The Ingredients of a Church Aflame

Pastor, teacher, and author Adrian Rogers has introduced people all over the world to the love of Jesus Christ and has impacted untold numbers of lives by presenting profound truth, simply stated. Thanks for joining us for this message.

Here's Adrian Rogers. Religion. If you want something new, try something old, because we need to go all the way back to find the pattern for a New Testament church, and we can find it in that book of Acts. We told you that these people so long ago did so much with so little, and we do so little with so much.

And this is going to be the year of a great breakthrough for us. I thank God for His revival blessings on this church. This church is a significant church and a God-blessed church.

But, ladies and gentlemen, we have not yet begun to even see what God can do and God will do through us and with us when we're committed totally to Him. A holy church, a New Testament church, a church aflame, is a mighty instrument in the hand of a holy God. I'm speaking to you tonight on this subject, a church aflame. A church aflame.

That's what we need to be. We don't want to come across to this community as a religious country club or plastic hypocrites playing waterboy to the game of life. We want to demonstrate to this community and to our world the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts chapter 2 and verse 1, And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. Now, the day of Pentecost was a great festival. Perhaps a million Jews were in Jerusalem on this day of Pentecost. And there were feasts and fellowships and meetings and reunion and worship. But on this day, there were 120 people who were the center of attention. These were our Lord's disciples that day who had received the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

We're going to talk about that in a moment. But let me just tell you about this feast of Pentecost, what it was. The Jews had been holding this feast for some 1500 years. And by the way, it is a picture and a prophecy of what we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. And when I invite you to Jesus tonight, I'm not inviting you to a funeral.

I'm inviting you to a feast to come to know the Lord Jesus. Now, in this feast, one of the things they would do is to take some beautiful grain, wheat. These individual grains would be ground up and made into flour.

And that flour would be mixed with oil and leaven. And then it would be baked and two loaves of bread would be baked. And then there were some sacrifices that were made. Seven lambs without spot or blemish would be sacrificed. One young bullock would be sacrificed. Two rams would be sacrificed as a burnt offering. And there were ten of these altogether sacrificed.

Now, what is all of this picture? What did it all mean when they would take all of these ingredients and celebrate this feast, this feast of Passover? Well, those ten animals that were sacrificed and that blood sacrifice speaks of the completeness of Calvary.

Ten in the Bible is the number of completeness. And that speaks of our peace offering that we have with the Lord Jesus Christ. The oil that was mixed into that bread represents the Holy Spirit because oil in the Bible has been an emblem of the Holy Spirit. And those two loaves picture the body of Christ, the church.

Why two loaves? Because the church is made up now of Jew and Gentile. Two also is the number of witness and it is the church's job, duty, privilege to witness the saving gospel of Jesus Christ.

Now what happened is this. Before the day of Pentecost, they were like individual grains of wheat. But after Pentecost, they had become one body. A hundred and twenty disciples went up into an upper room like individual grains of wheat.

But no longer are they a hundred and twenty. Now they are God's loaf baked together. What is the significance of the leaven? Well, God is reminding us leaven in the Bible is an emblem of sin. And God is reminding us that though we have become one, and though we have been infused with the Holy Spirit, we have not yet been completely purged of sin and will not be until the rapture when Jesus comes again. And so they were keeping this feast of Passover, verse 1. But now notice in verse 2, There came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it set upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how here we every man in our own tongue wherein we were born, Parthians and Medes and Elamites and dwellers of Mesopotamia and Judea and Cappadocia and Pontus and Asia and Phrygia and Pamphylia and Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and Proselytes, Crete and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?

Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. I want to mention tonight four or five things that are the ingredients of a church aflame, a church that will make an impact on this community or any community. And the very first thing is what I'm going to call supernatural power. Supernatural power. What happened there on the Day of Pentecost?

God gave a demonstration of that power that He had promised in Acts chapter 1 verse 8, But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. Now I want to say that this power was visualized, this power was vocalized, and this power was vitalized. Now first of all, it was visualized. They're set upon every man's head a flame of fire. They looked like 120 human candles, a flame just flickering above every man's head. And there was in that building the sound of a cyclone like a tornado on the inside, wind and fire.

Now this was a visualization of this power. The sound of the wind was a symbol of the Spirit, because Jesus equated the Holy Spirit with the wind. In John chapter 3 and verse 8, Jesus said, The wind blows where it will, and you hear the sound of it, but you can't tell from where it came or where it's going.

So is everyone that is born of the Spirit. This wind was an emblem, a symbol of God's Holy Spirit. Thank God for the wind. That wind comes from the heavens. That wind moves at its own will.

It is commanded by nobody. It is mysterious, and yet it operates according to fixed laws. And wind is a symbol of the Holy Spirit of God. A preacher was going to preach on the wind being an emblem of the Spirit of God. And he said, Who really would know the most about the wind? And he said, I know who I'll talk to. There's an old sea captain down here, and he sails by the winds, one of those old schooners.

And he went down and talked to him. He said, Captain, tell me everything you know about the wind. He thought he was going to get a long speech, and the captain said, to tell you the truth, I know very little about the wind. It's so mysterious. He said, I'll tell you what I do know. I know how to set my sails. And I thought, oh God, when I heard that, that's what I want. I don't want to be able to understand the Holy Spirit.

Who can? But I want to know how to set my sails when the wind of God's Spirit blows. Thank God for that wind. There was the sound in verse 2. But then also there was the sight, the sight in verse 3. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire. Fire also is an emblem of the Holy Spirit.

Why? Because fire spreads, and fire consumes. It was said of John the Baptist, he was a burning in a shining light. There can be no shining unless there's burning.

And our Lord wants to consume our lives for His glory. Fire warms. God forgive our cold services if we have them. Bobby Burns, the Scottish poet, went into a church and sat down. Nobody greeted him. The song service was absolutely dead as a wedge, sounded like a couple of calves dying in a hail storm. Everything was cold. The minister was cold. Nobody knew who Bobby Burns was, but Bobby Burns picked up a hymnal.

Somebody found it later. He wrote in the back of that hymnal, as cold a wind as ever blew, as cold a church, and in it but few. As cold a minister as ever spake, ye'll all be hot ere I come back.

Put that in the hymnal and left it. Oh, dear friend, fire warms. I believe in a warm service. I'll tell you something else fire does. Fire purges. It cleanses.

It purifies. Something else fire does, fire illumines and gives us light. Another thing fire does, fire energizes, and our great engines are run by fire. Now all of this is telling us that the Holy Spirit is symbolized by wind and by fire. And so, first of all, we see this power visualized, or if you'd rather, we see this power symbolized. But then not only was it visualized, it was also vocalized. Notice, if you will, now beginning with verse 4. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Now what this was is miraculous, inexplicable. Those 120 disciples began to speak in foreign languages. Now remember, there were people there from all over the known world. There were people who did not have common languages. It was a polyglot. And yet there, 120 disciples began to speak in languages that they were not familiar with.

This was not nonsensical gibberish. These were known languages. Notice in verse 5, and there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews devout men out of every nation under heaven. And when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together and were confounded because every man heard them speak in his own language.

Now what was this? This power was vocalized as a sign gift to Jews. Now I want you to understand that tongues are given for a specific purpose, as a sign to the Jewish nation.

Now if you don't mind writing in the margin of your Bible, just write right there. 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verses 21 and 22. The apostle Paul explains this when he says, This people means the Jews, and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe. Tongues are not a sign to God's people about anything. Sometimes people say, Oh, if you speak in tongues, that's a sign you're spiritual.

No. Tongues are not a sign to God's people about anything. Tongues are for a sign not to them that believe, but to them that believe not. But prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe. Now what does that verse tell us?

That God gave on the day of Pentecost a sign that would confirm the gospel to the Jews. Now speaking in tongues is mentioned three times in the book of Acts, and we'll see it as we go through the book of Acts. Each time when speaking in tongues is mentioned, Jews are present, and unbelieving Jews are in the background.

As we study this gift, we see that it was a temporary gift. The Apostle Paul said tongues will cease of themselves. Now you can argue when that will cease or when it has ceased, or you can say God still does that, but I'm telling you that the Bible says that tongues will cease of themselves.

That was a transitional thing and a temporary thing. Sometimes people have the idea that today, if you're spiritual, that you will speak in tongues. Well let me say if you do speak in tongues, and it is biblical tongues, it will be a foreign language you've never learned.

And somebody who knows that language would be able to understand it. But let me say this, dear friend, and I don't want to be misunderstood because I believe many wonderful, wonderful people. I believe contrary to what I believe about this, and I love them.

They're my brothers and sisters in Christ. But the real mark of spirituality is not speaking in tongues. The most carnal church Paul had majored in that gift. The real mark of spirituality is controlling the one tongue you do have.

Really. That the law of kindness and love is in your mouth, and that that tongue is used to glorify Jesus and to praise Jesus and to preach the gospel of Christ. But now God is doing something here because He's inaugurating a new age. And so this power was visualized. And then this power was vocalized.

But those were incidental things. God is only inaugurating things again, and even people who today say, oh, we need to repeat Pentecost. No we don't.

And no one ever has. If you repeated Pentecost, not only would you have the tongues, you'd have the flames of fire. Not only would you have the flame of fire, you'd have the cyclone.

Do you understand what I'm talking about? We're not repeating Pentecost. We don't need to repeat Pentecost any more than we need to repeat Bethlehem or Calvary. Bethlehem was God with us. Calvary was God for us. Pentecost is God in us. Thank God for all of those things.

We're not trying to repeat them, but thank God for them because we're going to enjoy them. And I'm going to receive the truth of Bethlehem and Calvary and Pentecost and live by it. So that brings me to the next thing. Not only was this power visualized and vocalized, but it is also vitalized, if you will. Look now at the real miracle in verse 4. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. Now ladies and gentlemen, that is what men, women, boys and girls need today is to be filled with the Holy Ghost of God. And I hope and I pray that you are filled with the Holy Ghost of God. The baptism was once for all.

That is an accomplished work for every child of God. You cannot be a child of God without having the baptism of the Holy Ghost. For the Apostle Paul says, For by one Spirit have you all been baptized into one body. And if you are saved, you have the baptism of the Holy Ghost. You're not told to seek the baptism of the Holy Ghost. You're told to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 5 18, Be not drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. Actually there are a number of works of the Holy Spirit. For example, there is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit? The baptism of the Holy Spirit is that act of God where He places you into the body of Christ, where you are baptized into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit when you get saved. If you're saved, that's happened to you.

1 Corinthians 12 13. And then there is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Not only does He place you into the body of Christ, but He comes into you to live in you. And if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. There are some people who will tell you, well, you get saved and then later on you receive the Holy Spirit.

Oh no! It's impossible to be saved without receiving the Holy Spirit. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. But by the baptism of the Spirit, you're placed into the body of Christ. The infilling of the Holy Spirit is Christ comes into you. And then there's the sealing of the Holy Spirit where you are sealed into Christ. After that you believe you're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

I wish I had time to talk about all of those things, but let me tell you that those things, dear friends, just tell us that once we are children of God, we are children of God forever because these are acts of the Holy Spirit of God, never to be withdrawn, the baptism, the indwelling, the sealing of the Spirit of God, tell us that we are part of the body once and for all. Now, those things are done and accomplished in the heart and life of a Christian, but the filling of the Spirit is not. The filling of the Spirit is conditional, and that depends upon you, your receptivity, your surrender, your faith, and you are filled with the Spirit to make weaklings into witnesses. On the Day of Pentecost, 120 disciples led 3,000 to Christ.

Today 3,000 can't even lead 120 to Christ. And the reason is we've not understood the fullness of the Spirit. There's one other act of the Spirit. There's the baptism of the Spirit, the indwelling of the Spirit, the sealing of the Spirit, the filling with the Spirit, and then there's the anointing of the Spirit.

What is the anointing? Jesus was anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power, the Bible says. At His baptism, when the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus, that's not when He was filled with the Spirit. Jesus was already filled with the Spirit. Do you think that Jesus lived 30 years without being filled with the Spirit?

Of course not. Why, if John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb, would his Lord be less? No, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit from His childhood, but He was anointed with the Spirit when His ministry began. What is the anointing? The anointing is a special touch for a specific task. And if you have a specific task to do, to preach, to sing, to witness, pray, O God, I know, Lord, that You indwell me. Now, Lord, fill me.

Take every part. O God, anoint me. Anoint me, O God.

Let that unction, that power be on me. In the country church, a preacher asked a deacon to dismiss in prayer. And the deacon prayed, and in the midst of that prayer he said, Lord, unctionize our pastor. Unctionize our pastor? The pastor didn't exactly like that prayer. He met the old deacon at the church door. He said, Deacon, that was a good prayer you prayed, but you asked God to unctionize me.

He said, what does that word unctionize mean? The deacon said, Reverend, I ain't sure what it does mean, but whatever it means, you ain't got it. Friend, whatever it means, I want it. I want that anointing in my heart and in my life. Now, this first ingredient is a supernatural power. Can't have a church aflame without it. Now the second thing we need, not only supernatural power, but spiritual preaching. Spiritual preaching began now in verse 14. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said unto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken unto my words. And then Peter preached a Christ-centered message. In verses 22 through 26, he spoke of the manner of Jesus' life, the meaning of Jesus' death, the miracle of Jesus' resurrection, the magnificence of Jesus' reign. He preached, he exalted the Lord Jesus.

Its climax beginning in verse 23, Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain, whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be holding of it. I cannot believe that this is the same Peter who cursed and swore and trembled before a little maiden and denied the Lord Jesus. The difference is that now Peter is filled with the Holy Ghost. Now Peter speaks the word of God with boldness.

I'll tell you there's another difference too. Peter has now had an encounter with the resurrected Christ, one of the great proofs we have of the resurrection. Remember that in Acts 1 verse 3 that Jesus showed Himself alive with many infallible proofs? You see, Peter knew that Christ was alive. You know how Peter died? Good tradition tells us that he was crucified upside down. He said, I'm not even worthy to be crucified right side up like my Lord.

Do to me what you will or you can kill my body, but that's all you can kill. Now folks, listen, almost every one of these apostles died by martyrdom. Are you going to tell me that they believe that Jesus Christ was still in that grave?

No. You know why they were no longer afraid of death? Because of the resurrection. Now listen, listen, one of the great proofs of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the martyrdom, the martyrdom of the early believers, the eyewitnesses. Now a man may live for a lie, but no man will willingly die for a lie.

They knew he was alive. One of the great proofs of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is that these men were willing to seal with their blood their faith. Now I wish I had time to talk about the preaching of Peter this day, but if I were to get on any of these points his wonderful life, his death, his resurrection, and his reign, I never would get to the completion of this particular message. But let me tell you that in order to have a church aflame, you must have, you must have spiritual power. You must have scriptural preaching.

Peter said this is that which is spoken by the prophet Joel. He took a text and he preached the Word of God. This church will die on the vine if this pulpit ever ceases to preach the Word of God. Scriptural preaching. Now there's a third thing that will make a church aflame. Spiritual power, scriptural preaching, and a saved people.

Now notice what happened as a result of this. The third thing is a saved people. Notice in verse 37, Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said to 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 Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 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. And with many other words he did testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.

Then they that gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. Now a New Testament church should have a born again membership. Many churches, many churches do not put an emphasis on this.

As a matter of fact, some people de-emphasize it. I saw an ad in the paper not long ago, said you're welcome at our church no matter how many times you've been born. Well, people, unsaved people are welcome here, of course, but they're not welcome to be a part of the membership without a new birth.

So many of our churches are more like clubs, and they're filled with people who've never been born again. Now in order to have a church aflame, there has to be a saved people, and I want you to see how these people were saved. Number one, look in verse 37. They were convicted by the Lord.

Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts. And this, oh my dear friend, I pray for over and over again, dear God, let the Holy Spirit of God convict people. I can't just browbeat anybody into being a Christian.

I can't do a sales job on people. I want us to have such spiritual power in our hearts and in our lives that when the word of God goes forth that it cuts the hearts of people. They were convicted by the Lord. Secondly, they were converted to the Lord. Peter said unto them, repent. Now that word repent means a change of mind, a turning around. There must be a change of mind about sin.

There must be a change of mind about self. There must be a change of mind about God. Now let me say that when Peter said repent, he might as well have said believe. Or if a person says believe, he may as well say repent because repentance and faith are heads and tails of the same coin. But the point is this, that when I turn from sin, I turn to Jesus. When I turn to Jesus in faith, I turn from sin. But nobody has ever been saved unless he has been converted.

And nobody has been converted except he repent. And Jesus said, except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish. They were convicted by the Lord.

They were converted to the Lord. And then there was a confession of the Lord. Notice in verse 38, Peter said repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins. That is a confession of the Lord.

Baptism is an outward expression of that inward reality. Now look very carefully at that phrase for the remission of sins. Does that mean that we're baptized in order to have our sins remitted?

No. It means we're baptized because our sins are remitted. The Greek preposition ice may be translated for or it may be translated because of. In this instance, it would be better translated because of. Be baptized because of the remission of sin. Let me show you how that same preposition is used in another place. In Luke chapter 11 verse 32, the Bible says they repented at the preaching of Jonah.

The little word at is the same little preposition here translated for. Now they repented because of the preaching of Jonah. We are baptized because of the remission of sin. Baptism is like wearing a wedding ring. It's a symbol that you've been saved just like a wedding ring is an emblem that you've been married. Wearing this ring doesn't make me marry. It shows I'm married. I could be married and not wear it. Or you could wear a ring and not be married.

But dear friend, in our society, the wedding ring says look, I belong to Joyce. I'm not ashamed of it. I don't take it off when I go out of town. I wear it. And baptism says look, I belong to Jesus.

I'm not ashamed of him. And baptism is a public demonstration of our faith in Christ. And in New Testament church are people, number one verse 37, they've been convicted by the Lord. Verse 38, there is a conversion to the Lord. And then there's a confession of the Lord as people are baptized.

And if you've not been baptized by immersion openly and publicly, you need to do so. And then there's a control by the Lord. Notice again in verse 38, after you're baptized because of remission of sins, you will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Now what is the gift of the Holy Ghost? The gift of the Holy Ghost is the Holy Ghost.

That is God's gift to you. When you are born again, your birthday gift is the Holy Ghost. You receive the Holy Ghost when you repent and believe the Gospel and the Holy Spirit comes into you. Now what does He come in to do?

He comes in to control your life. Now listen folks, salvation is not just believing something or achieving something, it is receiving someone. Let me tell you what salvation is. Salvation is not getting man out of earth into heaven, that's just a byproduct of salvation. Salvation is getting God out of heaven into man.

Repent, believe the Gospel, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. But not only a control by the Lord, but a continuing with the Lord. Notice again in verse 41, and they that gladly received His word were baptized and the same day they were added unto them about 3,000 souls and they continued steadfastly. Now Jesus did not call us to make decisions, He called us to make disciples. And a person may have gone through all of these other things, but if he doesn't continue, he's not saved.

It's not that he loses his salvation, he never had it. Real salvation is not merely a crisis act that you look back to, it is a present experience. And if you want to know whether or not you're saved tonight, don't tell me about being down there in Mount Pisgah Church as a little boy 12 years old when you gave your heart to Jesus.

That's not the question tonight. The question tonight is, is the person sitting in your seat right now trusting Christ as his personal Savior? The Bible never tells us to look back to a past experience. The Bible tells us to look to a present reality. The way I can know that I'm saved is that I'm now believing in Jesus Christ as my personal Savior.

I wish I had more time to deal with this. But let me say that the next ingredient here, I have talked, dear friend, about a supernatural power, I've talked about scriptural preaching, I've talked about a save people. Now here's the last ingredient. In the kind of a church I want to be a part of, in the kind of a church I want to pastor, there is, dear friend, a spiritual program in that church. And what is the program of the church? The spiritual program of the church is found right here in verse 41. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day there were added to them about 3,000 souls. And they continued, here's the program, 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, and all that believed were together and had all things common.

And they sold their possessions and parted them to all men 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. Now what was the program of that church?

Here it was. First of all, it was Bible study. Notice in verse 42, they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine.

Now that means there was a program of indoctrination. Bible study or indoctrination, verse 42. And then there was fellowship. Notice in verse 42, in fellowship, you need me.

I need you. We need one another to build one another up. The Bible says we're not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is. Even the great apostle Paul needed other Christians.

He was a prisoner. He's coming to Rome, and certain Christians came out from Rome to meet him. And the Bible says in Acts 28, verse 15, when Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage. Adoration is another part of our program. Look, if you will, and in breaking of bread and in prayers. This speaks of the worship service. Worship must always be a part of our program. And then, notice in verse 43, 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.

I'm going to call that service, giving. Let me just sum it up by using the word participation. They took their resources and they pooled them, they took their talents, and they took everything they had and they said, together, together, we're going to do it. Now this wasn't communism. Some people said this is the root of communism.

Oh no, no, no. It wasn't communism. Number one, it was based on a belief in God. Number two, it wasn't state controlled, it was church controlled. Number three, dear friend, that it wasn't forced, it was voluntary. It didn't come about by revolution, it came about by people being saved. And also, this thing of having all things in common was only temporary because of the emergency situation they were in. But it shows me this, that everything they owned was at God's disposal whenever it was needed. Is everything you own at His disposal? All right?

Now look, here's the program. Indoctrination, edification, adoration, participation, and here's the last one, propagation. Notice, if you will, look in verse 46. And they continuing daily with one accord, and 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. This church was a growing church. Now you know there's some people who say, well I don't want to be a member of a big church. Well then you wouldn't want to be a member of this church. Let me tell you how this church grew. Just lick your fingers and go back to chapter 1 verse 15, look at it. And in those days, Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and said, and parenthetically, the number of the disciples together were about 120.

All right? You've been a member of a church with 120. Did you say, well we like it that way? Well turn to Acts chapter 2 now and look in verse 41 if you will. Then they that gladly received His word were baptized, and the same day they were added unto them, three thousand souls. Pretty good jump in membership, huh?

We don't have it the way we used to have it. Have our sweet little church now. They've got 3,120.

Well you say, did it stop there? Well look if you will in verse 47 here of this same chapter. They're praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord added to the church daily, such as should be saved. They had a big end gathering of 3,000 and then every day people were coming in, more each day.

Then turn if you will to Acts chapter 4 and look in verse 4. Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed, and the number of men was about 5,000. Now they've got 5,000 men who believe. Most likely their families came too. Let's say there were 20,000, four people in a family. All right, we add that 20,000 to these that we already have.

We've got maybe 25,000 members. It's just a few days have passed. Look if you will now in Acts chapter 5 and 28 and see what happened. Saying, did we not straightly command you that you should not teach in this name? And behold, you filled Jerusalem with your doctrine. Praise God.

I mean now the entire city is filled with it. And now, notice if you will, in Acts chapter 6 and verse 7. And the word of God increased and the number of disciples was multiplied in Jerusalem greatly. They've stopped talking about being added and now they're multiplied. Do you know what happens when you start multiplying? Listen folks, it's amazing what happened. B. H. Carroll, the founder of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, said this early church had an excess of 65,000 members in six months. G. Campbell Morgan said, no, it was more like 250,000 souls. When you get supernatural power, scriptural preaching, saved people in the spiritual program, look out. Is that what you want? Say amen.

Listen, it's right here. Let's let God live in us and let's realize that Jesus Christ is alive and well. And living in us, He doesn't want us to do anything for Him. He wants to do something through us.