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.
It is certainly possible that some poorer converts’ family ties may have been cut off with their conversions, which could have caused economic problems, and so believers immediately saw the needs and gave accordingly. The main point is in verse 45: They began selling their possessions…and they were sharing with those who had needs. They DID NOT ALL SELL EVERYTHING and divide it equally among themselves: Those who had MORE than they needed, sold what they could to help those who were in dire need.
Christians WILLINGLY provide for those who do not have. They aren’t forced to sell everything; they respond from a Holy Spirit-filled Heart, not out of compulsion, but out of gratitude. We are stewards of what God has given; we know NEED when we see it…and we respond accordingly.
They had a beautiful sharing character together. Paul wrote about the continuation of the same type of Church in 2 Corinthians 8:14-16: “At this present time your abundance being a supply for their need, so that their abundance also may become a supply for your need, that there may be equality; 15 as it is written, "HE WHO gathered MUCH DID NOT HAVE TOO MUCH, AND HE WHO gathered LITTLE HAD NO LACK." 16 But thanks be to God who puts the same earnestness on your behalf.” They had all things in common in the sense that anybody who needed received.
A Joyful Church
Now notice verse 46: “Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, (Jesus had said, “My Father’s House shall be a house of prayer,” and so they went to the temple daily to offer their prayers, and no doubt shared Christ with everyone they met. They went ot worship and thank God for all He had done for them IN CHRIST.)
“And breaking bread from house to house”; they were taking their meals together (They ate meals together and as they had done with Jesus, they celebrated the Lord’s Supper, Communion, “Koinonia” together, and they did it every day from house to house, experiencing fellowship together.
And they did so “with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God.” Faithful fellowship breeds contagious JOY. The Church is a JOYFUL CHURCH. It is a joyful fellowship. How could it be otherwise? “Gladness” is from the verb Greek verb “to rejoice”. They were exceedingly glad. They were blessed. No one was in need, they knew that Jesus had paid their debt of sin, they had new lives IN CHRIST, they were unified in Christ, in His Spirit, in His Word, they were ALL TOGETHER WITH ONE MIND, they continued to rejoice in the marvelous deeds that the Lord had done for them. Joy comes from unity, and unity comes when people pray and praise together in the Spirit, giving GLORY TO God ALONE.
Others were paying attention. This fellowship was contagious. It got people talking. The Church caught the attention of unbelievers by their great love for God and for each other.
An Attractive Church
The Church did not meet in one place; they were meeting in many places; yet the early Church was an ATTRACTIVE church without even having a building. Verse 47 says they were “having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.” The big attraction was the way that the fellowship had been blessed by God and how they were living out their lives in love with one another. Outsiders were attracted to how God had changed the lives of believers. It was clearly evident in the community of the Church family. It is exactly what Jesus had spoken about in John 13:35: "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
The old adage, love or charity begins at home might apply: Show love to each other within the body of Christ FIRST OF ALL, then go out and show love outside of the body of Christ. Have you been able to exercise Christ’s love to others this past week? Have you done something for someone outside of your family or friend circle that made someone amazed by your Christ-like care for them? That is one of my daily requests: Lord, help me to love my brothers and sisters with YOUR LOVE, and give me opportunities to share YOUR LOVE with those who do not know you…Try asking God to give you these occasions!
Pattern your prayers after Jesus’ prayer of John 17:21: (I pray) “that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.” In this divisive, abusive, unloving, judgmental world, Christ-like love will draw people to the Savior and to His Church.
A Growing Church
That’s one of the reasons that the vital Pentecost Church was a GROWING CHURCH. Verse 47: “And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. “ The LORD was adding to their numbers! There isn’t a big strategy mapped out here for the Church to follow, but the fact has stood for many years: True evangelism occurs when God’s people begin with the proper content of God’s Word alone, and as they study and fellowship, and pray and praise together, when His people are filled with the Holy Spirit, and when His people are obedient to the great commission God’s Word and through His Spirit….THE LORD ADDS TO HIS CHURCH.
The greatest evangelism “TOOL” in the whole world is when the CHURCH exists AS THE CHURCH; when the Church of Christ is submissive to God, spontaneous and loving within and without, filled with His Grace and being gracious to others, energized by the Spirit of God, then unbelievers come to Christ because the Lord adds to His Church by working through His Church: When the body is what it should be, it will reproduce.
Are you part of God’s Gospel program? Begin at the beginning: Are you saved? Do you really know Jesus Christ? Are you committed to Him and to the studying of the word of God? Are you sharing your spiritual gifts among the Body? Are you a partaker in the fellowship of the ekkleesia (the gathered together ones)? Are you committed to praying for the body praying for yourself to be used by God? Do you want to know what God could do when His Body is committed to His Kingdom purposes? Let’s find out!
OUTLINE:
The Results of God at Work by the Word and Spirit in the Body as each does its part:
1. A Miraculous Church: 2. A Sharing Church: 3. A Joyful Church:
4. An Attractive Church5. A Growing Church:
