A Vital Church

What the author thought what Luke thought was the most important part for us to know Good morning. Good morning. Today. We look at the rest of the conclusion of that sermon. So Acts chapter 2 verses 40 through 47. It's so good to have you this morning. This is where every day we get together We get into God's Word. We have some coffee and we grow in our love for the Lord together in this year 2022 you and I will make it through all the acts of all the way through Philemon. So I'm so excited to be with you here today and to be in that with you. Let's have some coffee. We'll pray and we'll get into God's word.
Father, we thank you so much for this day. Thank you for this word. We pray that as we read your word this morning, you might care for us and watch over us. Lord, we pray that you would help us follow after you. Give us faith, Lord, and joy. In Jesus' name, amen. Here we go, Acts chapter 2, verses 40 through 47.
As with many other words, and with many other words, he testified, he being Peter, he testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. And that day about 3,000 souls were added to them, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together and had all things in common and sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all as everyone had need.
Pardon me. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." Well, we need to ask ourselves, A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do in response to this? So, A, what is this about?
Well, Peter finishes off his sermon, and what does God say is the rest of his sermon? Yesterday, we looked at the point was that the Christ had come. And now it summarizes the rest of Peter's sermon, you know, it says he, with many other words. So that wasn't the full extent of his sermon. It went on longer than that. And it summarized saying, be saved from this perverse generation. So he went on and he, he talked to them about those things that they needed to be saved from.
And there's people who gladly received the word. And what was the response of their faith, of their receiving the word? They were baptized. About 3,000 of them were baptized. The church rolls swelled up. There were more people who believed. They had heard the word in their own language, and they believed, and they were baptized. And then notice, though, it wasn't just this belief they were baptized and then it's done. No, these people had a real commitment to the gospel. What does it say? That they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship. Doctrine is just a fancy word for teaching. They followed steadfastly, carefully, regularly, the teaching of the apostles and fellowship.
Again, another fancy word for just saying community with one another. They were loving one another, caring for one another, spending time with one another, integrating their lives with a new community group. and in the breaking of bread and in prayers. The breaking of bread, some commentators argue back and forth, is this talking about the Lord's Supper or is it just talking about having a meal? I think it could go either way. I lean towards it's just that they're actually enjoying each other's time with one another. They're eating with one another. They're enjoying that time and they're also praying with each other.
Also, if we keep going, then fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Notice it's the apostles who are doing the wonders and the signs. Now the apostles at times, you know, they have other people who go with them and they do these signs and wonders, but here it's the apostles who are doing them. That's key when we come to Simon later.
And then it shows this church's generosity towards one another in the following verses, 44 and 45, right? They sell their things and they hold things in common. They are no longer just looking for their own interests, but for the interests of others. This is a fulfillment of what Jesus had said. By this they will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another."
And here they are loving each other, they are caring for each other, they're selling their goods and giving it to one another so that way everyone has their needs fulfilled. And so they continue daily in verse 46, they continue daily in one accord in the temple. So they go to the temple still and they rejoice with the Lord, they sing the Psalms, they see the daily thanksgiving sacrifices, things like that. So the temple is still going. Remember, Jesus has just died. The temple is going to end. The temple is going to end. Rome is going to sack the temple. They're going to destroy Jerusalem and it's going to go away. But for now, they break bread from house to house.
They eat their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor. with all people, and the Lord added to the church those days, those who were being saved." So we see people adhering to the Apostles' doctrine. We see them breaking bread. We see them enjoying time with one another. We see them praying with each other. We see them giving to each other's needs. We see them thanking the Lord together. They eat with one another, they praise God with one another, and God is adding to their number.
This is a vital church. What is this about? This is a vital church that shows us some marks for a healthy church. What's the best verse for this? So, A, I think we've got what this is about, what the life of that really early church was like, but B, what is the best verse for this?
Well, this is going to be really hard. I have a whole bunch of things underlined in my Bible, but I would probably underline, if I had to be narrowed down, I'd probably underline verse 41 and 42. As well as verses 44 and 45, maybe? I don't know. This whole section could be underlined. It's really a cohesive unit. But they believed, and then there was actions following those beliefs. They were committed. So, C, calling.
What are you called to do? What am I called to do? Well, do we adhere to the teaching of the apostles? Do we go to God's Word and do we believe what he has taught us? Do we fellowship with one another? Do we enjoy community with one another? Do we break bread with one another?
Have you been going to communion? But even more than communion, have you actually been enjoying relationships with people in the church? Have you been cultivating friendships in the church? Skipping out right afterwards, are you purposely trying to make sure that you are being integrated with other people in the community of faith?
Are you praying with and for others? It's one of the beautiful things about the Lord's Prayer, our Father who art in heaven, teaches us that we have a God who is willing and able to help us as a father unto his children and that we ought to pray with and for others, our father, not just my father, community, our father. Do we eat with simplicity and with joy? Are we living sacrificial lives, pouring ourselves out for others? These are marks of a church. These are marks of Christians who are following Jesus Christ, who are loving God and loving their neighbor. I hope that we're those types of people. We could all use improvement, that's for sure.
Why don't we go ahead and pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day, and we thank you for your Word. God, we pray that you would fill us with your Spirit, that we would have hearts that long for community, with you, communion with you, but also community with other believers. Lord, we pray that we would also be those who would show our faith by loving you and loving our neighbor. Lord, we thank you for the early church. We thank you for your spirit. We pray that you would make us such people in Jesus's name. Amen. Well, may the Lord bless you today. May you find joy in Jesus Christ. May you enjoy other Christians and may you walk in the peace that surpasses all understanding as your heart is filled with thanksgiving. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.