Acts 2:40-47
40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, save yourselves from this untoward generation. 41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added [unto them] about three thousand souls.
42 And they continued steadfastly 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.
So, in the first two verses it says, ‘with many other words he did testify and exhort’ which tells us his message was a lot longer than what Luke wrote here. And it also tells us there were three thousand added to the church and yet we don’t see any invitation to get saved, sign up or join anything. But, somehow people seemed to respond and then publicly proclaim their faith by getting baptized and then continued in the fellowship. So, these weren’t emotional or one time decisions but these people were serious about the commitments they made.
In fact, the book of Acts records around 8000 conversions within a span of weeks or months and that number is more likely to be somewhere near 10,000-15,000 because most of the time the number only reflects the men that were converted.
In Acts 2:41 we have 3000 converts and then in verse 47, it says, ‘the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.’ In Acts 4:4, it says, ‘Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.’ And then in Acts 6:1, it says, ‘And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied.’ Acts 6:7, ‘And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.’
So, the church was doing what God intended it to do and being what God intended it to be and church growth was natural.
And listen, the original church had a wide diversity of people. There were different cultures, different languages and like most people groups I’m sure they all had different ways of doing things but they were united around the gospel and learning the word of God.
They had no programs, no outreach plan, no special speakers or concerts; they had no contests, no big names to draw in the crowds in and no fancy facilities to meet in. They had no bus ministry’s, no youth group activities, no media advertisements and no gospel literature. There was no such thing as church growth programs, no bumper stickers, no Christian camps, no famous sports figures, no coffee-cups and no T-shirts with Christian logos on them.
The only thing they had was the fellowship of the church and the word of God and for the most part, no one had their own copy. They’d either go to the synagogue to hear the Old Testament or they might have had hand written copies of parts of the New Testament. And yet, the church grew.
William Boice once wrote: "Dear Lord, I have been re-reading the record of the rich young ruler and his obviously wrong choice. But it has set me thinking. No matter how much wealth he had, he could not ride in a car, have any surgery, turn on a light, buy penicillin, hear a piano, watch TV, wash dishes in running water, type a letter, mow a lawn, fly in an airplane, sleep on an innerspring mattress, or talk on the phone. And yet, they called him the rich young ruler. So, if he was rich, then what am I?"
Sometimes wealth is a matter of perspective. Sally and I have been privileged to travel a bit and while we were in Barbados we had a man who worked at the beach who liked to talk and I asked him if it was a good place to work and he said, ‘It’s fantastic. I make $100 a week.’ And when I asked him if there were any benefits included; he didn’t know what benefits were. And listen, he worked, seven days a week, twelve hours a day. And he considered himself very well paid.
And when were we in Egypt a waiter at our hotel who spoke several languages told me he earned twenty dollars a week and was really glad he had a job because everyone in his family of five had to work so they could all afford to share a one bedroom apartment.
And then there were the guys who worked for the mission in Bolivia and they earned fifty cents an hour and for fifty cents an hour they spent most of their days carrying fifty pound bags of sand up six flights of stairs in ninety to one hundred degree heat. And they were grateful for the work.
So, compared to them, anyone on welfare or any kind of pension in Canada could be called ‘rich.’
The problem is, we compare ourselves to those who appear to be more prosperous than us and feel as though we’re failures because we haven’t reached some kind of economic security.
Behavioral scientists have discovered that we usually see things we are prepared to see. This is all centered in a network of nerve cells called the "Reticular Activating System" and everybody has this. The "Reticular Activating System" works like this: once something has been brought to your attention and you have been prepared to see it, you’ll see it everywhere you go. For example, if you decide to buy a new car and make up your mind that you want a certain brand, a certain body style and a certain color; then you’ll see these cars everywhere. You’ll see them on the roads, in TV ads, in newspapers and magazines. They’re everywhere.
So, what happens? Well, they were always there, but the minute you became interested, your Reticular Activating System kicks in and you began to notice them. And this happens in other areas of life, too. We tend to see what we want to see. And if we want to see good results and opportunities, then that’s what we’ll see but if all we’re looking for is doom and gloom then we’ll be sure to find that as well. So, if we allow our economic standards to be set by those around us who have more than us, we’ll never be satisfied.
Now; look again in verse 42 and see the attitude of these early disciples. It says, ‘they continued steadfastly 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.’
And notice; there are four things it says they were continuing steadfast in and they were the apostle’s doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayers.
And an church that’s living and active must be all four.
1. A Learning Church – they listened to the apostles.
2. A Caring Church – they devoted themselves to fellowship.
3. A Worshipping Church – they got together regularly for the breaking of bread and prayer.
4. An Evangelizing Church - (v. 47) – “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
The first three characteristics of the church are focused on believers but if the focus remains just on believers then the church will be like all the social clubs that have faded as their members either lost interest or died.
The scripture likens the church to a body; so, let me give you a little lesson in what’s happening in your body to describe what’s happening in the church.
So, listen very carefully and maybe we’ll both understand this. The basal cells of the skin are in the lower part of the epidermis which is the outer layer of the skin. The cell naturally divides in two and one of the two daughter cells becomes another basal cell to replace the parent and the other daughter becomes a skin cell. Some of these cells can even make other kinds of cells, depending on what your body needs.
Some cells routinely replace themselves, such as those of the inner lining of the small intestine and they replace themselves almost every week. Other cells stick around for a long time; like your pancreatic cells that can last for a year or longer.
Still other cells vary in the rate they replace themselves. For instance, the rate at which basal cells in your skin replace themselves depends on the rate at which the outer layer of your skin sheds.
While the ways and rates at which cells replace themselves can vary from one organ or tissue to another, one thing is constant, our bodies are never the same but they’re always changing. So, if someone hasn’t seen you for a week or so and they say, ‘You look different, it’s because you are.’
And the church is a body and we are always changing and we need to be replacing ourselves because that’s what we’re called to do and also because we also need others to replace us in case God either calls us home or sends us somewhere else to fellowship.
I read one of Aesop’s fables where he said, ‘One day it occurred to the members of the body that they were doing all the work and that the belly was having all the food. So they held a meeting and after a long discussion decided to strike work until the belly consented to take its proper share of the work. So for a day or two the hands refused to take the food, the mouth refused to receive it and the teeth had no work to do but after a day or two members began to find that they themselves were not in very active condition. The hands could hardly move, the mouth was all parched and dry, while the legs were unable to support the rest. Thus they found that even the belly in its dull quiet way was doing necessary work for the body and that all must work together or the body would go to pieces.’
So, a healthy church like a healthy body is a growing church and here we have four components of a healthy church.
The first one is that the church was a learning church and they were learning from the apostle’s doctrine.
I always thought that ‘the apostles doctrine’ was Bible teaching and preaching but then I realized that the only scriptures these believers had would have been the Old Testament and since there was no such thing as printing presses back then; the copies would have been very rare and expensive considering that everything had to be copied by hand.
So, people who wanted to hear the Old Testament would go to the temple for the daily readings and if they could, they would either write down what they heard or if they were very well to do, they could buy a certain book of the Bible like the Ethiopian eunuch did.
So, what were the apostle’s teaching? Well, remember that these men had a three year personal relationship with Jesus and for three years they had the opportunity to watch Him as He lived His life, healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out demons and preach all the messages we have in the gospels.
So, I think their doctrine or teaching was simply telling the people what they knew about Jesus. And they’d talk about how He put His arms around lepers, befriended prostitutes, tax collectors and zealots; took time for children and had compassion on those who were hurting. So, the apostles basically became witnesses of what the things they saw and knew.
We also realize that the apostles taught by the authority of Jesus Christ and by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit because as Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 16, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven and then in Matthew 18:18 He said to the twelve, "Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
So, they not only taught the things they heard but they also had authority to rule of matters where there were questions about issues like the ones Paul dealt with in 1 and 2 Corinthian. So, the apostles had authority in the first church but their role was replaced by the word of God. And there is no higher standard in the church today. There’s no office to overrule it and nothing else written that can ever supersede it. The word of God is the word of God.
And in this passage we see three things that happened because the people listened to the apostles. First, in verse 43, it says, ‘And fear came upon every soul.’ So, people became conscious of the fact that there was something was going on even though they didn’t understand it. And then second, it says, ‘Many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.’ So, there was a constant reminder that God was things they had never seen before.
And don’t forget, this was the end of what we refer to as the silent period in the Bible where no one had heard from God in the past four hundred years and now, Jesus has lived, died and rose from the dead and the apostles were performing miracles.
And then the third thing that happened is in verses 44 and 45 where it says, ‘And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.’
And this describes a very loving and sharing church and you’ve got to think back to the beginning of this chapter and realize what was going on because there were people converted here from sixteen different language groups and they were all from out of town.
So, the believers who were from the area opened their homes and provided them with whatever they needed. This wasn’t some form of communism or regulation that you either couldn’t or shouldn’t own anything but this was simply people showing love and compassion to those who needed it.
So, it doesn't say that people quit their jobs or pooled all their money because obviously some of them still owned their own homes because that’s where they gathered and broke bread together.
I think it’s a better testimony for Christians to willingly supply the needs of others then to be forced into throwing everything into a common pot and have someone else hand it out because that takes away any personal responsibility and makes gift-giving non-existent.
And then the second component of their fellowship was it was a caring church.
The word fellowship is from the Greek word “koinonos” which is where we get “koinonia” which means to be a sharer, a companion, one who is a partaker and a participant in communion. It’s describing someone who has a close relationship with those he’s sharing his spiritual life with.
There is a story of a hunter who was walking through the African jungle and found a huge dead elephant with a pygmy standing beside it. Amazed at what he saw the hunter asked: "Did you kill that elephant?" The pygmy said, "Yes." The hunter said, "How could a little guy like you kill a huge beast like that?" "I killed it with my club," the pygmy answered. The hunter asked, "How big is your club?" The pygmy replied, "Oh, there’s about 60 of us." I guess that illustrates the old saying that there is strength in numbers.
One of the most thorough research projects on relationships is called the Alameda County Study. It was headed by a Harvard social scientist and tracked the lives of 7,000 people over a period of nine years. They found that the most isolated people were three times more likely to die than those with strong relational connections. People who had bad health habits (such as smoking, poor eating habits, obesity, or alcohol use) but had strong social ties lived significantly longer than people who had great health habits but were isolated.”
In other words, you’ll be much healthier if you eat Krispy Kreme donuts and Starbucks coffee and have good friends than if you eat broccoli and cauliflower all by yourself. (Aren’t you glad you didn’t come here for health advice?)
A wise man once said to me, ‘You don’t have to say everything that comes into your head.’ I guess he was right.
So, the church that Jesus built was a fellowshipping church and verse 42 says, "They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread." In other words, they had good spiritual fellowship. You say, "Well, when you have over 3000 people saved in one day; can you still have fellowship?" Well, the Bible says they did.
Fellowship doesn’t mean that everyone in the group spent time with every individual there but fellowship simply means sharing our lives with one another. Loving one another. Praying for one another. Edifying one another. Rebuking one another. Reproving one another. Exhorting one another. Giving to one another. No matter who it is and no matter how big the group is, we can fellowship with those God brings across our path.
And fellowship can happen anywhere. It only takes two people. It's whether you're committed to loving and sharing your life with those you worship with.
Listen. We all have so much in common. We all have the same Father, the same Savior; we’re indwelt by the same Holy Spirit, we have the same eternal life we’re members of the same church and the same family and it's time we all experienced and shared these things with one another.
As one writer said, "The church exploded in growth because the people loved being together. When you get a group of people together who genuinely believe something and who really enjoy one another, it’s such a contagious atmosphere that you can’t keep people away from it. People assume that smaller churches have better fellowship and stronger relationships because everybody knows everybody but churches that genuinely love one another don’t stay small for long.
So, they had the apostle’s doctrine and a caring church -
And then the third component of their fellowship was a worshipping church.
And there are two types of church gatherings: there was the large group where they all met together in the temple courts and the smaller groups where they broke bread together in the various homes.
Notice that the central point of their fellowship was the breaking of bread and prayer. Now, I know we tend to glorify what we don’t understand and see things that aren’t really here but the first group of believers must have had their problems. As I said, they all came from at least sixteen different language groups and various countries and probably all had their own way of doing things but somehow the Spirit of God encouraged them and they learned to love one another.
And one of the keys was this was a praying church because it says they continued steadfastly in prayers and the praying wasn’t individual but corporate. In other words, they did it altogether.
So, they were a learning church because they listened to the apostles. They were a caring church because they devoted themselves to fellowship. And they were a worshipping church because they got together regularly for the breaking of bread and prayer. And then we also see they were an evangelizing church because as verses 46 and 47 say, ‘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.’
And there are three things I want you to notice here. And the first is the joy they were experiencing. In verse 46 it says, ‘did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.’
In other words, these people were happy because they were saved, they were happy because they were Spirit-filled, they were happy because they were learning the truth of the word of God, they were happy because they were having an impact on the world around them, they were happy because they had each other and they were happy because they knew God was at work both in them and through them.
We as Christians come from all walks of life. We come from every tribe and every nation around this world. We have what might seem as irreconcilable differences to everyone on the outside. But despite all of our differences, we have:
• A unity of mind
• A unity of purpose
• A unity of praise
• A unity of love
• A unity of compassion
• A unity of power
• A unity of faith
• A unity of Spirit
No wonder Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:3-6, “…be diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.’
And then the second thing is; they had favor with all the people. Listen; even though non-Christians mock and ignore us they’re happy we’re here because without Christians there would be no hospitals, no orphanages, no rule of law, no nursing homes and no education systems. All these things all find their roots in Christianity.
And then the fourth component of their fellowship was growth. It says, ‘the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."
Why were people being saved? Because they saw the difference God was making in the lives of believers right in front of them.
Do you ever think our church is different from many others because there are differences among us? I mean, there are some here who would only read the King James Version of the Bible while others would read Good News for Dick and Jane. Some hold to a pre-millennial, pre-tribulational view of scripture while others are a-millennial and some are just hoping the Lord comes back soon. Some are tithers while others are tippers and some just keep everything for themselves. There are a lot of differences among us but as I said there were a lot of differences among the very first believers. I guess the saying is true, ‘The more things change, the more they stay the same.’
These believers had to mature just like the rest of us do because none of us were born mature and the same is true spiritually. And just as we wouldn’t expect a baby to get up and go to work we wouldn’t ask a new believer to sit on a deacons board or pastor a church.
So, we need to be patient with one another because none of us have arrived and another reason we need to be patient is that we all have a sin nature and live in a sin cursed world.
So, we can either learn to be patient with one another or spend our lives being angry that no one is living up to the standards we’ve set and failed to live up to ourselves.
Did you ever see the one ‘anothers’ in the New Testament.
Serve one another. Galatians 5:13
Accept one another. Ephesians 4:2
Comfort one another. I Thessalonians 4:13
Build up one another. I Thessalonians 5:11
Live in peace with one another. I Thessalonians 5:13
Encourage one another. Hebrews 3:13
Consider one another. Hebrews 10:24
Confess to one another. James 5:16
Pray for one another. James 5:16
Show hospitality to one another. I Peter 4:9
And all these things seemed to be taking place in the first church.
And then we also see two more things in verses 46 and 47, it says, ‘they were glad and they praised God.’ I think a sure sign of spiritual maturity is an attitude of gratitude and we know they were grateful because they’re praising God had an effect on everyone around them.
Jesus gives us the best illustration of gratitude in Luke 17:11-19. ‘And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: 13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. 15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. 17 And Jesus answering said, were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? 18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. 19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.’
So, here’s Jesus on the way to Jerusalem where He would offer Himself on behalf of sinners and it says He passed through Galilee and Samaria which means He walked between the two regions. The Jews were about to kill Him so He couldn’t go through Galilee and the Samaritans wouldn’t let Him go through their region because He was on His way to Jerusalem. And it must have been a strange feeling because both of these groups felt spiritually superior to one another and yet Jesus knew both of them were lost.
And as He enters a village He’s met by ten lepers which must have been odd because the Jews hated the Samaritans and the Samaritans hated the Jews but everyone hated the lepers.
It’s interesting to see them described as just lepers because prior to the discovery of their disease they would have been classified as rich or poor, educated or ignorant, orthodox or secular and probably labeled as belonging to a particular tribe or profession but now they were simply lepers. And their condition wiped out all the distinctions that stem from pride. And what could they brag about? They all had a repulsive, deadly disease that separated them from everyone they loved and everything they owned. And they became people who had to stand at least 300’ away from everyone wearing rags and eating garbage.
And they call out, obviously from a distance and say, ‘Jesus, Master have mercy upon us.’ They were asking for mercy and mercy is something you know you don’t deserve and have no way of paying back. So, they’re asking for mercy to start life all over again.
And Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priests so he could declare them healed and that would be a testimony to the power and mercy of God.
So, the lepers went on their way realizing that all their dreams had come true and they could all go back to their families, their homes and their jobs and life for them would be as it was before. And that was really sad because the healing of their condition should have reminded them of the constant effect of sin and how it destroys lives, disrupts families, brings disease to the body and eventually ends in death. But, they didn’t care because in the excitement over their healing they came to the conclusion that all their problems were over and they were ready to begin where they left off; except for one.
And in verses 15 and 16 it says, ‘And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.’
He fell down at His feet which was an act of submission because he realized that Jesus had just done what only God could do and he realized he was kneeling in the very presence of God.
And moved by the ingratitude of the nine Jesus turned to His disciples and said, ‘Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? 18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. 19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.’
Now, get this, Jesus was speaking for the benefit of His disciples and the ever present Pharisees by pointing out that the disease of the soul is deadlier than that of the body because leprosy might have separated man from man but ingratitude separates men from God.
And then there’s something here that I never noticed before because then Jesus said to the Samaritan, ‘Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.’ Jesus didn’t send him to the priest but told him he was healed and that was all there was to it.
A guy named Charles Brown suggested offered a rather cynical list of reasons why nine of the ten failed to return:
* One waited to see if the cure was real.
* One waited to see if it would last.
* One said he would see Jesus later.
* One decided that he had never had leprosy.
* One said he would have gotten well anyway.
* One gave the glory to the priests.
* One said, "O well, Jesus didn’t really do anything."
* One said, "Just any rabbi could have done it."
* One said, "I was already much improved."
There was an episode of “The Simpsons” where the family was all sitting down for a meal and Homer asked Bart to give thanks and Bart said, “Dear God, we paid for all this ourselves, so thanks for nothing.” And that describes the lives of so many who live their lives enjoying the blessings of God but never once stop to say “Thanks.”
I believe God is offended today by how few people actually thank Him for His blessings because they’re either too busy or they intend to do it later or somehow they simply convince themselves that they deserve everything they have.
Henry Ward Beecher once said: “A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.”
In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 it says, “In all things give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” And it says to give thanks, not merely feel thankful and there’s a difference between simply feeling grateful and expressing gratitude.
So, the Samaritan came back and threw himself at Jesus feet and said thank you Lord not only because he was healed but because he had been healed by a Jewish rabbi who he thought would hate him and in coming he recognized who He really is.
And then we notice that Jesus having received the worship of this Samaritan asked in verses 17 and 18, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
And as I said, the other nine may have FELT grateful for what had happened but Jesus said that wasn’t good enough. Real gratitude must be expressed.
There is a story told of Matthew Henry who was an early American preacher. Once, while traveling to preach, Matthew Henry was robbed. Now most people wouldn’t think that would be a circumstance in which you could give thanks, but he did. He wrote: “I am thankful that during these years I have never been robbed before. Also, even though they took my money, they did not take my life. Although they took all I had, it was not much. Finally, I am grateful that it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.” He was someone who knew how to have a grateful heart in spite of the things that happened to him.
Conclusion
Good lepers are those who were healed and never forget the disease they had but bad lepers are those who are healed and go around acting as though they never had a disease to begin with.
The Bible says in Hebrews 13:15, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise–the fruit of LIPS that confess his name.” It says “the fruit of lips” not “a warm, fuzzy feeling in your heart.” So, we don’t just need to feel it but we need to tell God how thankful we are!
So, we’ve seen the ministry of the apostles which was replaced by the word of God, the nature of the church as they cared for one another, the worship of the church as they gathered for the breaking of bread and prayer and the purpose of the church which was to evangelize the world.
And we are all called to be involved in evangelism in one way or another. At the scene of most accidents there are three groups of people gathered and each of these groups has a different response to the accident. The first group are those who are nosey and they just want to see what happened and what’s going to happen to those involved. They aren’t there to help and most of the time they simply get in the way and someone has to tell them to step back.
The second group are the police officers and their job is to investigate the cause of the accident, they’re there to assign blame to the guilty and give tickets or even arrest those who were driving drunk or guilty of some other kind of dumb behavior.
And then the third group are the paramedics and these are the people; who those involved in the accident are really glad to see because paramedics don’t care who was at fault and their job isn’t to attribute blame to those who were in the wrong. They’re there to help the hurting, to stop the bleeding, to free those trapped in the wreckage and even give words of encouragement to those who were involved.
So, of the three groups - one is simply watching what’s going on, one is assigning blame for what happened and one is there to help those who’ve been hurt.
And when it comes to reaching the lost we’re going to be in one of these three groups and we can simply watch what’s going on and criticize those who are involved; or we can point fingers and fix the blame for everything bad that’s happened in the last thirty years or we can concentrate on helping those who are lost and hurting.
