Acts 2:42-47
Acts 2:42-47
February 23, 2020
Acts 2
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. 1
It has been said that “church is not a club for saints, but a hospital for sinners.” It’s catchy and has been said for years and now makes the rounds as a kitschy Christian meme suitable for social media.
And, as with just about every popularized Christianese statement can fit on a T-shirt or bumper sticker that comes around, it’s not eactly biblically accurate, mainly because it leaves out so many things that Scripture states about Christ’s church. Though, I think we can be pretty confident that if we function as a club we’re missing much of what God has called us to do.
Nevertheless, I am reminded that the writer (Luke) inspired by God’s Holy Spirit to write the words of the book titled the “Acts of the Apostles” for us to have before us now was not only a doctor who
1 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ac 2:42–47). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
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treated physical maladies by training, but also became a doctor of ministry and theologian, equipped by God in this way for the good of the church and the glory of God.
While it may seem we are taking a very long time moving through this incredible book, it is solely because there is so very much here for us to read, hear, think about, and respond to.
This is exciting and life-changing.
What we have seen in these chapters is the birth of God’s church. Peter preached a sermon during the celebration of Pentecost. Thousands heard and three-thousand responded with surrender to Christ and obedience in baptism. The church era was born.
This is a moment of birth for the church. One that was prophesied to come. A moment that was prepared rightly by Christ himself and when the time was right, the Father sends the Holy Spirit to come upon his apostles and followers and the church was spoken into existence.
God alone has the power to speak things into existence.
Look at this spoken word of God and the results:
Genesis 1
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.2
Then, in the following verses, the creation account states over and over...
2 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ge 1:1–3). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. 2
6 And God said...
6 And God said...
11 And God said...
14 And God said...
20 And God said...
24 And God said...
26 Then God said...
All creation came into existence by the spoken word of God.
John reminds us in the beginning of his gospel that Christ is the Logos, the Word.
John 1:1-3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.3
We love beginning stories. These are the origins that help us understand later stories. God has always been. He created beginnings. And in the beginning of the human story, he spoke. The Word was with God and the Word was God.
The Father speaks the universe into existence. It’s a new chapter in the story. It’s the beginning of humanity.
3 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Jn 1:1–3). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. 3
Then, in Acts 2, the church is born, is created, and comes into existence through the Word spoken and shared by the power of God the Holy Spirit.
It is an amazing moment.
The good doctor Luke gives us a detailed account of this new birth moment – the birth of God’s church and then through these details reveals the health of this new creation.
Much like when a baby is born and the vitals are taken and the measurements and weight is recorded, there are indicators of health and signs of a strong, growing child.
This is true for God’s church as well and we see these indicators revealed and expressed in Acts 2. Not only are these signs of a good, young, newly born church, but also signs of a healthy, growing body at any age.
It is wise to remember in a culture that elevates individualism and personal preference to a degree that me-ology becomes the religion of the day for many. Yet, while Christianity is personal, it is not, nor has the church ever been individualistic.
So, in this incredible passage we see things happening in this newly formed church that reveals what the church is to be about and how we are to live. This is true for the universal church, but it is clear the intent is for the local church.
THE CHURCH MUST BE...
1. DEVOTED TO THE WORD
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching
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Ever heard someone complain about their church, or former church, because they “weren’t being fed?” It happens all the time and while most of the time it is due to the fact that the American church has so elevated individualism and adopted the consumer model that many seem to view church as little more than a buffet of teachings and events that “being fed” has overwhelmed each person’s devotion to the Word and the desire to dig in themselves.
While this is epidemic in the American Christian sub-culture, there are certainly churches where the gospel is ignored, the Word of God is used sparingly, and more emphasis is placed on the event of Sunday as presented through carefully edited videos designed to be shared on Instagram, while the carefully dissected teaching of the Word is either avoided or ignored.
Not throwing any stones here, but it is clear that a version of church exists where the Word is not something people are not devoted to. When the Word of God is used more like the user manual for your car, it is in the glove compartment and never read, unless we need to change the time on the clock or reprogram our radio, or perhaps to discover what that light on the dash means.
Church without the Word is an oxymoron.
I read this online review for a church recently. This reviewer gave the church a five-star review. It’s not in our town or region at all, so don’t try to figure out what church it is. Yet, it should awaken us to some understanding, for this type of church is very popular with a culture of consumerism:
“I’m not a religious person and my neighbor insisted we stop by CHURCH on our way to Ikea. He promised me that I would not be bored or weirded out by the fact this is a church. Haven’t been to one in forty years! Was I taken by surprise! The place is huge, beautiful, well-designed and there were tons of people. There is a
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large stage that is televised professionally. The group singing was amazing. They were extremely skilled singers. It was like going to a rock-and-roll concert or a Vegas show. The pastor gave a short and very intuitive talk about commitment and nobody, and I mean nobody asked for money. If you feel like contributing, then contribute. No pressure. I have never had this kind of experience and perhaps the next time I go to an Ikea on Sunday, I may stop there again. I highly recommend going to this church, particularly if you are not religious but would like to have a blast.”
Not exactly a bad review, but somehow it seems that the point of church was lost on this person. While I understand the seeker- sensitive model and being a place for people who are unchurched or de-churched, and I definitely do not think “boring” is a spiritual gift, at some point the clear, expressed Word of God must be presented. The church must be devoted to the teaching and study of the Word.
I heard one person say that some churches today are little more than concerts with a thirty-minute TED Talk added on.
That may be true and that is not the church. At least not a healthy one.
2. DEVOTED TO ONE ANOTHER
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread
This word “fellowship” gets dumbed down much in Christian life today. It is more than just being in a group or hanging out. It often includes eating together, but a buffet alone or a pot-luck alone does not create fellowship. Though as you see it included the “breaking of bread” together which likely referred to the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper and the subsequent family meal following.
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The word here for fellowship is KOINONIA and it means to have things in common, to be connected, to be participating. This is the understanding of the “one anothers” that are in the New Testament referring to how we are to love one another, serve one another, bear one another’s burdens. The Greek for “one another” is ah- LAY-loan and it appears over 50 times.
The church was devoted to the Word and the teaching and to the fellowship with one another. The lone believer, the solo-Christian, is an oxymoron.
3. DEDICATED TO PRAYER
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
The church had a vibrant prayer life. They understood their very existence relied on the providence of God and his grace and love. They were not celebrated by the culture. They were outcasts among their families, among the Jews, of whom most all at this point were. They prayed together. They prayed corporately. They prayed individually. Prayer was not a program. It was not a ministry. It was not an assigned task. It was part of their existence and revealed their dependence.
4. DELIGHTED TO GIVE
44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
The offering wasn’t an afterthought. The needs of their fellow church members weren’t a burden. Well, it may have been, but they carried one another’s burdens. The cheerful hearted giver was not an aspiration, but an identifier of the redeemed.
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5. DIVERSE IN SIZE
46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,
They liked each other. They loved each other. They were together day by day.
This was no mega-church. It was no small group. It was both. The church at Jerusalem at this point had 3,000 members (at least hundreds after other believers left the city to go to their homes.)
They went to temple together (large groups) and broke bread together in their homes (D-groups). The key wasn’t the size of the group, but that they were together. There are times when the church gets everyone together for corporate worship on the Lord’s Day. Then there are the smaller groups that are necessary for relationships to grow and discipleship to occur. This is not new. We’ve been doing this since the beginning.
6. DECIDEDLY EVANGELISTIC
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Every day people were being saved. Every day people were hearing the gospel and responding through repentance. Lives were being changed. Evangelism wasn’t a program, a memorized tract, a process to learn. It was, and is, the natural outgrowth of the fully devoted follower of Christ.
CLOSING
Church – these are still the marks of a healthy, gospel-centered, God- focused, God-honoring church. There are more, but these are some primary ones. When this is ignored, forgotten, we suffer. When a church
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abandons its call and seeks to “upgrade” to a newer, cooler, less controversial model that the culture will celebrate, then it is no upgrade at all, but a downgrade.
No lover of the gospel can conceal from himself the fact that the days
are evil. We are willing to make a large discount from our apprehensions
on the score of natural timidity, the caution of age, and the weakness
produced by pain; but yet our solemn conviction is that things are much
worse in many churches than they seem to be, and are rapidly tending
downward. Read those newspapers which represent the Broad School of
Dissent, and ask yourself, How much farther could they go? What
doctrine remains to be abandoned? What other truth to be the object of
contempt? A new religion has been initiated, which is no more
Christianity than chalk is cheese; and this religion, being destitute of
moral honesty, palms itself off as the old faith with slight improvements,
and on this plea usurps pulpits which were erected for gospel preaching.
The Atonement is scouted, the inspiration of Scripture is derided, the
Holy Spirit is degraded into an influence, the punishment of sin is turned
into fiction, and the resurrection into a myth, and yet these enemies of
our faith expect us to call them brethren, and maintain a confederacy
with them! (Charles Spurgeon, 1887)
It seems that the more things change, the more they stay the same. I was
informed last week that at this point, I am the longest tenured senior
pastor First Baptist Church has ever had. It shocked me, too. Being on
pastoral staff since 1994, but the tenure for senior pastor began in 2005.
I have learned much, especially how much I did not know prior to being
called by God and this church to shepherd this flock. Yet, one thing I
knew then and know now. The way, truth and life is still Jesus Christ.
Always has been. Always will be. Sin is still sin and we are all guilty.
Redemption through Christ’s blood is offered and remains the only way
to life. Styles may come and go. Music, technology, schedule shifts, etc.
all come and change. But what never changes is God and His Word. On
this we stand. Church – we must be devoted to God, his Word, his
people, dedicated to pray together and for one another, delighted to give
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in our abundance and even sacrificially for the cause, diverse in our
venues, sizes of our groups, and decidedly evangelistic.
If we are not...then the downgrade occurs. And we will all not only
suffer for it, but answer for it as well.
Good news – God has made us his, saved us, redeemed us, equipped us,
and enabled us.
That is good news and it will remain good.
E’er since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die:
And shall be till I die,
And shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.
Footnotes
1 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ac 2:22–36). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
2 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ac 17:1–3). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
3 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ac 17:32). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
4 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 27:22). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
