The Church is Born… The last verse of the passage that we studied together last week described the birth of the Church—ACTS 2:41. The Holy Spirit had helped the preacher preach and the Gospel of Jesus Christ was proclaimed with power. The Holy Spirit had helped the hearers hear when He cut them to the heart so that they could hear what was being proclaimed with a heart that was positioned for repentance and faith. The result of the working of the Holy Spirit was the birth of the Church when 3000 were saved.
The Holy Spirit Forms A Family… We are intentional around here to use words that are reflective of what we believe and that is why we use the words “Faith Family” to refer to who we are as a group of people. The Bible clearly reveals that those who are called out by the Holy Spirit from darkness to light, from sin to righteousness, from the state of being lost to the state of being are formed into a family/community of faith by the same Spirit. The Holy Spirit begins the work of salvation and continues His work in us as He forms us into a family/community by uniting us to Jesus and to one another. When that first Gospel message was preached by Peter and 3000 people responded in repentance and faith they did not just immediately go their separate ways as if the Holy Spirit’s work was complete. Not at all! These new believers in Jesus Christ were led by the Holy Spirit to hang around and we immediately begin to see what a genuine faith family/ekklesia/church looks like. There are four things that will be highlighted by our text this morning that serves as the foundation upon with the Church is to be founded upon.
The Holy Spirit Reigns… The Holy Spirit was reigning, and with his rule vast responsibilities descended upon the apostles. They would have to look to the Spirit for guidance. Fortunately, thanks to the Lord, things fell naturally into place. The reign of the Spirit in the lives of the people and the apostles led to some practices that brought growth to all and made the apostles’ task possible. Four things happened (or better, happen) in the church where the Spirit reigned. They were then, and still remain, keys to spiritual growth and maturity.
Acts 2:42-47
The Apostle’s TEACHING. The Holy Spirit created a desire in the hearts of these brand new Christians for the Apostle’s teaching.
• What would be considered the Apostle’s teaching? When we read these words we can consider them to be a little vague and not give much thought to them and in so doing fail to understand what is being said to us. The Apostle’s teaching would have been the teaching of the Old Testament, especially in showing how it was all about Jesus (He taught them how it was all about Him!), and Jesus’ life, ministry, miracles, teachings, death, burial and resurrection. In a sense, the Apostles would have been teaching the Old Testament and the Gospels.
• A Hunger for the Word of God. The Holy Spirit produced in these young Christians a hunger for that which was necessary for them to grow in their newfound relationship with Christ. They craved to consume that which would feed their very souls! What we find here in this passage is that one who has experienced the grace of Jesus in salvation will develop a continual desire for His Word. What about you?
The backbone of a healthy Christian life is teaching. Peter says, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation” (1 Peter 2:2). Teaching was the milk of the early church under the direction of the Holy Spirit. The example of an energetic nursing baby is a fitting example for us to pursue, even if we have already moved on to steak. Young believers must make sure they are feeding on the teaching of God’s Word. There is much confusion today about the essential matters of our faith. In a non-reading, experience-oriented culture, solid Bible teaching is sometimes hard to find. Believers should beware of churches or Christian fellowships where the people do not carry their Bibles. Read your Bible. Mark it up. Each of us must make sure that sometime, somewhere in our week we are being taught.
MORE THAN STUDY IS NEEDED. When the Spirit reigns in the hearts of those who have been saved a hunger for His Word will naturally arise within them. God’s people continually devote themselves to the study of his Word. That is the first characteristic, but more than study is needed. I describe our church as a Bible-believing church. The question that remains, then, is “Are we a Bible-living church?” Good question!
FELLOWSHIP
“They devoted themselves to… the fellowship.” This kind of fellowship did not exist before the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Greek word used here (koinonia) is not even found in the Gospels. This is the first occurrence of the word in the New Testament. The root idea is “commonness” or “commonality.” New Testament Greek is called koine Greek because it was the common Greek of the day—the street language of the people.
Every time this word is used in the New Testament, it denotes some kind of sharing—either sharing something with someone (for instance, in 2 Corinthians 8:4; 9:13 where it means an offering, collection, or contribution) or sharing in something someone else is experiencing. Here in Acts the emphasis of the word is on contributing or giving. The foundation of the early Christians’ fellowship was giving. Verses 44 and 45 make this clear:
SHARING TO MEET PHYSICAL NEEDS. The early Christians were marked by a continued devotion to sharing with one another. The earliest example of this fellowship/sharing is revealed to us in that all these believers were sharing all that they had so that nobody among them would be in need or go without a need being met. Again, we find that a distinguishing characteristic of a Church where the Holy Spirit is ruling and reigning in the lives of those who have been genuinely saved is a continued commitment to meeting the legitimate needs of one another. Notice that I said legitimate needs. There are some needs that are illegitimate and there are some needs that are not needs at all but simply greedy desires. The Bible says, “If you don’t work you don’t eat” so what we are not hearing that we are responsible for those who simply deny to follow through on their own responsibilities in life. One primary crowd we find throughout the Scriptures that the Church has been entrusted to caring for and meeting the needs of is widow, orphans, sick, imprisoned and those who are physically unable to provide for their own needs. This is not a call to political socialism but a call to genuine Christianity.
SHARING ONE ANOTHER’S BURDENS. There are many other ways in which the New Testament reveals what Holy Spirit produced fellowship/sharing looks like. We are called to share one another’s burdens. The Holy Spirit does not save us to be “lone ranger” Christians where we simply keep to ourselves and be about ourselves. We are saved from death to life and that life is life with the Lord and His people. We are saved into a community/family of faith and a family shares to meet one another’s needs and we share one another’s burdens.
SHARING IN MINISTRY (SERVING). We are called to share in the responsibility of ministry. We are told that the Holy Spirit has given each and every one of us skills, talents and gifts for the purpose of serving the community/family of faith. This reveals that the Holy Spirit reigns in the Church where those who have been saved and have been indwelled by Him share in the work of ministry through serving wherever serving is needed. This is an unfortunate truth: Way too many Christians who love the Lord and His people are on the brink of burning out in their serving because we have way to many Christians who are sitting around rusting out as they do nothing to contribute to the work of ministry in and through the local church. This stems from a rejection of what the Bible teaches us regarding what it means to be the Church and what the culture teaches us about what it means to live in 21st Century America. It is not new news to say that culturally we are trained from a very early age by the culture around us that life is all about me, what I want and perceive to deserve. This has all developed from our own desire to live life in a way that it is all about me. Therefore, whenever we consider our relationship to a local faith family (i.e. local church) we do so on the basis of what we can get out of it not what we can contribute to it. The former is driven by sinful self and the latter is driven by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
When the Holy Spirit is ruling and reigning in the hearts of those who have saved we find a natural hunger for God’s Word within and a sense of commonality among us manifested in sharing.
WORSHIP: Breaking of Bread and Prayer
Thirdly, the Holy Spirit had created in these new believers is a continued commitment and devotion to worship. The worship in the early was marked by the “breaking of bread” and prayer.
• Breaking of Bread. The phrase “breaking of bread” is a phrase used by the New Testament writers to refer to what we know as The Lord’ Supper and/or Communion. It may not strike us immediately of the importance of what is being said here. It is not so much that the focus was on the ordinance per se but on what the ordinance required from those who observe it. When the early church committed themselves to the “breaking of bread” they were doing so because of their desire to keep Jesus at the forefront of who they were as a new community of faith. When The Lord’s Supper is observed it is done so IN REMEMBRANCE OF JESUS. If you ever observe the Lord’s Supper and your heart and mind is not drawn to Jesus as the One whom it is all about then you have totally missed the point and there is absolutely no value or benefit in this for you. This is why we invite only those who have experienced the benefits of Christ’s redemptive work on the cross in salvation to partake. This is not for those who do not know Christ. This is not a teaching moment for children in that you let them take the elements and then explain what it all means. This is for those who know Jesus and have experienced His salvation and likewise have a desire in their heart to worship Him.
• Prayers. In the early church we find that many still observed the set time of prayer as established under the old religious system. In the very next chapter we find that Peter and John are going up to the temple during a specific time for prayer. Prayer is worshipful in the sense that genuine prayer ushers us into the presence of God whereby we adore Him, thank Him, confess to Him, repent before Him, ask of Him. Prayer in its simplest form is an act of worship because in praying we are admitting God’s rightful place as the greater and we as the lesser.
When the Holy Spirit Reigns in the Church… One verse has provided us three devotions/commitments that exist in the Church where the Holy Spirit is reigning. The following verses describes the benefits the Holy Spirit grants to those who, under His rule and reign in their lives, are committed/devoted to the Word of God, the Fellowship of the Saints and Worship.
1. AWE. As the Word went out, “Everyone was filled with awe”—not just because “many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles,” but because everything worked together to bring a profound sense of God. This awe and soul-fear was not terror, but something like Isaiah experienced when he saw the holiness of God and cried, “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5). Such a response is the deep reaction of a frail, fallen being standing before the true God of love and righteousness. In the early church there was a sense of holiness much like that which the children of Israel had when Moses came down from Mt. Sinai—awe in the presence of Almighty God. How we need this today! Nothing would promote revival more than a sense of awe before our holy God coupled with a sense of our own unworthiness.
2. GLAD and GENEROUS HEARTS. Many of you here today discredited what I had to say earlier about “sharing” of our resources with those who are in need because the reality is that when we start meeting the needs of others we will probably do so at the expense of our greed’s. I have had conversation on top of conversation with young Christians who, for some reason or another, think that tithing and generosity is something for those who are “older” in the faith. They think that tithing and generosity is somewhere down the line in regards to steps of maturity in the faith. In the early Church, where the Holy Spirit was present and reigning, there was great generosity and gladness in being generous being present. How is that? When the Holy Spirit captures the heart of lost, sinful and wicked people He releases the grip we have on our idols and money is the greatest idol we have today. They were not just generous they were glad and generous.
3. EVANGELISM. In the midst of the teaching, fellowship and worship we find something beautiful taking place. The Bible says that their numbers increased “day by day” because people were being saved. There was something about the powerful teaching, and the desire for it that convinced the heart of the unbeliever in the city. There was something about the genuineness of community about them that convinced the heart of the unbeliever. There was something about the passionate worship that drew and convinced the heart of the unbeliever in the city. When the Church was just being the Church, empowered by the Holy Spirit, the lost got saved.
There is nothing wrong with having a strategy for reaching the lost with the Gospel of Jesus Christ but what we find in the Scriptures is that when the Holy Spirit is reigning in the hearts of the redeemed thus resulting in the Church being the Church the Bible describes not the church world expect then there will be a fulfillment of the Great Commission because those who do not believe will be attracted to a Holy Spirit ruling and reigning Church. This is why the Great Commission is expressed to us in terms of “as we are going…” The command to “Go” is not simply a command to go to a destination but is a command telling us that wherever we are and as we “go” through life make disciples.
Where the Spirit reigns in the Church, believers relate to the Word—teaching. Where the Spirit reigns in the Church, believers relate to each other—koinonia. Where the Spirit reigns in the Church, believers relate to God—worship. Where the Spirit reigns in the Church, believers relate to the world—evangelism.
“I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THE CHURCH!” You don’t have enough time on this earth to not be in, with and of the Church.
