They Devoted Themselves

They Devoted Themselves

Text: Acts 2:42

Introduction

1. Illustration: Recently Tina and I traveled to Ohio for my brother-in-law’s funeral. He was a lifelong farmer who fought cancer courageously for over 12 years. At his funeral, two of my nieces got up and talked about their Dad. They said that his life was built on three pillars, faith, family and farming. But I think that his life could be summed up in one word – devotion. He went through more than most human beings should be asked to endure, but he never waivered in his devotion to faith, family or farming. In fact, on his last day on earth, rather than feeling sorry for himself, he spent time praying, time with his daughters, and weeding his garden from an electric wheelchair.

2. This reminds me of the early church. They also had three pillars – The Word of God, Fellowship and Prayer. But those three pillars can be summed up in one word – devotion.

3. If we want to be a church that is modeled after the NT church, then we too have to be devoted to the three pillars of:

a. The Word,

b. Fellowship, and

c. Prayer.

4. Read Acts 2:42

Proposition: Our goal as a church should be devotion to The Word, Fellowship and Prayer.

Transition: The first thing we need to be devoted to is..

I. The Word

A. Believers Devoted Themselves

1. Luke begins with “All the believers devoted themselves…”

a. Dr. Luke tells us something very important about the NT church, and that is that they were devoted.

b. Now what did he mean when he said they were devoted?

c. When we think of that word, we usually think of someone being devoted to a spouse or a parent to their children.

d. Another way to think of the word devotion is to passionately pursue something like a skill, a sport or a hobby.

e. This is a very important word in the Book of Acts, in fact, it is used 6 times in Acts. It is the same word that is used in Acts 1:14, where it says that they were “constantly united in prayer.”

f. Here it means that they “persisted obstinately” about the things that Luke is about to mention. The NT church was passionately devoted to these things.

2. So what does Luke say they were devoted to? First, he says they were devoted to the Word.

a. What do you mean Pastor? Luke says they were devoted to the Apostles teachings. Well, who wrote most of the NT? The Apostles did! John, Peter, and Paul, as well as some of their disciples, wrote most of what we know of as the NT portion of Scripture.

b. Now where did they get this teaching? They got it from Jesus himself. In fact, teaching was part of the Great Commission.

c. “Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matt. 28:20).

d. So, we can clearly say that they were devoted to Scripture. Now, if we want to be like the NT church, we need to be devoted to Scripture also.

e. Here’s the reason why. Paul tells us in 2 Tim. 3:16-17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”

f. Reading Scripture everyday shows us what is true and what isn’t. It shows us the things that we are doing that are wrong and tells how to do what is right.

g. My theology is pretty simple, if the Bible tells you to do it, you do it, and if the Bible tells you not to do it, you don’t do it!

h. It also equips us to be workers in the Kingdom. How do we learn how to witness to people? We read the Bible!

i. How do we learn to be effective in ministry? We read the Bible!

j. To put it plainly, if this book isn’t a part of your daily ritual you are doing yourself and the Kingdom a great disservice. Because God has already told you everything you need to know, and all you have to do is read it and study with great devotion!

B. Value of the Word

1. Illustration: A story was told of a man who loved old books. He met an acquaintance who had just thrown away a Bible that had been stored in the attic of his ancestral home for generations. “I couldn’t read it,” the friend explained. “Somebody named Guten-something had printed it.” “Not Gutenberg!” the book lover exclaimed in horror. “That Bible was one of the first books ever printed. Why, a copy just sold for over two million dollars!” His friend was unimpressed. “Mine wouldn’t have brought a dollar. Some fellow named Martin Luther had scribbled all over it in German.”