The Extraordinary Church - [Acts 2:42-47]

Bethlehem Bible Church

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July 17, 2022

00:00: I would invite you to open your Bibles to Acts chapter 2. You know, last week,
00:08: I apologize, I guess I asked a rhetorical question, in my mind it was rhetorical, it wasn't rhetorical, people are like, what's the answer?
00:19: I mentioned, you know, having to memorize a list of prepositions, and as I started thinking about it, I go, you know what, initially
00:25: I thought it was 48, and then I'm like, no, it wasn't, it was 53, yeah, it was definitely 53.
00:32: Then I looked it up online, and you know, there are actually, because I guess we got shorted 12, because there are actually 65 prepositions in English, but there you go.
00:41: Write that down. In fact, I'm going to give you a list now, so you'll want to carry, you know, write these down and we'll have a test on it.
00:50: Many of you know that I come from a religious background, and what do I mean by religious besides the fact that it was
00:56: Mormon? I mean, we had a lot of things that we did, they were perfunctory, they were just things that week in, week out, you just did.
01:05: But one of the interesting things about it is they did something, I'm going to use a word and then
01:10: I'm going to explain it with a few illustrations, we did something called proof texting. A lot of you are probably familiar with that, and some of you are like, what does that mean?
01:20: Well it's basically this, you take a verse, maybe a couple of verses, take them completely out of context and you use them to justify a doctrine that really has little support in the
01:34: Bible, or maybe no support in the Bible. In fact, there might be one or two verses that support it, but there are a ton that contradict it, and I'll give you a couple of examples.
01:45: Some of you know that one of the things the LDS church does in the temple, they have individual ward buildings, like this building would be a ward building, then they have temples, like there's one in Boston or someplace.
01:58: They're all over the place in the United States. And they do baptisms for the dead.
02:05: You might think, well why do they do baptisms for the dead? Because 1 Corinthians 15 .29 says this, otherwise what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead?
02:15: That's what they do, they baptize by proxy for the dead. Here's what they do it for, because they believe that people who didn't come to Mormon faith during this life get a second opportunity in the next life.
02:30: Problem, Hebrews 9 .27 says what? It's appointed to men, wants to die, and then judgment, not second chance.
02:43: Is there biblical justification for believing that we can become gods, which they also teach? They would say sure.
02:49: Jesus answered them in John 10 .34, is it not written in your law,
02:55: I said you are gods? Citing Psalm 82, but if you read
03:00: Psalm 82, what does it say? Nevertheless you will die like men. Not really good examples.
03:09: But for some false teachers, some professing Christians who are really just wolves, stealing from people who are in need, they do the same thing.
03:23: For example, Isaiah 53, verse 5 says, but he, Jesus, was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, so far so good.
03:35: Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds, what?
03:40: We are healed, and therefore we should be healed in this lifetime. Well one notable false teacher died this week, and I'm not here to rejoice in that at all, it's sad, every death is sad.
03:56: In fact, if you know me, my wife will testify to this. I dodge squirrels on the street,
04:02: I don't like to see anything die, let alone a human being. She's like, just run them over.
04:11: Not people, squirrels. But I think in light of this,
04:20: I would pray, and I hope you'll pray also, that many, because this really is a false church, it's called
04:27: Bethel Redding, it's in Redding, California, that many people would be saved as a result of this false teaching, that they would awaken to the peril.
04:38: My point here is that doctrine has consequences. What we believe shows itself in what we do.
04:48: Here's what Bethel Redding posted before this person died this week. Here's our prayer.
04:54: Jesus, we ask that you would heal her body and extend her life. We declare this is, listen to that, we declare this is not her end.
05:05: There is more to come, and you are speaking a better word over her. Father, we ask that you would revive her body and redeem this season of sickness and renew her life in Jesus' name.
05:18: There are notes say that hundreds of thousands of people are praying for her healing.
05:26: But there's a real problem. We can't dictate to God, right? Prayer doesn't change his mind.
05:32: What does it do? It aligns our mind with his, puts us in the right mind.
05:38: We want to say, even though I don't fully understand this, Lord, I know
05:44: I have to accept it. There are many churches that declare themselves to be true churches, have genuine prophets, that kind of thing.
05:57: But what they teach, if what they teach is contrary to the Bible, if it's false, then they are in fact false.
06:06: Let's read our text this morning, Acts chapter 2, verses 42 to 47, and I've entitled this message
06:12: An Extraordinary Church because really what we're going to see is some of the things that an ordinary church should do, and they did them, and then we're going to see the extraordinary results.
06:26: The church in Jerusalem, Acts 2, verses 42 to 47, and they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship and to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
06:44: And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles, and all who believed were together and had all things in common.
06:56: And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need.
07:04: And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising
07:13: God and having favor with all the people. And the
07:19: Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. Now, just by way of review, it's been 50 days since Passover, that's what
07:29: Pentecost is, it's 50 days after Passover. Three major events have happened. First there was the crucifixion of Jesus, and spiritually this just devastated the inner circle of Jesus, which is fascinating because he told them it was coming.
07:44: He told them for quite a while that this was coming. And then he told them that his time had come.
07:51: He told them he was going to die, he told them he was going to leave them. And even when that happened, what was their response?
07:58: Only John could go to the crucifixion, several women went, but of the disciples, only
08:06: John went. Second there was the triumphant resurrection. Now we would think that after seeing
08:13: Jesus raised from the dead exactly as he said, that these men, the 11 really, would be galvanized, that they would have steel in their spines, that they would be ready to carry out the
08:25: Great Commission, but they weren't. Jesus went and saw them up in Galilee where they'd gone to go fishing to return back to their old ways of life.
08:36: And Jesus met them there. And in his final appearance, he publicly restored Peter to leadership.
08:43: Just as Peter had publicly disgraced himself, Jesus publicly forgave him.
08:51: Third, there was the ascension. When Jesus rose from the presence of the disciples and went up to heaven, and the two angels are standing there, they told the disciples he would return the same way.
09:02: And I think some of the exuberance we see here is because the church didn't know then, and it doesn't know now, when the
09:09: Lord was going to return. So I think they were even eagerly awaiting that day then, as we should be now.
09:17: Every day is a good day for the Lord Jesus to return. Amen? Last week we saw how the audience on the day of Pentecost, how the church, the disciples, 120 of them, and this great big crowd were brought together by a loud noise by the work of the
09:33: Holy Spirit. Peter preached the gospel to them from Psalms and pointed out their guilt in putting
09:39: Jesus, the Messiah, to death. And their response? They were cut to the heart.
09:48: They said, brothers, what should we do? They wanted forgiveness. And he repeatedly explained that forgiveness is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
09:57: And as a result, 3 ,000 new believers were added to the church and baptized that day.
10:03: Even more than we have this morning. But this morning we're going to look at what made this church, the church of Jerusalem, this
10:11: Pentecost church, extraordinary. We're going to do this in two stages.
10:17: First, we're going to look at their devotion. Their devotion to duty, I guess we could say, the things that they ought to have done.
10:23: And secondly, the results, the Holy Spirit infused results. Both stages really are brought about by the
10:31: Holy Spirit. We can't boast about anything we do. It's God's work within us. And when we look at devotion, we're going to see four indispensable ingredients of the ordinary church life.
10:45: What we should do week in, week out, and how those things really make the church the church.
10:52: And then we're going to see five spirit empowered responses to what was going on in the
10:58: Jerusalem church specifically. So first, devotion, four indispensable ingredients, verse 42, and they devoted themselves.
11:10: And again, just to underscore this, these are the essentials of church life. These 3 ,120 or so, give or take, saints held fast or persevered in these things.
11:22: That's what it means to devote yourself. It means to hold fast to these things, to just hang on to constantly be doing them.
11:30: It's a valuable pattern for us. As we go through these, you'll see why. Essentially, no church can be a church of the
11:37: Lord Jesus Christ apart from these marks. First, teaching. There has to be teaching when the church gets together.
11:46: Look at verse 42, to the apostles teaching. Now what were the apostles teaching? We just saw a great example of it on Pentecost.
11:54: What did Peter do? He opened up the Bible to the Psalms, and he taught them about Jesus Christ.
12:03: Why? Why is teaching so important? Well, it fulfills what Jesus Christ committed, Matthew 28, 19, and 20, when he's giving them what we call the great commission.
12:12: All the missionaries want to come in and preach it. Well, listen, go, therefore, and make disciples.
12:18: Remember, that's the imperative there. Make disciples of all nations. How do you do that?
12:24: Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit, which I somehow managed to do today.
12:34: Verse 20, teaching them, right? How do you make disciples? Well, you could baptize them.
12:40: That doesn't make them disciples. It's teaching them, instructing them to observe all that I, Jesus, have commanded you.
12:49: So what do you do with new believers? I mean, we have a book in the office that we give out sometimes, and we encourage seasoned believers to get together with new believers and, what, teach them the fundamentals of the faith.
13:02: You teach them. Well, what happens if you don't teach new believers?
13:09: Jerry's Sunday School this morning was instructive on that, right? People can hear the word and seem to believe, and then what do they do if they don't have any roots?
13:19: They walk away. They go into some cult. They wind up in Bethel Redding or some other place.
13:28: Preaching is the number one tool of teaching, but also just instruction within the body is important.
13:36: Getting back to preaching, well, some people say, well, isn't preaching passé? Isn't it too old -fashioned?
13:45: The Bible doesn't allow for that. Listen to 2 Timothy, chapter 4, verses 1 through 4,
13:54: Paul writing to Timothy, right? This young man who's going to be in charge of the church at Ephesus, and here's what he says.
14:00: I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, and I just have to pause there for a minute.
14:06: Why is he doing that? I charge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, because the
14:12: Old Testament would say that you need to have two or three witnesses when you're giving somebody a charge like this.
14:19: So he's like me, Paul, the apostle, and Jesus, and the
14:26: Father. Us three are going to charge you, right? We're going to hold you accountable.
14:36: He goes on and he says, who is to judge the living and dead, talking about Christ Jesus, and by his appearing and his kingdom.
14:42: Listen. Here's what you're to do. Preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season.
14:48: When does that mean? All the time. Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching, for the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching.
15:00: We live in those times. But having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.
15:09: I want something practical, pastor. We're going to thus and such a church because they tell us what we can do every week.
15:17: Verse four, and we'll turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. Whether people want it or not, whether it's fashionable or not, whether it's cool or hip or not, this is what pastors are to do.
15:32: That word teaching that's in verse three, sound teaching, it's the same word that was in Acts 2 .42.
15:41: And when we think about teaching, we think about churches, if you just think about some of the churches you've been in or you've watched online, what do you see?
15:51: Plays, video clips, dance teams. I heard about a sermon that was entirely made up of gifs or gifts, which
16:00: I find hard to believe. I guess they mined the depth of the office or something like that, but it's not from the
16:06: Bible. I even heard one sermon one time that was just a biography of just a guy.
16:12: And I was listening and I'm going, well, are you going to get to the Bible? Are you going to talk about scripture? Are you going to talk about Jesus Christ?
16:19: Nope. How about churches that just celebrate this country on Sunday morning?
16:26: That's not what they're to do. Church is not a place for exalting the United States of America or any other country.
16:34: Preaching the word, though, is a sure way to shrink the church, unless the church is filled with Christians.
16:45: Then they want that. Sound teaching, Paul writes in 2
16:51: Timothy chapter 4, or sound doctrine. It's not a matter of indifference.
16:58: It's something that we must prioritize, we have to focus on. Why do people choose churches?
17:06: I'm amazed at the way some people choose church, actually. Some people choose it because it's close.
17:13: I don't know too many people who choose this church because it's close. Some people choose it because they like the pastor.
17:21: That's okay, you can like Pastor Mike. They choose it because of the music.
17:27: Okay? I mean, usually people want something really snappy and upbeat, and they don't care about the lyrics.
17:34: Because of the children's programs? Because of its political views? This is from 2009, so it's a little dated, but by a margin of almost 3 to 1,
17:45: Americans say they are more likely to develop their own set of religious beliefs than accept a comprehensive set of beliefs taught by a church or denomination.
17:58: You know what we call a set of beliefs taught by a church or denomination?
18:04: We call that a statement of faith or a confession. I mean, just imagine going to a church where everybody gets to believe whatever they want.
18:13: What would that be? Chaos, yes. Or it would be a
18:18: Unitarian church, where the church is just there to help you on your own individual journey. Truth is vital.
18:26: Doctrine is vital. The New Testament was written by the 12 apostles and their associates, including the apostle
18:34: Paul. So we do well to focus on the teaching of the apostles, and that's what we do.
18:42: So what were the apostles teaching? Again, in verse 42, well, they were teaching two things.
18:48: They were teaching from the Old Testament, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and they were also teaching the words of Jesus Christ.
18:57: And when we preach and teach Scripture, we're striving to obey the Word of God and to follow the example of the apostles in this early church.
19:07: And candidly, anything less than the preaching and teaching of the Word of God is sinful.
19:13: So the first indispensable ingredient is teaching. Second, fellowship, right there in verse 42 again.
19:20: And the fellowship. Well, what does it mean to have fellowship? And we all think we know what that means.
19:27: It's when you hang around and have cake and goodies, and Pastor Mike's throwing, you know, potato chips and stuff around.
19:33: No. Look at verse 32 again.
19:42: Now, the full number of those who believed, or this is actually from Acts 4 .32. Now, the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul.
19:51: That's fellowship, right? It's this coming together and it's staying together. It's being of one heart and soul.
19:59: It's devotion to one another in the joy of the Lord because of the truth of Scripture. There's a simple yet full joy when brothers and sisters in Christ come together.
20:13: And if we think about, could there ever have been a better time to be a Christian than right in the aftermath of Pentecost?
20:21: They'd seen the power of the Holy Spirit. They'd heard one of the most powerful sermons any mere mortal ever gave.
20:29: And can you imagine 120 disciples who were, I mean, if we were to grade them, they were kind of like, you know, most of them like,
20:37: I don't know, maybe a B plus in maturity, spiritual maturity. And now they've just got 3 ,000 brand new converts.
20:46: There would be a lot of joy and there would be a lot of work, a lot of organization to be done. How much time do you think when they got together, do you think they were talking about, hey, are the
20:56: Red Sox going to make a trade and get into this thing or local gossip, politics?
21:01: I don't think so. I think everybody was like, I mean, what do you spend time doing? One of the things my wife likes to do when we have people over is to hear their testimonies.
21:10: So just imagine, you know, listening to 3 ,000 people give their testimonies. That could take a while. Now, what do you have or who do you have more in common with than other believers?
21:25: And the answer is nobody. Believers love the written and the living word. They hate their sin.
21:31: They love the word. They love to hear the word taught. They love to sing songs that reflect biblical truth.
21:37: They love to hear the excellencies of Jesus. Pretty much everything believers love, the world hates.
21:47: And pretty much everything that believers hate, the world, what? Loves. With whom else can we experience these things other than our fellow
21:58: Christians? And it is amazing that you can walk into any church around the world and you can right away either feel at home or not at home.
22:07: And what makes the difference? Please don't say if they're making food in the kitchen, although that does help.
22:18: It's that sense of camaraderie that comes around from believing the same things. And the way
22:25: Luke has written this verse, verse 42, with doctrine and fellowship so close together and the construction of it indicates to at least one scholar that they go together, that they must go together.
22:39: Waters said this, he said, This unity can never be experienced in the church without a commitment to biblical doctrine.
22:47: Nor is biblical doctrine truly taught and embraced without a corresponding effort to realize the unity that God has bestowed upon the church.
22:57: In other words, in truth, there's unity. And in unity, there is truth.
23:05: If you walk into a church that has unsound doctrine, how many of you ever been in a church that had unsound doctrine?
23:11: Just walked in there randomly or you were part of it? A handful, good for you guys.
23:20: I've been and it's pretty uncomfortable. As soon as I walk in, you know, my mental clock starts thinking,
23:26: Okay, I've been here five minutes, when can I get out of here? And then I realize, wait, I'm preaching, so I have to stay.
23:36: I've been in those kind of situations. And then, you know, I start attuning my message, just thinking what people probably need to hear and tweaking things as I go along.
23:48: But doctrine, teaching, fellowship, these things are indispensable. Also indispensable, the breaking of bread, verse 42.
23:56: To the breaking of bread. This, you know, we could debate it later, but we won't.
24:02: This seems to point here to communion. So let me ask you a question. Can you take communion at home?
24:10: Now, I used a very clever word there. I mean, I feel like I've just written a true -false thing, and I'm trying to trick you guys.
24:15: Somebody was commenting on that this morning in Sunday school. I won't mention his name was
24:20: Wes. But can you take communion? Well, you can.
24:26: Should you? No. No. Because apart from the gathering of local believers, it's really not.
24:38: I mean, again, we're talking about fellowship, teaching, right? Now, I know that BBC does communion when they do the camping trip, but that's because the elders authorize it.
24:48: And primarily, when we've met and talked about that, it's because we think something redeeming should come out of the camping trip.
24:54: So, sorry. Let me just read from our
25:00: Confession of Faith about the ordinances. Baptism and the
25:05: Lord's Supper are ordinances of positive and sovereign institution appointed by the Lord Jesus, the only lawgiver, to be continued, listen, in his church.
25:16: Not outside the church, not at home, but in his church to the end of the world. Then the next section says, these holy appointments are to be administered by those only who are qualified and thereunto called according to the commission of Christ.
25:31: In other words, it should be done by elders. Now, if we designate somebody, I think that's fine. But I've seen, like, you know, moms baptizing two kids at one time and all kinds of crazy things.
25:43: If you watch stuff on TV, it's just like, why? The pastor doesn't have time to talk to people about their testimony and then baptize them?
25:55: These things should be done, you know, with a certain soberness and done rightly.
26:01: Now, what happens, you know, here? Every time the communion is taken, the
26:07: Lord's Table is taken, the gospel is preached, there's teaching, there's content, there's prayer as well.
26:17: And when we do this, we're following the example of the church in Acts chapter 2. And really, if you think about it, we're standing in a long line of faithfulness.
26:25: They were faithful and churches throughout the ages have been faithful and we're just doing what they did. We also honor and obey the
26:33: Lord Jesus Christ. In Luke 22, verses 19 and 20, Luke records for us, and he took bread,
26:40: Jesus, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you.
26:47: Do this, that's a command, in remembrance of me. Verse 20, and likewise, the cup after they had eaten, saying,
26:55: This cup is poured out for you. Or this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
27:01: We remember the Lord Jesus Christ till he comes, right? So we've had communion.
27:08: Now, prayer. Verse 42, again, and the prayers. Now, it's kind of an odd thing to say, right?
27:15: And the prayers. The experts say they think that there were some formal prayers that they prayed, and I think that's fine.
27:24: I'm sure, and we're going to see in a moment, that they would go to the temple. I'm sure that there were prayers that were traditional, that didn't violate any part of Christianity, so they were able to pray them.
27:37: In fact, they probably had deeper meaning now that they knew who the Messiah was. But I suspect, you know, if you just think about the joy, 3 ,000 people just newly added to the church, you think you could stop them from praying and praising
27:51: God? I don't think so. I think this is what they would like, want to do all the time, and that's what they're doing. So these are ordinary means of grace.
28:01: The ways in which we are conformed into the image of Christ. It's hearing sound doctrine, sound teaching and preaching, having fellowship with one another, having communion and having prayer.
28:16: Those are the four indispensable ingredients of the ordinary church. And now we're going to look at the results in five
28:24: Spirit -empowered responses of the extraordinary church. In other words, they did all the regular things, but there were some pretty extraordinary results.
28:34: Just like Peter preached, I mean, we can call it an ordinary sermon, obviously not ordinary, but there were some pretty extraordinary results.
28:44: So first result, awe. Inside and outside the church. We see that in verse 43, it says, and awe came upon every soul.
28:54: And the reason he says every soul and not just the souls in the church is because they were making a splash outside of the church.
29:03: Some translations there, instead of the word awe, it says fear. And the reason it says fear is because the
29:10: Greek word is phobos. But if we think about what was going on, you know, in the community around in Jerusalem, do you think they were, like, quaking in their boots because of what was going on in the church?
29:22: So I don't really like that very much. The New English translation, the net, says, and I like this, reverential awe.
29:32: They were impressed by what was going on in there. They were impressed by what they saw. This Christian community was devout.
29:40: They were meeting all the time, they were praying all the time, they were singing all the time, they were praising God all the time, they were having communion together, fellowship together.
29:48: This group was on fire. How could anyone not be impressed?
29:55: I mean, if you just think about this, you live in Jerusalem, and you know one thing, that two months ago, these people who are worshiping
30:02: Jesus weren't worshiping Jesus. And Jesus, less than two months ago, was crucified on a cross.
30:10: And now they worship him? There's something really awe -inspiring about that.
30:18: And just the way they were so motivated. Somehow this church was booming. To unbelievers, this was a marvel.
30:30: We'll find out later, but can you imagine, I mean, later on in Acts, can you imagine what the Sanhedrin was thinking, what the high priests were thinking, what the religious leaders were thinking, as they just thought, what is going on?
30:42: We put Jesus to death, and now look what's going on. So there was awe.
30:48: There were also signs and wonders, verse 43. And many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
30:55: And this is important. Signs and wonders are not normative.
31:01: Why? Because they were done through the apostles, and we don't have any apostles. No one can do signs and wonders today.
31:09: Why not? Because they can't be an apostle. Anybody who says they're an apostle, one of two things is true.
31:16: They're either delusional or they're dishonest. There's no need for signs and wonders.
31:23: We have the finished word of God, which is sufficient. It's everything we need pertaining to life and godliness.
31:32: Also, sacrificial giving. Sacrificial giving, verse 44.
31:39: They were selfless. And all who believed were together. They had that fellowship, that togetherness, and had all things in common.
31:49: Now, how many times has an unbeliever pulled this out on you, this verse, and said, Well, see? You know, it's just like the rich young ruler.
31:56: You've got to sell all that you have and give it to the poor. That's what this says. All who believed were together, and they had all things in common.
32:02: Right? They were just pooling everything. This is socialism at its best, at its finest.
32:08: All Christians, all good Christians, are socialists. And it's like what I was saying in the beginning.
32:14: This is proof texting. Proof texting.
32:19: There is a unity, and it was extraordinary, and they had love for one another.
32:26: But they didn't put everything in a great big pile, and we're going to see that in a moment here. They cared for one another. Look at verse 45.
32:34: And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need.
32:40: Here's the key. The individuals in the church were free to keep their property.
32:45: And we'll see it with Ananias and Sapphira. He says, you know, while it was yours, weren't you free to do whatever you wanted with it?
32:51: And the answer is yes. There was no compulsion. There was no rush to sell everything and put all the money in, you know, communal property.
33:01: But notice. When any had need. When anybody in the church had a need, the church rallied.
33:09: People who had goods and property sold them and gave the proceeds to those who had a need.
33:18: Reminded me of Galatians 6 verse 10. So then as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
33:26: Look, you're more than welcome to give money to unbelievers. But there's to be a priority to those who are of the household of faith, our brothers and sisters in Christ.
33:38: So we've seen so far awe, signs and wonders, sacrificial giving. Fourth response is evangelism.
33:46: Evangelism. Look at verse 46. And day by day attending the temple together. Now that might seem an odd thing, right?
33:53: That they would go to the Jewish temple. But the early church there in Jerusalem.
34:00: I mean, what a joy it would be to go to the temple. How many have been to the temple or Temple Mount? I mean, it's not quite as cool right now because you got the
34:08: Dome of the Rock over there. But I don't want to really talk about the Dome of the Rock. But that whole area is just, it's so wonderful to be there.
34:16: Can you imagine being there in that time? And even as a new believer thinking, you know what?
34:23: I didn't believe Jesus when he taught in the temple. But when I go there, I can remember him being there.
34:29: It's like, it just brings back memories that now are precious to me.
34:38: But the believers then saw themselves really as kind of, as a friend of mine used to say, completed
34:44: Jews, right? They had waited for the Messiah. The Messiah had come. And now they trusted him.
34:51: They believed in him. And at this point, too, they weren't being persecuted by the
34:56: Jewish authorities. It was coming. Wasn't far away. But for now, they were free to go up and worship in the temple and speak of Jesus, the
35:04: Messiah. Imagine hundreds of Christians going to the temple.
35:11: I think that would make quite a scene there. So evangelism, they did that.
35:16: That's why they went, was to witness to other Jews about Jesus Christ.
35:22: And E, fellowship and praise. Look, verse 46. And breaking bread in their homes, different than the other.
35:30: I won't go through the Greek here, but different from the other breaking of bread. This is just meals in homes.
35:39: They received their food with glad and generous hearts. They weren't just having communion frequently. They were getting together in each other's homes and praising the
35:47: Lord together. Like good Baptists should. They were also praising the
35:53: Lord. Look at verse 47. Praising God and having favor with all the people.
36:00: Just praising Him for what? For life, for food, for fellowship, for just the joy of being in this tight -knit
36:08: Christian community. I thought about it and I'm like, you know, if we just go from Pentecost and we just kind of move forward here, what do we see?
36:17: And I think we see really the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Listen to Galatians 5, verses 22 to 25.
36:25: But the fruit of the Spirit, in other words, what the Spirit produces. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self -control against such things.
36:38: There is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
36:45: If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. These folks weren't perfect.
36:53: They were forgiven, right? That old saw there. But if there was ever a group keeping in step with the
37:01: Spirit, I think it was this church at this time. Just functioning in such a high way because they were just so excited.
37:12: What's the result of this? You know, of all their devotion and of the Holy Spirit working.
37:18: What's new believers? Look at verse 47 as Jesus builds his church.
37:25: And the Lord added to their number. And it's clear here because Luke didn't make, he wasn't used, this isn't an accident.
37:35: Of course, he's inspired by the Holy Spirit. But he's very particular in his Greek. And he says the
37:41: Lord here. Why? Because he wants us to understand that Jesus himself was building the church.
37:48: Otherwise, Luke would say God. He wanted to understand that Jesus was fulfilling his promise to build the church.
37:56: The Lord added to their number. And they had steady growth. Again, in verse 47.
38:02: Day by day, those who were being saved. As this church was growing together and rejoicing together, it was going about the normal business of Christianity.
38:13: Preaching forgiveness of sins and the finished work of Jesus Christ. His life, his death, his burial, his resurrection, right?
38:22: Every day, some were coming to faith. And note well, it says that they were being saved.
38:27: It's passive. God always and ever goes first. He moves first because sinners can't.
38:40: Listen to what Water says again. He says being a Christian is not a private, solitary life lived in isolation from other professing
38:50: Christians. That's not how it's meant to be. Being a Christian means formally identifying oneself with the people of God.
38:59: Committing to the reverent and joyful worship of the Lord alongside them. And committing to the hard work of building godly relationships with them.
39:07: That's what it means to come in a community. That's what it means to join a church. As my old professor used to say, the lone wolf is the dead wolf.
39:16: Why would he say that? Because wolves hunt in packs. Their strength in numbers.
39:24: Wolves belong in packs and Christians belong not in packs. In churches, people say, well,
39:33: I don't really have to belong to a church. I don't know what to tell you except for the whole message of the
39:38: New Testament is you need to belong to a church. We each as believers have the
39:46: Holy Spirit. He empowers us to tell sinners how they can be saved from the wrath of God.
39:52: And the only way they can be saved from the wrath of God is by the finished work of Jesus Christ.
39:58: His life, His death, His resurrection. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word.
40:07: We thank you for the way it works in the lives of people. We think even as we listen today to these four young ladies being convicted, each of them having their own situations, but being convicted of their sinfulness, knowing that they could not save themselves, being in various states of distress and just hopelessness.
40:35: But you are a God of great grace and love and compassion.
40:41: Yes, the standard is perfection. But thanks to you, that perfection has been met by the
40:50: Lord Jesus Christ. And Father, I just pray for anyone here who does not know them. They might be in awe of the perfections of Jesus Christ.
41:02: That they might come to know Him. That your spirit would so move in them that they would be convicted and converted.