of shorts maybe a shirt no necktie maybe a sweater or a jumper whatever you call it. You couldn't get in to see our president that way you see God demands that we reverence the assembly as a holy place. That's what the word of God teaches.

You remember the priest way back in his service he put on those garments of glory and beauty you remember the coat of blue that white linen ephod the breastplate with all of those stones and the onyx stones on his shoulder representing the 12 tribes of Israel and when he went into the holy place he functioned for God. But then on the day of atonement he put off those garments of glory and beauty and he put on white linen garments the very best. Now that's what God wants from you and from me.

You see a way back in the book of Exodus the fear of God was brought about by a sense of the presence of God. Now I ask you brethren are we losing something of a sense of the presence of God in our gatherings? Do we come in just nonchalantly and do a lot of conversation and then when it's time for the meeting to start the talking stops. You see the assembly is where God is.

The fear of God is brought about by a sense of his presence. Again in John when John writes to the revelation he tells us about John seeing that one whose eyes were as a flame of fire his hair white like wool as white as snow and he fell on his feet as dead. What caused the fear of God in John's experience? It was the sight of the glory of God.

Now here in Acts chapter 5 where we read the fear of God was brought about by a stroke of judgment. God laid his hand on this couple because of their disobedience but more than that I was noticing as we were reading that these believers that were gathered in Jerusalem they were marked by true devotion. They were of one heart of one mind singleness of heart praising God.

You know what the Lord says my son give me thy heart. God wants our devotion more than our service you know that we sometimes put the cart before the horse and we get over preachers I'm talking to we get overly occupied with service but there's something of more value to draw. That's the devotion of your heart and my heart.

Can I say as we were reminded this morning that in our heart there's that love to the person of Christ when I think of all that he has done for me many years ago that there was a man a very influential man with lots of money. He was a famous cricketer he had made his mark in the sports world and he gave it all up and he went out as a missionary to India and he said if Jesus Christ is God and died for me there's no sacrifice too great for me to make for him and he laid us all on the altar. Can I speak to young men here today you've got brains and intelligence God has blessed you you're making your way through this godless scene are you getting your stakes down too deeply as my brother reminded us this morning too occupied with getting ahead in this world what about another world what about living for the future devotion to Christ is what characterized the assembly in Jerusalem.

Again that assembly was marked by unity 10 times over in the early chapters here it speaks about unity oneness of mind unity now the devil doesn't like unity I often think he knows that his time is short and he is bent today on dividing believers dividing companies of God's people causing as was in Corinth little cliques and parties and schisms and divisions the devil enjoys that but God's desire was that we all might be one you see the mind of God was that there would be no religious denominations around us that would only be one as here in Jerusalem gathered owning Christ as Lord but the devil didn't like that he started that division and subdivisions a doctor friend of mine said a few years ago he said Eric how do you differ there at the gospel than I do than we are at the baptist church well I said if you want to discuss it I can do that I said you agree that God has given gifts to a man oh he says that's first Corinthians 12 and 14 I said you're right and I said supposing he has given you the gift to open the word of God and expound the scriptures and be a help to other believers in your congregation supposing you wanted to get up and do that oh he said that's what our preacher does well I said show me in this book where God says there's one pastor and a few other things you talked about the breaking of bread every Sunday and I pointed out to them that at least three times in the acts they gathered on the first day of the week they met in that baptist church for their communion as they called it maybe once a month and a few other things finally he said well I think maybe yet you're more scripturally accurate than we are he admitted that you see the word of God gives definite guidance unity the world respected them we read that in chapter five of the rest durst no man join himself to them now the ungodly around us our neighbors they know they know the night of the week of the prayer meeting and they know whether you and I go or not they're watching you see it's wonderful when the assembly is respected by the outside world then we read in chapter four when they had prayed the place was shaken prayer is a characteristic of a new testament gathering we need to pray not only individually but collectively I said to one of the brethren last night and you brother will take it from me I'm an old man I'm not going to be around very long and be that as it may I'm going to say what I think the prayer meeting was very slow last night there were about 15 brethren there at least and only five or six prayed at the prayer meeting brethren the lord wants us to pray how do we expect God's presence to be with us if we don't acknowledge our need and ask him to draw near younger man don't be afraid to pray some of us old-timers pray too long and adopt phraseology that I noticed even at home I said not too long ago that the word of God teaches were to pray for the peace of Jerusalem you know what I noticed the last few weeks three or four brethren are praying for the peace of Jerusalem you see we adopt phraseology but God wants us sisters included to pray from the heart and we need the prayers of godly sisters when they're in a gathering at a gospel meeting there's help to preach when they're not there you can notice a difference they seem to know how to bring God right into the gathering one of the first recorded prayers in the bible you remember Jacob as he's going back home again he had learned that the way of transgressors is hard he's going home to face his brother after receiving the birthright although it was God's mind he's in a time of crisis and he says to the lord I'm not worthy you know that's often true of us a time of real crisis we cry to God well God wants us to live in a prayerful attitude another thing I noticed and I'm going to finish in this assembly it was fruitful we read about them that multitudes were added both of men and women God blessed them and they prospered and they were liberal they gave to every man of their goods and possessions gave to every man that had need you know the lord tells us that to do good unto all men especially those of the household of faith and you'll discover as John Bunyan said many years ago there was a man the people called him mad the more he gave away the more he had now I've proven that you give to God and he'll reward 100 fold I mentioned at Manchester a hundred fold some of the people there that were mathematicians didn't know what a hundred fold was ten thousand percent now you won't get that in any bank investments today that's God's dividends ten thousand percent recovery if we give to God he has promised that he'll bless then they were steadfast continued steadfastly nice to come back to an assembly after a couple of years the same believers were there they're still going on not sometimes and staying away other times they're steadfast and then too they were waiting for the Lord to come we read that if we had read it down further in chapter one as they looked steadfastly to heaven they watched those two men that arrived and they watched the savior as he went back into the glory and one day very soon he's coming back again he is coming air and earth and sea are humming earth creation yearneth the prince of peace to greet I hope you're waiting for the Lord to come he might come before this conference is over another thing I'll tell you it might waken some people up I told them in a conference there's going to be an awful clang to the floor of artificial knees and replaced hips and pacemakers when the Lord comes it's all going to hit the floor and we're going to be gone the Lord help us to live expectantly in view of that day when he comes to take us home