Alright brethren, let's turn
to Acts chapter 2. At the end of the message last time,
I mentioned Martha asking to be baptized. When she told me
that, it surprised me. It caught me by surprise when
she came and talked to me. And I don't know why it usually
does. I remember you, Cheryl, and I
was thinking about, I had noticed that as I was preaching, somebody
was paying attention and seemed to be really rejoicing. And when
Cheryl talked to me, that's who I thought she was going to be
talking about. And she said, she won't be baptized. It surprised
me. It shouldn't be a surprise. to
me or to any of us though, we should preach expecting the Lord
to save His people. I don't know if I heard this
or if I read it, but sometime recently there was a story about
Spurgeon and there was a pastor who came to him. He was down
and said that he was discouraged. There hadn't been a lot of conversions
under his preaching. Spurgeon said to him, he said,
well, you don't expect the Lord's going to save somebody every
time you preach, do you? And the man said, well, no, no,
I don't expect that. And Spurgeon said, well, there's
the problem. He said, you should preach every
time expecting God's going to save somebody. And the reason
we can expect that is found here in Acts 2 at the end of verse
47. It says, and the Lord added to the church daily such as should
be saved. I want to preach on this subject
of such as should be saved. Let's go back up and read just
for context. You know, Peter had stood up
and preached. We'll look at some of that. Verse 37 says, now when
they heard this, they were pricked in their heart. and said unto
Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what
shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, repent
and be baptized every one of you in the name of the Lord Jesus
for or because of the remission of sin, confessing Christ, confessing
your sins have been remitted, and you shall receive the gift
of the Holy Ghost. He'll seal you, as Paul said
in Ephesians 2. For the promise is unto you and
to your children, and to all that are far off, even as many
as the Lord our God shall call." That's what had happened to them.
He called them. And with many other words did
he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward
generation. Then they that gladly received
the word were baptized, and the same day there were added unto
them about 3,000 souls. Imagine that, 3,000 one day,
one message. And they continued steadfastly
in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, steadfastly in the
apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and 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 as every man
had need. And they, continuing daily with
one accord in the temple and 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 the church daily such as should be saved. And this
is what I just want us to focus on. The Lord adds to the church
daily such as should be saved. Now, first of all, we see who
does this work. The Lord. The Lord did this. The Lord did it. Jesus of Nazareth,
that man who walked this earth, is risen. He's risen. He is life. He is the life of
His people, and He is alive. He is the living God, and He's
the living God-man, and He's risen, and He's at the right
hand of the Father. Now, He conquered sin, and He
conquered the grave, and He conquered hell, and the grave couldn't
hold Him. Death couldn't hold Him. And
he arose and he is there right now alive at the right hand of
the Father. That was Peter's message. That's
what Peter declared to them on the day of Pentecost. Look there
at Acts 2 and look at verse 29. He said, men and brethren, let
me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David. He'd been quoting
some of the Psalms that David wrote. And he said, now let me
speak to you freely about the patriarch David. He's both dead
and buried. and his sepulchers with us unto
this day, therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn
with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins, according
to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. He seeing this before spake of
the resurrection of Christ when he said that his soul was not
left in hell, neither his flesh to see corruption." You know
there that David wasn't saying that Christ went to hell. He
suffered hell on the cross. That's what his people deserved.
He bore that living death on the cross, but the word here
is the grave. He didn't suffer him to stay
in the grave. He didn't suffer his body to
decay at all. This Jesus hath God raised up,
whereof we are all witnesses. And therefore, being by the right
hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise
of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this which you now see
and hear. The Lord's doing this, he said,
that same Jesus, he shed forth this which you now see and hear.
For David's not ascended into the heavens, but he saith himself,
the Lord said unto my Lord, sit there on my right hand until
I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of
Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom
you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. We're just saying
that we want to know more of His throne and His riches in
glory and what He's doing from His throne and this is what we're
talking about. The Lord worked everything there
that took place that day on the day of Pentecost. God also has
highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every
name. So when any time a people are assembled and united together
and the word goes forth and it's blessed and people are called
out to believe on the Lord Jesus. The Lord did that. The Lord did
it. The Lord did it. Now what did
the Lord do? The Lord added to the church. Peter said, he has shed forth
this which you now see and hear. He said there, this promises
to as many as the Lord our God shall call. He did this. He did
this. Look over at Ephesians 1 in verse
22. Ephesians 1.22 says, He put all
things under His feet and gave Him to be the head over all things
to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him. that filleth
all in all, and you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and
in sin. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
head, and each member together make up his body, and this church
is the fullness of him. In other words, it won't be full
till every member's called in. And he's the head, and the Lord
filleth all in all. The Lord added to the church.
The Lord added to the church. And you hath he quickened who
were dead. Now you think about when our
Lord walked this earth. It was the Lord who called his
apostles. The Lord did that. He added them.
He called them and assembled them. And just like all his disciples,
he's the one who's calling them. And he quickened them, and he
gave them faith, and he assembled them. And He sent them forth
to preach His Word. He gave them the Word to preach.
He gave them the heart to preach. He gave them the spirit to preach
and the ability to preach. You just think about the apostle
Peter. This is how we know this is all of the Lord. The same
Peter who denied the Lord three times and led the apostles away
from the Gospel and away from the ministry, stood up on the
day of Pentecost before that great multitude and preached
Christ boldly. The Lord did that. The Lord gave
him the spirit and gave him the power to do that. And so when
they went forth preaching, anytime anybody was made to hear that
word, just like it was here at today at Pentecost, anytime anybody
was pricked in their heart and made to see their need of the
Lord Jesus, the Lord did that. The Lord did that. And then when
he was crucified, This shows you this is of the Lord. When
He was crucified, the apostles and the disciples scattered,
and they had a mind to get out of Jerusalem. They'd just seen
the Lord Jesus crucified, but they had a mind to leave Jerusalem
altogether. And the Lord Jesus assembled
them. He came to them, and He assembled
them. And He assembled with them, and He kept showing them all
these proofs of who He is and what He had accomplished. Look
back there at Acts 1 in verse 3. Acts 1.3 it says, To whom
also He showed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible
proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things
pertaining to the kingdom of God, and being assembled together
with them. commanded them that they should
not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father,
which saith he, you have heard of me. He told them to wait there
till the Holy Spirit was poured out, just like he promised. But
do you see how even after he went to the cross and ascended
from the grave, he came back and assembled them, and he assembled
with them, and he gave them all these proofs Well brethren, he's
still doing that. Our Lord Jesus Christ is still
assembling his people, he's still assembling together with his
people, and he's still giving us infallible proofs of who he
is and what he's accomplished through the preaching of the
gospel. He's still doing this for his church. We're separated
by hills and valleys and miles. Not our Lord. He's in glory,
but he said wherever he's assembled his people together, he'll be
there. And he's in the midst of his
people. It's God which worketh in you, both to will and do of
his good pleasure. He's in the midst of his people.
And he keeps his people assembled to preach his word. They all
had this vain idea of what Christ would do. They thought he was
gonna establish a kingdom like David's, and they had this, it
was an ideal that they imagined of how it was gonna be, and even
how the church was gonna be. And very soon, they found the
apostles arrested and beaten. Very soon, they found troubles
within the church, even amongst those that the Lord had truly
called. But the Lord didn't stop assembling with them. He kept
them assembled, and he kept ministering to them through the Word, and
he kept adding to them, adding to the church, and he kept growing
them he had already added. He kept growing them through
the Word, through his providence, and the things he was teaching.
the Lord added to the church. Now he's been doing the same
for his church ever since. He's been doing the same. He
gathers, he assembles his people, and he's in the midst of his
people, and he is the one ministering to his people through the preaching
of the Word, through the Holy Spirit. He's growing each believer
up into him, those he's already called, and he's going to continue
to add to the church. Look over to Ephesians 4. Ephesians
4. Verse 10. He that descended is the same
also that ascended up far above all heavens. Why? That he might
fill all things. That he might do it. And he gave
some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some
pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for
the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. That's who he's doing this for,
his body, his church. Till we all come in the unity
of the faith, till we're all given faith to rest in Him, and
of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto
the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. What
did He just tell us the church is? It's His body, it's the fullness
of Him. You and I, as long as we're in
this life, we're not going to be a perfect man. None of us
are going to be perfect. Now you're growing in grace and
knowledge of Him, but what He's talking about right here is when
His body is complete, when He's called every one of His members
into His body, it will be the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ. And he's doing this, that we
henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried
about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning
craftiness whereby they lie and wait to deceive. You've heard
the truth now. You know the gospel and you can't
be deceived by a false gospel because the Lord's working in
your heart. He's teaching you in your heart. He said, my sheep
hear my voice. They know me. And you know when
it's a stranger's voice and it's not the gospel. And that's him
working in his people. And it says here, but speaking
the truth in love, we may grow up into him in all things, which
is the head, even Christ. From whom? It's all from Christ. The whole body is fitly joined
together. The only way anybody can be added
and fitly united with his people is by Christ doing it. That's
the only way. And that's the only ones that
are. That's really the only ones that are his body. It's the ones
he's worked us in. And they're compacted. They're
cemented together by that which every joint supplies. He's using
every member Every member is needed, just like every member
of the body. And it's all according to His effectual working in the
measure of every part, make an increase of the body unto the
edifying of itself in love. So our Lord does this, and our
Lord's the one who adds to the church, and He's promised. He
said, Lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the world.
This is His promise. That's His promise. Now thirdly,
how often does He add? How often does he add to the
church? It said the Lord added to the
church daily. Daily. This blessed my heart. This word daily means at God's
appointed time. It's God's appointed time. God
predestinated the time when he shall send the Spirit bring his
child under the gospel, preaching of the word, send the spirit,
and give us the heart, the spirit of adoption. Ephesians 1.5, he
said, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will. You know, Ezekiel talked about
the babe cast out in the field. And the Lord said, when I came
to you, it was the season of love. That's what this predestinated
time is. It's the season of love. When
He comes and He sends forth the Spirit of His Son into your heart,
crying, Abba, Father. And He gives you this spirit
of adoption. It's a predestinated time that He has set. The Father
has said it. Daily, somewhere in this world,
daily, we may not know about it here, but daily somewhere
in this world, the Lord is adding to his church. He's adding somebody
to his church daily, bringing them in, calling them, giving
them faith, bringing them to him daily. But even when we don't
see it, even when we don't see converts here, remember this
too, every day, The Lord is working all things together, not just
for the good of you who he has called, but he's working all
things together in the process of bringing his people and calling
them and adding them to the church. He's doing that every day. Long
before you ever believed the gospel, long before you or me,
either one, ever heard the gospel and were given faith to believe
the gospel, everything the Lord was working in our lives every
single day was bringing us to this appointed hour when we would
hear the gospel and be added to the church. Everything. Everything. Everything that's
coming to pass in our life right now is ruled by our Lord. Everything. And He is working this for us
right now, growing us up into Him through this gospel, but
He's also working everything to draw His people and add them. I've preached the gospel in places
and go away and not know what the Lord is going to do with
it. You know the word of the Lord never returns to Him void,
but you didn't see Him do anything. And a lot of years went past.
The seed was sown, but a lot of years went past, and then
the Lord brought them to here and added to the church. He's
doing it in His time, but all along, everything He's working
is daily adding to the church. Though we might not see that
time He does it to the time He brings it to pass, but it's always
Him daily bringing His people. to the gospel. We don't know
who they are right now, but he does. He does. And he's working
everything together for the good of his people, even those he
has not called yet. The Lord added to the church
daily. That gives me great comfort.
That gives me great comfort. You can't, you know, Really,
we all should know this. We all should feel this way.
I felt this when I first came here because it really dawned
on me, I can't make anybody come here to the gospel. I can't make
anybody stay. He has to do that. But you should feel the same
way because we all need each other to have the gospel. And
we can't make each other continue. But when he does it, he does
it. And you're going to continue. He's going to keep his people.
And that's comfort, that's assurance, and that's joy for those we love
knowing He's calling all His people. He's got the time set,
He's doing it on a daily basis. Now lastly, I want you to see
this. Who's He adding daily? It says
here, the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. That word saved means such as
have been saved. It means such as are being saved.
It means such as who have been made whole. That's what that
word means. Well, who should be made whole? Who should be saved? Such as
should be saved. Who are they? All those the Father
everlastingly loved. He chose his people in Christ
in divine election. And really, when he chose us
in Christ, because he trusted his people to Christ, we were
saved right then. We were made whole right then.
I love to read Romans 8 and read of God's purpose, and it's all
in the past tense. It's all in the past tense. He
did it all. When did he do all that? Ephesians
1, 3, and 4 says, he blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ, according as he has chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love. And we were in Christ,
blessed with all spiritual blessing, holy and without blame in our
Lord Jesus. Now, that was so. We were saved
in Him from eternity, in the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. And then when Christ came and He fulfilled the law,
and He laid down His life in a room instead of His people,
and He bore the wrath of God for His people and cried, It
is finished, we were saved. He sealed our pardon. He brought
in everlasting righteousness. We were justified in Him. He
purged our sins by His blood and made us the righteousness
of God in Him. And so, this is who should be
saved. The Lord added to the church
such as should be saved. Who are they? Well, the Father
chose them in Christ. Christ redeemed them. He justified
them. Justice demands they be called.
They are such they should be saved. They should be, the Spirit
of God should give them faith and give them life and give them
faith, grant them repentance, and bring them to Christ and
add them to this church. It should be. It should be. Remember,
they might be new to us. Lord, He may bring His child
in here and quicken them and give them faith, and you and
I had never even knew them before. But he knew them, and they weren't
new to him. And they've always been. He adds
them in our site, but they've always been in the church. They've
always been in the church. He wrote our names in the Lamb's
Book of Life before the world would. Christ said, I laid down
my life for the sheep. He knew who he was laying down
his life for, and he purchased us. So they gotta be quickened,
and they shall be. If there's one left out, If there's
just one left out, his body won't be full. Christ's body will not
be complete. The church is the fullness of
him. He's the head, we're the body,
and it must be full, must be full, and shall be. He said,
this is the Father's will which is sent me, that of all which
he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up again
until I stay. That's what he's doing. That's
what he's doing. What is this, I said to you,
that such as should be saved, such as should be made whole?
Look over at Matthew 9. Matthew chapter 9. This woman with the issue of
blood. In Matthew 9 verse 20. For behold, a woman which was
diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him
and touched the hem of his garment. For she said within herself,
If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. I shall be
saved. And it's going to be a lot more
than just her issue of blood. You and me got an issue of blood.
We got an issue of blood born of our father Adam, conceived
in sin. How are we going to be made whole?
I mean made whole. Look what he said, but Jesus
turned him about and when he saw her, he said, daughter, be
of good comfort. Thy faith hath made thee whole. And a woman was made whole from
that hour. Peter, not only was he used on
the day of Pentecost, the Lord used him to go to the Gentile
Cornelius. And the Lord called Cornelius
and others in his house who were gods. And Peter, when they came
down there wanting to add the law, Peter said this. He said,
God made a choice among us that the Gentiles by my mouth should
hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, which knoweth
the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even
as He did unto us, and put no difference between us and them,
purifying their hearts by faith." That's the sense in which they
should be saved. They should be made whole. They
have to be brought to believe on Christ. And when the Spirit
of God creates that new heart within us, It's whole. Your new man is whole. Find me. I'll give you some homework.
Go home and find me one place the scripture says something's
got to be done to your spirit when you die. Something's got
to be done to your new man when you die. Something's got to be
done to your body because it's of Adam. But nothing has to be
done to that new man because that's of God, created of God.
He's whole. He's whole. We're growing in
him, but he's whole. They were such as should be saved,
they should be made whole, and God did it to Cornelius and his
house by purifying their hearts through faith in Christ, just
like He did to a woman with the issue of blood. They've been
elected, they've been redeemed, they should be made whole through
faith in Christ, through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit.
Now brethren, that's comforting to us. You know, the devil might
have, he might have them locked up tight, But the gates of hell
shall not prevail. Christ will, he will get them
under the gospel and he will quicken their heart and he will
add them to the church because they should be saved. They should
be saved. Our Lord's given us one thing
to do. He's given us one thing to do. Hold forth the word of
life. hold forth the gospel. What he
did with Peter that day, and how he did it, is exactly what
the Lord's given us to do. To preach Christ and Him crucified,
risen, reigning, victorious. That's what He's given us to
do. And if He did that, saved 3,000 people through that message,
then that's the message we should preach. He's given us this one weapon
and He's going to conquer every enemy through this gospel. You
know, the Lord said, sit here at my right hand until I make
thine enemies thy footstool. You know the church is called
His footstool. The church is called His footstool.
We were enemies in our minds by wicked works. He's going to
bring us to His feet to trust Him. and we're going to be made
His footstool. And all those that are not His
are going to be made to bow and confess Him Lord as well. They're
all going to be made His footstool. Now let's see this illustrated
in Moses. Go over to Exodus 17. Exodus 17. Remember, this is
not something new. The Lord's been declaring this
in shadow and type all along. They came out of Egypt and they
started across the wilderness and Amalek attacked them. Well, Moses went up to the top
of the hill and he held up the rod of God, the banner, preaching
Christ and Him crucified, the Lord our banner. That's what
was pictured there. And look at verse 11, Exodus
17, 11. It says, And it came to pass,
when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed. And when he let down his hand,
Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy,
and they took a stone and put it under him. That stone's Christ. Anything that's going to give
us some stability is always Christ. They put a stone under him, and
he sat there on. And Aaron and her stayed up his
hands, the one on the one side, the other on the other side.
And his hands were steady to the going down of the sun. And
Joshua, our Savior, Jesus the Lord, discomforted Amalek and
his people with the edge of the sword. this gospel. And the Lord said to Moses, write
this for a memorial in a book and rehearse it in the ears of
Joshua for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek
from under heaven. And Moses built an altar and
he called the name of it Jehovah Nissi, the Lord our banner. Because
he said the Lord has sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek
from generation to generation. How are we going to win this
war? We simply raise up Christ our banner through the preaching
of the gospel. We're called to hold forth the word of life.
And here's what else we do. When you're tired. When your
brother's tired and weary, we're to help hold up one another's
hands. We're to help set one another on that rock so we can
together keep holding up the banner, preaching the gospel
through which the Lord's going to add to the church daily such
as should be saved. That's how we saw him, how the
stone cut out without hands is destroying those kingdoms. That's
how he's doing it. He's calling his people into
his kingdom. And when he's got the last one
called in, all the other kingdoms will be left to themselves and
destroyed. He's doing this work through
the preaching of the Word. The Lord added to the church
daily such as should be saved. That just comforts my heart,
blesses my heart to know that. Now, if the Lord has called you,
if you're sitting here and the Lord's called you for the first
time, There was people there at Jerusalem, they thought they
knew Him. There was people at Jerusalem, they was there for
a religious ceremony. And there's maybe some sitting
here that never professed faith in Christ at all. If you've been
given faith in the Lord Jesus, repent and be baptized. Confess
Him and believe His baptism and unite with us in this charge
that the Lord's given us to keep preaching His gospel. And for
you and I who He has called, Think of the privilege God's
given us. Think of the privilege the Lord's
given us. He's given us the privilege together
to preach Christ, to send forth this word, this gospel, through
which He will save people eternally. When I made that statement that
Martha wanted to be baptized, we ought to all have jumped to
the ceiling. It's somebody that's been saved from destruction. It's somebody that's been saved
for eternity. Saved in the blood of the Lamb.
And He used you to do that. He used you together, sending
this gospel forth, to do that. What a privilege. He doesn't
have to use us, but He did. What a privilege. Here's what
Paul said to us. Only let your conversation, your
conduct, be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether
I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs,
that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together
for the faith of the gospel, and in nothing terrified by your
adversaries. which is to them an evident token
of perdition, but to you of salvation and that of God. Let us help
one another and rest, always rest in this comforting good
news the Lord shall add to the church daily such as should be
saved. Father, we thank you for this
word. Thank You, Lord, for adding to the church daily such as should
be saved. You've done that here. You add
to those you've already called daily, growing us and teaching
us. And You've added Your people
through the years and such as should be saved. Lord, we thank
You. We ask You, Father, to give us
the grace to do everything with His preeminent
goal in mind that we're here to hold forth the gospel of life,
the gospel of Christ our life. Lord, by Your Spirit, we pray
that You would make us of one mind, make us strive together
for the faith of the gospel, make us, teach us and correct
us and make us to truly cease conducting ourselves in any other
way. Make us conduct ourselves as
one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. And
Lord, we trust You are in our midst, just like You were when
You walked this earth. And we trust You are ruling,
You are reigning, You are our salvation. And we trust, Lord,
You will You will continue to assemble with Your people. You'll
continue to keep us assembled. You'll continue to be in our
midst, won't forsake us. And Lord, we're ever, constantly,
always, entirely dependent on You. Lord, bless this word. We ask You to bless it to our
hearts and to the hearts of one of Your lost sheep. In Christ's
name, we ask You. Amen.