"Four Facets of a Healthy Faith"
Acts 2:41-47
Acts 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. 46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, 47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
Introduction: How many of you have heard the word facet before? In the dictionary a facet is a part of something as in the face of a gemstone. For instance, most of your ladies and some of the men have a ring on with many facets or faces. Each of those facets reflects light in a different direction and that's where you get the "sparkle" of a gemstone. Without these facets even a diamond does not shine or reflect light. This morning I want to shine the light on a subject that you find a lot. If you pay much attention to the social media sites, particularly FB, you will read post after post of one religious writer after another talking about what it takes to have a healthy church or a healthy faith. One thing I've notice is that some of these writers seldom refer to Scripture to measure the health of a person's faith. When that is the case then whatever you might say would be subjective and not objective. With that in view I'm going to share what I think makes for a healthy faith but I'm not offering my opinions; I'm looking directly at the Bible for this information. Let's turn to our text and see what it has to say to us. First, we learn that a healthy faith is a:
I. Facet #1 -- Learning Faith vs 41-43
Notice at least three things happened on the Day of Pentecost when 3,000 souls became disciples of the Lord Jesus. First, they "...gladly received his word..." and it is important for us to know that we cannot be saved apart from believing the Gospel of Jesus. Second, these disciples were marked as such by the ordinance of baptism. That is they publically identified themselves with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus and third and this is very important, they "...continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine..." It is important to understand that when you trust Jesus you begin a journey of growth into maturity and that the Word of God is essential to this growth. The word doctrine means teaching. They "devoted" themselves to the Apostles teaching. Friend, the Bible makes it absolutely clear that there is no salvation without hearing the Word of God.
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
It is also clear that there is no spiritual growth without exposing ourselves to the Word of God.
You should look into God's Word each day, just as you look into a mirror each morning to put on your makeup, shave, or brush your hair. It's equally important -- far more so! -- to gaze into the mirror of the Bible and correct your life accordingly. Every page of Scripture is like a handheld mirror, and every verse is a reflection of the person we're becoming through grace -- Rob Morgan sermon from James 1:19-27.
2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Just as there can be no growth without a devotion to the teachings of the Scriptures, there will be no progress without a developing prayer life.
ILLUIS - C. Peter Wagner, an authority on church growth, has this to say, "The more deeply I dig beneath the surface of the church growth principles, the more thoroughly convinced I become that the real battle is a spiritual battle and that our principal weapon is prayer."
Without the power of God there can be no lasting work done for Christ. A healthy Christian knows that if the church is too busy to pray there will be a great amount of activity with little accomplished many services but few conversions, many programs with little life changing results. This is why the apostle Paul wrote, "Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me..." (Romans 15:30) The child of God faces many trials, many obstacles and even spiritual perils as he walks with the Lord down here.
Watchman Nee wrote, "Our prayers lay the track on which God's power can come. Like a mighty locomotive, His power is irresistible, but it cannot reach us without rails." Corrie Ten Boon expressed the life of being a vibrant Christian and she asks, "Is prayer a steering wheel or your spare tire?" Prayer is like art or music. It can only be enjoyed by and through those who have disciplined themselves to actually spend time in prayer. An artist or musicians cannot fully reach his full potential unless he learns about and spends time developing his gift. Most people enjoy the benefits of looking upon art work that has had much time and hard work put into it. All mature adults appreciate the benefits of listening to a musician that has put a great deal of time and energy into their music. So it is with prayer. It is those who spend time in prayer individually, corporately and continually, who bless those for whom they have been praying.
"Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving." (Colossians 4:2) "...Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer..." (Romans 12:12) "...Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints..." (Ephesians 6:18) And there is God's promise about prayer, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16b) How is your Prayer life? Excerpt from Terry Laughlin
II. Facet #2 -- Sharing Faith vs 44-45
There is a wonderful word in verse 42 that speaks to this very important facet of a healthy faith. It is "fellowship" which is from a Greek word koinonia and means "common". One of the marks of a healthy faith is sharing what we have in common. One of the things that our culture has done to influence the church is that this aspect of a healthy faith has suffered.
DRIVE-THRU FELLOWSHIP
This week I read a story about a pastor traveling with a Brazilian seminary student. Along the way the pastor asked the student if he would like to stop for a cup of coffee. The student said, "I would be honored." So he swung into a Starbucks, went through the drive-thru.
Once on their way the student was very quiet and when pressed about his silence he said, "I thought you were asking me to be your friend. I thought we were going to sit together and share life." Living in fellowship is basically, sharing life... all of life.
(From a sermon by Monty Newton, The Making of a Compelling Christian Community, 8/24/2012)
ILLUS -- There is a story a Christian Church in Indianapolis tells about Mark Knutson. On August 28, 1993, he was diagnosed with an extremely aggressive form of cancer. When diagnosed, he was already in the late stages and was only given a short time to live.
Mark's biggest worries were not for himself but only for his wife and two children. Who would take care of them? Would there be people to love and support them throughout his ordeal?
By September 19, his worries were taken care of. The Knutson family heard noise outside, opened the window, and saw that the street was filled with Christian friends from their church. After completely encircling the house, all of the friends joined hands and prayed for Mark and his family. They let the Knutson family know they were loved.
Mark was too ill to receive visitors but the show of love continued. These Christians continued their public display of love throughout through the next six weeks. During that time, not a day went by in which 2-20 people gathered in the corner of the yard to pray for the Knutsons. Because Mark was so sick, they kept a prayer register on the back porch so that Mark would know who had been there.
These Christians did more than pray. Many faithfully sent cards of encouragement. Some helped with transportation and other needs for the Knutson children. The Knutson's said, "We truly felt a hedge of love encircling our home." Mark fought valiantly but in November of the same year, he succumbed to the cancer. Mark passed away knowing that his wife and children were loved and taken care of by their church family. Not only did this six-week display of Christian love affect the Knutsons, their neighbors were influenced in a positive way. Several neighbor families witnessing the love of Christ in action obeyed the Gospel.
(From a sermon by Michael Luke, The Essential Practices of the New Testament Church, 10/2/2011)
Just recently in my own neighborhood there was a young wife and mother who was in the final stages of a battle with cancer. There was an appeal made for believers to come to her home for a prayer walk. Over 150 folks showed up and showed that they cared for this person. She passed away about a week later but it was a witness to our neighbors that Christians share each other's burdens.
III. Facet #3 -- Worshipping Faith v. 46
There can be no doubt that these early believers worshipped God. Obviously their worship was far different from ours. We have nice buildings and they worshipped first in the Temple and then as the persecution increased in their homes and other places. But they worshipped and what characterized their worship was awe and reverence for God. Notice in verse 43 that "...fear came upon every soul..." In their worship they commemorated the ordinances which would have been the Lord's Supper which would have been preceded by a common meal, there were times of fellowship, and there were prayer services. But first and foremost worship was centered around and upon the Word of God and the crown of the worship experience was preaching. In this chapter that we associate with the birth of the church in Jerusalem Peter stood up and preached unto them Jesus and three thousand were saved and others were added to the church daily. They preached, taught and read the Word of God, they sang the Word of God, they prayed the Word of God, they gave generously according to the Word of God and they fellowshipped together "...praising God..." and having favour with all the people. That is not the formula for worship today in the local church. In our consumer driven church today the preacher is a salesman, the parishioners are the clientele and the gospel is the product he is selling. In the church today we are more concerned about packaging the Gospel than we are about the power of the Gospel of Christ which "...is the power of God unto salvation..." In today's worship culture we have folks that will sit through a 60 minute song service and get irritated over a sermon that lasts longer than six minutes. Traditions have become more meaningful in worship than worshipping "...in spirit and in truth..."
WHY DO YOU DO THAT?
I'm thinking of a small-town church in upstate New York. They'd had a minister in that church for over thirty-five years. He was loved by the church and the community. After he retired, he was replaced by a young preacher. It was his first church; he had a great desire to do well. He had been at the church several weeks when he began to perceive that the people were upset at him. He was troubled.
Eventually he called aside one of the lay leaders of the church and said, "I don't know what's wrong, but I have a feeling that there's something wrong." The man said, "Well, Father, that's true. I hate to say it, but it's the way you do the Communion service." "The way I do the Communion service? What do you mean?"
"Well, it's not so much what you do as what you leave out." "I don't think I leave out anything from the Communion service." "Oh yes, you do. Just before our previous minister administered the cup to the people, he'd always go over and touch the radiator. And, then, he would--" "Touch the radiator? I never heard of that liturgical tradition." So the younger man called the former rector. He said, "I haven't even been here a month, and I'm in trouble."
"In trouble? Why?" "Well, it's something to do with touching the radiator. Could that be possible? Did you do that?" "Oh yes, I did. Always before I administered the cup to the people, I touched the radiator to discharge the static electricity so I wouldn't shock them."
For over thirty-five years, the untutored people of his congregation had thought that was a part of the holy tradition. I have to tell you that church has now gained the name, "The Church of the Holy Radiator."
That's a ludicrous example, but often it's nothing more profound than that. Traditions get started, and people endure traditions for a long time. They mix it up with practical obedience to the living God.
SOURCE: [Communion Misunderstood, Citation: Terry Fullam, "Worship: What We're Doing, and Why," Preaching Today, Tape No. 102.]
IV. Facet #4 -- Evangelizing Faith v. 47
When you have a faith that is learning, sharing and worshipping is also an evangelizing faith. If you read this chapter to its conclusion you will notice that after the 3,000 were saved on the day of Pentecost that there were folks being saved "...daily..." When you analyze this, it is plain to see that these believers were going "...from house to house..." witnessing and telling folks about Jesus. It is also evident that Peter did not talk about himself but about the risen Lord. We see this in verse 32...Acts 2:32 "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses." And that it was God who was giving the "...increase..." for the "...Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."
A TIME FOR TESTIMONY
What if we had each person that witnessed the resurrected Lord come up here this morning and talk for 15 minutes giving a testimony to what they saw.
If we listened to the testimony of all the people that Jesus appeared to, we would be here all day, and all night, and Monday and Monday night and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and sometime early Friday morning they would just be wrapping up the testimony.
It would take over 128 straight hours just to hear, for 15 minutes each, the testimony of those that saw the Lord after he rose.
Conclusion: When a patient is sick what is the first thing that the medical personnel do? They check for vital signs, they check for signs of life. Let me point out the obvious to you. A dead faith can't learn, a dead faith can't share, a dead faith can't worship and I'm sure a dead faith can't evangelize anyone! The Bible says that faith without works is dead, being alone. What are the vital signs of a healthy faith? A healthy faith is a learning faith, a healthy faith is a sharing faith, a healthy faith is a worshipping faith and a healthy faith is an evangelizing faith.
ILLUS - DEFINING RELIGION
Religion is hanging around the cross; Christianity is hanging on the cross. -- Stephen Hill
