“Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?
Your Heart does the Spirit control?
You can only be blessed and find peace and sweet rest,
As you yield him your body and soul.”
Pursuing that theme of commitment, I want you to turn to Acts 2:41-43. For a few moments let’s see if the Spirit of God would speak to our hearts and minds in order that we might glean some grapes of goodness from the vine of these verses of Scripture. Commencing at verse 41 and ending with verse 43 this Second Chapter of Acts says (read).
Highlite and underscore that phrase in the first part of verse 42 that says “And they continued …”
We believe the Scriptures teach that such only that are truly regenerated by the Spirit of God shall not utterly fall away and finally perish, but shall endure unto the end. For one to Continue or Persevere, one must be born again; one’s life must be touched by the redemptive hand of God. Many have started but few are Continuing. Only genuine faith continues when confronting overwhelming odds, surveying Herculean hindrances and marveling at mountains of difficulty.
In this Book of Acts we find the record of the Church of God Continuing. And one mark of anything which Jesus has established is that it Continues. What God has started, planted and nurtures Continues. For He created the world, this vast universe with all of its planets in the beginning, and it Continues. He dug out canals, scooped out great and deep cavities, filled them with water and the oceans and seas continue to ebb and flow. The earth still rotates on its axis spinning around the sun since creation, and the seasons Continue. Whatever God has instituted and constituted Continues.
Many oppositions, perils and obstacles try to thwart and hinder our individual and collective progress toward the prize, but if God has laid His heavy yet hopeful hand of redemption on our souls, there is this impetus, this propensity to Keep On! So we find THREE THINGS in Verses 42 and 43.
Number One, we find that the Church Kept On Doing Something in verse 42.
Number Two, in the first part of verse 43, we find that the Church Kept On Feeling Something.
And Number Three, in the last part of verse 43, we find that God Kept On Working Something.
The Church Kept On Doing and Feeling Something and God Kept On Doing Something.
And so subsequently, I had to re-examine my life in the light of these verses. For Jesus said one of His top priorities for entering this time-space continuum we call Earth was so that I might have life and have it more abundantly. So I had to ask myself, How deep, how fruitful and productive is my life? Because verse 43 says They Kept On Feeling Something: “Fear came upon every soul.” Which means, they kept on feeling a Sense of Awe; always Sensing God’s Presence, knowing God was always around, ever mindful that God could at any moment break in and do the unexpected. I had to ascertain How abundant was my life, because the later part of verse 43 says God Kept On Signing His Name: for “many signs and wonders were done by the apostles.” So I wondered, How abundant is my life? And the Holy Spirit caused me to check out again verse 42 and informed me that if I want to Keep On Feeling Something and Keep On Seeing God Signing His Name, then I must meet that:
I. First Requirement in Verse 42, I MUST CONTINUE DOING SOMETHING.
So Luke writes in verse 42 “And they Continued Steadfastly …”; meaning, those who in verse 41 had gladly received Peter’s word of witness about Jesus being the Christ of God and who were baptized and who were consequently added to the church, those who had been convicted, convinced and converted by the Spirit of God were the very ones who Continued Steadfastly in Doing Something.
Now, to Continue Steadfastly intimates that you are headed in a certain direction toward a specific goal. And that is significant because all of our lives are headed in a certain direction, particularly if we are saved, sealed and satisfied with Jesus. For the goal or end of our life is Eternal Glory, to be raptured out of this world and be found in Christ not having our own righteousness but to be clothed in Him without a blemish, spot, wrinkle or any flaw or stain. So the goal to which our life is headed is God’s Eternal Glory. The direct object of our trek of faith here on earth is to be Conformed to the Image of Christ Jesus. Our lives are to be a perfect pattern, an exact copy of the Original. Christ’s imprint, His stamp has already been impressed on the film of our soul; and so daily that image is being developed in the dark room of our soul by the Spirit. It is being processed in the dark room and very shortly the photograph of Christ shall be manifest. Now, that’s our direct object.
But indirectly, if I want to be conformed to His image, if I want to be a copy or photograph of Jesus, then there are Some Curriculums I must pursue to reach that goal.
If I want to be like Jesus, then I must, as did the Early Church, Continue in Doctrine and Fellowship, in Breaking of bread and in Prayer. So First, I must Continue Steadfastly in the Apostles’ Doctrine for the photograph of Jesus to be fully developed in me. I must stand up under, hold up without running away, under the weight of the Apostles’ Teaching. Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 4:3 (read).
No if I want to be like Jesus, then I must Continue in the Doctrine of Jesus. John in 2 John 10 writes (read). So if I want to be like Jesus, I must Continue Steadfastly in What He Taught.
Now there are a lot of doctrines blowing in the breeze and most of them are false. We recognize that there are doctrines of devils-1Tim. 4:1-5. We also recognize there are doctrines and commandments of men-Mark 7:6-13. But what did Jesus say in John 8:31-32? And He gave His free-making word to certain men that He called to be apostles and instructed then to Pass His Word on to the church so that the gates of hell might not prevail against it.
It is called the “apostles’ doctrine” because they made it theirs by believing and practicing it. They did believe something definite. They believed that Jesus was the Christ of God (Peter’s Confession). In verse 36 Peter preached His Messiahship.
The apostles believed in the doctrine of the Total Depravity of human Nature, verses 23, 37.
The apostles believed the Scriptures to be Divinely Inspired of God. Peter started at the Prophet Joel, verses 16-21; and ended with the Psalms quoting David at verse 25-31.
So, if you are to be like Christ, you must continue in Sound Doctrine. Not in things that sound good as a preacher’s hoop, but teaching that is healthy and conducive to growth in grace. This church believed in the serious study of the Script, for everyday they unrolled the scroll, the apostles expounded the Word. They hungered to know about Christ, His will; they wanted to know Jesus’ agenda for their life. Bible study ought to be an exciting time in the life of this church in which you are seeking to learn the will of God in areas and arenas in which He places you.
The mark of a church’s maturity can be seen when they can shout off of Teaching!
And if you continue in Doctrine, you can have Fellowship with one another. The basis of fellowship of doctrine - 1 John 1:-7; Luke 24:27-32.
Fellowship will be seen in saints going home together to Bread Bread-Acts 2:42c. The fellowship was so good that they didn’t want to break up, so they went to each other’s home sharing their substance. As they ate, they continued talking about the Lord, the joy of the Lord, the Lord is my light, the Lord is my shepherd. Our eating ought to be a testimony to Jesus being in our midst. There can be fellowship even at a common meal, for Jesus takes common things and makes them holy. Breaking bread ought to remind us that Jesus is a miracle-worker-2 fish and 5 loaves and fed over 5,000. Breaking bread ought to remind us that Jesus is the true bread come down from heaven, our daily bread. It’s a good idea for this church to come together for fellowship and bread-breaking once a month. For the act of giving thanks and prayer and eating together is a testimony that you have been with Jesus.
And finally, this church Prayed Together. Their gatherings were covered with prayer. Their lives were characterized by people who prayed much, often, fervently and believingly. And because of that, Luke says in the very next verse, 43, that They Kept On Feeling Something. They Kept On Feeling this Sense of Awe. They felt the Awe-Inspiring Presence of God. Yes, we are a people of feeling. We want to know but also we want to feel. But if we want to feel, we must first know, we must get off into the Word. We must continue Doing Doctrine, Fellowship, Bread-Breaking and Prayer, and by so doing, WE SHALL FEEL SOMETHING.
I see verse 42 as revealing a bunch of Addicts. For you can’t continue Doing if you’re not Addicted. An addiction starts with trying something once and it becomes a habit, and the habit becomes your character and that character becomes your destiny. I’m addicted to Jesus, and I need more and more of Him to maintain my high. An Addict wants to maintain that Feeling; he wants that High.
This church was High all the time. They kept feeling things. Kept seeing things that were supernatural. And verse 43 says “and fear came upon every soul.” Fear means a Sense of Awe. When you are in awe, you walk around with your mouth open saying things like Ooh! Oh Lord! Hallelujah! Uhh! Wow! My God, my God! Old folk would say God Almighty! That’s what he’s talking about in verse 43. They were always excited, feeling the awe-inspiring presence of God.
And anytime you’re in the presence of God, you are going to say Ah! Oh! Hallelujah! You’re going to say Yes, Lord! They were always being overwhelmed by a Sense of God’s Presence. They were always covered with Chill-Bumps. They always had bad hair-do days for their hair was always standing up! They were always expecting something to happen because the atmosphere was filled with God. They lived, moved and had their being in awe. If they were thrown in a lion’s den, there was this Ah! If they were thrown into a burning fiery furnace, there was this OH! Hallelujah!
I want to walk outside and say Oh! We have lost our sense to wonder. David said in Psalms 8, Oh! Uh! Ah! When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars with You have ordained. Says David: Late one night I looked up at God’s creation and I said Ah! Oh Lord our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth! And then in Psalms 139:14 he said: When I look at myself, I get goose-bumps. Said David: OH! Hallelujah! I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are Your works! Look at how God has made us. We are the apex of His genius. And when we look at each other, we ought to marvel at God’s handiwork.
Because this church Kept On Studying, Fellowshipping, Eating and Praying Together, They Kept On Saying Oh! Hallelujah! Glory! I long to see the day when we just walk in and say Oh! Ah! Yes, Lord! Hallelujah! Sensing His Presence when we enter His gates knowing that God is in this place. Spirit-filled folk always are saying OH! Hallelujah! Thank You, Lord!
And Finally, Because They Kept On Doing and Feeling Something, GOD KEPT ON WRITING HIS NAME! For in verse 43 Dr. Luke says (read).
God will Make Statements by Signing His Name! Signs and Wonders are merely God Signing His Name. A Sign is a Mark. Miracles are Tokens. So Miracles are God’s way of saying, “I Did It! No man did it, I did It! I’M WRITING MY NAME. I’M SIGNING MY PRESENCE. I’M GIVING YOU MY AUTOGRAPH! ALLOW ME TO SIGN MY NAME.
Let God Sign His name on Your Problems, Cares, Worries, Sicknesses, Sins and Perplexities. LET GOD SIGN HIS NAME!!! HE WANTS YOU TO HAVE HIS AUTOGRAPH!!!
IF GOD SIGNS HIS NAME, YOU WILL CONTINUE!!!
