(NOTE: This sermon series is based on the book Living in the Spirit by Dr. George Wood, General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God).
Introduction
Last week we talked about baptism in the Holy Spirit and the initial physical evidence of tongues. Next week we are going to look into some reasons why God chose tongues as the confirming sign of Spirit baptism.
This week, however, I want to look at what Luke tells us the early church was like as it was led by the Holy Spirit. What happened as Spirit empowered believers sought to fulfill the Great Commission and Commandment? What happened when they went out to preach and to love their neighbor? How did the early church make such an impact on the world around them?
As Pentecostal believers we believe and teach the initial physical evidence of Holy Spirit baptism is speaking in tongues. But speaking in tongues is only the INITIAL evidence. After we have been baptized in the Holy Spirit there must be some ENDURING evidence that the Holy Spirit is actively working in us.
What are some of the ENDURING evidences of the Holy Spirit’s work?
Text
Let’s read Acts 2:42-47 together this morning (outloud):
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Context
The 120 who had been waiting in an upper room were baptized in the Holy Spirit. They were speaking in tongues. But remember that people from all over the “known” world had gathered in Jerusalem for the feast.
There were people from Crete, Arabia, Libya, Rome and many more (cf. Acts 2:5-12) who heard people glorifying Christ in a language they could understand. But those who were doing the speaking were Galileans who had never learned the language they were speaking. Instead God was speaking through them by the Holy Spirit.
Needless to say all of those who heard this were “amazed.” They wanted to know what was happening. They wanted to understand what miraculous event was taking place at that very moment. Some actually made fun of the 120 saying they had were drunk.
Peter, who just a few days ago had denied He even knew Jesus but has now been baptized in the Holy Spirit, stands up and begins to preach. The people hear his message and his call for them to repent of sin (cf. Acts 2:14-41). And you know what is AWESOME – 3,000 of these people who heard Christ being glorified repented and were baptized that day. This small church of 120 grew to 3,120 in just one day!
Now this is where come to the text we read together. All of these new Christians were in Jerusalem. The crowd that would fit into an upper room yesterday cannot fit any longer. But they had a common salvation that held them together. So what did that early church do in order to keep people moving in the right direction. That is what Acts 2:42-47 tells us.
This is, for lack of a better word, a model of what it means to be a church. We are going to examine this morning. The church, in its very beginning gathered around 5 common characteristics (you can see them on the visual): Worshipped, Grew, Connected, Served, and Fellowshipped TOGETHER.
SHOW ACTS DIAGRAM ON SCREEN
Let’s take a few moments to look at Acts 2:42-47 and see how the characteristics if WORSHIP, SERVE, GROW, CONNECT, GO are demonstrated.
WORSHIP
Notice the center circle of our diagram says, “WORSHIP.” It is not by accident that everything else centers on the call to worship. All that we do inside and outside the church stems from a heart that is immersed in and acting upon an active personal life of communion with our Triune God.
I do not necessarily mean an active “coming to church and worship” life. Coming to church , as we will see in our text, is important to a healthy Christian walk. However, worship is much more a lifestyle meant to affect all aspects of the life God wants us to live.
The first thing we have to do is define what we mean by WORSHIP. Here is how I would define WORSHIP.
Any act by a believer that brings glory to God, point’s people toward Christ or shows obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
How do the early church members fulfill this definition? As we look at our text we can see why WORSHIP is the center of activity…
The believers:
• Devoted to learning the teachings of the Apostles
• They gathered for fellowship, broke bread (ate together)
• Prayed
• Were obedient to the Holy Spirit to exercise gifts that resulted in wonders and signs
• Opened their homes to enjoy [glad and sincere hearts] the company of other believers in their home (hospitality)
• Saw needs and committed to helping meet those needs even if it meant selling something of their own.
• Praised God
But what was the result of their active and personal lifestyle of WORSHIP. The result is 2-fold:
v. 47b […they] enjoy[ed] the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
(TRANSITION) Worship is the overarching characteristic that marks the specific actions of believers. In other words, what they did to glorify God, point to Christ and obey the Spirit’s leading became worship. And the worship gave them influence in people’s lives leading many to come to Christ and become worshippers as well. What are the particular actions of worship we see in Acts 2:42-47?
The Church and the People Grew
When I use the term GROW I am thinking about it in two ways: 1) numerical and 2) spiritual.
The early believers were devoted to gathering together to learn the apostles’ teaching (v. 42). Through this teaching they grew spiritually.
You have to remember these early believers are Jews who have lived in the context of The Law. Now they have experienced the fulfillment of The Law through Jesus Christ.
In order to live this new life in Christ they needed to be devoted to learning. They placed a priority on hearing what the Apostles’ were teaching (things I believe that eventually find their way into the Scriptures we love today).
A church has to place a high priority on teaching the Bible. It is sad today how many sermons are preached without any reference to the Scriptures. But as for this church we have and will continue to commit ourselves to learning and teaching the Bible.
Notice also that the Lord added to the church DAILY! This meant the church was not only growing in their relationship to Christ but others were coming to salvation causing numerical growth. But without teaching numerical growth will be short lived. The two work hand-in-hand.
The Apostles Modeled Gift-Oriented Ministry
Acts 2:43 says, “Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.”
We are not told what these signs and wonders were, only that they caused “everyone” to be filled with awe. In essence the Apostles’ were being used of the Holy Spirit to model or be an example of how God can GIFT people to SERVE.
Later in the book of Acts we see the Apostles’ appointing Deacons to take care of the daily administration of the growing church (cf. Acts 6). One of those deacons was Stephen and in Acts 6:8 tells us that he did great wonders and miracles. Where did he learn to be obedient to the Holy Spirit – quite simply, he had seen this obedience modeled in the ministry of the Apostles.
The Apostles’ committed themselves to study of the word and prayer. But they recognized that other believers had other gifts to offer. The Greek word for “deacon” is diakoneō. The word literally means “to serve” or “minister.” In the case of the first deacons they were called to “wait on tables.”
• Unfortunately, in today’s church government the idea of a Deacon has been replaced with the idea of Board Member. This is not what God intended for us to think of when we think of deacon.
(TRANSITION) All of God’s people are called to serve and minister not just a select group of appointed people. It is not meant for just a select few. We worship God as we serve. We are called to serve because God wants us to be people who CONNECT.
The Believers Connected Inside and Outside
When you think of the idea of CONNECT – think “fellowship.” Now the biblical idea of “fellowship” is more than a pot-luck or a gathering. It has to do with the idea of “sharing life together.” The Greek word for “fellowship” is also translated as “communion.” Not in the sense of the Lord’s Supper but it is about being with each other.
In Acts 2:42-47 the word “TOGETHER” is used 3 times (7 times in Acts 2). The believers:
• …were together
• …met together (in the Temple and in their homes)
• …ate together
As believers “did life together” and some interesting things happened. Look at Acts 2:44-47a
All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people…
As believers began to share life together they began to view what they possessed differently. Instead of seeing their belongings as something to guard they saw them as tools to help others.
When they saw a need they did not wait for the church to start a program, organize a committee or take an offering. Quite the contrary, they just helped. Why? Because they were connected and they were committed to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice.
And look at the attitude of their hearts as they shared their food and help with others – “glad and sincere.”
As we read further into the book of Acts and think of “CONNECT” through the lens of God’s Great Commission and Commandment we see that just being TOGETHER with other believers leaves us a bit lopsided.
Sharing life together as believers requires that we leave space for others (non-believers) to be joined with us as we journey toward a closer walk with God.
Acts 2:47b informs us that believers had “favor with all the people” and that the “Lord added to their number daily…”
• The implication here is that God trusted them with those whom He was saving.
• They had not yet been born again but God is working on their hearts by His grace.
• The word “favor” can also be translated “grace” depending on the context.
• God gave them grace with the people and God’s grace was demonstrated through the actions of believers and non-believers came into the “fellowship.”
The Church Was Set on “GO!” from the Beginning.
In order to connect, serve or grow there has to be a culture of GOING in the church.
• If we are going to GROW numerically we will have to GO to those who are not yet followers of Christ.
• If we are going to SERVE we will have to GO to those God calls us too.
• If we are going to CONNECT we will have to GO and share life with others.
The Great Commission tells us to GO to the whole world. The Great Commandment tells us to love our neighbor – but to LOVE our neighbor we will have to GO to him or her.
One man said, “You can’t spell gospel without GO.”
Conclusion
So what does all of this mean for us and what does it have to do with the enduring evidence of the Holy Spirit.
After the Apostles’ were baptized in the Holy Spirit they “continued.” They offered real and tangible evidence of Holy Spirit empowerment. Sure they spoke with tongues but they were also empowered by the Holy Spirit to: GROW – CONNECT – SERVE – GO – WORSHIP.
Ask yourself, and I GROWING (spiritually)? Am I CONNECTING with other believers (outside the normal church service)? Am I SERVING (am I using my gifts to show others the love of God)? Am I GOING (to those who need to hear the gospel and to help my fellow Christian)?
