Important Relationships In The Church (Part 1) Series

Important Relationships Within The Church

(Part 1)

Acts 4:32-37

(Antioch Baptist Church: Wednesday, September 31st, 2025)

Some of the most important relationships in my life have been cultivated inside the local church. My greatest friends, confidants, mentors, and encouragers are people that I am connected with through the local church.

There is a reason that we are commanded not to neglect gathering together, “as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25). Assembling with the Lord and His Church is an essential part of living a fruitful, Christ honoring life.

As we examine the closing verses of Acts 4, I would for us to consider some “Important Relationships Within The Church”. Our relationship with the Lord and our relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ is of supreme importance. This truth is seen in Jesus’ proclamation of what we often refer to as “The Greatest Commandment”. In Matthew 22:38-40, Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to “love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment.” The Savior went on to say, “And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Jesus declares that “All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

Though these commands are separated into two, they are intertwined; you cannot have one without the other. If you do not love the Lord like you should, you will not love your neighbor in the way that He has commanded. John states in his first epistle that “If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And we have this command from him: The one who loves God must also love his brother and sister” (1 John 4:20-21).

- As we examine these two important relationships within the church, let’s look to the text and consider:

OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD

In verse 32, Luke turns his attention from the bold actions of the Apostles and the glorious worship & prayer of the saints, to the great unity, compassion, and benevolence that was present among those in the early church. This kind of love and visible evidence of a relationship with Jesus was apparent in the lives of those early Christians. Their love for one another was manifested in their giving to one another.

There was an amazing spirit of benevolence in the early Church. The followers of Christ rejected selfishness and exhibited selflessness. If there was a need within the community of believers, the brethren would sell their own houses, lands, and other personal property and gave the proceeds to the Apostles who then distributed the profits accordingly. This was only possible because of their relationship with the Lord.

The only way that we will exhibit similar actions in the church (and in the world for that matter) is if we have a personal relationship with the Lord. This leads us to the fact that:

WE BELONG TO THE LORD

v32 Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul;

Luke is describing Christians; “those who believed” in the Lord were the ones who made up His Church. For one to truly be in the Church he/she must belong to the Lord. The Church is the Bride of Christ, the only way to be a part of the Bride is to be “in Christ”. Some are members of a local church, but they are not part of the Church. They have joined a local assembly, but they have not surrendered to Christ.

The people who were assembled on this occasion were genuine followers of the Lord Jesus. The Apostles were called by Jesus and surrendered to Him in the early days of His earthly ministry. There were others who began to follow Him shortly thereafter. Many of the people in this number came to faith as a result of that might move of God on the day of Pentecost. Others were converted following Peter’s sermon at Solomon’s Portico. Certainly there were others who were converted between and after these two events. As those new converts returned home and began to share what Jesus had done for them, they had the opportunity to reach their own families and friends with the Gospel.

Our assembly is no different. Some of you have been walking with the Lord for decades; others have come to faith in Christ much more recently. Some were saved in a church setting; perhaps a worship service, VBS, Sunday school or a revival meeting. Some of you were saved in your living room, at work, or in the front seat of a car. Regardless of the location, there was a time when you came under Holy Spirt conviction, you repented and believed in Christ, and you have received salvation and eternal life.