Sunday, January 22, 2023 AM

Let's go to the Lord together in prayer. Heavenly Father, I thank you for gathering us today.

I pray that you would help us as we read your word together and think about what it means and consider your everlasting, perfect, authoritative words in light of our

Savior and Sovereign Jesus Christ. I pray that you would help us. I pray that by your grace there be a warm amen in our hearts to the truth that is revealed here in your word.

By your word and through the power of your resurrected Son and the gift of your

Holy Spirit that you would have your way in us, that you would shape us and form us and conform us to the image of your

Son, Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, our King. We pray these things in his name.

Amen. Well, I invite you to open your

Bibles and turn with me to Acts chapter 4. We'll be in Acts chapter 4 and reading the very last portion of the text.

Acts 4, beginning in verse 32 through verse 37. The title of this sermon is one that anticipates the following passages in Acts chapter 5, all the way through verse 16.

We're going to consider what goes on in the house of the Lord. What goes on in the house of the

Lord. Now, as you read this passage for yourself, you're going to see that there's not a whole lot of architecture.

There's not a lot of description about what is hung on the walls or the shape of the roof or any such thing.

But that this passage is going to focus on people. People who are in Christ.

People who know Jesus. People who believe in his name. A multitude of those who believe upon Christ.

But this is indeed the Lord's house. The Lord's house is made up of people.

Last week, as we were considering this fact, we read and referenced several passages in the

Bible that talked about a living temple. A temple made up of living stones.

A temple of people who are built together upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets who are aligned to the cornerstone who is

Christ. And all things being built up into him who is the capstone. It is Christ. We were considering the truth of the new covenant temple because there had just been a temple showdown in chapters 3 and 4 of Acts.

Peter and John go to the old covenant temple up there on the hill. And they find it as fruitless as their master had found.

But they preached Christ. They preached the resurrection in Jesus. A man who was born lame got healed.

Not only did he get healed, he got saved. And many, many other people came to faith in this

Jesus of Nazareth, crucified and risen again, reigning as the true king.

Peter and John were threatened, arrested, and then threatened by the Sanhedrin. They were said, you may no longer speak or teach in this name.

And then they came back to their brothers and sisters in Christ and they told them what happened.

And they prayed together, recognizing God's purpose as being accomplished in Christ.

He's the king established on Mount Zion. They prayed for help. Oh, they needed help. They need boldness.

They need courage. They need clarity as they continue to preach and teach in the name of Jesus no matter what. That was what they were called to do.

Jesus, after He rose from the dead, said, He told them that repentance and remission of sins must be preached among all nations beginning at Jerusalem.

And they were His witnesses that they were to preach from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the uttermost parts of the earth, the person and work of Jesus Christ.

The gospel must be spread. And He said, go, and then He said, wait. Before you go, you wait in Jerusalem for power from on high and the

Holy Spirit will come upon you. That signature blessing of the new covenant, the

Holy Spirit, He will come upon you and then you will be empowered to go and preach in my name.

And so on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit arrived in force, in power, in amazing signs and wonders.

And to the skeptics and to the confused, Peter began to preach and he picks up the passage of Joel 2 and says, this was to fulfill what the prophet

Joel spoke of at the new covenant. Welcome to the new covenant and welcome to the last days of the old covenant. The days are numbered.

So it's unsurprising that there would be a face -off, a showdown, a conflict at the old covenant temple when they were preaching.

But the church gathers and they pray and in verse 31 of Acts 4, we were told that when they prayed,

God answered their prayer and the place where they were was shaken, shaken. This harkens back to the promise of Haggai chapter 2 where God says

His new covenant temple would be far superior, far more glorious and the nations would come into it. He would shake things up and bring the nations into His new covenant temple.

Silver and gold, Peter and John had none. Haggai 2 says that silver and gold belonged to the

Lord. And the new temple is underway, under construction.

And that is why in light of what has happened so far in Acts chapters 1 -4, that the following passage is all about what goes on in the house of the

Lord. How does the son of David build the house of the Lord? How does

Jesus Christ build the temple? How does He construct it? How is it operated?

That matters a great deal to us and we'll talk about how that is. I invite you to stand with me now as you read the word.

Acts chapter 4 beginning in verse 32 through verse 37. This is the word of our

Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by His Holy Spirit through His servant Luke. Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul.

Neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.

And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.

Nor was there anyone among them who lacked. For all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles' feet, and they distributed to each as anyone had need.

And Joseph, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles, which is translated son of encouragement, a

Levite of this country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet.

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. Quite a few years ago,

I don't remember where exactly I was at a conference somewhere, and there was a brother in Christ from Australia, who in his own peculiar way, reminded everybody, especially his dear brothers and sisters in America, that we needed to be more careful and more accurate in the way that we talked about the structures in which we meet.

He said, I don't understand the way you talk about your church buildings. I don't understand why you have little signs inside your buildings, one of which will say, sanctuary.

Our sanctuary, he said, is not on this earth. Our sanctuary is in heaven.

Christ is in heaven. We are seated with Christ in the heavenly places, Paul says. We have an anchor that enters in beyond the veil into the very holy of holies.

The place where we meet with God, and are reconciled to God, and welcome to God's very face, is in Christ, and Christ is at the right hand of the

Father. Our sanctuary is in heaven. He said all of that, and then he kind of pointed to the structure around us, and he said, this, this is a rain shelter.

This is a rain shelter. So kids, no running in the rain shelter. You might run into one of our saints and send them on the early train to heaven.

We're to love one another. We are generous towards one another. The church has always had property held in common for the purpose of the kingdom and spreading the gospel.

And we gather here for important purposes, but aren't you glad that we do not take a weekly pilgrimage to come to a holy place where we meet with God, but our sanctuary is in heaven, where we have a high priest who doesn't do his job one day out of the week, but we have a high priest who unfailingly, unceasingly, makes intercession for us.

It matters how we talk about the house of the Lord. It matters how we talk about the temple, the new covenant temple.

It matters how we talk about these things, for they are a major theme throughout the scripture.

They are meant for our encouragement, for our instruction. They are meant to be applied in our lives.

The house that Christ builds, the house that Christ builds and protects, and sanctifies, and beautifies, and glorifies is the church.

And what He builds, Hades will not prevail against it. Now, as we look at what goes on in the house of the

Lord, here in verses 32 -37, we find that there is love in the house of the

Lord. Love in the house of the Lord. That is the theme of these verses, and indeed, it's just the theme.

It's just the theme, isn't it? Now, by these three, faith, hope, and love.

But the greatest of these is love. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples, by the love that you have for one another.

A new commandment I give to you, as I have loved you, so you are to love one another. For God so loved the world that He gave

His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. In this is love, not that we loved

God, but that God loved us, and gave His Son as a propitiation for our sins. Love, dear brothers and sisters, is the theme.

And we see love here in this passage. Let's talk about the love in the house of the

Lord. First of all, it is patterned. It is patterned by Christ. Look at verse 32.

Now, the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul. Neither did anyone say that any other things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.

Now, first of all, we have the church, both defined and characterized. It is defined, notice, the multitude of those who believed.

The multitude of those who believed. Oh, there were so many of them at some point, they stopped counting how many were coming to faith in Jesus Christ.

But it's those who believed. Those who believed in the person and work of Jesus. Those who called upon His name.

That was the definition of the church. Those who believed upon His name, indeed, were welcomed to the group, welcomed to the multitude.

Indeed, they were baptized. Indeed, they fellowshiped together. But what set them apart was the grace of God so evident in their lives that they believed in Jesus Christ.

This is the definition of the church. There's a multitude of them. There's so many of them, and some of them had a lot of resources, and some of them didn't have hardly anything at all.

Some of them were ill -educated, and some of them were not educated at all. Some of them were locals who grew up in Jerusalem and Judea.

Some of them came from far in the empire. They were a multitude.

But notice, the one thing they all had in common was this. They believed.

They believed. Now, you may be, on paper, connected to some religious organization.

On paper, you may be a member of a church somewhere. You may have

Christian friends and Christian family members and often enjoy their warm hospitality and their prayers and their loving influence in your life.

You may have spiritual experiences. You may have spiritual thoughts and desires and affections.

But you're not a member of Christ's church unless you call upon the name of the Lord, unless you believe in Him.

Have you believed in Christ? Are you part of the great multitude? Indeed, that great multitude that is still growing, a multitude which no man can count, a great vast sea of men, women, and children from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation who have called upon the name of the

Lord, who believe in Jesus Christ, are you part of that multitude? Do you believe in Christ? Have you hung everything, every last single hope that you have upon the single nail of Jesus Christ, His person and work?

Do you know Him to be God of very God and man of very man, born for us and for our salvation, live the perfect life before God, satisfying all of His righteous requirements?

He died upon the cross as the Lamb of God, suffering in our place and for our sake, the very wrath and justice of God that we truly deserve in hell for all of eternity, but He rose from the dead the third day to be our living intercessor, to bring us before God, His righteousness in our place,

His name over us, that we may be right in the sight of God, and that He reigns even now, and all enemies shall be put as a footstool for His feet, and He will return truly and bodily in victory.

Is this Jesus the one whom you have hung all of your hopes on? Do you believe on Him? Have you made a pile of all of your bad deeds and a pile of all of your good deeds and forsaken them all for Christ and Christ alone?

If you are, then you are of the multitude of those who believed. You are of the church, you are of Christ's body.

Indeed, you are a living stone placed by the master carpenter in the exact spot that he wants in his temple.

Do you believe? Notice the unity, the character, the love that we see here, the multitude of those believed who were of one heart and one soul.

There was one heart and soul in the multitude of those who believed. This is a remarkable harmony in thought and affection.

A remarkable unity of heart, of thought, of soul, of affection.

So much so, here's a particular example of how much unity there was, how much love there was in this church.

Notice the example. Neither did anyone, not even one of them said that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.

So they refused to say of what they possessed, mine, my own, my precious.

Not one of them said that. They didn't make a big deal about it. Of course, they owned what they owned, but they didn't go around saying, what

I own is mine, my own. For me, they, in a remarkable, grace -filled, loving unity, understood themselves, as we saw from verse 29, they were slaves of their

Lord Jesus. What they possessed, they were merely stewards of to be used for his glory, at his pleasure, whenever he wanted it.

And they're involved in a project here, one in which they are investing in the beautification and the building, the construction and expansion of the new covenant temple.

That's what they're invested in. Christ is the one who builds the church. He builds it through the preaching of the gospel.

That's what they've prayed for power to do. And now, there are needs within their body, and they are going to be generous and loving and kind to one another.

Where did this love come from? Where did this love come from? This love is one that is patterned by Christ.

It is patterned by Christ. See, well, verse 32, it never says anything about love.

You know, just that they were together, just that they had one heart, one soul, just that they were kind and generous to one another.

It doesn't say they actually loved each other. Okay, that's fair. But how do we know that that's what love is?

When we read the verse, we recognize it, say, wow, look at that love. I don't have to have the word there to know that that's love, but how do

I know that that's love? Because that was patterned by Christ.

1 John 3, 16, By this we know love, that he lay down his life for us, so we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

We see that love is a righteous and sacrificial devotion. I am devoted to you, to your good, in the right way as defined by the scriptures.

And I am so devoted to your good in the right way that I am willing to follow through on that even if it costs me.

That's love. And that's what was defined by Jesus Christ for us upon the cross.

This love was modeled, patterned, defined by Christ.

Consider Philippians chapter two. I think we're gonna hear a lot of similarities between Acts chapter four, our passage, and Philippians chapter two, beginning in verse one.

Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, also could be translated encouragement.

This is Barnabas' nickname, by the way. Son of consolation, son of encouragement.

Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the

Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like -minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

Does that sound familiar? Sounds like the church in Acts four. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself.

Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also the interests of others.

Wasn't that what they were doing with what they possessed? I'm not going to make what I possess primarily about me.

I'm going to think of others as better than myself. Look at this matrix of Christian ethics.

Where does this come from? How can we possibly receive this? Verse five, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

This whole way of thinking, this whole way of evaluation, this whole way of acting, this mind must be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, God of very

God, the second person of the Godhead, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God.

It was no different. He is God all the way through, but, verse seven, made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death on the cross.

And so having fulfilled all the righteousness that God ever required, it all being finished,

God exalted him to his right hand to receive a name, which is above every name, and now he is

King of kings and Lord of lords. He reigns even today. So you see how the love was patterned by Christ.

He did not prioritize what was rightfully his own, his glory, his prerogatives, but he humbled himself and served others.

The son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

So the love that we see in the life of the church expressed by this particular example of generosity, and of course, love is much broader than that, but we see that this love has been patterned by Christ.

Secondly, it's powerful for the gospel. It's patterned by Christ and it's powerful for the gospel.

Verse 33, and with great power, the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all.

What did the Sanhedrin threateningly threaten with threats, these apostles anyway,

John and Peter? Well, what could they threaten them with? Hardship. We'll take away this and we'll take away that.

We'll bring this problem into your life and that problem. You won't be able to make it, except for the fact that the church, the multitude of those who believed, were of one heart and one soul and they were filled with the love of Christ.

So just try your hardship approach, Sanhedrin. They're going to keep on preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And in the love of the multitude, there is an empowerment to the gospel.

The grace that God gives that we would love one another supports and advances the preaching of the gospel.

So we see what happens here in verse 33. With great power, the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the

Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all. Now this persecution that they just received, these threats that they just had handed down to them, this is exactly the kind of thing that can break a church apart.

The Sanhedrin represented the civil government for the Jews, everybody who lived in Jerusalem and Judea and so on.

They were the civil government and as all civil governments, they have religious commitments.

All civil governments have religious commitments, they all worship gods or the

God. And the Sanhedrin say to Peter and John, thou shalt not teach or preach in the name of Jesus.

And they say back, but God said thou shalt. Jesus said we are to go preach and teach in His name.

So that's what we're going to do. But the civil government has said what they've said and they said you can no longer preach and teach, you can no longer obey

Jesus and the things that He has called you to do, so what's going to happen in the church? Well, there's going to be three factions instantly.

There's the group's going to be like, yeah, come and take it. No, we're going to keep on doing what we're going to do.

Thank you very much. And there's going to be a group that says, well, you know, the civil government has spoken, so we best do what they say.

And then there's the group that says, well, there's probably, there's definitely some middle ground. And what potential there is for friction, for factions, for arguing, for being at one another, and yet, by the grace of God, there is unity and there is love.

And the gospel continues. It is not, the persecution has not detracted from the preaching of God's word at all, because there is unity and love in the church.

Of course, if we want a dead church, a useless church, a church that can't get anything done for the name of Christ, then all we have to do is be mean and stingy.

A mean and stingy church is dead in the water. A loving church is on the move for Christ. Consider the

Old Testament prophecy of Isaiah chapter two, and consider what place love has in the expansion of Christ's kingdom, in the building of Christ's temple.

Isaiah chapter two, verses two through four. Now, it shall come to pass in the latter days, the same ones that Daniel and Joel talked about.

Now, it shall come about in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, the same mountain that Daniel saw that was established in the days of the kings of the

Roman empire. This mountain, this kingdom, is established at the top of the mountains.

It shall be exalted above the hills, the Mount Zion, the Psalm 2 that this church just prayed through, that God has established his

Messiah upon his holy mountain, upon Mount Zion, a mountain that cannot be touched, according to Hebrews 12, an everlasting kingdom.

This mountain shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow to it, for Christ has died and shed his blood as the

Lamb of God for men, women, and children of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. Verse three, many people shall come and say, come, let us go to the mountain of the

Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths, right?

Out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life, and the fulfillment of the law, the very word of God in human flesh, reigns in new covenant

Jerusalem, and shows us how we're to live. The nations have been given to him as an inheritance, correct?

Verse four, he shall judge between the nations and rebuke many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. Who are the they?

Who is the they in verse four? The ones who came up in the mountain. And look, they're from all kinds of nations, but here they all are.

They have come to Christ, they have come to the church of the firstborn. They have come to Christ, they have come to Mount Zion.

They have come to Christ, they have come to the new covenant Jerusalem. This is all Galatians 4, Hebrews 12, and so forth.

So what happens when all these nations get together? Well, look, they came, and they had swords in their hands.

They came, and they had spears in their hands. Why? Because the nations be fighting. Fighting. All the time.

And countries pretending to be one nation that are actually three, they all start fighting each other. In civil wars.

The nations hate each other. The nations loathe each other. They can't stand the sight of each other.

They hate to hear each other speak in their native dialects. They can't stand each other's food. They're ready to kill one another, blaming one another for all of their problems, hatred and bitterness, filling the hearts of the nations.

And yet, when they come trekking up Mount Zion, saved by Christ, what happens?

What happens when Jew and Gentile enter up into the mountain? Well, what happens to those spears and those swords?

What happens when Turks and Armenians come up the mountain of God? What happens when the inner and inland and coastal tribes of Africa come up Mount Zion?

What happens when the Scotsman and the Irishman and the Englander come up Mount Zion?

What happens when colonists and natives come up Mount Zion?

What happens when the black man and the white man come up Mount Zion? All the reasons for war go away.

All the anger and hatred and the forging of new swords and new spears to be lashing out at one another, it all goes away.

What do they do with their swords? What do they do with their spears? They turn them into plowshares and pruning hooks. Why? Because there's a harvest.

There's a harvest to be had. We are to pray for laborers into the harvest and become arm in arm, hand in hand.

Doesn't matter if you're a Bosnian, Serbian, or whatever. You come together and you worship the same

God. The same Christ at peace with one another in the love that Christ provides. See, the love patterned by Christ is powerful for the

Gospel. It's how His word, how His kingdom spreads to all the nations.

What did He say in John 13? A new commandment that I give to you that you love one another. As I have loved you, you also love one another.

By this, all men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.

See, the love that is patterned by Christ, the love that is in the house of the Lord is powerful for the

Gospel, powerful for the construction of the temple. Notice as well that the love in the house of the

Lord is expressed in a particular generosity. Of course, the love in the house of the Lord is not restricted to generosity.

There's forgiveness. There's service. There's encouragement. There's holding one another accountable.

There's exhortation. There's faithfulness to each other. There's bearing one another's burdens.

There's all manner of expressions of love in the house of the Lord. But what is on display here in this text is that of generosity.

And I would have you notice that generosity is not justice. Generosity is love.

An expression of love. It's an expression of mercy and grace to one another. Now, the outcome of their gracious generosity is seen in verse 34.

Nor was there anyone among them who lacked. For all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold.

Now, those who were of the multitude who believed, some of them had more possessions than others and needs began to arise and the grammar indicates that as there was occasion, they would sell.

Their habit was to sell. Their their eager pattern was to sell the things that they possessed and then use the funds to bless one another within the community of faith.

The fact that this verse does not mean that everybody who was a property owner immediately sold everything that they had is made pretty clear by reading the rest of Acts.

For instance, in Acts chapter 8 when Saul of Tarsus begins to persecute the Christians it says he was dragging them out of their houses.

Right? In order to be dragged out of your house you still have to own your house. Just to so read the verses within the context of the verses.

But they were very generous. Not a one of them it says in the text. Not a single one of them was being selfish and partial to themselves.

Now this is there's a there's a generosity here that is among them. There was no one among them who lacked.

Among those who believed those who possessed property were selling it to bless those who were among them.

It's particular in the generosity. It's particular in the generosity.

Jesus says in John chapter 15 verses 11 through 13 these things I have spoken to you that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full.

This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this than to lay down one's life for his friends.

Now I want to compare the benevolent system of the new covenant temple on display here with the benevolence of the old covenant system on display in the

Gospels. How'd that work? In the old covenant system they had some benevolence running but it was the kind of benevolence that ended up also encouraging the widow who only had two mites left to her name to go ahead and give those to the temple so that we could put a little bit more shine on it.

They were in the middle of a decades long rebuilding refashioning beautifying project and every mite counts so widow with only two mites left you better give.

You know Jesus pointed out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees who were making her give her very last two cents by pointing out that they always gave some out of their abundance and they were always fine but this widow went home with nothing and then immediately after that said you see all these stones not one will be left upon the other it's all coming down.

That's what he thought about the old covenant temple benevolence system. Here in the new covenant temple none of them were lacking all those who needed had in the new covenant temple those who are hungry are going to get food those who are out of clothes are going to get clothes and those who are in need of shelter are going to get shelter when you're a member of a new covenant community like Sunnyside Baptist Church.

Why? Not because we have some really amazing system in place but because Christ has filled us with his

Holy Spirit and the love that is manifest is expressed in particular generosity

Now in Galatians chapter 6 in verse 2 we are told bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ the law of Christ is superior to the law of Moses not against it but superior why is that?

Well remember that the summation of the law can be said love your neighbor as yourself why? Because love does no harm to its neighbor and in fact when you read the

Ten Commandments and the Mosaic case laws you will find that indeed being a good neighbor and loving your neighbor as yourself in the old covenant really did follow that Hippocratic oath first do no harm right?

It's all about not harming your neighbor not doing anything in your own life that would bring harm to your neighbor but you know when

Christ came he said you have heard it said but I say to you and you know what he did? He took the basic principles of what love was revealed in the law of Moses and he cranked it all the way up and beyond and he said here's what my commandment is for you not negative law thou shalt not thou shalt not thou shalt not but here's something positive thou shalt greater love has no man than this than he lay down his life for his friends

I want you to love one another not in just simply doing no harm but hey go beyond that I want you to love one another as I have loved you and you know what?

Jesus didn't love us by simply standing back and making sure he did us no harm he loved us by coming and dying upon the cross suffering in our place for our sins and that's the kind of love that we are called to and it is particular is it not?

when we bear one another's burdens we fulfill the law of Christ more on that in verses 9 and 10 of Galatians 6 and let us not grow weary while doing good for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart therefore as we have opportunity now listen to this let us do good to all especially to those who are of the household of faith well that seems kind of exclusive why should we be so concerned about those who are of the household of the faith we should be compiling all of our money and giving it away to people who are not of the household of the faith that's not what the

Bible says yeah love your enemy pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you yes do good to all but especially especially put the focus on those who are of the household of faith why why well

Ephesians 2 19 -22 sheds some light on that now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and the members of the household of God Paul is writing to Gentiles and he says in the new covenant temple there is no wall separating the

Gentiles from the Jews there is no wall separating the undesirables from the desirables in the old covenant temple there was a wall and it said to the

Gentiles and the undesirables thus far and no further but in Christ's temple that he builds in the new covenant temple the dividing wall is cast down and so we are all members of one another of the household of God right we just talk about the household of faith the household of God now this term household is very flexible it can talk about the people who live in the same place it can also talk about the building in which they live and so he says verse 20

Ephesians 2 this household of God having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets

Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building being fitted together grows into a holy temple in the

Lord in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the spirit so why as we have opportunity do we do good especially to those who are of the household of the faith because we are a holy temple unto the

Lord being built by Christ I have a question for you back in Exodus when it became clear that God wanted his people to know that he dwelt among them he instructed them to build a tabernacle and through this tabernacle he said

I'm going to dwell among my people which is why when you get to John chapter 1 the word became flesh and tabernacled among us we beheld his glory the tabernacle when it was built eventually it was replaced by the temple but all the tabernacle elements were brought inside the temple the tabernacle was

God's house that he was going to live in among his people what got that building project started

Exodus 25 and Exodus 35 do you know what started off that building project to build the house of the

Lord free will offerings free will offerings generous giving from the people they all gave and gave and gave for that tabernacle to be built and now the old covenant having now become obsolete and ready to pass away the new covenant having come the new temple was in focus the new temple the new covenant temple is under construction and guess what is starting off this great big building project of Christ free will offerings generosity when we do good especially to those who are of the household of the faith we are investing in Christ's building project he is building a temple and we need to understand what it is we are involved with not only is it particular in generosity powerful for the gospel and patterned by Christ but the love that we are to have in the house of the

Lord is to be practical in action practical in action notice in verse 35 the things that they sold the monies they gained they laid them at the apostles feet and they distributed to each as anyone had need now that became such a big job that little bit later on the deacons were formed and the deacons took over that but notice what is happening when they are giving do you see that Barnabas Barnabas great example sells his land and he doesn't take the money and go around to the church saying well you look poor you look like you are in need you look like you are in hunger here you go from old

Barnaboo what does he do the pattern was they gave it to the apostles who were leading the church at that time in that place and so and they like well we know that this family needs and this family needs what are they doing they are obeying

Christ instructions in Matthew 6 when he described true piety in terms of giving and prayer and fasting in Matthew 6 verses 1 -4

Jesus says don't be like the Pharisees don't be like the old covenant temple system when they give you know what they do they blow trumpets and once everybody is looking at them they then take out their coin purse and grab some coins and start bling bling bling bling bling bling bling bling bling bling bling look at me look how amazing

I am Jesus says when you give do it for your heavenly father and don't let the right hand know what the left hand is doing and that's what's happening in this text they know they are in needs but when the people give a free will offering they give it to the leadership or some fashion some caretakers and then they take it and they give it to those who are in need and the left hand has no idea what the right hand is doing and God gets all the glory it's practical in action we have the definition of love from 1

John 3 .16 by this we know love that he laid down his life for us we also have to lay down our lives for the brethren now it continues let's listen to how practical this is verses 17 and 18 but whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart from him how does the love of God abide in him my little children let us not love in word or in tongue but in deed and in truth so the love had a practical concrete expression even as Christ's love did from the meals that we bring to one another in our times of need to the feasts that we enjoy together from the acts of service that we perform for each other throughout the week to the work days that we have here at our rain shelter from giving funds to giving time and talent what is all this?

Practical expressions of love in the name of Christ finally in the house of the

Lord the love is prophetic in its obedience and we when we obey in our expressions of love when we obey

Christ in the love that he has called us to it is nothing short of prophetic so Barnabas is selected for our attention very interesting

Joses a a version of Joseph was also named

Barnabas by the apostles Barnabas is an Aramaic name Bar meaning son Navas meaning prophet if he was if it was a

Hebrew name it would be Ben -Navi so it's very close Barnabas is a son of a prophet but the apostles say well you know what it really means is he's a son of encouragement he's a son of consolation son of consolation why is that?

well you know Barnabas he not only believed the prophets he believed that the promises were fulfilled and he had a consolation like that unto

Simeon he was consoled by the fulfillment of the prophecies in Christ he was encouraged by what had come to pass in Christ and so he lived out of that and was consoling and encouraging and comforting to others well

Joses who's named Barnabas he's a Levite of the country of Cyprus and look he has some land he sells it and he brought the money and laid it at the apostles feet you know the only problem with this story is that Leviticus Leviticus chapter 25 says

Levites aren't supposed to sell land uh oh uh oh

Barnabas what are you doing? Leviticus 2534 says Levites aren't supposed to sell their land and here is

Barnabas selling his land could it be that maybe because he's not under the old covenant anymore he's under the new covenant now and as a

Levite he's selling his land he's a son of encouragement a son of consolation he believes as son of the prophets that the promises have come to pass that Christ has come indeed he is consoled and he is encouraged it's very interesting when you go back and you read

Jeremiah chapters 31 through 33 chapter 31 and chapter 33 big time chapters about the promise of the new covenant to come very encouraging in the midst of a very discouraging book in chapter 32 right in the middle strange story

Jeremiah living in Jerusalem the final days before Babylon comes in and wipes everybody out

Jeremiah is instructed by God to buy some land from his cousin Jeremiah is from Anathoth a little town north of Jerusalem Jeremiah is from that Levitical city because he's a

Levite he is told to buy land from his cousin because the Lord says time will come even though you're going to be exiled that you're going to come back and properties will be bought and sold in this land again hope of the new covenant you're going to be brought back to this land and I will establish the new covenant in this place

God says so Jeremiah buys the land and the deed is sealed and sent off into exile with Jeremiah's servant as a sign of hope that again they will be brought back to the land and in that place

God will bring about the new covenant so Jeremiah a Levite a prophet Jeremiah the prophet a

Levite buys land in hopes of the new covenant coming the new covenant has now come marking the last days of the old covenant and so Barnabas the son of a prophet a

Levite sells his land because the new covenant has come not just Barnabas though all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them that's hard to fathom that's hard to fathom here are

Jews who own property in Canaan the promised land but you know what these

Jews believe these Jews believe that Jesus is the

Christ and so they give up their land in Canaan and use the proceeds to invest in the new

Jerusalem which cannot be shaken and that's a radical belief isn't it well it's not just prophetic for Jeremiah to buy land not just prophetic for Barnabas to sell land all in the name of hope and love it is prophetic for us our labor of love our love in the house of the

Lord what we do for one another in the house of the Lord and love is not in vain it's not in vain

Christ is risen He is risen indeed and so our labor is not in vain when we give in love to build

His temple it is done in hope for the gates of Hades shall not prevail against what

Christ is building and He will build it to the uttermost and it shall be finished in Him He is the cornerstone

He is the capstone and the temple is going to be built not by might not by power but by My Spirit says the

Lord I hope that you've noticed in verses 32 to 37 here in Acts 4 the

Christian triad of virtues faith the multitude of those who believed we are defined and shaped by faith in Christ love love is the theme love is the contents of everything happening in the life of this church but notice the hope why are they selling their land why are they selling their homes because they have hope they like Abraham are seeking a better city a better country one that Christ brings about our obedience is also in this hope our love for one another is also in this hope let's close with prayer

Father I thank You for the time that You've given us in Your Word Lord You make it clear that You build

Your house according to the love with which You have loved us

You've given Yourself to us and call us to the same that Your house may be built and operated to Your glory pray that You would give us the grace to love one another as You have loved us we pray these things in Christ's name