Sunday Morning Service

Acts 2:42-47 (Click title for audio access)

"The First Church"  •  5.22.11  •  Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service

Intro.

- Peter's first sermon was a good one, at least with reference to it's content and the response. First, Peter explained what had happened at Pentecost.

- This baptism of the Holy Spirit that the crowd had witnessed had been promised by the Father and had been predicted in scripture, specifcally Joel 2.

- Next, Peter exalted the risen Christ. His death had been planned by God and perpetrated by people, some of whom stood right there!

- His resurrection had been prophecied and His place at the right hand of God secure.

- Finally, Peter evangelized the lost. They were cut to the heart and asked what they could do, which brought this response: "Change your mind about Jesus and your own righteousness."

- Do not blaspheme God any longer with any thought that you carry any righteousness of your own before Him! Believe upon Christ, demonstrate by repenting, which you can show by baptism.

- Baptism would have been the spiritual equivalent of burning the final bridge back, causing these new converts to count the steep cost of their actions.

- Luke tells us that there were 3,000 that gladly believed and were boldly baptized!

- What happens next is a description of what took place next. The church was a new institution. What would they find valuable? How would they grow? What would mark their existence?

Text

•  Acts 2:42  :  "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers."  :  The first principle that sticks out to us is that these new converts continued steadfastly.

- They had gladly received the word. They had submitted to baptism. Now, they continued steadfastly. Other translations say that they "devoted themselves" or that they "persevered."

- The word in Greek means to "give constant attention to" or to give "unremitting care to." The word is written in the present active tense, meaning it was this way over and over again!

- What makes a new convert a true convert? Continuity! They continue to grow. They continue to move toward things of God. They continue to reject things of the flesh.

- There is movement. It may be slow. It may at times be agonizingly difficult to see, but it's there! It's there and they continue to be there where God is speaking!

- The continued steadfastly in each of these things, not just one. They earnestly gave attention to this. They earnestly gave attention to this.

- Each part that we are about to examine was of vital significance for the earliest church.

- Interestingly, in the years of counseling that I have experienced, a large percentage of the cases involved stemmed from people who confessed to negligence in one or more of these areas.

- These practices are more than what the church did. They are the keys to a life with God.

- What did they give attention to continuously? The Apostles' doctrine. Our word "doctrine" comes from the word for "teaching" or "instruction."

- What was the Apostles' doctrine? What did they teach from? What did they have for a Bible?

- They had the Old Testament. "The Law and The Prophets." We have been teaching through Exodus on Thursday nights, and I can attest to you that there is great food there for every believer.

- In many ways, the New Testament is the very first commentary on the Old Testament!

- Additionally, much of their work, their teaching, would eventually be preserved through their own epistles, though that was not the case in this early period of the church.

- The Apostles spent time teaching God's people. These 3,000 people had 12 teachers, perhaps 12 groups of 250 people!

- They opened up the Old Testament and demonstrated where Christ fulfilled the types and shadows that are prevalent in the first half of our book.

- This is what Jesus had revealed in the 40 days of His post resurrection appearing.

- Turn to Luke 24. There is a great story there of two men walking down the road to Emmaus on the day of Christ's resurrection.

- They are at the peak of their discouragement when Jesus appears to them.

- They don't recognize Him, and Jesus plays the part of an ignorant passerby. The two men tell Him what has happened. This is when Jesus responds to them.

•  Luke 24:25-27  :  "Then He said to them, 'O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?' And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." : The Apostles simply followed the example that Jesus gave them!

- The first action represents the most important function of the church. These new converts assembled to be taught God's Word.

-  Being alive in Christ reveals itself in the hunger that His child displays.

- They wanted the word of God. They wanted more of what Peter had declared to them, especially now that they had Jesus, the picture on the box, making sense of the puzzle pieces!

- This really shouldn't surprise us, as any real revival in history is marked by a desire for real meat from the word of God.

- Why did they need someone to teach them? Unlike today, the people of that day had no personal Bible scrolls. They memorized portions of scripture, but depended on their synagogues.

- The question is begged, "Why do we need to gather to be instructed?" With out vast resources, personal bible collection and internet helps, why can't we just stay home?

- The answer is that we will only teach ourselves what we want to hear. We will avoid the painful, corrective passages and phrases and latch on to that which makes our soul feel good.

- Isolation gives us the right to choose what we hear. Church does not afford us that same comfort. A Bible teaching church will give the full counsel of God, even that which is painful.

- They continued earnestly in the Apostle's doctrine and in fellowship.

- Fellowship is a very broad word, which does not mean coffee, donuts and a quick "Hey!"

- The word "fellowship" is a Greek catch-all that encompasses words like "sharing" and "partnership." Shared resources, interests and goals. They continued to share life together.

- God did not create the church so someone could give the Word alone. He created the church to foster interdependant relationships between the family of God.

- He created the church so that people could love one another and encourage each other in the things of God!

- When life hands you a blessing, the group shares in that blessing. When life bears a burden, the body shares that burden.

- Remember that a baptized Jew was turning his back on his family and religious community. There was no other place for them. That's what the church was about to become.

- They came for the Word. They came to hold each other up and support each other. They came to remember what the Lord had done for them.

- Communion. The breaking of bread is a euphemism that speaks of the Lord's table.

- When they came together, they obeyed what Jesus had spoken to them and the bread was broken to distribute. They took time to remember the work of the Cross, celebrating with communion.

- Finally, they came together for prayers. They came to agree with one another in prayer, seeking the face and action of God.

- Prayer is the last on the list, but not for the sake of it being least important. Prayer was the anchor, the glue to all of the other activities.

- Prayer was made for the effective working of the word in their midst. Prayer was made to solidify their relationships. Prayers were made to commit themselves to the ideal of communion.

- They learned of God's character through the Apostle's doctrine. They shared God's culture through their fellowship. The celebrated what God had done through the communion.

- But what could be more powerful than communing with God in prayer.

- These are the items that make for a church service.

- I would even go so far as to say that one cannot call themselves a church unless these are happening with some regularity!

•  Acts 2:43  :  "Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles."  :  When they came together, fear came upon those that were watching. This doesn't mean that the people who knew of these people were scared of them.

- The word here refers to a deep awe. God was in the midst of these Church goers and they knew that was the case.

- God's presence filled their meetings, which were accompanied by miracles and signs that the Apostles performed.

- From what we see in the rest of the book of Acts, there were phenomenol things taking place.

- Later in the book of Acts, we see healings take place. We see dead that are raised. Luke does not give us the details, but the Apostles had authority from the Lord and it was showing.

- God was authenticating their ministry with works of power in the same way that He did through Christ. There were people who needed convincing and the Apostles were!

•  Acts 2:44,45  :  "Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need."  :  Peter callied people to repent and be baptized. Many were pilgrims that would eventually leave. The baptized likely faced expulsion from their families and finances.

- Others might have left their vocation in order to remain at the Apostles' side.

- The church then was immediately faced with a difficulty: How do we deal with this sudden loss of family, ritual and community?

- Generally, when there were feast weeks, the crowds would find families to stay with. This was probably the case within the church.

- For those who stayed longer, or who were put out, the church acted to make sure that the people were covered.

- They did not just share their nice thoughts and prayers together. They shared practically.

- Land, possession and wealth was sold, distributing that to those within the body that had need. If a person needed transportation, this group sought to pay his way.

- Part of the power of the early church was this forced dynamic of real needful relationship.

- They banded together because it's very likely that they had nothing else to depend upon, at the very least temporarily.

- They looked out for one another, the love of Christ working practically in their hearts.

•  Acts 2:46  :  "So continuing daily with one accord in the temple,..." : The entire church took on the flavor of the Apostles. The Apostles had been in complete harmony.

- Luke uses the same word to describe the entire church body. All 3,000 people had the same goals and desires, even though they were individual voices.

- They continued this way in the temple. The temple was still open daily and became a place that took on new meaning.

- In the beginning of the church, there was still a close association with Judaism, in culture and in the use of the temple.

- It would be wrong to think of Christianity as an extension or strengthening of Judaism.

- In addition, the temple was the best place to continue to evangelize.

- The temple sacrifices and culture found it's fulfillment in Christ. They went there to remember and perform in faith, their prayers and offerings to Jesus.

- This was their Father's house and a place of prayer according to their Master Jesus!

•  Acts 2:46,47  :  "...and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved."  :  The church moved from house to house, celebrating their relationship and contentedly walking with God. They had what they had and they were glad for that.

- The word "gladness" refers to the spiritual gift of joy that attended their hearts. Their meetings were gatherings of great joy.

- They ate with this annointing of joy and with simplicity of heart. The word refers to smoothness, literally "without rocks." In other words, their relationships were straight paths.

- There were no rocky points where one could get tripped up.

- They were joyous, content, peaceful and grateful. They praised God. They sung out His praises. They lifted their voice and raised their praise to God.

- This church was marked by these things within their meetings. Joy. Contentment. Peace. Thanksgiving. Luke adds that this also translated out to those outside of the church.

- They had favor, grace with all the people. People, non-believers, generally liked the people, Christians, from the church.

- When this is what you look like, when this is what marks your fellowship, how could one not like what they see?

- The real church, the real Christian is attractive, marked not by what he or she is against, but by what he or she is for! They are for fulness of life. They are for great experiences of joy in Christ.

- What comes of that from people on the outside? Mostly, you gain their goodwill and they generally like you. They will not like your views.

- They will disagree with you, but not for being disagreeable!

- What will the Lord do with a church like that? He'll add to her! Notice that it was the Lord who added to the church. That is His job! It is never our job. We can't do it!

- What we can do is let the Spirit of God work in our lives so that people are open to the salvation that we know comes only through Jesus Christ, the risen Lord.

Conclusion

- The key to the church's power was the mighty presence of the Holy Spirit. Their response was to continue what God had started, to act out of concern for the brethren.

- They lived it and God said, "My Spirit has free reign among these people. I will send more their way!"