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What Is a Church to Do?
Rick Blount
31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
I have been a pastor for awhile now and when God called me as a pastor,
I wanted to be everything God wanted me to be as a pastor. I knew God had called me to be a pastor, but I wasn't sure just exactly what I was to do and how I was to go about it. I started back on education and one of the first books that I studied in school was the book of Acts.
Someone has called the book of Acts, "Infant's Progress," because in this book we have the birth and the growth of the baby church. There you see the principles and the procedures which the Holy Spirit gave to the church in those days so that the church would be everything that God would want it to be.
As I began to go through the book of Acts and study it, I found what the church is intended to do. As you move through the book of Acts, you will discover that there are certain stopping points and there are certain passages and pictures in the book of Acts which describe that growth and development of the early church.
It's like a little cameo of what a church is intended to be. It's like someone who is climbing a mountain and you get to a certain place and you stop there on a plateau and you look back on where you have been and where you are going.
The thirty-first verse is one of those cameos, one of those plateaus in Scripture. It summarizes what the church is intended to be and what the church is intended to do.
There are two words that are the load bearing words in this verse. It says, "Then had the churches rest and were edified." That's the first word. "Walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, were multiplied."
Those of you who had heard me preach through a period of years here probably have those two verses circled in your Bible. The churches were edified and the churches were multiplied. What you find here is a church in perfect balance. It is exactly what God wants a church to be.
I have noticed in the years of my ministry that there is a tendency for churches, as well as Christians, to get out of balance. Sometimes churches get out of balance in the direction of evangelism. We know that the Bible teaches us that we are to win people to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But if you are not very careful, you can get out of balance. You can beat the drum with only one drumstick. You can try to see-saw only one side of the see-saw. There are some churches that put all of the emphasis on evangelism, winning people to faith in Jesus Christ.
I believe that is the primary purpose of the church. I think that is what God wants a church to be. But if all of the emphasis is on evangelism and there is no emphasis on growing and developing those who are saved, then you have a church that is out of balance.
On the other hand there are churches that get out of balance in the direction of discipleship. The emphasis there is that we have a ministry to God's people. The purpose of our church is to help God's people grow and develop in the Christian life.
There are some places where they say, "We just feed the sheep. Our job is to feed the sheep." Certainly that is true. But you've got to find the sheep before you can feed the sheep.
I've been a shepherd of sheep for a number of years now. I have discovered that there are certain characteristics of sheep. Sometimes sheep go into another pasture. They move their letter and they are no longer with you. There are other sheep that go astray. They get away and you can't have a ministry to them. In fact, sometimes sheep even die. If a church is not reaching more sheep and winning more people to Christ, it will have less and less people to minister to and to grow and develop.
What we need is that beautiful balance. It's not an either/or, does a church do evangelism or does it do discipleship, but rather it is a both/and. The church is to do both of these assignments of the early church.
The Lord Jesus Christ gave us what we call "The Great Commission." Jesus said, "Go ye therefore, and make disciples." Evangelism. Then He said, "Baptizing them and teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." That's discipleship.
Did you notice that you have that perfect balance here? It says that the churches were edified and then it says that the churches were multiplied. Edification is the discipleship ministry of the church. Multiply is the evangelism ministry of the church.
I want to talk to you about what the church is to do. I want to do it from these verses of scripture.
I. Ministry to Saints.
I. Ministry to Saints.
The first thing that I want you to notice is that the church is to have a ministry to saints. "Then were the churches edified." We have a ministry to the saints.
I want to make a statement and I'll come back to it a time or two along the way, but I want you to get hold of this statement. God has to work on the inside of a church before He can work on the outside of a church. God has to do something in the church before He can do something through the church. There you have it. The churches were edified.
I want you to draw a circle somewhere in your notes. On the inside of that circle put the word "edify" and on the outside of that circle put the word "multiply." You have the inward ministry of the church and you have the outward ministry of the church. You have the ministry to saints and then you have the ministry to sinners. "Then had the churches rest and were edified."
The word "edify" means to build. We talk about a building and we call it an edifice. The word "edify" is a beautiful picture of the church. It means the church is like a building.
Sometimes in the Bible the church is described as a bride. There the emphasis is upon the fidelity of the church to the heavenly bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ. On other occasions, the church is compared to a body. When the church is compared to a body, the emphasis there is upon the function of the church, every part of the body functioning the way it ought to function.
But here the picture is the church like a building. "Then had the churches rest and were edified."
Look at want you to see a beautiful picture of the church as a building and to see this edification, this growing and developing work of the ministry of the church to the saints of God. Verses 20 through 22 say, "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone."
Verse 21 says, "In whom all the building fitly framed together growth unto an holy temple in the Lord; In whom ye also are built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit."
There are three aspects of the church as a building given to us in these three verses. For instance, in verse 20 he talks about the church's foundation. He says, "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophet, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone."
You and I know that a building is going to be a building largely on the basis of its foundation. A building is dependent upon what kind of foundation it has.
I saw a city I had never seen before. I remember the first time I went down on Canal Street in New Orleans. They were building a building on Canal Street and they had a large pile of telephone posts. They were taken those posts and pile driving them one right on top of the other.
I said to someone there, "What are they doing?" They said, "New Orleans is under water." We certainly know that is true. "In order to build a building you've got to get a foundation down below the surface. You've got to dig deep and be sure that the building is on a solid foundation."
The same thing is true about a church. A church has to have a solid foundation. In , verse 11, the Bible tells us very clearly what the foundation of a church is. It says, "For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." The Bible is saying that the foundation of a church has to be the Lord Jesus Christ.
You can try to build a church on a lot of things. You can try to build a church on music. I love music. Some churches are built around their music. "Come over to our place and hear the Bald Bearing Four sing." Then other churches are built on programs and gimmicks.
Hear me very well. If a church is built on anything but the Lord Jesus Christ it is destined to fall. You can have big attendance for a while. But if you don't build a church on the Lord Jesus Christ, then that church ultimately is not going to make it.
Our church here is built on the Lord Jesus Christ. We teach you that Jesus Christ, the Savior, is the One upon which we build our foundation. He is the foundation of our church. We teach our people here to love Jesus. We believe that if you will fall in love with the Lord Jesus Christ, you will become the kind of church God wants you to become.
Where Jesus is there is love. Where Jesus is there is life. Show me a church that is built upon Jesus, and I will show you a church that is alive.
I heard about one pastor who was a little frustrated with his dead congregation. When he left the church he left them with a poem. He said, "Tell my church when I am dead that they should shed no tears, for I will be no deader then, than they have been for years."
Praise God our church here is not a dead church. Aren't you glad to be a part of a live church? Aren't you glad to be a part of a Jesus church? Our church is founded upon Jesus.
Then notice in verse 21 that he talks about the church's construction. It says, "In whom all the building fitly framed together." There is the foundation and then the church has to be built. Edified, built up.
What are the tools that God gives us in His Word which can build a church and help a church be what it should be? We are going to follow several verses of Scripture. I want to show you the tools the Holy Spirit uses to build a church.
The first tool is in the book of Jude, verse 20. It says, "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith." That's the first tool God uses in building a church. God uses the great tool of faith.
When you do what you can do you get what you can do. But when you put your faith in God and build upon what God can do, you get what God can do.
The tragedy is that so many churches undertake only what they think they can accomplish. Faith is a great building tool. God's people who have faith in Him and who are willing to believe Him for big things, who are willing to step out on faith and do the work of the Lord, God builds these churches by faith.
Another building tool is in , verse 1. It says, "Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity," that is, love, "edifieth." Loves builds up. He's saying that love is a tool that builds a church.
A church should be a loving place. When people come to church they should find love here.
Remember the country song that was out a number of years ago called, "Looking for love in all the wrong places. Looking for love in all the wrong faces"?
This world is looking for love, but they are looking for love in the wrong places. They are trying to find it in the clubs and bars of the world. They are finding plenty of lights and laughter and liquor and plenty of lust. But they are not finding a great deal of love.
The church where Jesus is should be a loving place. There is love at the church.
People come into our church in all kinds of conditions and all kinds of circumstances. Sometimes they come in looking unusual. You and I need to love these people and reach out to these people. They are making a cry for help. They want someone to love them.
If you can't find love in a church, then where can you find it? Our church is a church of love. You will find acceptance and love here.
One of my favorite stories is about Moody's church in Chicago. D.L. Moody started a church with boys and girls, a Sunday School of boys and girls. A little boy was seen passing by a church every Sunday. A man of the church stood on the steps and he saw this little walking by every Sunday morning.
One day the man's curiosity got the best of him and he stopped the little boy and he said, "Son, why is it you come by our church every Sunday morning?" The boy said, "I'm going to Mr. Moody's church." The man said, "Son, we've got a church here. Why do you pass our church and go over to Moody's church every Sunday?" The little boy thought for a moment and then he said, "Well, I guess it's because they just know how to love a fellow over there."
Do you know how to love? Let's ask God to help us to be a loving church and an accepting church, a church reaching out to all people.
"Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifieth." Love builds up.
Let me give you another tool that will build up a church. Look at What Is a Church to Do?
I have been a pastor for awhile now and when God called me as a pastor,
I wanted to be everything God wanted me to be as a pastor. I knew God had called me to be a pastor, but I wasn't sure just exactly what I was to do and how I was to go about it. I started back on education and one of the first books that I studied in school was the book of Acts.
Someone has called the book of Acts, "Infant's Progress," because in this book we have the birth and the growth of the baby church. There you see the principles and the procedures which the Holy Spirit gave to the church in those days so that the church would be everything that God would want it to be.
As I began to go through the book of Acts and study it, I found what the church is intended to do. As you move through the book of Acts, you will discover that there are certain stopping points and there are certain passages and pictures in the book of Acts which describe that growth and development of the early church.
The thirty-first verse is one of those cameos, one of those plateaus in Scripture. It summarizes what the church is intended to be and what the church is intended to do.
There are two words that are the load bearing words in this verse. It says, "Then had the churches rest and were edified." That's the first word. "Walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, were multiplied."
Those of you who had heard me preach through a period of years here probably have those two verses circled in your Bible. The churches were edified and the churches were multiplied. What you find here is a church in perfect balance. It is exactly what God wants a church to be.
I have noticed in the years of my ministry that there is a tendency for churches, as well as Christians, to get out of balance. Sometimes churches get out of balance in the direction of evangelism. We know that the Bible teaches us that we are to win people to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But if you are not very careful, you can get out of balance. You can beat the drum with only one drumstick. You can try to see-saw only one side of the see-saw. There are some churches that put all of the emphasis on evangelism, winning people to faith in Jesus Christ.
I believe that is the primary purpose of the church. I think that is what God wants a church to be. But if all of the emphasis is on evangelism and there is no emphasis on growing and developing those who are saved, then you have a church that is out of balance.
On the other hand there are churches that get out of balance in the direction of discipleship. The emphasis there is that we have a ministry to God's people. The purpose of our church is to help God's people grow and develop in the Christian life.
There are some places where they say, "We just feed the sheep. Our job is to feed the sheep." Certainly that is true. But you've got to find the sheep before you can feed the sheep.
I've been a shepherd of sheep for a number of years now. I have discovered that there are certain characteristics of sheep. Sometimes sheep go into another pasture. They move their letter and they are no longer with you. There are other sheep that go astray. They get away and you can't have a ministry to them. In fact, sometimes sheep even die. If a church is not reaching more sheep and winning more people to Christ, it will have less and less people to minister to and to grow and develop.
What we need is that beautiful balance. It's not an either/or, does a church do evangelism or does it do discipleship, but rather it is a both/and. The church is to do both of these assignments of the early church.
The Lord Jesus Christ gave us what we call "The Great Commission." Jesus said, "Go ye therefore, and make disciples." Evangelism. Then He said, "Baptizing them and teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." That's discipleship.
Did you notice that you have that perfect balance here? It says that the churches were edified and then it says that the churches were multiplied. Edification is the discipleship ministry of the church. Multiply is the evangelism ministry of the church.
I want to talk to you about what the church is to do. I want to do it from these verses of scripture.
I. Ministry to Saints.
The first thing that I want you to notice is that the church is to have a ministry to saints. "Then were the churches edified." We have a ministry to the saints.
I want to make a statement and I'll come back to it a time or two along the way, but I want you to get hold of this statement. God has to work on the inside of a church before He can work on the outside of a church. God has to do something in the church before He can do something through the church. There you have it. The churches were edified.
I want you to draw a circle somewhere in your notes. On the inside of that circle put the word "edify" and on the outside of that circle put the word "multiply." You have the inward ministry of the church and you have the outward ministry of the church. You have the ministry to saints and then you have the ministry to sinners. "Then had the churches rest and were edified."
The word "edify" means to build. We talk about a building and we call it an edifice. The word "edify" is a beautiful picture of the church. It means the church is like a building.
Sometimes in the Bible the church is described as a bride. There the emphasis is upon the fidelity of the church to the heavenly bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ. On other occasions, the church is compared to a body. When the church is compared to a body, the emphasis there is upon the function of the church, every part of the body functioning the way it ought to function.
But here the picture is the church like a building. "Then had the churches rest and were edified."
Look at want you to see a beautiful picture of the church as a building and to see this edification, this growing and developing work of the ministry of the church to the saints of God. Verses 20 through 22 say, "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone."
Verse 21 says, "In whom all the building fitly framed together growth unto an holy temple in the Lord; In whom ye also are built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit."
There are three aspects of the church as a building given to us in these three verses. For instance, in verse 20 he talks about the church's foundation. He says, "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophet, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone."
You and I know that a building is going to be a building largely on the basis of its foundation. A building is dependent upon what kind of foundation it has.
I saw a city I had never seen before. I remember the first time I went down on Canal Street in New Orleans. They were building a building on Canal Street and they had a large pile of telephone posts. They were taken those posts and pile driving them one right on top of the other.
I said to someone there, "What are they doing?" They said, "New Orleans is under water." We certainly know that is true. "In order to build a building you've got to get a foundation down below the surface. You've got to dig deep and be sure that the building is on a solid foundation."
The same thing is true about a church. A church has to have a solid foundation. In , verse 11, the Bible tells us very clearly what the foundation of a church is. It says, "For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." The Bible is saying that the foundation of a church has to be the Lord Jesus Christ.
You can try to build a church on a lot of things. You can try to build a church on music. I love music. Some churches are built around their music. "Come over to our place and hear the Bald Bearing Four sing." Then other churches are built on programs and gimmicks.
Hear me very well. If a church is built on anything but the Lord Jesus Christ it is destined to fall. You can have big attendance for a while. But if you don't build a church on the Lord Jesus Christ, then that church ultimately is not going to make it.
Our church here is built on the Lord Jesus Christ. We teach you that Jesus Christ, the Savior, is the One upon which we build our foundation. He is the foundation of our church. We teach our people here to love Jesus. We believe that if you will fall in love with the Lord Jesus Christ, you will become the kind of church God wants you to become.
Where Jesus is there is love. Where Jesus is there is life. Show me a church that is built upon Jesus, and I will show you a church that is alive.
I heard about one pastor who was a little frustrated with his dead congregation. When he left the church he left them with a poem. He said, "Tell my church when I am dead that they should shed no tears, for I will be no deader then, than they have been for years."
Praise God our church here is not a dead church. Aren't you glad to be a part of a live church? Aren't you glad to be a part of a Jesus church? Our church is founded upon Jesus.
Then notice in verse 21 that he talks about the church's construction. It says, "In whom all the building fitly framed together." There is the foundation and then the church has to be built. Edified, built up.
What are the tools that God gives us in His Word which can build a church and help a church be what it should be? We are going to follow several verses of Scripture. I want to show you the tools the Holy Spirit uses to build a church.
The first tool is in the book of Jude, verse 20. It says, "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith." That's the first tool God uses in building a church. God uses the great tool of faith.
When you do what you can do you get what you can do. But when you put your faith in God and build upon what God can do, you get what God can do.
The tragedy is that so many churches undertake only what they think they can accomplish. Faith is a great building tool. God's people who have faith in Him and who are willing to believe Him for big things, who are willing to step out on faith and do the work of the Lord, God builds these churches by faith.
Another building tool is in , verse 1. It says, "Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity," that is, love, "edifieth." Loves builds up. He's saying that love is a tool that builds a church.
A church should be a loving place. When people come to church they should find love here.
Remember the country song that was out a number of years ago called, "Looking for love in all the wrong places. Looking for love in all the wrong faces"?
This world is looking for love, but they are looking for love in the wrong places. They are trying to find it in the clubs and bars of the world. They are finding plenty of lights and laughter and liquor and plenty of lust. But they are not finding a great deal of love.
The church where Jesus is should be a loving place. There is love at the church.
People come into our church in all kinds of conditions and all kinds of circumstances. Sometimes they come in looking unusual. You and I need to love these people and reach out to these people. They are making a cry for help. They want someone to love them.
If you can't find love in a church, then where can you find it? Our church is a church of love. You will find acceptance and love here.
One of my favorite stories is about Moody's church in Chicago. D.L. Moody started a church with boys and girls, a Sunday School of boys and girls. A little boy was seen passing by a church every Sunday. A man of the church stood on the steps and he saw this little walking by every Sunday morning.
One day the man's curiosity got the best of him and he stopped the little boy and he said, "Son, why is it you come by our church every Sunday morning?" The boy said, "I'm going to Mr. Moody's church." The man said, "Son, we've got a church here. Why do you pass our church and go over to Moody's church every Sunday?" The little boy thought for a moment and then he said, "Well, I guess it's because they just know how to love a fellow over there."
Do you know how to love? Let's ask God to help us to be a loving church and an accepting church, a church reaching out to all people.
"Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifieth." Love builds up.
Let me give you another tool that will build up a church. Look at , verse 12. It says, "Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying," the building up, "of the church."
He's talking about spiritual gifts. The church of Corinth was all caught up in the more spectacular gifts and the more sensational gifts. But he says that if you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek those gifts that will build up the church.
The Bible says that every born again believer has one or more spiritual gifts. I have preached on the spiritual gifts. God, the Holy Spirit, gives to every believer one or more spiritual gifts, that is a grace gift, something God gives to you as a gift of His grace to enable you to serve Him and to be a blessing to other people. "Seek that you may excel," that is, use your spiritual gift to edify, to build up the church.
That's one of the unique opportunities you have in church. It is the opportunity to use your gift. I had all the deacons come up this morning. It certainly was moving to me to see all of the wonderful men who serve us as ushers. I think about the members of our choir who use their gift of music. I think about those of you who teach Bible classes who use the gift of teaching which God has given to you.
I think of others of you who have gifts of hospitality. Our pastors' conference will come up in February and many of you open up your houses to pastors from all over this nation. They come here and you have the gift of hospitality. There are so many of you who are using your gifts, who are using what God has given you to be a blessing to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Spiritual gifts are not toys to play with. They are tools to build with.
God constructs His church. God builds His church, first of all, with faith. He builds His church with love. He builds His church with spiritual gifts.
Here is another tool. In that same , look at verse 4. It says, "He that speaketh in an unknown," that is, a tongue, "edifieth himself, but he that prophesieth," who preaches, "edifieth the church."
That's one of the tools God uses to build up the church, the preaching of the Word, prophesying of the Word of God.
, verse 32, says, "And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them who are sanctified."
I have told you before and I want to remind you. The reason this pulpit is in the very center of the building is because it is a pulpit, and it is the place where the Word of God is preached. It is the preaching of the Word that God uses to build His saints.
Think about what preaching does. I have said that God called me to preach You should have heard my first sermon. I will never forget it.
Then I got up to preach. Talk about a mess. I think I talked about 20 minutes. You say, "Oh my, wouldn't that be nice." Don't get your hopes up. I remember my Scripture, "I press toward the mark."
"On to the Goal." That's what I preached. I preached everything I heard my pastor say. I preached everything I had studied. I made up several things and in 20 minutes I was done.
But that was the beginning of preaching. I've been preaching the Gospel now for 52 years. I am absolutely convinced of the power of the preaching of God's Word.
God blesses His Word. Wonderful things happen when God's Word is preached. The greatest thing that happens in a city in a week's time is when the faithful men of God stand in the pulpit and declare, "Thus saith the Lord." God grows His church by the preaching of the Word.
We are praying that God will send us a pastor. God is going to send us a Bible preaching pastor. I don't care if he's tall or short. I don't care if he's fat or skinny. All I'm interested in is whether or not he preaches the Word of God.
You are a Bible taught congregation. For 65 years you have had Bible preachers in this church. Dr. Homer Lindsay, Sr., was a Bible preacher. Dr. Homer Lindsay, Jr., was a Bible preacher. I am a Bible preacher. The next preacher God brings to us is going to be a Bible preacher because it is the preaching of the Word that builds up the church.
We are living in a day now where there is some of the sorriest stuff going on in churches I've ever heard in all of my life. I visit churches on vacation. It's a mess what you can hear in some of these places. Some of them don't even have a Bible. They don't even come into the pulpit with a Bible.
Others come into the pulpit with a Bible and they never refer to it. Others come into the pulpit and they read a verse and depart from thence and never return.
Our church is built on solid Bible preaching of the Word. "Thus saith the Lord."
Miracles happen when the Word is preached. Think about what God does in one single preaching service. In one single preaching service the burdened can be counseled. In one single preaching service the bereaved can be comforted. In one single service the backslidden can be confronted. In one single service the lost can be converted.
In , verse 11, the Bible says, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please." God blesses the preaching of the Word of God.
"Then were the churches edified." I'll say it again. God has to do something in the church before He can do something through the church.
II. Ministry to Sinners.
Look back at want you to catch the second verb. "Then had the churches rest and were edified." That's the ministry to saints. Then it says, "Walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, were multiplied." That word emphasizes the churches ministry to sinners.
Multiplied. That means that people were getting saved. The churches were multiplied.
There is another place where that word multiplied is used rather interestingly. In , verse 1, it says, "And in those day, when the number of the disciples was multiplied." People were getting saved.
You ask, "Preacher, how were people getting saved?" Look at the verse in chapter 5 right before the first verse of chapter 6. , verse 42, will tell you how the churches were multiplied. It says, "And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ."
Daily in the Temple, publicly, and house to house, personally. They taught the message of Jesus and the churches were multiplied.
That's why every service we have here we give an invitation for people to come to Christ. We believe that in the public services lost people could walk in off the streets and hear the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ and how to be saved.
Our music is designed to touch the hearts of people. Of course, it is to bless and to edify God's children, but it is intended to touch the hearts of lost people. In the preaching before the message is over, there is an evangelistic thrust, an evangelistic invitation. The public services are designed that people might be saved.
He says, "From house to house." House to house, personally leading people to faith in Christ.
Our church is a church that has known through the years what we are here for. We know that our purpose is to win people to faith in Jesus Christ. You have been taught how to be soul winners. These young people are being taught how to share their faith. Our college students know how to share their faith. Our deacons know how to share their faith.
All of us have been taught how to share the faith. You know the plan of salvation. You know how to share the plan of salvation with someone else. That's our job. "House to house."
We have expanded our understanding of what house to house means. We know, of course, that house to house means visitation, going into their homes. But now we are able to go house to house in other ways. We have telephones now. The telephone can be a mighty evangelistic tool. We have e-mails now. We can get into the houses of people. We can go house to house by phone or house to house by e-mail. There are all kinds of ways to touch people in the name of Jesus.
You can't improve on that personal touch. Lifestyle evangelism is one person telling another person about Jesus.
Let me encourage you to find somebody who needs to know Jesus. Find some friend at school who needs to know the Lord. Find somebody you work with who's not a Christian. Find some neighbor. Find someone you come in contact with at the ball field and cultivate that person and love that person and share with that person about the Lord Jesus Christ.
As the churches are edified, that is, a ministry to the saints and as the churches are multiplied, that is, a ministry to sinners, the church comes to be what God wants it to be.
"Lord, help me see in those I meet on country road or city street, not just people passing by but those for whom Jesus came to die."
Let's bow our heads in prayer.
It says, "Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying," the building up, "of the church."
He's talking about spiritual gifts. The church of Corinth was all caught up in the more spectacular gifts and the more sensational gifts. But he says that if you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek those gifts that will build up the church.
The Bible says that every born again believer has one or more spiritual gifts. I have preached on the spiritual gifts. God, the Holy Spirit, gives to every believer one or more spiritual gifts, that is a grace gift, something God gives to you as a gift of His grace to enable you to serve Him and to be a blessing to other people. "Seek that you may excel," that is, use your spiritual gift to edify, to build up the church.
That's one of the unique opportunities you have in church. It is the opportunity to use your gift. I had all the deacons come up this morning. It certainly was moving to me to see all of the wonderful men who serve us as ushers. I think about the members of our choir who use their gift of music. I think about those of you who teach Bible classes who use the gift of teaching which God has given to you.
I think of others of you who have gifts of hospitality. Our pastors' conference will come up in February and many of you open up your houses to pastors from all over this nation. They come here and you have the gift of hospitality. There are so many of you who are using your gifts, who are using what God has given you to be a blessing to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Spiritual gifts are not toys to play with. They are tools to build with.
God constructs His church. God builds His church, first of all, with faith. He builds His church with love. He builds His church with spiritual gifts.
Here is another tool. In that same , look at verse 4. It says, "He that speaketh in an unknown," that is, a tongue, "edifieth himself, but he that prophesieth," who preaches, "edifieth the church."
That's one of the tools God uses to build up the church, the preaching of the Word, prophesying of the Word of God.
, verse 32, says, "And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them who are sanctified."
I have told you before and I want to remind you. The reason this pulpit is in the very center of the building is because it is a pulpit, and it is the place where the Word of God is preached. It is the preaching of the Word that God uses to build His saints.
Think about what preaching does. I have said that God called me to preach You should have heard my first sermon. I will never forget it.
Then I got up to preach. Talk about a mess. I think I talked about 20 minutes. You say, "Oh my, wouldn't that be nice." Don't get your hopes up. I remember my Scripture, "I press toward the mark."
"On to the Goal." That's what I preached. I preached everything I heard my pastor say. I preached everything I had studied. I made up several things and in 20 minutes I was done.
But that was the beginning of preaching. I've been preaching the Gospel now for 52 years. I am absolutely convinced of the power of the preaching of God's Word.
God blesses His Word. Wonderful things happen when God's Word is preached. The greatest thing that happens in a city in a week's time is when the faithful men of God stand in the pulpit and declare, "Thus saith the Lord." God grows His church by the preaching of the Word.
We are praying that God will send us a pastor. God is going to send us a Bible preaching pastor. I don't care if he's tall or short. I don't care if he's fat or skinny. All I'm interested in is whether or not he preaches the Word of God.
You are a Bible taught congregation. For 65 years you have had Bible preachers in this church. Dr. Homer Lindsay, Sr., was a Bible preacher. Dr. Homer Lindsay, Jr., was a Bible preacher. I am a Bible preacher. The next preacher God brings to us is going to be a Bible preacher because it is the preaching of the Word that builds up the church.
We are living in a day now where there is some of the sorriest stuff going on in churches I've ever heard in all of my life. I visit churches on vacation. It's a mess what you can hear in some of these places. Some of them don't even have a Bible. They don't even come into the pulpit with a Bible.
Others come into the pulpit with a Bible and they never refer to it. Others come into the pulpit and they read a verse and depart from thence and never return.
Our church is built on solid Bible preaching of the Word. "Thus saith the Lord."
Miracles happen when the Word is preached. Think about what God does in one single preaching service. In one single preaching service the burdened can be counseled. In one single preaching service the bereaved can be comforted. In one single service the backslidden can be confronted. In one single service the lost can be converted.
In , verse 11, the Bible says, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please." God blesses the preaching of the Word of God.
"Then were the churches edified." I'll say it again. God has to do something in the church before He can do something through the church.
II. Ministry to Sinners.
Look back at want you to catch the second verb. "Then had the churches rest and were edified." That's the ministry to saints. Then it says, "Walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, were multiplied." That word emphasizes the churches ministry to sinners.
Multiplied. That means that people were getting saved. The churches were multiplied.
There is another place where that word multiplied is used rather interestingly. In , verse 1, it says, "And in those day, when the number of the disciples was multiplied." People were getting saved.
You ask, "Preacher, how were people getting saved?" Look at the verse in chapter 5 right before the first verse of chapter 6. , verse 42, will tell you how the churches were multiplied. It says, "And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ."
Daily in the Temple, publicly, and house to house, personally. They taught the message of Jesus and the churches were multiplied.
That's why every service we have here we give an invitation for people to come to Christ. We believe that in the public services lost people could walk in off the streets and hear the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ and how to be saved.
Our music is designed to touch the hearts of people. Of course, it is to bless and to edify God's children, but it is intended to touch the hearts of lost people. In the preaching before the message is over, there is an evangelistic thrust, an evangelistic invitation. The public services are designed that people might be saved.
He says, "From house to house." House to house, personally leading people to faith in Christ.
Our church is a church that has known through the years what we are here for. We know that our purpose is to win people to faith in Jesus Christ. You have been taught how to be soul winners. These young people are being taught how to share their faith. Our college students know how to share their faith. Our deacons know how to share their faith.
All of us have been taught how to share the faith. You know the plan of salvation. You know how to share the plan of salvation with someone else. That's our job. "House to house."
We have expanded our understanding of what house to house means. We know, of course, that house to house means visitation, going into their homes. But now we are able to go house to house in other ways. We have telephones now. The telephone can be a mighty evangelistic tool. We have e-mails now. We can get into the houses of people. We can go house to house by phone or house to house by e-mail. There are all kinds of ways to touch people in the name of Jesus.
You can't improve on that personal touch. Lifestyle evangelism is one person telling another person about Jesus.
Let me encourage you to find somebody who needs to know Jesus. Find some friend at school who needs to know the Lord. Find somebody you work with who's not a Christian. Find some neighbor. Find someone you come in contact with at the ball field and cultivate that person and love that person and share with that person about the Lord Jesus Christ.
As the churches are edified, that is, a ministry to the saints and as the churches are multiplied, that is, a ministry to sinners, the church comes to be what God wants it to be.
"Lord, help me see in those I meet on country road or city street, not just people passing by but those for whom Jesus came to die."
Let's bow our heads in prayer.