ES001. Acts 2:42-47

Acts 2:42–47 NIV

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Today I am going to talk about the thing that I am passionate about, something that I think should be every church's mission statement:

In verse 42 it says that there are four things the early disciples did well [SLIDE]:

1) Doctrine,

2) fellowship,

3) breaking of bread,

4) and prayer

Verse 42 should be the central pillar of all churches obviously, though, in light of the cross of Jesus Christ.

It is this verse that sparks in me a desire to teach thoroughly and systematically. The issue for me is that we do not have time other than on Sundays and perhaps in a mid-week meeting to do what was so evident in the early Church. Some may even have issue that these things should be taught at all in our illiterate, visual, post-modern, post-truth, attention deficit society. How will people come and stay if we don’t make the sermon ten minutes and be something with videos, PowerPoints and be very snappy? Well, humbug to that! Well, OK I will have a PowerPoint and the occasional video as long as they illustrate the point being made! But 10 minute sermons once a week is just not going to cut it if we are to grow spiritually and numerically.

God has issued me and others here a command to preach the Word in season and out, to rebuke, correct and encourage. All God’s Word is there for us and we should be getting a grip on it. There are thriving Churches that preaches for 40 minutes plus. One of these is in Penarth that spends a minimum of 40 minutes to teach and preach every Sunday morning and evening. How long sermons are does not mean anything but the fact that people are staying to hear proves that people are actually starving from the Word of God and need to hear it. These are people who know the value of doctrine and are dedicated to getting it within a Church environment. Of course there are Churches that thrive without much being preached at all except some ear-tickling, people-pleasing sermon that leaves people in the same state they were when they came in. I really cannot stand those kinds of sermons. Funny enough Spurgeon who is considered one of the greatest preachers of all time also complained that people only seem to be interested in hearing 30 minute sermons now – the complaints were going on even over 130 years ago. If we read the history of Baptist Churches in the UK we find that they would have got a 1 or 2 hour sermon! But I am not going to go there. The point it that we need to realise the importance of teaching and preaching – and you’d be glad to know that you’d normally get 30 minutes or less from me.

It seems that we don’t really like to hear doctrine however it may not seem obvious but it does have an effect upon our lives and practice. Not all doctrine will lend itself to a moral change in our lives – this often is the aim of sermons but it should not be the main one. The main aim of a sermon is to give God the glory. Much of doctrine has to do with worship – not ethics, right and wrong. The more we know about God the Father, His Son, and His Holy Spirit and their work the more it causes us to be amazed and to have wonder.

Doctrine formed the basis of hymns like: ‘Jesus, the very thought of thee’, and ‘Jesus, the name I love to hear’, and ‘And can it be?’ And so on. Doctrine led to worship. If I preach on the Incarnation about the wonder of God infinite becoming flesh finite it should lead to worship along with that great host of angels declaring His praise to the shepherds. This in turn should also cause us to share the Good News with others.

For some people the word doctrine has become a bit stuffy, old-fashioned and may be a little scary. Let me give a definition of doctrine: Doctrine means something taught; it is teaching or instruction. Literally it is ‘to teach the substance’.

Luke has a take on doctrine too, and funnily enough, we only read it this morning!

Luke 1:1–4 NKJV

Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.

So, to be clear. Doctrine according to Luke is:

 To set forth

 In Order

 A declaration

 Those things which are most surely believed among us as the KJV says

 Instructed (this word in the Greek is where we get the word for catechism)

So, we will be following Luke’s injunction to set forth in order those things which are believed by true believers and the certainty of them. And the reason that we have to do this in every generation of people who become Christians is not only because of Jesus command in going to make disciples and teach everything He instructed but also we have no foundation for our lives in Christ to deal with the onslaught of the enemy. We, of course, are limited by our own understandings and really only God by His Spirit can open up His Word to us that even the simplest person can hear God speak.

Paul made it clear that in the last times people will not endure sound doctrine as is very obvious today – and evidence of another prophecy come to pass. Doctrine is needed to give us a right understanding.

Of course doctrine has the ability to divide and this has been used as an excuse to simply believe only the simplest of statements that all Christians should believe. The problem is that God’s Word makes doctrine very important. Have a guess at how many times doctrine is mentioned in the New Testament… [SLIDE] at least 220 times in the New Testament. Doctrine, then, comes from God. Division occurs when we fight with what God says.

Another thing that can be said is that we are more right about doctrine than being right in our attitudes. The claim, then, is that being right in our attitudes is more important. This is false. We should be right in our doctrine with a right attitude. A right attitude with a wrong doctrine is just as wrong as a wrong attitude with right doctrine. Our attitude is rightly adjusted with right doctrine if we allow it.

Quite obviously the early Church thought doctrine was very important. They continued steadfastly. They were resolute, unwavering, constant, loyal, and faithful. In the ESV it says they devoted themselves. They continually devoted themselves to doctrine. The way it is put in the Greek makes it seem to me, at least, that they had to continually rededicate themselves to this task.

Today it is even more necessary for we are in what is called a post-modern world where there are no absolute truths. But God has absolutes which never change. His truth, His Word, His ways and God Himself are unchangeable – the technical word for this is immutable – He does not and cannot change. We need to know who we believe, what we believe and why we believe. We may not realise but we are shaped by who we believe, what we believe and why we believe.

You’ve heard this before:[SLIDE]

what we think

becomes how we act

which becomes a habit

which becomes our character

which shapes our future

Our Character – what we are; our behaviour – what we do; and our future – where we go, are all because of the ‘who’, ‘what’ and ‘why’ of our beliefs.

Our character becomes strong when we settle our doctrines whatever those doctrines are – we become people of conviction. This is clear in the world of politics. For those who remember the 80s Margaret Thatcher who was on the right and Arthur Scargill on the left – two people diametrically opposed to one another – both affected by their doctrine.

Our religious doctrines also make a difference. For instance an infallible Pope when he sits on his throne or a Baptist Minister. One demands absolute obedience and the other one can only hope to get respect. I leave you to work out which one is what! Our beliefs can make us give all our money to a prosperity preacher in order to get something back or we can give to ministry generously without expecting anything in return. All our beliefs add up to who we are and what we do and why we do it.

Which leads us to the next part of this verse:

(b) Fellowship.

Something not very evident in the Church today is commitment. Not just here but everywhere. We have this mentality that says if we don’t like it in one place we can go to another – and of course, we are free to do so. But that is not how it used to be or, I think, how it should be now. We are all transients moving from place to place or from one place to nowhere. But I think this belies wrong doctrine about the Church. And so we see evidence of wrong belief affecting the life of the Church everywhere today. We are the Church…we, the people. Fellowship means being committed to other believers.

Hear what the verse says again: And they continued steadfastly in fellowship.

Ah, but Ian you are only saying this because of the shaky situation some find themselves in here. Yes, partly I am, and? But actually I was praying about what word I should bring this morning, whether I should carry on in Luke or something else and this was the verse that caught my eye after I prayed – and whilst it has my favourite subject, doctrine, it also has fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer. What is fellowship and breaking of bread other than meeting together in Christ and being hospitable with other Christians?

There have been questions whether even God is among us anymore. But I don’t think that there is a doubt to be had. He is with you and with me and when we meet in His name He gives as an extra special promise of being present in the midst of us.

Matthew 18:20 NKJV

For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

Of course, this does mean our motive for meeting has to be right too – we are to meet in His name.

The early church were devoted to one another and the only time they did not meet was if they were on a journey or sick. God turns up – and He will draw near to any who draw near to Him.

Fellowship has more in meaning than simply meeting together but having things in common and to have a common cause. If we are all going in the same direction it makes things so much simpler and easier. Fellowship is also about encouraging one another rather than criticising.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

A great picture of fellowship is like the [SLIDE] Californian Redwood Trees which are the largest and tallest living things on the planet. They can be 100 metres tall and some are over 2500 years old. And such large trees would seem to have large roots but actually this is not the case. The roots of a redwood are quite shallow – and so they are in danger of toppling over – except for the fact that all these trees intertwine their roots with each other and prevent this from happening. They need each other to survive. The picture is quite obvious – we Christians need each other.

Whilst I have concentrated on the first two of four things that the early disciples were devoted to the other two are not less important, so briefly these are:

c) As for breaking bread this is not just about the communion remembrance of bread and wine but communion with each other or eating together and sharing and hospitality. These early Christians were in and out of each other’s houses as we should be. They were serious about their walk with God and that included being dedicated to each other.

d) Prayer tops those things that they were steadfast about. We are all in a battle. The devil can knock us down but his victory is hollow for his victory always turns to his defeat in the end. Remember the cross, the tomb, the rising from the dead?! And how they would not have crucified Him had they known the real outcome. Prayer is something we need to be utterly committed to. Praying urgently for one another. Praying for the Church. Praying for wisdom. Praying together.

Verse 47 tells is the result of such devotion, something that we all like to see here: the growth of the Church. Growth in a spiritual sense, for sure, for to know Christ is all, but also in a numerical sense. We get these basics right and the Lord will add to the Church.

Let us be passionate to fulfil these verses. To grow in faith and to complete the mission Jesus has given to us, we must regularly gather together for instruction, worship, encouragement, and prayer. God never calls any Christian to a solitary life of faith. And to this end let us commit ourselves as the early disciples did.