The Perfect Church

A message for Akron Alliance Fellowship Church, Akron OH, Sunday, April 21, 2024.

For the audio “Live in Church” version of this message, select here.

I’m going to challenge the memories of a number of you here and in our listening audience.  Do you remember when our neighboring city to the north, Cleveland, was referred to as “The Best Location in the Nation”?  This was actually an advertising campaign that originated with the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company and was later adopted by the Greater Cleveland Growth Association as a way to attract businesses to Cleveland.¹

Cleveland, during this campaign, was declining in population throughout the last fifty years.  It brings to attention that some marketing campaigns that refer to something as “good, better or best” will often fly in the face of reality.  To avoid getting letters about Cleveland, I will quickly move on to another subject.

Another superlative that often draws comparatives to someone or something being “best” is the word “perfect.”  To be perfect is often used to discuss someone or something that is close to what we consider perfection, but even the word perfection needs qualification.

The dictionary definition of the word “perfect” may surprise you.  It surprised me a little.  Perfect refers to something that is without defect or blemish.  It also might be accurate or exact, or as close to such a condition as possible.  Its origin comes from the Latin word perficere (per for “completely” and facere for “do”).²  We have modified the word over time to reflect that perfection is to conclude that someone or something is as good as can be.

In the sports world, the use of the word “perfect” works well at times.  In baseball, a pitcher is credited with a perfect game if he faces the minimum number of opposing batters in a 9-inning game, which is 27 at-bats, and no one reaches base for any reason.  If there is a walk or a hit batter and then the last batter hits into a double play, then that would NOT be considered a perfect game.³  In bowling, a perfect game is 12 strikes in 10 frames.  It’s fairly straight forward.  I’ve never bowled a 300 game.  My highest score in bowling was 248.  I was bowling against someone who was very competitive to the point of being obnoxious, and I picked that moment to bowl the game of my life!  I beat my opponent by about 20 pins.  In my opinion, winning that particular game was satisfyingly perfect for me.

How we define something as perfect, however, is not really up to a lot of conjecture.  In the same manner as the root definition, most of us will use or see the word “perfect” as a form of completeness; as a result, when we look at ourselves with objectivity, we would readily admit that we are far from perfect, especially when we look at the characteristics of Jesus Christ, God the Father and the Holy Spirit.  Our perfection comes from our relationship with Jesus because of His sacrifice for us at the cross.

Christ is our perfection because He is truly perfect.

Hebrews 10:14-18 NIV

¹⁴ For by one sacrifice he (Jesus) has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

¹⁵ The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

¹⁶ “This is the covenant I will make with them

    after that time, says the Lord.

I will put my laws in their hearts,

    and I will write them on their minds.”

¹⁷ Then he adds:

“Their sins and lawless acts

    I will remember no more.”

¹⁸ And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary. 

In spite of our imperfection (sin and fleshliness), He has extended grace to each one of us and has made us perfect within our relationship.  He gives us salvation and He sanctifies us through the presence of His indwelling Holy Spirit.

As Christ is perfect, we are to also examine the church.  It is our gathering place to worship our Lord and Savior.  Remember what Jesus said to Peter about the church:

Matthew 16:13-19 NLT

¹³ When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴ “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”

¹⁵ Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. ¹⁸ Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. ¹⁹ And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”

Jesus told Peter right then that he would be responsible for Jesus’s church, and it would serve as a special relationship between Him and all believers from its inception into eternity.  Jesus knew that Peter’s personality and powerful preaching would be the launching pad for the new believers to gather together in unity.  

This new church would require the perfect presence of the Holy Spirit:

John 20:21-23 NLT

²¹ Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” ²² Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

This new church needed the provision of the power of Jesus Christ through the workings of the Holy Spirit.  The apostles were being charged with carrying on the message of the gospel of truth.  

Jesus’ new perfect church would begin with the perfect presence of the Holy Spirit.  The apostles were emboldened to speak the truth about Jesus, the Messiah, throughout Jerusalem. 

The apostles, as they were gathering their fellow believers together for the new church, made it clear to all who would listen as to who Jesus was:

Acts 4:12 NIV

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.

If there was ever a time of perfection for the early church, it would be as it was described in Acts, Chapter 4.  This section of Scripture captures the activity of the first days of the modern church era.

Acts 4:32-35 NIV

³² All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. ³³ With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all ³⁴ that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales ³⁵ and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

This new church was more than just a building like the temple where they went to pray and worship.  Jesus’ perfect church was about the fellowship of the believers of Jesus coming together as a community.  Their strength in the early church was in their numbers.  It started with 3,000 people who valued the preaching of the apostles, prayer time and fellowship with each other.

So, for that point in time, and we don’t know how long for certain, the perfect church did exist.  It didn’t take very long before the flesh rose up within the body of believers with outward expressions of jealousy, envy and greed, and the catalyst for this activity was when Barnabas sold land that he owned on the island of Cyprus and provided a handy sum of money to the apostles.  When you turn the page from Acts Chapter 4 to Acts Chapter 5, we read about how Ananias and Sapphira lost their lives when they both lied to the Holy Spirit about money they were giving to the church.  The perfect church was relegated to a body of believers that needed to rely more upon the power of God and staying true to what made Jesus and the church so attractive.  

Acts 2:46-47 NLT

⁴⁶ They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity— ⁴⁷ all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

Thankfully, the church would carry on and draw more believers in Jesus, but let’s always remember that it is God who increases the numbers in His church.  It’s always been that way, and it always will be that way.  His way remains perfect even when we aren’t perfect.

In fact, we would love to be in what is a perfect church, but our challenge will always remain that we are far from perfect.

Ecclesiastes 7:20 NIV

Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous,

    no one who does what is right and never sins.

Admitting our struggles is very important in recognizing the need that we have for Jesus in our lives.  There are a lot more people that don’t think that they need Jesus or, for that matter, that Jesus would be helpful.  

The greatest challenge for every believer in Jesus Christ is to remain focused on living a humble life in Jesus and throwing off those things—worldly things—that take the focus off of Him.

Romans 12:2 ESV

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

The perfect church requires its members to truly live in an unselfish manner and be sensitive to God’s will.  That is how what we see in Acts, Chapter 2 and Chapter 4 the successes of a church that was living in the perfect will of Jesus Christ.

Let’s focus on the passage of Acts 4:32-35 and look at where the focus needs to be for each one of us to move towards a perfect church.

1.  A Heart for God.  The perfect church is fully committed to living for Jesus Christ.

Do you have a heart for God?  Do you want to experience Him in all aspects of your life?  Do you have a hunger for learning more from Him through reading His Word?  All of these (not some of them) are requirements for making and keeping this commitment.  

Mark 12:30 ESV

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

The Lord is looking for people who will believe and trust in Him for the long haul.  Not for appearances and not just when things are going well.

1 Samuel 16:7 ESV

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

2. Unity.  As referred to in Acts 4:32, the perfect church was united in heart and mind.  As much as we talk about the importance of the unity of the body of Christ, it seems that we have to keep talking about it over and over again.  The perfect church lived out their unity as they shared among themselves in order that no one would have to struggle.  No one had any hang-ups over what they owned.  Unity in the body of Christ goes beyond mere words.  The perfect church carries out what needs to be done without giving it much thought.

1 Corinthians 1:10 ESV

I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

Philippians 2:2 ESV

Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

1 Peter 3:8 ESV

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

Think about all of these things and open your hearts and minds to working side-by-side with brothers and sisters.  It will make every church—including our church—be more and more perfect in Christ.

3.  Teaching about Jesus.  In Acts 4:33, the apostles, the heads of the church at that time, were empowered by Jesus to proclaim the message of the gospel.  The perfect church correctly shares the truth and does not allow any variation of it to be introduced as doctrine. This is a bigger deal than it should be in many churches, but if Paul, Peter, Jude and John wrote early and often about false doctrine being an issue in the early church, it tells you how destructive teaching can be if Jesus’s truths are distorted or altogether left out.

Titus 1:9 NLT

He (a church elder) must have a strong belief in the trustworthy message he was taught; then he will be able to encourage others with wholesome teaching and show those who oppose it where they are wrong.

Paul continues with why false teaching is so destructive:

Titus 1:10-11 NLT

¹⁰ For there are many rebellious people who engage in useless talk and deceive others. This is especially true of those who insist on circumcision for salvation. ¹¹ They must be silenced, because they are turning whole families away from the truth by their false teaching. And they do it only for money.

Ephesians 4:14 ESV

So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

The perfect church stays true to the doctrine of Jesus Christ and, for our purposes, the words of Scripture.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 NLT

¹⁶ All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. ¹⁷ God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

4.  Devotion to Prayer.  The perfect church was a powerful church that was devoted to worship and prayer.  Prayer is necessary to show Jesus reverence, repentance and reflection as to His goodness.  Prayer is our communication with Jesus through the enabling of the Holy Spirit.  It is how a believer makes requests and petitions to God through the power of the Spirit.

James 5:16 ESV

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Ephesians 6:18 NLT

Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

What makes a perfect church?  The people of the church must:

• Have a heart for God
• Live in unity
• Teach and share about Jesus
• Be devoted to prayer

Let’s use the adjective “perfect” as a goal for every church.  The Holy Spirit must be an active participant throughout the body of believers.  The sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit must be active and growing throughout the body, but I also must add one more thing as we reflect upon how Jesus makes us perfect in His church.  Because of what He did for us on the cross and when He rose from the dead, He did for us what we could never do for ourselves.  This is why we need to have a heart for God.  He is why we need to live in unity.  He is why we must share the gospel.  He is why we must be devoted to prayer.

Jesus makes our church perfect as we believe and trust in Him.

Matthew 5:48 ESV

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Philippians 3:12-15 ESV

¹² Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ¹³ Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.

Because He lives, we can face tomorrow.

Our perfection is because of what Jesus did for us.

Copyright © 2024 Melvin Gaines

1 Martin, K. (2023, February 23). Marketing Cleveland: “The best location in the nation.” Hagley. https://www.hagley.org/librarynews/marketing-cleveland-best-location-nation 

2 Vocabulary.com. (n.d.). Perfect. In Vocabulary.com Dictionary. Retrieved April 15, 2024, from https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/perfect

3 Wikimedia Foundation. (2024, April 5). Perfect game (baseball). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_game_(baseball)