Life-styles of the Revived & Fervent in Spirit
Acts 2:42[1]
12-26-04
There used to be a series on TV entitled “Life-styles of the Rich & Famous”. Each week they would give the viewer a candid glimpse of how some celebrity lives. They would show all their expensive clothes and cars. They would give a video walk-through of their plush home. I was amazed at how many things I saw that I didn’t even realize I wanted until I watched the show. Not only was it entertaining but it made you want to be rich. The desires it provoked were very worldly in nature.
This morning I want to provoke desires in you that are motivated toward the presence and glory of God. We want to look at the life-styles of the Revived and Fervent in Spirit. A good place to begin would be Act 2. That chapter is filled with the excitement of revival.
There are the 120 united in prayer, waiting upon the Lord as He had told them to do. When the Day of Pentecost arrived, suddenly a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind filled the house. The fire of the Holy Spirit descended upon each of them and they all began speaking in tongues as the Spirit gave utterance. In a moment’s time those people were thrust into revival and wonderful things started happening. Signs and wonders occurred and thousands were saved.
What prepared these people for such an awesome outpouring of the Holy Spirit? What were their lives like during that powerful move of God? What would our lives be like if we suddenly found ourselves in revival? What life-style changes might we expect if we suddenly found ourselves in the middle of a move of God?
We can get some idea of that by looking into Acts 2:42. Here God has chosen to give us a glimpse into their daily lives. Here we discover how they spent their time. Here we find four key activities of the Revived & Fervent in Spirit. Acts 2:42 “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Let’s take a tour of each one of these activities:
1. What does it mean to devote oneself to the apostle’s teaching?
What was the apostle’s teaching? It was founded upon the Old Testament scripture. The early church preached out of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. That revelation formed the bedrock for all their doctrine. From that foundation they taught the sayings and stories about Jesus. There was special emphasis on His death and resurrection because everything in Jesus’ life led up to that monumental event. The apostles also gave instruction for godly living under the New Covenant. Our New Testament is a reflection of the apostle’s teaching as they wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. You might say these people devoted themselves to the Word of God.
They were doing exactly what Jesus told us to do in the Great Commission. Matt 28:19-20 Jesus said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you...” Teaching is an essential part of God’s program for people’s lives—“teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you”. I was saved in a Pentecostal culture that had little real appreciation for the apostle’s doctrine—very little emphasis on teaching. What we wanted to do was feel good! Everything was geared toward that and we did have some exciting services. Prayer was emphasized and I did benefit from what I received in that context.
But something very essential was missing. We were not being established in sound biblical teaching. Certain pet doctrines were constantly taught to the neglect of many others. I learned a lot about the importance of teaching by simply observing the results of that neglect. What happened to those people? The majority of them fell away from God—and great was the fall of most of them. Why was the casualty rate so high? They were not established in truth. Their understanding was very deficient in some essential areas. Once the feeling subsided, they fell away like flies. It convinced me that devoting ourselves to the Apostle’s doctrine or teaching is essential. Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word of God.”[2] The sustenance of our lives is found in the word of the Lord. The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 119:11, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
This emphasis on teaching is prevalent all through the book of Acts.
Acts 15:35 35 Paul and Barnabas also remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also. (NKJV) When revival broke out in Corinth Acts 18:11 tells us Paul, “...continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.” (NKJV) The book of Acts closes with these words: Acts 28:30-31
“Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, 31 preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.” (NKJV)
During this great revival in Acts people were devoted to the teachings of the apostles. They were fulfilling the Great Commission not only by reaching lost people with the message of salvation in Jesus’ name but by also teaching and grounding those converts in biblical truth. They were making disciples. They spent time in the word. They were not longing for shorter and shorter sermons. They were desiring the sincere milk of the word and growing by leaps and bounds. They were devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching.
2. They were also devoting themselves to Fellowship. Many of you already know the word Luke uses here is “koinonia”—it means more than just fun times together—it means more than sharing a meal. It includes all of that but goes beyond it as well. It means partnership. It means connecting with a common bond. When I’m in “koinonia” I weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice because we are experiencing life together.
When I’m really living in “koinonia” I trade my independence (which is so ingrained in us as Americans) for an interdependence. That’s not an easy transition for us to make. Look at the attitude toward personal possessions that prevailed in this early church. Acts 2:44-46 “All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he 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.” Everything they had was available to the Lord for the needs of others. It was all purely voluntary.[3] But their lives were not about accumulating personal resources. It’s easy to read about that in a book. But most people in church today don’t live with a mentality anywhere close to that.
So ask yourself this question. Am I ready to make my personal resources that available to God? Can we ask ourselves that question without playing games with God and ourselves? What if right after I say to God, I’m ready—He tells me to give my retirement fund to the church or to some needy believer? It wouldn’t be good to say I’m ready and then say no. Barnabas was ready and willing and gave it all to the Lord. He was a shining example of one devoted to “koinonia”. Ananias and Sapphira didn’t think through their commitment quite so thoroughly.
There is a wonderful thing that happens when people come into the kind of fellowship these early believers experienced. There is favor from God that rests upon that kind of generosity. There is a strength that comes to the whole community. A few years ago Jeanie and I visited the Redwood forest in California. They are the largest living things on earth and the tallest trees in the world. Some of them are more than 300’ high and more than 2,500 years old. The amazing thing I learned about these trees is that their roots are relatively shallow. How could trees 300’ high with a shallow root system survive for 2,000 years? The roots of these trees are intertwined. They are tied in with each other and interlocked. So when the winds blow and the storms come they sustain one another.[4] It’s a good illustration of “koinonia”.[5]
These believers in Acts 2 were committed to the Lord. But they were also committed to each other in a way that is quite beyond the average church experience in America.
3. The Breaking of Bread was also an important part of life in the early church.
This is primarily speaking of the Lord’s Table. At that time in the life of the church there was not as much separation between the Communion Table and their common meals together as there is today. The separation we practice today is largely a response to Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 11 as he corrected some of the abuses that developed in the early church’s observance of the Lord’s Table. With that understanding we still conclude that the force of this activity focused upon the observance of Holy Communion.
Most of us would not have expected that to be one of the four basic activities of the early church. In our evangelical heritage we are prone to minimize the importance of anything we view as ritualistic. But I want to suggest that The Communion Table may deserve more prominence than we give it.
Why was the breaking of bread so important to these “Revived and Fervent in Spirit” believers? It was and continues to be an indispensable reminder of the foundations of our faith. Every time we take the bread and wine in hand we are reminded of our Lord’s death on the cross. We are reminded of the blood He shed for our salvation. We are brought back to what this is all about. For 2000 years the message of Jesus’ death and resurrection has continued to sound forth from the Church. The church is something far greater than just a humanistic group of nice people trying to live a moral life. The church is a supernatural gathering of people redeemed by the blood of Christ, living in holy covenant with God and one another, living for the glory of God and longing for the return of His Dear Son. “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Cor 11:26)
Not only does the Lord’s Supper keep us mindful of the basics, but it also calls us to self-examination and holy living. “A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.” (1 Cor 11:28) We need to continually open our hearts to God and pray the prayer of Psalm 139:23 “Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties; 24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.” (NKJV) At the Lord’s Table we renew our commitment to Him and to one another.
I want to encourage you to nurture a holy appreciation for the Communion ordinance. Do not settle with the form alone. Approach the Table of the Lord with a holy reverence and appreciation for it’s true significance. Open your heart and as you partake in obedience to the Lord’s command receive His provision of wholeness spirit, soul, and body. I know of no better time to expect God’s healing to come into our lives than when we “break bread” together in this way.
The life-styles of the revived and fervent in Spirit are also characterized by
4. Prayer.
Prayer is an expression of felt dependence upon God and confidence in His faithfulness. No amount of leadership techniques and organizational skills will ever substitute for the power of prayer. All these things have their place. We have some wonderful technology available to us today that was not there in the first century. And we should use it for the furtherance of the gospel. But it is a pitiful substitute for prayer. The early church was a praying church. We see that all through the book of Acts.
In Acts 4 when the authorities opposed them, their response was not political but prayerful. Listen to what the apostles did when the authorities threatened them. Acts 4:23 “On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. " Verse 31 says, “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” The secret of their success was prayer.
In Acts 12 when Peter was imprisoned the church prayed fervently. And God moved mightily in answer to their prayers. In the next chapter we find the church in prayer and fasting seeking guidance and direction from the Lord. In Isaiah 56:7 God says, “...my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
Conclusion
There is a cry in our hearts for revival. But sustained revival calls for a certain kind of life-style: one characterized by devotion to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. If one were to audit the way we spend our time and money, would that audit summarize our life-styles using those four descriptions? I hope you are hungry for revival—I hope we are all hungry enough to embrace the changes that accompany revival. Revival doesn’t come just so we can feel better. It’s not some improved form of Christian entertainment. Revival comes for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purposes. I’ve got a feeling that if we were to experience a powerful move of God it would demand some radical changes in the way we spend our time and money.
There would be things we are doing now that we could not do during a time of revival. We simply would not have the margin of time to do them.
The video clip you are about to see is from the movie, “The Power of One”. P.K. Newborn (played by Nigel Ivy ) is confronted with a decision. He can either pursue his dream and scholarship at Oxford or invest his life in helping the oppressed blacks in South Africa. The point is he can’t do both. Watch as he ponders that decision. Watch his girlfriend’s struggle as the call to something greater also means sacrifices in her life.
Begin (ch 24) 01:31:22 and end (ch 25) 01:34:46[6]
Invitation[7]
Table Leader Discussion Questions
I. In the movie , The Power of One, P.K. Newborn (played by Nigel Ivy ) is confronted with a decision to either pursue his dream and scholarship at Oxford or invest his life in helping the oppressed blacks in South Africa.
1. What struggles have you experienced in deciding how your life will be invested? What personal dreams has it cost you to pursue the will of God for your life? Share with others the decision to be made, the internal and external struggles you experienced, the reason you made the choices you made and what the result has been thus far?
2. When asking the Professor for permission to use the school study room to teach the Africans English P.K. reminds the Professor that he had taught them that inclusion, not exclusion, is the key to survival. In what ways is inclusion essential to the mission of the church (evangelism and discipleship)? How can we make people feel more included when the visit our church or attend our church? How can we reach lost people more effectively by being inclusive? What are the dangers involved?
The gospel is to “whoever will” without regard to race, socio-economic status, etc. The less we are focused on those differences the more effective we are in evangelism and discipleship. When someone visits our church the burden is on us as the hosts to make them know they are welcome and help them feel comfortable and accepted. The danger: while we are being inclusive we must be discerning of spiritual dangers and deceptions.
3. When the Professor asked how training a dozen people could make a difference, P.K. answered by saying, “a waterfall begins with only one drop of water. Look what comes from that.” Have you ever looked at something that needed to be done and wondered how your contribution could really matter in the face of such a task? How does P.K.’s comment address that issue? What have you learned about doing the right thing regardless of the results you see? What have you learned about the value of doing what you can?
4. Our clip ended with Maria (P.K.’s fiancé) being upset by the way P.K.’s passion for changing the world had interrupted her plans (the prom). What kind of practical sacrifices have to be made to be a world changer? What kind of hard decisions have you encountered in trying to “make a difference” as opposed to “just doing your own thing”?
II. Our text (Acts 2:42) lists four activities that characterized the life-style of the early church.
1. What do you think each of these activities involved?
(a) Devoting themselves “to the apostle’s teaching” involved? Consider Luke 4:15; Acts 15:35-36; 18:11 and other scriptures in your answer.
Why is it essential that the church be unwavering in its commitment to the word of God? Consider Ps 119:105; Luke 4:4; John 8:31; Eph. 5:26;6:17; 2Tim. 4:2-4; 1Pet. 2:2; 2Pet. 1:19-21and other scriptures in your answer.
(b) Devoting themselves to “the fellowship” (koinonia) involved?
There is some obscurity in what is meant by this word in this text. The essential meaning of the word here is “close association involving mutual interests and sharing.”
(c) Devoting themselves to “the breaking of bread” involved? In the early church the Lord’s Supper followed the ordinary meal together so that they were not as distinct as we now understand them. The correction in 1Cor. 11:20-22 addressed some of the abuses associated with this custom. Probably the force of” the of bread” is most associated with taking Communion.
(d) Devoting themselves “to prayer” involved?
2. Acts 2:46 says, “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, praising God...” How would a life-style of devoting ourselves to these activities affect our daily routine? If revival broke out in our church how do you think it would affect our daily routines?
3. The early church was experiencing a powerful revival and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. What kind of blessings does such a move of God bring into our lives? What kind of challenges and tasks?
4. Do you think it is possible for a people to receive a genuine visitation of God without their life-styles as a whole being significantly altered? In what ways are priorities and schedules affected?
5. What is the difference between responding to the initial excitement of revival and following through with the responsibilities of revival (as expressed by the life-style the early church devoted themselves to and the outreach in evangelism)?
Richard Tow
Grace Chapel Foursquare Church
Springfield, MO
www.gracechapelchurch.org
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[1] All Bible quotes are from New International Version unless otherwise indicated.
[2] Luke 4:4 NKJV
[3] Peter’s comments in Acts 5:4 makes this abundantly clear.
[4] David Swensen sermon entitled “Created for Community” available at www.sermoncentral.com Also see information at www.shannontech.com/ParkVision/Redwood/RedRedwoods.html
[5] Sermon by Jeffery Anselmi entitled “What the Church Can Learn from Geese” available at www.sermoncentral.com draws from John Maxwell’s book Developing the Leaders Around You and does a good job of illustrating koinonia from the behavior of geese.
[6] If you have the capacity to edit out the inappropriate word in the previous scene it would add to the impact of the clip. This movie was released by Warner Home Video in 1992.
[7] I have pasted discussion questions used in our early subject in conjunction with this message.
