A powerful Church
43. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
44. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,
45. and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
46. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
47. praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
A Powerful Church
Acts 2:43-47
I believe, and I am sure that the one thing that the church of today is missing is power. Power can be misused and abused but also when it is used in the right way, power can make every church productive in her quest to get the Word of God out to those who don’t know Him.
Some of the things that we are trying to content with today can be prayed out of the Church if we only had that power that we need. Jesus said Himself, “Greater works shall we do, because He was going away to the Father”. Each of us here this morning ought to possess the same power that Jesus possessed.
When trouble comes, we ought to have the power to pray through out troubles. When the winds of division blow, we can pray ourselves into that calm fellowship. When the sea of controversy is raging, we can step our on our faith and proclaim peace be still. When one falls, the entire congregation will have the power to reach down and lift him up.
I’m convinced today that if we had the power that we needed as a church, we could wean the alcoholic off his favorite drink.
I’m convinced that we could dry out that drug addict off his favorite addiction.
I’m convinced that we could release the prostitutes off their favorites desires.
The church today needs power. Power that is built on prayer. Power that is built on Jesus Christ who is that Chief Cornerstone. We need to look as see what was it that gave this church such tremendous power.
Their Respect of God
The first thing that you will see of this church is that they had respect for what God was doing. If you will notice in verse 13, it says that these people mocked them and said that they were full of cheap wine. But the power that the Holy Spirit brought into the church brought them to silence. It caused them to reverence and to be in awe.
Here in verse 43 it says, “And fear came upon every soul”. Now this means that now only did it come upon those who were now in the church, but it came upon all of Jerusalem. The scripture says, “Every soul”. See, these people was witnessing miracles every time the church met. Daily they were seeing the power of God at work. Don’t you think for one minute that because we are not seeing miracle that they are not being performed today. God, through His Holy Spirit is still working today like He did in Acts.
They were looking at the signs and wonder that was being accomplished in the church and they wondered at the power of these Apostles. Today if we only allowed the Holy Spirit to rest upon us, we too can have the same power. Signs and wonders will be performed here in our own sanctuary. We can heal those who are sick. We can cast out demons from those who are possessed.
Today, I believe that if we had respect for what God was doing, our entire demeanor would change toward coming and participating in church. I wouldn’t have to beg any of you to come to church. You would make church your first priority. Some of this other stuff that you are putting in front of coming to church, that stuff would be put behind it.
We need to learn how to respect God. Can’t you look around you and see that things that God is doing. If nothing else, you ought to have respect for what God is doing in your life. These people respected what God was doing in the life of others, and we too ought to come to that point in our lives.
As I have said before, we have become a selfish generations. We don’t care about anyone but ourselves. We must learn how to get to the point where we care about all of God’s children. We need to care about the things that each one of us is going through. This will cause us to have a great respect for what God is doing.
Their Unity
Verse 44 says, “And all that believed were together, and had all things common”. I know that you are aware today that there is power in numbers. Where there is unity there is strength. Remember the prayer of agreement in Matt 18:19, “Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven”. There are some things that one person might can’t accomplish, but Jesus promised the believer that if two of you will agree on some things, God will honor their unity and grant them their desires.
When we speak of unity, we speak the condition of harmony. Unity and harmony speak of oneness. Whether we believe it or not, God wants us to be together. God wants us to have unity among ourselves, not all of this commotion. For God is not the author of confusion. If we will only come together, we will have power to move most of the problems that we are trying deal with alone.
This scripture says that they were together. They were often together in the same place for prayer and praise. One of the best means for strengthening the faith of young converts is for them often to meet together for prayer, conversation, and praise.
We need to come together today. A strong family is a family that is together. This church was able to enjoy this unity because of their warm affections for one another. They truly loved one another.
Today the reason why we can’t enjoy this unity is because of our lack of Faith in God, our worldliness, and our selfishness. These people sold their possessions. Nobody made them do it. NO one specified what they had to sell. This was of their free will and accord.
They sold their possession brought the money and laid it at the Apostle’s feet and he distributed it among the needy. They continued in this daily. They met in the temple daily. They broke bread daily. They visited from house to house, daily. They ate meat and fellowshipped with one another, daily. Their Christians faith was a day-to-day reality, not a once a week routine.
They praised God
The last thing that they done that brought power to their church was that they learn how to praise God. I heard somebody says, when praises goes up, blessings will come down.
Praise is a recommendation that we give to God.
If you have sickness in your body, I recommend Jesus.
He is a doctor that never lost a patient.
If you have a problem in your home,
I recommend Jesus
He is, the prince of peace.
If you are going through trials and tribulations,
I recommend Jesus.
He said in times of trouble, you can lean on me.
If you have a habit in your life, that you just can’t shake lose,
I recommend Jesus.
He said can’t all of your care upon me, for I care for you.
If you are lost and don’t have any hope,
I recommend Jesus. He went on a cross and died that you might live.