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This is a great time for Calvary Road Baptist Church of Monrovia, California. It is the thirtieth anniversary of your church, and the twentieth anniversary of Dr. John S. Waldrip as your pastor. Our church has come over to be with you in these festivities this morning. And I'm glad we did. We did the same thing last Sunday night. We came as a church and joined you here at Calvary Road to hear two outstanding preachers, Dr. Kenneth Gillming and Dr. Don Ledbetter. It was wonderful being with you last Sunday night, and it is even more wonderful to be with you again this morning. I think all of us, in both churches, can truly say,

Blest be the tie that binds,
   Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds
   Is like to that above.
("Blest Be the Tie That Binds" by John Fawcett, 1740-1817).

It's truly glorious for Christians to get together like this for fellowship! A meeting like this is a foretaste of what it will be like when we get to Heaven. In Heaven we will meet and have deep fellowship with the Christians of the ages. Think of the joy you will feel when you greet the Apostle Peter, and the Apostle Paul. Think of the glowing happiness you will feel when you sit down and have a good talk with dear Spurgeon and Dr. John Gill. Think of the overflowing gladness you will have when you put your arms around the shoulders of good old Abraham Lincoln, and David Livingstone, George Whitefield, dear Mr. Wesley, and Martin Luther, Hudson Taylor, and Dr. John R. Rice. Think of the tears of joy that will flow down your cheeks when you see again our departed brother Daved Magnifico, and many other loved ones who have gone on to Heaven and are waiting to greet us in the "mansions of glory and endless delight." And, most of all, think of the unspeakable glory of seeing Jesus face to face.

And I shall see Him face to face,
And tell the story saved by grace,
And I shall see Him face to face,
And tell the story saved by grace.
   ("Saved by Grace" by Fanny J. Crosby, 1820-1915).

What a day that will be!

But here this morning we have a foretaste of the joy we will feel on that great day. Here in this Sunday morning service, with our two churches meeting together, we feel a touch of the splendid rapture we will feel when we get to Heaven. Truly

The fellowship of kindred minds
   Is like to that above.

Dr. John S. Waldrip, the pastor of Calvary Road Baptist Church, asked us to come and be with you for this time of fellowship. And my dear friend Dr. Waldrip has given me the honor of preaching to you the final sermon in this series of meetings, commemorating the 30th anniversary of your great church.

I never take such an invitation lightly. For the past three weeks I have labored over this message. I wrote a whole sermon for this occasion, and then threw it in the trash can. I prayed and walked up and down in my study, asking God to help me say something that would touch our hearts and make this a truly memorable occasion, not just another sermon. And I believe that God has directed my mind to the text we have just read from the book of Acts.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee said of this passage, "Never has the church been as spiritually strong as it was at that time" (J. Vernon McGee, Th.D., Thru the Bible, Thomas Nelson, 1983, volume IV, p. 522). I tend to agree with him. The revival at Pentecost literally brought the local church at Jerusalem to life! Like all true revivals, it brought spiritual resurrection. They were so loving, so dynamic, so evangelistic, so full of kindness and Christian charity that this church, at this particular time, became the model for all churches, in all the ages, to follow. If we want to have the kind of dynamic, growing church they had, we must follow their pattern, in what they experienced by the grace of God.

I will draw three simple lessons from this passage of Scripture that I hope with all my heart our two churches will learn and practice. These are very simple lessons, but they are ones that could transform our two churches and, in God's time, bring us to a great outpouring of revival. Here are the three lessons I will draw from the text.

I. Lesson number one - they liked being together.

They enjoyed being with each other so much that

"They, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house" (Acts 2:46).

This is a profoundly revealing statement. "They, continuing daily with one accord…and breaking bread from house to house." The Scofield center note puts it, "partake of their food" from house to house. You couldn't keep these people apart! They were together all the time. They literally loved being together in Christian fellowship.

I think this is a missing element in many churches today. Big "super churches" tend to be so vast that the people don't know each other. And the pastor doesn't even know most of their names. Needless to say, the fellowship of that early church in Jerusalem is largely absent in the mega-churches of our time. And that is very sad.

But there are many smaller churches where the people don't really like being together that much either. Far too often, in smaller churches, people just don't connect with each other. When a new person comes in, he finds that he is an "outsider," not really welcomed into the core of the congregation.

If we truly want our churches to be evangelistic that must be remedied, that must be fixed, that must be cured! We simply must go back to the pattern of the church at Jerusalem - and learn to like each other - and learn to accept newer people into our hearts, our fellowship, and into our very homes. If we do not learn to bring these "outsiders" into fellowship with the core of the church, we will fail to evangelize them as that early church did! So, I am saying, we must learn to like each other deeply, and then we must learn to "love in" the lost people who come to visit us. D. L. Moody often said, "Love them in." And I think he was right on that point!

A young man was walking past a large church in downtown Chicago. Someone at that big denominational church asked him where he was going all dressed up. He said, "To Mr. Moody's church." "Well," the man said, "why don't you come to church here this morning?" The young man replied, "No, I'm going to Mr. Moody's church. They know how to love a fellow there."

I hope that's what young people will say who have been in our two churches. When someone invites them to Calvary Chapel or Victory Outreach, I hope they'll be able to say, "No, I'm going to Dr. Waldrip's church," or "No, I'm going to Dr. Hymers' church. They know how to love a fellow there!" That's what we're talking about - loving each other with profound Christian love - and loving in the lost, so they know that we want them to be with us! That's not liberalism! That's New Testament evangelism!

II. Lesson number two - they often ate together.

Let's stand and read verse 46 aloud. Read it good and loud.

"And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart" (Acts 2:46).

You may be seated.

As I said, the Scofield center note tells us, "did eat their meat" means "partake of their food." Dr. Gill said this is "understood of their common meals, which they ate together…in great love and friendship" (John Gill, D.D., An Exposition of the New Testament, The Baptist Standard Bearer, 1989 reprint, volume II, p. 165). The Applied New Testament says, "Those first believers did everything together…Together…they also ate an ordinary meal" (The Applied New Testament, Kingsway Publications, 1997, p. 465). These early Christians were always eating together. I think it is important for churches to follow their example on this.

You are going to have a banquet after this service. I think that is truly wonderful. Churches ought to eat together as often as possible, as a church family.

You know, the early church in Jerusalem didn't invent the idea of eating meals together. Oh no, that idea came from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

In our Scripture reading before the sermon you read where a great crowd of lost people were following Jesus to hear Him speak. Then Jesus called Levi (who became known as Matthew). Matthew made a big meal and invited everyone to come. Luke says,

"Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them" (Luke 5:29).

Mark says,

"And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his [Levi's] house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Mark 2:15-17).

This banquet is reported in three different gospels in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark and Luke. The religious people said,

"How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?" (Mark 2:16).

But Christ made a point of bringing in the lost and eating with them. Two other remarkable illustrations of this occurred when He sat down to eat with five thousand lost people, recorded in Mark 6:32-44 - and when He sat down to eat later with four thousand lost people, recorded in Mark 8:1-9.

Over and over, Jesus made a point of inviting sinners to eat with Him and His disciples. And again and again the religious people criticized Him for doing so. They said,

"Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?"
     (Luke 5:30).

Then, too, notice how Jesus used parties and banquets in His parables. Over and over Jesus gave parables about inviting lost people to dinner. For instance, in the parable of the Marriage Feast, He said,

"Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage [feast]. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with [dinner] guests" (Matthew 22:9-10).

Yes, Christ told us in that parable that we should invite "both bad and good" prospects to the wedding feast!

I could go on and on about this theme in the parables of Christ, but I will give just one more, the parable of the Great Supper.

"Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready… And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled"
     (Luke 14:16-17, 23).

You see, that's where the Christians in the church at Jerusalem learned this. They learned to have meals, and invite the lost to them, from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself! That's where they learned to do it! But I must hurry on to my last point. The early Christians liked being together. They often ate together, and thirdly, the common people liked them.

III. Lesson number three - they were liked by the people.

Let's stand and read verse 47 out loud.

"Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved"
     (Acts 2:47).

You may be seated.

The common people of Jerusalem liked the Christians. They had "favour with all the people." Oh, the chief priests and leading Pharisees didn't like them! They didn't like Jesus either! But the common people of the city favored them, were friendly toward them, well disposed toward them. To put it in modern language, the people of the city liked them! No wonder

"the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved" (Acts 2:47).

It's comparatively easy for people to get saved if they like being with you! If they don't like being with you, it doesn't matter how good you preach or how hard you pray, they aren't going to stay around the church long enough to hear the message and get saved. They just won't do it if they don't like you.

Sometimes we get so busy with our religious duties that we forget all about the new people who are visiting the church. We gather together to talk to our friends - and we leave the new people out. We rush away from the church with our family and friends and leave the new people standing alone on the sidewalk in front of the church. Then we wonder why they don't come back!

If we want our churches to grow we have to be nice to the new people. And I don't mean just giving them a quick handshake and a waxy smile before we rush away. No, that will not do!

"Why do you go all the way to Mr. Moody's church?" "They know how to love a fellow there." Got the picture? I think Moody was right when he said, "Love them in." Following Moody's dictum, we could paraphrase that old song this way,

Love them in, love them in,
Love them in from the fields of sin.
Love them in, love them in,
Love the wandering ones to Jesus.
   ("Bring Them In" by Alexcenah Thomas, 19th century).

Jesus died on the Cross to pay the penalty for your sins. He shed His Blood so your sins could be washed away. He arose physically from the dead. He ascended back up to Heaven, where He is seated at the right hand of God, praying for the salvation of your soul. He did all of that because He loves you. If you come to Jesus by faith He will cleanse your sins with His precious Blood. Come to Him. And be sure to come back to church tonight. Why be lonely? Come home - to church! Why be lost? Come home - to Jesus Christ, the Son of God!

(END OF SERMON)
You can read Dr. Hymers' sermons each week on the Internet
at www.rlhymersjr.com. Click on "Sermon Manuscripts."

Scripture Read Before the Sermon: Mark 2:13-17.
Solo Sung Before the Sermon by Mr. Benjamin Kincaid Griffith:
"Come Home to Dinner" (by Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr.).