Prayer: Lord, thou hast been our dwelling
place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were brought
forth, of ever thou hast formed the earth and the world, even from
everlasting to everlasting thou art God. We confess our helplessness
this morning. There is no good thing within us. Our strength is all
weakness. Our wisdom is foolishness. But we can do all things through
Christ which strengtheneth us.
And as little children that come to their
fathers and mothers, we come unto thee today, for thou hast said, “How
much more shall you heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that
ask Him.”
Breathe upon this great audience thine
own self, and may this be a bethel to the lives of all that come here
today. It is not too much to ask of thee that those who shall come
receive life everlasting.
We give grateful thanks for thy manifold
blessings to those who hear the gospel; to God be all the glory. And may
salvation come to many today, here and at the tabernacle this afternoon
and evening.
O Lord, revive thy work in our midst, in
the midst of the years make known, in wrath remember mercy. Our land is
in turmoil, the world is in an awful storm. But our Saviour is on board.
He can guide in the storm.
Lord, help us today to resign ourselves
to thy holy will as never before, and as clay in the potter’s hand to be
molded, to be used. And when the battle is over, and our tired bodies
crumble to dust, and our spirits go where the spirit of just men are
made perfect, one look - one look - on the face of our Lord will be
glory enough.
Bless the strangers within our gates,
hearts that are broken, souls that are heavy with sorrow - help us all
to put our hands in the mighty hand of God.
We ask for Christ’s sake.
Amen.
DR. NORRIS: For our meditation this
morning a thousand texts and themes crowd to my mind, but that the hour
may be most profitable, may we forget where we are, and forget who is
speaking, and just remember this one word - and I am going to do an
unusual thing - I usually read a whole chapter, but for emphasis I want
this one verse to ring in our souls:
Acts 4:32, “And the multitude of them
that believed were of one heart and of one
soul.”
Strange, and yet glorious, have been our
experiences. We put our faith in the same God who has led us as the good
and tender shepherd thus far. We look upon the future without any fear.
We look upon the unknown days ahead of us with perfect confidence in Him
who has said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in
earth.”
What joy, what fellowship, what sitting
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus - forgetting the things that
are behind, we are looking forward to a greater day.
“And the multitude of them that
believed were of one heart and of one
soul.”
This is God’s verdict concerning a great
church. Pentecost is behind. A great revival is on, and daily such as
were saved were being added to the church - multitudes of them -
multitudes could be three thousand or five thousand -: And daily in the
temple and in every house they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus
Christ” - “And they went everywhere preaching the Word” of God - and
they went “From house to house.”
Talk about difficulties, Jerusalem was to
be a Christian.
The Founder of this faith had died as a
criminal, between two criminals. The disciples were despised; all their
property was confiscated; some of them were put in prison. But unheeding
their hate, and without any organization and any great wealth, without
flag or navy or army, a handful of men and women turned the world upside
down.
Let’s inquire now as to why this message
to you - “And the multitude of them that believed were of one soul and
of one heart.”
First of all, notice there was a
multitude - “multitude of believers,” and nothing is said about even who
was pastor of that church.
And if you please, there is not much said
about deacons - I am not sure as to whether the seven in the sixth
chapter of Acts were deacons - rather doubt it. I know they were not the
modern “Board of Deacons,” because that seven went out winning souls.
They didn’t sit in judgment of the church.
Excuse me, but there is nothing said
about even the Ladies Aid Society.
And they don’t say anything about the
choir.
They don’t say anything about any
organization.
Let’s get right back to the simple New
Testament method - “And the multitude of them that believed.” May God
help us to see that! That is all - “of one soul and one heart” - “The
multitude of them that believed.”
Now they were one in several
respects:
First, they were one in their belief. The
word “believe” here means that they were saved - “As many as gladly
received the Word.”
One in their religious belief.
One in the family of Jesus
Christ.
One in that they recognized God as their
Father.
One in their belief in Him who has power
to forgive sins.
One in that they recognized the Holy
Spirit as their only Administrator.
One in the same body, the
church.
One as they had stood in the baptismal
waters together, buried in the likeness of His death and raised in the
likeness of His resurrection.
One as they did eat and break bread
around the table of our Lord.
One as they gave their testimony, for the
next verse says “And with great power gave the apostles witness” - Or
testimony - of what? Of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus; and “great
grace was upon them all.”
And just before that we read, “And when
they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled
together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake
the Word of God with boldness.”
I want to lay on your hearts this morning
this thought - if we can have a hundred active personal workers why not
five hundred? The wisest, happiest, simplest thing in the world is to
witness for Jesus Christ, provided one thing is true - if you know Him.
And if you do know Him you will be like the blind man after he had
received his sight - when they gathered around him he said,
“I don’t know but one thing, whereas I
was blind, now I see.” And they couldn’t deny it.
In the same chapter where this text is
taken from we hear form the “Council.” Here is where modern Councils got
started.
“And the ‘Council’ conferred among
themselves.”
They said, “Here, this thing is going a
little too fast. This church is growing too fast.”
And the Council said, “That indeed a
notable miracle hath been done, no man can deny.” And then their
“Council” Said, “We will call these men together before us and we will
threaten these men, and we will charge them not to talk any more in the
name of Jesus Christ.”
And they called them before them, but
Peter stood up before them and said, “Is it right to obey God or to obey
you?”
HOLY BOLDNESS
Do you know what we need right now in
evangelizing this city and the world? We need that same holy boldness
that laughed at difficulties and smiled at the impossible and defied the
powers of darkness and ecclesiastical conspiracies and say “We will
witness for Jesus Christ.” Now when we learn this - I am talking to
myself this morning - when will we ever learn, beloved, that God is
waiting for a church and a people who will do just one thing, and the
only thing He will bless, and that is witness for Jesus Christ? And that
is all He promised to bless!
I spoke to a great crowd of preachers the
other day, and one brother was talking about how to have a revival. I
said, “Begin under you own hat.” We think we have got to have a lot of
organization, a lot of machinery, but we need God, first and last, and
then we have a revival. The man who has just been born again and just
been baptized as a rule will make a better soul-winner than a man who
has been in the church forty years, if he hasn’t learned to do it there
is not much chance now - they have got to be un-made.
“And Crispus, the chief ruler of the
synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the
Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. Then spake the Lord to
Paul in the night” - in the night - “by a vision” - and here is what God
told Paul - “Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am
with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee” - Why? “for I have
much people in this city. And he continued there a year and six months.
Teaching the word of God among them.”
How to win a city? God says, “There is
only one thing I want you to do, ‘But speak.’ I don’t want you to go out
here and prove there is a God. I don’t want you to go out here and prove
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I want you to do what that woman did
when she left her water pot and flew up the sides of Mount Gerizim and
shouted to everybody, all her neighbors, ‘Come and see!’”
That is all - “And we are witnesses of
these things.” God says when you do that He will be there.
“But Lord, here are a lot of
infidels!”
“I will be there. You tell what I have
told you.”
“And they were of one heart and one soul”
in giving their testimony for Jesus Christ,
The prophesied One,
The promised One,
The crucified One,
The risen One,
The ascended One,
The glorified One,
The exalted One,
And - the - Coming One!!
(Amens)
That is all - you tell - you go tell
that today.
Tell it to the rich.
Tell it to the poor.
Tell it to the old man leaning on his
staff.
Tell it to the young man ready to run
his race.
Tell it in the sick room.
Tell it in the factory.
Tell it to the
industrialist.
Tell it to the gamblers.
Tell it to the harlot.
Tell it to the saloonkeeper.
Tell it to the stenographer.
Tell it to the machinist.
Tell it to the engineer.
Tell it on the highways.
Tell it on the schoolground.
Tell it to the delivery boy.
Tell it over the telephone.
Tell it over the radio.
Tell it on the printed page.
As you go, tell it, preach it, proclaim
it!
Let the educated tell it. They perceived
they were unlearned men, but they also perceived that they had been with
Jesus. Go home and tell what the Lord hath done for you.
What happened?
They “ate their meat with gladness and
singleness of heart” and joy. They talked about Jesus, that is what
happened. On God, give us men - give us men! Give us a church that will
go all over this city and talk about Jesus! That is all - that is
all.
Now one other word - “And they were of
one heart and one soul” in bringing their offerings to the common
treasury. You read in this same chapter where on the same occasion they
brought their gifts, their money, and laid it at the Apostles’ feet. Now
that is Malachi 3:10 of the Old Testament.
“Bring” - Don’t somebody send after it,
but “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse” - that is the common
treasury. If anybody ever goes out of here and says, “I want you to give
some money because the church needs it,” don’t you do it. God isn’t
broke. He said, “Give” - here is why - in order that we may enter into
partnership with God. Nine-tenths plus the blessing of God will go
further than ten tenths without.
If you think you don’t need God, wait
till old age comes.
If you think you don’t need God, wait
until trials come, wait till the little white casket comes.
A young man, whom Mr. Vick knows quite
well, said, “When I get this paid out and get that done, I am going to
tithe.” But at two o’clock one morning he called me and said, “My baby
bot has just died.” I went over there and the first thing this fine
young man said - “Pastor, God took up a collection - God took up a
collection.” He said, “I knew I ought to do to.” And he had tithed ever
since.
Now this question, “And they were of one
heart and one soul” - doing what? In bringing their gifts to the common
treasury.
“Oh,” you say, “I can’t tithe, I have got
a mother-in-law to support.” Well, praise the Lord for mother-in-laws -
the best way to get along with your mother-in-law is to get along with
her. If you can’t get along with your kinfolks, may the Lord have mercy
on you. But don’t try to support you mother-in-law with money that
belongs to God.
So they brought their tithes into the
common treasury. Now you believe, and I believe, that God’s only
institution for reaching the lost world it through the pillar and ground
of the truth, which is the church. Everything on earth is against the
church. The devil doesn’t care what you do just so you despise the
church of the living God. Money put into the common treasury of the
church will go further for saving soul than through some mugwump,
theoretical uplift society that you can’t see, cant’ take hold of and
that you know nothing about.
What was God’s method of reaching the
lost world in New Testament times? What did they have? A great church at
Jerusalem, another great church at Ephesus, another great church at
Philippi, and another great church at Corinth, another great church at
Rome - and I stop here and challenge you to find anything else. Where is
their “Board”?
Where is their headquarters? Where is
their hindquarters - where was it?
Alright then, let’s come back to New
Testament methods. God says,
“I want a group of believers.” To do
what? “And the multitude of them that believed” turned all Jerusalem
upside down. Wouldn’t it be a great thing if the multitude of them that
believed were still stirring things up and turning the city upside down?
It is wrong side up now.
I want to give you this word. Two great
women were together a few days ago, working in a certain place and thy
saw a woman sitting at a table drinking beer and smoking. They had never
seen her before, and knew nothing about who she was, but she was a
woman. And they said something seemed to tell them to go and talk to
her. And even though there were crowds going and coming they had the
courage to go and talk to her.
What happened?
She burst into a flood of tears and said
to these two Christian women, “I have no taste for beer, I care nothing
for it, but I am in great trouble. My only son is behind the bars
waiting for his trial, my husband is sick, and in my distress I was
trying to drown my troubles.”
And these two women talked to her about
Christ. And she gave them the name of this don. And they told her about
Temple Church and said, “You come to that church.”
“Oh,” said the woman surprised, “Is there
a place like that?”
They were of one heart and one soul in
giving themselves, their time, their money, their testimony - and that
is why God blessed their testimony.
Who will say this morning, “Brother
pastor, God is my witness, we will join as never before to bring our
bodies, our time, our souls, our pocketbooks, put our all on the altar
of Him who gave all for us?”
