1. Astronomical Growth
2. The Place of Baptism
3. The Presence of Persecution
4. Passionate Prayer
5. Boldness
6. Meeting Needs
7. Physically Beaten
Last night at 10pm, I returned home after 48 hours of travel from a trip to Nepal. It has been a great time for me. It has also been an exhausting time. I spent my first week with a village we have helped financially with the construction of a children's home and a church building. I spent my second week in another city, where I helped to train some 15 pastors in pastoral ministry.
My heart is full of many stories and experiences. During my 14 days in Nepal, I formally taught 18 times. I had the privilege of preaching at two church services, sharing in four church fellowships. I spent six mornings working through 1 Peter with some church leaders. I also spent four full days living with 15 pastors, conducting four full days of pastoral training. One of the highlights of this time together was hearing the testimonies of all of these men.
The best way to begin is to begin how Nepali Christians begin every sermon. In Nepal the standard greeting of each other is "Namaste." You place your hands together (palm to palm, finger to finger), and say "Namaste." However, Christians don't greet one another this way. Instead, they say, "Jaimasi," which means "Victory in the Messiah." This is Nepalis begin their messages. They say, "Jaimasi" to the entire congregation. And so, this is how I begin mine, "Jaimasi."
My text for this morning's message will be the book of Acts. In the book of Acts, we see the inspired account of what took place in the early church in the days and years following the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Over these past two weeks, as I thought about the state of the church in Nepal, I have been reminded how like the early church the church in Nepal is.
In many ways, the church in America is a distant relative of the church in Acts. We have had years to wrestle with the doctrines of the church (especially as the church in America has come out of the historic protestant church in Europe). We have had years to develop carefully worded creeds and have had years of experience in dealing with the difficulties of Christian ministries. As a result, our society has been shaped by the Christian church. We have also had years to organize the church into structures and denominations. But, none of these things are true of the church in Nepal.
First of all, there were no Christians in Nepal before 1950. Nepal was a completely isolated country until 1950. You couldn't get in. You couldn't get out. But, when the country opened up in 1950, the gospel was not allowed to propagate. If you were a Christian in Nepal in the days after 1950, you were forced to leave the country. And, not until the last few decades has there been any measure of religious freedom and acceptance of Christianity in the nation. So, they haven't had the advantage that we have had of years to think through doctrine and church polity, because they are a young church, just like the church of which we read in Acts.
Second, in Nepal, their society has been shaped by the Hindu religion, and not by Christian values. The holidays of the nation are Hindu holidays. The Hindu gods are everywhere. The fruit of the darkness that prevails is evident all around the nation. Righteousness isn't a virtue in Nepal. Instead, godlessness prevails. Personal rights are not ingrained into the hearts of the people, just like the social structures in the days of the early church.
Finally, the church in Nepal is only in recent years begun to form denominations and other structures. And yet, there is is still an amazing unity that crosses denominations. This unity is very healthy. The church in Nepal has one translation that everyone uses. It crosses all denominations. It was an encouraging thing in the church to read passages of Scripture in unison. Furthermore, from the best that I can tell, there is one standard songbook that all Christian churches use in their worship. So, Baptist and Charismatic and Presbyterian people can gather easily in worship and fellowship with one another. In this way, they are like the early church, where nobody knew the name, "Baptist," or "Presbyterian" or "Assemblies of God." The Christians were simply called "disciples" or "Christians" (Acts 11:26).
We may be distant relatives to the early church, but the church in Nepal is a close cousin to the early church. And so, this morning, I'd like to fly through the book of Acts, touching down in places where the New Testament church closely resembles the early church in ways that are a big foreign to us. In some instances, we will be challenged to return to our roots. In other instances, we can be thankful that God has protected us from some of the difficulties that the early church faced. In other instances, we will be drawn to praise the Lord for His wondrous working in the lives of those in the early church and in the church of Nepal, because God is at work in Nepal.
My aim this morning is to encourage your hearts with our involvement as a church in coming alongside the church in Nepal.
So, let's begin in Acts, chapter 1. We aren't going to read the chapter, but I will point out to you the main events in the chapter. After a brief introduction to the book, Luke, the writer tells us of the ascension of Jesus back into heaven, which left the disciples without their leader. This led them to pray together (Acts 1:14). It also led them to find a replacement for Judas (1:26).
In chapter 2, we see the Holy Spirit coming upon the church, which gave Peter an opportunity to preach Christ, which led to 3,000 people being brought into the church (2:41). At this point, I want to point out a few things in which this is like the church in Nepal. First of all, they have experienced, ...
1. Astronomical Growth
Consider the statistics. In 1950, there were zero Christians in Nepal. In 1959, the church in Nepal gathered for the first official time, with 29 Christians. (By the way, this makes this the 50th year of the church in Nepal). Twenty-five years later (in 1985), there were 50,000 believers in Nepal. That's an astonishing growth of nearly 200,000% in 25 years! Over the next twenty-five years, the church has grown to somewhere around 500,000 Christians. That's a 1,000% increase! Such growth is like the early church experienced.
Such growth comes with its challenges as well. It's a challenge for maturity. It's one thing to build slowly. You can solidify each brick of the building. But, it's another thing to build quickly. A wall can easily grow up that's not straight. And this is a challenge for the church in Nepal. This is where the pastoral training I helped to provide will help in Nepal.
One of the in-country organizers of the training told me, "This training is good, because, the church in Nepal has been growing faster than the leadership. Hopefully, this will help to close the gap."
I also want for you to notice ...
2.
The Place of Baptism
In Acts 2:41, we read, "So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls."
Testimony after testimony after testimony of those that I heard in Nepal said something like this, "I believed and then I took baptism." How many of you share about your baptism when you share your testimony? My guess is that few of us do. Perhaps this is because baptism in America has become somewhat meaningless. But, to those in Nepal, it means something.
In Nepal, baptism means that you are breaking with their family and with their ancestors. Those in Nepal who "take baptism" are often persecuted because of their step of faith and bold proclamation of their faith. The same was true of the early church. Baptism meant a break with family and a break with family traditions.
As we continue through Acts, we see the church continuing to grow. "The Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved" (Acts 2:47). God was adding to their numbers daily.
In chapter 3, we taste the miraculous. Peter encountered a lame beggar, who asked for money. Peter said in verse 6, "I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene--walk!" When people saw him walking and praising God (3:9), it gave Peter another opportunity to preach Jesus (3:12-26). According to Acts 4:4, these events brought many more into the church. The numbers approached 5,000 men (which meant more women and children).
Such growth brought on another common characteristic of the early church and the church in Nepal: persecution. This is my third characteristic of the early church which is also true of the church in Nepal, ...
3. The Presence of Persecution
Consider Acts 4:3, "They laid hands on them and put them in jail."
As I listened to the testimony of these 15 pastors I helped to train, several of them were imprisoned for preaching the gospel of Christ. Mostly, it was the older pastors who spent time in prison. This is because it took some time for the government to discern Christians make better citizens of people. But, in the fear of the unknown, they were persecuted, as the leaders attempted to stop this unknown religion. Here in Acts 4:3, we see the apostles being imprisoned because those in authority were a bit fearful of the growth of this unknown religion.
Beyond the persecution from the government (in which a few of the older pastors experienced), almost every testimony I heard from these 15 pastors involved persecution from their families. Nearly every one of these pastors was converted out of their Hindu background. The families often took this as a sign of rebellion and treason against their family, their ancestors, and their religion. They were often banished from their villages as those who have embraced the "cow-eating religion." (For a Hindu, this is the height of treason, because cows are through to be gods. To accept Christ is to accept "a religion that eats our gods.").
But the good news is this: many who are banished from their families have often been welcomed back, after a decade (or so), when mom and dad se the fruit of their faith. It has often been the case that parents continue on to embrace Christ as well. And though in recent years, persecution from the government has decreased, persecution for many believers in Nepal is a very real thing in these days.
Continuing on in chapter 4, we see Peter using his arrest as an opportunity to preach Christ (4:8-12). The leaders noted how Jesus shad transformed their lives (4:13), and they noted how the miracle done was undeniable (4:14), and so, they released them with a command not to preach anymore in the name of Jesus (4:18), threatening punishment if they do (4:21). This brings us to another characteristic of the church in Nepal.
4. Passionate Prayer
In Acts 4:24-30, they pray, ...
O Lord, it is You who "made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them," who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said, ...
"Why did the Gentiles Rage, and the peoples devise futile things? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ"
For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur. And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus."
You can almost feel the passion in their prayer. In verse 31, we read "When they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken." This speaks to the passion of their prayer. When you hear the Nepali church pray, you can hear the passion.
I remember the first time that I was in Nepal, I experienced their praying and was a bit shocked. When the pastor said, "Let's pray," the church erupted in loud cacophony as everyone in the church prayed all at the same time. I remember thinking to myself, "What have we gotten ourselves involved with a charismatic group of people." But, the more that I have mixed with the people, the more that I have seen this to be the case across all people in Nepal, not merely the charismatic groups.
Personally, I have come to like this. Such praying allows everyone to pray. Do you think that God hears all of our prayers? Of course He does. He can listen right now to millions praying to Him across the world. Certainly, then, He can listen to a hundred praying at the same time, can't He?
Furthermore, I have noticed among the Nepali people how passionate they are and how ready to pray they are. Everyone in the church knows that as they arrive at church, there will be an opportunity for them to pray out loud to the Lord with everyone else in the gathering. It gives them an eagerness and a readiness to pray.
I believe that we have much to learn from their passionate praying. Now, they don't always pray all together like I have mentioned. There are times when one person leads in prayer in the church. But, the Nepali's always pray passionately. I have never heard a half-hearted prayer from a Nepali.
I believe that there are reasons for their passionate praying. They fight for their faith every day. You can't walk out and about in Nepal without feeling the oppression all around. Nepal is a dark place, filled with much wickedness, where you need to fight for your faith. When this is your attitude, your prayers will be passionate.
In Acts 4:31 we see another characteristic of the early church which is also true of the Nepali church.
5. Boldness
Those in the Nepali church have a boldness in their preaching from which we can learn.
One of the pastors that I mixed with this past week told of how three years ago, he organized an outreach for his entire village. He placed a loud speaker in a public place. They began to sing to attract a crowd, before he was planning to preach. As they were doing this, some Maoists happened to be walking near their village and heard the commotion. So, they came and surrounded their group with armed Maoists.
Just as this pastor began preaching, the Maoist leader stopped him. He said, "Why are you doing this? You are deceiving these people. This is a foreign religion." He then arrested this pastor and told him that he would be taking him back to the Maoist headquarters.
However, by the grace of God, one of the villagers told him, "We have organized this program, not the Christians." At this point, the Maoists changed their disposition toward the Christians. He forced the Christian leaders to write a letter, promising that they wouldn't stage a rally without informing the local Maoist headquarters. He then took the stage and used the loud speaker to promote his Maoist agenda. When he finished, he gave the microphone back to the pastor and said, "You can continue on with your program." And then, they left.
Such is their boldness. It got them in trouble.
In a humorous twist to the story, this pastor told us how soon after the Maoists left the scene, the Christians were crying out, "Hallelujah! Hallelujah!" The Maoists, who were some distance away, heard the crowd shouting, "Gurguria," which in their tribal language means "Come back!" So, the Maoists returned to see what they wanted. Fortunately, all were able to laugh at the misunderstanding.
I'm encouraged by the boldness of the Nepali people.
As we finish chapter 4 of Acts, we see the early church giving of themselves to meet the needs of others. They were selling their land and houses, and laying the proceeds at the apostles' feet (4:35). The apostles, in turn, were distributing the funds to those in need (4:35).
Luke gives the example of Joseph, who gave his land to help the church. In chapter 5, the sad story of Ananias and Sapphira is given. They lied, claiming that they had sold land and given the whole price to the apostles. They died on the spot. But, these two were the exception to the rule.
In general the people in the early church were meeting the needs of people. In general this is also taking place among the Christians of Nepal. We see this in how the apostles were healing the diseases of the people. This is my sixth characteristic of the church that I want to point out.
6. Meeting Needs
At this point we, as a church, are sharers with the church in Nepal. We have helped financially to build a children's home. In this home, more than 35 children are being cared for. These children have been abandoned by their parents or have no form of support or are true orphans (where their parents have died).
You need to know that this is in such a contrast to the other religions in Nepal: Hinduism and Buddhism. Fundamentally, each of these religion are established to get rather than to give. For instance, when people are sick, they often call for the local witch doctor, who will demand payment for his services to help the sick. The payment comes in various forms, but it always helps the witch doctor. Sometimes the payment is in food for the witchdoctor to eat. Sometimes the payment is in gold or money, which is used for the witch doctor's own pleasure.
If the patient remains sick, more payment is required to appease the gods. If you want blessings, you give money to the holy men, who will pray for you to the gods. There are times when this practice is clearly used by the holy one as a means to foster his greed. I heard the testimony of one man who said that this witch doctor said that he had to make a string of golden beads that extend the length of his sick mother and give it to the witch doctor.
What is true of Hinduism is especially true of Buddhism. Buddhist monks are taught to pray for the people for a price. The monks live for their own pleasure with the gifts they receive. The monks are the holy people of the land. They are consumers, not givers.
One great example of this took place a few years ago when the tsunami hit Thailand and killed hundreds of thousands of people. Christians across the globe responded to the need by going and helping deal with the bodies of those who died in the morgues. However, the Buddhist monks were no where to be found. Thailand has scores and scores of Buddhist monks all around. But, when it came to helping people in a tangible way, they didn't life a finger. Instead, it was the Christians who gave to help in the compassion ministry.
This is Christianity. Christians are givers, not takers. This hasn't been lost on the church where we are involved. The Hindus all around the village see that the Christians in their community are into meeting needs, in this case, helping needy children.
Hindus aren't meeting needs. Buddhists aren't helping to meet needs. However, the Christians are. This was the example of the early church. They were meeting the needs of the people. In Nepal, the Christian church has been meeting the needs of others. And in so doing, the church has gained a good reputation (5:13). Such works have been instrumental in the spread of the gospel as faith has been seen to show itself in works.
Continuing on in verse 17 (of chapter 5), we see more persecution coming. As the church was prospering, the religious leaders were jealous (5:17). So, they imprisoned the apostles (5:18), who escaped miraculously (5:19), and began to preach in the streets (5:21). They were re-captured and brought into the council (5:21).
To make a long story short, they decided to release them after they were physically beaten and ordered not to preach anymore in the name of Jesus (5:40). This brings out my 7th point this morning. Those in the early church as well as those in the church in Nepal were ...
7. Physically Beaten
I had the privilege of meeting a man this week who was physically beaten for his faith. He was one of the first Christians in Nepal, becoming a Christian some 40 years ago. As he preached the gospel, the police arrested him and brought him into prison. There, they beat him on the tender soles of his feet. He said that they beat him on the soles of his feet, because the doctors would never be able to detect the abuse. He said that though they beat the bottom part of the body, the pain still reaches to the head.
To this day, he has problems because of the beatings he received. Standing for long periods of time is difficult for him. But, he is thankful that he can still walk with little pain.
One of the most special times for me during my trip to Nepal was when this man placed his arm around me and prayed for me. To me, he is a hero of the faith, because he has paid the price for his faith.
Now, when this man told these stories to us all, I was very struck by how happy he was. He didn't share these things with sorrow or with tears. Rather, he shared them with joy. The experience of Acts 5:40-42 was his experience. In those verses we read, ...
Acts 5:40-42
After calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them. So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
It is through these means that the early church prospered and grew. We read, "The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith" (Acts 6:7). In Acts 6:1-6, we read of the difficulties that the early church experienced as the widows were being neglected because of the shear burden of the growing church.
But, what really made the church grow was the death of Stephen. His story is told in chapter 6-7. He was accused of speaking against Moses and against God (6:11). In his defense Stephen preached against the religious establishment, ...
Acts 7:51-53
You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.
At these words, the religious establishment of the day proceeded to stone him to death (7:58-60). This was physical punishment taken to the extreme. But, such persecution only caused the church to flourish even more. We read that "on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles (8:1).
Chapter 8 of Acts records how the gospel progressed through the preaching of Philip. He fled Jerusalem as a result of the persecution upon Stephen. He traveled to Samaria and proclaimed Christ (8:5). As a result of his ministry, many were coming to faith and being baptized (8:12). Even a man from Ethiopia believed (8:26-40), bringing the gospel to that remote place.
Tertulian, the early church father, said it well, "The blood of the martyrs is [the] seed [of the church]." I believe that this is what has caused the church in Nepal to explode in recent years. Physical persecution shows that Christ is worthy of our suffering. Now, unfortunately, I didn't ask for any stories of those who have given their life for the cause of Christ, but, I'm sure that there are many stories to be told. Perhaps the reason why the church in America is on the decline is because we know nothing of such persecution.
May our involvement in the church in Nepal bring us back to an appreciation for all that God has done in His church throughout all time.
This sermon was delivered to Rock Valley Bible Church on
May 3, 2009 by Steve Brandon.
For more information see www.rvbc.cc.