A hospital for sinners part 1

In the early church you know from its dramatic birth on the day of Pentecost to, you know, all the joyous Dynamic fellowship and explosive growth that the church has seen. That's pretty much been all he has talked about up till this point and even for this last part of Chapter 4 that is what he still talking about in the next week. We'll get into chapter 5 and we'll see how it starts to shift. You know, and we even see here in chapter 4 that, you know, Satan's attempt to try to. Stop the rapid growth of the church through pressure. Being applied to the leaders didn't work either.

But you know this picture that's been painted up to this point of the church really isn't a complete picture. Because we all know that no church is perfect. How can it be? You know, since all churches are made up of sinners, like Brian reminded us. We all are so there's no way for early any church to be entirely perfect. In the early church was no exception. You know, sometimes I think we can read through the book of Acts and think oh, that was the perfect Church. Well I'd imagine everyone would think that unless you talk to some people over coffee from the church and you would find out the real things going on, right? What's your Satan's? Purpose is always to oppose the work of God. Wherever God is at work, the enemy will be active. And we see this initial attack on the church where, you know, the Sanhedrin tries to tell the apostles to stop it. Stop preaching, in the Name of Christ. Stop doing all these things in his name but it doesn't work. In fact, we're told and asked for for that many who heard what the apostles were claiming believed. So the church continue to grow. So Satan's attempts at trying, to squash the church, actually just fan the flames and it continued to grow.

And his attempt at destroying the church also gave Peter and John the opportunity to preach the gospel to the Sanhedrin. Something they never would have had the opportunity without the persecution that he had brought upon them.

So the enemy who is the master of deception realized, he needed to change his tactics. Something had to change because all of his attempts up to this point had only strengthened their cause and helped them. So what could he do? Will Satan made the choice to infiltrate the church and to attack it from within with corruption. And throughout the centuries. Since then, it has been his most effective way of persecuting. The church is attacking it from within and attacking it and weakening it at its core.

In Acts 4:32 is where we're going to pick up today. Since all the Believers were one in heart and mind, no one claimed that any of their possessions was their own but they shared everything they had. With great power, the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God's grace was so powerful at work in the mall, that there were no needy persons among them. for from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, Brought the money.

From the sales and put it at the apostles feet. And it was distributed to anyone who had need Joseph, A levite from Cyprus whom the apostles called Barnabas, which means son of encouragement Soldier Field, he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles feet.

You know, the unity of the church is expressed with that phrase, you know, that they were of one heart and soul of one heart and mind. And I believe it was that Unity that people saw, that was such a powerful part of their testimony. And that Unity is reflected in their shared life, and You know, it was kind of a two-fold thing. The first thing is, is that they were preoccupied with the idea of ministering to each other.

I mean, think about it. They were so intent on meeting each other's needs. Did they actually put the needs of others above their own? So much so that they didn't have time to you, no concern themselves with just satisfying, their own desires.

No, they were modeling. What? They had seen from The Life of Christ where he was more focused on others and their needs than his own.

So they saw others as more important than themselves.

Are notes today. I decided to include a list of some of the one another passages in there. And I'm not going to run through all of those but I wanted them in there so you could look at them and see them and you look through them and which ones challenge you.

Do this. I dug into that idea of one. Another comes from a Greek word. Elian which means one another, each other mutually reciprocally and that was the whole idea here that it wasn't just a few people caring for everybody else. It was everybody caring about everybody else and that's what the difference was.

And if you look, you know, that just one Greek word actually, a curse in the New Testament 100 times. And 59 of those are specific ways of telling us. How to treat one another? And I've listed some of them here. It's not an exhaustive list, but it's there but I think we need to understand that. This is the real example that came out of the church and Acts. How they treated each other? How they treated other people. But it was based off of their Mutual treatment of each other within the body. So here's some of the positive commands and I've highlighted a few but you know, and that's how we should treat each other. Love one, another. That one itself occurs 16 times. Be devoted to one another. Honor one another above yourselves live in harmony with one another. build up one another accept one another.

Skipping down a few bear. One another's burdens.

I really like this one. This is what I think. It always gets people. Speak to one another with Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Now that doesn't mean we have to walk around singing to each other.

Cuz that would be scary. Sometimes let's admit it. What it is is that we can encourage each other with God's work. But the only way we're going to be able to do that and see if we're in God's word ourselves and it's God's word speaks to us. He'll use that to speak to others.

Pray for one another. Here's a biggie that no one likes, and I doubt very few of us. Practice is confess your faults to one another.

Maybe instead of Facebook, we should have fault book. And you just post how bad you are on it. That would be an interesting one.

Negative commands. How not? To treat one another.

Stop passing judgment on one another.

I like the way that this one's worded. It was the commentary I pulled it from I Love How You worded this does if you keep on biting and devouring each other. You'll be destroyed by each other. now my first image was of kindergarteners and siblings biting each other, but The sad thing is we do the same thing as a church sometimes to each other. We need to not be doing it. Stop fighting amongst ourselves is essentially what that says.

And you know, I'm reminded as I look at both of these lists that we do all this because we are in a real sense members of one another. It's the very last one listed there.

You know, were to act this way, not just to benefit ourselves, not just to benefit others but it benefits everyone. When we live this way. but you know as part of

the early church was that they were focused Beyond themselves to reaching the lost world with the truth of the Gospel.

You know that left them little time to bother with trivial personal matters or to argue about insignificant things if they were concerned about taking care of each other and they were concerned about making sure everyone heard about the gospel. a fairly simple model, but their Unity stem from the whole idea that they focused on the priorities that Jesus left them. Selflessly loving each other and reaching the lost world. That's what it's all about. As we're reminded in John 13:35 by this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.

I think the most attractive thing about the early church was the loving unselfish Unity of the early church. And it found its expression through what we read in our passes for today buy them sharing some of their material possessions.

You know, it says that not one of them claimed anything belonging to him was his own. It's really interesting. If you start looking at what people have to say about that there have been some to go so far as to say that passage of scripture supports the idea of living in a commune or even communism that we are to share everything.

But they use it for bad purposes. They take it to an extreme and that's can be done so easily, but all it is is that they understood that everything that they had belong to God. It wasn't really there's any way. and since they believe that since they understood that they realize that you know, anything's that they possessed really they were just being blessed by and allowed to use because of God's grace in their life. You know, it's kind of like they were holding it in trust for him. Until there was a use for it. So when they saw one of their brothers or sisters in need it wasn't a big deal to them to think o I need to give up this thing to help them. They didn't feel like they were sacrificing something of their own what they felt like was I'm simply using what God has given me. To help my fellow brother sister.

And you know, it seems like a tiny perspective shift, but really it's huge in the way that you see the world in the way that you see your possessions.

You know, they always say the easiest way to see what someone really loves or what is really their most important thing in their life is to look through their checkbook. But anymore I don't know how many people have the checkbook so you probably have to look at their bank statement online, but you know. We won't get into that.

It all boils down to the idea do people matter more than stuff. Or does your stuff get in your way of loving people? Because you have to be more concerned with maintaining off your stuff. You don't have the time to worry about people. The early church was marked by a willingness to sacrifice their stuff in order to help people in need.

People were what was most important to them? I mean just think of the number of opportunities you would get to share the gospel with people. with this kind of generosity with being willing to sacrifice whatever to help somebody else in need. Sometimes people they didn't even know.

It would give you huge opportunities cuz you know that extravagant display of care for others was what was such a powerful part of their testimony. The other people could see that they were willing to sacrifice whatever they needed to to be able to continue to share Christ to be able to support his work.

And you know Luke just uses this as a opportunity to specifically talk about one of the things that they would do that, you know, as some of these people were traveling with Jesus's disciples David have times when needs with her eyes. Well if they owned houses if they owned land they didn't care they would sell those in order to be able to keep following Jesus. Or to support others and being able to do that that matter to them more. And I mean if you think about that that is significant. you know selling houses and land that's for more sacrificial than the idea of just giving up a percentage of your income. Because when you're selling things like houses and land, you know, it means that you are liquidating some resources that might not be replaceable.

I mean if you sell the house that's been in your family for eight Generations.

You're not going to able to get that back most likely. If infant they were willing to do that. But you know when people were willing to do things like that. The amazing thing is that they didn't care that you know by most Financial people stand saver reducing their own personal security and stability. That wasn't where they're concerned light. Their concern was how could they keep supporting the church? How could they help others continue to pursue God? So it was a continuous way of life for those. Who had the means, who got it, blessed with other things to sell those things in order to support the work and they keep things going as need arose for those who needed it. They're just willing to do that. and that stands in sharp contrast to what we're going to see next week as we start into kind of the second half of this one and Acts chapter 5 verses 1 through 11 and where will look at ananias and Sapphira.

you know, we saw at the end of our passage for today, you know, when Barnabas came and laid all the money from his sale of property at the apostles feet, He gave it all to them.

All the beauty of that sacrificial selfless, giving is marred by the ugly sense of Deceit and self Glory, that will see, and talk more about next week.

you know, it reminds me of Mark, chapter 2 verses 16 and 17 where it says when the teachers of the law who were Pharisees, saw him eating with Sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? On hearing this, Jesus said to them, it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.

You know, the problem is the church is not meant to be a place for all of us to come and display how good we are.

That was what? The Church of the day was getting wrong. That was all that. So many of the scribes and the Pharisees in the Sanhedrin had become about was just to show that they could put on for others of how great and how righteous they were. That's not what church is supposed to be about. It's supposed to be a place for us to come and worship God among our family and friends. A place where we do not have to be afraid to show how much we need God. It's okay to come in here broken. It's okay to admit. You're not perfect. It's okay to be sad. It's okay to not be okay. We should feel that freedom within here. We shouldn't feel pressure to be perfect.

You know, I've always wanted and I guess if somebody has a cricket they can make the sticker for me. I've wanted a sticker to put on the door that says leave your shame at the door. It's not welcome here anymore. Just, I would love to have that on the entrance of the church somewhere. Because it's true. we don't want you to come in here feeling like I'm not good enough to be here, cuz none of us are We're only here by the grace of God and we need to do that. Cuz I mean, think about it, if we are truly loving each other, the way that scripture commands is to what we just saw and all of those one another's.

I mean, then our church will not be seen as a shrine to our own Holiness, but rather as a hospital for sinners. Which is what it is meant to be. It's a place where everyone can come and find rest a place where everyone can come and find the healing that they need.

Matthew chapter 11 verses 28 through. 30 says, come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for. I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

That's really what everyone needs.

And, you know, I think despite the fact that we might try to argue, we don't need that. We want to be self-sufficient. We want to show that we're strong.

Truth is everyone, wishes. They had a place where they could just be who they are.

Where it's okay when you walk in the door. And, you know, you could be missing an arm and half your left leg. But if someone ask you, how you are going to be, like, all I'm great. I had a good day. How about you?

We don't have to be that way. We can be honest, we can say it's been a rough week. I've had a rough day. I've had a bad day. I've had a horrible week. This last week was the worst week I've ever had in my life. You should feel the freedom to say that. Because if people know that this is a safe place to be that way. And that when they come in, when they say that people at me, like what you do.

Instead of saying know that the church is a place where they can express that and instead hear people say, how can I pray for you? How can I help

Would totally change the world's perception of the church. That's what made the early church. So attractive, that's what made it. So, radically different than the church. Everyone was used to up to that point. And next week we'll see the negative of it. In what happened but we'll see how God can use even the evil intentions of some for his good. Please bear with me in prayer.

Heavenly father as we come before you Lord, we thank you for the many blessings that you give us. Lord, we thank you that you give us opportunities to share with others. Those resources, you've blessed us with.

Lord will or thankful that you give us the opportunities to love other people, Lord, through the most difficult times in their life. Lord through the most joyous times in their life.

Lord mayor concern for others. In our concern. For sharing your gospel, be the two greatest desires in our heart. And we pray this all on your most holy name. Amen.