Authentic Christian Fellowship

I need to make one more point before we start

the sermon, and that is in the bulletin. See the

pressure of the printing press, I had to provide a title.

Like on Monday, I didn't have the sermon ready, so

you see it says the Compromised Couple. There. Now I'm

going to talk about the compromised couple, but I expanded

it out a little bit to have more context, and

I'm going to tell you the new title in just

a moment. All right, let's get started. Father God, we

know you're coming soon. May we be prepared, everyone be

prepared in heart and mind. We would be committed believers

so that Your presence could be made known to the

world through the church. I pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.

What makes a church a true reflection of Jesus? What

makes a church a true reflection of Jesus that demonstrates

the presence and power of God. Now, today's title is

Authentic Christian Fellowship. Authentic Christian Fellowship. When I say authentic,

I mean genuine, I mean sincere, honest and true authentic

Christian fellowship. Fellowship. How we relate to one another, whether

it's in Bible study, prayer, breaking bread together, social interactions,

authentic Christian fellowship. Now, we've been in a series on

the Book of Acts, and I did not want to

deviate from that series. Talking with Pastor Mike, he said,

just continue on the series of the Book of the Acts.

So we're not I'm not going to deviate from it all.

Right now, I promise you at the end of this sermon,

you're going to walk out of here with the deeper

appreciation of the indispensable role of authentic Christian fellowship in

the church. And I want you, I want you to

understand the realities of authentic Christian fellowship in the church

and how it reflects God's nature, his presence, and divine power. Now,

in the next thirty minutes, I want to answer three questions.

What is authentic Christian fellowship and how does it thrive

in the church? How does God protect authentic Christian fellowship?

And lastly, what are the results of authentic Christian fellowship? Now,

what does the Bible say about authentic Christian fellowship? What

is it? How is it defined? Let's jump right into this.

Let's go to Acts four, verse thirty two. I'm going

to be reading from the nasb you're going to see

the new King James version up there. So follow along

Ax four thirty two. And the congregation of those who

believed were of one heart and soul. This is the

early Christian Church, all right. Christ is just resurrected from

the dead. He's been on the earth forty days, forty nights,

and he's about to ascend. He says to the church,

you're going to receive power in a few days, not

many days from now. That's the day of Pentecost, and

the day of Pentecosts they receive the Holy Spirit. They

understand now why Christ had to die, and three thousand

repentant are baptized and continue to grow day by day.

And in chapter three, Peter and John heal the Lame Man.

They're arrested, they're threatened, but then they're released and God

still moves upon the church and they're filled with the

Holy Spirit. Now we get to authentic Christian fellowship right here.

That's the context. And the congregation of those who believed

were of one heart and soul. And not one of

them claimed that anything belonged to him was his own,

but all things were common property to them. And with

great power, the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection

of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all,

for there was not a needy person among them. For

all who were owners of land or houses would sell them,

and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them

at the apostles feet, and they would be distributed to

each as any had need. Let's just notice some of

these basics. They're united, they're of one heart and soul.

They share with one another. What's mine is yours. They're generous.

Those who had resources sold them, and they support one another.

Whoever had a need, it was met. Now based upon

these verses, I used to get a little scared. I

used to be like, oh, no, to be a Christian,

I need to sell my house. I need to sell

my land. I don't know if I could do that.

But under the pen of inspiration I read. This is

my favorite theologian who says in Acts of the Apostles,

page seventy. She says that many of the early believers

were cut off from family and friends and were in

need of food and shelter. All right, there was an emergency,

and the church met the need of that emergency to

ensure the basic necessities of life were met. Anyone who

had a need it was met. Not everyone had a need, right,

but those who had resources, those who had extra resources

sincerely cared for those in this emergency. And when they sold,

they didn't think, oh, look at this loss. No, they

sought and realized that they were stewards of what God

had given them. They had the opportunity to use them

for the good. And their selflessness showed that they regarded

the souls of men of much higher worth than any

material possession that they might have. And they had their

priorities right. They were looking out for one another. They

were generous and they shared. Now, while all this is

going on, jump back to verse thirty three. With great power,

the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection. You see,

the Gospel is advancing. The good news of Christ's victory

over death is being proclaimed, and the church is meeting

the needs of its people and advancing the gospel. And

that's the Bible definition of authentic Christian fellowship. One heart

and soul, selflessness, generosity, sharing, looking out for one another.

And the Gospel goes forth with great power. And this

leads us to the first reality of authentic Christian fellowship

that I want to share with you. How does authentic

Christian fellowship thrive in the church. What truly holds the

power to transform our community and deepen our bonds. What

shift in mindset can unlock genuine growth and unity? Reality

Number one, Christian fellowship thrives when church members focus on others.

Authentic Christian fellowship thrives when church members focus on others.

When church members look for a need to be fulfilled

in someone else's life and not for necessarily a need

to be met in their life. When church members apply

their gifts and talents to the needs or causes of

the church. When church members generously give financially to the church,

when they live a life of selflessness. And I think

selflessness is the keyword that unifies the early Christian Church.

So what does it mean to truly live with that

kind of selfless heart? You know, I look for examples

in history, and I like to read about the Civil War.

And I want to share with you a very quick

synopsis of the life of Clara Barton. If you have

you ever heard of Clara Barton, I mean many of

us know she founded the Red Cross humanitarian aid global organization.

But you might not be familiar with how it all started.

This is how it started. The situation was during the

American Civil War. Clara Barton left her safe government job.

She wanted to help wounded soldiers on the front line.

She volunteered. She didn't have to go, but she went

to the front line, and she risked her life to

be on the front line with these soldiers, and she

was nicknamed the Angel of the battlefield. Bullets would be

whizzing by her and she would be helping these soldiers

her sacrifice, she even spent her own money. When the

government did have resources to pay for certain support for

the soldiers, she used her own money. She even went

further in two ways. One, she comforted the soldier's families.

She offered to write them letters and help them reconnect

with their loved ones. And even after the war, she

identified and buried thirty three thousand missing Union soldiers, bringing

closure to grieving families. And she founded the Red Cross

that's one of the major global institutions today for humanitarian

aid and relief. One hundred and forty years later, it's

still going strong. And it all started because of her

personal sacrifice, her selflessness and generosity, and it's a legacy

that goes on today to see the church should be

focused on others and have an outward perspective, not an internal,

self seeking perspective. You know, no one in the church

should be jockeying for position. You know, if we came

to the church with a selfless attitude, there'd be unity,

there would be one heart and soul. Conflicts, tensions, disagreements,

any of that, those would be easily resolved. Right. Authentic

Christian fellowship thrives when church members come to church and

their motives are pure, honorable, selfless, and this allows the

Gospel to go forth with great power, because with great

power the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection of

Jesus Christ. Authentic Christian fellowship. And I do want to

point this out though, when church members have a need,

and they do have needs, I want to make sure

that there is we need to make sure that there's

transparency and honesty about the actual need. All right, Authentic

Christian fellowship must work both ways, all right. So, authentic

Christian fellowship thrives when church members focus on others, and

this leads us to our second reality. How does God

protect authentic Christian fellowship in the church? You know, what

does God do to keep his church pure? Even if

it means justice comes down hard? Are there times when

God must act decisively to protect his people? Now this

is where I got the title the compromised couple, So

let's talk about them. This is the story of Anonius

and Sephirah. Let's pick it up in Acts five, verse one.

But a certain man named Anonius, with his wife Sapphias,

sold a piece of property and kept back some of

the price for himself, with his wife's full knowledge, and

bringing a portion of it, he laid it the apostles feet.

But Peter said, Anonius, why has Satan filled your heart

to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back

some of the price of the land while it remained unsold?

Did it not remain in your own And after it

was sold, was it not under your control? Why is

it that you have conceived this deed in your heart?

You have not lied to men, but to God. And

as he heard these words, Anonais fell down and breathed

his last, and great fear came upon all who heard it,

and the young men arose and covered him up. And

after carrying him out, they buried him. You see, Anonys

and Sapphire they hold back together. They hold back. They

agreed that they would only bring a portion back. The

only problem is they're deceptive. They made it appear that

they were generously offering this great sacrifice, but they didn't.

Now notice Peter's questions. He's not asking them, anticipating, or

expecting Anonais to answer these questions. He already knows the

answer because God has, through the Holy Spirit, has given

Peter discernment. Let's look at the questions real quickly. Why

has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?

Was it not your property before you sold it? And

was it? And when it was sold was it still

not your property? Why have you conceived this deed in

your heart? Now his questions inform Anonius that he is

not lied to men. He's lied to God, all right.

Anonius's sin was that of deception and hypocrisy. One he

lied about the amount that he was going to give

the church, and two he wanted to make it appear

that he was being more generous than he really was.

You see, he wanted praise, esteem honor for a deed

that was false, and that's in sharp contrast to authentic

Christian fellowship. And his deception would have undermined and the

unity and trust within the community because he's not one

with the body, he's not selfless, he's not generous. He

covets esteem and he wants the recognition. And this is

reality number two. God acts decisively to expose and punish

deception to protect the purity of the church, to protect

authentic Christian fellowship. And God needed to do this to

instill fear in the church because he didn't want anyone

to make that same mistake. And he had to warn

the church through swift judgment. He had to instill a

deep and reverential respect for righteous behavior. Now some might say,

and I thought this reading the story, I'm like, wow,

that's severe punishment. I mean he did bring something, didn't he.

I mean, isn't that kinda good? Well? Under the pen

of Inspiration, my favorite three Elotionan says this about the

situation on page seventy three Acts of the Apostles. Infinite

Wisdom saw that this signal manifestation of the wrath of

God was necessary to guard the young church from becoming demoralized.

Their numbers were rapidly increasing. The church would have been

endangered if in the rapid increase of converts, men and

women had been added who, while professing to serve God,

were worshiping Mammon. This judgment testified that men cannot deceive God,

that he detects the hidden sin of the heart, and

that he will not be mocked. Last sentence that she

says this, it was designed as a warning to the church,

to lead them to avoid pretense and hypocrisy, and to

beware of robbing God. Now, Anonius would have not been

robbing God if he honestly came forth and told the truth.

He could have just said, hey, listen, I sold this

property and I'm giving fifty percent to the church. Or

I sold this property and I'm giving twenty five percent

to the church. Or I sold this property and I'm

giving ten percent to the church. That would still be honest,

no deception. Now, it might not have appeared. He didn't

think that that was generous enough, so he lied. Now,

you know what's unfortunate is my favorite theologian points this out.

She says this that not only did Anonyus and Saphirah

lose their lives, they lost the life that is to come.

Now that's a stern warning to the church. God will

not tolerate lying. Lying is an abomination to God Proverbs

twelve twenty two. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.

But those who deal faithfully are His delight Revelation twenty one.

And nothing unclean. This is talking about the Holy City Jerusalem.

Nothing unclean, And no one who practices abomination in lying

shall ever come into it, but only those whose names

are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. And we

know lying originated with the devil. I don't have this

up on the screen, but John eight forty four the

Satan or devil, the adversary is the father of lies.

Now there's one more observation I want to point out

to you about Anonius Anonius. Peter says this to Anonius, Anonius,

why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the

Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price

of the land. Now, I believe Anonius was filled with

the Holy Spirit. He was convicted, and he realized he

wanted to do something big for the church. But Satan interposed,

and Annonius yielded to that temptation. He yielded to coveteousness.

Because you know why, Satan doesn't want the church to prosper.

Satan doesn't want the church to be an authentic Christian fellowship.

He wants division, he wants selfishness. That's the opposite of

authentic Christian fellowship. He hates authentic Christian fellowship because why

because it reflects God's nature. It reflects the Father, the Son,

and the Holy Spirit, of their selflessness, of their generosity,

of their sharing of the unity. And he doesn't want

to see God's character displayed in the world. Now, let's

talk about Saphira. She has the same fate as her husband,

only a few hours later. Now, I'm not going to

agree that scriptures in the interest of time, but I

just want to point out a couple of observation of

what happens to Saphira. She could have confessed her sin.

Look at verse eight, I guess do we have? Verse

eight Peter is giving her an opportunity to confess. He

asked her this question, tell me whether you sold the

land for such and such a price. She had an opportunity.

She could have said, actually, you know what, we didn't

sell it for that amount. We sold it for this amount.

She could have saved her life, but no, what did

she do? She went along, she committed herself with her

husband and she said, yep, that was the price. And

do you notice this, she's not with her husband. God

judges us as individuals. We're responsible for our behavior and

our actions. And some might say, wow, that's pretty severe punishment.

But why doesn't God? Maybe that sin is going on

in the churches today, the sin of selfishness, selfishness, hypocrisy, coveteousness.

Why does God not deal with it like he dealt

with the early church. Well, he might not deal with

it in the same way he did in the past,

but be sure of this. Nothing is hidden from God's

heart or nothing is hidden. Nothing's hidden from God. He

knows our motives, and he knows and he will not

be mocked. And he has warned the church through this story.

So authentic Christian fellowship thrives when church members focus on others,

when they're selfless, united, generous, sharing, supporting one another. And

God acts decisively and punishes deception to protect the purity

of his church, to protect authentic Christian fellowship. Let's move

on to reality number three and it'll help us answer

this question, what's the result of authentic Christian fellowship. What

happens when a church is unified by love and selflessness?

I mean, what big things can God and his people

God do when his people are united and focused on him.

Let's read Acts five. Pick it up in verse twelve,

and the hands and at the hands of the apostles,

many signs and wonders were taking place among the people,

and they were all with one accord in Solomon's portico.

But none of the rest dared to associate with them. However,

the Lord held them in high esteem, and all the

more believers in the Lord. Multitudes of men and women

were constantly added to their number, to such an extent

that they even carried the sick out into the streets

and laid them on cots and palates, so that when

Peter came by, at least the shadow might fall on

any one of them. And also the people from the

cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing

people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and

they were all being healed. Reality number three, Authentic Christian

fellowship reveals God's presence and power. Authentic Christian fellowship reveals

God's presence and power. Look the churches of one accord.

When the church is looking out for the interests of others,

God can display his power. Notice, just review these scriptures.

Notice what's going on. Many signs and wonders. These are supernatural,

They're miraculous. They're demonstrating God's power. They're one of cord.

They're not striving with one another. The people highly esteem

the apower. More believers are being added to the church,

and people are being healed of sicknesses. See the presence

and power of God is being manifested through the church

to the local community. More are added to the church,

people are restored to health. Now think about this, just

think about the flow of this text that we've covered.

We go back to Acts four thirty two. The churches

of One Heart and Soul their selfless, generous sharing. Then

authentic Christian fellowship is a threat to the Kingdom of darkness,

and Satan interposes right. But God moves quickly and acts decisively,

and the church continues on. The Church presses on despite

the error, the grave error of anonisis sipier. God protects

the church by removing them, and the church days on track.

They continue on with the mission that they've been called to.

You see, this is the result of restoring authentic Christian

God reveals his presence and power, and that's what the

world needs because the church is the agency, the appointed

agency for the salvation of men and women. That's the

role of the church. Yes, God can reach nations that

haven't heard of the gospel. Nothing's impossible with God. But

the Church is the primary appointed agency for the salvation

of men and women across the world to spread the

Gospel of Jesus Christ. And I should also say this,

the proclamation of the Gospel is dependent upon the labors,

the tithes, the sacrificial offerings of church members. I want

to say that again, the proclamation of the Gospel is

dependent upon the labors, the tithes, and the sacrificial offerings

of its church members. Tithe. I may only be speaking

to one person here, but I just want to mention it.

Tithe is ten percent. Tithe is not optional. If we're

going to walk in obedience with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Tithe is part of our obedience faith walk offerings, voluntary tithes, obedience.

And this is why authentic Christian fellowship is indispensable in

the church. Now, I want to share with you one

other reason why authentic Christian fellowship is indispensable in the church.

And it's a profound issue that's happening on a cosmic scale. Now,

did you know this that God through the Church is

revealing his wisdom directly to the heavenly authorities. God through

the Church is revealing his wisdom to the heavenly authorities.

Let's read about this Ephesians three, verse nine. And to

bring to light what is the administration of the mystery

which for ages has been hidden in God, who created

all things in order that the manifold wisdom of God

might now be made known through the Church to the

rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. God's manifold multifaceted.

I should say, wisdom is being made known through the

Church to the angelic world. Is that amazing? I mean

angels who can transition from heaven to earth, Angels who

are sent out as ministering spirits to render service to

those who will inherit salvation, Angels who far exceed us

in strength and power. God is saying that He's using

his church to express wisdom to them I mean, I'm

sure God could speak to them directly in the heavenly

he could speak profound things directly to them, but he's

speaking them through the Church. He uses the Church on

earth to make his wisdom known. What does that say

about us? Does this purpose elevate our role in the

church and our indispensable need of authentic Christian fellowship? You see,

the church is in the best position to do this

when they're inauthentic Christian fellowship and when it draws on

all the gifts and talents of its members, when the

church is faithful to its tithe and offerings, when the

church is filled with the Holy Spirit. Now I want

to bring this to a close. How does authentic Christian

fellowship thrive when members focus on others? How does God

protect it? God will act decisively and remove and what

is the result. God will reveal his presence and power.

Now I stand before you today. I'm going to bring

this to a close. Right now, I stand before you

today because fourteen years ago a friend of mine challenged

me on the Sabbath. I wasn't a Seventh day Adventist.

He said, are you keeping the Sabbath? Of course I am, Yes,

I am and he challenged me. He pushed me in

a good way. He was a friend. And what's ironic

is this week I challenged him not about keeping the Sabbath.

You see, he and his wife have been frustrated with

our denomination. He's seen various things happen in the church.

Seeing I'm not here to list them out. People can

make complaints about this and that, and they recognize our

laadacy and condition and our need for healing. And because

of that, they decided not to attend church anymore, but

rather meeting their homes with like minded SDAs who feel

a similar way. They keep the Sabbath. Still, they still

study the Bible. They're sincere, they hope for the soon

return of Jesus Christ, and they want to grow deeper.

But I challenged them to return to a local church.

Here's a paraphrase of what I said to them. I said,

when the nation of Israel was an apostasy because of

ahabn Jezebel, did Elijah decide I'm going to leave Israel,

I'm going to go to another nation. No, he did not.

Did the other seven thousand who didn't bow the need

to baw? Did they say we're going to leave Israel.

We're going to form our own nation. We're just going

to stay home. We're not going to be part of No,

they didn't, did Moses? Did Moses when he's leading the

children of Israel through the wilderness with all the complaining,

all the backbiting, all the grumbling, even when they were thirsty,

and he says, Lord, they're going to stone me if

they don't give him water. Did he leave these people?

Was there problems with them? There was a lot of problems,

you see. I told them this. I said, God has

given you, in each and every one of us, a

spiritual gift. All right, how can that gift be used

if you're at home? How can that gift, whatever it is,

be a blessing to a local church? If you're isolated

at home, are you robbing God of the blessing of

the talents and gifts that could be brought to your

local church should you not serve in some capacity? I

then told him this, I said, you and I both

know because we didn't come from this denomination. You and

I both know that we joined a prophetic movement. You

know that the Bible clearly teaches that a prophetic movement

would arise at the end of the time times and

half a time that would arise at the end of

the church date system. You know that, you know that

this people, this prophetic movement, would become to call on

the Three Angel's message. And we, the Seventh day Adventist Church,

are that people. We are that prophetic movement, and we

have a solemn responsibility. We're called to proclaim the Three

Angels message and the soon coming of Christ. I said

to them, should we abandon that calling? Where am I

going to go? Where am I going to go? I'm

going to go home and sit at home because I

see problems in the church. No, I'm not I'm going

to stay right here. And I told him this, I said,

you know, we've been visited by a prophet of the Lord,

and I'm honored to be a part of this great

prophetic movement announcing the second return of Christ. As Paul

would say in Roman sixteen, I am not ashamed of

the gospel, for it is the power of salvation to

all who would believe. I'm not ashamed of the SDA message,

of the Seventh day Adventist Church message. I'm not ashamed

of it. We are preparing the way for the second

Coming of Christ. Christ is returning, So where am I

going to go? I said, yeah, you know that there

are problems in the church, But don't you think that

God knows that? Does he not know the hearts and

motives of men? And don't you believe that He's going

to judge righteously in his own timing. He may not

strike people down like Anonias Atphira, but know this, He's

not going to be mocked. Don't leave the church because

of you. Hear of a few problems here and there. Now,

It's true, though at some point in the future, we

may not have this building during the mark the administration,

the structure of our church. Churches may just lay dormant,

the physical building structures may lay dormant during the mark

of the Beast. It's at that time that we can

do our missions at home in the field wherever God

leads us on the internet. But that time's not right now.

So I challenged him. You see, I told him. God

has called all believers to be in authentic Christian fellowship,

to reflect His nature and advance His kingdom, to seek

and save the loss, to live selflessly and generously so

that we reflect the love of Christ to a world

that so desperately needs him at this time. Unfortunately, he said,

I'll consider it, will consider it, and we're willing to

have more conversations with you about it. I said, good,

we'll have conversations. I want to leave you with a

quote by my favorite theologian, Acts of the Apostles, page

six hundred. The Church triumphant. Christ has given to the

Church a sacred charge. Every member should be a channel

through which God can communicate to the world the treasures

of his grace, the unsearchable riches of Christ. There is

nothing that the Savior desires so much as agents who

will represent to the world his spirit and his character.

There is nothing that the world needs so much as

the manifestation through humanity of the Saviour's love. All heaven

is waiting for men and women through whom God can

reveal the power of Christianity. The Church is god agency

for the proclamation of the truth, empowered by Him to

do a special work. And if she is loyal to Him,

obedient to all his commandments, there will dwell within her

the excellency of divine grace. If she will be true

to her allegiance, if she will honor the Lord God

of Israel. There is no power that can stand against her.