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Reading Acts 2:42-47 where we read about the first converts and what the early church looked like, and how we should aspire to that as well. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!
The early church was devoted to the apostolic teaching, they cared for one another as anyone had need, and they were thankful to God for all they had. Which is exactly the way we should be now, when we understand the text.
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Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes.
Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study of the Book of Acts, Chapter 2. Now we finished Peter's sermon at Pentecost, but we still have a small section here in verses 42 to 47 to close out the chapter, and here is what we read.
And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 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. And they were selling their possessions and belongings, and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people.
And the Lord added to their number, day by day, those who were being saved. And so we're given a glimpse here of what the early church looked like in the days immediately following Peter's sermon at Pentecost.
Remember what we read right at the end of that sermon in Acts 2, verse 41. It says, so those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about 3 ,000 souls. That was just from Peter's first sermon there at Pentecost, and like the hours he may have spent preaching there, until all had heard, were baptized, and this was the number that we have as a result, 3 ,000 people that became Christians that day.
That's the largest the church had ever been. Jesus never had that many followers. Now, you might contend with that statement by saying, well, wait a second, he fed the 5 ,000. So there were 5 ,000 people there.
That's more than 3 ,000, Gabe. Well, sure, but they were not followers of Jesus. They were there because they were expecting to see a miracle or they wanted to hear what this guy was all about, but they could not necessarily be called those who followed Jesus.
There were hundreds of followers at one point. We read in John 6, Jesus then turned around and said to those who were following him, that unless you eat of my flesh and drink of my blood, you cannot enter the kingdom of God, and those disciples who were following him turned away because they said, this is a difficult teaching.
Who can understand this? And of course, Jesus' reply to them was, this is why I said to you that no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. So there were certainly times in which large groups of people looked like they were following Jesus, but they probably had some selfish motive.
Maybe they wanted to hear what he was talking about, or most generally, they wanted to see some sort of miracle performed. There was a selfish intention behind the reason why they were following this guy.
But here at Pentecost with Peter's sermon and 3 ,000 souls are baptized that day, this is the largest group of followers that Jesus had ever had. And this is in fulfillment of what Jesus said to his disciples in the upper room.
In John 14, 12, you know this verse, you've heard it before. You've probably heard it misused, where Jesus said, truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do and greater works than these will he do because I am going to the Father.
How do you often hear that verse talked about? You often hear it referring to great miracles that we will do. We'll do the same miracles that Jesus did, and we'll do even greater miracles than he did.
Oh, yeah? Show me the person who has actually walked on water or has spoken to a storm and it immediately dissipated, or or transferred a boat from the middle of the Lake of Galilee to the other side.
You know, show me the person who's accomplished miracles such as these raising the dead. No, no, no, no. I mean, the apostles certainly did that, but that's not what Jesus was referring to. He was not referring to doing the same miracles that he did, but the same work that he did evangelizing and they would do even greater works of evangelism than Jesus did.
Jesus earthly ministry was only in the regions of Judea and Samaria, but the apostles are commissioned to now go to the ends of the earth. Even from this very first sermon that was preached at Pentecost, we have three thousand souls that turn from sin and become followers of Jesus Christ, fulfilling exactly what Jesus said to his disciples in John 14, 12.
Greater things than these will you do? They had never seen three thousand converts in a single day before. And this, of course, was by the work of the Holy Spirit. Now, having said that, though, that doesn't mean that the first church that therefore started in Jerusalem was three thousand people.
Because remember, and I mentioned this last week, those three thousand souls were dispersed all over the Roman Empire at the start of the the the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter two. And as the apostles go out into Jerusalem speaking in tongues, it mentions at the start of Acts all the different peoples that are represented there, the the places where they came from to celebrate Pentecost there at Jerusalem.
And so all twelve apostles were speaking the twelve languages that were represented by those dispersed Jews that had gathered back for this festival. So when they went back to their respective homes, they planted churches there and one of them was in Rome.
I've mentioned that to you before. That was how the church in Rome got started. But there were not three thousand Christians in Jerusalem that therefore started a megachurch. If you walked into a church with three thousand congregants in it, you would call that a megachurch.
That's not what was going on in Jerusalem. Nevertheless, we do have an indication or an understanding that there were a lot of people because it says that they went to the temple and that there were more and more added day by day.
So the teaching of the gospel certainly continued there in Jerusalem, and that number did continue to grow, even though it may not have been three thousand people that were gathering there in the in the temple for this celebration.
Let's kind of break this down a little further as we come back to verse forty two, where it says they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
So what is it that is that is the authority over everything that is going on in the early church? It's the teaching and it's the teaching of those whom Christ had appointed to carry forth his word. The word of Christ is the authority over the church.
That's the way it's always been. The church is not the authority over this word. The word of Christ is the authority over the church. In the early church, we see the word of Christ was the authority, and that's what they were submitting to.
They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching. The apostles teaching was the word of Christ. What they taught was what Christ told them to say. And so that's what they're teaching the church. That's what's growing and sanctifying the church of God.
They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship to that gathering, that body of believers. That was their first love. We we love members of our own family more than we love people who are outside our family.
Right. You do more for your own family than you're going to help a stranger. Well, this was the case with the church. It's the way that we should be as well. We show first importance to those whom we are fellow brothers and sisters with.
And then, as the apostle Paul says in Galatians chapter six, as we have opportunity, we also show charity to others. But you're going to take care of your family first before you take care of others. And that's what's being demonstrated here.
The people were devoted first to this new family that they had become part of. They were no longer separated from God, having rebelled against him or having broken his law. But through the hearing of the gospel and turning from sin and their self-righteousness, seeking the repentance of God through faith in Jesus Christ, they were adopted into his family and became children of God.
This is that fellowship, the fellowship of the saints, those who are being made holy in the sight of God. So they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching. And that was the fellowship that was devoted to that teaching the church.
They were devoted to the breaking of bread and the prayers, breaking of bread in what way? Well, it was the practicing of the Lord's Supper. So as the apostles were instructed by Jesus, do this in remembrance of me as often as you eat this bread and drink of this cup.
So that's what they practiced with the church, with regularity. Anytime they gathered together, they would break bread, they would drink of the cup and they would remember the sacrifice of the Lord through this ordinance of communion.
I think that you could also read into that and understanding that they shared meals together. I'm a Baptist. So, of course, I think that that's a that's a great thing for believers to be doing with one another, sharing fellowship together at the same table.
I think that there is a a showing of friendship whenever we get together and eat and converse, having a good meal. So there's probably some of that going on as well. They're devoted to the breaking of bread and prayers, praying together, interceding for one another, being thankful for each other, supplications, all the different kinds of prayers that we have described for us in the scriptures.
This is what Christians were doing together in that early church. Verse forty three and all came upon every soul. I love that statement before we go on. Many wonders and signs are being done through the apostles.
Sure. OK, but but all came upon every soul. It doesn't mean that the people were in all because of these signs and wonders that the apostles were doing. It means that they were in all because of the majesty of God and his love and affection for us, that he had done through his son, Jesus, and the love that Jesus showed for us when he died on the cross for our sins, it filled them with all they were in wonder of God and the love that he has for us.
Have you ever just been in all like that? You're not demanding miracles and signs and wonders. You're just in all of God for who he is and what he has done for you. Or are you still asking for burning bush type signs in your water to turn to wine?
This was something I I went through actually when I was about 18, 19 years old. I thought, you know what, my faith would just be a whole lot stronger if God would just do a miracle for me. But that's not the kind of all that we're supposed to have.
And the apostle Paul even praised for the church in Ephesus in Ephesians, chapter three, that they would have an awe for the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge, that it would just it would marvel them what Christ has done for us and how everything that we grow in regarding our understanding of God and his works laid out for us in scripture, his will revealed would mature us in our worship of our Lord God.
And so this is the kind of awe that that early church had of the things that had been done for us in Christ. And as they heard the apostles teach, they marveled at it all the more. And what would be the apostles teaching?
Like, what would they be saying to the early church? They would be going through the Old Testament and showing how Christ was the fulfillment of all of that. All of this had been foreordained and predestined by the sovereign plan of God.
And that's what they marveled and awed at. Now, what the apostles taught would eventually be laid down in the gospels that we have Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. This is exactly what the apostles would have been teaching in the early church, just even in those first few days that the that the church was starting up.
They were preaching exactly what we see in the gospels. And there was even some things that they were teaching that we would find later on in the epistles as well. So they give the sense, the understanding, the relevance to what we read in the gospel accounts, the life of Jesus Christ, what he accomplished through his death and his resurrection.
Some of the deeper theological doctrinal elements is what we read about in the epistles. They would have been teaching some of that as well. So all of the the history regarding what Christ had done, which wasn't like distant history, it was just, you know, weeks ago, all the history regarding what Jesus did but then also the history going all the way back into the Old Testament prophets and how all of these things had been foreshadowing what Christ was going to do.
This was marvelous in the ears of those who came to church and were devoted to the apostles teaching. And then also many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. There was also that. And of course, we know that the signs, the giftedness that the apostles received to perform these miraculous works, this was being done to confirm that the message that they preached came not from themselves, but it came from God.
Hebrews chapter two, verse two, for since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just distribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?
It was declared at first by the Lord and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
These things were done to affirm that the word that the apostles preached was the word of Christ, not the word of man, but the word of God. This this this sparked awe in every soul, many wonders and signs being done through the apostles and all who believed were together and they had all things in common and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need.
Now, that verse in particular, really versus forty four and forty five together. These verses have been used to say that the early church was communist or at the very least socialist, like they they didn't have wealth and possessions and things like that.
They gave away all they had so that anyone who had need they would receive. Everybody shared everything with everyone. See socialism. The early church was socialist. No, socialism is not freely giving.
It's forcefully taking. It's when the government comes in and decides that they are going to be the distributors of wealth and they decide how much a person should have. And this person over here deserves to have a little bit of yours.
And so the government allocates out the things that a person has rightfully earned. They have worked for these things. They have bought them. They possess them. And then here comes the government, comes in, takes them, distributes them to somebody else.
That's called theft. That is not called freely giving. What the Bible has called us to do is to freely give, not to have a system where somebody takes from one and gives to another, but that we would give with a cheerful heart.
Second Corinthians chapter eight, verse eight, Paul says, I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love is also genuine. For you know that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor so that you by his poverty might become rich.
And we read the following in Second Corinthians chapter nine, verses six and seven. The point is this. Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver. And socialism is not freely giving. It is forcing someone to. Well, it's not even forcing someone to have to give.
It's really coming and just taking it from them like, yeah, we know what's good for people here. You can have this much, even though you earn more and we're going to take what you earn and we're going to distribute it to somebody else.
That's socialism. That's communism. That's not the early church. The early church delighted to share what they had with one another, distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. Whoever needs received.
This was love so that people could take care of one another. If we develop a system of socialism or communism, then a person has less to be able to benefit somebody else. But if we have a more capitalistic society, not to say that capitalism doesn't have its downfalls, but capitalism at least allows a person to keep what they earn so that now they have the freedom to decide how much they can distribute to somebody else.
The more the government takes away from them, the less that they're going to have to benefit somebody with a cheerful heart. So here in the early church, people were distributing what they had to care for one another and day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes.
They received their food with glad and generous hearts so they would even gather together in the temple to do their church services. The Herodian temple covered a surface area of one and a half million square feet.
I mean, this was this was a massive plot. It was the biggest that the temple had ever built, had ever been even larger than what Solomon had built. And so it was a massive location and so a good place for the church to be able to gather.
It would have been an open air gathering of the church. So the apostles preaching there would not only preach to the church, but then others who were passing by or wondered what all the commotion was would likewise stop and listen.
And maybe it was even through this that the Holy Spirit was working to add souls to their midst. So they attended to the temple together. They broke bread in their homes. This was the hospitality, the fellowship that they enjoyed with one another.
And they received their food with glad and generous hearts. They did not complain about what they did not have, but they were grateful to God for everything they did have, praising God and having favor with all the people.
There wasn't any prejudice among them. And the Lord added to their number day by day, those who were being saved, the church that just continued to grow and grow because of the ministry of the Holy Spirit through the teaching of the gospel.
So we finished up chapter two and then we'll jump into chapter three and start reading more specifically about some of those miracles that the apostles performed in the early days of the church. This section that we were reading here is not just limited to those days immediately following Peter's preaching at Pentecost, for it was exactly the way that the church was for those first years that the gospel was going out into the world and those who heard it turning from sin, believing in Christ, became part of that fellowship under the teaching of the apostles.
Let us pray. Our heavenly father, we thank you so much for your word and it is your word that is our authority. Your word is authority over everyone, whether they acknowledge it is their authority or not.
And so I pray that as we go out with the gospel, there would be souls that would submit to that authority. They would be cut to the heart over their sin. They would recognize the authority of the word of God and they would submit to it and obey it because of a transformation, the regeneration that happens in their hearts by the Holy Spirit.
May we be patient with one another, devoted to the fellowship, building each other up, loving one another as Christ has loved us. And we pray this in Jesus name.
Amen. Thank you for listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. If you'd like to support this ministry, visit our website www .wutt .com and click on the gift tab in the top right corner of the page.
Join us again tomorrow as we continue our Bible study when we understand the text.