Characteristics Of A Spirit-Filled Church Series

Introduction

We live in deeply troubling times.

We have two major wars—in Ukraine and Israel—going on at present that are significant for our country in different ways. Thousands of people are being killed. Billions of dollars are being spent. No end is in sight.

Our country is facing a presidential election later this year. The debate over which candidate is better is going to become increasingly acrimonious. And even when the election is over, half the country is going to be bitterly disappointed by the result.

Furthermore, our culture is falling apart in moral terms right before our eyes. What was considered immoral just a generation ago is now accepted as normal by a growing number of people.

What is the answer to all of this?

It is the answer that God has provided for millennia. God is establishing his kingdom all around the world. God is calling people from darkness into the light. God is transforming people so that they are salt and light in the world.

That is why God sent Jesus to this earth. Jesus came to establish God’s kingdom on earth. He wanted the people of God to be light on a hill. He wanted the church to be the new fellowship of people that would be completely different than the world.

After Jesus’ resurrection, he showed himself alive to his apostles over forty days. Just before Jesus’ ascension into heaven, he told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the arrival of the Holy Spirit.

Ten days after Jesus’ ascension, on the Day of Pentecost, the Father sent the Holy Spirit to the apostles and disciples in Jerusalem.

The believers all spoke in tongues—foreign languages—in a way that was understood by Jews from all over the world.

The Apostle Peter then preached an incredible sermon in which he explained the phenomenon of the coming of the Holy Spirit to the people in Jerusalem. Three thousand people were converted as a result of Peter’s sermon.

Luke then went on to describe the effects of the Holy Spirit on that group of believers.

John R. W. Stott gives us an important note. He writes:

Of course, the church did not begin that day, and it is incorrect to call the Day of Pentecost “the birthday of the church.” For the church as the people of God goes back at least 4,000 years to Abraham. What happened at Pentecost was that the remnant of God’s people became the Spirit-filled body of Christ (John R. W. Stott, The Message of Acts: The Spirit, the Church & the World, The Bible Speaks Today [Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994], 81).

Luke gave us a wonderful description of the characteristics of a Spirit-filled church.

Scripture

Let us read Acts 2:42-47:

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.

Lesson

Acts 2:42-47 gives us the characteristics of a Spirit-filled church.

Let’s use the following outline:

1. A Spirit-filled church is a discipling church (2:42a, 43)

2. A Spirit-filled church is a fellowshipping church (2:42b, 46)

3. A Spirit-filled church is a worshipping church (2:42c, 46)

4. A Spirit-filled church is an evangelizing church (2:47)

5. A Spirit-filled church is a serving church (2:45)

I. A Spirit-filled Church Is a Discipling Church (2:42a, 43)

First, a Spirit-filled church is a discipling church.

In verse 42a, Luke tells us that the new Spirit-filled believers “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.” As disciples of Jesus, they knew that they had a lot to learn. And so the disciples committed themselves to learning what it meant to follow Jesus.

I love the way John Stott put it. He said, “One might perhaps say that the Holy Spirit opened a school in Jerusalem that day; its teachers were the apostles whom Jesus had appointed; and there were 3,000 pupils in the kindergarten!” (John R. W. Stott, The Message of Acts: The Spirit, the Church & the World, The Bible Speaks Today [Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994], 82).

These new believers did not think that now that they were filled with the Holy Spirit they did not need any other instructor. Quite the opposite. They were hungry to grow in the word of God and they eagerly sat at the feet of their teachers—the apostles.