The Vital Church Series

The Vital Church Acts 2:43-47

Acts 2:41: So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. 42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

The Church is led to a Steadfast Commitment through the power of the Spirit to:

1. Follow Christ alone (receive the word, repent, believe, be filled and follow).

2. Faithfully be taught and to teach others the proper input and content which is the Word of God alone (Doctrine: didache).

3. Continue to Fellowship together- (koinonia: sharing spiritual gifts, sharing the Spirit, sharing at the Lord’s Table, and loving God and each other).

4. Engage in the Power and Privilege of Prayer, both individually & corporately.

Today we look at Acts 2:43: “Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; (Everyone CONTINUED to be in awe of what God HAD done and was doing by His Spirit, His Word, through the fellowship of the Church and through the power of prayer.) and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.”

A Miraculous Church

The Church at Pentecost displayed some tremendous results as believers were led by the power of Spirit and the power of the Word of God and as they fellowshipped together, each one doing their part as the Body of Christ: It was a Miraculous church because god enabled the apostles to perform many wonders and signs, many miracles.

Most Biblical miracles occurred in three brief periods of Bible history: During the days of Moses and Joshua, during the ministries of Elijah and Elisha and during the time of Christ and the apostles. None of those periods lasted much more than 100 years. The miracles during these times were unheard of at other times in redemptive history, but even during these three times, miracles were not just normal, everyday occurrences that happened to anybody and everybody. Each time, the miracles occurred around the specific ministries of Moses and Joshua, of Elijah and Elisha and around the time of Christ and the apostles and miracles were not happening all over the world everywhere to all kinds of people.

In John 14:11: Jesus said, "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.” The miracles that Jesus performed proved that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah from Heaven. The apostles were given power to do miracles in order to confirm that the Word, the GOSPEL they preached, was also from Jesus the Messiah.

Hebrews 2:3 says: “How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard.” God affirmed the preaching of the Word with miracles so that the preaching might be believed. The miracles were to confirm the Word. Miracles validated that the Word was from God.

Every believer has experienced at least one miracle, the miracle of regeneration, of new birth. Every believer at one time HEARD the WORD of God, turned from unbelief to the only Savior from sin and death, the Lord Jesus Christ. You received the miracle of FAITH in the Lord Jesus Christ and He changed your life.

Every believer has witnessed this miracle time and again in the lives of others. Every time someone asks the question, “How can I be saved?”, the miracle of the “NEW BIRTH” is happening. Several weeks ago, we witnessed that miracle when Joe was going to be baptized, and after the preaching of the Word, his wife said, “I want to be baptized too. I believe Jesus died for my sins and He is the ONLY way to salvation. I want to follow Him too!” The early church was a Miraculous Church because THE CHURCH is a miraculous Church. The Church is the means whereby God brings the Gospel to people who are dead in sin, and He brings them to life, many times, just one person at a time, one miracle at a time.

A Sharing Church

Look at verse 44: “And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; 45 and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.” The Church was also a SHARING CHURCH.

There were many pilgrims in Jerusalem at this time, and in Judaism, it was traditional to open your homes to visitors. No doubt, God used this time for converts to share the Gospel with visitors and with resident Jews, but these verses do not promote Christian communal living, as some might think. Some of the guests in town may have stayed longer than anticipated because they wanted to know more about God’s Word from the apostles, and fellowship, growing in the faith, is contagious.