The Earliest Church and Modern Times
(Acts 2:42-47)
1. Some people just don’t get it.
2. From Reader’s Digest:
After booking my 90-year-old mother on a flight from Florida to Nevada, I called the airline to go over her needs. The woman representative listened patiently as I requested a wheelchair and an attendant for my mother because of her arthritis and impaired vision. I also asked for a special meal and assistance in changing planes.
My apprehension lightened a bit when the woman assured me everything would be taken care of. I thanked her profusely.
"Why, you’re welcome," she replied. I was about to hang up when she cheerfully asked, "And will your mother be needing a rental car?"
3. Some people do not seem to get the purpose and nature of the church. Some anchor church to their childhood, others to what they see on TV. Others go by emotions. Few search the Scriptures.
4. The nature of the church is dual: some things change, and some things do not. But underneath it all, the important emphases remain the same.
5. When we interpret scripture, we must note the difference between description and prescription…
Main Idea: The church must adjust to the times and circumstances, but she should never forsake the basics.
I. The Typical: What Believers Do When Meeting TOGETHER (42)
A. TEACHING
1. The New Testament frequently puts the emphasis upon teaching and preaching when it comes to church life and growth. Here it is placed in the first position for emphasis.
2. The Great Commission includes, “teaching them to observe all things.” The
pastoral epistles, the instruction manuals for church life (I & II Timothy and
Titus) put the emphasis upon teaching. Here are just a few verses:
“Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching…” (I Timothy 4:13)
“The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching…” (I Timothy 5:17).
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…” (2 Timothy 3:16)
“You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine…” Titus 2:1
Amos 8:11 talks about a judgment from God, namely Biblical ignorance, “"The days are coming," declares the Sovereign LORD, "when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.”
B. FELLOWSHIP
Fellowship means having things in common, sharing, enjoying one another’s company, a sense of community, support, and camaraderie.
We need one another! Life is scary, and those who do not know Christ interpret life very differently than we do. Some of you are hurting, confused, depressed. You need us. We certainly need you. Loosen up and share your heart with your brothers and sisters.
C. Breaking BREAD
Matthew 26:26 reads, “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’"
Acts 2:46b, “They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts”
Or both, as in I Corinthians 11, where the church would hold a “love feast” followed by communion…as you recall, Paul scolded them for getting drunk and eating all the food before everyone got there…
D. PRAYER
Prayer is a true form of worship; to pray to God is to confess He is there
• But when believers pray together, it is a triangular experience.
• We need to learn to pray more freely, as a habit. Just say, "Let’s pray."
• The Jewish people used the term “Amen,” meaning, “So be it” as a term of agreement, thus including the listeners with those praying.
APPLICATION: God built the church with some flex in her, but the basics must stay the same. Studying, interpreting, and applying the Word of God must always be the emphasis of a church that is true to Jesus Christ, the teaching of the Apostles. One of the earliest historical descriptions of the New Testament is the “memoirs of the apostles.”
But church must be a shared experience: we need to pray together, to celebrate the Lord’s Supper together, to chat with one another, and to enjoy meals together.
You can see this in our church’s mission statement: The mission of Highland Park Church is to reach people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to connect believers to one another and to God, and to deepen them in their Christian walk.
The church must adjust to the times and circumstances, but she should never forsake the basics.
II. The Exceptional: The UNIQUE Position of the Jerusalem Church (43-45)
God commands us to study His Word, to fellowship with one another, to celebrate communion and eat together on occasion, and to pray. Those are prescription. But these next few verses are more description of a unique time that can never be replicated.
A. MIRACLES (43)
Worked by the Apostles. The writer of the Book of Hebrews looks back and writes in Hebrews 1:3-4,
“This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.”
We can see a number of such miracles in Acts.
When we say these kinds of things, people may accuse of saying we do not believe God works miracles today. Did I say that? No.
Most miracles we see today are answers to prayer, not authenticating.
B. SHARING (44)
People shared their goods with one another. A number of them probably took a leave from their employment to take part in the establishing of a unique era in the Kingdom of God.
C. FINANCING (45)
Note this fact: the early believers were willing to make sacrifices for the Kingdom; they gave of their means to finance this new sacred venture in God’s plan.
• Nobody forced: Ananias and Saphira.
• Later in the New Testament, we see that the rich are encouraged to be generous, but not pressured to give all their wealth away, but to focus on eternity. In I Timothy 6:17-19, we read:
“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”
• On the other side of the equation, John Piper observes: “This was one of Luke’s great passions—that Christians use their possessions for the needs of others and not just for their own comforts. Luke alone tells the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30–37). Luke alone tells the parable of the rich fool who built bigger and bigger barns (12:16–21), and the story of God’s great banquet that people wouldn’t come to because they had fields and cattle to tend to (Luke 14:16–24), and the story of the dishonest manager (Luke 16:1–8), and the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31). More than any other New Testament writer Luke stresses the danger of letting our life consist in the things we possess.”
Application: We have three resources: time, money, and energy. In my opinion, God expects us to make sacrifices in all three areas for His Kingdom.
The church must adjust to the times and circumstances, but she should never forsake the basics.
III. The Continual: The CONNECTION to Judaism (46-47)
A. In the TEMPLE Courts (46a)
The early Jewish believers had no intention to break away from Judaism; it wasn’t only a case of adapting to a culture..
The Synagogue was predominantly a place of learning. The Temple was predominantly a place of worship.
B. They ATE together (46b)
They not only loved each other, but they like each other. They got along because they were focused on the same massive mission
C. They PRAISED together (47a)
• Probably in song and word.
• The Jewish people would typically raise their hands when they were praising God, not a bad thing to do. But praise is not a mindless losing ourselves in music; it is, instead, the focus of our minds and hearts upon God based upon the truth of what we sing. They probably sang the Psalms.
D. They had the FAVOR of the Jewish people (47b)
The Apostles performed many wonders. The people were awestruck. But, later on in Acts, we see a change, and some of the unbelieving Jews begin to persecute the Messianic Jews.
• Christians need to learn the lesson: walk through the doors God opens while the doors remain open; do not assume they will remain open forever.
E. God ADDED Jewish believers to their number (47c)
A steady stream of new believers came to faith and then became part of the church; note here that it is God who does the adding. God may use our attempts to reach people, but our schemes do not produce real believers: God does.
CONCLUSION
1. The church must stand firm on the Word, or we will be like the people of Jeremiah’s day, "My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding" (Jeremiah 4:22).
2. But we must also adjust to and keep up with the times, while not forsaking the absolute truths of God’s Word -- because the church always exists in a unique time and culture. Some Seeker Sensitive Churches are declining for two reasons: (1) lack of Biblical depth and (2) lack of keeping up with the times.
3. We also need to reconnect to our Jewish roots for many reasons, including the fact that the church draws its strength from the Messiah of Israel. Most of us are not genetic descendents of Jacob, nor do we live under the Law of Moses, but we are grafted into the Olive Tree of Israel.
