Let's open our Bibles back to
Acts 2. Read the last verse with me again,
verse 47. It says, They were praising God,
having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to the church
daily. such as should be saved, nor
those who were ordained to salvation before the world began. The Church,
what is it? The Church, what is its purpose?
The Church, what does it do? What's it all about? Why are
we here? The Church. We labor this point a lot, that
the Church is not a building. That's the reason I would like
for us to get that out of our vocabulary when we say, I'm going
to church. One of the old writers said,
you don't go to church, you are the church. It's not a building. It's not
a building at all. We need to change our vocabulary.
Church is people. The word church means a gathering
of people. What does it mean? It means those
who are called out. The word church means called
out, a calling out. That's what church means. Iglesia. It's interesting. The Greek word
is iglesia, and that's what they call the church in Spanish. That's
la iglesia. That's the word, which is truer. to the original. Well, the Church
is not a building, it's people. Iglesia, people, chosen by God,
redeemed by Christ, taught and led by his Holy Spirit. The reason
I would like to get rid of that term, well, there's the Methodist
Church. No, it's not. The Church in Scripture
was just called the Church. Someone asked me again the other
day, well, on an airplane. He found out I was a preacher,
and I said, I hate to ruin your day, when he asked me what I
did. But we start talking, and what
denomination are we? How many? You know, same question.
But denomination, you know. The Lord denominated, or that
is, distinguished his people. apart from the world one way,
the Church, be called out, the chosen ones, my people, the Church. Now, look at Matthew 16 with
me. Matthew 16. This is not just
a message on the Church. This is, well, I hope it will
be a message concerning our salvation and how God has chosen us, redeemed
us. Why he did it, and what we're
doing here. Matthew 16 is the first time
the word is used in Scripture. And who, you want to know who
it was that first uttered the word, church? Our Lord himself. That's fitting. That's fitting. Look at Matthew 16, verse 18. And Christ said unto thee, I
say unto thee, Peter, that thou art Peter. And upon this rock
I will build my church. I will build my church. And the gates of hell shall not
prevail against us." Now, what was he talking about? When I
said this down in the Dominican, the Republic of Dominica, their
eyes lit up. holy Catholic. It's holy Catholic
down there. It just dominates the land. Ninety-nine
percent Catholic. And I said this, now our Lord,
I preached this very message. I said, now our Lord is not saying
that He's going to build the church on Peter. They all knew
what That meant something to them, because that's what is
being said today, that Peter is the apostle upon whom all
the popes got their apostolic succession from. The Lord built
his church on Peter. Oh, no. On the rock. On this rock. Not Peter. He called
Peter a little stone, but on this big rock. profession of
faith. Amy is when Peter said, Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And he said, this
is the rock, your confession. This is what all the church is
going to be built on, knowing who I am. They're going to have
one foundation. It's no other but me. This is the rock, this confession
of who Christ is and what he did. I'm going to build my church
on this rock. My church. I'll build my church. That's the first point. It's
the Lord's church. It's the Lord's church. Look
back at the text. Acts chapter 2. Look at verse
47 again. It says, The Lord added to the
church. And the Lord added to the church.
So-and-so joined the church. He joined an organization. He didn't join the church, because
the Lord adds to his church. The Lord does the calling, and
the Lord does the adding, he said. Except the Lord built the
house. Why, they're laboring in vain
that try to build it. The Lord added to the church,
such as should be said, such according to His purpose and
His will. It's the Lord's church. It's
His chosen. It's his elect, it's his sons, it's his children.
There's not one person in here who decided for their parents
to have them. Not one person in here chose
their parents. Neither has one believer in here
chosen to be a member of God's church. The Lord added to the
church. It's his church. His church. And this is important to remember. We're so blessed here. You really can't appreciate this,
what we have here. You just can't appreciate it
until you go out of this country. You can't do it. That little group down there
is struggling to exist. They're trying to find a place
to meet, and it's so expensive. And they're looking at little
places, people that you, well, mighty poor. That's all they
can afford. And then one of the brethren
told me, he said, you know, if we find a place to meet and we
rent it and all, we have no promise that we'll get to keep it. Because
he said the government or the Catholic, he said the Catholic,
organization has shut down many places, just came in and said,
we're closing these doors. What a blessing we have here.
We just don't know. But I said these things to them.
The reason I preached this message to them, the reason I believe it was so vital
to them, it's the Lord's church. You see this church here in Jerusalem?
They're meeting in an upper room. I mean, their lives are in danger,
literally. People in the Dominican lives
aren't in danger. If these people were, well, the Lord kept adding
thousands to the church. But they still had to meet in
fear. But no, wait a minute now. No,
you don't either. No, you don't. I told those folks, don't worry. Our Lord said, it's my church
and hell won't prevail against you. They move you out because
He's got a better place for you. It's the Lord's church. See,
this is great comfort to God's people. He chooses us, He leads
us, He guides us, He teaches us, He provides for us, He protects
us. Those people down there have
been through some strict religion. Strict religion. Reformed religion. And you mention the word elder,
and they just cringe. You mention the word elder, or
ruler. Men have just had them under
bondage. And I said, people, I said, forget
it. Forget your past. Forget all
the religion that you've ever been a part of. Forget it. You're
the Lord's church now. This is the gospel of God's Grace. And grace is altogether different. So this is family. La familia.
It's mucho mejor. You understood that, didn't you,
Sherry? It's much better. This is the Lord's church. And
while the Lord does use men, they're His men. And they're
men after His own heart, you see. He said, I'll give you pastors
after my own heart, just like I am. And I said what one of my dear
brethren said one time, it's going to be good. It's going
to be good. I said, it'll be interesting
to see who the Lord brings as your pastor. It's going to be
good. You've never had it this good.
It's the Lord's church, he said. Hell won't prevail against it.
Nothing and no one can hurt it. All right, back here at Acts
chapter 2. The church is a gathering of believers. It's the Lord's
church. He called them. He chose them. He ordained them. He gave them to his Son to redeem
them. Christ did everything to save
them, and he saved them. It's nice, isn't it? When Christ
said, It's finished, what he was saying was the complete,
full, final, eternal salvation of all of the people that God
chose from the foundation of the world and gave to me in a
covenant of grace. that I came to live for and die
for, their salvation is accomplished. So it's God's church, God's people. The church is a gathering of
believers. Christ said, I'll send my Holy
Spirit. Look at verse 41. They that gladly
received his word were baptized. Verse 41. Why? Why did they receive this word?
Not everyone did. In many places where the apostles
went preaching, and people gnashed their teeth and laid hold on
them. Well, here, these people bit their lips and tongues in
anguish over their own sin, and they laid hold on Christ. Huh? Well, who made them to differ?
It's the Lord's church. He said, Lord, as many as were
ordained to eternal life, Acts 13, verse 48, as many as were
ordained to eternal life, believe. Here's just a word in passing. I used a bilingual Bible while
I was down there so I could compare what they were reading And what
I was reading, and I can read Spanish pretty well, and I looked
at that Acts 13.48. You see, people,
this is one of the verses of Scripture which modern translations
butcher. They just butcher it. They change
it subtly. Change it. The average person
wouldn't see it. If you change a word of God's
Word, you've changed it. You've turned salvation by grace
into works. Just change it. Just turn it
around a bit. Just twist it. This Acts 13.48 says, When the
Gentiles heard this, what? Same message Peter preached.
Christ crucified. Christ risen. Christ ascended.
Christ glorified. Christ sovereign. on the throne,
Christ, Lord of glory, Christ. And they heard this and they
were glad. Oh, they were so glad. And glorified the word of the
Lord, read on, and as many as were ordained to eternal life,
believe. Did you read that? As many as
were ordained to eternal life, believe. That is, those that
believed did so because the Lord ordained them before the world
began to have salvation and to someday hear this gospel and
receive it by grace, he say, through faith. And that's not
yourself. It's the gift of God. It's according to the working
of his mighty power. They believed. They wouldn't
have believed otherwise. I looked at the Spanish verse
right across the page from it, and I said, wait a minute. I
said, don't read that yet. Does that say what
I think it says? Does that say as many as believe
were obtained eternal life? He said, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's
not how it was written. I said, you read it this way,
the way it was written. And he did. You see, the church
is a gathering of believers, and they believe because God
gave them faith. Go back to the text, verse 41. David gladly received his word. And you've experienced it, the
people you know. your family and others that you
try to speak the gospel to, they don't gladly receive the word.
I see different faces come in here, new faces come in here
all the time, and hear the same word you're hearing, the same
gospel. What gospel? Christ ascended,
Christ glorified, Christ sovereign, Christ effectual. And while you
smile, most of you smile. I see frowns of indignation on
the faces of others, visitors. Why did you gladly receive the
Word, Brother Dan? Why aren't you still in religion
and still holding to a false profession of faith and still
clinging to your own righteousness and not begging Christ for His?
It's the Lord's Church, and they gladly receive His Word. Would
you turn quickly? to 2 Thessalonians 2, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, they
gladly, that's a key word, gladly, you know, they gladly received
his word. It's not a mere mental assent,
it's not a mere, okay, I believe that, that doesn't make sense,
so that's what it says, so it must be such. No, it's a, what
do you, when you receive something gladly, where do you receive
it? With a head, man can figure some
things out. Boy, with a heart, man believeth. There's a difference. With a
heart, man believeth. See, where the heart is, that's
where the affection is. Where the heart is, that's where
the inner man, the bowels that Paul talked about in Philippians. The inner man, the inmost man
with the yearning of the heart. 2 Thessalonians 2. And I'll tell
you what I told those people. I don't have anything different
to say. This is the exact same message. And I went over it again, you
know, and I thought, well, they're the same people, just different
language. Why do I have you turn to so
many scriptures? I know it takes a little effort, Because God's, the church now
is more noble than religion. Religion today is not even using
this book, folks. They're not even using this book. But the church is like those
Bereans who the scripture says were more noble than other Jews
in that they searched the scripture to see if these things were so.
They went home, they took their Bibles out. And they said, let's
see if what Peter said is so. I'm not going to believe it until
I see what God says. And they read it. Well, it is
the Word of God, isn't it? 2 Thessalonians 2, I can quote
this, start to finish. It's my favorite verse. But I want you to read it. Verses
13 and 14. We're bound to give thanks always
to God for you, brethren. We're bound to give thanks to
God. We're here to thank God for you, not you for God. We're
here to thank God for bringing you here, not thank you for coming
here. We're here to thank God for doing
what he has done for us, not to thank men for doing something
for Jesus, you see. We're here, we're bound. by his
mercy, by his love, by his grace, by his truth, we're bound. Peter
said, we can't help it. When you're bound, you can only
do what you can do. We're bound to give thanks to
God, brethren, beloved of the Lord. Always to God, always at
all times. To God for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord. have from the beginning chosen
you to salvation. You didn't choose him, he chose
you, so we're bound to give thanks to him. Always, every time we
meet, it's a thanksgiving. We have thanksgiving not one
day a year, but 365 days a year. And we don't cook turkey, we
roast lamb. Our thanksgiving We're bound
to give thanks to God, always to God, every time. This is a
thanksgiving meet, a celebration of thanksgiving. Because He's chosen you from
the beginning to salvation. Through what? How? What means?
Sanctification of the Spirit? And I told those sweet people
about the caballeros, cowboys, you know, who take their ropes
and lasso a cow they got on, you know. That's still the best
illustration I know of you. How a cowboy is going to put
his brand on one of these calves that he has in mind. There he
is. There he is. He's got him. He draws him with
a cord. With a rope. Binds him. Puts that brand on
him. And that's exactly what the Holy
Spirit does. The Holy Spirit goes looking
for Christ's own. He goes looking for Christ's
people. How does he know them? They have blood on them. And he sanctifies, he sets them
apart from the rest of the world. He culls them out of the herd.
There he is. And he draws them with cords.
Cords of blood. Cords of man. The gospel. And
puts his brand on them. See? They belong to a man with
the initial C. Christ's own. And they're his
forever. And no rustlers are going to
get them. Well, through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth, the Holy Spirit, you see, this
is what sanctifies. Right, Sanctuary? This is what
makes them saints, sanctifies them, sets them apart from the
world, belief of the truth. They believe the truth. Look
at verse 10. Verse 10 says, those that receive
not the love of the truth, they receive not the love of the truth. Some may indeed receive the truth
of the truth, but not the love of the truth. Like that woman, Todd Nybert's
mother was in a a Bible class in her university years ago. She was in a Bible class. I've
told you this. And this professor of religion
that was teaching said, he said, now the Bible is Calvinistic. And Miss Nyberg said, you could
hear this, the gasps. Of all those religions, if anybody
doesn't know, Calvinism is the gospel. Calvinism is the apostles' doctrine.
We're going to see in a minute, if I hurry. But this man said,
this Bible is Calvinistic. And the people started raising
their hands in protest. He said, put your hands down.
He said, I didn't ask for discussion. He said, that's what it says. He said, I don't believe it.
But if I did, I'd be a cop. You see, he didn't receive the
love of the truth. He had to, as a professor looking
at the Word, you know, he looked at it and said, well, that's
what it says, doesn't it, Lec? That's what it says, doesn't it? But
he didn't receive the love of it. He didn't love it. the difference in God's people
and the world, and even those who say they love the truth.
They love it. Love of the truth. Verse 14 says, He called you
by our gospel. That's the reason we call it
our gospel, don't we, Stan? It's our gospel. That's the reason
Paul's in my gospel. You can have your own gospel.
That's what Paul is saying. You can have your gospel, or
as a matter of fact, as Scott Richardson said, each is on Heaven
and earth is on poison. You can have that old guy. You
can have a God who's not God. I don't want him. You can have
a Christ who doesn't save a flea. I don't want him. You can have
mercy that's not mercy. Love that's not love. Grace that's
not grace. Eternal salvation that's not
eternal. This is my gospel. This is my gospel. It's our gospel. It's our gospel.
Now church, I'm going to get like Fred Woods
in a minute if I don't hear somebody say something. Our gospel, our
gospel, the gospel, church is called out by this gospel. This
is how you know them. This is how you know them. They're
sheep. The sheep hear the shepherd's voice. It's a clear voice. It's a distinct voice. It's a
voice of sovereignty, power, glory, honor. It's such a shepherd's voice. The
church is called out by it. And it says that they gladly
received it. They gladly received it. Verse
42, back in our text. Hurry. Acts chapter 2, verse
42. It says they gladly received
it. Oh, they loved to hear it. Oh, they loved what they were
hearing. Oh, that was so good. So good. And it says they were baptized,
and we have been thinking about this, haven't we? Baptism, that's
just a confession of Christ, a public confession of Christ.
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. Steadfastly. Steadfastly, that means unmoved,
grounded, and settled. When something is fast, stayed upon Jehovah. The old term stay, when you stay
something. Henry, you were in the army once.
You live in tents sometimes? Well, what kept the tents up?
Stays. Stay. You drove some stakes,
didn't you? You drove some stakes. That's
stay. Stay. To make it steadfast. Grounded,
he grounded. The longer the stay, the surer
the tabernacle, he said. The deeper the stay, the surer
the tabernacle. The longer it will stand. Well,
they were steadfast, unmoved. They won't move. They won't change.
Peter, who had gladly received this word from the Lord Himself.
Peter, who was chosen by God. Peter, member of the church. Not head, but member. Peter stood before a group of
men who said to him, you preach one more time in that name and
we're going to kill you. We're going to beat you within
an inch of your life. We've got a cat of nine tails
here that we can absolutely kill a man with. Forty stripes, save
one. You preach one more time in that
name. We're going to lay your backs
wide open." Peter said, pick it up boys. Should we obey God or men? He stood there while they beat
him. And then when they let him go,
they let him go according to God's purpose, because God had
more for Peter to do. They let him go and he went out
of there. no pain. It says, rejoicing. That's what
it said. He went out of there, now his
back was flaying open, and he went out of there, he and his
brethren rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer
such shame for his name. This is steadfast. Martin Luther stood before a
modern Sanhedrin All those pious popes and bishops and all that,
cardinals, stood before all of them. And they said to him, we're
going to... And he's by himself. He's by
himself. And they said to him, we're going to kill you. This
is over for you. You renounce what you've been
preaching. You renounce it. And he said,
I love these words, he said, Here I stand. I can do no other. You see what steadfast means,
Barbara? I'm not going anywhere. I'm not
moving. I'm not going to believe anything
else. I stand right here on Christ's side. And I stand. All other
ground is sinking sand. You can sink. I'm going to stand. Well, it says they continued
steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. Look at it, verse 42,
the apostles' doctrine. What's the apostles' doctrine?
Now, I heard a man from England in this very pulpit, years and
years ago, preach on this text. And he never told us what the
apostles' doctrine was. Oh, it was a pretty sermon. And
it sounded so good in that English dialect. I thought he was real
smart, and I was real impressed. I was a young man with his English
accent, so impressed. But he never preached the Apostle's
Doctrine. Some of you recognize he were
here, too. What is the Apostle's Doctrine? What was preaching? What did
they preach? What did Peter preach? The Pentecost. What was Peter's
doctrine? God. Not God wants, God loves, God
pleads. Won't you let God? God who is
God. Holy, sovereign, just. They never
said the word love one time. It was just a holy, sovereign,
just, offended, angry God on a throne. And man dead. Man helpless. Man hopeless in
this God's hand. Man totally at the totally at
the mercy of this holy and sovereign God, totally. That they'll only
be saved if God saves them. But God, who's rich in mercy,
has chosen the Son. God elected a people. As the
sands of the seas and the stars of the sky elected, chose a people.
He had chosen them. Because they're dead, and He's
God. And He chose and elected these people, and He gave them
to His Son. His only begotten well-beloved
righteous son of the Most High God who came down here in human
flesh to live like they couldn't live and establish a perfection,
he demanded that God accept a robe that he
wrought with his own precious hands and wrap them in it. Therefore,
God said, they're holy too. And then he went to Calvary's
cross with all of their sins. All of the sins of God's people
from the beginning to the end, all of the sins of God's people
were laid on Him, and by His stripes, they are healed. By
the punishment He suffered for them, their sins are gone. There
is therefore now no condemnation to them that were in Christ when
He hung on that tree. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies it. Who is He that condemns it? died,
and that payment was full and final and complete. He has particular
redemption. And then he sends the Holy Spirit
to everyone that Christ did that for, and every single one of
them are going to hear that message, not another, the gospel. El, not un, el, the gospel, not
a gospel, not otro, another gospel. I'm preaching in tongues this
morning, aren't I? The gospel. Nuestros gospel,
our gospel. They'll hear that gospel. There's
only one, one faith, and one Lord who gives it. And they'll
believe, not just believe, they'll receive. glad hearts. That's just what I've been waiting
on. That's what the Holy Spirit does,
and then they'll keep on believing. Yes, they will. Hell or high
water won't keep them from it. Sickness or death won't keep
them from it. Distress, anguish, tribulations, trials, temptations
won't keep them from it. Why? Because Christ said, That's my church. And hell doesn't
have anything to say about it. Yeah, but look at him, look what
he, look what they're... That's my church. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect. That's the apostles doctrine.
No less, no more. That's the apostles doctrine.
And they continued. People, you're hearing the same
message that you heard However many years ago it was, you heard
it. Some of you say, I don't know
when you first heard the gospel. Some of you. Henry, many years
ago. Is this different? Same message? Exact same message? I mean, exact. Jot and fiddle. They continued
steadfast. See, here you are. Here you are. steadfast in the apostles' doctrine.
And I've got to quit. And fellowship, I love that word,
fellowship. It is what it sounds. Fellows,
the same ship. It didn't translate that way
in Spanish. They missed a blessing, fellowship. They don't have a
word like that. But fellowship, I like that. What this is, is
a bunch of fellas in a boat. We're in an ark. We're in an
ark. How are we going to be safe,
fellas? Huh, fellas? Sam? The waves are crashing,
buddy. The rain's pouring, man. The
world's dying out. How are we going to be safe,
Sam? What about it, fellas? This boat, this ark, that ark
is crap. That ark is crap. Noah and all
of his family, God's family, God's chosen, were in that same
boat. They were in the same boat. And
they didn't need paddles. God was directing the ship. They
were in the same boat, Barbara. And I know who was at the helm.
The captain of their salvation. Nancy was a rudderless ship.
Didn't need one. The wind bloweth where it lifted. The captain was guiding the boat. Fellowship. Isn't that a good
word? Fellowship. Hope you never forget that. Fellows
in the same ship. All God's people. And truly,
our fellowship is with the Father. with his son. Fellowship. And
it says, in breaking of bread, that's the Lord's table, prayers
for one another. Fear came upon all. Wonders and
signs were done by the apostles. People, you're listening and
looking at it with wonder. You really are. You just can't
believe it. Verse 44, all that believed worked
together and had all things common. They sold their possessions,
or that is, whatever was needed. There were needs to be met, and
they sold what was necessary to do it. And they continued
daily with one accord. Back then, they didn't have,
you know, it wasn't the same as here now. Time, I guess, and
they met every day. The folks down there got all
the juice out of the orange every night. Every night I was hoping
they'd say, let's take a break. But every day they met together,
daily, with one accord. That is, one purpose, one heart,
one mind. To do what? Just to hear the
gospel. In a temple, breaking bread. They'd eat their meat
with gladness. We've eaten meat this morning.
Gladness, singleness of heart, one heart, one purpose, one accord.
This is what the Church is all about, verse 47. Praising God. praise in God. When you come
in the Church, what you'll hear is what you'll hear every time
you come in the Church. You'll hear the gospel. You'll
hear Christ. I have lived to that. You'll
see the same thing. You'll hear the same thing. And I'm getting into Wednesday's
message. And these were things I believe
were so important to a young church being established. What
do you do in the church? What's the church all about?
What do you do? Do you have programs and this and that? No. What were
they doing? What were they doing? We're going
to do it just like they're doing. Like my wife one time said, do
things in the Church and worship exactly like they did it in the
Scripture, so that if the Apostle Paul or Peter came into our service,
he could sit down and say, this is the way it ought to be done. This is the way it is. Worshiping God in the Spirit,
rejoicing in Christ Jesus, with no compass in the flesh. All right, may the Lord bless
that. John, what number is it? 186? 186. This is a great hymn. We've been singing some great
hymns concerning the Church, and this is probably the best
of them all. The Church is one foundation wherein we stand.
All right, let's stand. you. The Church's one foundation is
Jesus Christ, her Lord. She is His new creation, the
water and the Word. of her and for her life He died. He lives from every nation and
on over all the earth. Earth to earth a salvation, one
Lord, one faith, one birth, one holy And to one hope she presents
with every grace entombed. Yet he honors that union with
God the free and one, And makes him great communion with those
who trust him not. O happy ones and holy, they'll
give us grace as we Like them the meek and lowly are I made
well with thee.