Lessons gonna come this morning
again from Acts chapter 2 and I'm gonna go back you to 41,
but we're gonna pick up in 42 with the context but Luke, the writer here, said in
Luke 2.41, Then they that gladly received Peter's word, the word
of the Lord, through the apostle Peter, they were baptized. And
the same day there were added unto them about three thousand
souls. As you know, the context of this
message is Pentecost. I've said this on a few occasions,
but it's Pentecost where Peter preached the gospel and men ask
him, what shall we do? And he's told them. And 3,000
of them were converted to the Lord. And it says here in verse
42, And those that were converted, those three thousand, along with
the apostles, they continued steadfastly in the apostles'
doctrine and fellowship. And in breaking of bread and
in prayers, and fear came upon every soul, and many wonders
and signs were done by the apostles. It's important to note here that
those the Lord added to the church are those who remained under
the apostles' doctrine. They stayed under the gospel.
They stayed where the gospel was preached. Go on to verse
44 now. And all that believed were together
and had all things common and sold their possessions and goods
and parted them to all men as every man had need. The early
church was under extreme persecution, as you might remember. They banded
together here. They shared their goods. They
might have lost their jobs. They might have been alienated
from the church and isolated from their families because of
the stand they took in the Gospel. And although members of the Church
in this day and age, we aren't under that kind of personal affliction
because of our stand in the Gospel, God has blessed all of us abundantly
with the necessities we need to live, and yet we do share
the same common bond spiritually. We are met together here this
morning because of a common interest that we've gained through the
preaching of the gospel. It's that gospel we share. It's
that Savior we believe in and rest all of our salvation in.
And it's that fellowship we share in that. We have that common
bond that keeps us together. Look on to verse 46 in Acts 2.
It says, 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. That's where my title comes from
today, that last verse, 47. The Lord added to the church.
That's the final word recorded here by Luke after Peter's preaching
at Pentecost. This statement the Lord added
to the church. It's indicative of what the Lord
did in the days of the apostles under that preaching. He added
to the church. It's also indicative of what
the Lord continues to do in our generation. He's still adding
to the church under the preaching of the gospel. And it's indicative
of what He will continue to do as long as this world stands.
He's going to continue to add His people to the church under
the preaching of the gospel. The Lord is long-suffering to
his church. He will not stop adding to the
church until his church is complete That is until the last sinner
that is certain to be added has been added look at 2nd Peter
chapter 3 in verse 9 I'm going to show you a couple of familiar
scriptures here that verify what I just said. The Lord is not
slack concerning his promise, Peter wrote here, as some men
count slackness, but is longsuffering to us for it, not willing that
any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. The
promise in this context is a promise of Christ's return for his church.
He's longsuffering to us for it. who's usward. It's the church. He's long-suffering to his church,
not willing that any single one of his church should perish,
but that all should come to repentance. All will be added. Then look
at Matthew chapter 16 and verse 18. Now, the context of this
passage is where the Lord asked, who do men say that I am? And
they said, well, you're Jeremiah or Isaiah, one of the prophets
risen from the dead. And He asked His disciples, but
who do you say that I am? And Peter made that great declaration. Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. And this is what Christ said.
And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this
rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not
prevail against it, the rock being the declaration of Christ
as the Son of God, and all that he came to do and did accomplish
by his death. For our lesson today, I want
us to examine this statement, the Lord added to the church,
and we'll do it under four points. Who is the church, first of all?
What is meant by added to? What did the Lord do? What is
he doing when he adds to the church? And who is doing the
adding? And then that last point, who
is being added? I'm not gonna get to that in
this lesson. I already know I won't get that far, but those are the
four points that will be contained in this message, and it'll be
continued on at a later date. First point, who is the church? What did the Lord add to in the
days of the apostles? What's he adding to now in our
generation? And what's he going to continue
to add to as long as this world remains? He's going to continue
adding to the church. And the church, who is the church? Well, it's not this building
we meet in. It's not a place. The church
is a body of sinners. And I want us to understand this
body of sinners from the scripture in two ways today. First of all,
the church is that body of sinners that has always been. It's always
been known of God. These are those sinners known
by God and named by God before the world began. They are those
whose names have been written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Look
at Revelation chapter 21 and verse 27. And there shall in no wise enter
into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination,
or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book
of life." These names are written before the world began. And this
book that was referred to here in Revelation, that same book
was referred to by Moses and the Lord in Exodus chapter 32,
verses 32 and 33. Moses said to the Lord, after
Israel had committed a great sin, for which the Lord said,
why don't I just destroy the whole nation and raise up a new
nation through you? Here's what the Lord said, what
Moses said to the Lord. He said, Yet now, if thou wilt
forgive their sin, and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of
thy book which thou hast written. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Whosoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my
book. And Christ made reference to
this book, this Lamb's Book of Life written before the foundation
of the world. He made reference to this book
to his disciples. In Luke chapter 10 and verse
20, He had sent the disciples out two by two and he'd given
them power to heal the sick and do all manner of miracles among
the people. And they came back just elated
that they had been given such power. And he said to them, notwithstanding
in this, rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you,
but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.
The Scriptures describe the church as that multitude of sinners
known and named by God before the world began. Also, the church
is that body of sinners who make up the body of Christ. Look at
Ephesians chapter 2, verses 22 and 23. Paul writes, and hath put all
things under his feet, that's Christ's 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 then look at
Colossians 1.24. Who now rejoice in my sufferings
for you and fill up all that which is behind of the afflictions
of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church. The church is made up of those
sinners who have been redeemed by Christ out of every kindred
and nation. Look at Revelation 5 and verse
9. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take
the book, and to open the seals thereof. For thou wast slain,
and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred,
and tongue, and people, and nation. Who did Christ redeem? He redeemed
the church. He redeemed every sinner he was
given before the world began. He redeemed every sinner known
and named by God from the foundation of the world. And the church
didn't begin with the coming of Christ. Abel, Moses, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, all the Old Testament saints, each one of them was
a member of the church, just as much as those that have been
added to the church in this generation. There's a mention of the church
in the wilderness in Acts 7.38. And as Winston referenced last
week from Psalm 125, Mount Zion in the Old Testament is a name
of the church, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever. And we could go on and on scripturally
identifying the church from the Old and the New Testaments. But
the first way I want you to understand the church from the Scriptures,
it says, It's a body of sinners who have been known and named
by God from the foundation of the world, those whose names
have been written and cannot be unwritten. Those of a fixed
number that cannot be added to are taken away. And you say,
well, how in the world can that fit this context? Because it
said the Lord added to the church. Well, we have to understand the
church in a second way, a different way. So we want to do that. Although
the church is those known and named by God from the foundation
of the world, the church has to be identified and distinguished
in this world and from this world. Each individual sinner who makes
up the church must be added to it. in each successive generation. That's what we'll understand
in this message as we look at the Lord added to the church.
The Greek word for church is ekklesia. It's a combination
of kaleo, which is to call, and ek, which means out of. And it
consists of those called out. It's the called out ones, those
called out of something. We usually see these listed in
the scripture as the call. And let's look at a few of these
where the church is identified this way. Look at Romans 1, chapter
5, I mean, Romans 1, verse 5 through 7. Paul says, By whom you have
received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among
all nations for his name, among whom are you also the called
of Jesus Christ. To all that be in Rome, beloved
of God, called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And look at Jude 1 and
there's only one chapter in Jude, Jude 1 and 2. Jude, the servant
of Jesus Christ, the brother of James, to them that are sanctified
by God the Father and preserved in Christ Jesus and called, mercy
unto you and peace and love be multiplied. And then look at
Galatians 1, 15 and 16. Paul said, But when it pleased
God, who separated me from my mother's womb, he was one of
those named by God before the world began, separated from his
mother's womb. and call me by His grace. When
it pleased God to reveal His Son in me that I might preach
Him among the heathen, immediately I conferred not with flesh and
blood." Individual members of the church are made known. That
is, they're identified and distinguished by their calling. They are the
called-out ones. What are they called out of?
Well, they're called out of three things. They're called out of
darkness. They're called out of ignorance.
They're called out of idolatry. First, every sinner who's been
added to the church has been called out of darkness unto light.
We're going to look at a familiar passage in John chapter 3 verses
16 through 21. I chose John 3 because it contrasts
the difference between darkness and light. Look at John 3, 16
here. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but
have everlasting life." Now, I'm just going to say this briefly.
You know, you and I believed this a long time before God brought
us to the Gospel. We believed that God loved every
person, every sinner ever born into the world. We believed that
Christ came to die for every sinner born into the world. And
we believed and preached, I preached and taught that if you would
just believe that Christ died for you, God would save you.
In other words, you weren't saved, you weren't delivered from the
wrath of God and put in His favor, but if you'll believe, you will
be. That's what I used to preach
about this verse. But who did God love here? It says He loved
the world. Who did He give His Son for?
He gave Him for the world. He gave His Son in order that
the world He loved would not perish, but would live eternally. The world here and the church
in Acts 2 are one and the same. They're those known and named
by God before the foundation of the world. They can't perish.
There's no way any one known and named by God. There's no
way that any one God sent His Son for and that the Son laid
down His life for. The one whose sins were borne
in the body of Christ on the tree and the one in whose name
and nature Christ established that righteousness by which God
justifies sinners. There's no way they can leave
this world in a state of perishing. In fact, I'm going to show you
in a little bit, they've never been in a state of perishing.
They can't perish, because Christ came. That's why He came, to
deliver them from perishing. And that's what He reiterates
here in John 3, 17. It said, for God sent not His
Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world
through Him might be saved. They can't perish. Christ came
to save them, and He did save them. and they will live forever,
eternally, because of Christ's work for them. Although the church
was known and named by God from the foundation of the world,
each individual must be distinguished from the world around them in
each successive generation. They must be brought to this
Son who was given. Look at verse 18 of John 3. He
that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth
not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. Now the first line in this verse
here, he that believeth on him is not condemned, that's just
a statement of fact. It doesn't say he was condemned,
but if he'll believe, he'll become uncondemned. It doesn't say that.
I used to believe it did, but it doesn't. Believing on the
Son is giving evidence that a sinner is not condemned. When a sinner
believes on the Son that God gave, on the Son whose death
put away God's wrath for every sinner he died for, and established
that righteousness by which God justifies that sinner, believing
on that Son is evidence that you're not condemned. It's not
a condition that we meet in order to be delivered from condemnation.
Not believing, that is, refusing to believe on that sun, is evidence
that a sinner is condemned. That's what that verse says.
Now let's look on to John 3, 19. It says, And this is the
condemnation, that light is coming to the world, and men love darkness
rather than light, because their deeds were evil. Now this is
that contrast I said this context speaks of, the contrast between
darkness and light. It says, and men loved darkness
rather than light. These men preferred the darkness
to the light. They heard the Gospel. But they
insisted on continuing on in the darkness. They insisted on
continuing on believing that their efforts, that their believing
or their repenting or their reforming had something to do with their
acceptance with God. The light hears the Gospel. It's
the declaration of the Son given who has saved every sinner from
the wrath they deserve and saved them unto an unchangeable standing
of righteousness that they could never deserve based on anything
found in them. The darkness is any notion by
sinners that our acceptance with God has anything whatsoever to
do with anything found in us, anything we've done, anything
we might think God has enabled us to do. What are all by nature
in darkness about? We're in darkness about the Son
that's been given. We're in darkness about who He
is, God and man in one person. We're in darkness about what
He's done. What has He done? He saved His
people from their sins. And we're in darkness about the
Son. The Scripture tells us that the Father alone knows the Son,
the Son given. And that Son must be revealed.
We don't know Him by nature. We don't know Him until God brings
us to the Gospel. Look at Matthew 11, 27. Bill
had us turn to this Scripture in the back, but let's look at
it again. He said, All things are delivered unto Me and My
Father, and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father. Neither
knoweth any man the Father, save or except the Son, and he to
whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. None of us knows the Son
by nature. The Son is revealed in the Gospel. God has to sit us down under
the Gospel. And it's in that Gospel that
we learn of the Son that's been given. The Son who has saved
His people from their sins. Let's look on to John 3.20. It
says, For everyone that doeth evil hates the light, neither
comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. Doing
evil, as I've already said, is continuing to think that our
acceptance with God has anything to do with something done in
us, something we do. Those who do that continue to
do evil, hate the life. They hate the gospel. Why? Because
the gospel reveals a savior that's done everything. He's met every
condition for those he represented. He put away their sin by the
sacrifice of himself. He established them in an unchangeable
righteousness by his imputed righteousness alone. So that's
why those who do evil, those who hear the gospel and reject
this Christ, they hate the light. They won't come to the light.
They won't come where the gospels preach. They want to stay where
they can hear a message that praises them for something they've
done. Now, thankfully, all won't be
left loving darkness, and hating the light. We all start out that
way, but thankfully all won't be left that way. Look at John
3.21. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his
deeds may be manifest, that they are wrought in God. Now, this
verse speaks of those who are delivered by the light. They're
delivered by the gospel. They're those identified and
distinguished by the gospel as members of the church. The light
of the gospel has called them out of the darkness of this religious
world that they walked in without the gospel, before they heard
the gospel. So who is the church? Well, first, it's sinners called
out of darkness unto light. Have you, have I, been added
to the church? Well, have we been delivered
from thinking that we're accepted by God based on something found
in us and have seen and know and rest in a Savior who's done
everything necessary to give us an unchangeable standing before
God? If we have, We're one of those
who's been added to the church. Second, every member of the church
is called out of ignorance unto knowledge. Now, although I'm
talking about these things, darkness and ignorance and idolatry, as
three different things, they're inclusive. I mean, you're not
in darkness and not in ignorance and idolatry. They're all together.
I'm just separating them here so we can look at them from the
scriptures a little more specifically. So every member of the church
is called out of darkness, first of all, and second, is called
out of ignorance unto knowledge. Inseparable from the darkness
is the ignorance that accompanies that darkness. And it's not a
general ignorance. It's a specific ignorance. Ignorance of a specific knowledge
is what we're talking about. Look at Romans 10 in verse 1.
Paul writes here, brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to
God for Israel is that they might be saved. He's praying for his
brethren in the flesh, praying for their salvation. Verse 2,
for I bear them record. They have a zeal of God, but
not according to knowledge. And as I said, it's specific
knowledge. What are they ignorant of? They're
ignorant of something. They need to be saved. What are they ignorant
of? Look at verse 3. For they, being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God.
They're ignorant of God's righteousness. God's righteousness is always
revealed in the gospel. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel. It's the power of God and the salvation. For therein,
in that gospel, is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith. If you've heard the gospel, you've
heard the righteousness of God. And if you hadn't heard the righteousness
of God, you hadn't heard the gospel. What is the righteousness
of God? It's all that Christ did that
enables God to be just and justify ungodly sinners. based on his
imputed righteousness alone. Look at 2 Corinthians 4 verses
3-5. Paul said, But if our gospel
be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of
this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest
the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of
God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus'
sake. We already talked about the gospel
being that light that overcomes darkness. Without the gospel,
sinners are in darkness, and they remain in darkness. And
sinners in darkness are in ignorance. Look on to 2 Corinthians 4 and
verse 6. For God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Every sinner who's been added
to the church is a sinner who's been called out of ignorance.
They're each one made to see and rejoice in the glory of God
in salvation, His redemptive glory, how He can be both a just
God and a Savior, and that revealed only in the person and work of
Christ. Have you, have I been added to
the church? Well, have you been called out
of ignorance? ignorance of God's righteousness, unto the knowledge
of God's glory, His redemptive glory in the person and work
of Christ alone. The third thing every member
of the church is called out of is called out of idolatry. Look
at 1 Thessalonians 1, verses 6-8. Paul writes here, and you became
followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much
affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost, so that you were in samples
to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you sounded
out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia,
but also in every place your faith to God were to spread abroad,
so that we need not to speak anything. Paul said, you believe
the gospel that was preached to you, and it was evident. I
mean, you became examples. Now look at verse 9. It said,
for they who see you and know of your testimony, they themselves
show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you and how you
turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. Sinners
who are added to the church are sinners who've been called out
of idolatry. Now, lest you think that Paul
is only speaking here of Gentiles who were in his day and age openly
rebellious and idolatrous. They didn't have the law. They
didn't have the ceremonies and the sacrifices. They were open
idolaters. And lest you think Paul is just
talking about these Thessalonians and what they were as Gentiles,
see what he says of himself here in 1 Timothy 2, verses 12-13. He said, And I thank Christ Jesus
our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful,
putting me into the ministry, who before was a blasphemer.
and a persecutor and injurious, but I obtained mercy because
I did it ignorantly in unbelief." Who was Paul the Apostle or Saul
of Tarsus as he was known then? Who was he worshipping when he
was a blasphemer? He wasn't worshipping the true
and living God. He wasn't worshipping the Christ
who had saved him, who had established a righteousness by which God
had already justified him. So he's speaking of himself as
well. Paul is a pattern of every born-again,
believing, called-out sinner. He's a pattern of every sinner
who has been identified and distinguished as a member of the church. He's
a pattern of those the Lord added and is adding today to the church. Who is the church? It's sinners
who've been called out of idolatry. It's the called out ones. The
church is made up of those sinners called out of darkness, called
out of ignorance, called out of idolatry. Now, let's look
at the second point. The first point was who is the
church. The second point of the message. Look back at our text
here next, chapter 2, in verse 47. What does it mean that the
Lord added to the church? That's what we'll look at here.
Praising God and having favor with all people, and the Lord
added to the church daily, such as should be saved. What did
the Lord do? It says He added to the church.
Well, I already said that the church is a fixed number. It
can't be added to or taken away of. So what did he add to? What
did he do? He increased the number of the
visible church. He increased the number of those
who are called out. You see, that's a growing number,
and it's going to continue to grow under the preaching of the
gospel as long as this world remains. What did he do by adding
to the church he identified and distinguished a sinner as being
a member of his church who up to that point had not been known,
had not been identified as such? The church has been known and
named by God from the foundation of the world, but each individual
member is added to that church as they are called out by the
gospel through the spirit in each successive generation. That's
the second point. What did he do in adding to the
church? He added, he identified and distinguished
those that were known and named by him before the world began.
The third point of the lesson, who's doing the adding? Well,
the answer is pretty obvious. I know you already know that
answer. The Lord, it says, added to the church. When the church
is added to, it's God's work. It's the work of the Lord. It's
not the work of men. It's not a decision made by men. It's not me deciding that I'll
become a member of the church. It's not the eloquence of men. It's not the zeal of men. It's
not the eloquence of their message in preaching. It's the Lord.
It's the Lord's church, and He alone can add to it. He alone
can identify and distinguish those who are members of His
church. He alone can call sinners out of darkness, out of ignorance,
out of idolatry. After being three days in the
belly of that great fish, Jonah summarized it best, salvation
is of the Lord. Well, the Lord added to the church. He called out of darkness, ignorance,
and idolatry every sinner He loved and named from the foundation
of the world. He identified and distinguished
those sinners from the world around them in each successive
generation. He's still doing that in our
generation, and He's going to continue doing that as long as
this world remains. Am I a member of this church? Have I been called out of ignorance,
idolatry, and darkness? Well, I pray that that is your
calling. I pray that that would be your
testimony, that you might be identified in your generation
as one that the Lord has added to the church. Next time we're
gonna talk about who's being added, that last point, but that'll
be another message.