In describing the growth of the first-century church of Christ in the city of Jerusalem, Luke writes, “And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women” (Acts 5:14).  This is not the first account of individuals being “added” to the Lord’s church in the book of Acts.  Acts 2:47 notes, “And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”  To be “added to the Lord” (Acts 5:14) and to be “added to the church” (Acts 2:47) are the equivalent expressions.  After all, the church is the body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18).  When one is baptized, one is united with the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 6:3-8); one is baptized into the one body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13).  To be part of the church is to be part of the saved body of people (Acts 2:47) who have all spiritual blessings in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).  To be outside of the church is to be outside of that sphere of blessings, not forgiven of sins, not united with the Lord’s atoning death, not a child of God (Galatians 3:26-27).

When Acts 5:14 says that “believers” were “added to the Lord,” it indicates that one must believe first before being added to the Lord, i.e. to His church.  James 2:17 emphatically shows that faith without works is dead.  A living faith is needed for salvation (2 Timothy 3:15).  A living faith moves one to repent, confess, and be baptized.  John 1:11-12 says of Jesus, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”  Faith gives one the right to become a child of God, but the moment one accepts the truth of the Gospel, believing it, is not the moment one is added to the Lord, i.e. added to His church.

Several on Pentecost day following the resurrection of the Lord Jesus heard Peter’s sermon, and believed.  They were pricked in their hearts because they recognized Jesus was the Christ, whom they were guilty of crucifying (Acts 2:36-37).  It was not at this moment of believing these facts that they were saved, i.e. added to the Lord’s church.  They asked what they should do and Peter told them to repent and be baptized for the remission of their sins (Acts 8:37-38).  Some three thousand gladly received the word and were baptized; at the point of baptism they were “added” (Acts 2:41).  It was not at the point of believing the facts, not even at the point of gladly receiving the word, but at the point of baptism, where all that culminated into a commitment of obedience, that they were saved, added to the Lord, added to His church.

Jesus said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16).  Faith makes one a proper candidate to be added to the Lord, but until it manifests itself in obedience to the Gospel, salvation has not been secured (2 Thessalonians 1:8). If one believes in Christ, but because of social pressures will not confess that faith before others, one is not saved (John 12:42).  If a man will not be baptized, then he rejects the counsel of God against himself as the Pharisees and lawyers did when they rejected John’s baptism (Luke 7:29-30).  The saved are a group of baptized believers (Acts 2:47; 5:14).  One must be a true believer in order to be baptized, but one is not added to the Lord until one is a baptized believer.

-Mark Day

The New Testament reveals to us the nature of Jesus Christ; the first four books in particular give details of His earthly life spanning a third of a century.  What one finds within these documents is a personality that has brought about the greatest change for good in the history of the world.  Even today, 2,000 years removed from when He lived among us, Jesus’ words and deeds impress people to believe in Him as the Son of God and inspire them to mold their lives after His example.

The adage, “actions speak louder than words,” is a truth that can often be seen in the deeds of Jesus of Nazareth.  Unlike the sanctimonious Pharisees, Jesus was “a friend of publicans and sinners” (Luke 7:34).  He was not a friend who participated with them in sinning, but was a true friend who loved them, formed relationships with them, and told them, “go, and sin no more” (John 8:11).  He spoke with a Samaritan woman at the well, asking her for a drink (John 4:7).  He had no container to hold his own water (John 4:11); He was willing to put his mouth to the bucket the Samaritan woman was carrying.  What first-century Jewish writer would have concocted such a story?  Certainly none.  The character of Jesus shines above the prejudices of His day.  Jesus healed the lepers by touching them (Matthew 8:3).  When the band of officers came with weapons to take Jesus by force, He even healed the ear of Malchus after Peter cut it off (Luke 22:51; John 18:10).  Throughout His short life, “he went about doing good” (Acts 10:38).

One can learn much about a man from what he says about himself, what his friends say, and even what his enemies say.  Jesus asked, “Which of you convinceth me of sin?” (John 8:46).  He called on others to repent, but was not in need of repentance Himself (Matthew 3:14-15; 4:17).  He said He always did the things that please the Father (John 8:29).  Which of us could truly say the same?  His teachings are without equal, as the officers admitted, “Never man spake like this man” (John 7:46).  Jesus’ friends said that He was “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16); the Father corroborated this truth by audibly declaring it from heaven (Matthew 3:17; 17:5).  The religious leaders, Jesus’ enemies, did not hesitate to cast reproaches on Him.  They implied that His birth was from fornication (John 8:41).  They said He was a Samaritan and had a devil (John 8:48).  Each confrontation Jesus had with His enemies did not elicit any evil from Him, but manifested His supreme virtues of love and truth; contrariwise, His enemies embarrassed themselves because they showed how manipulative and hypocritical they were (Matthew 22).

The only logical basis for this unparalleled character named Jesus evinced in the Gospel accounts is that He was God in the flesh who actually lived, doing these great deeds and saying these great statements.  No other conclusion squares with the facts.  Man could not create such a character. He surpasses the perfection of any figment of our imaginations, and yet was clearly rooted in the world dealing with real people in places which actually existed.  “What think ye of Christ?” (Matthew 22:42).  Will you examine the character of the Christ portrayed in the New Testament?  If you will honestly consider Him, you will come away with the same conclusion the centurion did when he said, “Truly this was the Son of God” (Matthew 27:54).

–Mark Day

When God called Moses in Exodus 3 to appear before Pharaoh in order to lead the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage, Moses had fears and excuses for not going.  With each excuse Moses gave, God provided the adequate reasons and resources for Moses to be successful and to make his excuses null and void.

One fear Moses had was that neither the Egyptians nor the Israelites would believe that the Lord had appeared to him (Ex. 4:1).  Instead of depending on the mere words of Moses, God provided miracles to back up his claims that God had indeed commissioned him.  The miracles of his rod turning into a serpent, leprosy instantaneously appearing and disappearing on his flesh, and water turning into blood were God’s attestations that Moses was His messenger (Ex.  4:2-9).

The miracles recorded in the Bible indicate God’s confirmation of those who were speaking for Him.  Jesus claimed to be sent from God and had works that bore witness to the veracity of the claim (Jn. 5:36).  Certainly the miracles of Jesus were deeds no other man had ever worked (Jn.15:24); moreover, the works were to produce belief in Him (Jn. 14:11).  A sampling of those works are recorded in the New Testament in order to produce belief even today (Jn. 20:30-31).

The apostles and prophets who were to continue the message of God in the first century before the New Testament was completed were also provided with evidence from God that their message was from Him (Mk. 16:18-20; Heb. 2:3-4).  Not all Jesus wished to reveal to us was spoken during His earthly ministry; even His disciples who spent every day with Him had much more to learn (Jn. 16:12).  Jesus promised the apostles the Holy Spirit would come to remind them of what He had taught and teach them all things, guiding them into all truth (Jn. 14:26; 16:13). Thus, the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit were exercised in the first-century church (1 Cor. 12:3-11). They served this confirmatory function while God’s message was delivered in parts: a portion through an apostle here and another portion to a prophet there (1 Cor. 13:9; cf. Eph. 3:5; 2 Cor. 12:12). When the completed message was preserved in written form, the miraculous gifts vanished away, having served their purpose (1 Cor. 13:8-10; Eph. 4:8-15).

Miracles were not for the purpose of making money; Simon the Sorcerer was severely rebuked for greedily devising such a plan (Acts 8:18-24).  Neither Jesus nor His apostles turned the true miracles from God into a two-hour-long television special to excite emotions and make money.  Jesus refused to perform shallow spectacles (Mt. 4:5-7).  The miracles were worked to engender faith in the truths of Christianity.  Those who did not believe when they had seen the miraculous evidence were scolded for their hard hearts (Mt. 11:20).

Today many claim God has sent them, is guiding them, and speaking through them beyond the message of the Bible.  The Muslims claim Muhammad was the last and greatest prophet of God.  The Roman Catholic Church claims the Magisterium is guided by the Holy Spirit.  The Mormons have their Prophet and Council of the Twelve.  The Jehovah’s Witnesses look to the Watchtower organization for their guidance.  A Pentecostal preacher gets up in front of an audience and tells them God told him something.  Who are we to believe?  Do any of these groups have the miraculous credentials from God equivalent to what we see in the Bible?  Belief in their claims rests on a matter of demonstration, not argumentation.  God has backed up the Bible, His true word, with miracles.  Nothing of that nature is happening today.

-Mark Day

The apostle Paul said “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” 2 Timothy 4:1-2. In a closely related passage the apostle Peter said, “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God”, 1 Peter 4:11. Paul’s and Peter’s charge is clear. It reveals the message the church is to teach and/or preach is the Word of God.

The Reason Behind The Charge is “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” 2 Timothy 3:16. The Scriptures are “God breathed” (the meaning behind the word translated “inspired of God”). This points to the authoritative nature of the Scriptures.

The Benefit of The Charge is “that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” The Scriptures “are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” 2 Timothy 3:15.

The Seriousness of The Charge is seen in that it is given before two faithful witnesses – God and Christ, 1 Timothy 4:1. Notice these faithful witnesses will judge “the quick (living) and the dead”. Since we will stand before Christ in judgment, Christians should take the charge very seriously.

What The Message Is Not. Some preach/teach to tickle the itching ears of their hearers (2 Timothy 4:3-4), some serve their own belly (Romans 16:18), and some love the praise of men (John 12:43). Some preach the teachings of men, Matthew 15:2-3. Some preach from their creed books that are of human origin. Friends, these things ought not to be.

Included in the Message of The Church. Preach the Word, 2 Timothy 4:2. Listeners must demand, must tolerate, nothing less. The message must include the whole counsel of God, Acts 20:27. The message must begin with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, 1 Corinthians 15:2-3. This is the foundational principle of the Gospel of Christ.

Our Attitude Towards The Message. One of the greatest gifts God has given to the world is His Word. Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” We must be like the noble Bereans and receive “the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Acts 17:11.

Only a Few Will Receive the Message. How sad it is for people to see “the glorious gospel of Christ” and be blinded by “the god of this world”, 2 Corinthians 4:4. Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

The Choice Is Yours. Will you receive the message, God’s Word, obey it, live according to it and be ready to stand before God in judgment?

For further study read “Biblically Speaking About The Church by Chuck Northrop”  

–Jerry D. Sturgill