returning again to the book of Acts chapter two and we begin our reading at verse forty two Acts chapter two verse forty two and we're going to be reading quite a few verses from the book of the Acts concerning the early church we read that they continued 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 the believers were together, and had all things common, and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had needs. And they continued daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking of 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. May the Lord bless the reading of his word. Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank you for the entrance of thy word. We thank you for the joy of studying your word. of meditating upon it, of thinking upon it in the night watches. But over and above this we pray that our desire for your word will be that of Job who could say, I esteem the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. And the psalmist could say, Thy words were sweet to my lips, sweeter than honey, and the honeycomb. What a precious portion is the word of God. Teach us from your word and cause our hearts to be knit together in sweet love and fellowship for the honor and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Now in our studies in the book of Acts we have been looking at church growth in the book of Acts. We have noticed that the word of God grew in spite of linguistic differences, the Word of God grew in spite of the problem of idolatry, and the Word of God grew in spite of intense opposition. This is tremendous when you consider it. Also, we noted that the growth of the church was numeric. And we noted that the growth of the church was geographical. It leaped over the boundaries, and when you get to the close of the act, we find that it had spread to the extremities of the Roman Empire. But there's another area in which we find church growth, and that is spiritual. And I believe this is the most important of the areas. When you consider numeric growth, all you need to do is count. When you consider geographical growth, all you need to do is look at the boundary lines of countries. But when you come to spiritual growth, this is something else. For the growth of the early church was not only in quantity, that's numerically, but in quality. That was spiritual. There was a deepening. of the spiritual life in the developing Christian communities. Wherever the Word of God spread, there was a development in spiritual life. Where the gospel was preached, there was always an increase in godly living. And this should always be the result. It was so right after what took place on the day of Pentecost in the portion that we read together tonight. Now there's a word that appears continuously throughout the book of Acts. You find it here in the second chapter. Dr. Luke uses the word fear. It highlights the reverential awe that the people had concerning faith, where faith was developed and where the word of God spread. Fear was not only evidenced, in those who believed the word of God. But fear was evidenced also in those who were influenced by the lives of those who were thus changed by the word of God. Look at verse forty-three of Acts two. And fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. In other words, the thought here is reverential awe. for what the apostles preached and what the believers stood for. Look at chapter five for a moment. Over in chapter five and verse five concerning the death of Ananias. We read in Ananias, hearing these words fell down and gave up the ghost. And great fear came upon all them that heard these things. Here it's reverential all because of discipline. in the local testimony. Verse eleven, and great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things. Chapter nine and verse thirty-one, where we read in the ninth chapter and the thirty-first verse, then had the church's rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit were multiplied. Here we find church growth and the people were walking where? In the fear of the Lord with a reverential awe of the greatness of God and over the mightiness of His divine sovereignty. Now notice chapter nineteen, Acts chapter nineteen and verse seventeen, where we read, And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks, also dwelling at Ephesus, and fear fell on all them, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. Here it is because of what happened to the Jewish exorcists who tried to imitate Paul and the Lord Jesus in casting out a demon and the demon leaped upon the man who tried to imitate the genuine thing. You see, godly fear is apparent in Luke's summary of the church's activity not only in Judea but also in Galilee and in Samaria. Now, this is spiritual encouragement by the Holy Spirit. There is nothing as sweet to the believer's life as spiritual encouragement that comes from the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit takes the Word of God and makes it real and rich in the life and encourages one in spiritual things. But not only was there spiritual encouragement But this spiritual encouragement was demonstrated by the dynamic lifestyle of the believers in the fear of the Lord. They were walking in the fear of the Lord. There was a reverential awe about these people. I remember wiring a church building north of Lebanon, a fine preacher there. We got to know one another well. His wife was reared in a strict brethren home. And she always complained about the brethren preachers because she had to give up her bedroom when they came through because the parents put her on the sofa, gave the preachers her bedroom. And she never got over that. She didn't like that at all. But the one thing she said, They used my room to do their writing. But there was a holy awe about their lifestyle. I tell you, that is a good testimony. A holy awe about their lifestyle. The portion that we read tonight from Acts chapter two, it's a beautiful cameo of the inner life of the church. Or if the inner life of Graham Bible fellowship could be put up on a screen for everybody to see, and it matched. Acts chapter two. What a picture it would be and what a joy it would be. Now, spiritual growth is manifested in many ways. Notice spiritual growth is reflected in the boldness of the believers. in the face of persecution. I want you to turn to the fourth chapter, Acts chapter four. And we're going to begin our reading at verse twenty three. The disciples had been beaten and then they were let go. They were released from custody. And notice what we read in verse twenty three. Acts chapter four, verse twenty three. And being let go, they went to their own company that's an interesting verse they sought out their own who lived the same lifestyle as they did they went to their own company this is an interesting verse and reported all that the chief priests and elders had sent unto them and when they heard that they lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said Lord, thou art God, which made heaven and earth and the sea and all that in them is. In other words, they acknowledge, first of all, who God was. And they acknowledge that he is a God of creation. He brought creation into being. But more than that, they acknowledge that who by the mouth of thy servant David has said, why did the heathen rage? And the people imagined vain things. The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate were the Gentiles. And the people of Israel were gathered together for to do whatever they please. No, it doesn't say that. for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. There is nothing that anyone can do that does not come through the fine sieve of the permissive will of God. And all that took place at the cross, all the raging of the Gentiles, and all the activity of the Jewish nations, could never go one bit further than God had ordained it could go. And you and I rest in the hands of one who is in complete control. Now, instead of going to City Hall and trying to have an ordinance passed for the protection and the welfare of apostles, they joined their own group in prayer and they acknowledged who God was. How different from the day in which we live. Today we want an ordinance passed to protect our rights, not the early church. The early church recognized that their God, the God they serve, was none other than the Lord Jehovah of hosts, who is in charge of the whole of the universe and all things that take place there. What they really did was they said to the Lord, Lord, your God. Now, this is not our problem at all. This is your problem. That's faith. That is faith. That is the result, friends, of spiritual growth. If you don't grow spiritually, you'll never attain to this. And the problem with the church in the twentieth century, the reason we haven't attained this is because we're more dependent on officials that we can elect than we are on the God who rules the universe. And friends, we need to recognize the high calling of the people of God. So verse twenty nine we read, And now, Lord, behold, they're threatening. and grant unto thy servant that with all boldness they may speak thy word. By stretching forth thy hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they prayed, the place was shaken. You see, God acknowledges that kind of prayer. Did you notice they didn't ask that they'd be made eminent soul-winners? They didn't ask that they might know all the mysteries of the prophetic scriptures so that they know just what's going to take place next in God's calendar, but they asked that God might be glorified through their lives. So we see spiritual growth reflected in the boldness of the witness and the way in which they withstood persecution. But more than that, we notice spiritual growth in the way in which the early believers willingly shared their possessions. You notice that in chapter four, verses thirty-two. Notice verse thirty-two. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul, neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own but they had all things common and with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all and when you go down through the list you'll notice when you get down to verse thirty seven how they brought the results of selling their houses and land and other things, and they brought the money and laid it at the Apostles' feet to be used for the spread of the gospel. But more than that, spiritual growth is seen in the way that the saintly Stephen died. The way Stephen dies in Acts chapter seven, he was stoned to death by Saul of Tarsus and those who were aligned with him. He died gracefully, giving glory to God and asking that the sin be not laid to the charge of those who were stoning him. Here we find the Sermon on the Mount and what our Lord has to say concerning non-resistance fulfilled in the early church. But then we see spiritual growth also. in the way in which Philip preached the gospel in Samaria. The whole of the eighth chapter of the Acts, from about verse four to the end, has to do with Philip and the revival in Samaria and his speaking to the Ethiopian eunuch, being used of the spirit, being attuned to the spirit's desire for him. How did Philip attain that? For he was one of those who was chosen to wait on tables. The scripture says when Paul wrote to Timothy, they that have used the office of a deacon well appoint to themselves a good degree and much boldness in the faith that he's in Christ. That's what we read concerning the office of a deacon in First Timothy chapter three. Now, furthermore, we see church growth in the courage of the early Christians in facing persecution. Notice just one passage in this. Turn over to Acts chapter fourteen. Acts fourteen. And I'm just pulling out one passage because it's verse twenty-two. time is rapidly passing and we notice that Paul and Barnabas are returning from their first missionary journey and they're confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God this is totally opposite of what the wealth and health gospel preachers are telling us today. We must, through much tribulation, enter the kingdom of God. And they encouraged one another to continue in the faith. And as Barnabas preached at Antioch, he told the believers to cleave unto the Lord. Now, what was the basis of church growth? Teaching. Teaching ministry was a decisive part in church growth. First, the believers were discipled and trained not only to bear witness for the Lord to be a good testimony, but also to face the possibility of persecution. They were trained in this. For they told them that through much tribulation, you enter the kingdom of God. We're not on a sleigh ride going downhill, singing jingle bells. We have an enemy friend, and we have more than one enemy. The world is our enemy. The flesh is our enemy, and the devil is our enemy. And they line up together against the child of God. Notice chapter eight, verse one, concerning persecutions. verse one and Saul was consenting unto his death that is the death of Stephen and at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the disciples there was a gathering and everywhere they went they proclaimed the gospel verse four therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching The Word, chapter thirteen and verse fifty, where we read concerning persecution. But the Jews stirred up the devout and honorable women and the chief men of the city and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them out of their coast. Persecution. They trained the disciples. You see, teaching is an important part of leadership in the local church. First Timothy chapter three, verse two tells us that an elder, one who assumes the oversight in an assembly along with others must be able to teach. It is one of the first qualifications that are listed. So Acts chapter five and verse forty two shows us the daily activity of the church leaders. They continued daily teaching the word of God. You see, teaching was an evident part of the ministry of Paul at Antioch before he went forth on his first missionary journey. And of course, teaching was a great part of his activity in his lengthy stay at Corinth, chapter eighteen of the Acts and verse eleven. and of course teaching occupied the part of the apostle in his longest stay at one place in Ephesus and you have that in chapter nineteen and of course in chapter twenty and verse thirty one now concerning persecution Paul when he wrote to Timothy in second Timothy chapter three and verse twelve He says, yea, and all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Church growth can be numerical. All you've got to do is add the numbers. And that's good. I like to add numbers. Church growth can be geographic. We should be expanding. The church did in the book of Acts. And we thank God when we see that. But church growth, above all else, must be spiritual. And three things we learn from this. First, the Christian faith was truly an evangelistic faith in which believers reach out to others and draw them to Jesus Christ. Sinners are being saved. But second, the Christian faith is also missionary, which crosses cultural barriers to bring the gospel to every creature. The commission of our Lord has not been withdrawn. Go ye therefore into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And A.T. Pearson's book on mission says, In the opening words of it, in every generation, We have a whole church to evangelize a whole world. And since I'm in the church of this generation, I have a responsibility, and every other child of God by the blood of His cross has a responsibility to evangelize the whole world. Now, I can't get to all the world, but I can get to as many parts of the world as possible. for his glory. Finally, the Christian faith is concerned with the edification and spiritual development of the people of God. In the Lord, bless you.