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Grace to you and peace from God the Father and Lord Jesus Christ. It is an honor to once more share the Word of God with the saints of Durbin Memorial Baptist Church.

When we study the Bible, we have to be careful to distinguish what is descriptive and what is prescriptive. That is to say we have to discern when the Bible is describing what happened verses when we are to emulate what we read.

Sometimes this is really easy. Let me give you some examples:

Judges 15:4–5 ESV

So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches. And he turned them tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails. And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to the stacked grain and the standing grain, as well as the olive orchards.

This is clearly descriptive. We don’t read the story of Samson and think that God is now telling us to tie together a bunch of foxes and torches and throw them out upon our enemies. There is a lot to learn from from the life of Samson, but that is not this.

Here’s another example:

Ephesians 5:15–17 ESV

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

This section of Scripture is full of imperatives and it is very clear that these are profitable commands for us to follow as believers. We should be wise with our time and our efforts, understanding that God has given us these lives to use for His glory and so we should seek to understand and accomplish His Will. That is just a simple short exposition but I hope that you get the point here this morning.

Now I want to take you to a more difficult example:

Judges 6:36–38 ESV

Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water.

If you are familiar with the story of Gideon, you know that Gideon’s search for clarity did not end here, he also asked for a wet fleece to be made dry and God did it.

So in this occasion, by the grace of God, Gideon had his doubts settled by the miraculous work of God. But when we look at this story from the perspective of the Bible as a whole, we shouldn’t take Gideon’s story as prescriptive of how we should handle our doubts. But believe it or not we often do, we sort of barter with God, like God show me this and then I’ll do that. Lord give me a bonus at work and then I’ll give a tithe to Your church. Lord give me a renewed relationship with my wife and then I’ll start reading my Bible. Lord you do this *WHATEVER THIS IS* and then I’ll believe in You or then I’ll follow You.

When we do this, God may even be gracious to give us the very sign that we ask for, but just like Gideon, we end up asking God for more. Gideon was given many signs. Yet he kept asking for more. I don’t want to spend too much time here as it is not the primary thrust of our message this morning, but the lesson for us in the story of Gideon is not to emulate him and put God to the test, but that we should be thankful that God works through feeble people. If you are looking for direction in your life, do not put the Lord your God to test, but instead let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, which is breathed out by God and profitable for your teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness that you may be complete and equipped for every good work. That is to say we can live confidently when whatever we do, in lord or deed, is done in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through Him and in accordance with the instruction given to us in the Word of God.

So I hope that you can see thus far this morning, the difference between a descriptive passage and a prescriptive passage. This is a concept that we must keep in our minds as we walk together through the final verses of Acts chapter 2.

Turn there now if you have not already. Understanding the difference between descriptive and prescriptive texts has already been beneficial to us in this series. We saw that the empowerment of the Holy Spirit described in Acts 2:2-4 was a special occurence while the normative experience or the prescription of the Holy Spirit, if you would, is given in Ephesians 5:18-21.

Today as we look at the final verses of Acts 2, we will be seeing a description of how the early church functions and seeking to draw from it principles that are prescribed for all churches. We will be drawing out four principles for our church to apply that are drawn from the description of the early church.

Let us begin in verse 42

Acts 2:42 ESV

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

So after 3000 souls were saved, baptized, and added into the fledgling Christian community, we now see how that played out in the day to day functioning of the body.

We can look at this passage first through the descriptive lens, what is it describing?

First we see that the new believers were devoted to the apostles teaching. On the surface, this has to be descriptive. Why? Because the Apostles, the original 12 have all gone on to be with the Lord. They have left the building so to speak. So we can’t have the same exact experience. Further, what is it exactly that the apostles were teaching? This was before the epistles were written, this is before even the gospels would be recorded. Well, in congruence with everything we’ve made it through thus far in the book of Acts we can be assured that they Apostles were teaching about the mighty works of God culminating in the life of Christ. They would have been walking through the Old Testament Scriptures showing how they point to Christ and preemptively reciting the quotes of Christ that would go on to be recorded in the gospels they would write in the decades to come. This was a special time for the early growth of the church. As we think about it, I’m sure that some of us would love to go back and join in on those classes and hear exactly what was being taught.

But on the surface, this is not something we can recreate. This might seem obvious here but as we loo at other aspects described in this text it will be less obvious so I want to apply the same process to all of the text. So we can’t bring back the apostles to give us face to face instruction. We can’t sit in the same room as the early church saints and hear from the mouths of the apostles. But this should not get us down. Because God here is not prescribing this exact circumstance for a flourishing church. Rather, He is prescribing a PRINCIPLE for a flourishing church. The first principle for flourishing churches shown in our text today is that their members are devoted to teaching.

So we cannot be in the same room, hearing teaching directly from the mouths of the apostles. But we can be devoted to teaching. It is safe to say that most of the saints gathered in glory never got to hear teaching directly from the mouths of the Apostles. However, God, in His great providence, preserved His Word, collections of the teachings from the apostles and others, and have made them available to us today. I say this often, but it truly a grace of God that He has provided us with His Word and allowed us to gather together in the study of it! A devotion to the teaching of the Word is essential in a flourishing church. In fact, where the Spirit reigns, so does a love for God’s Word. This does not mean that we all have to be lofty scholars. But we all should be encouraged to dive into, digest, and discuss the Word of God.

If you are a member of Durbin Memorial Baptist Church then you have stated your agreement with our core values. Core Value number 2 states: We value the Bible, God's authoritative, inspired Word, and build our church and live in its truth in all we do.

I know I may sound repetitive on this topic as it comes up often in our sermons, but there is nothing else for us to center our church, our relationships, our families, and ourselves upon than the Mighty Word of God. We are to be devoted to teaching that comes from the Word of God.

While many may agree in principle, it may seem like a daunting task. There is just so much in the Word of God, how are we ever going to master it all?

Over the last few weeks I have been working with some brothers from the church on a couple of projects around my house. I’m really a novice when it comes to most construction type things so I have been leaning on their expertise. I’m just amazed to see what these can do and how they know the right adjustments to make. I was talking to one of the guys about it and they said, “you know, it just comes with time, I’m still learning too.”

With everything in life, skills sharpen with time, effort, and especially devotion! You might think that you will never master the whole of God’s Word, and you would be right! But the good news is that God has created you to be a finite creature! He doesn’t want you to be a master, He wants you to be devoted! All throughout the New Testament we see imperatives telling us to be in God’s Word.

So how do we go about it? How do we become a people devoted to God’s Word? It’s really very simple, we must be consistently IN the Word. Read your Bible. Mark it up. Carry it with you. Talk about it with friends. I saw a presentation this week that said when you listen to something you retain 5% of what you hear. That means you will only remember about 5% of what I say this morning. Honestly more than I thought! just kidding. But anyways when you read something you retain 10%. If you listen and read retention jumps to 20%. If you discuss what you have read and heard with someone else, retention jumps to 50%. If you actually apply what you’ve learned you end up retaining about 75% of the information and then get this, if you teach others about what you’ve learned and applied, you retain roughly 90% of what you’ve learned.

What’s interesting about this presentation, is that it is congruent with the plan for discipleship we see in Scripture! Remember the rebuke in Hebrews, that they ought to be teachers by now? We see all throughout the New Testament that we are to be devoted to God’s Word. That begins by reading the Word, receiving teaching, and eventually includes teaching others. We all ought to be in at least one 1-on-1 discipleship relationship where we other being guided or guiding others in the understanding of God’s grace in truth.

So thus far we have seen that the first principle of a healthy church is a devotion to God’s Word.

The second principle is also found in verse 42: The church was devoted to the fellowship.

The description of this fellowship is found in verses 44 and 45

Acts 2:44–45 ESV

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.

Now this is an important moment in which we have to separate the description from the prescription.

Here is what is being described: The early Jewish Christians came together and supported one another even by sacrificing their own belongings for the betterment of their fellow believers. We aren’t given the full context of why this is happening as it is, but it very likely that through the public waters of baptism, and the stigma that came with becoming Christian, that many of these Jewish Believers would have likely been ostracized from the rest of the Jewish Community, making it very hard for anyone to support themselves.

So here is NOT what is being PRESCRIBED here: communism or some other form of required communal living. If you were to take this verse in a vacuum, you might think that all Christians are always supposed to sell everything they have and throw it all into the same pot. And don’t get me wrong, there are sometimes when the world seems so crazy that this idea sounds more and more appealing. I remember when COVID first hit, Cassidy and I were talking to our friends and jokingly assigning roles for the commune we’d create out on the farm to get away from all the craziness of the world. But while that may have happened in some form for the early church described here in Acts 2, we can be certain that it wasn’t the model for all of Christendom. Even throughout the rest of the book of Acts we see property ownership, meeting in the houses owned by wealthy benefactors.

The principle for the church that IS being prescribed here is being devoted to overwhelmingly generous fellowship. This sharing that we see in midst of the fellowship of believers in Acts 2 and again in chapter 4 highlights the overwhelming unity that has been brought by the Spirit of God among these believers. These believers were willing to give up their own comforts because they cared

“Fellowship cost something in the early church, in contrast to our use of the word fellowship today. Fellowship is not just a sentimental feeling of oneness. It is not punch and cookies. It does not take place simply because we are in the church hall. Fellowship comes through giving. True fellowship costs!”

Today after church we’re going to have a time of cookies and coffee. It is a time of fellowship. I hope that it is enjoyed and used by God to build the bonds the already exist in our midst. But we would be foolish if we believed it to be the peak of our fellowship. If we are to be a God honoring and healthy church, our fellowship must extend beyond the boundaries of a Sunday morning. While we do not have to all move out on to Larry’s farm and live in tents, there should be desire to be there with and be there for one another in everyday life.

We state in our church’s core value #4: We value loving others, compassionately serving at their point of need. The verse referenced with that value is Galatians 5:13 which states that we use our freedom in Christ to lovingly serve one another. I’d like to add to our attention Galatians 6:10 “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

So how do we do this? It’s easy to say we love everyone. It’s easy to stick around for a coffee social. If we truly value loving others and compassionately serving at their point of need, then we have to take it upon ourselves to be invested in the lives of others. We have to stop waiting for the other person to call us first. We have to be willing to give up our time, our treasure, our talents for the betterment of our brothers and sisters in Christ. This means being proactive in seeking opportunities to do good to those in our household of faith.

I understand that saying we should constantly be on guard, looking for ways to do good for those around us sounds exhausting. I get that! But please know that all that we do in the name of the Lord Jesus is not done in vain! We are serving the Lord who has empowered, enabled, and commissioned us to be a force of good in this church and in this world. Galatians 6:9 “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

Our efforts are not in vain. The things our God has in store for us in glory go beyond what we are able to comprehend.

The church in Acts 2 had overwhelmingly generous fellowship. The exact execution of that may be different for us today, but the principle remains. May we be committed to generously lovingly serving one another well for the glory of God.

The third Principle for a healthy church is also found in verse 42. Let’s read that again:

Acts 2:42 ESV

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

The third principle of a healthy church is a devotion to worship. This is derived from the breaking of bread and the prayers here in verse 42 and continued to be described in application in verses 43 and 46

Acts 2:43 ESV

And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

Acts 2:46 ESV

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,

All of these verses, the last bit of 42, verse 43, and verse 46 describe a devotion to worship in the early church.

Let’s look at what is being described: they were devoted to the breaking of bread. That is the practice of the Lord’s Supper. There is prayer, there are hearts gathering together to pour out their praises and burdens before the God who is their prize. In verse 46, they attended the temple together daily!, and had fellowship together. Verse 43 gets in to something that is particularly descriptive rather than prescriptive. Read that again:

Acts 2:43 ESV

And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

This is describing the response of the congregation as they were witness to astounding and miraculous works God accomplished through the apostles. “Such wonders and signs most certainly included healing (cf. 3:7) and perhaps also other gifts, such as those manifested at Pentecost.”

We aren’t told exactly what these signs and wonders were but “Whatever was included, it is difficult to see a pattern here established for later Christian gatherings. Only the apostles performed wonders and signs, establishing their authority and their continuity “and signs, establishing their authority and their continuity with the ministry of Jesus. Just as with Jesus, the miracles attested to the reality and authenticity of the kingdom. Such miracles, especially healing, pointed to the fulfillment of kingdom promises.”

So the signs and wonders were descriptive.

But what is certainly being prescribed in these verses is a devotion to worship. While we may not the same in-person awe, directly witnessing the wonders and signs done through the apostles, we can be an Awe-filled people. Notices I said Awe-filled, not awful! We should be awe-filled! Struck by the wonder and majesty of God displayed around us, among us, in us, and through us.

We state in our church’s core value #3: We value this body of believers: a committed, mutually accountable, family of God serving in an atmosphere of grace, love, and acceptance.

One of the primary ways we worship our God is by valuing the body He has placed us in. The church is the gathering, the ekklessia. All throughout this section of Acts 2 you can see how the group came together for worship. They came together for the observance of the ordinances, they came together for prayer, they came together and were filled with awe. They came together in the temple, they came together in their homes. They were praising God in all of it showing Him the worth He is deserved.

So how do we do this? Its very simple! We devote our selves to gathering with the unified purpose of worshiping God. This happens most often in our Sunday Services. I am thankful that we have the ability to be online, but it is not the same experience, it is not the same encouragement, it is not the same worship as joining together with the voices and hearts of the other saints to give praise together to our God in glory! We must be devoted to corporate worship! And then we should continue to be devoted to worship throughout the week. It shouldn’t take a program from the church for you to have moments of worship throughout your day to day lives. We ought to be having worship with our families, reading the word and praying together. We ought to be worshiping together in times of fellowship.

A healthy church is devoted to worship, expressed through gathering together, celebrating the ordinances together, praying together, and praising God together.

There is one more principle we can see from the early church given to us in Acts 2.

Look at verse 47:

Acts 2:47 ESV

praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

The final principle we can learn from this look at the early church is a devotion to evangelism.

Honestly, there isn’t much of a description given as to how this was accomplished in the early church here. We’re told that the early believers had favor with all the people. It seems that their generosity did not go unnoticed. It also says that the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. We don’t get to see how they went about it. We know they probably didn’t use the Roman Roads since the book of Romans hadn’t been written yet. They didn’t have a print out like Share Jesus Without Fear. We don’t know if they drew the three Circles in the sand. But what we do know from the whole testimony of Scripture is that God, as a God of means, works through His people to reach His people. We know that God used the early believers to implore others to be reconciled unto God through faith in Jesus Christ. Yes, the Lord added to their number day by day and He did so through the means of interpersonal evangelism.

Our Church’s core value #1 states, “We value a right relationship with God through Christ; therefore, we share His message with our world.”

As a church we must be devoted to evangelism. We exist to spur one another on in love and good works while being a light to the lost and dying World, pointing them to the only hope of salvation Jesus Christ. We can use a variety of tools to do this. I’m partial to Three Circles, but the best tool is the tool youll use. I’ll give you a quick example once more of the three circles gospel presentation

Three circles graphic

Go through three circles.

It is an amazing grace that we can be reconciled to God, enable to follow, obey, and grow in Christlikeness.

This morning we have looked at for principles of a healthy church prescribed to our church through the description of the early church. If we want out church to be stewarding well this gift the Lord has given us then we must be devoted to teaching, generous fellowship, worship, and evangelism.

These are the result of the Holy Spirit’s presence and movement among us. One pastor once wrote:

“Where the Spirit reigns, believers relate to the Word—teaching.

Where the Spirit reigns, believers relate to each other—[fellowship].

Where the Spirit reigns, believers relate to God—worship.

Where the Spirit reigns, believers relate to the world—evangelism.”

Church We have walked through each of these this morning and I have tried to connect each area to one of the core values of our church.

So let me say this: A value is worthless if is not applied. May we not just be hearers or talkers, may we be doers. I hope that this morning you have heard practical ways in which you can better participate in the local church and express your devotion to our God above therein.

If our church truly values these principles, then church, let’s get to work.

Let’s pray.