The Church (2)
The Church • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 7 viewsTwo results of the 4 things they committed themselves to. Great fear on unbelievers and changed view of possessions by beleivers.
Notes
Transcript
In the last six verses of Acts 2 Luke pictures a true Pentecostal church.
In these verses we have a succinct summary of the characteristics of the early church.
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,
45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
Continued steadfastly in (Acts 2:42):
1. Basic Doctrine (To learn)
(The word doctrine in v42 is not passive; it is active. It means they persisted)
One of the great perils of the church is a static religion that looks back instead of forward.
Because the riches of Christ are unsearchable and inexhaustible, we should ever be going forward.
We should be looking to the sunrise, not the sunset.
We shouldn’t let a day go by without getting more deeply into the wisdom and grace of God.
2. Fellowship - (To Fellowship)
There was a togetherness
We are a band of brothers
3. Breaking of bread - (To Care)
Were moved by the remembrance of the cross (“greater love hath no man...”)
This do in remembrance
It moved them to take up their cross and follow in His self-less love for people.
4. Prayers - (Worship)
They knew they could not meet life in their own strength, and that they didn’t need to do so.
They talked to God before they talked to men.
1 Kings 13:1
1 And behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord, and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.
The final two verses of the chapter
Continued daily with one accord in (Acts 2:46-47):
In the Temple
Breaking bread from house to house
at their food with gladness and simplicity of heart
praising God and having favor with all the people
In the middle of these two characterizations of the infant church we find:
43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,
45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
I want us to consider two RESULTS of these four things:
Resulting reverence, miracles, and signs: Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
Resulting view on finances, possessions and goods
1. Fear came upon every soul (Outsiders)
1. Fear came upon every soul (Outsiders)
The non-Christian population were in awe of what they were seeing in these born again believers.
and wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
The words used here are the same words Peter used to describe the mighty works of Jesus in v22. (Greater works....)
They are now being done at the hands of the apostles and Luke with shortly give specific examples.
signs are for unbelievers
22 Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe.
4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.
46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered,
11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
God has always used signs and wonders to help our unbelief.
35 “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush.
36 He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
37 “This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.’
He used signs and wonders through Elijah to defeat the prophets of Baal.
He used them through Jesus to introduce Himself
He used them through the Apostles to start the church, and
He is still using them today through the Holy Ghost to touch unbelievers!
48 Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.”
24 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.
25 The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
God knows our weaknesses, He knows that we all have a doubting Thomas in us.
He does not reject or condemn us for it.
What He does is provide signs and wonders for our unbelief.
He’s done it from the beginning and still doing it today.
6 “For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.
All through the the gospels you see a phrase that Jesus repeated over and over again.
37 If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me;
38 but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.”
The same pattern continues today in the church age
17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;
18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.
20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
Signs and wonders are alive and well unless we shut them down with our own religious traditions.
Expect Great Things
Attempt Great Things
2. Their View of Possessions Changed (Inside)
2. Their View of Possessions Changed (Inside)
When God was preparing to bring Israel into the promised land, He gave law concerning debts
1 “At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts.
2 And this is the form of the release: Every creditor who has lent anything to his neighbor shall release it; he shall not require it of his neighbor or his brother, because it is called the Lord’s release.
3 Of a foreigner you may require it; but you shall give up your claim to what is owed by your brother,
4 except when there may be no poor among you; for the Lord will greatly bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance—
5 only if you carefully obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe with care all these commandments which I command you today.
4 “There should be no poor among you, for the Lord your God will greatly bless you in the land he is giving you as a special possession.
Listen to this description:
44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,
45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
v45 - The verbs “sold” and “divided” are in the imperfect tense, meaning these were recurrent, continuing practice “as anyone had a need”
This is in keeping with the Old Testament ideal of community equality
Sharing with the needy so that, “there will be no poor among you” (Deut 15:4)
Let the Spirit get ahold of your life until you can say:
I will no longer practice accumulation but dissemination.
The world and the flesh are always after me to gather in, to collect, to secure myself against illness, old age, catastrophe, and death.
Jesus sent His disciples out with the word:
9 Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts,
10 nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.
Strange equipment for His spiritual army!
And yet, how wise!
The soldier who enters a battle overloaded is already defeated.
I must learn to use things without possessing them, as Paul did:
10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
Jesus taught:
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Then I will not need to worry about my daily necessities.
God gives me things to use and to enjoy, not idolize.
When I can no longer use something, I must give it to someone who can.
Jesus was the great “giver-upper.” When He died He owned nothing.
I must beware the world’s cry, “You need this or that or the other thing.”
The world is always telling me what I need; and if I listen to such talk, I will accumulate forever and yet never find satisfaction.
How can the world tell the disciple what his needs are? Only the great Pioneer of all disciples can do that.
Lay aside every weight:
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Once you have given your dearest to Him, He will say, “Now I will really bless you”.
17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.