“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:20-21 NIV
Where is your treasure? Where are you storing up and saving? There’s nothing wrong with having good things here on earth, but it’s when these things have us that we can start running into trouble.
Where is your treasure? Where is your heart? Jesus said that our heart and treasure are always together!
The Bible teaches us that Spiritual treasures – that means putting our love and attention on things from above – are of much greater value than anything on earth.
A treasure is anything we highly value and that motivates us into action. According to Jesus, determining where our treasure is will also determine where our heart is.
Where you invest your time, there’s your heart!
Many people claim to look forward to heaven, but their hearts are really not in it—their hearts are caught up in the cares of this world, because that’s where their treasure lies.
“Many Christians dread the thought of leaving this world. Why? Because so many have stored up their treasures on earth, not in heaven. Each day brings us closer to death. If your treasures are on earth, that means each day brings you closer to losing your treasures.” Randy Alcorn
During last week’s message we heard about our passing life. Our life is short but Eternity will be very long, you better prepare for it, because Your eternity is determined by how you use your time during these few years!
Jesus taught us that there is an eternal destiny for individuals and now it is time to get ready for it. The way you live now will determine how and where you will live.
God does not want anyone to be destroyed, He is not willing that any should perish but He wants everyone to repent and be saved! II Peter 3:9
The number one desire of God’s heart is to save the lost! God’s desire is to have a big family with many children who are just like Jesus.
We have been saved to serve and save others!
“If you have no wish for others to be saved, then you’re not saved yourself, be sure of that!” Charles Spurgeon
God has conscripted those He has saved into service.
Those who have been saved and live for eternity, are obeying the two main commandments that are to love God with all your heart and love your neighbour as you love yourself!
We need to see people as the Lord sees them, we need to love them as the Lord loves them, we need to have God’s heart beating in our hearts.
God’s vision and desire is to see all men repenting of their sins. He wants a huge multitude of children similar to Jesus. And one day this will become a reality, because the Bible says this.
“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.” Revelation 7:9 NIV
I believe in the church of Jesus and I believe that a large crowd will be saved here in this place, in this Town, in this Nation.
We are praying and awaiting a great revival over our nation and over Europe and the result of this revival will be countless multitudes rushing to the presence of God.
No structure or temple will be able to accommodate this people, except “Church in the houses”. The church of Christ began in houses and it shall end its mission in houses.
Cell meetings are the heart of the church and they are responsible for the growth of the church.
Now we’ll go through the book of Acts to show you the extraordinary growth of the church and then show you where they put all those people and how they cared for them.
“In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty)”
Acts 1:15 NIV
Here they were in the upper room before Pentecost, there were a hundred and twenty believers.
“Those who accepted his message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”
Acts 2:41 NIV
That means that on their first day as a church they became a mega church with three thousand members.
“And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
Acts 2:47 NIV
And everyday they had new people joining the church.
“and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.”
Acts 4:4 NKJV
Think about this, whenever you have a gathering of five thousand men, how many women and children usually accompany them? At least ten thousand more. So by this time, the church was made up of a minimum of 15,000 people who gathered to worship in Jerusalem.
Now look at chapter 5
“And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,”. Acts 5:14 NKJV
Here it does not mention the numbers but it says multitudes. You can’t even count them all.
“You have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine”
Acts 5:28 NKJV
How big was the church in Jerusalem then? There were maybe a hundred thousand members. How big was Jerusalem? Around 200,000 people,
So, they have a church of a hundred thousand in a city of two hundred thousand. That’s what you call filling the city with your doctrine and teaching.
Let’s go to Acts chapter 6
“Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying”
Acts 6:1 NKJV
Notice that we’ve moved from adding to multiplying.
3,000 were added, then they added 5,000 men daily, a multitude was added and now we have gone to multiplying and the number is rapidly multiplying.
“Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem”
Acts 6:7 NKJV
Let’s go to chapter 21
“You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed”
Acts 21:20 NKJV
Myriads literally means too numerous to be counted.
That’s the kind of growth I want to see in our church!
How do you get a New Testament level of growth?
We must use New Testament methodology!
If they grew so rapidly (50 hundred thousand people) where do you think they would gather all these people?
Where did they meet? The Bible tells us! Let’s see Acts Chapter 5
“Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.” Acts 5:42 NIV
Please highlight that in your Bible – “In the Temple Courts and from House to House”
It doesn’t say they met in the Temple – because they didn’t. If you know anything about Jewish temples, you’d know that only the priest was allowed in the temple in the day of the atonement.
The church didn’t meet in the temple but they met in the “courts” and they were multiple courts around the temple.
If you have been in Jerusalem, you know that those courts could easily hold fifty thousand people standing, because they didn’t use chairs in those days. And with multiple services they could have hundred thousand people in the Temple courts.
But it also says: in the temple courts and from house to house!
These two strategies of: Large Group Worship and Small Group Fellowship is the Biblical strategy and structure for the Church – Not just then but for Today too!
When we do it like the New Testament we will have results like the New Testament.
If we want to be biblical, if we want to be like the times of the New Testament and if we want to be successful, we must have “Temple Courts” – large group worship sessions and “House to House” that is our small home groups – our Cell Meetings.
And if you want to be biblical and grow spiritually you need to be part of both. If we want to save the lost, grow and multiply we must have both: large group worship and small group Fellowship. This is the biblical model!
Through the New Testament you can find examples where Paul says that the primitive church used to meet in houses.
“Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.” I Corinthians 16:19 NKJV
“Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas and the church that is in his house.” Colossians 4:15 NKJV
“also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier—and to the church that meets in your home:”
Philemon 1:2 NIV
“Likewise greet the church that is in their house.”
Romans 16:5 NKJV
Here Paul writes to the people in Rome where they were meeting in Home Churches, we call them Cell Groups.
Cell groups are God’s strategy of reaching many people! Some people may find it hard coming to church, to the temple, but they easily go to a friend’s house!
I want to challenge each of you to participate in a Cell group, to invest in your Cell, open your house to have a Cell meeting, help your leader and also strive to become a Cell leader!
This is the great investment you can make in your spiritual life, invest in what is eternal, invest in what you will take with you to eternal life!
“The way you store up treasure in Heaven is by investing in getting people there”. Rick Warren
People are the only thing you will take with you from this life to eternity.
If you believe in the Bible, you need to live a life that makes sense!
Let’s read a verse that talks about the day we will be face to face with Jesus and what we will hear from Him.
“Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;
I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?
When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?
The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
Matthew 25:34-40 NKJV
I told you that when we reach eternity, we will have to give an account of how we loved God and how we loved people during our time on earth.
Some people might say: I don’t help anyone anymore because I once I tried to help someone and they used me and I got hurt.
Well, me too. I’ve been through this several times!
I’ve helped many people, I’ve invested in many lives and some have given it no value.
Remember what Jesus will say to you: Come, you blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you!
Because “Every time you did something for one of the lest of your neighbours, you did it for me.”
“And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.”
Colossians 3:23-25 NKJV
Everything you do, do it heartily for the Lord and not for men, because people are not always fair, they forget what you’ve once done for them, they may just take advantage of you and after being helped they may even hurt you.
Remember: When you love and serve people You are serving the Lord and you will receive a reward and an inheritance.
The best place for you to serve people is in your small groups (Cell Meeting). In church we worship together, we praise the Lord, we receive His word, but in Cell Meetings you talk to each other, you pray for each other, you share your food, you share what God spoke to you and there you are used by God.
Please invest in your cell group, invest in people!
When you serve people, you are serving Jesus and He will reward you for all your investment.
May the Lord bless and keep you.