EVANGELISM AND GROWTH OF THE
God wants the church the church to grow in 2 ways.
1. He wants it to grow spiritually.
2 Peter 3:18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever.
Amen.
Every individual and
every congregation must grow in this way and the way we do it is found in.
1 Peter 2:2 as
newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
When
Paul was speaking to the Ephesians Elders he tells them.
Acts 20:32 "So now, brethren, I commend you to God
and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an
inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
The only kind of
congregation that is going to be pleasing to God is one that is growing
spiritually.
2. He wants the church to
grow numerically.
When a person obeys the
Gospel they are added to the church by God. Acts 2:47
However God is not
interested in a great increase of number just so we can say we have x amount of
members because He wants people who are who willing to grow spiritually. He
would rather have a congregation made up of 20 people that were growing
spiritually and who were seeking after Him with their who heart, mind and soul
than a 1000 or 2000 people who are not growing spiritual and who were doing
things their way instead of His.
While numerical growth is
important, numbers don’t reflect upon the faithfulness of a congregation.
Instead their spiritual growth is what determines that. With that being said
lets examine the growth of the church in the first century.
On the day of Pentecost The
Great Commission began. The apostles began to proclaim Jesus death, burial and
resurrection before all the Jews that gathered there. Because of this great
message, some of these Jews were pricked in their heart and wanted to know what
they must do.
Acts 2:38 Then
Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit. 39
"For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar
off, as many as the Lord our God will call." 40 And with many other words he
testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation." 41 Then those who gladly received
his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to
them.
Just
as Jesus said the message had to be preached and His apostles followed this
command. Then the people that heard the message had to choose to accept it or
deny it. While many denied the truth that was being taught 3000 souls believed
and obeyed the Gospel call and were baptized into Christ for the remission of
their sins and they were added to the church by God Acts 2:47.
Acts 2:47 - And the
Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
Notice they were growing
on daily basis. In fact Acts 4:4 lets us know that they had grown to 5000 men
and Acts 5:14 tells us that multitudes of men and women were being added to the
Lord.
Acts 6:1 Now in
those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying,
Acts 6:7 Then the word of God spread, and the number of
the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests
were obedient to the faith.
Acts 16:5 So the
churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.
Acts 21:20 talks about
how there were thousands of converted Jews in
Acts 12:24 But the word of God grew and multiplied.
Acts 19:20 So the word of the Lord grew
mightily and prevailed.
How did they grow spiritual and numerically?
Before we answer that question let first look at what didn’t cause them to grow
this way.
First of all their growth had nothing to do with having a nice church building to meet in. Instead, we find them meeting in peoples homes or any place they could find to gather together.
Hebrews
10:24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good
works, 25 not forsaking the
assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but
exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day
approaching.
We are just told to
assemble and the place of that we assemble is just a matter of personal
judgment. While there is nothing wrong with having a church building with
cushioned pews, air conditioning and heating and all the other conveniences
that go with a physical building it should not be the primary reason that
causes a congregation to grow. They didn’t have such luxuries in the first
century and it certainly wasn’t a factor that led people to Christ.
When you look around at
other religions, you are starting to see a trend of where they are putting all
their money into building bigger and better buildings and they are building
million dollar gymnasiums to try and entice younger folks to be a part of their
denomination. Friends, when we get to the point where we think we have to bribe
people to come by building extravagant structures then we have missed the point
of evangelism.
Remember people are
called by God through the good news of the Bible 2 Thes. 2:14. No physical
building can ever truly convert someone. We have to be careful that we are
using worldly tactics to increase our numbers, instead our numbers must
increase by honest individuals who are being converted by the Word of God.
Now I am not condemning
church buildings or making them big enough to accommodate the members, but we
have to realize that the church building is just a convenient place for us to
meet and to fellowship with one another.
We can also know that the
early church did not grow because it tried to entertain its people or attract
them by worldly means.
Not once will you find in the NT where they
had a drama teams or praise teams being used to try and entertain the people.
This is big problem today. We have become so used to being entertained by TV’s,
movies and other performances that we have come to expect it even when it comes
to worshipping God. Many have the mentality that if the worship service isn’t
peppy enough then they will turn the channel and find a church that is.
There are many in the
religious world who have conformed to this need and have traded in God’s Word
and it truth to put on their entertainment hats. This is why we see some having
two services. They have one for the older more conservative folks and then they
have a second service for the young where they pull out the rock band and they
jam out and the young folks jump up and down and run up and down the aisles.
Now, this can be very
entertaining and you could can see why this would attract many, but the problem
is they have put God on the backburner and have put their wants and desires
over his. When we worship God it is not to please ourselves it is to please God
by following His way found in His Word.
The Bible teaches us to
worship God in spirit and in truth and that God’s word is what is to be taught.
So, we have to be careful that we don’t find ourselves trying to lure people to
Christ through entertainment instead of His Word. We certainly know that the 1st
century church didn’t use this tactic and they grew rapidly without it.
The church did not grow
because morality was better in the first century. Now, it is true that in
Jerusalem the Jews did have mindset of serving God, but the church was planted
and grew in many places that were filled with people who had little or no
spiritual integrity.
For instance the
Corinthians were known for their sinful lifestyle, yet this became a place
where the church was planted and grew. The Cretans were known for their
laziness and evil ways, yet they established a church there with qualified
elders. Even though we live an morally bankrupt society, the church can still
grown just as it did in the first century.
Another thing that didn’t
cause the church to grow in the first century was by avoiding controversial
issues or having debates or compromising with false religions.
Some today have adopted
the idea that we should just all get along and not say anything when we
disagree and that we should hold hands with everyone that says they are
following after Christ so that we can grow the church together.
Friends this concept is
foreign to the Bible because this was not done in the first century. In book of
Acts we can see where these Christians were willing stand upon the truth and
they were not willing to compromise even if it meant they lost their life. For
instance Stephen could have conformed to the Jews that were questioning him,
but he did not. He taught them the truth knowing that it went against what they
believed and he died for that cause and this did not cause the church to stop
growing, instead it grew even more.
Paul went around and
debated or reasoned with the Jews in the Synagogues on the Sabbath (Acts 17:2)
and in the market place daily (Acts 17:17). He also did this at
We should never forget
what Peter and John told the Jews that were trying to get them to compromise
about teaching the truth.
Acts 4:18 19
But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the
sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. 20 "For we cannot but speak
the things which we have seen and heard."
Even though some Jews
wanted the Gentiles to be circumcised because of the Old Law Paul was not willing
to compromise in Acts 15 and it was determined by the church at
This teaches us that
holding hands with the denominations and agreeing to disagree is not going to
cause the church to grow. We must not be afraid to stand up on the Word of God
and engage in debate and point out what is wrong and what is right from God’s
Word.
The first century church
did not grow because they compromised the truth to conform to what has been
deemed morally acceptable by the world.
If the world had its way
they would want the church to accept everyone where they are. This is why we
have seen some that have started allowing active homosexual to become leaders
in their congregation. Even though the Bible forbid the women as serving as the
minister or an elder many have allowed this to happen as well. Even within the
church some have compromised what God’s word says on marriage, divorce and
remarriage and they are allowing couples that are living in adultery to become
spiritual leaders in the church as well.
Friends, doing this may
increase the numbers, but it won’t be pleasing to God and it is not in His plan
for us to compromise with worldly morality.
1 John 2:15 Do not love
the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of
the Father is not in him. 16
For all that is in the world -- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life -- is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away,
and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Another thing that did
not cause the church to grow in the first century was by asking around in the
community what they would like to see in a local church.
Its thinking like this
that has led some churches to become community churches. They try and appease
the needs of the community. However, in the first century they didn’t do this.
They simply preached what God wanted by teaching His word. It’s important that
we never lose site that we must conform to God’s way and not our own or the
communities.
Galatians 1:9 As we
have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to
you than what you have received, let him be accursed. 10 ¶ For do I now persuade
men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would
not be a bondservant of Christ. 11 ¶
But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is
not according to man. 12 For
I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through
the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Now that we have examined
several ways the first century church didn’t grow, lets take a look at some of
the things that did make them grow in spirit and in number.
1. The book of Acts
teaches us that they prayed (Acts 2:42; 4:23ff; 16:25).
2. They were united
having the same desire to spread the good news (Acts 2:42-46).
3. They were a courageous
church as they did not compromise the truth.
4. They were a caring
church as they cared for each other and for those that were lost (Acts 4:32-
37; 6:1-7; 9:36-39).
5. The practiced
discipline so that other would know that unrighteous behavior would not be
tolerated (Acts 5:1-11).
6. They were actively
involved in teaching the Gospel to the lost.
Acts 5:42 And
daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and
preaching Jesus as the Christ.
Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for
whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
7. Teaching the lost was
not just done by a few apostles, elders or minister it was done by the common
people of the church.
Acts 8:3 As for
Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men
and women, committing them to prison.
4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere
preaching the word.
Notice those who were
scattered would include those who were not elders or ministers.
8. They these Christians
had a great zeal and enthusiasm for teaching the good news. They took time each
day to tell someone about Christ.
If want to grow both
spiritually and numerically today, then we must be willing to follow after
their example and zealously reach out to the lost with the Word God and
emphasize the importance of following after God’s will and not our own. If we
can get people to get back to the Bible and diligently seeking to please Him,
then we are going to have a church that is growing both spiritually and
numerically as God would have it.