THREE STEPS TO CHURCH MEMBERSHIP

Pastor James J. Barker

Text: ACTS 2:37-47




INTRODUCTION:


  1. One of the greatest events recorded in the Bible took place on the day of Pentecost, nearly 2,000 years ago.
  2. The apostle Peter got up and preached a sermon in Jerusalem and so mighty was the convicting power of the Holy Spirit that there was an immediate response from the audience – "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37).
  3. These folks were under conviction of sin. They were just told that they crucified their Messiah (Acts 2:36). "They were pricked in their heart" (Acts 2:37) – they knew they needed to get right with God.
  4. They did not need to wait for an invitation to be given in order to come forward and get saved (2:37). The Holy Spirit already gave the invitation! He is the best preacher in town. Jesus said that "when He is come (i.e., the Holy Spirit), He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" (John 16:8).
  5. A little boy was flying a kite and the kite soared so high you could not see it. A man walked by and saw the boy looking intensely upward, and asked him, "What do you have there?" The boy replied that he was holding onto his kite. "A kite!" said the gentleman, "How can it be, I don’t see it?" "Neither do I, mister," said the little boy, "but I can feel it pulling!" That’s the way the Holy Spirit operates – we cannot see Him but we feel him pulling. On the day of Pentecost, Peter’s audience felt the Holy Spirit pulling at their hearts.
  6. And the Bible says that 3,000 of them were saved (Acts 2:41). The great Baptist preacher of a previous generation, W. Graham Scroggie, pointed out that at the first proclamation of the law 3,000 souls were slain (Ex.32:28); but at the first proclamation of the Gospel, 3,000 souls were saved.
  7. I’d like to preach today on the "Three Steps to Church Membership" – they believed, they were baptized, and they belonged.
  1. THEY BELIEVED
    1. First, notice that they "gladly received his word" (Acts 2:41). The first step towards membership in the local church is faith (cf. Acts 5:14; 11:21,24). Note: I am talking about membership in a Bible-believing church. Some churches accept just about anyone regardless of their spiritual condition.
    2. It has always been a Baptist distinctive, going back to the apostolic church, that only born-again believers could join the church.
    3. Historically, one of the major differences between the Baptist churches and the Roman Catholic Church has been that the Baptists have insisted upon a regenerate church membership; whereas the Roman church has a degenerate church membership.
    4. This is why the Roman church persecuted the Baptists and burnt them at the stake. Back in the days of Augustine (5th century), the Roman church was persecuting the Donatists on account of their insistence on a regenerate church membership.
    5. So, the first step to church membership is to believe. But most people say that they already "believe" (cf. James 2:19). Years ago, while out knocking on doors, a friend of mine showed this verse to an unsaved lady, who got angry and said, "Are you calling me a devil?"
    6. The big problem for most people is that they have never repented (Acts 2:38; 3:19; 20:21; 26:18-20). They need to repent and then "turn to God" (Acts 26:20).
    7. This is what happened on the day of Pentecost – they "gladly received" the word and were saved (2:41). Have you gladly received the Word of God? Are you saved? Have you been born again?
    8. Maybe you have never publicly professed faith in Christ before and need to do so now. There was a preacher by the name of L.G. Broughton, who was invited to a church where they normally did not give an invitation. He felt led by the Lord to give one and immediately a strong, well-built man came down the aisle to get saved, with tears streaming down his face. One by one others followed – all in all, 14 were saved that morning. As Pastor Broughton was leaving the building later, he heard a lady complain about the public invitation. Do you know that the first man who came forward, the strong, well-built man, was a railroad engineer who was killed in a train wreck that very same night!
  1. THEY WERE BAPTIZED (2:41)
      1. Have you been scripturally baptized? I am not talking about sprinkling or pouring or even unscriptural immersion.
      2. Our English word "baptize" comes from the Greek word baptizo, which means to immerse or to dip or to plunge under. Every time you read of some one being baptized in the Bible, it is always:
      1. after they are saved
      2. by immersion (cf. Acts 8:36-38; 16:30-34).
      1. John the Baptist baptized "in Enon near to Salim, because there was much water there" (John 3:23).
      2. Some people twist Acts 2:38 to teach that baptism is necessary for salvation – they have it backwards – it is salvation that is necessary for baptism!
      3. To teach that one must be baptized in order to be saved is to preach a false gospel. All throughout the Bible salvation is by God’s grace through faith (cf. John 1:12; 3:16; 6:47; Acts 16:31; Rom.10:9,13). The Bible never contradicts itself (cf. Acts 3:19).
      4. The thief on the cross was not baptized but he got saved. Paul was thankful that he baptized only a few Corinthians – a strange thing to say if baptism washes away sin (cf. I Cor.1:14-16).
      5. In Acts 2:38, the Greek preposition eis means "because of." We even use the word "for" in the same manner: "He is doing time for armed robbery."

III. THEY BELONGED (2:41; cf. 2:47)

    1. Do you belong to a good Bible-believing church? If not, why don’t you consider joining ours. If this is where God wants you, then you need to join. If this is not where God wants you, then please do not join.
    2. Don’t be like that one church-hopper that was always moving around and went to a preacher and said, "It’s time for me to move on. You don’t have a problem with me joining the new church downtown, do you?" The pastor replied, "No, there is no danger in changing labels on an empty bottle."
    3. Too many Christians today are disobeying God by not being active members of a local church. But the Bible teaches the true New Testament pattern: they believed, they were baptized, and they belonged – i.e., they joined the church.
    4. Occasionally, some silly people tell me, "Oh, I don’t need to join this church – I’m already a member of the invisible church!" What foolishness! Show me where in the Bible this is taught. I suppose this "invisible church" is quite convenient for those Christians who are always invisible on Sunday nights and Wednesday nights! I suppose they have their invisible preaching, and invisible fellowship, and invisible offerings! Well, I can tell you – people are going to a very real and visible hell and they need a very real and visible church to bring the Gospel to them! (cf. I Tim.3:15).
    5. Do you belong to the local church? This is God’s plan for you and me. We all have our place in the church of God. One time Sir Michael Costa, the composer, was having a rehearsal, with a vast array of performers and hundreds of voices, as the mighty chorus rang out along with the thunder of the organ and the roll of the drums, and ringing horns, and cymbals clashing, some man who was playing the piccolo far away in the corner, said to himself: "With hundreds of voices and mighty organ and clashing cymbals and pounding drums and blaring horns and all the rest of this din, it doesn’t really matter what I do," and so he stopped playing. Suddenly the great conductor stopped, and flung up his hands, and all was still, and he cried out loud: "Where is the piccolo?" Sir Michael Costa’s ear missed it and all was spoiled without it.
    6. Notice the marks of a good New Testament church – they were saved, they were scripturally baptized, they belonged to the church (2:41); they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread [Lord’s Supper], and in prayer (2:42). We need to stay close to the Lord and we need to stay in the Word and we need to be actively involved in a local church.

CONCLUSION:

  1. A Christian man was very faithful in his church for quite some time but then got cold and stopped coming – first he skipped prayer meeting, then Sunday school, then Sunday night, and finally he stopped attending altogether.
  2. The pastor went to visit him one night and found him sitting by his fireplace. The preacher didn’t say a word but just picked up a hot coal from the fire with a pair of tongs and set it down apart from the other coals. Soon the coal grew cold and died out. The backslidden church member looked at this and said, "OK, Pastor, you’ve made your point, I’ll see you in church Wednesday night for prayer meeting."


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